Storing Dental Stem Cells Vital

Society Desk

A bank should be established in the country for storing stem cells extracted from milk teeth, said an associate professor of the Faculty of Pediatric Dentistry at Isfahan Medical University.
Nosrat Nourbaksh added that primary teeth, which have been identified as a rich source of stem cells, can be used for the treatment of many diseases.
She noted that a large number of countries have such banks, pointing out that 20 milk teeth of each person can be stored in the bank.
The Faculty of Pediatric Dentistry is negotiating with the Presidential Office’s Department for Science and Technology and Royan Research Center to establish the bank.
Nourbakhsh stated that public awareness in this regard should be increased.
“People cannot bear the cost of storing primary teeth, which is $800 for each tooth,” she said.
She called on the government to support the establishment of the dental stem cell bank.
The studies of faculty’s researchers, who produced nervous cells from dental stem cells, have been published.
Nourbakhsh stated that cells produced from stem cells can be used or treating various diseases, including diabetes, Parkinson’s and pancreatic diseases.
The stem cells can also be used instead of chemical elements for curing dental diseases.
Many parents around the world are now considering the option of storing stem cells from their children in such banks.
In the past decade, scientists discovered that the pulp of baby teeth has a high content of stem cells. As stem cell research is advancing, this decision could save their children’s lives one day.
Other options, such as storing blood from babies’ umbilical cords after birth, are also available. However, storing milk teeth stem cells present a number of advantages, including ease of storage.
Stem cells have generated a great deal of scientific interest in past decades because of the cells’ ability to renew themselves and split into a wide range of specialized cell types. Several types of stem cells are classified according to their ability or potential to divide into other types of cells.
The cells’ potential ability to divide themselves determines the range of treatments of diseases.

City Kids More Allergic Than Rural Ones

Children living in urban centers have a much higher prevalence of food allergies than those living in rural areas, according to a new study to be published in the July issue of Clinical Pediatrics.
In particular, kids in big cities are more than twice as likely to have peanut and shellfish allergies compared to rural communities, Xinhua reported.
The study included 38,465 children, 18 years and under, who comprised a representative sample of US households. Their food allergies were mapped by ZIP code.
The findings include: In urban centers, 9.8 percent of children have food allergies, compared to 6.2 percent in rural communities, almost a 3.5-percent difference; Peanut allergies are twice as prevalent in urban centers as in rural communities, with 2.8 percent of children having the allergy in urban centers compared to 1.3 percent in rural communities.
Shellfish allergies are more than double the prevalence in urban versus rural areas; 2.4 percent of children have shellfish allergies in urban centers compared to 0.8 percent in rural communities.
Food allergies are equally severe regardless of where a child lives, the study found. Nearly 40 percent of food-allergic children in the study had already experienced a severe, life-threatening reaction to food.
The states with the highest overall prevalence of food allergies are Nevada, Florida, Georgia, Alaska, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
The study controlled for household income, race, ethnicity, gender and age. It tracked food allergy prevalence in urban centers, metropolitan cities, urban outskirts, suburban areas, small towns and rural areas.
“We have found for the first time that higher population density corresponds with a greater likelihood of food allergies in children,” said lead author Ruchi Gupta, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This shows that environment has an impact on developing food allergies.”
Food allergy is a serious and growing health problem. An estimated 5.9 million US children under 18 years, or one out of every 13 children, now have a potentially life-threatening food allergy, according to 2011 research by Gupta.
A severe allergic reaction that can lead to death includes a drop in blood pressure, trouble breathing and swelling of the throat. A food-allergic reaction sends an American to the emergency room every three minutes, according to a March 2011 study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

British Parents Regret Gifting Gadgets to Kids

A study in Britain has found one-third of parents regretting having given their children mobile phones, computers and games consoles.
According to the study commissioned by Hobbycraft, a chain of arts and crafts superstores, parents fear about the harm to youngsters’ patience, creative and social skills as well as to quality time means 34 percent of them yearn to take the gadgets back from their children, Daily Mail reported.
About 67 percent of the parents were found to be annoyed with the amount of time their children spend with computer or watching TV instead of enjoying traditional activities.
The study of 2,000 parents of children aged 3-16 found that over half of youngsters have a handheld games console, while another 50 percent have a games console. And four in ten kids have their own TV in their bedrooms.
The huge variety of gadgets now owned by kids sees them spending about three hours everyday watching TV, playing computer games or surfing the Internet.
Two-thirds of parents blame the gadgets for reducing the amount of quality time the family has together. And, because of this, 80 percent are thinking of getting anything but a gadget for their child’s next birthday or festival present.
Catriona Marshall, Hobbycraft’s CEO, said, “With most children being given these gadgets by their parents, most mums and dads are finding it difficult to change things now.
“They face the dilemma of whether to give in and let their kids watch or play what they want, or put their foot down and line up some creative games and activities.”

