Knowledge Update

​New York, Nov 22 (IANS) In a new breakthrough research, Brazilian scientists have developed a new technology that will enable parents to watch their unborn babies grow in realistic three-dimensional immersive visualisation.

The new technology combines magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -- which provides high-resolution foetal and placental imaging with excellent contrast -- and ultrasound data to scan segments of the mother's womb and foetus to build a 3-D model which can be brought to life by using a virtual reality (VR) headset.

"The 3-D foetal models combined with virtual reality immersive technologies may improve our understanding of foetal anatomical characteristics and can be used for educational purposes and as a method for parents to visualise their unborn baby," said Heron Werner Jr. from the Clinica de Diagnostico por Imagem, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sequentially-mounted MRI slices are used to begin construction of the model. A segmentation process follows in which the physician selects the body parts to be reconstructed in 3-D. 

Once an accurate 3-D model is created -- including the womb, umbilical cord, placenta and foetus -- the virtual reality device can be programmed to incorporate the model, the study said.

The virtual reality foetal 3-D models are remarkably similar to the post-natal appearance of the newborn baby. 

They recreate the entire internal structure of the foetus, including a detailed view of the respiratory tract, which can aid doctors in assessing abnormalities, Werner added.

The technology also can help coordinate care with multidisciplinary teams and provide better visual information to parents to help them understand malformations and treatment decisions.

"We believe that these images will help facilitate a multidisciplinary discussion about some pathologies in addition to bringing a new experience for parents when following the development of their unborn child," Werner said.

The study will be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, US.

​New York, Nov 22 (IANS) Teenagers who are obese as well as those who lose excessive weight may both be at risk of irreparable damage to their bones, a new study has found.

Obesity has been previously associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, but the study found that it can also affect the bone structure in childhood and adolescence.

"While obesity was previously believed to be protective of bone health, recent studies have shown a higher incidence of forearm fractures in obese youth," said lead author Miriam A. Bredella, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, US.

Having a high amount of visceral fat -- the deep fat in the abdomen that surrounds the internal organs -- coupled with a low amount of muscle mass -- anorexia nervosa -- puts adolescents at risk for weakened bone structure, the study said.

"Visceral fat secretes substances that promote chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammation stimulates formation of osteoclasts, which are the cells that resorb or break-down bone. In addition, vitamin D, which is important for bone health, is soluble in adipose tissue and gets trapped within fat cells," Bredella said.

Growth hormone, which is important for bone health, is also lower in adolescents with visceral obesity.

On the other hand, anorexia nervosa also leads to an increased fracture risk in adolescence, which persists to adulthood, even after normalisation of body weight, Bredella said, adding that it is important to address this problem early on. 

Lean mass was positively associated with trabecular density -- a marker for the risk of osteoporosis --, volume and integrity.

"The best way to prevent bone loss is a healthy diet that contains adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D, along with sufficient exercise," Bredella said.

The study will be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, US.

​London, Nov 21 (IANS) Tapping smartphones on high-tech contactless cash machines, bank customers will now be able to withdraw 100 pounds (around Rs 8,414) in cash, reports said.

​Beijing, Nov 21 (IANS) Apple China will offer free battery replacements for faulty iPhone 6s that shut down unexpectedly. Consumers across China have filed complaints on China's microblog service Weibo, claiming their mobile phones unexpectedly switch off despite displaying battery levels over 50 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported. China Consumer Association earlier last week sent a letter to Apple, requesting that it clarify the reason. Stressing the issue is not safety-related, Apple China said in a statement on Monday that the unexpected power-off only affects handsets with certain serial numbers. It agreed to replace the batteries of faulty iPhone 6s manufactured between September and October 2015 free of charge. Other models with the same problem were not included in the current replacement plan.

