Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

Cooley Strengthens IP Litigation Team With DC Duo – Financial Post

Arriving from Finnegan, they bring powerful life sciences, ANDA litigation capabilities

WASHINGTON Cooley is growing its market-leading intellectual property litigation practice group with the addition of partners Sanya Sukduang and Jonathan Davies, who will be based in Washington, DC. Arriving from Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, Sukduangs and Davies practices focus on life sciences with an emphasis on pharmaceuticals litigation, including HatchWaxman Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) litigation.

Sanyas and Jonathans experience navigating complex ANDA cases adds significant depth to the life sciences component of our IP litigation practice and complements the work done by our patent counseling and life sciences partnering practice groups, said Stephen Smith, chair of Cooleys intellectual property litigation practice. Together, their experience will prove an invaluable asset to our clients, particularly the increasing number of them with later-stage products ripe for ANDA litigation.

Sukduang advises clients on patent litigation before federal district courts and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as all aspects of proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. His work centers on litigating matters concerning ANDA challenges for brand drug manufacturers, diagnostic methods, biological products and medical devices. Sukduang also guides clients on an array of issues concerning biologics, including due diligence investigations and strategic patent portfolio planning. He formerly chaired Finnegans diversity and inclusion committee.

Davies practice centers around patent litigation, particularly on pharmaceutical and biotechnology cases, including HatchWaxman litigation related to ANDAs and biologics litigation under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act. He has deep experience advising on all aspects of pretrial and trial federal district court practice, in addition to advising clients on infringement and validity opinions. Prior to his legal career, Davies completed graduate studies in human physiology and conducted doctoral and post-doctoral research in cellular and molecular biology and genetics.

We know firsthand how high stakes ANDA litigation is for the innovative companies we advise, said Sukduang. We are excited about the opportunities well be able to provide our clients with the support of Cooleys powerful IP litigation platform.

We look forward to delivering successful results for our clients as we team up with our new colleagues, said Davies. We are also impressed by Cooleys standout, collaborative culture and are eager to help build on the firms legacy as it continues to grow.

With a team of 60+ lawyers, Cooleys IP litigation practice is renowned for its ability to win bet-the-company competitor cases in which multibillion-dollar products, technologies and brands are at stake. The practice has unprecedented experience representing clients in tech and life sciences matters. Cooley boasts one of the most active patent litigation practices in the US, having handled 525+ patent cases and 70+ Federal Circuit patent appeals, the vast majority as the appellee, in the past five years.

About Cooley LLP

Clients partner with Cooley on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters, and high-stakes litigation, where innovation meets the law.

Cooley has 1,100+ lawyers across 16 offices in the United States, Asia and Europe.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200303005657/en/

Contacts

Andrea Orzehoski Cooley LLP aorzehoski@cooley.com +1 858 550 6259

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Cooley Strengthens IP Litigation Team With DC Duo - Financial Post

Physiology

First-Year Lab Experience Gave This Student the Confidence to Aim for a Ph.D. – UVA Today

A University of Virginia biomedical engineering student is trying to tackle the worlds No. 1 cause of death on a genetic level.

Rita Anane-Wae, from Ghana by way of Glendale, Arizona, and a third-year biomedical engineering student, is using a 2019 Harrison Undergraduate Research grant to seek a genetic solution to atherosclerosis, or the build-up of plaque in ones arteries, which impedes blood flow.

There are cells that will try to fix this problem by covering them and basically pushing the plaque down to allow blood flow, she said. These cells will try to reduce that plaque so that there is correct blood flow. In very serious cases, the plaque can harden and break off. Once it breaks, it can get lodged somewhere and cause a stroke or a heart attack.

Created through a gift from the late David A. Harrison III and his family, the Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards fund outstanding undergraduate research projects. Selected by a faculty review committee, awardees receive as much as $4,000 apiece to pursue their research interests, under the direction of a faculty mentor.

