Knowledge Update

​London, April 12 (IANS) Humanoid robotics and computer avatars may help rehabilitate people suffering from social disorders such as schizophrenia or social phobia in the near future, finds new research.

Washington, April 12 (IANS) A team of scientists has developed a new refined tool to search for exoplanets orbiting distant stars or other planetary detections.

One of the most successful techniques to find and confirm planets is called the radial velocity method.

A planet is obviously influenced by the gravity of the star it orbits; that's what keeps it in orbit.

This technique takes advantage of the fact that the planet's gravity also affects the star in return.

As a result, astronomers are able to detect the tiny wobbles the planet induces as its gravity tugs on the star. Using this method, astronomers have detected hundreds of exoplanets.

For certain kinds of low-mass stars, there are limitations to the standard radial velocity method that may find something that looks like a planet but is not.

To address this issue, the team from Carnegie Mellon University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Missouri State University decided to use the radial velocity technique but they examined a different, longer wavelength of light.

"Switching from the visible spectrum to the near-infrared, the wobble effect caused by an orbiting planet will remain the same regardless of wavelength," explained Jonathan Gagne from Carnegie.

But looking in the near-infrared will allow us to reject false positives caused by sunspots and other phenomena that will not look the same in near-infrared as they do in visible light, he added.

The research team was able to develop a better calibration tool to improve the overall technology for near-infrared radial velocity work which should make it a better option going forward.

They examined 32 low-mass stars using this technological upgrade att he NASA Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The findings confirmed several known planets and binary systems and also identified a few new planetary candidates.

“Our results indicate that this planet-hunting tool is precise and should be a part of the mix of approaches used by astronomers going forward,” added Caltech's Peter Gao in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.​

​Beijing, April 14 (IANS) Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has opened an account on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, amassing over 2 million followers within 24 hours.

​Singapore, April 14 (IANS) The Singapore economy rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the same growth pace as in the previous quarter, according to estimates released by the ministry of trade and industry (MTI) on Thursday.

Washington, April 12 (IANS) The economy of Ukraine is expected to grow at a slower rate of 1.5 percent this year, down 0.5 percent from the prognosis made in October 2015, IMF said on Tuesday.

Dubai, April 13 (IANS) Dubai's state-owned carrier Emirates Airlines on Wednesday said it has ordered an additional two new A380 aircraft with an estimated delivery date in the fourth quarter of 2017. Emirates Airlines is the UAE's international airline and the world's fastest growing carrier, currently operating the world's largest fleet of A380s Airbuses, with 75 in service and a further 65 on firm order, Xinhua reported. The two additional aircraft will be powered by Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines and will bring Emirates' total A380s order book to 142. Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airlines said: "From now till the end of 2017, Emirates will retire 30 older aircraft from our fleet." In addition, Clark said that in order to meet growth forecasts "we will receive a delivery of 24 new 777 Boeings, and 33 new A380 aircrafts including the two additional A380 aircrafts just ordered." He also pointed out that the orders are according to the carrier's target of operating a modern and efficient fleet which offers the best possible service for its customers. "We've always been open about how the A380 has been a big success for Emirates," Clark said. In March 2015, Clark said if Airbus produced an upgraded Superjumbo aircraft version with enhanced cost-efficient engines, Emirates may order an additional 200 double-deck, wide-body A380 passenger aircrafts, which were introduced into the market for the first time in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. Emirates Airlines operates a total fleet of 234 planes flying to 164 destinations throughout all continents from Dubai's International Airport. ​

New York, April 12 (IANS) In a first, a team of US researchers has created a bio-solar panel that can generate 5.59 microwatts of energy - a big step in the evolution of bacteria-powered energy to run small devices in remote areas where regular battery replacement is not possible.

"Once a functional bio-solar panel becomes available, it could become a permanent power source for supplying long-term power for small, wireless telemetry systems as well as wireless sensors used at remote sites where frequent battery replacement is impractical," said study co-author Seokheun "Sean" Choi from Binghamton University. 

The researchers connected nine biological-solar (bio-solar) cells in a 3x3 pattern to make a scalable and stackable bio-solar panel. 

The panel continuously generated electricity from photosynthesis and respiratory activities of the bacteria in 12-hour day-night cycles over 60 hours.

"This research could also enable crucial understanding of the photosynthetic extracellular electron transfer processes in a smaller group of microorganisms with excellent control over the microenvironment, thereby enabling a versatile platform for fundamental bio-solar cell studies," Choi noted.

A typical "traditional" solar panel on the roof of a residential house, made up of 60 cells in a 6x10 configuration, generates roughly 200 watts of electrical power at a given moment. 

The cells from this study, in a similar configuration, would generate about 0.00003726 watts. So it isn't efficient just yet but the findings open the door to future research of the bacteria itself.

