Knowledge Update

​Marrakech, Nov 9 (IANS) Water has been considered as a main climate change challenge for the first time at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP), international think tank World Water Council has said here.

"In Marrakech, it is the first time in COP's history that water is put at the top of the agenda," an official statement quoting World Water Council Honorary President Loic Fauchon said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised in the Moroccan pavilion on the sidelines of the COP22 talks, he commended the efforts spearheaded by Moroccan King Mohammed VI enabling water to be considered as the main climate change challenge at the ongoing talks.

Fauchon noted that adapting the water sector to climate change requires a three-pronged approach smartly combining finance, governance and knowledge and recommended the inclusion in the "Blue Book on Water and Climate" of the solutions that will be developed in COP22.

Speaking on the occasion, Morocco's Minister Delegate in Charge of Water Charafat Afilal said climate change takes a toll on the water cycle impacting the ecosystems of societies and hindering the achievement of sustainable development goals in Africa.

She highlighted Morocco's international advocacy for global action to counter the devastating impacts of climate change on the water sector, saying that the momentum witnessed in terms of enhancing water resilience has been strengthened at COP21.

The side event was also an occasion for the ministers in charge of water of Burkina Faso and Chad to shed light on the challenges facing their respective countries in fighting climate change effects on water.

Chad's Minister Sidick Abdelkerim Haggar deplored that Lake Chad was shrinking at a dramatic rate as a result of severe droughts causing rural flight and threatening the lives of about 30 million people who depend on its water.

Other participants drew a link between water scarcity inflicted by climate change and geopolitical conflicts resulting from the disagreements over managing water scarcity in some shared rivers.

World Bank's report "High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy" finds that water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could hinder economic growth, spur migration, and spark conflict.

However, it says, most countries can neutralize the adverse impacts of water scarcity by taking action to allocate and use water resources more efficiently.

The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties and the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12) are scheduled to be held in Bab Ighli in Marrakech till November 18.

​New York, Nov 9 (IANS) When it comes to better memory skills, the fairer sex seems to score more than men, researchers have found.

However, the memory of women tends to fade as the oestrogen -- female sex hormones -- levels decline or as women enter the post-menopause phase.

Memory loss is a well-documented consequence of the ageing process.

In a study published online in the journal Menopause, the findings showed that as women enter the menopause transition period, they develop increased forgetfulness and "brain fog".

Further, women are also disproportionately at risk for memory impairment and dementia when compared with men.

In addition, declines in oestrogen levels in postmenopausal women were found to be specifically associated with lower rates of initial learning and retrieval of previously recalled information, while memory storage and consolidation were maintained.

Despite these conditions working against them, middle-aged women still outscore their similarly aged male counterparts on all memory measures, the researchers said.

"Brain fog and complaints of memory issues should be taken seriously, as these complaints are associated with memory deficits," said Jonn Pinkerton, Executive Director at The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) -- a US based non-profit organisation. 

For the study, the team included 212 men and women aged 45 to 55 years and assessed their episodic memory, executive function, semantic processing, and estimated verbal intelligence through cognitive testing.

Rome, Nov 9 (IANS/AKI) A total of 4.6 million people - 7.6 percent of the population - were living in absolute poverty in Italy, the country's central statistics agency ISTAT said.

The number of people living in absolute poverty rose more than two-and-a-half-times from 2006 when it stood at 1.8 million, ISTATE noted.

But the number of children in absolute poverty more than tripled since from 2006 to reach 1.1 million in 2015, ISTAT said in a report presented to the Senate.

Welfare spending in Italy reached 446.8 billion euros in 2015, of which over four-fifths went on the poorest sections of the population, according to the report.

Italy is still struggling to recover from its worst recession in the post-war period.

​New York, Nov 8 (IANS) Increase in air pollution in the regions near the equator has led to the formation of more total ozone worldwide, compared to the amount of pollution being emitted, researchers have found.

"Emissions are growing in places where there is a much greater effect on the formation of ozone," said lead researcher Jason West, Associate Professor at University of North Carolina.

The reason is that ozone, a greenhouse gas and toxic air pollutant, is not emitted but forms when ultraviolet light hits nitrogen oxides (basically combustion exhaust from cars and other sources). 

When these pollutants interact with more intense sunlight and higher temperatures, the interplay speeds up the chemical reactions that form ozone. 

Higher temperatures near the equator also increase the vertical motion of air, transporting ozone-forming chemicals higher in the troposphere, where they can live longer and form more ozone, the researchers said.

"A tonne of emissions in a region close to the equator, where there is a lot of sunlight and intense heat, produces more ozone than a tonne of emissions in a region farther from it," West explained

The study showed that China's emissions increased more than India's and Southeast Asia's from 1980 to 2010. But, Southeast Asia and India, despite their lower growth in emissions during this period, appear to have contributed more to the total global ozone increase due to their proximity to the equator.

