Knowledge Update

Beijing, Dec 26 (IANS) Fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) launched its first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled cafe in Beijing, and said it plans to create more innovative and interesting dining experiences for customers. With the cooperation of Baidu Inc, China's largest search engine, KFC started its first smart restaurant in the Financial Street area in Beijing on Friday, the People's Daily reported on Sunday. At the cafe, customers are able to take pictures with a machine, which will recognise the diner's face, sex, age, mood and other features, then help to recommend suitable food and set meals and complete the ordering process. "If the consumer visits the store again and takes a picture with the machine, it will be able to recognize his or her face and show the previous purchase history, remember the customer's dining habits, and help to place an order faster," said Wu Zhongqin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Deep Learning of Baidu Inc, which helped to develop the technology. With another machine with an augmented reality, customers are able to interact with the machine, change facial expressions by shaking their heads in front of the machine, take photos, and save them to their phones. In April, KFC also started its first Chinese smart restaurant in Shanghai. The outlet is equipped with intelligent robot ordering, debuting the use of artificial intelligence in the chain restaurants.

​Dubai, Dec 26 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates is set to hold its first Honey Festival in Hatta Heritage Village here December 29-31.

The first of its kind festival will be a platform that brings together people related to honey industries worldwide.

The festival aims to raise the level of Municipality services in Hatta area and the development of recreation and tourism facilities and sites, said Director-General of Dubai Municipality Hussain Nasser Lootah. 

"This area is given focus due to its historical and cultural importance, and to convert Hatta area into a first-class tourist destination for Emiratis and foreigners," he said.

Lootah said that this festival brings together the elite of beekeepers in the UAE, the Gulf, and the world. 

Over 25 honey exhibitors from inside and outside the country are participating in the event.

The festival will also have a number of other events like tent shopping, gallery for honey product families, lectures by specialised lecturers from the UAE and the Arabian Gulf, and scientific sessions in the field of beekeeping.

​Dubai, Dec 26 (IANS) Dubai's new 13.2 billion Parks and Resorts' has come up with 'Bollywood' and 'Hollywood'-themed parks that will bring world class entertainment to tourists and boost business in the Arabian desert.

Spread across 30.6 million square feet, the Motiongate-themed parks -- two of the three separate theme parks and a waterpark, including, Legoland and Riverland -- were formally opened on December 18.

The entire destination, connected by a one km river front with a host of dining and retail offerings at Riverland Dubai and 500-room Lapita Hotel, could turn out to be the breakout hit.

Following the first ever collaboration between Columbia Pictures, Dreamworks and Lionsgate at Motiongate park, the Dubai themed park now trails only the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for the most themed parks in one resort.

It's tough to judge among other theme parks (those completed), but Bollywood and Motiongate parks offer refreshing alternatives of a unique theme of music, dance and other activities for tourists from India and abroad.

Krrish, a Bollywood science fiction franchise, will give you a 4D ride. While the Lagaan simulated roller coaster is a cricket-themed carnival ride. 

Sholay, a 3D interactive allows the hunt for Gabber Singh and offers the rare element of actually allowing you to shoot at people. These are just some of the excitement awaiting the tourists.

While Motiongate features 27 rides and attractions including five roller-coasters.

"Dubai Parks and Resorts aims to attract 1,000 UAE nationals, through its emiratisation programme and strategies, to work in the theme park industry. 

"At least 6.7 million ticketed visits are projected for 2017, the first full year of operation," CEO DXB Entertainments PJSC, the owner of Dubai Parks and Resorts, Raed Kajoor Al Nuaimi said at the event.

Nuaimi said that it was his honour to deliver the theme park to the people of Dubai, the UAE and the entire Middle East after three years.

"It is the first of its kind integrated entertainment destination in the region, as it consists of three different theme parks and one waterpark and intertainment zone all in the same location," Nuaimi said.

With slogan of 'Experience Amazing', the organisers claim that "Dubai has just become home to the largest theme park destination in the Middle East and region's largest integrated theme park destination".

Asked if the Bollywood-themed park is only for attracting Indian visitors, one of the organisers said: "Our aim is to attract all the visitor. 

"Bollywood is really themed specially for Indians as they know it very well but its not necessary that it is only for the Indian nationals."

General Manager of Bollywood parks, Thomas Jellum told IANS: "India is one of the key market for us. Tourism is actually increasing. Dubai Parks and Resorts aims to attract 20 million visitors."

Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum officially inaugurated Dubai Parks and Resorts site located on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai -- close to the Expo 2020 site -- in the presence of over 1,000 invited guests.

Accompanying Shaikh Mohammad were Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and other officials.

