Increase In Hepatitis C Diagnoses For 2008, UK

Figures from the agency’s yearly report on Hepatitis C for 2009 show that laboratory reporting of newly diagnosed hepatitis C infections in England increased in 2008 by 6% compared to 2007, with 8,196 new cases reported in 2008.

Hepatitis C is a viral infection which causes swelling or inflammation of the liver. It is transmitted when the blood of an infected person mixes with a recipient’s blood, such as via injecting drug use and the sharing of needles. Because hepatitis C infection is predominantly asymptomatic in the early years, many individuals remain undiagnosed until the disease has progressed. If the infection is diagnosed in the early stages, treatment can be offered that can clear the infection in more than half of those treated. However, some infections remain undiagnosed until end-stage liver disease is reached, when a transplant becomes the only real option.

Methane levels may point to life on Mars

New research has strengthened the possibility that biological life may exist beneath the surface of Mars. Scientists from Imperial College London have shown that the level of methane on the Red Planet can’t be explained by meteorites in the atmosphere. This leaves the theory that microorganisms are producing methane gas as a by-product of their metabolic processes as one of the remaining possible explanations.

Methane consists of four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom and is the main component of natural gas on Earth. It’s of interest to astrobiologists because organisms release much of Earth’s methane as they digest nutrients. It has a short lifetime of just a few hundred years on Mars because it is constantly being depleted by a chemical reaction in the planet’s atmosphere, caused by sunlight.

Gestural interfaces make touch screens look so ‘last year’

The gestural interface used by Tom Cruise in the movie Minority Report was based on work by MIT Media Lab’s Hiroshi Ishii, who has already commercialized similar large-scale gestural interface systems. However, such systems comprise many expensive cameras or require the user to wear tracking devices on their fingers. To develop a similar yet cost effective gestural interface system that is within reach of many more people other researchers at MIT have instead been working to develop screens with embedded optical sensors to track the movement of the user’s fingers that could quickly make touch screens seem outdated.

Touch screens, like those found in iPhones, use capacitive sensing, where the touch of a finger disrupts the electrical connection between sensors which determine the location of the touch. Gestural interfaces use embedded optical sensors to track the movement of the user’s fingers so they don’t have to come into contact with the display.

IIS: An Afternoon with Eboo Patel

An Afternoon with Eboo Patel
Founder & Executive Director of Interfaith Youth Core  

Monday 14 December 2009   3.30pm   Room 2.1 - 2nd Floor   Institute of Ismaili Studies 210 Euston Road London NW1 2DA     Eboo Patel was recently appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships, where he is working to realise the President’s priority of interfaith cooperation.

Live Event: Eboo Patel

TheIsmaili.org, in conjunction with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, will host a live webcast by Eboo Patel, founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement. The event will take place on Monday, 14 December 2009 at 15:30 GMT (London time), and will be broadcast at www.theismaili.org/live.

Eboo Patel was recently appointed by United States President Barack Obama to the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships, where he is working to realise the President’s priority of interfaith cooperation. He is also the author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation. Patel writes The Faith Divide, a featured blog on religion for The Washington Post and serves on the Religious Advisory Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee of the Aga Khan Foundation USA.

Source: The ismaili

Aga Khan University Convocation 2009 – Picture Preview

Salgirah

Throughout history, Ismaili Muslims have been led by a living, hereditary Imam-of-the-Time descended from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) through his cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali, and his daughter, Hazrat Bibi Fatima.

On 13 December 2009, Ismailis around the world will celebrate the 73rd birthday of our present living Imam, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan. Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1936, he succeeded his grandfather to become the 49th Ismaili Imam at the age of 20. During the five decades of his Imamat, Mawlana Hazar Imam has devoted himself to the spiritual and worldly progress of Ismailis everywhere.

The celebration of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s birthday is an occasion for Ismailis to reflect on the unique spiritual bond that links each murid to Hazar Imam. It also affords the Jamat an opportunity to express its love, loyalty and devotion to the Imamat, which binds the Ismaili community together as one.

Salgirah Kushiali Mubarak!

