Knowledge Update

London, Nov 9 (IANS) Extending the number of pregnant women given a common drug to boost thyroid hormone levels may lead to a reduced number of still-births, early caesarean sections and low-weight babies, says a new study.

"Our work raises the possibility of providing real benefits from using a safe, cheap and well established treatment by simply extending it to the number of pregnant women we treat," said lead author of the study Peter Taylor from University of Cardiff in Britain.

The thyroid gland is an organ found in the base of the neck. It produces essential hormones that control the body's metabolism -- the way we use energy. 

Thyroid hormones are also critical for foetal brain development, but babies cannot make any of their own until the second trimester and have to source all of it from their mothers.

Pregnant women with mild hypothyroidism have low levels of thyroid hormones. This can be treated with a hormone replacement drug called levothyroxine.

In this study, the researchers investigated whether pregnant women with mild hypothyroidism and their babies would also benefit from levothyroxine treatment. 

They combined data from a thyroid screening study and linked it to routinely collected clinical data to study the effect of correcting borderline thyroid function on obstetric outcomes.

The researchers analysed over 13,000 women who were 12-16 weeks pregnant, 518 of whom had mild hypothyroidism. 

Of these, 263 women received levothyroxine and the rest received no treatment. 

They assessed the women's pregnancy outcomes by measuring stillbirth rates, preterm delivery, length of stay at hospital, birth weight and the number of early caesarean sections.

They found that women with mild hypothyroidism treated with levothyroxine had a lower risk of giving birth to low weight babies and were also less likely to undergo an early caesarean.

Untreated women with mild hypothyroidism were more likely to have a stillbirth than women with normal thyroid function and no stillbirths occurred in the treated group. 

The findings were presented at the Society for Endocrinology's annual conference in Brighton, England.

​New York, Nov 9 (IANS) Neanderthal genetic material is found in only small amounts in the genomes of modern humans because, after inter-breeding, natural selection removed large numbers of weakly deleterious Neanderthal gene variants, says a study.

Humans and Neanderthals inter-bred tens of thousands of years ago, but today, Neanderthal DNA makes up only one to four per cent of the genomes of modern non-African people. 

"For a while now we have known that humans and Neanderthals hybridised. Many Europeans and Asians - along with other non-African populations - are the descendants of those hybrids," said Ivan Juric from the University of California, Davis in the US.

"Previous work has also shown that, following hybridisation, many Neanderthal gene variants were lost from the modern human population due to selection. We wanted to better understand the causes of this loss," Juric noted.

To understand how modern humans lost their Neanderthal genetic material and how humans and Neanderthals remained distinct, the researchers developed a novel method for estimating the average strength of natural selection against Neanderthal genetic material.

They found that natural selection removed many Neanderthal alleles from the genome that might have had mildly negative effects. 

The scientists estimated that these gene variations were able to persist in Neanderthals because Neanderthals had a much smaller population size than humans. 

Once transferred into the human genome, however, these alleles became subject to natural selection, which was more effective in the larger human populations and has removed these gene variants over time.

"Our results are compatible with a scenario where the Neanderthal genome accumulated many weakly deleterious variants, because selection was not effective in the small Neanderthal populations. Those variants entered the human population after hybridisation," Juric said.

"Once in the larger human population, those deleterious variants were slowly purged by natural selection," Juric noted.

These findings, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, shed new light on the role of population size on losing or maintaining Neanderthal ancestry in humans.

New York, Nov 9 (IANS) Offering a potential new tool to study respiratory diseases, researchers have transplanted lab-grown mini lungs into immunosuppressed mice where the structures were able to survive, grow and mature.

"In many ways, the transplanted mini lungs were indistinguishable from human adult tissue," said senior study author Jason Spence, Associate Professor at University of Michigan Medical School in the US.

Respiratory diseases account for nearly one in five deaths worldwide, and lung cancer survival rates remain poor despite numerous therapeutic advances during the past 30 years.

The numbers highlight the need for new, physiologically relevant models for translational lung research.

Lab-grown lungs can help because they provide a human model to screen drugs, understand gene function, generate transplantable tissue and study complex human diseases, such as asthma.

The researchers used numerous signalling pathways involved with cell growth and organ formation to coax stem cells -- the body's master cells -- to make the miniature lungs.

The findings, published in the journal eLife, suggest that scientists can now grow 3-D models of lungs from stem cells, creating new ways to study respiratory diseases.

New York, Nov 9 (IANS) Chimpanzees -- highly promiscuous species -- are good fathers and more devoted to protect their offspring than previously thought, a research has revealed.

The study led by researchers from the George Washington University showed that male chimpanzees spend time with non-mating female chimpanzees that are caring for their offspring.

They interact with their infants more than expected as well as spend time on grooming and caring them.

"This research suggests that male chimpanzees may sometimes prioritise relationships with their offspring rather than with potential mates," said Carson Murray, Assistant Professor at the George Washington University.

However, the chimpanzees spending time with nursing mothers did not increase the likelihood that they would be the father of that mother's next infant, the researchers said.

They said this finding is unexpected since the species is highly promiscuous and researchers previously questioned whether male chimpanzees could recognise their offspring.

For the study, the team examined patterns based on 17 father chimpanzees and 49 mother-infant pairs to see if the males could recognise their offspring and if the male's behaviour was different around them.

The results showed that the males associated with mothers of their offspring early in infancy and interacted with their infants more than expected.

The research was published in Royal Society Open Science.

​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.

​London, Nov 8 (IANS) Private debt in Britain has reached a record $1.9 trillion, equating to 30,000 pounds, or more than $37,000, for every adult, a charity said on Monday.

The average debt for each man and woman is equal to more than 113 per cent of average annual earnings, Xinhua news agency quoted the London-based organisation, The

​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.