IBM announced that its researchers have demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to visualise nanoscale objects.
"This research brings us one step closer in our quest to build a microscope that we hope can eventually see atoms in three dimensions," Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research Laboratory said in a statement.
"This would enable scientists to study atomic structure of molecules such as proteins, which would represent a huge breakthrough in structural molecular biology", he said.
This technique led by IBM's Almaden Research Centre brings MRI capability to the nanoscale level for the first time
"Using magnetic resonance force microscopy (MFRM), IBM researchers have demonstrated two-dimensional imaging of objects as small as 90 nanometres, a key advancement on the path of 3D imaging at the atomic scale," he said.
Such imaging could ultimately provide a better understanding of how proteins function, which in turn may lead to more efficient drug discovery and development, he added.
MFRM offers imaging sensitivity that is 60,000 times better than the current MRI technology. It uses what is known as force detection to overcome the sensitivity limitations of conventional MRI to view structures that would otherwise be too small to be detected.
To develop this, the research team developed specialized magnetic strips for their microscope, optimising their ability to manipulate and detect the very weak magnetism of atomic nuclei.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
IBM brings MRI technology to nanoscale
April 27, 2007, 8:26 amDon't mind, Bangalore is like this only
April 27, 2007, 8:24 am
On a sultry Wednesday afternoon, sitting in the plush office of the $130-million Infinite Computer Solutions’ CEO at Bangalore’s International Tech Park, Australian state minister Timothy Holding is unfazed by talk of infrastructure woes plaguing the city.
"This is clearly a city that is growing extraordinarily quickly," he said. "But then, Bangalore must be getting something right. For, the investments here are staggering," said Holding, pointing to the huge campuses housing global IT giants like SAP and Indian majors like Tata Consultancy Services.
That may be so, but local frustration is also clearly palpable to Holding. "All of the development work puts incredible pressure on infrastructure, on roads, public transport, electricity. And, of course, the challenge for the government is to respond to the needs of the people and businesses," the information & communication minister from the Australian state of Victoria said as he prepared to meet Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
Nearly 20 km away from the Tech Park, in a five-star hotel, Yahoo co-founder David Filo became slightly emotional about his company's Bangalore connections. "I have mixed emotions as I stand here. Initially, when we were looking at basic outsourcing, we came here. We moved from that to engineering services and to development of products for markets globally. Now, we offer services across the board from Bangalore," the Chief Yahoo said. The reason, "As we looked at emerging markets and the places where we would put our engineering, we realised that Bangalore made sense."
It is not just for Yahoo, Google or AOL (which will be launching its India portal aol.in on Thursday) that Bangalore has made sense.
Despite the city’s spiralling costs, increasing wages and rising property prices compounded with the infrastructure bottlenecks, multinational companies have opened their purse strings to increase their Bangalore presence. In the last one year, IT giants like IBM, Accenture, Intel, SAP and Cisco have together poured in over $1 billion in investment into Bangalore.
As Filo said, “We want to look at Bangalore as a centre of excellence for developing products for the global market. Folks here are going to be working on engineering services for the global markets.” Yahoo has currently 1,000 people working in its research & development section and on Thursday will open another facility with 1,600-seat capacity.
There was, though, one word of caution from Holding. “Of course, the pressure on infrastructure with development will increase quickly and it will always be a struggle to keep up.” But that’s unlikely to rob the Garden City of its technological prowess.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
"This is clearly a city that is growing extraordinarily quickly," he said. "But then, Bangalore must be getting something right. For, the investments here are staggering," said Holding, pointing to the huge campuses housing global IT giants like SAP and Indian majors like Tata Consultancy Services.
That may be so, but local frustration is also clearly palpable to Holding. "All of the development work puts incredible pressure on infrastructure, on roads, public transport, electricity. And, of course, the challenge for the government is to respond to the needs of the people and businesses," the information & communication minister from the Australian state of Victoria said as he prepared to meet Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
Nearly 20 km away from the Tech Park, in a five-star hotel, Yahoo co-founder David Filo became slightly emotional about his company's Bangalore connections. "I have mixed emotions as I stand here. Initially, when we were looking at basic outsourcing, we came here. We moved from that to engineering services and to development of products for markets globally. Now, we offer services across the board from Bangalore," the Chief Yahoo said. The reason, "As we looked at emerging markets and the places where we would put our engineering, we realised that Bangalore made sense."
