Knowledge Update

​Breganze (Italy), Oct 1 (IANS) International lifestyle brand Diesel has become the official style partner of AC Milan football club, in a move to reach out to the younger market.

The partnership will last at least for the next 3 years, when Diesel will be dressing the AC Milan team "off-field", said a statement issued on behalf of the brand.

Renzo Rosso, Diesel's founder, said: "This is a long-time dream coming to life, for me, for my family, for Diesel. The extraordinary journeys of Diesel and AC Milan are intrinsically linked: we are two major Italian players, iconic, similar in spirit, with global resonance, and we are teaming up around a dream of pride, passion and bravery. We want to make this collaboration unique, fuelled with irony, innovation and modernity."

AC Milan Vice-President and CEO Barbara Berlusconi, said: "I grew up with the red and black colours. I've always felt they were like a second skin. They've become my passion - the same passion that has driven AC Milan and Diesel to set up this partnership.

"Diesel is a dynamic, international company in the fashion world, oriented towards the younger market, the same one AC Milan appeals to and reaches out to, following the path of other top European clubs."

​Hong Kong, Oct 1 (IANS) Running in minimalist shoes can increase leg and foot muscle volume, finds a new study.

The researchers for the study recruited 38 runners with an average age of 35, who have been running for six years on average with their traditional running shoes (TRS), footwear of heel-to-toe drop over 5 mm, with additional cushioning pad and artificial arch support.

Among the 38 participants, 20 runners selected randomly to the experimental group underwent a six-month training programme.

At the beginning, each participant was given a pair of minimalist running shoes (MRS) and a self-monitoring programme including transition exercise regimes such as calf strengthening exercise and balance training.

The other 18 runners in the control group received the same training programme running with their own TRS.

All the participants were invited to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning for measuring their right leg and foot muscles before and after six-month intervention.

The mean volume of the extrinsic foot muscles (EFM) attached from the leg to foot increased from around 25,100 mm three per kg to around 27,000 mm three per kg, an increase of 7.05 per cent and the intrinsic foot muscles (IFM) attached from the heel to toes increased from around 4,600 mm three per kg to near 5,000 mm three per kg, an increase of 8.8 per cent.

"The mean volume of the forefoot and rearfoot increased by 11.9 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively. In contrast, the volume of leg and foot muscles in the control group remained unchanged," said Roy Cheung, Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in a statement.

The study also found a positive correlation between participants' MRS compliance and the changes in leg muscle volume. The more compliant participants are in wearing MRS, the higher the leg muscle volume growth.

The research team explained that as MRS provides minimal cushioning and no mechanical support to the foot arches, the IFM and EFM, which function as important foot arch stabilisers, would experience greater demands for strength.

The volumetric growth of EFM may also be due to higher strain and greater force generation in the posterior and medial calf muscles when running with MRS.

In addition, mid/forefoot landing imposed more stimuli to the anterior part of the foot, especially for the metatarsophalangeal joint, the joint of the foot and toes. Muscles responsible for metatarsophalangeal joint motions may therefore be strengthened with this type of landing.

New York, Sep 30 (IANS) Leading a healthy lifestyle can shorten the time that is spent disabled near the end of one's life by nearly two years, says a study.

Older adults with the healthiest lifestyles could expect to spend about 1.7 fewer years disabled at the end of their lives, compared to their unhealthiest counterparts, the findings showed.

"The duration of the disabled period near the end of one's life has enormous personal and societal implications, ranging from quality of life to health care costs," said senior author Anne Newman, Professor at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in the US.

"We discovered that, fortunately, by improving lifestyle we can postpone both death and disability. In fact, it turns out that we're compressing that disabled end-of-life period," Newman noted.

The findings, published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, are based on analysis of a quarter century of data.

Newman and her colleagues examined data collected by the Cardiovascular Health Study, which followed 5,888 US adults for 25 years.

