Newsletter of Sri Ramachandra University

….Connecting SRU

May 2013

Sun ShowerSun Shower

srubridges@gmail.com2May ‘13

From the Editor’s Desk

Bridges - Connecting SRU

Bridges Committee

Patron:

Shri. V. R. VenkataachalamChancellor

Advisory Board:

Prof. J. S. N. MurthyVice-Chancellor

Prof. S. RangaswamiProfessor of Eminence inMedical Education

Prof. K.V. SomasundaramDean of Faculties

Editor-in-Chief:

Dr. Sheela Ravinder. S.

Editor:

Ms. Hemalatha C. R.

Co-Editor:

Mr. Antony Leo Aseer P.

Editorial Board:

Mr. Abhinand P. A.

Dr. Archana P. Kumar

Dr. Ganesh V.

Prof. Kalpana Suresh

Dr. Nithya Jagdish

Prof. Prakash Boominathan

Prof. Sandhya Sundaram

Dr. Sreelekha B.

Secretarial Assistance:

Ms. Stella Augustus

Ms. Geetha R.

Photography:

Mr. Anand Kumar A.

Art & Design:

Mr. Arunagiri S.

Printing:

Mr. Velayudam S.

Cover Photo Courtesy:

Mr. S. VenkatesanLecturer, Dept. of Bioinformatics

Beloved Readers,

Convocation is a special day in our academic calendar and marks the culmination of a phase

of learning. Bridges congratulates all students who have graduated & wishes them a very

successful career ahead even as they scale new heights in terms of higher education.

The emergence of a renal epidemiology unit at SRU is much warranted to provide services

to population with safe and effective care and continue development of patient-centered

renal services. ‘Global News’ in this issue reveals that the lightest material in the world which

looks astounding floating on flower stamen can do different jobs from pollution control

to sound absorption.

Genes could play a role in getting motivated to exercise and remain active says ‘Believe it or

Not’. Despite our limiting thoughts to exercise, let us make it an ingrained habit and take

responsibility for our health and fitness.

Let us stay connected…

Sheela Ravinder. S. Editor-in-Chief

Memories

Training Program for CRRIs on RNTCP – Treatment schedule – Organized by Dept.

of Community Medicine, Dept. of Pulmonology, Medicine & REACH, an NGO on th10 Feb. 2005.

Prof. J. S. N. Murthy, Vice-Chancellor has

been conferred the Fellow of the University

of London, UK in April 2013.

Prof. A. Ravi, Medical Director, SRMC has

been conferred the Fellow of the Royal

College of Surgeons (FRCS), Glasgow, UK

in April 2013.

Glimpses

Happenings

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Bridges - Connecting SRU

The Chairman of the A c a d e m i c & Administrative Audit ( A A A ) C o m m i t t e e , Dr. S. Rangaswami, Former VC, SRU and other experts of the AAA Committee handed over the to our

thVice- Chancellor on 24 Apr.

AAA report

D e p t s . o f S p e e c h

Language & Hearing

Sciences and ENT-HNS

observed thon 16 Apr. The

various events included:

lFree voice screening

camp - 80 participants

benefited

lA workshop for teachers on ‘Optimizing your voice’ - 50 faculty

participated

lCarnatic concert - Ms. Sharanya Krishnan (Alumnus, SRSHAA)

lLight music - Fine Arts Club, SRU

World Voice

Day

D e p t . o f

Commun i t y

M e d i c i n e

celebrated the

t h on 6

Apr. with the

theme ‘High Blood Pressure’. Elocution & essay competitions were

conducted for MBBS students. 60 students participated.

World Health

Day

T h e

j o i n t l y

c o n d u c t e d b y S r i

Ramachandra Faculty of

P hy s i o t h e r a p y a n d

Institute of Therapeutic

Sciences, Michigan was thheld on 29 Apr. 28 Physiotherapists from South India were

certified.

C e r t i f i c a t i o n

C e r e m o n y o f

Or thopedic Manual

T h e r a p y

A workshop on

was organized from th th24 to 26 Apr. by the

Medical Education Unit,

a MCI recognized Nodal

Cente r fo r Facu l t y

Development Workshop.

33 delegates participated.

Medical

Education Technologies

Depts. of Environmental

Health Engineering,

Nephrology, Community

Medicine & Physiology

jointly inaugurated the

under the banner of ‘Sri Ramachandra Kidney thFoundation’ on 15 Apr.

