Knowledge Update

New York, Feb 26 (IANS) Although the last Neanderthal died tens of thousands years ago, their DNA sequences still influence how genes are turned on or off in modern humans, and their effects can contribute to traits such as height and susceptibility to schizophrenia or lupus, says a study.

Experts know that after leaving Africa, our ancestors -- the homo sapiens -- mated with Neanderthals thousands of years ago, and today Neanderthal DNA makes up one to four per cent of the genomes of modern non-African people. 

"Even 50,000 years after the last human-Neanderthal mating, we can still see measurable impacts on gene expression," said study co-author Joshua Akey from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

"And those variations in gene expression contribute to human phenotypic variation and disease susceptibility," Akey added.

Previous studies have found correlations between Neanderthal genes and traits such as fat metabolism, depression, and lupus risk.

In this study, published in the journal Cell, researchers analysed RNA sequences in a dataset called the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Project, looking for people who carried both Neanderthal and modern human versions of any given gene -- one version from each parent. 

For each such gene, the investigators then compared expression of the two alleles head-to-head in 52 different tissues.

"We find that for about 25 per cent of all those sites that we tested, we can detect a difference in expression between the Neanderthal allele and the modern human allele," added Rajiv McCoy, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Washington.

One example uncovered by this study is a Neanderthal allele of a gene called ADAMTSL3 that decreases risk of schizophrenia, while also influencing height.

"Hybridisation between modern humans and Neanderthals increased genomic complexity," Akey explained.

"Hybridisation wasn't just something that happened 50,000 years ago that we don't have to worry about anymore. Those little bits and pieces, our Neanderthal relics, are influencing gene expression in pervasive and important ways," Akey said.

Beijing, Feb 25 (IANS) China will lift 10 million people out of poverty in 2017, and the country will strictly review the spending of poverty relief funds to ensure transparent and efficient use of the money, the authorities said.

New York, Feb 25 (IANS) Researchers have found a 700-per cent surge in infections caused by bacteria that is resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics among children in the US.

According to researchers, these antibiotic resistant infections -- caused by Enterobacteriaceae, a family of bacteria that also include such pathogens as Salmonella and Escherichia coli -- are linked to longer hospital stays and potentially greater risk of death.

The findings showed that the proportion of these infections in children caused by bacteria increased from 0.2 per cent in 2007 to 1.5 per cent in 2015, a more than 700 per cent increase in prevalence over the eight-year period.

"There is a clear and alarming upswing throughout US of antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections in kids and teenagers," said lead author Sharon B. Meropol, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at Case Western Reserve University in the US. 

Bacterial infections resistant to multiple drugs are especially concerning in children, for whom there are a limited number of stronger antibiotics currently approved for use compared to adults, putting kids at higher risk for worse outcomes, the researchers said. 

For the study, published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the team analysed data from 48 children's hospitals throughout the US, focusing on approximately 94,000 patients under the age of 18 who were diagnosed with Enterobacteriaceae - associated infections between 2007 and 2015. 

More than 75 per cent of the antibiotic-resistant infections were already present when the young people were admitted to the hospital, upending previous findings that the infections were mostly picked up in the hospital. 

This suggested that the bacteria may be increasingly spreading in the community. 

In addition, the bacterial infection may also cause a greater mortality risk among pediatric patients.

"Health care providers have to make sure we only prescribe antibiotics when they're really needed. It's also essential to stop using antibiotics in healthy agricultural animals", Meropol added.

​San Francisco, Feb 24 (IANS) US wireless communications service provider Verizon on Friday launched a new venture called Exponent Technologies that will help telecom carriers fuel digital transformation by expanding their Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and other internet service delivery platforms.

​London, Feb 24 (IANS) Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday reported losses of 7 billion pounds sterling ($8 billion) for 2016, taking its overall losses since its 2008 government bailout to over 58 billion pounds.

Beijing, Feb 24 (IANS) China on Friday said it has no intention of devaluing the yuan to boost exports, and expressed readiness to coordinate its economic and trade policies with the US.

​Beijing, Feb 24 (IANS) China will build 6 million new homes for residents of shanty towns before the end of 2017.

This was announced by Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Chen Zhenggao on Thursday, People's Daily reported.

Singapore, Feb 24 (IANS) Singaporean telecommunications company Singtel and Swedish communication technology firm Ericsson on Friday announced a partnership to co-develop a consumer internet of things (IoT) solution called Assured+.

​New York, Feb 24 (IANS) Standing with heels planted allows humans more swinging force when fighting, but the heel-down posture also makes us bad at fleeing, says a study. In contrast, many other species of mammals, including most primates, stand, walk and run with their heels elevated, and on the balls of their feet or toes, a posture important for quickness, said the study published in the journal Biology Open. The findings suggest that aggression played a role in shaping stance of modern humans. "This story is one more piece in a broader picture, a suite of distinguishing characteristics that are consistent with the idea that we're specialised at some level for aggressive behaviour," said lead author of the study David Carrier from University of Utah in the US. The physiological traits that confer advantages in fighting are different from those required for other tasks, such as running. "Certain species tend to be good at fighting or fleeing, but not both," Emily Carrington from US National Science Foundation (NSF) said. "This study provides insight into the basis for this trade-off. Animals that use their heels to plant their feet firmly to the ground, like bears, badgers and great apes, are able to deliver stronger blows to their opponents," Carrington added. The heel-up stance, called digitigrade and unguligrade, seen in animals from wolves to horses and deer, increases the economy of running by lengthening the leg and improving the storage and recovery of energy in the tendons and ligaments of the lower limb. The heel-down, or plantigrade, posture shared by great apes and other species, such as bears, wolverines and some rodents, is less specialised for running, however. The researchers hypothesised that the evolution of great apes' plantigrade stance had to do with how apes climb and forage in trees.