"Our findings suggest that 'where the world emits' is more important than 'how much it emits'," West added.

The study provides a much-needed path forward on where in the world to strategically reduce emissions of pollutants that form ozone, which when present in the lower atmosphere, or troposphere, is one of the primary causes of air pollution-related respiratory problems and heart disease. 

However, Owen Cooper from the University of Colorado-Boulder, in the US said: "Even if there is a net reduction in global emissions, ozone levels may not decrease if emissions continue to shift toward the equator." 

"But, continuing aircraft and satellite observations of ozone across the tropics can monitor the situation and model forecasts can guide decision-making for controlling global ozone pollution," Cooper noted.

The study appears in the online issue of the journal Nature Geoscience.

​London, Nov 8 (IANS) Certain proteins in the blood of children have the potential to predict the development of Type 1 diabetes even before the first symptoms appear, a study has found.

The researchers studied children who have a first-degree relative with Type 1 diabetes and who consequently have an increased risk of developing the disease due to the familial predisposition.

Scientists, from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen in Germany, analysed blood samples from 30 children with auto-antibodies who had developed Type 1 diabetes either very rapidly or with a very long delay.

They then compared it with children who displayed neither auto-antibodies nor diabetes symptoms.

In auto-antibody-positive children, it was possible to reach a better estimate of the speed of the diabetes development using the peptide concentrations of three proteins in combination with the age of the particular child.

The researchers are confident that the protein signatures they have discovered will be helpful as biomarkers for future diagnostics.

If these clinical symptoms will appear quickly, it could significantly improve the treatment of patients at-risk, the researchers said.

"The progression of Type 1 diabetes into a clinical disease takes place over a period of time that varies from individual to individual and that at this time is insufficiently predictable," said Anette-G. Ziegler, Director of the Institute of Diabetes Research (IDF) at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen in Germany.

"The biomarkers that we have identified allow a more precise classification of this pre-symptomatic stage and they are relatively simple to acquire from blood samples," he added.

The results were published in the journal Diabetologia. 

​London, Nov 8 (IANS) Scientists have developed a game-changing blood test that accurately identifies wheteher or not an adolescent athlete has suffered a concussion.

Scientists from Children's Health Research Institute, a programme of Lawson Health Research Institute, and Western University said this blood test gives results with greater than 90 per cent accuracy.

Concussion is a major public health concern, often resulting in significant acute symptoms and in some individuals, long-term neurological dysfunction.

Diagnosis of a clinically significant concussion, or a mild traumatic brain injury, can be difficult as it currently relies on a combination of patient symptom assessment and clinician judgement. 

Equally problematic are the decisions to stop play or activities, or when patients who have suffered a concussion can safely return to normal activities without risking further injury.

In this new study, researchers have demonstrated that a blood test can now accurately diagnose a concussion using a form of blood profiling known as metabolomics. 

Douglas Fraser, physician in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit at Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre and Lawson scientist, led the study with his co-investigator Mark Daley, Professor in the Departments of Computer Science, Biology and Statistics and Actuarial Sciences at Western University.

In the relatively inexpensive test, blood is drawn from an individual that may have suffered a concussion as the result of a sudden blow to the head within 72 hours of the incident. 

The scientists measure a panel of metabolites - small molecules that are the products of the body's metabolism - in the blood to search for distinct patterns that indicate a concussion has occurred.

"This novel approach, to use blood testing of metabolites as a diagnostic tool for concussions, was exploratory and we were extremely pleased with the robustness of our initial results," says Fraser, also an associate professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.

In this latest successful attempt, the researchers took a different approach and investigated a full spectrum of 174 metabolites.

The researchers investigated a full spectrum of 174 metabolites in concussed male adolescent patients and in non-concussed male adolescent patients and it turned out that the spectrum was really different.

"We can now look at sets of as few as 20-40 specific metabolites and maintain the diagnostic accuracy level of the test over 90 per cent," said Daley, who is also Western's Associate Vice-President (Research).

Beijing, Nov 8 (IANS) Doctors in China's Chongqing municipality have successfully replaced a section of a female cancer patient's forehead with a 3D-printed part.

The patient who is in her early 20s has had recurrent tumours for over 16 years, and has kept her hair long at the front to cover the growths, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I have had bangs for over a decade, finally I can grow my hair out and not be paranoid about my tumours," she explained.

When her tumours first began to show, around 16 years ago, the patient had them removed but they returned and grew back larger than before. Despite multiple operations over the years, the tumours kept returning.

The tumours were eventually identified as benign, but due to their location they put pressure against her right eye socket, meaning if they were not removed they would likely impair her vision and limit her motor skills. Doctors agreed that a complete excision was the only suitable procedure.

Moreover, due to the location of her tumours the operation would disfigure her face and the damage would be almost impossible to repair by traditional plastic surgery.

After discussion, a 3D-printed bone replica procedure was agreed as the best operation.