All of the participants were aged 65 or older and were not institutionalised or wheelchair-dependent when they enrolled.

The participants reported or were assessed for various lifestyle factors, including smoking habits, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet, weight and their social support system.

The researchers took into account and adjusted results for such factors as participants' age, sex, race, education, income, marital status and chronic health conditions.

Across all the participants, the average number of disabled years directly preceding death -- years when the person had difficulty eating, bathing, toileting, dressing, getting out of bed or a chair, or walking around the home -- averaged 4.5 years for women and 2.9 years for men.

For each gender, those with the healthiest lifestyle (those who were nonsmokers of a healthy weight and diet and getting regular exercise) not only lived longer, but had fewer disabled years at the end of their lives, the study said.

​London, Sep 29 (IANS) What will you do to find yourself at complete rest: Reading, being with nature, being on your own, listening to music or doing nothing in particular? Better choose one fast for your own well-being as you grow old.

According to the world's largest survey of more than 18,000 people from 134 different countries on this topic, over two thirds (68 per cent) of the public would like more rest.

Nearly a third (32 per cent) of respondents said they need more rest than the average person, while 10 per cent think they need less.

"The survey shows that people's ability to take rest, and their levels of well-being, are related. These findings combat a common, moralising connection between rest and laziness," said lead researcher Felicity Callard, social scientist at Durham University in Britain.

Rest -- a much broader category than sleep -- has physical, mental and spiritual components, the study said.

The online survey -- rest test -- found that those who felt they needed more rest scored lower in terms of well-being.

Similarly, those who responded saying they think they get more rest than average or do not feel the need for more rest, had well-being scores twice as high as those who wanted more rest.

This suggests that the perception of rest matters, as well as the reality, the researchers observed.

In addition, people found reading (58 per cent), being in the natural environment (53.1 per cent), being on their own (52.1 per cent), listening to music (40.6 per cent), doing nothing in particular (40 per cent) as the top five most restful activities that is often done alone.

"It's intriguing that the top activities considered restful are frequently done on one's own," Callard said

"Perhaps it's not only the total hours resting or working that we need to consider, but the rhythms of our work, rest and time with and without others," he added.

The survey asked respondents to state how many hours of rest they had within the last 24 hours.

On average, being younger and having a higher household income was associated with having fewer hours of rest.

Further, those with caring responsibilities or in shift work which included nights also reported fewer hours of rest.

"These survey shows just how crucial it is to our well-being to ensure people do have time to rest. We can begin to try to work out what the optimum amount of rest might be and how we should go about resting," explained Claudia Hammond, presenter of Radio 4's All in the Mind and associate director of Hubbub -- an international team of scientists, humanists, artists and broadcasters in London.

The survey was presented during BBC Radio 4's programme -- The Anatomy of Rest.

​London, Sep 28 (IANS) Most people are responding to messages, looking at social media notifications, reading news or replying to office emails in middle of the night which has significantly disrupted their sleep patterns, a new study has warned.

The study "Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016" conducted by global consultancy firm Deloitte found that almost half of 18 to 24-year-olds check their phones in the middle of the night.

The study, involving 4,000 people in Britain, revealed that if users do not wake up to check their texts, they take time to scroll through their notifications right before bed.

Ten per cent of users also like to check their smartphone first thing in the morning, Fortune reported, quoting the study.

Less than a quarter of smartphone users are unplugging at least an hour before they go to sleep.

"Nearly 27 per cent of smartphones include a fingerprint reader, of which 76 per cent are used while 31 per cent of smartphone users make no traditional voice calls in a given week. This contrasts with a quarter in 2015 and just 4 per cent in 2012," the findings showed.

The majority of survey participants have downloaded 20 or fewer apps. By mid-2016, almost two-thirds of British adults had access to a tablet, but penetration growth had slowed down.