It is not just for Yahoo, Google or AOL (which will be launching its India portal aol.in on Thursday) that Bangalore has made sense.
Despite the city’s spiralling costs, increasing wages and rising property prices compounded with the infrastructure bottlenecks, multinational companies have opened their purse strings to increase their Bangalore presence. In the last one year, IT giants like IBM, Accenture, Intel, SAP and Cisco have together poured in over $1 billion in investment into Bangalore.
As Filo said, “We want to look at Bangalore as a centre of excellence for developing products for the global market. Folks here are going to be working on engineering services for the global markets.” Yahoo has currently 1,000 people working in its research & development section and on Thursday will open another facility with 1,600-seat capacity.
There was, though, one word of caution from Holding. “Of course, the pressure on infrastructure with development will increase quickly and it will always be a struggle to keep up.” But that’s unlikely to rob the Garden City of its technological prowess.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
Clean sweep? Gujarat ranks third in country
April 27, 2007, 8:21 am
The State Government's efforts behind launching the 'Nirmal Gujarat' drive has borne fruit as Gujarat ranks third among all states in the country under the Centre-sponsored 'Sampurna Swachhata Abhiyan'. With as many as 1,956 clean villages, Maharashtra ranked first while Uttar Pradesh ranked second with 475 villages.
The Centre identified 381 villages in the State under the campaign.
Gujarat Minister of State for Rural Development Bharat Barot told mediapersons on Thursday that he would lead a group of sarpanchs of all 381 villages to Delhi on May 4 to attend a function. At the function, village heads from across the country will be given awards for their achievement under the Centre-sponsored sanitation programme. The national-level function will be attended by President AP J Abdul Kalam, among others.
Barot said all the 381 village panchayats in the State had achieved cent-per-cent target in 2006-07 as per the various parameters set by the Union Rural Development Ministry to claim the "Nirmal Gam Award" floated by the Ministry. The panchayats had covered all families and schools under the sanitation programme in their respective villages. Besides, each of these villages ensured that no person defecates in the open and the carrying of night soil.
In 2004-05, only one village - Rajasmadhiyala in Rajkot - from Gujarat had qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award, and four other villages the following year.
"It's due to the concentrated efforts launched by our department last year that as many as 381 villages have qualified for the award", the minister said. Among the districts, Bhavnagar tops the list of maximum 97 villages having total sanitation, followed by Vadodara (39), the Panchmahals 38 Surendranagar (32), Dahod (25), Patan (23) and Anand (21). Interestingly, not a single village in Ahmedabad district has qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award.
The State Government also needs to carry on with the campaign as another 17,619 villages remain to made "nirmal".
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
The Centre identified 381 villages in the State under the campaign.
Gujarat Minister of State for Rural Development Bharat Barot told mediapersons on Thursday that he would lead a group of sarpanchs of all 381 villages to Delhi on May 4 to attend a function. At the function, village heads from across the country will be given awards for their achievement under the Centre-sponsored sanitation programme. The national-level function will be attended by President AP J Abdul Kalam, among others.
Barot said all the 381 village panchayats in the State had achieved cent-per-cent target in 2006-07 as per the various parameters set by the Union Rural Development Ministry to claim the "Nirmal Gam Award" floated by the Ministry. The panchayats had covered all families and schools under the sanitation programme in their respective villages. Besides, each of these villages ensured that no person defecates in the open and the carrying of night soil.
In 2004-05, only one village - Rajasmadhiyala in Rajkot - from Gujarat had qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award, and four other villages the following year.
"It's due to the concentrated efforts launched by our department last year that as many as 381 villages have qualified for the award", the minister said. Among the districts, Bhavnagar tops the list of maximum 97 villages having total sanitation, followed by Vadodara (39), the Panchmahals 38 Surendranagar (32), Dahod (25), Patan (23) and Anand (21). Interestingly, not a single village in Ahmedabad district has qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award.
The State Government also needs to carry on with the campaign as another 17,619 villages remain to made "nirmal".
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
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