Sri Ramachandra Renal

E p i d e m i o l o g y ,

Prevention and Training

Unit (SRU-REPUT)

Thamizh Mandram, SRU organized a debate on t h e t o p i c

thon 28 Mar.

P e n g a l i n munnetrathukku thadaiyaai i r u p p a t h u a a n g a l a a ,

pengalaa?

thThe was held on 27 Apr. Dr. M. Mangapati Pallam Raju, Union Minister for Human Resources Development was the chief guest.

th 17 Convocation

May ‘13

Bridges - Connecting SRU

srubridges@gmail.com4May ‘13

Dept. of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, organized a seminar on

along with the Drug Information Association (DIA), Tamil Nadu Chapter on th6 Apr. Dr. Anabelle Rajasekaran, Chairperson, DIA- TN Chapter graced the occasion. The guest

speakers were Dr. C. Suthakaran, Asst. Professor, Melmaruvathur Athiparasakthi Institute of

Medical Sciences and Mr. Balasubramanium Sankaranarayanan, Advisory Board Member of DIA,

India. 100 members participated.

Current Perspectives in

Pharmacovigilance

thl5 Dr. K. C. G. Verghese Memorial Trophy Intercollegiate Football Tournament conducted by Hindustan University, Chennai held

th stfrom 28 Mar. to 1 Apr.

Team Event Position

Men - Student Football IV Place

thlDr. M. G. R. Memorial Intercollegiate Staff Cricket Tournament conducted by Sathyabama University, Chennai held on 6 Apr.

Team Event Position

Men - Staff Cricket V Place

thlESPO - ’13 Inter Collegiate Staff Tournament conducted by Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai held on 9 Apr.

Team Event Position

Men - Staff Volleyball WinnersBall Badminton Runners-up

Carrom Runners-up

Women - Staff Carrom Winners

thlAnna Sports Fest – ’13 Inter Professional Tournament conducted by Anna University, Chennai held on 11 Apr.

Team Event Position

Men - Student Football III Place

Date Event

29.04.’13 CPE on ‘Evidence Based Exercise Prescription for Low Back-Post Operative & Non Operative’. The guest speaker was Mr. Raghu Chovvath, Institute of Therapeutic Sciences, Michigan

th21.04.’13 & Ms. S. Ramalakshmi, Lecturer won the best paper award at 6 International Annual Conference22.04.’13 organized by the South Asian Chapter of American College of Clinical Pharmacology, held at Mumbai

19.04.’13 Guest lecture on ‘Experiences of an Allopathic Doctor in Indian Systems of Medicine’ by Dr. Satchi A. Surendran, Family Physician, ISHA Arogya Holistic Health Center, Chennai

st19.04.’13 Mr. Gautham P., Ms. Abitha V., Ms. Suganya B. and Ms. Swetha R., III yr. BDS won the 1 prize in the quiz, ‘Fun with Oral Pathology’ conducted by the VEL’S University

18.04.’13 Guest Lecture on ‘Chemical Biology Approach to Understand Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells’ by Dr. Satish Srinivas Kitambi, Asst. Prof., Stem Cell Biology, Division of Molecular Neurobiology, Karolinska Institute, Sweden

15.04.’13 CME on ‘Chronic Kidney Diseases’. Guest speakers were Dr. Kristina Jakobsson, Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Sweden & Dr. Manjula Datta, Senior Consultant-Epidemiology, ASPIRE, Chennai

12.04.’13 to Dr. A. Sumathy, Asst. Prof. won the ‘Best Poster Award’ in the National Workshop & Industry13.04.’13 Academia Interaction Meet on Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Research & Development held at

Pondicherry University

03.04.’13 Guest lecture on ‘SAS and Clinical Data Analytics’ by Mr. Balaji Raghavan, Territory Head – Sales & Marketing, Epoch Research Institute India Pvt. Ltd

22.01.’13 to Six final year B.Sc. Medical Radiology and Imaging Science Technology students from Tripura 01.04.’13 Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Agartala underwent practical training in the Dept. of Radiology, SRU

Department

Faculty of Physiotherapy

Pharmacy Practice

Pharmacognosy

Faculty of Dental Sciences

Biomedical Sciences, Technology and Research

Environmental Health Engineering, Nephrology & Physiology

Biomedical Sciences

Biotechnology

Allied Health Sciences

Sports

Studies show 97 percent of adults living in the developed world, get less than 30 minutes of exercise a day, which is the minimum recommended amount based on federal guidelines. New research from the University of Missouri suggests certain genetic traits may predispose people to being more or less motivated to exercise and remain active. Prof. Frank Booth and his team, MU College of Veterinary Medicine selectively bred rats that exhibited traits of either extreme activity or extreme laziness.