Anane-Wae started working in a laboratory run by Mete Civelek, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, as a second-year student.

Civelek had already altered her life. Anane-Wae came to UVA to be a chemical engineer. She met Civelek when she signed up as a first-year student for a program that offered faculty mentoring.

At the time I was a chemical engineering major with an interest in biomedical engineering, Anane-Wae said. After talking with him, he was able to assuage my fears about biomedical engineering.

Biomedical engineering is a relatively new field and as such, I did not believe there were many jobs out there, and my parents were worried for the same reason, she said. Mete has a chemical engineering undergrad degree and a masters and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, so he was the perfect person for me to talk to. He explained the two fields in a unique way, unlike what I had read and seen on YouTube.

Honestly, I love biomedical engineering. When I switched into biomedical engineering, literally in my first class, I though Oh, my God, this is home. I am learning about anatomy, physiology, genes and cells, and it is still all really exciting for me.

Civelek also suggested Anane-Wae participate in the research trip to Uganda through the UVA Minority Health & Health Disparities International Research Training program to perform research on congestive heart failure. While in Uganda, Anane-Wae made rounds with a doctor at a local hospital and met a 17-year-old girl suffering from congestive heart failure.

Her legs were all swollen, Anane-Wae said. She had edema and her stomach was filled with fluid. I was looking at her and thinking, This girl cant lay down because of all the swelling and she cant even be at rest. And I was thinking, She is about my age and I am fortunate enough to be traveling the world and she is here stuck in this hospital bed.

Her encounter with the girl became part inspiration to her and part reminder that congestive heart failure is not just for older patients.

I have a hard time accepting what I am capable of doing, Anane-Wae said. Being here, being in Uganda, working in the lab, it has taught me that I am basically capable of making change. I know what I am supposed to be doing with my time and my future and I know that doing it makes me happy and will make other people better.

In her lab work, Anane-Wae studies a specific gene melanoma inhibitor activity 3, or MIA3 that affects smooth muscle cells.

Smooth muscle cells are able to basically cover the plaque in that disease state, Anane-Wae said. We are running experiments to see how us modulating MIA3 affects the disease.

She said she and members of the research team in the lab also performed experiments knocking out the MIA3 gene from the cells, which led to a more serious disease state.

I think experiments like these are really important because we are not yet at the stage where we can do gene therapy on a person, Anane-Wae said. If you knock out specific genes, it will affect things that we dont understand yet.

Anane-Wae is working on a small section of a large field, but she thinks there is promise in the work she is doing.

The genome-wide association studies show that 161 different genes so far have been associated with coronary artery disease, she said. And we are studying just one. There is so much further that we have to go.

The path is really long, but we are trying to understand the mechanism by which one gene affects the disease and if we actually figure out that mechanism, we can try to apply it to the other genes and maybe understand the bigger picture.

Research can lead her down many blind alleys, which she understands. Anane-Wae is also very conscious of the law of unintended consequences, and how something that solves one problem can create other problems in the process.

We can say that about everything, she said. I think that is the way with all new development. You fix problems and new ones will arise, and then you fix those, too. So we can only do so much. But I think what I have learned is that I have found something about which I am passionate. I have found something that I enjoy and here at UVA, I have found a community of people who will help me develop my skills.

Included in that community, Anane-Wae cited Civelek and Redouane Aherrahrou, an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow with whom she works.

Aherrahrou has known Anane-Wae since she joined the lab in 2018. When she first joined our lab, Rita knew only the fundamental lab skills and methods, he said. After a short amount of training, she learned rapidly and became very familiar with the cell culture techniques and appropriate lab handling. She performed the experiments independently. Her interactions with other lab members are both professional and friendly.

He described Anane-Wae as a diligent researcher, a gifted student, an inspiring person, and enjoyable to be around.

She has a great personality, is open to guidance and responds well to criticism, he said. She wants to apply to Ph.D. programs after she graduates, and I predict a great future in her career as a research scientist.