​New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) A year ago, when 28-year-old Soma Chatterjee Maiti started using mobile messaging app WhatsApp, she did not know that one day the platform would economically empower her. Living in the small town of Khorda in Bhubaneswar, Maiti is a school teacher and sells suits and sarees via her WhatsApp group during her spare time. She informed her friends about the idea and they helped her get more customers from across the country. "The group currently comprises 30 people belonging to different cities like Delhi, Bangalore and in West Bengal, among others. Moreover, it's been just six months since I started this business. Every now and then, my friends introduce me to new members to whom my products can be sold," Maiti told IANS. Creating a group is not where her job ends. Maiti has to make sure that the group remains active, for which she keeps on following up, like asking the members if the package was delivered properly. Besides, she keeps on posting the pictures of her products in the group, so that the sales do not slow down. "Whatever material I have, I click its pictures and post it in the group. If a person likes a product, she directly contacts me over phone and the deal is taken further," Maiti added. WhatsApp is a social community tool and these days it is becoming an opportunity for homemakers to earn as well as stand on their feet, while not restricting themselves to just being "homemakers". Just like Maiti, 30-year-old Pooja Srivastava, who lives in Ghaziabad, has also created a group on WhatsApp called "Bend the Trend". The name suggests breaking the general trend of shopping in the malls or via online portals, through a daily-use app, making the process easier. "With about four years of using WhatsApp, I thought of starting my own business this year. I was aware that this app is quite popular and has every feature I needed to kick-start my business," Srivastava told IANS. There are 76 members in the group who hail from various metros of India, along with some belonging to countries like Canada, Singapore and the US. Her group also exists on Facebook which helps her get customers from abroad. Srivastava sells all sorts of apparel, artificial jewellery, kids wear, fashion accessories, etc., and earns around Rs 30,000 in a month. Prior to starting her business, Srivastava was an Assistant Professor at the Sun Institute of Management and Technology in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. "I used to teach a few years back and even before that I was an HR professional. However, after getting married, I shifted to Ghaziabad and it was difficult to find a new job here. Thus, I decided to start my own business," she added. According to Anoop Mishra, a Lucknow-based social media analyst, technology is becoming an enabler for homemakers these days. "One-touch mobile accessibility of social applications is playing a wider role in making ideas visible and viral. Easy accessibility of technology and cost-effectiveness are encouraging homemakers day by day," Mishra told IANS in an email interview. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi's schemes like "Make in India" and "Skill India" getting a push, Mishra thinks that these homemakers-turning-entrepreneurs can be recognised if they are good enough at their work. "To make their story bigger, they would have to be exceptionally different and must go beyond the limits," he asserted. Yashmalika Singh, a resident of Delhi, has also been using WhatsApp for quite some time. She has a paying guest house (Ashirwaad PG) for girls in Dwarka and whoever lives there, she easily connects with them through this app. "Whenever she has to inform or ask something, she would send a text in the group she has created on WhatsApp, instead of calling the person individually," informs Riya Singh, who lives there. It's true that technology is evolving every day and with its evolution, people are also looking for possibilities to make their lives better. In an era where we talk of gender equality, a tool like WhatsApp is helping these homemakers attain their own identity and freedom.

​Victoria (Seychelles), Nov 21 (IANS) It was raining heavily when the inaugural SriLankan Airlines flight from Colombo touched down on the Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Seychelles and one could hardly make out the water cannon salute from inside the aircraft.

As the passengers deboarded at the Seychelles International Airport on Mahe island, each of them were handed out umbrellas by ground staff waiting at the end of the stepladder to get to the small arrival terminal a few steps away.

The sheer exoticness of the country will never fail to hit a first-time visitor, as this IANS correspondent was as he was transported from the airport to the resort on an island connected by a small bridge. A neat, well maintained two-lane road flanked by tropical trees -- greenery in all its grandeur -- connected the airport with the resort.

The quaint houses on the way mostly reflected the French architectural style. One learnt later that though the Seychelles was colonised by France and later by Britain until independence in 1976, the people of the country mostly retained the French culture.

Of the 115 islands that comprise the country that is around 1,500 km east of the African mainland, only the three largest ones are inhabited in a big way -- Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. Mahe, the largest of them all, is home to most of the country's 93,000-odd population.