The event started with the theme song "All the Wonders of the Universe" written by Academy Award winning composer and Disney Legend Alan Menken, who performed it accompanied by his daughter Anna Menken, recording artist.

The event showcased its theme parks in a special show involving the dancers and actors from Dubai Parks and Resorts' live entertainment team, who perform in shows such as the Bollywood musical, Jaan-e-Jigar and Step Up All In, inspired by the Step Up film franchise.

​Melbourne, Dec 26 (IANS) An international team of astronomers has found a massive supercluster of galaxies that had previously gone undetected as it was hidden by stars and dust in the Milky Way.

The Vela supercluster is a huge mass that influenced the motion of our galaxy, said Professor Matthew Colless from Australian National University.

"This is one of the biggest concentrations of galaxies in the Universe -- possibly the biggest in the neighbourhood of our Galaxy, but that will need to be confirmed by further study," Colless added.

"The gravity of the Vela supercluster may explain the difference between the measured motion of the Milky Way through space and the motion predicted from the distribution of previously mapped galaxies," Colless, who used the Anglo-Australian telescope to measure distances for many galaxies, explained.

The research -- published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society -- involved astronomers based in South Africa, Australia and Europe. 

Two new Australian surveys starting in 2017 will confirm the size of the Vela supercluster, according to the researchers.

"The Taipan optical survey will measure galaxy distances over a bigger area around Vela, while the WALLABY radio survey will be able to peer through the densest parts of the Milky Way into the supercluster's heart," Colless pointed out.

​New York, Dec 26 (IANS) Scientists have identified a link between Huntington's disease and dysfunction in a section of brain structures that are critical for movement and impulse control.

Huntington's disease is characterised by the progressive loss of nerve cells in the brain and affects approximately one in 10,000 people. This fatal disorder is caused by a hereditary defect in a single gene.

According to the study, led by researchers at the Northwestern University in Illinois, the disease is caused by a dysfunction in the subthalamic nucleus -- a component of the basal ganglia which is a group of brain structures critical for movement and impulse control.

The findings may explain the causes of the debilitating symptoms such as as loss of motor and cognitive function, depression and personality changes that typically manifest in adulthood, as well as loss of brain tissue as the disease progresses.

For the study, the researchers used genetically engineered mice to carry the Huntington's disease gene. They discovered that the electrical activity of the subthalamic nucleus was lost. 

Impaired subthalamic activity was caused by anomalous receptor signalling, leading to defective energy metabolism and accumulation of damaging oxidants. 

In addition, the abnormalities in the subthalamic nucleus was found to occur earlier than in other brain regions and that subthalamic nucleus nerve cells progressively degenerate as the mice age, mirroring the human pathology of Huntington's disease.

"Our findings suggest early problems in the subthalamic nucleus not only contribute to the symptoms of Huntington's disease, but are also likely to impair the processing capacity and health of other brain structures, more traditionally associated with the disease," said Mark Bevan, professor at Northwestern University. 

A better understanding of aberrant brain receptor signaling that leads to nerve cell dysfunction could reveal a target for therapy, the researchers said.

The study was published in the journal eLife.

​New York, Dec 26 (IANS) Researchers have developed a synthetic version of a cardiac stem cell that could offer therapeutic benefits comparable to those from natural stem cells and could reduce some of the risks associated with stem cell therapies.

Stem cell therapies aid damaged tissue in repairing itself by secreting "paracrine factors," including proteins and genetic materials.

While stem cell therapies can be effective, they are also associated with some risks of both tumour growth and immune rejection. 

Also, the cells themselves are very fragile, requiring careful storage and a multi-step process of typing and characterisation before they can be used.

"The synthetic cells operate much the same way a deactivated vaccine works," said Ke Cheng, Associate Professor at North Carolina State University in the US.

"Their membranes allow them to bypass the immune response, bind to cardiac tissue, release the growth factors and generate repair, but they cannot amplify by themselves. So you get the benefits of stem cell therapy without risks," Cheng explained.

In this study, reported in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers created the synthetic version of a cardiac stem cell that could be used in off-the-shelf applications. 

When tested in vitro, it was found to promote the growth of cardiac muscle cells. 

The synthetic stem cells are much more durable than human stem cells, and could tolerate harsh freezing and thawing. 

They also do not have to be derived from the patient's own cells and the manufacturing process can be used with any type of stem cell, said the study.

"We are hoping that this may be a first step toward a truly off-the-shelf stem cell product that would enable people to receive beneficial stem cell therapies when they're needed, without costly delays," Cheng said.

