Andhra Horror: Techie kills wife, body fished out of the lake after 5 months

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Andhra Horror: Techie kills wife, body fished out of the lake after 5 months

Tirupati, May 31 A techie brutally murdered his wife, stuffed her body in a suitcase, and dumped it in a lake in the temple city of Tirupati.

The chilling facts came to light on Tuesday, nearly five months after he committed the crime.

Police recovered the body of Padma from the lake in Venkatapuram on the outskirts of the town.

Police said they have arrested Venugopal, a software engineer currently employed with a firm in Hyderabad.

The techie had been misleading his in-laws that the Padma is with him in Hyderabad. As she did not even speak to them over the phone for nearly five months, Padma’s parents grew suspicious and lodged a missing complaint with the police.

During the interrogation, Venugopal confessed to killing the Padma on January 5, the same day he brought her home from her parents’ house, where she was living for two years due to a marital dispute.

Venugopal, who had even filed a divorce petition in the court, told Padma’s parents that he wants to take her home and forget whatever happened in the past.

He later informed them that he took her to Hyderabad where they are living together.

Padma’s parents believed him as they thought Venugopal is a reformed man. Whenever they called him and wanted to speak to the Padma, he used to make some excuse. They started suspecting him and finally lodged a complaint with the police two days ago.

A police officer said Venugopal married the Padma in April 2019. After the marriage, they were living in Chennai where he was working with an IT company. A few months after the marriage, differences cropped up between their post and she returned to her parent’s home.

Both sides have filed court cases against each other. Venugopal had filed a case for divorce while the Padma had approached the Women’s Commission.

Police investigations revealed that after bringing the Padma to his house on January 5, Venugopal thrashed her with a stick, resulting in her death.

The incident happened in the presence of Venugopal’s parents and a friend. They later tied the body and stuffed it into a large suitcase.

Venugopal then carried the suitcase to the lake, dumped it there, and left Tirupati with his parents.

Padma’s relatives alleged that Venugopal had been harassing her from day one for more dowry. They demanded the death penalty for Venugopal.

In a similar case in Tirupati last year, a man had killed his 27-year-old techie wife, stuffed the body in a suitcase, and had set it afire after dumping it in a remote place.

Srikanth Reddy had tried to fool the relatives by saying his wife died of Covid-19 and the hospital authorities cremated the body.

Bhuvaneswari was working as a software engineer in a company in Hyderabad. The shocking crime came to light after police found a charred body and took up an investigation.

 

if you Planning for baby Should take the vaccine or not

TB Team
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if you Planning for baby Should take the vaccine or not

Hyderabad, May 7 (Telugu Bullet) Dr Shashant, Fertility Expert at Ferty9 Fertility Center was explained clearly on if you Planning for baby Should take the vaccine or not

on the below video please watch the video

STAY HOME,STAY SAFE

 

No evidence on whether portable air filters reduce Covid-19

TB Team
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No evidence on whether portable air filters reduce Covid-19

There is an important absence of evidence regarding the effectiveness of a potentially cost-efficient intervention, like air filters, to prevent indoor transmission of respiratory infections, including Covid-19, warns a study.

Controlling how we acquire and transmit respiratory infections is of huge importance, particularly within indoor environments such as care homes, households, schools/day care, office buildings and hospitals where people are in close contact.

“Whilst we found some evidence suggesting use of air filters could theoretically contribute to reducing the spread of Covid-19 and other respiratory infections by capturing airborne particles, there is a complete absence of evidence as to whether they actually reduce the incidence of these infections,” said lead author Ashley Hammond, an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, in the paper published in the journal PLoS One.

Several manufacturers of portable air filters have claimed their products remove potentially harmful bacteria and viruses from indoor air, including Covid-19 viral particles. However, there is often no detailed evidence provided on their websites to corroborate their claims for potential consumers to review before purchasing.

A team of researchers from the Bristol University reviewed previous studies to investigate whether portable air filters used in any indoor setting can reduce incidence of respiratory infections. They also explored whether portable air filters in indoor settings capture airborne bacteria and viruses within them, and if so, what specifically is captured.

Two studies reported removal or capture of airborne bacteria in indoor settings (an office and emergency room), demonstrating that the filters did capture airborne bacteria and reduced the amount of airborne bacteria in the air. Neither tested for the presence of viruses in the filters, nor a reduction in viral particles in the air.

Covid smell loss: Avoid steroids, try smell training

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Covid smell loss: Avoid steroids, try smell training

If you are worried about smell loss due to Covid-19, ditch steroids and try sniffing at least four different odours twice a day, suggest an international group of smell experts.

The team, including Prof Carl Philpott from the University of East Anglia in the UK, noted that steroids should not be used to treat smell loss caused by Covid-19. Instead, ‘smell training’ — a process that involves sniffing at least four different odours twice a day for several months, they recommend in the paper detailed in the International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology.