Arctic Ice Melt Prelude to Severe Winters

The dramatic melting of Arctic Sea ice due to climate change could lead to severe winter outbreaks, reveals a study.
Charles H. Greene, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University and colleague Bruce C. Monger, senior research associate, detail this phenomenon, the journal Oceanography was cited by IANS.
“Everyone thinks of Arctic climate change as this remote phenomenon that has little effect on our everyday lives,” Greene said. “But what goes on in the Arctic remotely forces our weather patterns here.”
A warmer Earth increases the melting of sea ice during summer, exposing darker ocean water to incoming sunlight. This causes increased absorption of solar radiation and excess summertime heating of the ocean--further accelerating the ice melt, according to a university statement.
The excess heat is released to the atmosphere, especially during the autumn, decreasing the temperature and atmospheric pressure gradients between the Arctic and middle latitudes.
“What’s happening now is that we are changing the climate system, especially in the Arctic,” Greene said. “It’s something to think about given our recent history.”
This past winter, an extended cold snap descended on central and Eastern Europe in mid-January, with temperatures approaching minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit and snowdrifts reaching rooftops.
There were also the record snowstorms fresh in the memories of residents from several eastern US cities, as well as many other parts of the Eastern Seaboard during the previous two years.

Experts on Persian Gulf

Integrating Geopolitics, Environment
Smart Idea
Abdolreza Karbasi
Department of Environment’s Deputy Director

The Persian Gulf has a sensitive ecosystem. Because the water that flows from Persian Gulf into Oman Sea takes about four or five years to exit that area, any pollution created in the Persian Gulf remains there for four years. It is a closed area that daily bears more stress.
First of all, there is transportation of oil from Persian Gulf, where about 75 million barrels daily must exit the Strait of Hormuz and reach consumers. The large volume of tanker traffic, their possible accidents and the wastewater discharge of some of these tankers, which don’t have any treatment system, have resulted in the flow of oil into the Persian Gulf.
Moreover, in several periods, incidents such as wars have occurred that have increased the oil stress on Persian Gulf.
In addition, because the Persian Gulf countries generally lack adequate precipitation, they turn to industries that can receive its cooling-water directly from the sea. Therefore, the industries’ growth around the Persian Gulf is increasing, and as a result industrial wastewaters enter the waterway.
As the precipitation in the Persian Gulf region is low, the rate of our agriculture is also low. Thus, the entrance of pesticides into the Persian Gulf is the least possible. So, the most important pollutants are oil pollution and industrial wastewater.
Unfortunately, the third pollutant that is of high importance is urban pollution, because the southern cities of Iran lack wastewater treatment system. Despite the fact that the Energy Ministry was obligated to equip cities with more than 30,000 population with a water treatment system until March 2011, this didn’t happen.
In addition, lots of docks are under construction in nearby countries, which require dredging. Dredging disturbs the environment, and in many cases, results in the displacement of sensitive stations.

Environmental Pollution and Hazards
Ahmad Kamranifar,
Hormuzgan University’s Associate Professor
If plans are made, the region will endure less damage from tourism. Relevant environmental organizations, by taking part in this issue and making proper plans can provide a healthy environment along with the arrival of the tourists.
Because of the Persian Gulf’s salinity which, of course, is higher than in the Oman Sea, a special and unique ecosystem has emerged, which include various islands, coral islands and mangrove forests.
The ecosystem and environmental life of this region have special and dazzling beauties, about which we must be sensitive about.
The damage and pollution the artificial islands of UAE can cause must be examined. After that, the regional countries must look at this issue with greater sensitivity and complain to international and environmental authorities.
We have the Kuwait Convention in the region, on the basis of which countries can set forth the water pollution issue and notify international environmental organizations.
Moreover, we must consider that given the closed nature of the Persian Gulf, these artificially islands and their potential damage and hazards concern all the countries of this region.
Wastes, fuel discharges and other kinds of pollution, which enter the water in this way, can seriously endanger its environmental life.
So far, in a thoroughly scientific manner, military exercises have not been proved to be the cause of water pollution in Persian Gulf.
The discharge of urban waste in the Persian Gulf coasts, especially in Bandar Abbas, can be more related to this issue and cause serious damage to the coral reefs.
The Department of Environment, Bandar Abbas Municipality and, above all, the governorate must make serious efforts in this regard and take action so that past disasters don’t reappear.
The Persian Gulf countries, by entering into and paying attention to such conventions, can reveal their sensitivity regarding environmental issues and pursue their claims by international authorities.
Any country, whose oil tankers enter these waters or which use this waterway, must have a responsible view about the region’s pollution. By joining international conventions, these countries must feel responsible and act that way.

