Knowledge Update

San Francisco, Oct 21 (IANS) Riding on the success of Cloud, Office and Surface tablets, Microsoft reported revenue of $20.5 billion and net income of $4.7 billion in the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal earnings - a news that took its shares to an all-time high on Thursday.

​New York, Nov 2 (IANS) Facebook has officially launched "Gameroom" Windows desktop gaming platform in collaboration with cross-platform game engine Unity.

As announced in August, Unity and Facebook are collaborating on adding Facebook as a new build target to the Unity Editor.

​Toronto, Nov 2 (IANS) People who engage in regular physical activity and consume plenty of fruits and vegetables are likely to stay sharp even in their old age, suggests new research.

"Factors such as adhering to a healthy lifestyle including a diet that is rich in essential nutrients, regular exercise engagement, and having an adequate cardiovascular profile all seem to be effective ways by which to preserve cognitive function and delay cognitive decline," said one of the researchers Alina Cohen from York University in Toronto, Canada.

This study examined cross-sectional data from 45,522 adults, 30 years of age and older, from the 2012 annual component of the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Cognitive function was assessed using a single six-level question of the Health Utilities Index, which assessed mental processes, such as thinking, memory, and problem solving.

Participants were analysed by their age, level of physical activity, body mass index and daily intake of fruit and vegetables.

Using general linear models and mediation analyses, researchers assessed the relationship between these factors and participants' overall cognitive function.

The results, published in the Journal of Public Health, showed that higher levels of physical activity, eating more fruits and vegetables, and having a body mass index (BMI) in the normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m2) or overweight range (25.0-29.9 kg/m2) were each associated with better cognitive function in both younger and older adults.

​New York, Nov 2 (IANS) Consuming an egg -- nutrient-rich source of high quality protein -- per day may lead to a 12 per cent reduction in risk of stroke, a new research shows.One large egg boasts six grams of high-quality protein and antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, found within the egg yolk, as well as vitamins E, D, and A, the study said.

"Eggs do have many positive nutritional attributes, including antioxidants, which have been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. They are also an excellent source of protein, which has been related to lower blood pressure," said lead researcher Dominik Alexander of the EpidStat Institute, Michigan, US.

For the study, the team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies dating back between 1982 and 2015.

They evaluated relationships between egg intake and coronary heart disease in 2,76,000 participants and stroke in 3,08,000 participants.

"The study underscores prior research, showing the lack of a relationship between eggs and heart disease and now suggests a possible beneficial effect of eating eggs on risk of stroke," added Tia M. Rains, Interim Executive Director of the Egg Nutrition Center -- the scientific research arm of the American Egg Board.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

​Washington, Nov 2 (IANS) A sensing technique that the US military currently uses to remotely monitor the air to detect potentially life-threatening chemicals, toxins, and pathogens has inspired a new instrument that could "sniff" for life on Mars.

The Bio-Indicator Lidar Instrument, or BILI is a fluorescence-based lidar, a type of remote-sensing instrument similar to radar in principle and operation. 

Instead of using radio waves, however, lidar instruments use light to detect and ultimately analyse the composition of particles in the atmosphere.

Although NASA has used fluorescence instruments to detect chemicals in Earth's atmosphere as part of its climate-studies research, the agency so far hasn't employed the technique in planetary studies. 

"NASA has never used it before for planetary ground level exploration. If the agency develops it, it will be the first of a kind," said Branimir Blagojevic, a NASA technologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Blagojevic, who formerly worked for Science and Engineering Services, LLC, that developed the sensor, has applied the technology to create an instrument prototype, proving in testing that the same remote-sensing technology used to identify bio-hazards in public places also could be effective at detecting organic bio-signatures on Mars.

The beauty of BILI is its ability to detect in real-time small levels of complex organic materials from a distance of several hundred meters, Blagojevic added in a NASA statement.

Therefore, it could autonomously search for bio-signatures in plumes above recurring slopes -- areas not easily traversed by a rover carrying a variety of in-situ instruments for detailed chemical and biological analysis. 

Furthermore, because it could do a ground-level aerosol analysis from afar, BILI reduces the risk of sample contamination that could skew the results.

"This makes our instrument an excellent complementary organic-detection instrument, which we could use in tandem with more sensitive, point sensor-type mass spectrometers that can only measure a small amount of material at once," Blagojevic said. 

"BILI's measurements do not require consumables other than electrical power and can be conducted quickly over a broad area. This is a survey instrument, with a nose for certain molecules," Blagojevic noted.

With such a tool, which also could be installed on an orbiting spacecraft, NASA could dramatically increase the probability of finding bio-signatures in the solar system, he added.

"We are ready to integrate and test this novel instrument, which would be capable of detecting a number organic bio-signatures," Blagojevic said.

​San Diego, Nov 2 (IANS) Investing in creativity pays off with tangible benefits -- from higher income to greater national competitiveness and productivity, a new Adobe report said on Wednesday.

The report, "State of Create: 2016", released on the eve of Adobe MAX 2016 creativity conference, revealed that people who identify as creators globally report household income that is 13 per cent higher than non-creators.

Globally, more than two-thirds believe that being creative helps make people better workers, leaders, parents and students, the report highlighted. It incorporates responses from more than 5,000 adults across five countries.

"Creativity and productivity go hand in hand, but investing in creativity isn't on the agenda for enough of today's leaders," Mala Sharma, Vice President and General Manager of Creative Cloud at Adobe, said in a statement. 

