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Influenza viruses are becoming increasingly resilient to medicines. For this reason, new active ingredients are needed. Important findings in this regard have been provided by researchers at the University of Münster: for the virus to proliferate, the polymerase of the influenza A virus has to be modified many times through enzymes in the host cells.

Synthetic hydrogels were shown to provide an effective scaffold for neuronal tissue growth in areas of brain damage, providing a possible approach for brain tissue reconstruction.

Platinum-based chemotherapy, which is used to treat advanced colorectal cancer, accumulates in the healthy cells surrounding the cancer cells and, as a result, can reduce tumor sensitivity to treatment. This is demonstrated by a study published in the journal Nature Communications by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), in collaboration with the INCLIVA Health Research Institute, the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the Vall d’ Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) Barcelona, the University of Oviedo, and the CIBER of cancer (CIBERONC).

It takes a few moments for the sound of thunder to reach our ears after a flash of lightning. This phenomenon is due to the photoacoustic (PA) effect where materials near the lightning instantly expand as the optical energy of the lightning is absorbed and converted into thermal energy. Using this PA effect, photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) has become a premier preclinical and clinical imaging modality to take images inside the body without using a contrast medium. However, its low-quality images, which can be improved with multiple ultrasound sensors and a multi-channel data acquisition (DAQ) system, result in higher cost and slower imaging speed without such hardware.

When applied to social contact maps, a method recently developed by Gulbenkian scientists has proved useful to study how viruses spread in society and how we can stop them. Public health specialists are already taking advantage of these new findings, published in PLOS Computational Biology, to study the spreading of diseases such as monkeypox and COVID-19.

By NATION REPORTER

THE continued leaks of information in the UPND government is as a result of growing frustrations in the civil service which is going through purging on grounds that most civil servants are aligned to the Patriotic Front (PF), Davis Chama has said.

And Mr Chama has said the UPND government should not start complaining and accusing the PF of having assumed the position of defacto government within the new dawn administration because they were experts in illegally obtaining classified information while in opposition.

Mr Chama has recalled that President Hakainde Hichilema, while in opposition is on record bragging that he was receiving intelligence briefings ahead of then President Edgar Lungu.

Mr Chama says complaints by Mr  Nkombo, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development were meant to perpetuate the ongoing purging of seasoned and patriotic civil servants to advance regionalism and tribalism.

In February, 2015, President Hichilema, then in opposition claimed that he was receiving intelligence even before the said reports could reach then President Edgar Lungu.

“As I sit today (February 15th, 2015), Edgar Lungu get his intelligence reports…I actually get the copy of the intelligence reports ahead of him. I know what is going on, I know what he is doing,” Mr Hichilema said at the time.

But on Tuesday, Mr  Nkombo complained in Parliament that the PF was running the UPND government through the backdoor by accessing classified information from the government systems.

 “It is clear that the PF are collecting information from government systems going by what Mr Kafwaya (Mutotwe), has been reading from his phone. It is clear that someone from the government machinery is feeding in. It is now overbearing on my part. There is clear dichotomy between oversight function and attempting to run the country using the back door. The PF want to run this government illegally with an illusion that they would still bounce back to power,” Mr Nkombo said.

But Mr Chama said the UPND government was reaping what it sowed while in the opposition, stating that the ruling party at the time was boasting that they were running the PF government from the opposition.

“The PF has been out of government for almost two years now. The UPND are in-charge, they are in control but they are accusing PF of running their government because they have lamentably failed to govern. The UPND while in opposition were experts in illegally obtaining government information. While in opposition, they boasted that they were running the PF government. They are reaping what they sowed.”

 PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has addressed Parliament with a call on Members of Parliament to work with government in the fight against corruption. The Head of State has emphasised that there will be no scared cows when it comes to ensuring that corruption is fougt at every level. He said this can be seen with strides […]

 THE Kitwe High Court has heard that murder accused Annie Monta stopped her security guards from using her Range Rover to ferry Kitwe businessman Richard Mbulu a.k.a Chile One to the hospital after she allegedly shot him. On Thursday, Monta made another court appearance in a case where she is accused of murdering her husband […]

By NATION REPORTER

BRIAN Mundubile has challenged government to state at what stage money was lost on contracts because it is mandatory that a consultant who is engaged by government should sign an Interim payment Certificate (IPC).

Mr Mundubile, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament said that he was one of the people who was a beneficiary and that the standard practice of contractual obligations often protected the loss of money in a contract.

Mr Mundubile, the Patriotic Front (PF) president candidate and Mporokoso Member of Parliament wondered if at all any of the consultants in the said cancelled contracts had been taken to court for signing an IPC for breaching contractual obligations.

Responding to allegations by UPND Mazabuka Member of Parliament Garry Nkombo that a total of 240 feeder contracts covering a total of 9436 were signed with most having received payment despite not doing any work, Mr Mundubile government was obliged to demand advance bond payment if contractual obligations were breached.

Rising on a point of order, Mr Mundubile said in an event that part of the money was paid to the contractor, it was envisaged that government should demand for an advance payment bond if the contractor defaulted.

He said having a contract in Zambia was not a crime and that he had been in business for the last 20 years owning two companies and was a member of Omni and Buildtrust.

“I want to know if there has been any consultant that has been taken to court for signing an IPC without the contractor executing his duties,” Mr Mundubile said.

Mr Mundubile said there was too much deception by Mr Nkombo and challenged the Local Government Minister to give details at which point government had lost money.

But Mr Nkombo challenged Mr Mundubile to declare interest because he was closely related to the matter.

Tempers had to be regulated as Mr Mundubile curtly challenged Mr Nkombo over government’s decision to cancel 197 feeder roads contract due to unprofessionalism.

Mr Nkombo claimed in Parliament that a total cost of the 240 contracts was K12.9 13 billion which he claimed was later discovered that the prices of the feeder roads was highly inflated.

“What we discovered is that the contracts were highly inflated and that most people that got the money actually did shoddy works,” he said.

Mr Nkombo said that the new dawn was forced to terminate the contracts because they were based on patronage.

Mr Nkombo said that government would not run away from paying all those contractors that had completed the work after the reconciliation was done.

He said that there was money that government lost just because of the shoddy works that were done by the contractors.

The practice of oil pulling is an ancient one, dating back 4,000 years in Ayurveda.