​London, Dec 26 (IANS) If a recently proposed combination of three particular drugs is used, the devastating elephantiasis disease can be prevented or treated rapidly using fewer rounds of drugs, a new research has found.

Lymphatic filariasis -- commonly known as elephantiasis -- is a neglected tropical disease, which causes serious damage to the lymphatic system. 

A large proportion of the billion people living with the threat of transmission of this disabling parasitic disease is in India, Indonesia and Myanmar where the triple drug combination could be used, the researchers said.

"Our results show that this regimen could potentially overcome important issues plagued by elimination campaigns, by making elimination as a public health problem achievable in a few years," said first author of the study Mike Irvine from the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Lymphatic filariasis is caused by parasitic worms, and is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

Many people with the disease develop elephantiasis causing pain and profound disfigurement -- such as large swelling of the arms, legs or genitals -- and leading to permanent disability. 

These patients are not only physically disabled, but suffer mental, social and financial losses, contributing to stigma and poverty.

Currently, people with Lymphatic filariasis require multiple rounds of treatment -- but if the drugs ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, and albendazole are used together recent clinical studies have shown that the drugs are more effective at killing the worms. 

The new modelling work - published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases - showed that this meant that the number of rounds of mass drug administration needed to treat the disease may fall from many rounds to only two or three.

The models were developed at the University of Warwick in Britain, Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, and Notre Dame University in the US. 

All three models were in agreement in the effectiveness of the regimen in reducing the prevalence of disease. The researchers noted that more effective treatment with fewer drugs rounds is crucial in poorer countries where transmission is high but resources are low.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has targeted the disease for elimination as a public health problem by the year 2020.

London, Dec 26 (IANS) Listening to sounds such as music and noise has a significant effect on an individuals' moods and emotions, possibly as a result of brain dopamine regulation -- a neurotransmitter strongly involved in emotional behaviour and mood regulation, researchers have found.

However, the differences in dopamine receptors may drive the differences between individuals, the researchers said.

The study revealed that a functional variation in dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene modulates the impact of music as opposed to noise on mood states and emotion-related prefrontal and striatal brain activity.

"Our results suggest that even a non-pharmacological intervention such as music might regulate mood and emotional responses at both the behavioural and neuronal level," said Elvira Brattico, Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.

For the study, 38 healthy participants were recruited, with 26 of them having a specific "GG variant" of DRD2 and 12 a "GT variant". They underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance of an implicit emotion-processing task while listening to music or noise.

The results showed that in participants with DRD2GG receptors the mood improved after music exposure, whereas in GT partipants mood deteriorated after noise exposure.

Moreover, the music, as opposed to noise environment, decreased the striatal activity of GT subjects as well as the prefrontal activity of GG subjects while processing emotional faces. 

These findings suggest that genetic variability of dopamine receptors affects sound environment modulations of mood and emotion processing, the researchers suggested. 

Importantly, these study encourages the search for personalised music-based interventions for the treatment of brain disorders associated with aberrant dopaminergic neurotransmission as well as abnormal mood and emotion-related brain activity, Brattico said, in the paper published in the journal Neuroscience.

​London, Dec 26 (IANS) Your kid is most likely to exhibit fear or phobia about things or ideas, if his or her 'buddy' fears the same, a study has found.

The findings showed that children in close friends exhibit shared patterns of fear-related thoughts and they influence each other when discussing them together.

Apart from transmitting fears, friends also impart ideas about how to behave in fear-provoking situations.

"Our findings indicate that close friends may share negative thoughts and to some extent may maintain these thoughts," said lead author Jinnie Ooi, research associate at University of East Anglia (UEA) in Britain.

Further, children's fear-related thoughts do not necessarily become more negative when children discuss their fears with close friends who are more anxious, the study said. 

This supports the use of group therapy and may be useful information for parents concerned that exposure to more anxious children within group-based therapy may increase their child's anxiety, the researchers said.

School-based interventions aiming to reduce anxiety in primary school-aged children could instruct pairs of close friends to discuss and resolve their worries in a positive manner among each other.

"It may also be beneficial to ask children being treated for anxiety disorders to identify whether they have friends who may be influencing or maintaining their negative thoughts.

"It may subsequently be useful for them to be given strategies for how to discuss these thoughts with peers in an adaptive way," Ooi added.

In addition, gender pair type predicted change in children's fear responses over time. 

Boys together became more afraid after discussing threatening animals, while girls appeared to make each other feel better when talking, the researchers noted. 

The study was published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy.

​Dubai, Dec 25 (IANS/WAM) A new council has been formed to reinforce the United Arab Emirates policies and strategies on climate change, and environmental and sustainable development.