Knowledge Update

​Hong Kong, Oct 1 (IANS) Running in minimalist shoes can increase leg and foot muscle volume, finds a new study.

The researchers for the study recruited 38 runners with an average age of 35, who have been running for six years on average with their traditional running shoes (TRS), footwear of heel-to-toe drop over 5 mm, with additional cushioning pad and artificial arch support.

Among the 38 participants, 20 runners selected randomly to the experimental group underwent a six-month training programme.

At the beginning, each participant was given a pair of minimalist running shoes (MRS) and a self-monitoring programme including transition exercise regimes such as calf strengthening exercise and balance training.

The other 18 runners in the control group received the same training programme running with their own TRS.

All the participants were invited to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning for measuring their right leg and foot muscles before and after six-month intervention.

The mean volume of the extrinsic foot muscles (EFM) attached from the leg to foot increased from around 25,100 mm three per kg to around 27,000 mm three per kg, an increase of 7.05 per cent and the intrinsic foot muscles (IFM) attached from the heel to toes increased from around 4,600 mm three per kg to near 5,000 mm three per kg, an increase of 8.8 per cent.

"The mean volume of the forefoot and rearfoot increased by 11.9 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively. In contrast, the volume of leg and foot muscles in the control group remained unchanged," said Roy Cheung, Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in a statement.

The study also found a positive correlation between participants' MRS compliance and the changes in leg muscle volume. The more compliant participants are in wearing MRS, the higher the leg muscle volume growth.

The research team explained that as MRS provides minimal cushioning and no mechanical support to the foot arches, the IFM and EFM, which function as important foot arch stabilisers, would experience greater demands for strength.

The volumetric growth of EFM may also be due to higher strain and greater force generation in the posterior and medial calf muscles when running with MRS.

In addition, mid/forefoot landing imposed more stimuli to the anterior part of the foot, especially for the metatarsophalangeal joint, the joint of the foot and toes. Muscles responsible for metatarsophalangeal joint motions may therefore be strengthened with this type of landing.

Beijing, Oct 2 (IANS) China will have 240 million people aged 60 or above by 2020.

By 2020, senior citizens will make up 17 per cent of the population, Xinhua news agency on Sunday quoted Liu Qian, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, as saying.

Liu said there were more than 260 million chronically ill patients in the country. These illnesses were to blame for over 86 per cent of deaths in China.

Liu said the per capita annual spending on health was estimated at around $472 last year.

​New York, Oct 2 (IANS) Using a food additive, a team of researchers has created environment-friendly plastic solar cells that can be manufactured at room temperature.

The efficient, semi-printed solar cells have implications for large-scale commercial production, said the researchers from North Carolina State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Two of the key advantages are that these cells can be mass produced in the open air environment and that the process doesn't pose health or environmental hazards, said Long Ye, post-doctoral research scholar in physics at NC State.

Ye and his colleagues developed a semi-printed plastic solar cell that utilised o-methylanisole (o-MA) as the solvent. 

O-MA is a commonly used flavouring agent in foods and is non-toxic to humans.

Plastic solar cells are popular because they are lightweight, flexible, transparent and inexpensive to manufacture. 

Unfortunately, the halogen-containing solvents used in their manufacture are an obstacle to large-scale commercialisation. 

These solvents are key to making sure that the solar cell's morphology, or structure, maximises its energy efficiency. However, they are environmentally hazardous. 

"Hopefully, this work can help pave the way for printing solar cells in ambient air (room temperature)," Ye added in a paper that appeared in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

​London, Oct 2 (IANS) Excessive sugar consumption -- specifically the sugar fructose such as in soda -- has been linked to a rise in metabolic disease worldwide, a study has found.

Some investigators contend that commonly consumed amounts of sugar do not contribute to this epidemic. While others are convinced that excessive sugar ingestion is a major cause.

"There is still significant controversy as to whether sugar consumption is a major contributor to the development of diabetes," said senior author Mark Herman, Assistant Professor at Duke University.

However, "the study reveals a specific mechanism by which consuming fructose in large amounts, such as in soda, can cause problems", Herman added.

Insulin is a key hormone that regulates blood glucose after eating. Insulin resistance, when the body's metabolic tissues stop responding normally to insulin, is one of the earliest detectable changes in the progression to diabetes.

The likely cause of insulin resistance may not be the build-up of fat in the liver, as commonly believed, but may be caused by excess sugar in the liver that activates a molecular factor known as carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein, or ChREBP.

ChREBP may then contribute to the development of both fatty liver and increased glucose production, the researchers said.

The ChREBP protein is found in several metabolic organs in mice, humans and other mammals.

"We found that no matter how much insulin the pancreas made, it couldn't override the processes started by this protein, ChREBP, to stimulate glucose production. This would ultimately cause blood sugar and insulin levels to increase, which over time can lead to insulin resistance elsewhere in the body," Herman explained.

To test their hypothesis, researchers studied mice that were genetically altered so their liver insulin signalling pathways were maximally activated -- in other words, their livers should not have been able to produce any glucose.