She underwent a high-precision CT scan so that doctors could create a 3D reconstruction of her skull and print a 1:1 replica of the bone part, with a precision of 20 microns.

The replica piece was then implanted and fixed in place with titanium screws. The operation, which was conducted earlier this month, was a success and she was discharged from hospital a week after going under the knife. 

New York, Nov 8 (IANS) Researchers have developed a new system for self-driving scooter that can help mobility-impaired users to get down the hall and through the lobby of an apartment building, or pick up an autonomous car on the public roads.

The autonomous mobility scooter and related software were designed by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the National University of Singapore, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART).

"It's extraordinary to me, because it's a project that the team conducted in about two months," said Daniela Rus, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.

The researchers' system includes several layers of software -- low-level control algorithms that enable a vehicle to respond immediately to changes in its environment, such as a pedestrian darting across its path; route-planning algorithms; localisation algorithms that the vehicle uses to determine its location on a map; map-building algorithms that it uses to construct the map in the first place; a scheduling algorithm that allocates fleet resources; and an online booking system that allows users to schedule rides.

The researchers had previously used the same sensor configuration and software in trials of autonomous cars and golf carts, so the new trial completes the demonstration of a comprehensive autonomous mobility system. 

Using the same control algorithms for all types of vehicles -- scooters, golf carts, and city cars -- has several advantages. One is that it becomes much more practical to perform reliable analyses of the system's overall performance.

"If you have a uniform system where all the algorithms are the same, the complexity is much lower than if you have a heterogeneous system where each vehicle does something different," Rus said.

"That's useful for verifying that this multilayer complexity is correct," Rus added.

Software uniformity also means that the scheduling algorithm has more flexibility in its allocation of system resources. 

If an autonomous golf cart is not available to take a user across a public park, a scooter could fill in; if a city car is not available for a short trip on back roads, a golf cart might be.

The researchers described the design of the scooter system and the results of a trial in a paper they presented recently at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

New York, Nov 8 (IANS) Researchers, including one of Indian origin, have identified a human antibody that in pregnant mice prevents the foetus from becoming infected with Zika virus and damaging the placenta.

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that has emerged as a global public health threat. 

The antibody, called ZIKV-117, also protected adult mice from Zika disease, the researchers said.

"The anti-Zika antibodies are able to keep the foetus safe from harm by blocking the virus from crossing the placenta," said Indira Mysorekar, Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

"This is the first antiviral that has been seen to work in pregnancy to protect developing foetuses from Zika virus," added Michael Diamond, Professor at Washington University.

In the study, the antibody ZIKV-117 neutralised all strains of Zika virus tested, including African, Asian and American lineages.

Pregnant mice that received the antibody and were then infected with Zika virus showed lower levels of Zika virus in their blood and brain tissues than mice not treated with ZIKV-117.

Further, the treated mice showed protective levels of ZIKV-117 in foetal tissues and markedly reduced levels of virus in the placenta and the foetal brain. 

The placentas from the treated females appeared normal and healthy, unlike those from the untreated females, which showed destruction of the placental structure. 

"We did not see any damage to the foetal blood vessels, thinning of the placenta or any growth restriction in the foetuses of the antibody-treated mice," Mysorekar said. 

In addition, male mice that received a single dose of ZIKV-117 even five days after Zika infection were more likely to survive than those given a control antibody, suggesting that ZIKV-117 could treat active Zika infection.

These findings suggested that ZIKV-117 may reduce mother-to-foetus virus transmission and also neutralise Zika virus that reaches the foetus, the researchers said, adding that the study may also aid development of vaccines and therapies for Zika virus infection.

The study appears in the journal 'Nature'.

​London, Nov 8 (IANS) Individuals with Vitamin D deficiency can be at an increased risk of developing bladder cancer, a study has warned.

Vitamin D, which is produced by the body through exposure to sunshine, helps the body control calcium and phosphate levels. It can also be obtained from food sources such as fatty fish and egg yolks. 

According to previous studies, Vitamin D deficiency causes health problems including cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, autoimmune conditions, and cancer.

In the study, the researchers looked at the cells that line the bladder, known as transitional epithelial cells, and found that these cells are able to activate and respond to Vitamin D, which in turn can stimulate an immune response. 

This is important because the immune system may have a role in cancer prevention by identifying abnormal cells before they develop into cancer, said lead author Rosemary Bland, from the University of Warwick in Britain.

"More clinical studies are required to test this association, but our work suggests that low levels of Vitamin D in the blood may prevent the cells within the bladder from stimulating an adequate response to abnormal cells," Bland added. 

In addition, Bland noted that as Vitamin D is cheap and safe, its potential use in cancer prevention is exciting and could potentially impact the lives of many people.

For the study, researchers reviewed seven studies. Five out of these seven linked low Vitamin D levels to an increased risk of bladder cancer.

The findings were presented at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Brighton.