Knowledge Update

New York, May 18 (IANS) A skull condition that has been believed to be a thing of the past due to poor diet among our ancestors not only still exists, but is fairly common among modern humans, new research has found.

The skull condition called cribra orbitalia (CO) makes bone inside the eye sockets porous. It is not known to cause any adverse health effects, but is generally regarded as being caused by iron deficiency anemia.

The condition has traditionally been used by anthropologists to assess diet and health in prehistoric populations. 

For example, the presence of CO could tell researchers that a population was not getting a sufficiently varied diet.

"But there's been a lot of debate about the prevalence of CO in modern populations, with some saying it had effectively disappeared," said study co-author Ann Ross from North Carolina State University in the US.

"We wanted to know if CO was still extant and, if so, how common it is in modern populations, relative to earlier eras," Ross noted.

For this study, the researchers looked at modern, historic and prehistoric human remains from South Africa, North America.

Altogether, the researchers evaluated data on 844 skulls -- 245 prehistoric, 381 historic (as recent as the early 20th century) and 218 modern.

The researchers found that CO was not only present in modern populations, but that it was not even uncommon.

For example, the researchers found that two of the five modern North American juvenile skulls evaluated in the study - 40 percent - had CO. And 15 of the 60 South African juveniles evaluated in the study - 25 percent - had CO.

Overall, the researchers found that 12.35 percent of modern North Americans and 16.8 percent of modern South Africans, across all age groups, had CO.

Both rates are higher than their historic counterparts. Only 2.23 percent of historic South African skulls evaluated had CO, and only 6.25 percent of historic North American skulls. Even the prehistoric North American skulls had a lower rate of CO, at 11.86 percent.

The study was published online in the journal Clinical Anatomy.

"We think the increased prevalence of CO in the modern skulls may be due to intestinal parasites in some populations and iron-poor diet," Ross noted.

"These findings drive home the fact that disadvantaged socioeconomic groups, and parts of the developing world, are still struggling with access to adequate nutrition," Ross added.​

​Beijing, May 18 (IANS) The number of registered museums in China has reached nearly 4,700, with more than 85 percent of them free to visit, a national cultural official said on Wednesday.

By the end of 2015, 4,692 museums were registered and more than 20,000 exhibitions were held annually, drawing 700 million visitors, Xinhua news agency quoted Liu Yuzhu, head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, as saying.

"As public cultural services, museums are significant in displaying civilisation, boosting cultural exchanges and improving morality, science and culture," Liu said.​

​Toronto, May 17 (IANS) Children and young adults take a long time to fully recover from any brain injury occurring while playing games, says a study.

The findings of the Canadian study indicate that those in the age group of eight to 16 are not only vulnerable to concussions but -- because their brain is still developing -- they are neurologically more fragile than adults for performing tasks that require cognitive motor integration following a concussion.

After a concussion, young athletes usually rejoin their teams in a few weeks if they do not have any active symptoms. 

“However, they may take up to two years to fully recover from the injury before they can play as skillfully as their teammates with no history of concussion," said Lauren Sergio from York University in Canada.

"Performing motor tasks, guided by what we see, is crucial in skill-based activities such as sports," Sergio added in the paper published in the journal Concussion. 

The team analysed the prolonged difficulty in cognitive-motor integration in 50 children and adolescents with a history of concussion and were compared with 49 who have never had a concussion.

The participants in both the groups were asked to perform two different tasks on a dual-touchscreen laptop. 

In one task, target location and motor action were aligned. In the other task that tested cognitive-motor integration, the required movement was not aligned with the guiding visual target and required simultaneous thinking for successful performance.

"We noticed significant difficulty in completing the tasks among those with concussion history," said lead author Marc Dalecki.

"In fact, it took many of the children two years after the concussion to have a similar performance on the task as children who did not have a history of concussion," Dalecki noted.

"The current return to sport assessment doesn't test to see if the injured person has regained this ability. Because of this, often children and youth who have had a concussion end up returning to normal activities before they are fully recovered which makes them more vulnerable to another concussion," Sergio said.​

London, May 17 (IANS) Germs could play a role in the development of Type-1 diabetes by triggering the body's immune system to destroy the cells that produce insulin, suggests new research.

Type-1 diabetes is a very serious and hard to treat condition affecting mainly young people and children.

Previous research has shown that killer T-cells -- a type of white blood cell that normally protects us from germs -- play a major part in type-1 diabetes by destroying insulin producing cells, known as beta cells.

"The study identified part of a bug that turns on killer T-cells so they latch onto beta cells. This finding sheds new light on how these killer T-cells are turned into rogues, leading to the development of type-1 diabetes," said lead author Andy Sewell, professor at Cardiff University in Britain.

These killer T-cells are strongly activated by some bacteria.

During type-1 diabetes, the T-cells attack pancreatic beta cells -- which make the insulin essential for control of blood sugar levels.

When beta cells are destroyed, patients have to inject insulin every day to remain healthy.

"Killer T-cells are extremely effective at killing off germs, but when they mistakenly attack our own tissues, the effects can be devastating," Sewell said.

The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides a first ever glimpse of how germs might trigger killer T-cells to cause type-1 diabetes, but also points towards a more general mechanism for the cause of other autoimmune diseases.

