Knowledge Update

​Tokyo, Jan 8 (IANS) If you are an infrequent internet user, then mere presence of a smartphone can adversely affect your cognitive performance, a study has found. "The mere presence of a mobile phone was a distraction among infrequent internet users," said Jun-ichiro Kawahara, Associate Professor at Hokkaido University, Japan. The researchers also found that people who are often glued to a screen are not easily distracted by the presence of a cell phone. In presence of a mobile phone, people are automatically drawn to it and then the individual differences decide how they attempt to ignore it. Researchers measured the effect of mobile phones on the ability to pay attention of 40 undergraduate students divided into two groups. The researchers placed a mobile phone next to a computer monitor, asked the participants of one group to search for a target character amongst other characters that appeared on the monitor screen. For the another group, a memo pad of the same size as the phone was placed by the monitor, and the same experiment was conducted. The participants were asked about how frequently they use and how attached they are to the internet. The researchers found that people who infrequently used the internet took longer to find the target character than the control group. On the other hand, it was found that heavy users were not distracted by the phone and rather more efficient to notice the target when it appeared on the side of the monitor where the mobile phone was placed. The study -- published in the journal Japanese Psychological Research -- also suggests that the influence of a mobile phone on users' cognitive performance differed depending on the degree of their internet usage.

​New York, Jan 8 (IANS) Symptoms of agitation among patients with dementia can be managed safely by using tablet computers, a new study has found.

The study, published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, builds upon previous studies demonstrating that art, music, and other similar therapies can effectively reduce symptoms of dementia without medication.

By using tablet devices to employ these therapies, however, patients and providers also benefit from a computer's inherent flexibility, the study noted.

"Tablet use as a nonpharmacologic intervention for agitation in older adults, including those with severe dementia, appears to be feasible, safe, and of potential utility," said Ipsit Vahia from McLean Hospital, Massachusetts, US.

"We know that art therapy can work, music therapy can work. The tablet, however, gives you the option of switching from one app to another easily, modifying the therapy seamlessly to suit the individual. You do not need to invest in new equipment or infrastructure," Vahia added.

The use of tablet is safe for every patient, regardless of the severity of their dementia, according to the study that noted that the use of tablets significantly reduced symptoms of agitation among patients with milder forms of dementia.

Citing an example of a Romanian-speaking patient, Vahia explained, "We started showing him Romanian video clips on YouTube, and his behaviour changed dramatically and instantaneously. His mood improved. He became more interactive. He and his medical support team also started using a translation app so that staff could ask him simple questions in Romanian, facilitating increased interaction."

​Toronto, Jan 8 (IANS) The very few people who do not like music at all may have reduced brain connectivity between two regions of the brain linked to sound processing and reward.

The findings showed that people who lacked joy from music -- a condition described as specific musical anhedonia -- had reduced functional connectivity between cortical brain regions responsible for processing sound and subcortical regions related to reward.

The inability to experience pleasure from music affects three-to-five per cent of the world's population, the study said.

For the study, the team led by researchers at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, recruited 45 healthy participants who listened to musical excerpts inside an fMRI machine while providing pleasure ratings in real-time.

To control their brain's response to other reward types, the participants also played a monetary gambling task in which they could win or lose real money.

The results revealed that while listening to music, people with the specific musical anhedonics did show reduced functional connectivity between cortical regions associated with auditory processing and the activity of the nucleus accumbens -- a key subcortical structure of the reward network.

In contrast, individuals with high sensitivity to music showed enhanced connectivity.

Moreover, when the participants won money in the gambling task, their nucleus accumbens showed increased activity.

The fact that subjects could be insensible to music while still being responsive to another stimulus like money suggests different pathways to reward for different stimuli.

This finding may pave the way for the detailed study of the neural substrates underlying other domain-specific anhedonias and, from an evolutionary perspective, help us to understand how music acquired reward value.

"These findings not only help us to understand individual variability in the way the reward system functions, but also can be applied to the development of therapies for treatment of reward-related disorders, including apathy, depression, and addiction," said Robert Zatorre, neuroscientist at McGill University, Quebec.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

​New York, Jan 8 (IANS) Consuming a high-fiber diet may significantly induce the action of gut bacteria to help reduce inflammation associated with gout and possibly help the treatment of arthritis, researchers have found.

