Knowledge Update

​New York, Dec 16 (IANS) Researchers have identified that a blood serum test for two specific antibodies of human papillomavirus may act as a potential biomarker to predict the relapse of a type of throat cancer.

Oropharyngeal cancer -- which occurs in the throat, tonsils and back of the tongue -- is frequently linked to the human papilloma virus -- an infection that causes warts in various parts of the body.

Although HPV-related cancers are generally more responsive to treatment, for nearly 15 to 20 per cent of patients, the treatment won't work and their cancer is likely to relapse.

The study found that the patients whose HPV-fueled oropharyngeal cancer recurred had higher levels of antibodies for two proteins -- E6 and E7.

The presence of these antibodies in blood serum can be a reliable indicator of five-year head and neck cancer survival, the researchers said.

"If we can monitor someone through blood markers, then instead of a patient coming for a clinic visit every two to three months, they could get blood drawn near home. If there's evidence of high E7, we can tell the patient to come in for more evaluation," said Matthew E. Spector, Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan in the US.

For the study, the team examined blood serum samples of 52 patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer, of which 22 developed recurrence and 30 did not. 

The analysis revealed that recurrent patients had significantly higher E6 and E7 serum antibody levels than the non-recurrent patients over the follow-up period.

Patients who recurred had a lower clearance of E7 antibody than patients who remained disease free.

The study was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

US researchers have successfully reversed the hallmarks of ageing in mice using a technique called cellular reprogramming.

​Toronto, Dec 16 (IANS) With the help of a new method, researchers can detect roughly 10 black holes per year -- doubling the number currently known within two years -- and unlock their history in a little more than a decade.

"Within the next 10 years, there will be sufficient accumulated data on enough black holes that researchers can statistically analyse their properties as a population," said Avery Broderick, Professor at University of Waterloo.

"This information will allow us to study stellar mass black holes at various stages that often extend billions of years," added Broderick.

The researchers came up with the method that has implications for the emerging field of gravitational wave astronomy and the way in which we search for black holes and other dark objects in space. 

"We do not yet know how rare these events are and how many black holes are generally distributed across the galaxy," said Broderick, adding that "for the first time, we will be placing all the amazing dynamical physics that Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) sees into a larger astronomical context."

The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, proposes a bolder approach to detect and study black holes not as single entities but in large numbers as a system by combining two standard astrophysical tools in use today -- microlensing and radio wave interferometry.

Although very little is known about the inner workings of black holes, the integral part they play in the lifecycle of stars and regulate the growth of galaxies is known. 

Earlier this year, LIGO presented the first direct proof of the existence of black holes when it detected gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes merging into one.

When a dark object, such as a black hole, passes between us and another light source, gravitational microlensing occurs. 

The researchers proposed using radio waves to take multiple snapshots of the microlensing event in real time.

"When you look at the same event using a radio telescope -- interferometry -- you can actually resolve more than one image. That is what gives us the power to extract all kinds of parameters, like the object's mass, distance and velocity," noted Mansour Karami, doctoral student University of Waterloo.

​New York, Dec 16 (IANS) A new planetary system has been discovered with a host star similar to the Earth's Sun but its unusual composition indicates that it has 'eaten' some of its planets.

The study that was published in the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics" suggest that this new discovery can provide clues to researchers about how planetary systems evolve over time.

"It does not mean that the Sun will 'eat' the Earth any time soon," said Jacob Bean, Assistant Professor University of Chicago.

However, "our discovery provides an indication that violent histories may be common for planetary systems, including our own" Bean said.

In 1995, astronomers discovered the first planet orbiting a star other than the sun. 

Two thousand exoplanets were identified since then including some rare planets that orbit a star similar to Earth's Sun.

Researchers at University of Chicago studied star HIP68468, which is 300 light years away, as part of a multi-year project to discover planets that orbit solar twins. 

"It is tricky to draw conclusions from a single system to study more stars like this to see whether this is a common outcome of the planet formation process," cautioned Megan Bedell, co-author of the study.

The researchers said that the study of HIP68468 was a post-mortem of this process happening around another star similar to our sun and that the discovery deepened their understanding of the evolution of planetary systems.

"HIP68468's composition points to a history of ingesting planets. It contains four times more lithium than would be expected for a star that is six billion years old, as well as a surplus of refractory elements -- metals resistant to heat that are abundant in rocky planets," the research found.

Scientists used the 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile to discover their first exoplanet in 2015. 