Civelek said he enjoys having Anane-Wae as part of his team.

She is hard-working, curious and eager to make a scientific impact, he said. I can see the joy in her face when she learns something new. She gets along well with everyone in the lab and is a role model to those who are junior to her. She has a bright future and I am very proud of her accomplishments.

Civelek said Anane-Wae was recently awarded a German Academic Exchange Research Internship in Science and Engineering, which is presented to only 300 students from the U.S. and Canada.

Redouane and Mete both have high standards for me and motivate me to do my very best, Anane-Wae said. They have instilled a confidence in me that I did not have prior to joining the lab, and they continuously push me to achieve great things. I am so fortunate to have these two individuals as mentors, in addition to all of the other members in the laboratory.

A Blue Ridge Scholarship recipient, Anane-Wae is member of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. She also has received a Hugh Bache Scholarship.

Anane-Wae said she is looking at doing big things, such as gene therapy, but realizes that she has to take small steps at first, and that her friends in the lab will help her out when things go wrong.

She has also learned that research is a team effort, not a solo pursuit.

You cant do research by yourself, she said. You wont be able to get anything done. You will have to depend on other people and you have to be able to share what you have learned. You wont get anything done in any amount of time if you dont trust other people and work together.

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First-Year Lab Experience Gave This Student the Confidence to Aim for a Ph.D. - UVA Today

Physiology

Our Education: SIUEs Fernandez del Valle committed to optimizing womens health – Alton Telegraph

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

Our Education: SIUEs Fernandez del Valle committed to optimizing womens health

EDWARDSVILLE Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, is researching optimizing womens health.

The assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health is a prime example of a teacher-scholar who has established multi-disciplinary collaborations and consistently involves students to pursue high impact research.

My research focuses on improving exercise prescription through different lines of study to help individuals optimize their health, she said. Currently, were targeting women, and conducting research on cardiac fat and function to determine how different modes of exercise can help us improve both.

I want to improve the way we prescribe exercise, she said. We need a larger sample size to clearly see data trends, but early indications show that we can have a high impact on cardiac fat around the heart with resistance training alone. The implication then would be that obese women should do resistance training to target more internal fat rather than the fat you see on the outside. Because, internal fat is what I linked to the development of metabolic and cardiac diseases.

Two of her primary collaborators are Jon Klingensmith, PhD, assistant professor in the SIUE School of Engineerings Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Pamela Woodard, PhD, with the Washington University School of Medicine.

Fernandez del Valle is also a research mentor for students, most of whom have earned competitive research awards and Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities accolades.

We can teach in the classroom and explain concepts, but when students are in a lab, I can see their faces and how it just clicks that Oh, now thats what this means and This is connecting with this, she said. Without my collaborators and students assistance, this work would not be possible. It involves human subjects, assessment training and implementation, data reporting and much more.

Before working in this lab, I wasnt sure what I wanted to do post-graduation, said graduate student and research assistant Paige Davis. Now, I know I want to work in a research lab at a college or government agency. I love the mix of human interaction and data entry, and how everything comes together to achieve interesting results.

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Our Education: SIUEs Fernandez del Valle committed to optimizing womens health - Alton Telegraph

Physiology

660 young scientists invited to 70th anniversary of Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings – The Medical News

Young scientists from 101 countries are invited to the 70th anniversary of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. This was the result of the decision taken today by the Council for the Meetings to conclude the nomination and selection process.

"We are pleased to inform you that the scientific review panel of the Meetings has selected you to participate in the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting taking place from 28 June to 3 July 2020 in Lindau, Germany." While the "important phone call from Stockholm" usually comes as a complete surprise to freshly selected Nobel Laureates, the young scientists have been waiting for days for this message in their mailbox. - Today the notifications of acceptance are sent from Lindau to the young researchers all over the world.