In their study published in the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Roberts and Booth put rats in cages with running wheels and measured how much each rat willingly ran on their wheels during a six-day period. They then bred the top 26 runners with each other and bred the 26 rats that ran the least with each other. They repeated this process through 10 generations and found that the line of running rats chose to run 10 times more than the line of ‘lazy’ rats.

Once the researchers created their ‘super runner’ and ‘couch potato’ rats, they studied the levels of mitochondria in muscle cells, compared body composition and conducted thorough genetic evaluations through RNA deep sequencing of each rat.

“While we found minor differences in the body composition and levels of mitochondria in muscle cells of the rats, the most important thing we identified were the genetic differences between the two lines of rats,” Roberts said. “Out of more than 17,000 different genes in one part of the brain, we identified 36 genes that may play a role in predisposition to physical activity motivation.” Now that the researchers have identified these specific genes, they plan on continuing their research to explore the effects each gene has on motivation to exercise. They say these rats indicate that genetics could play a role in exercise motivation even in humans.

Source: M. D. Roberts, J. D. Brown, J. M. Company, L. P. Oberle, A. J. Heese, R. G. Toedebusch, K. D. Wells, C. L.Cruthirds, J. A. Knouse, J. A. Ferreira, T. E. Childs, M. Brown, F. W. Booth. Phenotypic and Molecular Difference Between Rats Selectively-Bred to Voluntarily Run High Versus Low Nightly Distances. AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2013

Believe it or NotGenetic Predisposition to Laziness

Bridges - Connecting SRU

srubridges@gmail.com5May ‘13

Global NewsWorld’s Lightest Material!

Chinese scientists have created the world's lightest substance - a material so insubstantial it can perch on

the petals of a delicate flower without crushing them. A cubic centimeter of the record-setting stuff,

carbon aerogel, has a mass of only 0.16 milligram, according to a new study by scientists at Zhejiang

University headed by Dr. Gao Chao. It is 12 percent lighter than an equal volume of the previous record-holder, a substance known as

aerographite.thIf the average human body were made entirely of carbon aerogel instead of flesh and bone, it would weigh only 1/40 of a pound! Dr. Gao’s

team started with a semi-solid gel of carbon nano tubes and graphene and then used a freeze-drying process to convert it to a solid. Unlike

earlier-generation ultra light material, this new substance is quite easy to make, according to Gao.

“Carbon aerogel is similar to carbon sponge in structure. When an aerogel of the size of a mug is put on Setaria, the slender grass will not

bend,” Gao Chao said in a press statement. Despite its fragile appearance, carbon aerogel has excellent elasticity. It can bounce back when

compressed. In addition, it is one of the materials with the biggest oil absorption capacity. Current oil absorbing products can usually absorb

organic solvent of about 10 times of their own weight. The newly developed carbon aerogel can absorb up to 900 times their own weight.

Carbon aerogel is expected to play an important role in pollution control such as oil spill control, water and even air purification. In addition to

pollution control, carbon aerogel is expected to become an ideal material for energy storage insulation, catalytic carrier and sound-absorption.

Also, the material might be a promising aid in water purification. It might act as an adsorbent for persistent water pollutants, for it could oxidise

or decompose and remove these. Scientists could also benefit from Aerogel's advantages namely mechanical stability, electronic conductivity

and a large surface. Another possibility might be the purification of ambient air for incubators or ventilation.

Source: Advanced Materials, Volume 24, Issue 44, November 20, 2012, Pages: Op331–Op336

Prof. Jaya Vijayaraghavan,

Dept. of OBGYN has assumed office as HODMs. M. Mangala Mary

Vice Principal, School of Nursing

Greetings Farewell

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Bridges - Connecting SRU

May ‘13

Depts. of Community Health Nursing and Community Medicine celebrated the World Health Day with the theme ‘Healthy Heart Beat: thHealthy Blood Pressure’ on 8 Apr. at Rural Health and Training Center, Vayalanallur. 90 members benefited.

As part of Sri Ramachandra Speech and Hearing Alumni Association decennial year celebration, a free speech and hearing camp was thconducted along with Rotary Club of mid town-Salem on 13 Apr. at Sri Vidyamandir School, Salem. 34 individuals were screened. Free

hearing aids were issued to three individuals.