Gout is a metabolic disease in which monosodium urate crystals of uric acid -- a waste product in the blood -- form in the body's tissues or joints, causing inflammation and pain.

The study found that the action of gut bacteria, influenced by different types of food, can affect inflammation in the body.

Diets that are high in fiber trigger bacteria in the gut to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which induces neutrophil apoptosis and the resolution of inflammation.

The findings may have important implications for the treatment of gout, and possibly for the treatment of arthritis, the researchers said.

"By understanding the way foods interact with living organisms, we may be able to create diets that help people with the disease, as well as their health overall," said Mauro M. Teixeira from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil.

For the study, the team used a high-fiber diet and treatment with SCFAs to prevent inflammation associated with the injection of monosodium urate crystals in the knees of mice.

The results showed that injecting monosodium urate crystals affected a particular type of blood cells, easing inflammation, while improving anti-inflammatory cells in the knee joint, preventing knee damage and dysfunction.

The high levels of uric acid in the body in people with gout, the kidneys are unable to flush them easily out of the body.

As a result, the MSU crystals form in the body's tissues or in the joints, where they collect in the fluids that keep bones moving smoothly and causing tissue to become inflamed and painful.

What we eat plays a determinant role in our capacity to fine tune the inflammatory response.

This tuning inflammatory circuits by linking diet to microbial products can have a profound effect on an inflammatory disease in the joints, the researchers stated.

The study was published in the Journal of Leukoctye Biology.

​Beijing, Jan 7 (IANS) China has a total of 734 million 4G mobile users, and 5G commercial operations will be launched in 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) announced.

​New York, Jan 7 (IANS) For the first time, social media giant Facebook and its photo-sharing service Instagram will showcase videos and photos from the red carpet as well as from backstage during the 74th Golden Globe Awards 2017. In a partnership with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), Facebook will let fans watch full 360-degree videos of celebrities' red-carpet experience while Instagram is teaming up with fashion photography duo Mert and Marcus to shoot the action backstage as the Golden Globe Awards goes live from California on January 8 (4:30 am India time on Monday). "The goal is to make Facebook and Instagram go-to hubs for video and other content from the Golden Globes and celebrities -- and further the company's broader aims of boosting user engagement and growth on both platforms," a report in Variety said on Friday. Twitter has also partnered with HFPA to host a live-stream of the red carpet at goldenglobes.twitter.com. The collaboration comes after Facebook served as an exclusive streaming platform for the 2017 Golden Globes nominations. Instagram will post photos from the show exclusively to the Golden Globes' account on Instagram throughout the event. "Instagram is also curating an exclusive video experience on the app's "explore" tab that will go live on January 8. Throughout the day, the Golden Globes channel will present exclusive video content from celebrities, media personalities and industry insiders," the report added.

​New York, Jan 7 (IANS) Gastrointestinal issues found in children with autism may be related to an increased reaction to stress, a finding that can lead to better treatment for the disorder, researchers say.

Autism is a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability of individuals to communicate and interact.

"We know that it is common for individuals with autism to have a more intense reaction to stress and some of these patients seem to experience frequent constipation, abdominal pain or other gastrointestinal issues," said David Beversdorf, Associate Professor at University of Missouri in the US.

"...anxiety and stress reactivity may be an important factor when treating these patients," Beversdorf added.

The study found a relationship between increased cortisol response to stress and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Cortisol is a hormone released by the body in times of stress and one of its functions is to prevent the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation, known as cytokines -- associated with autism, gastrointestinal issues and stress, the researchers stated.

For the study, the team studied 120 individuals with autism -- 51 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms and 69 without gastrointestinal symptoms.

Testing their cortisol samples, the researchers found that the individuals with gastrointestinal symptoms had greater cortisol in response to the stress than the participants without the symptoms. 

However, there may be a subset of patients for which there may be other contributing factors, the researchers suggested, adding that more research is needed.

The study was published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

​Washington, Jan 7 (IANS) NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered exocomets -- comets outside our solar system -- plunging onto a young star that resides 95 light-years from Earth.

This star, called HD 172555, represents the third extrasolar system where astronomers have detected doomed, wayward comets. All of the systems are young, under 40 million years old, NASA said in a statement on Saturday.

The exocomets were not directly seen around the star, but their presence was inferred by detecting gas that is likely the vaporised remnants of their icy nuclei.