Countess Bettina Bernadotte, President of the Council: "Every year it is very moving to be able to offer so many excellent students, PhD candidates and post-docs this opportunity for an exchange and for the further development of their careers. For our 70th Meeting we are particularly pleased that we were able to gain new academic partners in four countries who will send Young Scientists to Lindau this summer."

In addition to almost 200 academic partners - academies of science, universities, foundations and research-based companies - once again six Nobel Laureates nominated young scientists for participation. All nominees have gone through a demanding, multi-stage selection process over the past few months: Following the nomination, they had to submit extensive documentation on their previous scientific career as a first step. On this basis a preliminary evaluation took place. For the first time this year, it was supported by Lindau Alumni who had attended the Lindau Meeting themselves in previous years. The final decision was taken by the scientific chairpersons of the 70th Lindau Meeting - this year with an interdisciplinary programme (every five years) professors from three scientific disciplines: Heiner Linke and Wolfgang Lubitz (Chemistry), Klas Krre and Stefan Kaufmann (Physiology or Medicine) as well as Lars Bergstrm and Rainer Blatt (Physics).

Young scientists around the globe interested in participating in future Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings can obtain information here: http://www.lindau-nobel.org/application-faq (application procedure from September 2020) The 71st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting from 27 June - 2 July 2021 will be dedicated to chemistry by rota.

These young scientists will attend the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

- 660 researchers from 101 countries

- 45% female, 54% male, 1% no comment

- youngest participants: 18 years

- Disciplines: 34% Chemistry, 16% Physiology or Medicine, 21% Biology, 29% Physics

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660 young scientists invited to 70th anniversary of Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings - The Medical News

Physiology

Effects of High Altitude Subject to Genetics – Technology Networks

How high altitudes affect peoples breathing and its coordination with the heartbeat is due to genetic differences say researchers.Clear physiological differences have already been demonstrated between people living in the Himalayas and Andes compared with people living at sea level, revealing an evolutionary adaptation in the control of blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain and the rest of the body.

Now an international team led by Professor Aneta Stefanovska of Lancaster University has identified genes that are related to cardiorespiratory function during so-called acute periodic breathing.

Periodic breathing (PB) occurs in most humans at high altitudes and is characterized by periodic alternations between hyperventilation (too-fast breathing) and apnea (no breathing). The altered respiratory pattern due to PB is accompanied by changes in heart rate and blood flow.

Breathing, ECG of the heart and microvascular blood flow were simultaneously monitored for 30 minutes in 22 healthy male subjects, with the same measurements repeated under normal and low oxygen levels, both at real and simulated altitudes of up to 3800m.

As part of the experiment, the participants were also taken in a cable car to a high altitude laboratory at the top of Aiguille du Midi mountain in Chamonix in France and tested immediately on arrival and after six hours at this altitude of 3842m.

The researchers found that orchestration between the participants hearts and lungs, as measured by phase coherence, responded differently to periodic breathing depending on whether they had one of two specific genetic variants affecting the cardiorespiratory response to insufficient oxygen.

Chronic periodic breathing is generally seen as an unfavorable state, being associated with increased mortality in chronic heart failure, but in healthy people it may be an indication of better alertness to oxygen insufficiency at high altitudes. Hypoxia, as well occurring during rapid ascents to high-altitudes, can also be a significant problem at sea-level, being a contributory factor in many health conditions including cancer, strokes, and heart attacks.

Professor Stefanovska said: The similarities between hypoxia-induced PB at altitude, and the breathing characteristics observed in certain pathological states, provide an opportunity to further our understanding of the physiological processes involved in chronic hypoxic states that occur even when oxygen is abundant.

