The end of the monsoon season has once again resulted in a spurt of cases of swine influenza, also knows as swine flu, across India. Pune is the worse affected city in the country. 226 people were affected by the H1N1 infection killing 9 between June and September this year. According to reports, four people died in September alone in Pune.

In Madhya Pradesh, over a hundred persons have tested positive for swine flu so far, with 19 persons dead so far this year. At Indore, a lady doctor in Indore was tested positive a week ago for H1N1 virus, authorities said. In Bhopal alone, the infection has claimed 10 lives. Indore, Ujjain and Gwalior account for six, two and one deaths respectively, sources said. Swine flu cases have also been reported from Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and other parts of the country.

The flu virus spreads mainly from person to person through coughing, sneezing or talking to people with influenza. Its symptoms include unusual tiredness, severe headache, runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath or cough, sudden loss of appetite, aching muscles, diarrhoea or vomiting. If you have flu-like symptoms, stay at home, get plenty of rest and use the prescribed pain killers. If flu stays for three days, see a doctor and undergo H1N1 test.

A new math method can help predict a woman`s chances of becoming pregnant, depending on how long the couple has been trying, say researchers.

For instance, the researchers from Warwick Medical School found that, if the woman is aged 35 years, after just six months of trying, her chance of getting pregnant in the next cycle is less than 10 percent.


The analysis, developed by Warwick Medical School and the London School of Economics, uses the number of menstrual cycles over which the couple has been trying for a baby to determine a probability of conception within the next month, the journal Public Library of Science ONE reported.

The method makes use of an important math result first described by Thomas Bayes, an 18th century Presbyterian minister, which allows probabilities to be calculated by combining prior information with new evidence, according to a Warwick statement.

Peter Sozou of the London School of Economics said: "After several cycles without pregnancy, it becomes relatively more likely that a couple have low fertility.

"This is the main reason why it becomes less likely that conception will occur in the next cycle."

Geraldine Hartshorne, professor at Warwick Medical School, added: "Many couples are not aware that chance plays a big role in getting pregnant. People expect to get pregnant when they want to, so finding out that it isn`t happening can be a shock.

"Approaching a doctor about such a personal matter is daunting so knowing when is the right time to start investigations would be a useful step forward," said Hartstone.

"We can`t work out exactly when, or if, a woman will become pregnant - but this analysis can predict her chances, and give a percentage estimate of pregnancy in the next cycle," concluded Hartstone.

Linda from Virginia, United States quit smoking after an arduous 40 years with just one try of electronic cigarettes. She said, "I smoked for 40 years. I also tried to quit smoking cigarettes 11 times in 10 years, but couldn't make it stick until I got my electronic cigarettes starter kit. I love vaping so much better than smoking. There is a variety of flavors and I still get nicotine, if I want it. I have an option of different strengths of nicotine, too."

E cigarettes have become quite popular among smokers and especially with those who are looking to quit tobacco smoking. A strong reason why a majority of people are switching to e cigarettes to quit smoking is its wide acceptability as a safer, more effective alternative in terms of health and being more sociability. Smokers realize smoking is bad for their health but the addiction to nicotine just hinder them from kicking the habit. Many pro-smokers have already gained through the benefits of electric cigarettes. Here's how.

Healthier option

Cigarette smoking is injurious to health. It contains carbon monoxide and thousands of other toxic chemicals. Smokers who realize this is the main push why they want to quit smoking altogether. E cigs make it possible to replicate the physical and smoking sensation of smoking a real cigarette while filtering out all the harmful chemicals present in a tobacco cigarette.

No nicotine withdrawal

Unlike tobacco cigarettes, e cigs consumption does not require user to monitor on nicotine intakes. The amount of nicotine can be easily regulated in case of electric cigarettes. Each vial used in electronic cigarettes contains nicotine additives as well as flavoring additives. This helps ensure that those who use smokeless cigarettes will no longer need to revert back to smoking real cigarettes if they are not satisfied with the electronic version.

More socially acceptable

Due to smoking bans in various public places such as restaurants and parks, smokeless cigarettes are being adopted by more and more smokers. Many state regulations ban tobacco cigarettes but allow vapor cigarettes in public places. That is because vapor cigarettes do not emit smoke but water vapor during user's exhalation, which makes it socially more acceptable. It does not even smell like tobacco and does not affect nearby people either.

Indy from Missouri, a chain smoker for 40 years said, "I smoked 2-3 packs a day for over 40 years but I switched to vapor cigarettes and stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes 4 years ago. Now I enjoy all the health benefits that e cigarettes have to offer."

Drug firm Cipla today said an anti-malarial drug developed by Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has received pre-qualification from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Mumbai-headquartered firm is manufacturing the fixed dose combination drug of Artesunate and Mefloquine (ASMQ FDC) under a technology transfer agreement with Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

This Cipla-manufactured ASMQ FDC is the first artesunate-mefloquine FDC to be prequalified by WHO and is recommended for the treatment of malaria, Cipla said in a statement.

`Pre-qualification` is a process under which drug companies have to fulfil certain WHO-stipulated conditions to become eligible to supply vaccines to UN procurement agencies globally.

"The prequalification announcement is recognition that ASMQ FDC meets WHO`s high quality standards and we aim to make this treatment widely available throughout Asia," Cipla Medical Director Jaideep Gogtay said.

ASMQ FDC was originally developed by DNDi and the Brazilian government-owned pharmaceutical company Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz and was registered in Brazil in 2008.

A technology transfer between Farmanguinhos and Cipla was achieved in 2010 to facilitate the implementation of ASMQ FDC in Asia.

