A new school session in selected schools

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Government’s new educational concept of extending the school session from 1.30 pm to 3.00pm at selected schools in the country was highlighted by Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana at a meeting held at Ududumbara Maha Vidyalaya, Kandy last week.

According to Minister Gunawardana, students in today’s globalised world like to acquire a vast knowledge in the fields of Science, Mathematics, Commerce, English and Information Technology.

“As we are aware, at present a large number of employment opportunities are also available in these fields and therefore it is our duty to help students to gain a sound knowledge on these particular subjects.”

The Minister called upon school teachers to extend their fullest co-operation towards the development of education in the country and said that this could be achieved by conducting more classes for such special subjects.

Accordingly, the Education Department on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to extend the school session from 1.30 pm to 3.00 pm at selected schools in future with the consent of educationists in the country.

He said after implementing this new school session, children could study special subjects a longer duration and it will help them to improve their knowledge further as well as to find better employment opportunities.

“As the Education Minister, it is my duty to take the responsibility to develop the education of 4.3 million schoolchildren and therefore, I wish teachers and parents will not oppose this proposed scheme of extending school sessions,” he added.

Why hair turns grey

Communication between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells key to mystery:

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Many of you must be curious as to why and how our hair changes colour with age. As we grow older the beautiful black or brown hair we in this part of the world have ( blonde or red hair is common in other countries), changes into grey or ‘silver ‘ hair as it is sometimes called. There are some people whose hair turns grey at a very young age. It is called premature greying. Scientists have discovered some interesting information about greying today... Let's find out.

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A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center has shown that, for the first time, Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can dictate hair pigmentation.

The study was published in the June 11, 2011 issue of the journal Cell.The research was led by Mayumi Ito, PhD, assistant professor in the Ronald O. Pereleman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone. "We have known for decades that hair follicle stem cells and pigment-producing melanocycte cells collaborate to produce coloured hair, but the underlying reasons were unknown," said Dr. Ito.

"We discovered Wnt signaling is essential for coordinated actions of these two stem cell lineages and critical for hair pigmentation."

The study suggests the manipulation of Wnt signalling may be a novel strategy for targeting pigmentation such as graying hair.

The research study also illustrates a model for tissue regeneration."The human body has many types of stem cells that have the potential to regenerate other organs," said Dr. Ito.

"The methods behind communication between stem cells of hair and colour during hair replacement may give us important clues to regenerate complex organs containing many different types of cells."Using genetic mouse models, researchers were able to examine how Wnt signaling pathways enabled both hair follicle stem cells and melanocyte stem cells to work together to generate hair growth and produce hair colour. Research also showed the depletion (or inhibition or abnormal) Wnt signaling in hair follicle stem cells not only inhibits hair re-growth but also prevents melanocytes stem cell activation required for producing hair color.

The lack of Wnt activation in melanocyte stem cells leads to depigmented or gray hair.The study raises the possibility that Wnt signaling is a key pathway for the regulation of melanocyte stem cells and shows how melanocyte behavior is associated with hair regeneration.

This insight provides further understanding of diseases in which melanocytes are either appropriately lost such as hair graying or undergo uncontrolled cell growth as in melanoma.

-ScienceDaily

NEWS IN BRIEF

by Rohana Jayalal

A database on water resources

The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management will launch a database and information dissemination system of the water levels of rivers, streams and reservoirs in the country. The collection of data and information dissemination is to be carried out at 122 centers island wide.

According to Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management sources, the Ministry plans to spend around Rs. 600 million to set up this state-of-the-art digital database.The database and the information centres will be launched in October this year. Once in place they will provide information regarding flood threats as well.

Mosquito coils pose health risks

The Western Provincial Health Services Director Amal Harsha de Silva says recent research carried out by the Public Health Inspectors has revealed that the people of the Western Province of Sri Lanka burn around seven big containers of mosquito coils every day. Over 25,000 shops in the Western Province sell mosquito coils, say the Western Provincial Health Services Director who points out that the people use mosquito coils as the primary source for repelling mosquitoes.

However, studies have shown that the smoke of mosquito coils can pose significant acute and chronic health risks. Scientific studies have reported that burning one mosquito coil would release the same amount of particulate matter as burning 75-137 cigarettes and the emission of formaldehyde from burning one coil can be as high as that released from burning 51 cigarettes.

Measures to control air pollution

The Department of Motor Traffic has appealed to the public to inform them of any vehicles emitting heavy smoke and has set up a hotline to handle any such complaints.

The public may inform the Department of such vehicles by lodging a complaint with its project office over the hotline 011-3100152 or email [email protected] can also be directed to the Project Director of the Vehicle Emission Testing Programme at the Department of Motor Traffic, P.O Box 533, Colombo 5 or fax 011-2669915.