Considering living systems as collections of interacting oscillators whose dynamics is governed by multiple underlying open systems enables the observation of functional changes over time, and investigation of how they are altered in health and disease.ReferenceLancaster et al. (2020) Relationship between cardiorespiratory phase coherence during hypoxia and genetic polymorphism in humans. The Journal of Physiology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1113/JP278829

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Effects of High Altitude Subject to Genetics - Technology Networks

Physiology

Our Education: SIUE’s Fernandez del Valle committed to optimizing women’s health – The Edwardsville Intelligencer

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

SIUEs Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

Our Education: SIUEs Fernandez del Valle committed to optimizing womens health

EDWARDSVILLE Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, is researching optimizing womens health.

The assistant professor of exercise physiology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health is a prime example of a teacher-scholar who has established multi-disciplinary collaborations and consistently involves students to pursue high impact research.

My research focuses on improving exercise prescription through different lines of study to help individuals optimize their health, she said. Currently, were targeting women, and conducting research on cardiac fat and function to determine how different modes of exercise can help us improve both.

I want to improve the way we prescribe exercise, she said. We need a larger sample size to clearly see data trends, but early indications show that we can have a high impact on cardiac fat around the heart with resistance training alone. The implication then would be that obese women should do resistance training to target more internal fat rather than the fat you see on the outside. Because, internal fat is what I linked to the development of metabolic and cardiac diseases.

Two of her primary collaborators are Jon Klingensmith, PhD, assistant professor in the SIUE School of Engineerings Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Pamela Woodard, PhD, with the Washington University School of Medicine.

Fernandez del Valle is also a research mentor for students, most of whom have earned competitive research awards and Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities accolades.

We can teach in the classroom and explain concepts, but when students are in a lab, I can see their faces and how it just clicks that Oh, now thats what this means and This is connecting with this, she said. Without my collaborators and students assistance, this work would not be possible. It involves human subjects, assessment training and implementation, data reporting and much more.

Before working in this lab, I wasnt sure what I wanted to do post-graduation, said graduate student and research assistant Paige Davis. Now, I know I want to work in a research lab at a college or government agency. I love the mix of human interaction and data entry, and how everything comes together to achieve interesting results.

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Our Education: SIUE's Fernandez del Valle committed to optimizing women's health - The Edwardsville Intelligencer

Physiology

Fatal Car Crashes Rise With Spring Clock Reset – The New York Times

Losing an hours sleep at the spring change to daylight saving time is at best inconvenient. Now new research suggests that it may be dangerous.

A study in Current Biology reports that the risk of having a fatal traffic accident increases significantly in the week following the spring clock reset.

Researchers used a federal government registry of 732,835 fatal motor vehicle accidents from 1996 to 2017. They found that there were 6 percent more fatal accidents in the week following the Sunday clock change than in the weeks before and after.

The increase averaged 9 percent in the hours before noon, which the investigators suggest may be connected to fatigue combined with the darker morning hours of the first week of daylight saving time. The only time of day that showed no effect was 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The sun rises later as you head west, and the researchers found that in the western third of each time zone, the number of fatal accidents increased by 8 percent, but by only 4 percent in the eastern third.

There is strong evidence for something real going on when we set the clocks ahead, said the senior author, Cline Vetter, an assistant professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado, and there are no real benefits in daylight saving time for economics or energy saving. Lets get rid of the switch to daylight saving time.

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Fatal Car Crashes Rise With Spring Clock Reset - The New York Times

Physiology

OPINION: Research before you try a diet – The Daily Evergreen

Don't go for the newest diet people are talking about, just eat healthier foods instead

LAUREN PETTIT | DAILY EVERGREEN ILLUSTRATION

Move over paleo, these diets don't solve the issue of being a healthier person. Instead focus on foods that are healthier and cutting calorie counts to achieve a healthier lifestyle for yourself.

There are so many options when looking for a newdiet plan. There is keto, vegan, intermediate fasting, vegetarian, paleo, detoxor juice cleanse and much more to choose from. These diets are trendy andunhealthy.

Fad diets often lead people to believe that there is a one-size-fits-all diet, and this is the one. The secrets out there isnt one perfect diet for all of us, said Lauren Keeney, a registered dietitian nutritionist and the owner and operator of Integrated Health LLC located in Moscow.