Smell loss is a prominent symptom of Covid-19, and the pandemic is leaving many people with long-term smell loss.

Corticosteroids — a class of drug that lowers inflammation in the body — are often prescribed to help treat conditions such as asthma, and they have been considered as a therapeutic option for smell loss caused by Covid-19.

“But they have well-known potential side effects including fluid retention, high blood pressure, and problems with mood swings and behaviour,” Carl Philpott, Professor and smell loss expert from UEA’s Norwich Medical School.

“The huge rise in smell loss caused by Covid-19 has created an unprecedented worldwide demand for treatment. Around one in five people who experience smell loss as a result of Covid-19 report that their sense of smell has not returned to normal eight weeks after falling ill,” Philpott added.

But research shows that 90 per cent of people will have fully recovered their sense of smell after six months.

The team carried out a systematic evidence-based review to see whether corticosteroids could help people regain their sense of smell.

They found very little evidence that corticosteroids will help with smell loss. And because they have well known potential adverse side effects, they advise against its use as a treatment for post-viral smell loss.

But smell training, on the other hand, could be helpful. “It aims to help recovery based on neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to reorganise itself to compensate for a change or injury,” Philpott said.

How diabetes, cancer & pesticide exposure raises Covid risk

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How diabetes, cancer & pesticide exposure raises Covid risk

People with metabolic diseases like Type-2 diabetes and cancer as well as those exposed to organophosphate pesticides can be at an increased risk of Covid-19 infection, finds a new study performed in human lung airway cells.

The study, led by Saurabh Chatterjee and team from the University of South Carolina in the US, identified a basic mechanism linked with inflammation that could increase susceptibility to Covid-19 infection among people exposed to organophosphates.

The findings showed that people with Type-2 diabetes and cancer may also be at increased risk to Covid because they tend to exhibit the same type of inflammation.

Exposure to organophosphate pesticides causes Gulf War Illness — a cluster of medically unexplained chronic symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, indigestion, insomnia, dizziness, respiratory disorders and memory problems.

The team examined whether exposure to the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyriphos and increased levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) could increase risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

For six hours, they exposed human lung airway epithelial cells to either IL-6 or chlorpyriphos or to both in combination. Another group of cells received no exposure to serve as a control.

The researchers then treated the cells with the spike proteins that cover the outside of SARS-CoV-2. During infection, spike proteins bind with angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors to our cells, starting a process that allows the virus to release its genetic material into the healthy cell.

They found that cells exposed to IL-6 and the pesticide exhibited increased apoptosis — or controlled cell death — when the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was present.

The cells exposed to both the pesticide and IL-6 also had significantly more ACE2 expression on the apical cell surface compared to cells that were unexposed or exposed to the pesticide alone. The apical membrane of airway cells faces the interior of the airway while the basolateral membrane touches the surrounding tissues. Increased ACE2 receptor expression on the apical surface means more viruses will attach to the cells, the researchers explained.

“Since people with obesity, Type-2 diabetes or cancer also have high circulatory IL-6 levels, we think people with these conditions will also have increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection because of increased translocation of ACE2 receptor to the apical cell surface,” Chatterjee said.

The findings will be presented at the virtual Experimental Biology (EB) 2021 meeting to be held April 27-30.

Prone position helped octogenarian beat Covid

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Prone position helped octogenarian beat Covid

As Covid patients across the state gasp for oxygen, an 82-year-old woman from Gorakhpur has managed to bring up her oxygen levels by lying in a prone position.

She has recovered from Covid without an oxygen cylinder and is setting an example for others.

Vidya Srivastava from Alinagar in Gorakhpur, tested positive for Corona earlier this month.

Her elder son, Hari Mohan Srivastava, said, “My mother tested positive and we kept her in home isolation. One day her oxygen levels dipped to 79 and everyone in the family was worried. However, we did not give up and made her lie down in the prone position with stomach down towards bed. Gradually, the situation improved and the oxygen level rose to 94 within four days.”

Hari Mohan spent four days in his mother’s room and monitored her oxygen levels regularly. She was not given an oxygen cylinder.

“The entire family then tested positive but we did not lose hope and tried to keep each other in a positive frame of mind. We took precautions and medicines after taking advice from the doctor. Now, finally the entire family has recovered from the deadly virus,” he said.

Hari Mohan also said, “The treatment of my mother was also my responsibility while protecting other members from infection due to corona virus. Although everyone was scared of the outcome given the deadly second wave we have been seeing everywhere, the doctor gave us courage. Treatment was done with suggestion and good food and positive thinking and now all is well.”

Hubble images show giant star on edge of destruction

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Hubble images show giant star on edge of destruction

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a brilliant “celebrity star,” one of the brightest stars seen in our galaxy, surrounded by a glowing halo of gas and dust and living on the edge of destruction.

