Recently, the Ministry of AYUSH has released certain guidelines on how to improve immunity and strengthen our body in the wake of global pandemic. The guidelines revealed that a mixture of turmeric and milk is very effective in boosting immunity. As

When you age, the taste buds on your tongue start to lose its utility - one of the main reasons why older adults tend to get fussy about the food they eat. After the age of 65, the immune system in

Concern is growing among healthcare experts who believe that if people do not follow the lockdown or social distancing seriously, the situation can quickly go out of control.

Health Ministry to send central teams to 10 States.

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

Revenue Minister R. B. Udayakumar said that people must consume kabasura kudineer on an empty stomach everyday to boost their immunity. He said this

Coronavirus: Is lockdown an opportunity for scientific research?  sciencefocus.com

The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) secretes many toxic effectors to gain advantage in interbacterial competition and for eukaryotic host infection. The cognate immunity proteins of these effectors protect bacteria from their own effectors. PldB is a T6SS trans-kingdom effector in Pseudomonas aeruginosa that can infect both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Three proteins, PA5086, PA5087 and PA5088, are employed to suppress the toxicity of PldB-family proteins. The structures of PA5087 and PA5088 have previously been reported, but the identification of further distinctions between these immunity proteins is needed. Here, the crystal structure of PA5086 is reported at 1.90 Å resolution. A structural comparison of the three PldB immunity proteins showed vast divergences in their electrostatic potential surfaces. This interesting phenomenon provides an explanation of the stockpiling mechanism of T6SS immunity proteins.

The structure of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa T6SS PldB immunity protein PA5086 is reported at 1.9 Å resolution. Comparison of PA5086 with its homologs PA5087 and PA5088 showed great similarities in sequence and structure, but vast divergences in electrostatic potential surfaces.

Covered in venomous spines the exotic and strikingly banded Indo-Pacific lionfish would be a painful mouthful to any creature that may try to catch and […]

The post Biologist Andrew Sellers turns lionfish invasion into research opportunity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In theory, crabs of the species Planes major should stay true to their mates for life. Heterosexual pairs of these small crustaceans live on loggerhead […]

The post Faithful crabs engage in risky behavior when opportunity arises appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Community ecologist Sunshine Van Bael explains her work in Panama with leafcutting ants appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This year’s El Niño event is one of the strongest on record and is still ramping up. Large parts of the tropics are turning into […]

The post Major El Nino Perfect opportunity for Global Change Research appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The US Federal Reserve has created a new group to advise on its planned faster payments service, the FedNow...

In this file photo, students warm up in a mariachi class at Hamilton High School.; Credit: Susanica Tam for KPCC

Los Angeles Unified's arts education leaders took steps to renew long-dormant community partnerships with arts organizations Wednesday, part of an effort to revitalize arts education in the nation’s second largest school district. 

At the Los Angeles Cathedral in downtown L.A., the district's new arts ed director, Rory Pullens, held his first meeting with community arts organizations. More than 100 people representing several dozen groups attended the event.

Pullens outlined the district's arts plans and how community partners can help boost the arts for students.

“Guess what," Pullens said, getting a round of applause with cheers of support from some of the attendees. "We're back." 

RELATED: LAUSD decision ushers in new source of funding for arts education

Pullens lauded the district's recent announcement clearing the way for arts funding for low-income students, and pointed to new allocations this year that helped some of the district's schools purchase items like art supplies.

He also said the district is working on a school survey to create an arts equity index that will change the way the district allocates arts funds. The index would measure how well schools are providing arts instruction and arts access to students. Originally planned for release last year, the index is now expected next month.

But Pullens also painted a grim picture of the district’s current arts offerings. He said about a third of the district's middle schools currently offer little or no exposure to the arts. Some of the district’s students can go through both elementary and middle school without taking a single arts class, he said. Because of gaps in arts instruction, students who start learning an instrument in elementary school, for example, might not have classes to continue music study in their middle or high schools.

Pullens further talked about widespread budget problems, but took district leaders to task for failing to restore arts funding to the budget as the recession eased.

He said the arts education branch is still facing a deficit. Superintendent Ramon Cortines told reporters recently that the district as a whole is looking at a $160 million shortfall heading into the 2015-2016 school  year.

Despite the mixed funding news, for many in attendance, the meeting marked a positive shift in the district's arts strategy. Some groups currently serve as partners with the district, but the gathering was the first major effort in several years to reach out to organizations with the aim of restoring arts in the schools.

Jay McAdams, the executive director of 24th Street Theatre, said he remembered a few years back when the district emailed a cease-and-desist letter calling for an end to all arts partnership programs. He saw Wednesday's meeting as a major turnaround. 

"This is just a real breath of fresh air. There’s hope, there’s hope for first time in a long time for arts," he said. 