Confluence of Spiritual, Material Elements
Mahmoud Yazdanfam
Secretary of the Scientific Committee of
1st Confab on Persian Gulf Environment and Geopolitics
The geopolitical significance of Persian Gulf has been known to the world powers for more than a century.
In the second half of the 20th century, the geoeconomic importance of the Persian Gulf became more apparent and was the focus of greater attention of these powers. Now we must add the geocultural component to these two dimensions of power.
At present, Persian Gulf nations, by relying on their religious values, culture and civilization can reveal another face of the regional nations’ power that has so far been ignored.
In the past few decades, the Iranian people showed that reliance on common values and interests of Muslim people provides a better base to shape political, economic and technical orders in the region. These orders are based on the needs, wishes and common interests of the countries in the region rather than on the interests of trans-regional powers.
The First Conference on Persian Gulf Environment and Geopolitics is an opportunity for forging greater interaction among scholars, researchers and decision-makers about solidifying orders to think more thoroughly about regional issues, fundamentals, goals and shared values among the regional nations and to unite their visions.

Environmental Pollution and Hazards

Ahmad Kamranifar,
Hormuzgan University’s Associate Professor
If plans are made, the region will endure less damage from tourism. Relevant environmental organizations, by taking part in this issue and making proper plans can provide a healthy environment along with the arrival of the tourists.
Because of the Persian Gulf’s salinity which, of course, is higher than in the Oman Sea, a special and unique ecosystem has emerged, which include various islands, coral islands and mangrove forests.
The ecosystem and environmental life of this region have special and dazzling beauties, about which we must be sensitive about.
The damage and pollution the artificial islands of UAE can cause must be examined. After that, the regional countries must look at this issue with greater sensitivity and complain to international and environmental authorities.
We have the Kuwait Convention in the region, on the basis of which countries can set forth the water pollution issue and notify international environmental organizations.
Moreover, we must consider that given the closed nature of the Persian Gulf, these artificially islands and their potential damage and hazards concern all the countries of this region.
Wastes, fuel discharges and other kinds of pollution, which enter the water in this way, can seriously endanger its environmental life.
So far, in a thoroughly scientific manner, military exercises have not been proved to be the cause of water pollution in Persian Gulf.
The discharge of urban waste in the Persian Gulf coasts, especially in Bandar Abbas, can be more related to this issue and cause serious damage to the coral reefs.
The Department of Environment, Bandar Abbas Municipality and, above all, the governorate must make serious efforts in this regard and take action so that past disasters don’t reappear.
The Persian Gulf countries, by entering into and paying attention to such conventions, can reveal their sensitivity regarding environmental issues and pursue their claims by international authorities.
Any country, whose oil tankers enter these waters or which use this waterway, must have a responsible view about the region’s pollution. By joining international conventions, these countries must feel responsible and act that way.

Confluence of Spiritual, Material Elements

Mahmoud Yazdanfam
Secretary of the Scientific Committee of
1st Confab on Persian Gulf Environment and Geopolitics
The geopolitical significance of Persian Gulf has been known to the world powers for more than a century.
In the second half of the 20th century, the geoeconomic importance of the Persian Gulf became more apparent and was the focus of greater attention of these powers. Now we must add the geocultural component to these two dimensions of power.
At present, Persian Gulf nations, by relying on their religious values, culture and civilization can reveal another face of the regional nations’ power that has so far been ignored.
In the past few decades, the Iranian people showed that reliance on common values and interests of Muslim people provides a better base to shape political, economic and technical orders in the region. These orders are based on the needs, wishes and common interests of the countries in the region rather than on the interests of trans-regional powers.
The First Conference on Persian Gulf Environment and Geopolitics is an opportunity for forging greater interaction among scholars, researchers and decision-makers about solidifying orders to think more thoroughly about regional issues, fundamentals, goals and shared values among the regional nations and to unite their visions.

Environmental Alert for Santiago

Chile has issued an environmental alert for its capital city because of air pollution. Santiago officials on Friday placed limits on industries and plying of cars.