The star, called AG Carinae, is a few million years old and resides 20,000 light-years away inside our Milky Way galaxy. It is estimated to be up to 70 times more massive than our Sun and shines with the blinding brilliance of one million suns.

The price for its opulence is “living on the edge.” It is waging a tug-of-war between gravity and radiation to avoid self-destruction.

Hubble’s sharp vision revealed the most prominent features of AG Carinae — filamentary structures shaped like tadpoles and lopsided bubbles. These structures are dust clumps illuminated by the star’s reflected light.

The tadpole-shaped features, most prominent at left and bottom, are denser dust clumps that have been sculpted by the stellar wind.

The image was taken in visible and ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light offers a slightly clearer view of the filamentary dust structures that extend all the way down toward the star. Hubble is ideally suited for ultraviolet-light observations because this wavelength range can only be viewed from space.

The mammoth star was created from one or more giant eruptions about 10,000 years ago. The star’s outer layers were blown into space — like a boiling teapot popping off its lid. The expelled material amounts to roughly 10 times our Sun’s mass.

These outbursts are the typical life of a rare breed of star called a luminous blue variable.

Like many other luminous blue variables, AG Carinae remains unstable. It has experienced lesser outbursts that have not been as powerful as the one that created the present nebula.

Although AG Carinae is quiescent now, as a super-hot star it continues pouring out searing radiation and powerful stellar wind (streams of charged particles). This outflow continues shaping the ancient nebula, sculpting intricate structures as outflowing gas slams into the slower-moving outer nebula.

Massive stars, like AG Carinae, are important to astronomers because of their far-reaching effects on their environment.

TASMAC liquor sales touched Rs 252 cr ahead of Sunday lockdown

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TASMAC liquor sales touched Rs 252 cr ahead of Sunday lockdown

The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC), which runs state government-owned liquor outlets, saw a record sale of over Rs 252 crore a day before the lockdown was imposed on Sunday.

A TASMAC release said it was the second time in April this year that the corporation’s liquor sales had crossed the Rs 250-crore mark in a day. On April 3, three days ahead of the state Assembly polls, sales had touched the Rs 260-crore mark.

The Chennai zone comprising Chennai, Chengalpet, and Tiruvallar had liquor sales of Rs 58.3 crore on Saturday and the Madurai zone had sales of Rs 49.5 crore. Salem zone sold liquor worth Rs 47.8 crore while Coimbatore and Salem zones collectively had a sale of Rs 97 crore.

The high-end TASMAC outlets, which sell Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in major malls and shopping complexes in the state, are closed from Monday as the state government has instructed closing down of all malls and shopping complexes to ensure strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols.

TASMAC generally has a sale of Rs 130 to 140 crore on Saturdays but this Saturday it was one-and-a-half times the regular sale due to the lockdown.

This human molecule is helping Covid virus escape antibodies

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This human molecule is helping Covid virus escape antibodies

A natural molecule called biliverdin present in human body is helping SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, escape antibodies – a discovery that can help explain why some Covid patients become severely ill despite having high levels of antibodies against the virus, report researchers.

When SARS-CoV-2 infects a patient’s lungs, it damages blood vessels and causes a rise in the number of immune cells.

“Both of these effects may contribute to increasing the levels of biliverdin and bilirubin in the surrounding tissues. And with more of these molecules available, the virus has more opportunity to hide from certain antibodies,” said Annachiara Rosa, first study author at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK.

“This is a really striking process, as the virus may be benefiting from a side-effect of the damage it has already caused,” Rosa said in the paper published in the journal Science Advances.

In their research, teams from the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London, Kings College London and UCL (University College London), found that biliverdin and bilirubin, natural molecules present in the body, can suppress the binding of antibodies to the coronavirus spike.

As vaccines are rolled out globally, understanding immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and also how the virus evades antibodies is critically important.

The ability of the immune system to control the infection and the quality of the antibody response are highly variable, and not well correlated, between individuals.

The scientists discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein strongly binds to biliverdin, a molecule which was giving these proteins an unusual green colouration.

They found that biliverdin attaches to the spike N-terminal domain and stabilises it so that the spike is not able to open up and expose parts of its structure. This means that some antibodies are not able to access their target sites and so cannot bind to and neutralise the virus.

In the first months of the pandemic, scientists were extremely busy churning out viral antigens for SARS-CoV-2 tests.

“It was a race, as these tests were urgently needed. When we finally found the time to study our green proteins, we expected a mundane answer. Instead, we were astonished to discover a new trick the virus uses to avoid antibody recognition,” explained Peter Cherepanov, author and a group leader of the Chromatin structure and mobile DNA Laboratory at the Crick.

The researchers are now exploring if it is possible to hijack the binding site used by biliverdin to potentially find new ways to target the virus.