A group of 20 interns & students from the Faculty of Dental Sciences visited ‘Nethrodaya’, sta home for the visually impaired at Chennai on 31 Mar. Activities like quiz & public speaking

on the current issues in India were conducted for the inmates of the home which was followed

by a lecture on dental hygiene. 40 visually impaired people participated.

Reach Out

Happiness is...... in being humorous

Laughter is an all round physical, mental and spiritual tonic. A sense of humor lends us poise, gives us balance and enables us to face

the challenges of life. We should learn to laugh with others and not at others. Being funny is not about mocking others. It is about being

genuinely humorous and encouraging people to share a laugh together. Having a good sense of humor helps us to see the lighter side of life

and brings happiness to everyone.

To develop a sense of humor, watch funny shows, read jokes and hang out with fun-loving people. We need to broaden our horizons and

look for humor in everyday situations. Unnoticed humor has the most impact. Humor can energize us and leave us feeling a lot more alert.

It can reduce anxiety and is an opportunity for social bonding. It breaks down barriers between people and boosts creativity. Being humorous

allows us to establish relationships better and faster. When we deliver honest and sincere humor to people, we will place smiles not only on

faces but also in their hearts.

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing

- Mark Twain

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Bridges - Connecting SRU

May ‘13

The ‘Orch OR’ hypothesis proposes a connection between quantum brain processes and fundamental space-time geometry and

explains this by pointing out quantum computational activities occurring in sub-microscopic cytoskeletal structures in the neurons

called microtubules.

Let us take Paramecium, a single-celled protozoan which has no neurons or synaptic connections. It can still swim around,

locate food, avoid hostile surroundings and sexually reproduce. How is it able to achieve all this – without any mechanism

for consciousness? In Cartesian terminology, it is nothing more than an unthinking, soulless, automation. Communication

signals enabling Paramecium to effectively carry out its basic survival and house keeping functions are ferried across its length

and breadth by cytoskeletal structures. Cytoskeletal elements like microtubules provide internal stability and scaffolding for

cells and carry out such other functions as transmitting and dispersing mechanical stresses within the cell, aligning chromosomes

during cell division and providing organelle like cilia and flagella needed for motility.

Images from Google image

Microtubules are nano-cylindrical structures. Their walls are made of 13 filamentous subunit proteins known as tubulins.

Microtubules are connected to each other by linking proteins and to other cell structures to form cytoskeletal lattice

networks. In the neuron, they create and regulate synapses and facilitate gap junction communication between them. In the

Penrose-Hameroff Orch OR model, microtubules have been described as quantum computers with tubulins acting as 8

quantum bits or ‘qubits.’ Such cytoskeletal lattice networks with 10 tubulins per neuron switching coherently can provide 14

10 information processing operations or ‘qubits’ per second per neuron. With its 100 billions neurons, the quantum

computational capacity of the brain can almost reach infinity!

Prof. S. Rangaswami,Professor of Eminence in Medical Education, SRU.

(will be continued…)

Soul to Soul

Home HintsBeat the Heat!

HCarry an umbrella everywhere to block the sun

H Avoid drinking frozen or cold drinks, instead go for coconut water and butter milk

H Carry a bottle of water around to rehydrate yourself

HEat less spicy food as it makes your body generate heat

HEat fresh vegetables and fruits like cucumbers, melons, etc.

HAvoid flipping between air conditioned places and open heat as this can make you sick

HNever forget your sunscreen when you go out in the sun

8May ‘13

Bridges - Connecting SRU

For internal circulation only

Colors

Ms. R. Shalini, Technologist,Dept. of Emergency & Trauma care Technology

Sketch by Mr. K. Vijaya Kumar,II yr. M.Sc. Anatomy

Ms. C. R. Hemalatha,Lecturer, Dept. of Bioinformatics

Prof. Prakash Boominathan,Dept. of SLHS

Your CornerBoogie Boogie Subdued

thThe 27 Bridges Monthly Book Review was held on 16.05.'13

Book : How 11 Indians Pulled off the Impossible Making Breakthrough Innovation Happen

Author : Porus Munshi

Reviewed by: Mr. A. Selvam, Assoc. Prof., Faculty of Management.

Forthcoming Bridges Monthly Book Review

June 2013 – The Monk who Sold his Ferrari by Robin S. Sharma

To be reviewed by Ms. A. Seethalakshmi, Reader, College of Nursing

Purple Veins Simply Summer