The researchers found that even in these mice, eating fructose triggered ChREBP-related processes in the liver, causing it to make more and more glucose, despite insulin signals telling it to stop.

Previous studies have reported that high fructose diets can cause multiple metabolic problems in humans and animals, including insulin resistance and fatty liver disease.

The finding could also help scientists one day diagnose metabolic disorders earlier on, potentially allowing patients to make changes to their diets and lifestyles sooner to prevent more serious complications.

The study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Sydney, Oct 2 (IANS) Researchers have found three-dimensional prints of a 400 million year old fish fossil that can reveal the possible evolutionary origins of human teeth.

The printed fish fossil was found around Lake Burrinjuck in southeast Australia, by researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) and Queensland Museum in Australia.

The team digitally dissected the jaws of a fossil Buchanosteus -- an armoured fish from the extinct placoderm group -- and used the 3-D prints to learn how the jaws moved and whether the fish had teeth.

"We are conducting further research on the internal tissue structure of tooth-like denticles in the mouth of the fish fossil, to determine whether they represent a transitional stage in the evolution of teeth," said Gavin Young, palaeontologist at The Australian National University (ANU).

In the study, the team used high-resolution CT scan to investigate the internal structure of very fragile fossil skulls and braincases that have been acid-etched from limestone rock.

"It's great that we are able to use recent technology, such as micro-CT scanning and 3-D printing, to examine some of the earliest known evidence of tooth-like structures in the most primitive jawed fishes," noted Carole Burrow from Queensland Museum.

The study helped determine when and how teeth -- a characteristic feature of all animal species with jaws, including humans -- had originated in evolutionary history.

The results were published in the journal Biology Letters.

​London, Oct 2 (IANS) Family history and environment of the residential area are responsible for the differences between individual immune systems, a study has found.

The study published in the journal Trends in Immunology, discusses what shapes our immune system and how it might be applied.

The study has shown that air quality, food, stress levels, sleep patterns, and lifestyle choices had a strong combined effect on immune responses.

"Diversity isn't just programmed into our genes -- it emerges from how our genes respond to the environment," said Adrian Liston, researcher at the Translational Immunology Laboratory, Belgium.

Long-term infections are responsible for most of the differences between individual immune systems. 

These interactions slowly change the cellular makeup of immune system and make it more sensitive to that specific virus but also easier for other infections to slip past its defences. 

"People without these infections don't experience these cellular changes and even with the occasional cold or fever, their immune systems stay relatively stable over time. The exception is when a person is elderly," Liston added.

Researchers have shown that ageing changes how our immune system responds to threats. 

According to the study, as one gets older an organ called the thymus gradually stops producing T cells, which are made to help to fight off infection. Without new T cells, older people are more likely to get sick and less likely to respond to vaccines.

Beyond T cells, ageing also seems to broadly change the way our immune systems react. 

"A lot of diseases that we associated with ageing have an inflammatory component, which suggests there is likely immune involvement," said Michelle Linterman, researcher at the Babraham Institute, Britain.

"Understanding how the immune system changes with age is going to be hugely important for treating age-related diseases in the future," Linterman added. 

Mumbai, Oct 4 (IANS) Beauty brand Dove on Tuesday marked its entry in the baby care category by announcing the launch of Baby Dove in India.

Actress Genelia Deshmukh and TV show host Tara Sharma unveiled the product range here.

​New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) As we enter a technology era where Next-Gen devices are launched every single day, some are bound to fail as they don't connect with consumers -- while a few will be remembered as being ahead of their time. So what exactly went wrong with two recent much-hyped devices: Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Note 7?

​London, Oct 1 (IANS) In an another attepmt to take on photo sharing mobile service Snapchat, Facebook has rolled out a new feature called Messenger Day which lets users post photos and videos that disappear after a day.

Washington, Oct 1 (IANS) Homeopathic teething tablets and gels may pose a health risk to infants and children, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned.

Consumers should stop using these products and dispose of any in their possession, FDA recommended on Friday. 

Homeopathic teething tablets and gels are distributed by CVS, Hyland's, and possibly others, and are sold in retail stores and online, the US drug regulator said in a statement.

Following the FDA's warning, CVS announced a voluntary withdrawal of all brands of homeopathic teething products sold in its retail stores and online at CVS.com.

"Consumers should seek medical care immediately if their child experiences seizures, difficulty breathing, lethargy, excessive sleepiness, muscle weakness, skin flushing, constipation, difficulty urinating, or agitation after using homeopathic teething tablets or gels," FDA said.

"Teething can be managed without prescription or over-the-counter remedies," said Janet Woodcock, Director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. 

"We recommend parents and caregivers not give homeopathic teething tablets and gels to children and seek advice from their health care professional for safe alternatives," Woodcock noted.

The FDA is analysing adverse events reported to the agency regarding homeopathic teething tablets and gels, including seizures in infants and children who were given these products, since a 2010 safety alert about homeopathic teething tablets. 

The FDA is currently investigating this issue, including testing product samples.