Caring for your liver during Covid-19

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Caring for your liver during Covid-19

Liver disease is a serious concern in India with more than 10 lakh cases being reported every year. Late diagnosis often leads to detection of the condition when it is at end-stage of liver cirrhosis has occurred, during which time it is difficult to treat and it could lead to death, says Rajiv Lochan, Lead Consultant — HPB and Transplant Surgery, Aster RV Hospital.

The World Health Organisation has reported that liver disease is the tenth most common cause of death in India with liver cancer being the fourth common cause of cancer-related deaths.

“A pandemic like situation can be dangerous for people suffering from liver disease as they are at a higher risk of suffering from severe complications from a virus such as Covid-19. A case in point is the earlier SARS epidemic, during which liver damage was observed in more than half of the afflicted patients. During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it has been observed that a significant percentage of patients develop liver dysfunction, particularly those suffering from severe Covid-19,” says Lochan.

He adds, “While more research and observation is required to fully understand the link, possible reasons for this could be the impact of the virus on the liver, an undesirable immune response from the body which impacts the liver, sepsis, or medication-related liver injury. During the second wave of the pandemic, more people are reporting GI symptoms which indicate the potential of the virus to infiltrate and attack organs in the body apart from the lungs. Needless to say, patients with liver conditions need to take extra care of their body and health during this time. People who indulge in certain lifestyle habits that contribute to liver damage but who haven’t seen any outward symptoms of liver disease may also find that contracting the coronavirus results in more liver-related symptoms.”

Individuals with the pre-existing liver disease appear to be at significant risk of complications from the Covid-19 infection. Various studies are underway to ascertain the exact impact of this virus infection on such patients.

According to Lochan, these are some simple ways to care for your liver, with particular relevance to the current pandemic:

* Avoid binge-drinking alcohol at all costs

With more time on hand, people are turning to unhealthy habits such as regular drinking/binge drinking which is a major cause of liver damage. Excessive alcohol puts the system on overdrive to process the toxins in the system, the brunt of which is taken up by the liver. Smoking is equally bad for the liver and heavy drinkers often tend to smoke. Use this time to ease off of these addictions.

* Eat a liver-friendly diet

The liver’s function is to detoxify. Consuming fruits and vegetables which help keep the liver healthy and functioning effectively are important to prevent liver damage. Some examples are antioxidant-rich fruits such as berries, green tea, healthy fats such as olive oil, fatty fish, avocado, bananas, nuts, and green leafy vegetables like spinach, fibrous foods such as whole grains, garlic, etc are beneficial to the liver. Highly refined, processed, high sodium, loaded with artificial sugars such as most ready to eat food items, fried food, and excessive maida prepared items are unsuitable for liver health.

* Do not forget to exercise

Please devote extra time to exercise. Medical studies increasingly show that exercise is most essential for liver health. Regular exercise which increases the heart rate to 80 per cent of the target heart rate, at least 4 times a week helps in keeping the liver healthy. If you have any specific illnesses, do discuss this exercise regime with your doctor before taking it on.

Obesity is a prime cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If you are overweight, use this time to reduce and maintain a healthy weight for your body type. If you are at a healthy weight, avoid turning to healthy foods to deal with boredom, stress etc and continue practising a healthy diet and lifestyle. Genetics can also play a role if liver disease runs in the family; use this time to get liver function tests.

Even seemingly skinny people can accumulate fat around the liver, leading to fatty liver disease as demonstrated by various studies in India. We are on the verge of a fatty liver disease epidemic and this can be easily accentuated by the current pandemic.

* Practice safe behaviours and be responsible

Unsanitary needles and unprotected sex can lead to Hepatitis B and C, which is part of a group of viruses that can attack the liver. Unhygienic tattoo parlours, injecting drugs, basically any needles that have come in contact with an infected individual’s blood and reintroduced into a healthy person can lead to liver disease. Taking vaccination can help reduce the risk of contracting the disease. Wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing is still the most effective way to not contract the disease. Given the long drawn out nature of this pandemic, its economic consequences and the social isolation it demands, a nihilistic attitude has set in with society (including administrators and regulators) as a whole has developed fatigue and has thrown these simple measures out of the window. This attitude is partly responsible for the current surge in infections. Being responsible to oneself and to one another is key.

* If eligible, take the Covid vaccine

It is strongly recommended that you take these vaccines if suffering from any chronic liver ailment or are otherwise eligible. Please discuss this with your treating doctor.

Identifying and arresting liver disease early is important to prevent the need for long-term management of the disease. In the middle of the ongoing pandemic, if you experience any of the following symptoms — jaundice, water retention and swelling in the legs and feet, unexplainable fatigue, strong odour from urine and dark yellow colour, severe and unbearable abdominal pain, vomiting, itchy skin, please visit a doctor for consultation.

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