​New York, Sep 26 (IANS) Although garlic is good for health, many people tend to stay away from it due to the stingy bad breath it produces. Now a new study has revealed that consuming raw apple, mint or lettuce right after garlic may help reduce the pungent smell.

Garlic breath is caused by the volatiles -- including diallyl disulfide, allyl mercaptan, allyl methyl disulfide, and allyl methyl sulfide -- present in garlic, said the researchers from the Ohio State University.

In the study, the team gave participants three grams of softneck garlic cloves to chew for 25 seconds, and then water (control); raw, juiced or heated apple; raw or heated lettuce; raw or juiced mint leaves; or green tea were consumed immediately.

The levels of volatiles on the breath after consumption were analysed by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry.

The findings showed that raw apple and raw lettuce decreased the concentration of volatiles responsible for garlic breath by 50 per cent or more compared to the control for the first 30 minutes.

Mint leaves had a higher deodorisation level compared to raw apple and raw lettuce for all volatile compounds measured.

Apple juice and mint juice reduced the levels of volatiles, but not as effectively as chewing raw apple or raw mint.

Both heated apple and lettuce produced a significant reduction of volatiles.

However, green tea had no deodorising effect on the garlic compounds, the researchers stated.

According to the researchers, foods deodorise garlic breath through two mechanisms.

First, enzymes in the raw foods help to destroy the odours, and then, phenolic -- chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group (-OH) bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group -- in both the raw and cooked foods destroy the volatiles.

This is why raw foods were generally more effective because they contain both the enzymes and the phenolic compounds, said Rita Mirondo from the Ohio State University, in the paper published in the Journal of Food Science.

​London, Sep 21 (IANS) Introducing eggs and peanuts into children's diet early and at a young age may reduce their risk of developing food allergy, a new study has found.

Allergies to foods -- like nuts, egg, milk or wheat -- are caused by the malfunctioning and over-reacting of the immune system triggering symptoms of rashes, swelling, vomiting and wheezing.

The study showed that children who started eating egg between the ages of four and six months had a 40 per cent reduced risk of egg allergy compared to children who tried egg later in life.

Children who ate peanuts between the ages of four and eleven months had a 70 per cent reduced peanut allergy risk compared to children who ate the food later.

Further, the researchers also found that where 5.4 per cent of people with egg allergy was introduced to egg between four and six months of age, 24 cases per 1,000 people were reduced.

For peanuts, with 2.5 per cent of people the introduction to the food between four and eleven months, 18 cases reduced per 1,000.

Until now parents were advised to delay giving allergenic foods such as egg, peanut, fish and wheat to their infant.

However, "this new analysis pools all existing data, and suggests introducing egg and peanut at an early age may prevent the development of two of the most common allergies," said lead Author Robert Boyle, at Imperial College London.

In addition, the team analysed milk, fish (including shellfish), tree nuts - almonds - and wheat, but did not find enough evidence to show introducing these foods at a young age reduces allergy risk.

The researchers cautioned against introducing egg and peanut to a baby who already has a food allergy, or has another allergic condition such as eczema.

"If your child falls into these categories, talk to your doctor before introducing these foods," Boyle said.

Moreover, Boyle also noted that whole nuts should not be given to babies or toddlers due to choking hazard, "If you decide to feed peanut to your baby, give it as smooth peanut butter," he said.

For the study, which is the largest analysis of evidence on the effect of feeding allergenic foods to babies, scientists analysed data from 146 studies and involved more than 200,000 children.

The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

​New York, Sep 21 (IANS) Individuals with binge-eating disorder (BED) may be at high risk of getting diagnosed with illnesses associated with the endocrine and circulatory systems, a study suggests.

Binge-eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which an individual frequently consumes unusually large amounts of food and is unable to stop craving for more.

Individuals with BED could be at an increased risk of 2.5-times of having an endocrine disorder and at 1.9-times of having a circulatory system disorder.

The endocrine system influences heart, bones and tissues growth, and even fertility.