"The more recent discovery needs to be confirmed, but includes two planet candidates -- a super Neptune and a super Earth. Their orbits are surprisingly close to their host star, with one 50 per cent more massive than Neptune and located at a Venus-like distance from its star. 

"The other, the first super Earth around a solar twin, is three times the Earth's mass and so close to its star that its orbit takes just three days," the study noted.

The scientists said that these two planets most likely did not form where they see them today. 

"Instead, they probably migrated inward from the outer parts of the planetary system. Other planets could have been ejected from the system -- or ingested by their host star," the researchers added.

Researchers continue to explore more than 60 solar twins, eyeing for more exoplanets.

​New York, Dec 16 (IANS) Using the internet in classrooms for study purposes, is likely to affect academic performance, even among the most intelligent and motivated of students, researchers warned.

When internet is used in classrooms, students tend to spend most of their time on social media, reading email, shopping for items such as clothes or watching videos, that could lead to poorer scores.

Internet's use was a significant predictor of students' final exam score, even when their intelligence and motivation were taken into account, said lead author Susan Ravizza, Associate Professor Michigan State University in the US. 

"The detrimental relationship associated with non-academic internet use raises questions about the policy of encouraging students to bring their laptops to class when they are unnecessary for class use," Ravizza said.

Previous research has shown that taking notes on a laptop is not as beneficial for learning as writing notes by hand. 

"Once students crack their laptop open, it is probably tempting to do other sorts of internet-based tasks that are not class-relevant," Ravizza added. 

For the study, the team studied internet use on laptop in a one-hour lecture course with 127 students.

The study showed that using the internet for class purposes did not help students' test scores. 

The findings are forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science.

Washington, Dec 15 (IANS) The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday increased its key interest rate by 25 basis points in the first rate hike in 2016 and just the second in a decade.

​London, Dec 15 (IANS) Whim, a mobile app by Finland-based Mobility as Service (MaaS) operator MaaS Global, is set to be launched in the West Midlands metropolitan area in Britain in early 2017 which will become the first region to pilot the service to its residents.

​New York, Dec 15 (IANS) Next time when you send a message intended for your girlfriend mistakenly to someone else on WhatsApp, relax as you may be able to revoke such messages in the near future.

New York, Dec 15 (IANS) Just by observing how users respond to online videos and other social media content, computers may be able to group them into marketing segments in real time, a new research has revealed. "Computers used information from social media accounts to automatically build marketing personae. Marketing research professionals typically create these personae to help editors and marketers better understand the behaviours of specific consumer groups," said James Jansen, Professor at Penn State University. But it is hard to make a decision looking at a bunch of complex numbers that most people do not understand. To understand these complex numbers, researchers took a bunch of market data and condensed it into a fictitious person. From 188,000 subscribers of a news website, the team developed algorithms to analyse data, such as demographic information, topics of interest and customer interactions. The researchers identified unique ways that groups of people were interacting with the information. "News site editors could use this information to better collect and target content to these audiences," said Jansen, adding "Journalists can use that information to reach readers with better titles, content and article framing." The researchers said that the method was transferable to other domains as well and could work at any consumer touch-point. The method is being scaled up to millions of users where researchers could use other types of social media data from sites like Facebook or Twitter. The study was presented at the second international workshop on online social networks technologies held in Agadir, Morocco, recently.

​New York, Dec 15 (IANS) If you are running out of ideas for your New Year's resolution, consider running. Researchers have found that runners show greater functional connectivity in brain regions important for tasks such as planning and decision-making. "These activities (such as running) that people consider repetitive actually involve many complex cognitive functions -- like planning and decision-making -- that may have effects on the brain," said one of the researchers David Raichlen, Associate Professor at University of Arizona, at Tucson in the United States. For the study, the researchers compared brain scans of young adults engaged in cross-country running to young adults who do not engage in regular physical activity. Participants were roughly the same age -- 18 to 25 -- with comparable body mass index and educational levels. The runners, overall, showed greater functional connectivity -- or connections between distinct brain regions -- within several areas of the brain, including the frontal cortex, which is important for cognitive functions such as planning, decision-making and the ability to switch attention between tasks. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, suggest that running may affect the structure and function of the brain in ways similar to complex tasks like playing a musical instrument. Since functional connectivity often appears to be altered in ageing adults, and particularly in those with Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases, it is an important measure to consider, Gene Alexander, Professor at University of Arizona, noted.