"The metabolic pathways of cyanobacteria or algae are only partially understood, and their significantly low power density and low energy efficiency make them unsuitable for practical applications," noted Choi in a paper published in the journal Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

"There is a need for additional basic research to clarify bacterial metabolism and energy production potential for bio-solar applications," he added.​

New York, April 12 (IANS) Young smokers please take note! Smokers face more problems in finding a job and when they do find a job, they earn considerably less than their non-smoker peers, says an interesting study.

The findings showed that at 12 months, only 27 percent of smokers had found jobs compared with 56 percent of non-smokers. Among those who had found jobs by 12 months, smokers earned on average 5 US dollars less per hour than non-smokers.

"We found that smokers had a much harder time finding work than non-smokers," said lead study author Judith Prochaska from Stanford University Medical Center in the US.

The team surveyed 131 unemployed smokers and 120 unemployed non-smokers at the beginning of the study and then at six and 12 months. 

"The health harms of smoking have been established for decades and our study here provides insight into the financial harms of smoking both in terms of lower re-employment success and lower wages," Prochaska added in a paper published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

They used survey questions and a breath test for carbon monoxide levels to classify job seekers into either daily smokers or non-smokers. 

Smokers were on average younger, less educated and in poorer health than non-smokers. 

"Such differences might influence job seekers' ability to find work," Prochaska stated.

After controlling for these variables, smokers still remained at a big disadvantage. After 12 months, the re-employment rate of smokers was 24 percent lower than that of non-smokers.

"We designed the analysis so that the smokers and non-smokers were as similar as possible in terms of the information we had on their employment records and prospects for employment at baseline," added co-author Michael Baiocchi.

Those who successfully quit smoking will have an easier time getting hired, the authors suggested.​

London, April 13 (IANS) If you drink five-six cups of coffee daily, here come some good news. According to researchers, increase in coffee consumption can provide protective effect against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Daily dose of coffee can check non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by reducing permeability of the gut, the team reported after conducting the research on mice.

They found that a daily dose of coffee (equivalent to six cups of espresso coffee for humans) improved several key markers of the disease in mice who were fed a high-fat diet. 

The mice also gained less weight than others fed the same diet without the dose of caffeine.

“Previous studies have confirmed how coffee can reverse the damage of NAFLD but this is the first to demonstrate that it can influence the permeability of the intestine,” said Vincenzo Lembo from the University of Napoli, Italy.

The results also show that coffee can reverse NAFLD-related problems such as ballooning degeneration, a form of liver cell degeneration.

The scientists showed how coffee protects against NAFLD by raising levels of a protein called Zonulin (ZO)-1 which lessens the permeability of the gut. 

Experts believe that increased gut permeability contributes to liver injury and worsens NAFLD. 

People suffering from NAFLD can develop scarring of the liver - also known as fibrosis - which can progress to a potentially life threatening condition known as cirrhosis.

The results suggest that coffee supplementation could cause variations in the intestinal tight junctions which regulate the permeability of the intestine.

“The study offers insights that can help future research into and understanding of the therapeutic role coffee can play in combating NAFLD,” added professor Laurent Castera, secretary general of The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL).

The findings were presented at the International Liver Congress 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, recently.​

​London, April 13 (IANS) Researchers have for the first time found it possible to generate simultaneous immune response against diseases such as Hepatitis C virus and HIV, raising the possibility of a combined vaccination.

An estimated 2.3 million people globally are co-infected with HIV and HCV. HCV is the leading cause of non-AIDS deaths in co-infected individuals.

"While we have drugs to treat both HIV and HCV, these are out of reach for many and do not prevent reinfection," said lead researcher Lucy Dorrell, professor at University of Oxford in London. 

“Knowing that it may be possible to vaccinate a single individual against both diseases opens up huge possibilities for rolling back epidemics of disease and co-infection," added one of the researchers Ellie Barnes, professor. 

The findings showed that vaccine priming against HCV and HIV induced immune response in the body, measured by the number of HIV and HCV specific T-cells found in a sample of blood. 

These immune responses were further increased following the boost vaccination.

In addition, co-administration of HCV and HIV components of the boost did not impair the magnitude or breadth of either HCV or HIV specific T-cell responses compared to each alone. 

All vaccines were given as an intramuscular injection and both were well tolerated.

The study showed that the 'prime boost' approach is compatible with co-administration of vectors encoding for HIV and HCV antigens -- molecules capable of inducing an immune response to the immune system.

Following this, booster vaccinations are given with the same combination of HCV and HIV fragments.

The Phase 1 study enrolled 32 healthy volunteers in three groups. Group one received only HCV investigational vaccines at weeks 0 and 8. 

The second group received only HIV investigational vaccines following the same dosing schedule. 

The final group received both HCV and HIV investigational vaccines that were co-administered.

The study was presented at The International Liver Congress 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.​