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Despite broad understanding of volcanoes, our ability to predict the timing, duration, type, size, and consequences of volcanic eruptions is limited, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The academic biomedical research community should improve its ability to mitigate and recover from the impacts of disasters, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The National Academy of Engineering today announced the winners of its 2018 EngineerGirl essay competition.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced a new grant opportunity focused on enhancing coastal community resilience and well-being in the Gulf of Mexico region.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced it will award up to $10 million through a new funding opportunity to support research projects that will advance understanding and facilitate improvement of safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry.

The social and behavioral sciences (SBS) offer an essential contribution to the mission of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), a mission that requires an understanding of what human beings do, how, and why, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The changes in brain structure and connectivity that occur between the ages of 10 and 25 present adolescents with unique opportunities for positive, life-shaping development, and for recovering from past adversity, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A centralized, consistently reported system of indicators of educational equity is needed to bring attention to disparities in the U.S. education system, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced $10.7 million in grant awards for four new projects focused on enhancing community resilience in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region.

In 1943, the town of Hanford in Washington State was selected by the Manhattan Project to be home to the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world.

At colleges and universities around the nation, scientists and graduate students are seeking out ways to bring their knowledge, skills, and resources to bear in the struggle against COVID-19.

Faced with financial issues, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater closed its Chelsea location in 2017.; Credit: Andrew Toth/Getty Images

When the Upright Citizens Brigade announced plans to permanently close its New York bases last week, comedy lost a beloved home. The scrappy, alternative comedy troupe that grew into a school and theater revolutionized improv in New York and beyond with its embrace of "Yes, and ..."

The New York institution incubated the talents of stars such as Kate McKinnon, Aziz Ansari, Chris Gethard, Donald Glover, Aubrey Plaza and many others in the comedy world. A pillar of longform improv, UCB teachings have been brought into countless comedy writers' rooms and are etched into many successful TV shows.

Four of the company's founding members, known as the "UCB4" — Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts — told staff in an email on April 21 that the organization couldn't afford to renew its leases on the group's two Manhattan locations: the UCB theater in Hell's Kitchen and a training center in the Garment District.

UCB also has two locations in Los Angeles where operations have been temporarily halted during the coronavirus outbreak, but there are currently no plans to close them.

Obits followed, marking the exit of UCB's physical presence in the city where it took off in the '90s, when the group turned a former strip club into its first theater.

"The guys that I came up with in New York at the UCB Theater — we made our bones there basically," said Rob Corddry, who went on to be a Daily Show correspondent and star in comedy films including Hot Tub Time Machine. "It's really sad. Sort of the end of an era."

The news comes a month after layoffs were announced at the group's New York and Los Angeles facilities in response to the coronavirus. A small number of staff were kept at training centers on both coasts.

But UCB was under financial strain long before the pandemic. Many UCBers cast the move as an example of an opaque, top-down decision-making that, over the years, they say has sowed distrust in UCB leadership among its members.

"The biggest issue with UCB was the lack of communication of the company and the owners to their employees," said Paris Adkins, a New York performer who was laid off from her administrative job with the company last month.

A previous round of layoffs took place at the end of 2018, mostly of New York employees. Adkins said the pandemic "is just the extenuating circumstance that put things over the edge."

As for the most recent closures, UCB's founders admitted to falling short of expectations.

"Look, we heard the community when they said, 'We're scared, too, and we want better communication,' " Amy Poehler told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview with the UCB4 after the announcement. "I think we did make mistakes, and we're trying to do better."

UCB has not responded to NPR's attempts to contact the organization.

Chris Renfro, an LA-based performer and show producer who relied on UCB as his main source of income, said that learning in March via a mass email that his 3-year career there had come to an end struck him as a betrayal of the values the UCB4 claimed to live by.

"UCB is about a community, it's about having each other's backs," he said, referencing the improv tradition UCB students learn of literally patting each other's backs and saying "Got your back."

"It felt like they had turned their backs on this massive community they had built up around them," he said. "So now there's a weird taste in a lot of peoples' mouths because of that."

According to a letter sent to staff addressing the layoffs, Poehler said she would pay for an additional month of health care for former full-time staff.

Much of the company's operations run on part-time staff, according to Adkins. She estimated that UCB cut a total of 45 New York-based employees across the city since last month.

Despite the community's frustrations, when the indefinite shutdown of the New York outposts turned definite, the tributes rolled in online.

Stephen Colbert, who studied at the peer improv hub Second City in Chicago before moving to New York, tweeted "I'll always be grateful" for the times he was roped in to perform with UCB during the '90s in the acclaimed sketch show mainstay Asssscat.

Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper added, "When I left Chicago, the people at UCB NY welcomed me, challenged me, and embodied the NY spirit of full commitment today because tomorrow you could run out of cash and life ships you back home."

Other dispatches on social media were less endearing.

Former students, many of whom shelled out several hundred dollars for improv classes, wrote about negative experiences and wasted money. Some revived longstanding criticism of the theater's policy to not pay its performers, unlike many of its improv peers.

