Gender identification method using a feather in Psittacine birds.

A peculiar problem lies behind the breathtaking colors of Psittacine birds, more commonly known as the parrot family (including parakeets and macaws) — identifying their gender based on morphology is not easy because most of them are monomorphic meaning both males and females are similar in size and appearance. The Avian and Exotic Pet Unit of the Department of Wildlife Sciences at the Madras Veterinary College (MVC) offers a non-invasive DNA sexing technique by testing a feather for major Psittacine bird species, including budgerigars, lutino and African love birds, cockatiels, cockatoos, conures and macaws. They are the first government institution in the country to achieve this breakthrough, even though some private laboratories are offering the facility. “Sexing, even of young birds, is important in avian breeding and evolutionary studies. Sexing is currently performed by expensive and time-consuming procedures such as vent sexing, laparoscopy, steroid sexing and karyotyping (a chromosomal evaluation). These procedures may cause pain and are a threat to the health status of the birds. The sexing is done using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method ,the PCR method substantially reduces stress and bleeding in birds. The gender identification is carried out by presenting just the feather of the chick or adult bird to the laboratory and its gender is determined in a couple of days. This procedure can also be used for gender identification of other birds such as pigeons. Sexing is possible in budgerigars from the male’s bright blue cere (the fleshy section above the beak); the female’s cere is a pinkish brown. Similarly, the grey cockatiel has distinguishable features that enable sexing visually. more

Salisbury man fighting breast cancer works to boost awareness.

Larry Latamondeer first felt the knot in his chest in 2014 and knew it shouldn’t be there. In less than three weeks, he was in surgery, having a mastectomy. “Unbelievable. Unreal," Latamondeer, 48, of Salisbury, thought when he was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, which means estrogen, progesterone and a gene known as HER-2/neu, the three most common receptors known to fuel breast cancer growth — are not present in the tumor. “Patients who have triple negative breast cancer do not respond to hormonal therapy and are instead advised to undergo chemotherapy," Mark Vellek, a medical oncologist at Missouri Cancer Associates, said. "This cancer is often very aggressive and tends to grow and spread quickly." There have been very slight increases since 2014 in the number of men diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The American Cancer Society expects about 2,600 men to be diagnosed with the disease and about 440 to die from it this year. About one in eight women can expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime; for men, the risk is one in 1,000. “In male breast cancer, the problem is because it is rare, there aren't huge studies about how to treat it," Vellek said. "Treatment is based on tested treatments in women.” Latamondeer started 16 weeks of chemotherapy in 2014 and thought that he had won the battle. Less than two weeks after the treatments, though, his health took a bad turn. He felt worse and had trouble breathing. He was missing work. After having x-rays and ultrasound at Boone Hospital Center, he was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is advanced stage 4 cancer. It had spread beyond Latamondeer's breast and into his organs. There is no cure, Vellek said. The only goal is containment. Statistics show that approximately 90 percent of deaths due to breast cancer are from metastasis, and the overall survival rate for metastasized breast cancer is only about 16 percent. more

Pet tracker.

A Brand New Tracking Method That Fits Everyone’s Budget.Have you ever lost your pet? If you haven’t – pray you never do! If you have, you know it’s one of the most gut wrenching feelings you can experience. If you’re like most people with pets, you consider your pet like family. And while no one wants to lose their pet (we all think it’ll never happen to us), the fact is it happens. According to recent studies, 1 in 4 pets go missing every year and many of them never make it home safely. And while there’s no guarantee your pet won’t get out and get lost again, there’s a way to significantly improve the odds of getting your beloved pet back if he does. It’s called TrackR! How to get TrackR...Here Its simple to use and it will take less than five minutes to put it to work. You simply have to pair your TrackR with your smartphone and download the free application which will allow you to locate it anytime. Once this is done, you simply have to put it on your key chain, in your wallet or in any object you want to locate always. In this case you just attach it to your dog's collar. more

Biotech Experts Consider Boosting Food Security Through Genetically Modified Organisms • Channels Television

Biotech Experts Consider Boosting Food Security Through Genetically Modified Organisms • Channels Television: Agricultural biotechnologists are exploring the chances of boosting food security in Nigeria using Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

IoT, Big Data & Smart Farming is the Future of Agriculture.