Source: The Ismaili

An Article: Happy Birthday, Karim Aga Khan IV, Leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims

By Isabel Cowtes

Aga Khan IV is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, to become the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He has spent his life working to strengthen the Muslim community through his belief that the ethic of Islam “requires members of the faith to contribute to improving the quality of all human life.”

Karim Aga Khan IV’s Early Days

Karim Aga Khan IV was born to Prince Aly Khan and Princess Tajuddawlah Aly Khan on December 13, 1936 in Geneva, Switzerland. For four years during World War II, he lived with his brother and parents in Nairobi, Kenya, where he received a religious education. At the end of the war, the family returned to Europe. He attended Le Rosey School in Switzerland where he concentrated on learning Arabic, Urdu and Islamic history. Upon graduation, he enrolled at Harvard and earned a BA Honors Degree in Islamic history in 1959.

In 1954, under the direction of his grandfather, sitting Imam Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, the Aga Khan and his brother, Prince Amyn, traveled to the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent and East African countries to observe traditions of the Muslim faith.

Aga Khan University Convocation 2009: Speech by Mr. Firoz Rasul

Chief Guest, Dr Maleeha Lodhi
Chairman Saidullah Khan Dehlavi
Members of the Board of Trustees of Aga Khan University
Distinguished Guests
Faculty and Staff, Proud Parents and most important,
the Graduands
As Salaam Walaikum

Welcome to the 2009 AKU Convocation in Pakistan.

Beginning with the graduates and their families: congratulations! This is indeed a day of great celebration and pride for us all as you complete a significant milestone in your lives.

Today, 328 of you are graduating. From the Institute for Educational Development this morning, we have 40 students who have been awarded Master of Education degrees and 2 who were awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Education. From the School of Nursing, we have 3 students who will receive their Master of Science in Nursing, 47 who will receive their Post-RN Bachelor of Science in Nursing, 37 who will receive their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) and 85 who will receive their Diploma in General Nursing. From the Medical College this morning, we have 3 students who received PhDs in the Health Sciences, 4 students who received a Master of Science in Clinical Research, 13 students who received a Master of Science in Epidemiology & Biostatistics, 7 who received a Master of Science in Health Policy & Management and 87 new doctors with an MBBS who took their Oath to uphold the ethics of patient care.

AKU Convocation 2009: Pakistan needs leader committed to public service – Dr Maleeha Lodhi

“More than ever our country needs citizens and leaders who make public service the hallmark of all that they do and commit themselves resolutely and single-mindedly to address the terrible burdens of poverty, disease and deprivation,” said Dr Maleeha Lodhi, the former ambassador of Pakistan to the US and Britain, and recipient of the President’s Hilal-e-Imtiaz award for Public Service in Pakistan, while addressing graduands as chief guest at Aga Khan University’s  22nd convocation ceremony. The ceremony marked the graduation of 328 students in the fields of medicine, nursing and education from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the US.

Speaking about the “challenging and testing times” that Pakistan is facing, Dr Lodhi urged the newly graduated students to use their knowledge and skills not only for professional goals, but also to reduce the burden of inequities that blight justice and development.

KARACHI: 328 students get degrees at AKU convocation

KARACHI, Dec 12: Over 300 students of various disciplines received their graduation degrees at the Aga Khan University’s 22nd convocation ceremony held on Saturday.

Dr Maleeha Lodhi, former Pakistani ambassador to the US and the UK, was the chief guest at the convocation.

The ceremony marked the graduation of 328 students from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the US in the fields of medicine, nursing and education.

Stop cutting trees, melting of glaciers

Biodiversity specialist Z B Mirza has said we are willingly bringing a local climate change through glacial melting by not taking adequate measures and capacitating the mountain communities. He was speaking at a seminar on ‘The frontlines of climate change: disaster risk management, water, food security and recreation challenges,’ organised by the Development Communications Network (DEVCOM-Pakistan) in collaboration with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and World Wide Fund for Nature here on Friday. The seminar was part of the launching of Pakistan Mountain Fest, a brainchild of DEVCOM-Pakistan.