College is a colliding environment of lack of money and energy. When a student is lacking money, it is easier to buy staple items. These items look like ramen, canned veggies or soup and anything else that can be found at a low price. These low-price items are high in cholesterol and fat and they lack many of the key nutrients that are needed in a balanced diet. Low-cost foods also increase weight gain and fatigue.

It can come as no surprise that many college students are hopping on diet trends to lose weight fast, in the high stress and low energy environment. These fad diets are used to change a students look, weight and energy level.

I have done every diet you can do, from keto to fasting, said Hannah Bidon, a WSU junior majoring in nutrition and exercise physiology and minoring in psychology.

The diet is a quick fix that can have little tono effect on a students daily eating habits.

In my experience, I gave up and I couldnt doit. This was because it was unnatural for my body, Bidon said.

Starting a new diet can be exciting at first. Eventually the diet will come to an end, leaving the body feeling unhealthy and overall useless. Cutting out key components to a diet can harm the body.

Eat foods that your body craves and foods that make your body feel good, energized and satisfied. This means, eat what you enjoy and enjoy what you eat physically, mentally and emotionally, Keeney said.

Cutting out just carbsand fat can affect the body. Unless there are dietary restrictions or religiousguidelines, an individual should provide their body with all food groups.

The students that want to change their diets for ethical and environmental reasons are very different from those who want to lose 10 pounds in eight days. They try the new diets of detox, juice cleanse, one large meal a day, keto, paleo and much more. There are fewer extreme ways of dieting and healthy choices.

Diets come to an end and so does that healthy eating. Many times, the diet trend does not change an individuals overall eating habits or relationship with food.

In the end I gained the weight back or felt unhealthy after the diet, Bidon said.

Diets dont last forever, it is easier to makelife changes.

What many young adultslack in their diet is having a healthy relationship with food, Keeney said.

The best advice I was given was to balance the plate. Have all the food groups represented on the plate. Fruit and veggies, grain (bread, potatoes and more), protein (fish, eggs, tofu and nuts) and dairy (milk, yogurt and cheese).

Add more color to your diet, this way you canensure youre getting a variety of nutrients to support your overall health,Keeney said.

Students can add nutritious and need food groupsby adding in diverse veggies and sides to their main dish.

Take top ramen, for example. Overall it is not healthy. But it is cheap, so it is a staple in any students dorm, apartment, or house. It can be made healthier by adding a protein (I like an egg or two) and some green veggies. It not only looks more appetizing it can be more nutritious and filling.

Why even diet when it can end in gaining the weight back? I suggest making little healthy changes that can improve overall attitudes towards food. Little changes can make a big difference.

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OPINION: Research before you try a diet - The Daily Evergreen

Physiology

Two twin city girls get 22 gold medals in AIIMS Bhubaneswar convocation – Times of India

BHUBANESWAR: Two twin city girls, who completed their MBBS in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, received 22 gold medals in the annual convocation of the institute held on Saturday. Cuttack's Rosalin Parida, 2014 MBBS batch, received 13 gold medals, while Bhubaneswar's Manisha Mohanty, 2013 MBBS batch, got nine gold medals in the second and third annual convocation of the institute.

Rosalin, daughter of a forest department employee, belongs to Cuttack city. She is now pursing PG (medicine) in AIIMS Delhi, topped in nine out of 12 subjects in her undergraduate medical course. She received gold medals for the subjects like physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, forensic medicine and toxicology, general medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, community and family medicine and paediatrics.

Besides these, she received gold medal for being the best graduate (MBBS) of the year 2014. She also won Nabakishore Mahapatra Gold Medal for biochemistry, Kamal Udaya Gold Medal for pharmacology and gold medal in memory of professor JM Senapati in physiology. "I feel proud that I became the best graduate of 2014 batch of the institute. I want to work in the field of medicine," she added.