"Finding the cellular mechanisms behind the development of autoimmune diseases, such as type-1 diabetes, could lead to treatments that help us lead longer, healthier lives," David Cole from Cardiff University noted.​

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) South Asians number the highest among patients suffering from hypertension, doctors said on Tuesday. Hypertension leads to conditions like brain stroke and heart attacks, among others, and regular medication and check-up is needed to control it.

According to the doctors, the factors triggering hypertension among the South Asians include stress and the poor habits of taking 'gutka', 'kimam', 'paan' or 'naswar'.

"Studies show that stroke-related deaths are higher among the South Asian people than the White people, all because of hypertension. We South Asians develop high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol much more easily in comparison to the people of West," said Vipul Gupta, head of Neurovascular Intervention Centre at Medanta.

Noting that hypertension is the prime reason behind heart and brain strokes, Gupta said because of ignorance the condition reaches a stage when blood vessels are strained, including the ones leading to the heart, making it much tougher to circulate blood in the body.

"This strain can damage the blood vessels, causing them to become harder and narrower, a condition called atherosclerosis. This makes a blockage more likely, which can cause a stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA, sometimes called a mini stroke)," said Satnam Singh Chhabra, Head Neuro and Spine Surgeon, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

According to these experts, the relationship between blood pressure (hypertension) and risk of stroke is strong. The higher is the blood pressure, the greater is the risk of stroke. 

Currently, over 16 lakh Indians suffer from stroke annually. 

Suggesting regular check-ups as the best way to diagnose hypertension, Chhabra said: "The good news is that many clinical trials have documented that drug treatment of hypertension prevents stroke and that anti-hypertensive drug treatment reduced the risk of strokes by 32 percent compared to no drug treatment".

"Medication and other lifestyle changes are required to control high blood pressure. Patients should understand that they should be very regular in taking medications, getting the blood pressure checked and visiting doctors to reduce the chances of organ damage due to hypertension," Chhabra said.​

Kolkata, May 17 (IANS) Research scholars, policy makers and industry practitioners have come together at an international conference at Shillong in Meghalaya to highlight the tourism resources of north east India and explore marketing strategies in an eco-friendly and sustainable way, the organisers said on Tuesday.

The International Conference on Advancements in Tourism and Hospitality Marketing (ATHMCON - 2016) organised by the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, North - Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, spans Tuesday and Wednesday.

"During the conference different themes will be deliberated upon, including eco and sustainable ways of tourism marketing and development," Saurabh Kumar Dixit, Conference Chair and Head, at the department, told IANS.

Dixit said the aim is to create a platform for academicians, research scholars, policy makers, industry practitioners and the budding tourism/hospitality professionals to exchange views, discuss and present research findings related to the marketing of tourism/hospitality products/services in general and for the tourism sector in northeast India in particular.

Members of the scientific committee include experts from India, the US, Israel, Ireland, Germany, Mauritius, South Africa and from several other nations.

Some of the themes include information systems and marketing, marketing of tourism and hospitality education, sustainable/green/renewable marketing, emerging technologies, social media and e-tourism, marketing for special interest tourism products, marketing strategies of third world and developing nations, social and ethical concerns of marketing as well as future trends.​

​New York, May 17 (IANS) If you are trying to lose weight, better concentrate on not missing your exercise schedule rather than skipping your meal, suggests new research.

Researchers have found that exercise plays a significant role in the fight against obesity by promoting metabolic function and healthy shifts in gut microbes, the microscopic organisms in our intestines that break down food and can contribute to decreased obesity.

"These findings confirm that exercise is an important component of overall health and is critically important in the fight against obesity, especially during the juvenile period," said Victoria Vieira-Potter from the University of Missouri in the US.

The findings were published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

"The purpose of study was to look at exercise independently from weight loss and to determine other metabolic benefits associated with physical activity,” Vieira-Potter said.

“We aimed to tease out what effects on adipose, or fat tissue, were due to weight loss from diet, and what could be attributed to exercise," she added.

The team divided young rats prone to obesity into three groups to study the impact of exercise on their metabolic function and fat tissue. All of them were fed a high-fat diet. 

Two of the groups were sedentary while the third group was able to exercise using running wheels.

The findings showed that the exercising rats were metabolically healthier than the sedentary groups and they developed different gut microbes than the other groups, despite eating the exact same amount of food. 

"Overall, the exercising rats had higher metabolic rates, were more active even when not running on their wheels and experienced shifts in their gut microbes, perhaps putting them in a better position to avoid future weight gain compared to the other groups," Vieira-Potter pointed out. ​

​Hyderabad, May 17 (IANS) US technology giant Apple Inc will launch its development centre here on Thursday, officials said.

The facility will commence operations on one lakh square feet leased space in WaveRock, a building owned by real estate giant Tishman Speyer at Nanakramguda.

Washington, May 17 (IANS) While playing with your pooch at home helps evoke love and compassion in you, researchers from Washington State University are using a virtual dog to train robots how to do desired tasks.

​New York, May 17 (IANS) Researchers including an Indian-origin scientist from Carnegie Mellon University have found that a camera attached to the robot's hand can rapidly create a 3D model of its environment and also locate the hand within that 3D world.