The combination of AS and MQ is one of five Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) currently recommended by WHO for the treatment of uncomplicated P falciparum malaria, and is the first-line treatment in a number of South East Asian countries.

"The availability of ASMQ FDC will have a direct impact on patients, especially in Asia," DNDi Executive Director Bernard Pecoul said.

ASMQ FDC was registered in India in 2011 and in Malaysia in early 2012. In India, about 18,000 adult patients have already been treated with this combination.

The ASMQ FDC is manufactured in Cipla`s Patalganga facility, which is approved by WHO-Geneva, US FDA, MHRA-UK and various other regulatory bodies.

A prequalified status makes ASMQ FDC eligible to tenders that receive funding from international procurement agencies, such as UNICEF and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Shares of Cipla today closed at Rs 381.10 on the BSE, up 0.24 per cent from its previous close.

Men with shaved heads are perceived to be more masculine, dominant and, in some cases, to have greater leadership potential than those with longer locks or with thinning hair, according to a recent study out of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

That may explain why the power-buzz look has caught on among business leaders in recent years. Venture capitalist and Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, 41 years old, DreamWorks Animation SKG Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, 61, and Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeffrey Bezos, 48, all sport some variant of the close-cropped look.

Some executives say the style makes them appear younger or at least, makes their age less evident and gives them more confidence than a comb-over or monk-like pate.

"I'm not saying that shaving your head makes you successful, but it starts the conversation that you've done something active," says tech entrepreneur and writer Seth Godin, 52, who has embraced the bare look for two decades. "These are people who decide to own what they have, as opposed to trying to pretend to be something else."

Wharton management lecturer Albert Mannes conducted three experiments to test peoples' perceptions of men with shaved heads. In one of the experiments, he showed 344 subjects photos of the same men in two versions: one showing the man with hair and the other showing him with his hair digitally removed, so his head appears shaved.

In all three tests, the subjects reported finding the men with shaved heads as more dominant than their hirsute counterparts. In one test, men with shorn heads were even perceived as an inch taller and about 13% stronger than those with fuller manes. The paper, "Shorn Scalps and Perceptions of Male Dominance," was published online, and will be included in a coming issue of journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The study found that men with thinning hair were viewed as the least attractive and powerful of the bunch, a finding that tracks with other studies showing that people perceive men with typical male-pattern baldness which affects roughly 35 million Americans as older and less attractive. For those men, the solution could be as cheap and simple as a shave.

According to Wharton's Dr. Mannes who says he was inspired to conduct the research after noticing that people treated him more deferentially when he shaved off his own thinning hair head shavers may seem powerful because the look is associated with hypermasculine images, such as the military, professional athletes and Hollywood action heroes like Bruce Willis. (Male-pattern baldness, by contrast, conjures images of "Seinfeld" character George Costanza.)

New York image consultant Julie Rath advises her clients to get closely cropped when they start thinning up top. "There's something really strong, powerful and confident about laying it all bare," she says, describing the thinning or combed-over look as "kind of shlumpy."

The look is catching on. A 2010 study from razor maker Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble Co., found that 13% of respondents said they shaved their heads, citing reasons as varied as fashion, sports and already thinning hair, according to a company spokesman. HeadBlade Inc., which sells head-shaving accessories, says revenues have grown 30% a year in the past decade.

Shaving his head gave 60-year-old Stephen Carley, CEO of restaurant chain Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., a confidence boost when he was working among 20-somethings at tech start-ups in the 1990s. With his thinning hair shorn, "I didn't feel like the grandfather in the office anymore." He adds that the look gave him "the impression that it was much harder to figure out how old I was."

Not everyone needs a buzz. Rick Devine, 55, the CEO of Devine Capital Partners, a Redwood City, Calif., executive-recruitment firm that specializes in the tech industry, advises executive candidates tempted by their clippers to keep their hair closely cropped, rather than completely shaved. "It is way too much image risk," he says. "The best thing you can do in a business meeting is to make your look not an issue."

The cue-ball style can strike some as menacing, so Mr. Carley makes an extra effort to appear friendly and accessible when meeting people for the first time or "at least as nonthreatening as a 6-foot-1-inch bald guy can be," he says.

Some consolation for male-pattern-baldness sufferers: Looking older can be helpful in the workplace. Just as older silverback gorillas are "typically the powerful actors in their social groups" in the wild, so it goes in the office, where a bald head may "signal who is in charge and potentially dangerous," says Caroline Keating, a Colgate University social psychologist who studies dominance.

Other physical features that signal dominance include narrow eyes and lips, as well as broad faces and square jaws. For women, the equation is trickier. Dominant features may be less helpful at work than youthful, feminine features, which are deemed more attractive, Ms. Keating says.

A bare scalp "is nature's way of telling the rest of the world that you are a survivor," adds Michael Cunningham, a professor at the University of Louisville, who has studied social perceptions of baldness. He adds that the deliberate shaved-head look conveys aggressiveness, competitiveness and shows "willingness to stand against social norms."

Bald quickly became a big part of Mr. Godin's brand. The entrepreneur says his pate helps him stand out at conferences and meetings. Now chief executive of the website Squidoo, he continues to use the image of his bald head as a design element on his book jackets and personal websites. Shaving off his hair, he says, "turned out be a highly leveraged marketing choice."

Michael Landau, 41, took the plunge once he began losing hair in his late teens. Balding at a young age made him shy and uncomfortable, but shaving off the remaining strands nudged him out of his shell. It even helped lead to a job with Mr. Godin years ago, when the two men bonded over their baldness.

Mr. Landau, now CEO of Drybar, a chain of blow-dry salons, says the bald look "makes me more confident and more strong, which probably makes people respect me more." Plus, in the hair business, he says, "people remember the bald guy."