It plays a vital role in determining whether there were chances of developing diabetes, thyroid disease, growth disorders, sexual dysfunction, and a host of other hormone-related disorders.

BED is closely associated with hypertension - commonly called high blood pressure - that causes the heart to work harder and could lead to such complications as heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure, among others.

Among individuals with obesity and BED, there is a 1.5-times increased risk of having a respiratory disease and a 2.6-times of having a gastrointestinal disease.

"We encourage clinicians to -- have the conversation -- about BED with their patients. Accurate screening and detection could solve BED problem with treatment," said Professor Cynthia Bulik, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the US.

"BED afflicts people of all shapes and sizes. The somatic illnesses that we detected were not simply effects of being overweight or obese," Bulik clarified, in the study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

​Toronto, Sep 19 (IANS) Excessive use of internet may significantly increase the risk of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, especially among college-going students, a study has found.

The findings showed that individuals with internet addiction had more trouble dealing with their day-to-day activities, including life at home, at work/school and in social settings.

They had problems with planning and time management, greater levels of attentional impulsivity as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Internet addiction may also be strongly linked to compulsive behaviour and several other addiction in students, the study said.

"This leads us to a couple of questions like are we grossly underestimating the prevalence of internet addiction and are these other mental health issues a cause or consequence of this excessive reliance on the internet?" said lead researcher Michael Van Ameringen from the McMaster University in Canada.

The study may also have practical medical implications.

"If you are trying to treat someone for an addiction when in fact they are anxious or depressed, then you may be going down the wrong route. We need to understand this more, so we need a bigger sample, drawn from a wider, more varied population," Ameringen added.

The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) developed in 1998 prior to the widespread use of smartphone technology, is the only standard test used to measure excessive reliance on the internet.

However, over the last 18 years internet use has changed radically with a substantial number of people working online, using social media among others, round the clock.

"We were concerned that the IAT questionnaire may not have been picking up on problematic modern internet use, or showing up false positives for people who were simply using the internet rather than being over-reliant on it," Ameringen said.

For the study, the team surveyed 254 students and correlated internet use with general mental health and wellbeing.

Only 33 students met screening criteria for internet addition, according to the IAT.

The research team also administered a further series of self-reported tests to see how the internet addicts compared to the others in the survey on areas such as symptoms of depression and anxiety, impulsiveness, inattention and executive functioning, as well as tests for ADHD.

The results were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) conference in Vienna, recently.

Tokyo, Sep 15 (IANS) Do you pine for a long nap during the day? Be careful, as it could be a warning sign for Type-2 diabetes, suggests a recent research.

In the study led by Yamada Tomahide from the University of Tokyo, the team conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies involving more than 300,000 people.

They found that long daytime naps of more than 60 minutes may lead to a 45 per cent increased risk of Type-2 diabetes, compared with no daytime napping.

However, it was also possible that people who were less healthy or in the early stages of diabetes were more likely to nap for longer during the day.

People with long-term illnesses and undiagnosed diabetes often felt tired during the day, the researchers said.

"It's likely that risk factors which lead to diabetes also cause napping. This could include slightly high sugar levels, meaning napping may be an early warning sign of diabetes," Naveed Sattar, Professor at the University of Glasgow, was cited by bbc.com as saying in a comment on the research findings.

There was now a lot of evidence of some kind of link between sleep disturbances and diabetes, Sattar observed.

Long naps could also be a result of disturbed sleep at night, potentially caused by sleep apnea.

And this sleeping disorder could increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular problems and other metabolic disorders, including Type-2 diabetes.

Sleep deprivation, caused by work or social life patterns, could also lead to increased appetite, which could increase the risk of Type-2 diabetes.

In contrast, shorter naps (less than 40 minutes), were more likely to increase alertness and motor skills, the researchers noted.

The findings were presented at 2016 European Association for the Study of Diabetes Meeting in Munich, Germany, recently.