DR Congo toughest place for mothers – Save the Children

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The Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s toughest place to raise children, Save the Children reports.

Finland was named the best place to be a mother, with Sweden and Norway following in second and third places.

The charity compared factors such as maternal health, child mortality, education and income in 176 countries.

In India, over 300,000 babies die within 24 hours of being born, accounting for 29% of all newborn deaths worldwide, the report says.

The 10 bottom-ranked countries were all from sub-Saharan Africa, with one woman in 30 dying from pregnancy-related causes on average and one child in seven dying before his or her fifth birthday.

In DR Congo, war and poverty have left mothers malnourished and unsupported at the most vulnerable time of their lives.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22430608

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Smart bracelet protects aid workers

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A hi-tech bracelet could soon be helping civil rights and aid workers at risk of being kidnapped or killed.

When triggered, the personal alarm uses phone and sat-nav technology to warn that its wearer is in danger.

Warnings are sent in the form of messages to Facebook and Twitter to rally support and ensure people do not disappear without trace.

The first bracelets are being given out this week and funding is being sought to make many more.

The bracelets have been developed by the Civil Rights Defenders campaign group in a bid to help workers in war zones and other areas of conflict.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22038012

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Body’s anti-HIV ‘training manual’ offers vaccine hopes

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The body’s own “training manual” for attacking HIV has been recorded by US scientists and it is hoped it can be used to design vaccines.

HIV mutates in order to survive the onslaught of a patient’s immune system.

However, some patients develop highly effective antibodies that can neutralise huge swathes of HIV mutants.

A North Carolina team analysed the arms race between body and virus, published in the journal Nature, and has shown how these antibodies are made.

When someone is infected with HIV, their body produces antibodies to attack it. But the virus mutates and evades the offensive, so the body produces new antibodies that the virus then evades and the war goes on.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22002455

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Yahoo spends ‘millions’ on UK teen Nick D’Aloisio’s Summly app

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An app created by a UK teenager has been acquired by web giant Yahoo in a deal the BBC understands to be worth “dozens of millions” of pounds.

Seventeen-year-old Nick D’Aloisio’s Summly app summarises news stories from popular media companies.

Neither company would disclose the terms of the deal publicly.

The app itself will now close, but its features will be used in mobile products at Yahoo, where Mr D’Aloisio has been given a job.

He will be joined by several of Summly’s “top staff” in new roles at Yahoo in the next few weeks.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21924243

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Anti-cyber threat centre launched

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A new initiative to share information on cyber threats between businesses and government is to be launched.

It will include experts from government communications body GCHQ, MI5, police and business and aims to better co-ordinate responses to the threats.

There will be a secure web-portal to allow access to shared information in real time, like a “secure Facebook”.

UK networks are attacked by other states, criminals and companies seeking secrets, costing billions of pounds.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21945702

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Early HIV drugs ‘functionally cure about one in 10′

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Rapid treatment after HIV infection may be enough to “functionally cure” about a 10th of those diagnosed early, say researchers in France.

They have been analysing 14 people who stopped therapy, but have since shown no signs of the virus resurging.

It follows reports of a baby girl being effectively cured after very early treatment in the US.

However, most people infected with HIV do not find out until the virus has fully infiltrated the body.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21783945

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Bonnie Franklin Dead at 69

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Franklin had announced she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2012.

Franklin had a long career, but was best known for playing the mother to Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips on “One Day at a Time” from 1975-1984.

She was married to playwright Ronald Sossi from 1967 to 1970 and to film producer Marvin Minoff from 1980 until his death in November 2009. She had no children.

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http://www.tmz.com/2013/03/01/bonnie-franklin-dead-one-day-at-a-time/?icid=maing-grid7|myaol|dl3|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D277256

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Microsoft unveils self-sketching whiteboard prototype

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Microsoft is working on an interactive whiteboard which aims to interpret users’ sketches to complete the diagrams they were drawing.

The firm will unveil the prototype as part of Techfest – an annual event where its researchers reveal some of the projects they are working on.

The digital canvas is designed to help workers make sense of “big data” – the growing amount of information available from sensors and other sources.

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.Click link below for story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21659719

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Skin cancer ‘able to fight off body’s immune system’

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A deadly form of skin cancer is able to fend off the body’s immune system, UK researchers have found.

Analysis of tumour and blood samples shows that melanoma knocks out the body’s best immune defence.

A potential test could work out which patients are likely to respond to treatment, the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports.

Cancer Research UK said the body’s response was a “complex puzzle”.

Previous work from the team at King’s College London showed that while patients with melanoma produced antibodies that could attack tumour cells, the immune system often seemed powerless to stop the cancer progressing.

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.Click link below for article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21635697

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‘Wrong’ immune response aids TB

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Some bacteria, including tuberculosis, are able to invade because the body launches the ‘wrong’ immune response, say researchers.

Instead of fighting off tuberculosis, people with a severe infection produce a protein which attacks viruses, the journal Science reports.

About 8.7 million people are infected with tuberculosis every year.

The findings may explain why viruses can make people more susceptible to bacterial infections.

A spring peak in tuberculosis infections may be linked to the effects of viruses circulating in winter, experts suggested.

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.Click link below for article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21619594

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