The International Mountain Day observed throughout the world on Friday was seemingly ignored by the government that did no activity in connection with the day despite the fact that apart from Mount Everest, the next highest peaks are in Pakistan. He said that our neighbouring countries are following suit and the end result will be ecological disaster. The rapidly receding glaciers would ran out of our hands soon leaving no water for drinking and crops. He said that 40 per cent of our water comes from glaciers.

Minister Kenney Extends Birthday Wishes to His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Dec. 11, 2009) – The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, issued the following statement on the birthday this coming Sunday of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan: “I would like to extend warm birthday wishes to His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan. “The Aga Khan has now been the spiritual leader of the Shia Nizari Ismaili Muslims for more than half a century. During that time he has exerted a profound influence both within and far beyond his community, and has become an extraordinary example of compassion and tolerance. “This is most evident in the Aga Khan Development Network, which he founded and now chairs, and which works towards social, economic, and cultural development in Asia and Africa. “It is an honour for Canada that the Aga Khan has chosen Ottawa as the site of the Global Centre for Pluralism and the new Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, and that he is establishing the Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre in Toronto. “Earlier this year, in a moment of great pride for Canadians, His Highness was granted honourary Canadian citizenship in recognition of what Prime Minister Harper described as his ‘leadership as a champion of development, pluralism and tolerance around the world.’ “As Prime Minister Harper has said, ‘his name has become synonymous with humanitarian aid and development in countries beset by conflict and poverty. Just as importantly, he has worked tirelessly as a bridge-builder between faiths and cultures.’ “As Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, I wish His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan a long, healthy, and blessed life.”

Source: Market Wire

IIS: Alumni Chapter Group Meetings and Elections

The annual meetings of all three Chapter Groups of the IIS Alumni Association were held during the past few months. Almost one hundred alumni attended the meetings, travelling from nine countries. The Asian Chapter Group held a two day meeting from 8^th – 10^th May in Damascus, Syria. Over forty alumni from Afghanistan, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Syria, and Tajikistan attended the meeting. The weekend was made up of academic sessions, visits to historical sites as well as discussions on the future role of the alumni within and beyond the AKDN and the Jamat. The meeting opened with a presentation by Mr. Shiraz Kabani, Head of Operations, Finance and Development at the IIS, in which he discussed the relationship between the Institute and its alumni. Dr. Paul-Francois Tremlett, a visiting lecturer at the Institute, conducted a session on anthropology for participants.

Read the complete article from the Source

The Institute of Ismaili Studies launches redesign website

The Institute of Ismaili Studies has launched a redesigned website featuring a fresh new look and additional functionality that will enhance access to new and existing content.

The updated website introduces a new navigation system, Google-based search, RSS feeds, and integrated sharing with social networking sites. Users will also benefit from reading lists and short articles, video interviews with IIS authors, images of artefacts and rare manuscripts held by the IIS, as well as reading guides and additional information about the Institute’s publications.

During the past decade, The Institute of Ismaili Studies’ website has been a source for academically sound information on Muslim societies and civilisations. Available in Arabic, French, Persian and Russian, the website has been accessible to a wide audience within and beyond the Jamat.

The launch of the redesigned website represents an exciting moment for the IIS. In a statement to TheIsmaili.org, the Institute expressed the hope that the updated website will “allow users better access to all the content within the site.”

“We thank our users who have supported us by visiting the site regularly, and we hope that the Jamat will continue to visit and promote the site to their friends and family.”

Source: The Ismaili

Human blood stem cells engineered to kill HIV

A proof-of-principle study has demonstrated that it is possible to engineer human blood stem cells into cells that can target and kill HIV-infected cells. The result is the equivalent of a genetic vaccine which is not only good news in the fight against HIV – the process could also be used against a range of chronic viral diseases.

In the study researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and colleagues took the “killer” T cells that help fight infection, known as CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, from an HIV-infected individual.

Gravestones provide clues to climate history

By gathering volunteers’ measurements of marble gravestones of different ages around the world, scientists hope to produce a world map of the weathering rates of those gravestones and thereby better understand how the atmosphere has been changing. The study, called EarthTrek, is developed and managed by the Geological Society of America’s (GSA) Education and Outreach group in partnership with organizations around the globe.