After completion of the MBBS course last year, she applied for PG entrance test and got into AIIMS Delhi this year.

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Two twin city girls get 22 gold medals in AIIMS Bhubaneswar convocation - Times of India

Physiology

Book review: Facts you never knew about yourself – The Daily Courier

Bill Bryson is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, the English language and on scientific subjects.

In his latest book, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Bryson successfully attempts to walk us through all the major parts of our physical self, how they work and dont, and what we can do or cant to improve on the life we are blessed with.

The book is a great read. You will be informed and entertained, and who knows it may even help you live a longer healthier life.

Some of Brysons pearls of wisdom would fit well in a trivial pursuit game.

For example, did you know that humans share 99.9% of our DNA, and yet no two of us are alike? We shed our skin at a rate of about 25,000 flakes a minute, which leads to a monthly replacement of our outer skin cells and a lot of house dust.

Something to remember every winter season, Bryson says the least effective way to spread germs is kissing. The only really reliable way to transfer cold germs is physically by touch.

As most know with the increasing use of antibiotics over the years our bacteria are becoming more and more resistant, yet as the problem has grown, the pharmaceutical industry has retreated from trying to create new antibiotics. Its just too expensive for them.

Drug companies require profit to be sustainable and there is more money to be made on drugs that people need over a lifetime such as statins or antidepressants.

For any of you who have watched the movie Lucy, you will know the plot is based on the premise we only use 10% of our brain. An entertaining movie, but not true, says Bryson. Apparently, we use all of our brain.

We may not use it well, but we do employ all of it in one way or another. A teenagers brain is only about 80% complete and therefore displays more impulsive, less reflective behavior than their elders and will also be more susceptible to the effects of alcohol.

A note to parents, the leading cause of deaths among teenagers is accidents, usually in the company of other teenagers.

Our tongue has about 10,000 taste buds, which are replaced every 10 days.

Like the taste of MSG? Bryson says MSG has never been found to have deleterious effects on anybody when eaten in normal quantities.

You can live without a tongue, but not without a liver. When compared with our other glands its huge at 3.3 pounds and roughly the same size as your brain. Shut down your liver and youll be dead in a few hours.

Unlike most parts of your body, you can lose two-thirds of a liver and it will grow back in a few weeks.

Why do we have two kidneys and not two livers, two hearts, or two brains? No one knows. What most of us who are getting older know however that our kidneys lose their effectiveness. Our bladder isnt much help either as we age, which explains why some of us spend so much time scouting for restrooms.

Aging is also highly correlated with back pain. A majority of adults will have taken at least a week off work at some time due to back pain.

Motion is lotion and weight isnt great. Keep moving and lose the extra pounds to give your back the best chance of growing old painlessly. Regular walks will also reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke by 31%. Being active for an hour or more a day can improve life expectancy by over four years.

As well as strengthening bones, exercise boosts your immune system, nurtures hormones, lessens the risks of getting diabetes and a number of cancers, improves mood, and even staves off senility.

Besides exercise, we know its important to watch what and how much we eat. Bryson offers a helpful tip: when shopping, stick to the outside aisles in supermarkets. Avoid the interior aisles as they contain mostly processed food.

Did you know the average time from mouth to out for a man is 55 hours and for a woman is 72?

Bryson also outlines the physiology of the human pelvis which had to undergo a number of changes to make upright walking feasible. He notes these physiological changes are what makes childbirth so difficult. The average womans birth canal is about an inch narrower than the width of the average newborns head, making it the most painful inch in nature.

The final message from Bryson is even if you enjoy a healthy life, aging will catch up to us all. Having a good and loving relationship will alter ones DNA and half your chance of dying from any cause.

I hope a few of Brysons insights will help you live better and longer.

Norm Letnick is the MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country and health critic for the BC Liberals.

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Book review: Facts you never knew about yourself - The Daily Courier