A visit to the Seychelles National Botanical Gardens on Mount Fleuri on the outskirts of the capital Victoria starts with an interesting bit of trivia -- a popular myth in the country is that the coconut tree has male and female forms. And that popular myth has been given official recognition as shown by the immigration stamp on the passport, the contours of which represent the female form of the tree.

The wood of the Takamaka coconut tree is considered to be the most expensive in the Seychelles, according to Sandra, the guide assigned to our group of journalists.

"The French extract oil from the roots of this tree and 50 ml of this is sold for 300 euros," she said, adding that the oil is mostly used for skincare products.

Landscaped and beautifully maintained , the five acres of the gardens are also home to exotic and endemic tropical plants and a variety of spice and fruit trees. Fruit bats can also be seen hanging from the trees.

And then came the most anticipated event -- a visit to the giant tortoises enclosure. One look and you will surely do a double take. Tortoises. Huge ones!

Distributed across the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, giant tortoises are herbivores that feed on leaves, fruits and low hanging tree branches.

"The world's longest lived animals with a lifespan of nearly 250 years, Aldabran giant tortoises are one of the two last existing species of giant tortoises," a board at the enclosure reads.

"Their ability to survive nearly three months without food or water contributed to their vulnerable status providing live meat for ships travelling the Indian Ocean during the 16th to 18th century," it stated.

Sandra, the guide, explained that it took three days by boat to reach the Aldabra Atoll, a Unesco World Heritage Site comprising four coral islands, and only seven visitors are allowed on the atoll on any given day.

After the botanical gardens, time for a tour of Victoria. Covering an area a little over 20 sq km, it must be one of the smallest and quaintest national capitals in the world.

Neatly maintained two-lane streets crisscross the town which is dotted with pretty, brightly-coloured houses with slanted roofs given the tropical rain forest climate of the place, and modern commercial buildings.

The Victoria Clock Tower at one of the street squares is a focal point of the town. Erected in 1903 as a memorial to Queen Victoria who died in 1901, the clock is a replica of the one erected in London in 1897.

With the Seychelles as a high-end tourist destination, world's top hotel brands are all here.

Beach time and Sandra immediately informed her guests that all beaches in the Seychelles were public. "That is the law," she said.

North East Point Beach is one such. Stretching over 1.5 km, the windswept beach is popular with tourists, especially surfers. Beach rocks -- masses of sand that have turned into rocks under pressure -- are indicative of how old the beach is.

Farther ahead is the Beau Vallon beach, once considered the best beach in the world and even now among the top 10.

A visit to the Seychelles is incomplete without a trip to Morne Blanc, the highest peak in the country, from where one can get spectacular panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and see tropical birds flying around.

A local meal at a Creole homestead that comprised steamed sea fish, chicken curry and lentils, or dhal as they call it, completed the experience.

​Canberra, Nov 21 (IANS) Australian scientists have taken a step in the "right direction" to creating a vaccine for the deadly HIV virus.

Researchers from South Australia's University of Adelaide and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have used a common cold virus to introduce their DNA-based vaccine into the immune system of laboratory mice, Xinhua news agency reported.

Branka Grubor-Bauk from the University of Adelaide said the team targeted the vaccine into areas in which the HIV infection is most commonly found, and discovered that the testing achieved a "significant reduction" of infection rates in the mice.

"You need to get protection where your body encounters the virus first and you need to stop that virus from either entering, or you need to stop it from replicating and stop it from spreading," Grubor-Bauk said on Monday.

"We're hoping our discovery is definitely pointing us in the right direction."

She said now the team had made the important breakthrough, and it was vital that research continues into a human vaccine for the HIV infection.

"After a long four years of study, we were able to create this common cold virus that encoded proteins of HIV and we vaccinated mice and we were successful in creating immunity in mucosal surfaces," Grubor-Bauk said.

"We also have a DNA vaccine we administered intradermally, like the influenza vaccine, and we found by administering this vaccine we were able to get a systemic immunity throughout the whole body."