"This survey provides a big wake-up call to businesses that they need to think differently and give employees the tools and freedom to be creative," she added.

According to the report, US respondents said that being creative is valuable to the economy (77 per cent) and society (82 per cent).

Only five in 10 respondents (55 per cent) describe themselves as creative and 44 per cent say they are living up to their creative potential, showed the survey that found US creators earning 17 per cent more than non-creators.

"Businesses benefit from prioritising creativity and good design. Nearly 88 per cent believe that businesses that invest in creativity are more likely to foster innovation and 89 per cent believe that those who have adopted creativity have satisfied customers," the report found.

The report pointed out that governments that invest in creativity are viewed more positively but agrees that there is a clear disconnect between the high value society places on creativity and the lack of investment in creative education. 

Seventy-one per cent of respondents believe that creativity is being stifled by the educational system, and only 41 per cent feel that the government encourages schools to teach students to be creative.

The report also found that Japan is the most creative country and Tokyo the most creative city followed by the US and New York respectively.

​Beijing, Nov 2 (IANS) Chinese aircraft manufacturer AVIC unveiled the country's first unmanned plane during the International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition held this week in Zhuhai, China.

The plane, which is capable of flying at high altitudes of more than 14,000 m, is designed for reconnaissance and attack missions, Efe news reported.

Named 'Cloud Shadow', the plane has a maximum speed of 620 kmph, a control system that allows a range of 290 km, and is available for export, according to defence experts.

Other noteworthy specifications include its autonomy of six hours, maximum load of 400 kg and compatibility with several air-to-surface missiles, bombs and other new weapons. 

The International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition offers a peek into the latest developments in China's civil and military airline industry.

San Francisco, Nov 1 (IANS) Japanese car maker Toyota has developed an app called Smart Key Box that lets people use smartphones to access and start up a car.

The app would only allow users that have previously signed up for the shared-use car to operate it, providing a more secure way of lending and renting cars, Toyota said in a

​Sydney, Nov 1 (IANS) Australian researchers have found that children with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to develop asthma and other allergies later in life.

Researchers from Western Australia's Telethon Kids Institute tracked vitamin D levels from birth to age 10 in Perth and found that children were at high risk of developing asthma and allergies as they grew older if they lacked the nutrient at a young age, Xinhua news agency reported.

The findings also showed that repeated bouts of vitamin D deficiency in early childhood were linked to higher rates of asthma at age 10, as well as allergy and eczema.

The study's lead author Elysia Hollams on Tuesday said the findings showed that vitamin D plays an important role in regulating the immune system as well as promoting a healthy lung development.

"Our study is the first to track vitamin D levels from birth to asthma onset, and it has shown a clear link between prolonged vitamin D deficiency in early childhood and the development of asthma," Hollams said.

"We've also shown for the first time that babies deficient in vitamin D have higher levels of potentially harmful bacteria in their upper airways, and are more susceptible to severe respiratory infections."

But Hollams was quick to caution against rushing out and purchasing vitamin D supplements as more research needs to be done in the field.

"We still don't know what the optimal level of vitamin D is for good lung health and immune function, and we don't know if supplementation would address this issue, or if healthy sun exposure is what is required, given that vitamin D is an indirect measure of recent sun exposure," Hollams said.

The study's co-author professor Prue Hart said the findings were a significant endorsement that vitamin D levels may be important throughout childhood.

Hollams and Hart's study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology on Tuesday.

New York, Nov 1 (IANS) Normal, healthy heart muscle is well-supplied with oxygen-rich blood, but a new study says that very low oxygen levels -- about the concentration at the top of Mt. Everest -- may help reverse heart disease.

"This work shows that hypoxia (very low oxygen level) equivalent to the summit of Mt. Everest can actually reverse heart disease, and that is extraordinary," said Benjamin Levine, Professor of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the US.

In this study, by placing mice in an extremely low-oxygen environment, the researchers said they were able to regenerate heart muscle.

"The adult human heart is not capable of any meaningful repair following a heart attack, which is why heart attacks have such a devastating impact," said Hesham Sadek, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine.

"Though counterintuitive, we've shown that severely lowering oxygen exposure can sidestep damage to cells caused by oxygen and turn cell division back on, leading to heart regrowth," Sadek noted.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, build upon years of work that began with the discovery that the hearts of newborn mammals have the ability to regenerate, similar to the way skin has the ability to repair itself after a cut. 

But this ability of heart muscle to regenerate is quickly lost in the following weeks as the animal ages and the cells are bathed in the oxygen-rich environment of the beating heart, causing damage to the cells.

In the current study, the researchers lowered the oxygen in the air breathed by mice from the normal 21 percent to seven per cent -- about the concentration of oxygen at the top of Mt. Everest -- over a period of weeks, then monitored the mass and function of the heart. 

After two weeks in the low-oxygen environment, the heart muscle cells -- called cardiomyocytes -- were dividing and growing. 

Under normal circumstances these heart muscle cells do not divide in adult mammals.

The researchers had tried a 10 per cent oxygen environment, but there was no heart regrowth in the 10 per cent oxygen environment. 

To avoid oxygen damage to cells, oxygen levels needed to be very low, a situation referred to as hypoxia.

"In theory, creating a low-oxygen environment could lead to repair not only of heart muscle, but of other organs as well," Sadek noted.

"Although exposure to this level of hypoxia can result in complications, it is tolerated in humans when performed in a controlled setting," he pointed out.