Despite its problems, many felt a sense of community at UCB, Adkins said.

"I think people are grieving," she said. "It's pretty much my only community in New York and I think a lot of people feel that way. You don't get the support of a community like you do at UCB."

In an effort to financially support herself and her peers following the layoffs, Adkins started a GoFundMe page to raise money for New York staff. To date, the account has raised nearly $60,000. She's splitting the funds between staff members, who will receive a month's worth of pay. The rest will be divided among teachers who are in need, Adkins said.

In the THR interview, Amy Poehler assured the UCB community, "We're not leaving New York."

At least for the short-term, the company has moved both LA and New York classes online. For the long-term in New York, leadership has floated plans to return to the old days of renting other independent spaces to hold classes and performances.

Still, even some of its youngest members see the now-shuttered hubs as a piece of history.

"But that's replaceable and people are not," said former training center staff member Maicy Jo Schwartz, who began her UCB NY career in 2014.

Schwartz sees a silver lining.

"I wouldn't be surprised if in the future some people branch off and start their own theaters or their own training centers or their own underground improv and sketch, because New York is a perfect place to do that," she said. "And I do hope that the UCB4 — Amy, Matt, Matt and Ian — can be part of that and support that when there are future endeavors that their alumni take on."

NPR's Elizabeth Blair contributed to this story.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Albert Rad, a mobile phone wholesaler who fled religious persecution in Iran decades ago, said that he fully backs President Trump's decision to assassinate Iran's top military commander. ; Credit: Josie Huang/LAist

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian population outside of Iran. The killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani is generating some strong emotions here. KPPC’s Josie Huang reports from Persian Square in Westwood. 

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A review of the community-led research programme Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) – a UK national programme that brings scientists and communities together to investigate environmental issues – concludes that it benefits both science and the public. The public’s involvement not only raises their awareness of their relationship with the environment, but also contributes to securing a sustainable future.

Researchers in Greece have added a new dimension to noise level mapping by including data on residents’ perception and value of different sounds. This consideration of the experiences of residents in this way could lead to more effective policy implementation.

A community-level initiative in the UK has successfully used social marketing techniques to encourage participants to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. On average, participants reduced their emissions footprint by 2 tonnes every year. Based on the initiative, the authors of this study propose a framework to guide future community engagement.

Establishment of cooperative biogas projects is aided by strong community spirit, regional traditions and farmers' sense of responsibility for their local area, finds a new Italian study. The findings suggest that renewable energy policy could benefit from taking account of community aspects at the local and regional levels.

The insurance company is planning to make more investments in digital selling and workforce management, thus eyeing the covid-19 situation as an opportunity to strengthen the digital posture than a business challenge.

Public support grows for wind farms if they are located away from recreational areas and if they are either fully or partly owned by organisations within the local community. In addition, Swedish consumers would accept bigger bills for electricity generated by wind power if the local population were heavily involved in wind farm planning, a recent survey suggests. This article was updated 30.09.14 to correct an error in the cost of the REC scheme.

The insurance company is planning to make more investments in digital selling and workforce management, thus eyeing the covid-19 situation as an opportunity to strengthen the digital posture than a business challenge.

Plans for new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) need to consider social impacts alongside economic and environmental impacts, according to a recent study, which found that an MPA in the UK has increased some tensions within its local community. The researchers suggest that collaborative management could also help increase support for MPAs and reduce stakeholder conflict.

The migration, displacement and relocation of people needs to be properly addressed in climate change adaptation plans, says a UN report. Among the report’s recommendations, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) should ensure that communities affected by climate change-induced hazards, such as flooding and drought, become more resilient. Migration can also be seen as an adaptation strategy in itself.

Facebook has announced to expand its Community Help feature as part of COVID-19 efforts which will help people offer help to those affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, as well as donate to nonprofit organisations.

From big businesses to real estate companies to global technology firms, everybody is talking of setting up data centres or of making aggressive expansions. Priyanka Sangani delineates the new trend.

A new study has assessed community perceptions towards a controversial wind-farm development in Cornwall, UK, following installation. The results indicate that a range of social, economic and environmental factors influence residents’ perceptions of wind farms. Although negative opinions of the wind farm were found both before and after construction, overall, community attitudes towards them became more favourable after construction, adding to evidence that fear of living near wind farms can reduce over time.

SASOL has adopted telepresence for collaboration between far-flung executives in Europe, North America and Africa. Running over the BT IP Connect global network it also enables federation with customers and suppliers. The solution’s earned Alec’s team a special recognition award from the CEO for bringing the company’s One SASOL philosophy and vision vibrantly to life

CULPEPER — The Virginia Department of Transportation invites the public to attend a citizen information meeting to learn about the upcoming project...

An extra £390,000 is being made available to community groups across Hertfordshire this year, amid the county’s ongoing response to the Covid-19 outbreak.