The results of the testing were published in the Scientific Reports journal. 

Tokyo, Nov 20 (IANS) Engaging in social activities like participating in hobby clubs or volunteer groups may help the elderly relieve the stress of loneliness as well as slow down the decline in their ability to manage daily activities crucial to an individuals' independence and quality of life, say researchers. The study, led by a team of researchers from the Nara Medical University in Japan, found that elderly men and women who participated in social activities were less likely to experience a decline in their ability to perform daily functions. "Participation in a variety of different types of social activities was associated with change in IADLs (instrumental activities of daily living) over the three years of this study in women, and participation in hobby clubs was associated with change in IADLs in men and women," said the study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Losing a spouse is considered a stressful experience that may speed up an older adult's functional decline. But participating in social activities may help relieve the stress of loneliness - and that might help an older adult maintain his or her ability to function, the researchers said. Participating in social activities allows older adults to have a meaningful role in society, giving them a sense of value and belonging. This sense of value may motivate older adults to maintain their ability to function, they added. Further, the researchers found that older adults who experienced a decline in their ability to perform daily activities were more likely to use medications, describe their health status as poor, experience depression, and have trouble with memory or making decisions compared to those who maintained their ability to function well. Such people also were less likely to participate in hobby clubs or volunteer groups versus those who could still perform simple activities of daily living. When older adults begin having trouble managing these activities by themselves, their risks for falls, hospitalisation, and even death can increase. Healthcare professionals should be aware of older adults' social activity participation - or lack of it - to help lessen the likelihood of functional decline, the researchers suggested.

​New York, Nov 20 (IANS) Extracts and isolated compounds from avocado seeds can potentially be used as a natural additive incorporated into ready-to-eat foods to control microbes that cause bacterial illness, researchers say.

The researchers found that the extracts from avocado seeds could be effective in controlling microbes that cause Listeria, a foodborne bacterial illness that can be very serious for pregnant women and people with impaired immune systems.

In the study, the researchers from Tecnologico de Monterrey, in Mexico compared enriched acetogenin extract (EAE) from avocado seeds with two name-brand synthetic antimicrobials.

They found that the EAE presented similar listeria-properties and chemical profiles to the synthetic antimicrobials.

The EAE was effective at 37 degrees celsius and at a refrigeration temperature of four degrees celsius.

Avocado seeds are a waste product of the food industry, and these results offer a value-added, sustainable opportunity for manufacturers, the researchers said.

Food products are usually formulated with synthetic additives that enhances the flavour so that it gives food a particular taste or smell. It may be derived from natural ingredients or created artificially.

However, food still has to be safe for consumers to eat, so food scientists are looking for ways to replace synthetic additives.

Since some additives are needed for food safety reasons, food product developers are faced with the challenge of developing more "natural" additives that can produce comparable results, the study said.

The study was published in the Journal of Food Science.

​New York, Nov 20 (IANS) Scientists from the Netherlands said they have made an important advance towards creating a functional bioartificial kidney that could one day replace the need for dialysis or transplantation in the millions of patients with kidney failure.

"The strategies and methods of this work could be relevant to the development of other bioartificial organs, such as a bioartificial liver or bioartificial pancreas, and organs on chips -- such as a kidney on chip, a lung on chip, or a liver on chip," said Dimitrios Stamatialis, from the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

A key requirement for bioartificial kidney is the formation of a "living membrane" that consists of a tight kidney cell layer on artificial membrane surfaces and can transport molecules from one side to the other. 

In a paper presented at American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2016 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, the researchers achieved this using conditionally immortalised human renal proximal tubular epithelial cells (ciPTECs) on polyethersulfone-based hollow fiber membranes. 

They demonstrated that the cell monolayer is indeed functional as a living membrane.

"This study shows the successful development of a living membrane consisting of a reproducible ciPTEC monolayer on hollow fiber membranes, an important step towards the development of a bioartificial kidney device," Stamatialis said.