GSA says the weathering rates of gravestones indicate changes in the acidity of rainfall between locations and over time. The acidity is affected by air pollution and other factors, and could be used as a measure of changes in climate and pollution levels.

Intelligence-sharing centre opened in Kazakhstan

-extract-

Counter-narcotics partnership in Central Asia has been strengthened over the past few years among the States that have signed the 1996 Memorandum of Understanding on Subregional Drug Control Cooperation, which includes the five countries of Central Asia, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, as well as UNODC and the Aga Khan Development Network. On 8 and 9 December, the eighth review meeting of the Memorandum of Understanding was hosted by Kazakhstan.

Francis Maertens, Deputy Executive Director of UNODC, hailed CARICC as “one of the major achievements of the MoU states, of which we can all be proud”. He stressed that Central Asia benefits from UNODC’s largest regional drug and crime portfolio (US$ 78 million a year and rising).

Complete at source

Childhood Obesity – High Rates of Under-nutrition among School Aged Indo-Asian Childrens

Rise in Childhood Obesity with Persistently High Rates of Under-nutrition among Urban School Aged Indo-Asian Children

By Tazeen Jaffer – Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Background Childhood obesity is an emerging global public health challenge. However, evidence on nutritional transitioning from Indo-Asian developing countries is lacking. We conducted these analyses to determine trends in nutritional status of school aged children in urban Pakistan.

Methods Data on nutritional status on children aged 5 to 14 years from two independent population-based representative surveys-the urban component of National Health survey of Pakistan (NHSP) (1990-1994) and the Karachi survey (2004-2005) were analysed. Using normative data in children in the US as reference, trends in age and gender standardized prevalence (95% CI) of underweight (weight-for-age less than – 2 SD), stunting (height-for-age less than – 2 SD), and overweight and obesity (body mass index 85th percentile or greater) were compared. Association between physical activity with overweight and obesity was analyzed in the Karachi survey using logistic regression analysis.

Aga Khan Trust for Culture News Letter – Nov/Dec 2009

Download the complete newsletter in Pdf from below:

The Islamic Conscience – The Aga Khan & the Ismailies Screening Melbourne @ Parliament of the World’s Religions

There were so many events going at the Parliament of the World’s Religions that I wondered whether the turnout would be good…but all was fine with the room almost completely filled.

It was a mostly non-Ismaili crowd and they asked some good and insightful questions. There seemed to a large number of questions around succession. I think the questioners were concerned that this good leader the Aga Khan must be followed by an equally good or better leader to continue helping the Ismailis play a positive force in the world. I agree.

Read complete article from the Source

Wakhi Cultural Festival inaugrated

Islamabad, December 9: The Wakhi cultural festival began today at Cultural Heritage Museum of Lok Virsa, Islamabad. The event is being organized by Gojal Educational and Cultural Association (GECA) with the support of Lok Virsa and Norweign Embassy and is to continue for five days till 13 Dec.

The proceedings for the day stared with recitation of Quran by Qari Shuja. Chief guest of the opening day was presented with traditional Wakhi cap and Choogha by a wakhi elder from Ishkoman and Ejaz Karim former chairman of GECA.

Read the complete news from the Source

Carrollton program lets Ismaili Muslim parents, kids share learning experience

CARROLLTON – Class springs to attention with the Pledge of Allegiance. Five-year-old Saniya Khoja takes the lead, twirling a red-white-and-blue flag the size of a napkin. Little ones with hands over hearts recite “… one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.” Then, Saniya and her classmates sing “Are You Sleeping, Brother John?” Voices rise in Arabic greetings. Mothers and a few fathers join in harmony.

This is an after-school program for Ismaili Muslim children in Carrollton at their social and spiritual center, known as a jamatkhana. And the program emphasizes an essential that public schools have tried to inspire for decades: parental involvement.

Touch Bionics launches world’s first bionic finger

The fact that the hand is such a debilitating body part to lose has spurred researchers to develop a functional and aesthetically pleasing bionic replacement. While seemingly not as severe as the loss of an entire hand, the loss of fingers can be just as much of a hindrance and represents the largest group of arm amputees. Short of removing the remaining partial hand, there has been no bionic option available to replace missing fingers. Now, a developer of upper-limb bionic technologies has addressed this deficit with the launch of ProDigits, the world’s first powered-bionic finger.