Astronomers have found similar plunges in our own solar system. Sun-grazing comets routinely fall into our sun. 

"Seeing these sun-grazing comets in our solar system and in three extrasolar systems means that this activity may be common in young star systems," said study leader Carol Grady from NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

The presence of these doomed comets provides circumstantial evidence for "gravitational stirring" by an unseen Jupiter-size planet, where comets deflected by its gravity are catapulted into the star, the scientists said.

These events also provide new insights into the past and present activity of comets in our solar system. 

"This activity at its peak represents a star's active teenage years. Watching these events gives us insight into what probably went on in the early days of our solar system, when comets were pelting the inner solar system bodies, including Earth," Grady said.

The scientists even believe that infalling comets could have transported water to Earth and the other inner planets of our solar system.

"In fact, these star-grazing comets may make life possible, because they carry water and other life-forming elements, such as carbon, to terrestrial planets," Grady noted.

The findings were presented at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas.

​Lhasa, Jan 7 (IANS) China is working to set up the world's highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet Autonomous Region to detect the faintest echoes resonating from the universe, which may reveal more about the Big Bang.

Construction has started for the first telescope, code-named Ngari No.1, 30 km south of Shiquanhe town in Ngari Prefecture, said Yao Yongqiang, chief researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinhua news agency reported. 

The telescope, located 5,250 meters above sea level, will detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern Hemisphere. 

It is expected to be operational by 2021.

Yao said the second phase involves a series of telescopes, code-named Ngari No. 2, to be located about 6,000 meters above sea level. He did not give a time frame for construction of Ngari No. 2.

The budget for the two-phase Ngari gravitational wave observatory is an estimated 130 million yuan ($18.8 million). The project was initiated by the Institute of High Energy Physics, National Astronomical Observatories, and Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, among others.

Ngari, with its high altitude, clear sky, and minimal human activity, is said to be one of the world's best spots to detect tiny twists in cosmic light.

Yao said the Ngari observatory will be among the world's top primordial gravitational wave observation bases, alongside the South Pole Telescope and the facility in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Gravitational waves were first proposed by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity 100 years ago, but it wasn't until 2016 that scientists with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory announced proof of the waves' existence, spurring fresh research interest among the world's scientists.

China has announced its own gravitational wave research plans, which include the launch of satellites and setting up FAST, a 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

​London, Jan 6 (IANS) It's lonely life for the elderly in Britain. Half a million people in the isles over the age of 60 usually spend each day alone, with no interaction with others, a poll said.

It also said that nearly half a million more commonly do not see or speak to anyone for five or six days a week, the Guardian reported on Friday.

Age UK, which commissioned the research, said the results highlighted a growing number of chronically lonely older people. This was placing increasing demand on Britain's health services.

The charity has been running a pilot programme in eight areas where Age UK groups were actively trying to identify lonely older people and offer them companionship.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK's charity director, said: "This new analysis shows that about a million older people in our country (Britain) are profoundly alone, many of whom are likely to be enduring the pain and suffering of loneliness."

"That's why the early results of our pilot programme into tackling loneliness in later life are so important: nine in 10 older people who were often lonely when they started the programme were less lonely six to 12 weeks later," she said. 

Many even said that they felt generally happier, more confident and more independent as a result, the poll showed.

"Unfortunately, there is no simple solution for loneliness, but our pilot programme shows we really can make a difference and provide crucial insights into how the problem can be successfully overcome," Abrahams said.

The Age UK groups worked with local people such as hairdressers, shopkeepers and faith groups to help identify older people experiencing or at risk of loneliness.

They developed networks with professionals in voluntary and statutory services, such as community nurses, social workers and police community support officers, and others. 

Age UK has also developed a loneliness heat-mapping tool, which assesses risk factors such as age, marital status and number of household members.

People identified as lonely by Age UK groups were provided with telephone support and short-term, face-to-face companionship.

The results of the poll would feed into Age UK's submissions to the 'commission on loneliness', devised by late Labour MP Jo Cox, before she was murdered in 2016. 

The research agency TNS polled British residents aged over 60, asking them how many days a week they usually spent alone with no visits or telephone calls. 

Out of 2,241 people, 498 said they spent seven days on their own and 464 said five or six days. 

The results were then extrapolated to reach the national figures.