The farming industry will become more important than ever before in the next few years,simply because the world needs to produce 70% more food in 2050 than it did in 2006 in order to feed the growing population of the Earth, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

 The food security challenge has made farmers and agricultural companies turn to the Internet of Things for analytics and greater production capabilities.See 

 The IoT will push the future of farming to the next level by using smart agriculture ,which is already becoming more popular among farmers. High tech farming(agritech) is quickly becoming the standard mode of operation especially with the advent of agricultural drones and sensor. 

 Farmers have already begun employing some high tech farming techniques and technologies in order to improve the efficiency of their day-to-day work. For example, sensors placed in fields allow farmers to obtain detailed maps of both the topography and resources in the area, as well as variables such as acidity and temperature of the soil. They can also access climate forecasts to predict weather patterns in the coming days and weeks. 

 Farmers can use their smartphones to remotely monitor their equipment, crops, and livestock, as well as obtain stats on their livestock feeding and produce. They can even use this technology to run statistical predictions for their crops and livestock. Drones have become an invaluable tool for farmers to survey their lands and generate crop data. More

#Agribusiness #drones #future #Technology #Food safety

A teenager in India has a 20cm 'tail' removed from his back.

A teenager with a 20cm "tail" growing at the bottom of his spine has undergone surgery to have it removed. It started to appear on the 18-year-old's back just after his 14th birthday. He and his family, from Nagpur in India, had kept it a secret because they were worried he would be bullied. They finally went to see a doctor after it grew too long to hide - and had begun to develop a bone inside. It's thought to be the longest ever recorded on a human - although cases are very rare. "It became a problem when the tail grew outside the body," said his mum, who doesn't want to be named. "He would just lift the tail every time he needed to change his clothes."I could see that it was very annoying and painful for him, so I took him to a hospital." Doctors say the teenager might have developed the tail in the womb as a result of a spinal deformity, but that it appeared outside only after he grew up."When the size of the tail grew... [it] began to press on the boy's back," said surgeon, Dr Pramod Giri. "It was cosmetically and psychologically disturbing for him." Although surgically removing a tail isn't a very complicated procedure, it must be carried out by a neurosurgeon as the growth of tail involves a part of the spinal cord. It normally develops when the end of the spine is flattened in some way. The teenager will be kept in hospital for a few days and then allowed back home - without his tail.(source; BBCNewsbeat )

A 3D Printed Skull Saves the Life of South Korean Woman.

A 60-year-old woman went to Chung-Ang University Hospital in Seoul after she developed a sudden headache, and a CT scan showed that she was suffering from a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage, a rare condition that involves bleeding between the brain and the tissues that cover it. It’s obviously a life-threatening condition, and one that required immediate surgery. The surgical team, led by Professors Kwon Jeong-tek and Lee Mu-yeol from CAUH’s neurosurgery department, first had to block the blood supply to parts of the brain to prevent further bleeding. They then removed a portion of the patient’s skull to relieve pressure caused by the swelling of the brain. Though it sounds unbelievable, surgeons have replaced large portions of patients’ skulls via 3D printing before,While surgeons have been replacing portions of patients’ skulls with synthetic implants and plates for some time, the technology has always been imperfect. According to Dr. Kwon, materials used for skull replacements have included cement, which is obviously less than ideal due to its weight, plus it’s difficult to shape such materials into the exact shape of a patient’s skull. 3D printed titanium is strong, lightweight, and can be designed to perfectly fit the patient. Plus, 3D printing a new skull is not only cost-effective but fast .continue