Moyez Ladhani – Associate Professor at McMaster University, Canada

Moyez Ladhani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University. He is the Deputy Chief for the Division of General Pediatrics and the Program Director for the Pediatric Residency Program. Clinically, Dr. Ladhani is a Consultant Pediatrician, mainly providing service on the CTU, runs an outpatient consultant practice and supervises the senior resident clinic.

Dr. Ladhani completed his MD at the University of Toronto, followed by a residency in Family Medicine at the University of Toronto and a residency in pediatrics at the IWK Hospital, Dalhousie University.

Dr. Ladhani has been involved in many program, development and search committees. Currently, he chairs numerous committees with a main focus on medical education and CME activities. He sits on two exam boards, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Pediatric Exam Board (MCQ) and the Medical Council of Canada Evaluation Exam Pediatric Test Committee.

IIS: Webcast with Professor Karim H. Karim

The Institute of Ismaili Studies invites you to a live webcast for individuals interested in its Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities.

Professor Karim H. Karim, Co-Director of The Institute of Ismaili Studies will deliver a presentation about the programme for interested candidates at 14.30 GMT on Saturday 12^th December 2009. The event will be broadcast live on www.theismaili.org.

 

Interested candidates are invited to join this presentation through the following link: IIS Webcast. A demanding and exciting 3-year post-graduate course of study, the Institute’s Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities is designed to train individuals to play a leading role in academic and community life. It acts both as a preparation for a research degree and as a stepping stone to a variety of career opportunities around the world.  

Source: IIS

Emerging Trends in Graduate (MEd) Research at AKU-IED

Friday, December 11, 2009; 3:00 – 4:30 pm

Where	Multipurpose Hall, Ground Floor, Block B, AKU-IED, Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, Karachi, Pakistan
Details	Presenters Dr Dilshad Ashraf Ms Ummefarwah Halai Ms Naheed Anwar Ms Haleema YounusAll are cordially invited. Interested persons from outside AKU are most welcome.
Organisers	Research and Policy Studies, Institute of Educational Development
Contact	Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Severe Childhood Obesity Linked To Missing DNA

Researchers in the UK have linked cases of severe childhood obesity to missing DNA that runs in families, whereby members missing the vital genetic chunk are severely obese from a young age, have a strong drive to eat and put on weight very easily; the missing DNA, called SH2B1, is located on chromosome 16 and plays an important role in regulating weight and blood sugar.

The finding has implications for the diagnosis and care of severely obese children, whose condition may be misattributed to abuse, said the researchers.

The study, thought to be the first to show this kind of genetic deletion can cause obesity, is the work of Dr Sadaf Farooqi from the University of Cambridge and Dr Matt Hurles from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and colleagues, and was published online in the journal Nature on 6 December.

Marine census reveals 17,500 species and counting living in the murky depths

“The deep sea is the Earth’s largest continuous ecosystem and largest habitat for life. It is also the least studied,” says Dr. Chris German, who along with hundreds of other Marine Life scientists from around the globe is shedding light on these mysterious depths through an unprecedented census of deep-sea marine inhabitants. Their recordings have yielded astonishing findings of more than 17,500 species of often bizarre marine creatures – from oil-eating tubeworms to elephant-eared octopods – inhabiting the blackest depths between 200 meters and up to 5, 000 meters (~3 miles) below ocean surface. Even more remarkable is the ability of these deep-sea creatures to live and thrive in topographically challenging environments where food availability is marginal, at best.

California regulators green light space-based solar

Earlier this year we reported that California’s biggest power utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), was seeking to buy power generated by space-based solar panels pending regulatory approval from its home state of California. Now, true to the State’s goal of increasing its reliance on a diverse supply of renewable energy resources and of supporting renewable technologies at reasonable costs and risks to ratepayers, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted said approval.

The news shouldn’t come as any great surprise as the approval is not for the project itself. In fact there is no financial risk to PG&E or California ratepayers at all. Rather the approval is for a deal that sees PG&E agreeing to buy power generated from the first-of-its-kind project at a certain rate for a term of 15 years starting in 2016.