Knowledge Update

Wellington, Oct 14 (IANS) Vitamins A and C could improve the conversion of adult cells into stem cells, opening the way to advances in biomedical treatments for human diseases, according to a New Zealand-led study released on Friday.

The research team discovered that the two vitamins complemented each other in erasing "memory" associated with DNA, an important effect for improving technologies geared towards regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ordinary adult cells, such as those in the skin or blood, could be artificially coerced in a culture dish to resemble embryos only a few days old, said study co-author Tim Hore of the University of Otago.

Since the 2006 discovery that reprogramming was possible, there had been much interest in using induced embryonic stem cells to cure human disease.

"However, hampering these efforts is the reality that adult cells are resistant to changes in their identity, partly because of chemical alterations to their DNA," Hore said in a statement.

These alterations, known as "DNA methylation", were acquired during development and provided a form of cellular memory that helped cells faithfully maintain a specialised function.

Removal of this memory was critical in order to create a developmentally potent stem cell, or to change one kind of adult cell to another.

With collaborators in Britain and Germany, Hore determined that adding vitamins A and C to culture dishes removed DNA methylation from embryonic stem cells.

When applied to cells during the reprogramming process, those with the desired "naive" embryonic characteristics were created in much greater numbers, he said.

"We found that both vitamins affect the same family of enzymes which actively remove DNA methylation. It turns out that vitamin A increases the number of these enzymes within the cell and vitamin C enhances their activity," he said.

In addition to regenerative medicine, the work could have implications for other areas of biomedical importance.

Loss of DNA methylation and cellular memory were a hallmark of certain cancers, so a better understanding of how this process occurred could prove significant.

New York, Oct 14 (IANS) Combining the tools of Big Data analysis and visualisation with the vast amounts of data generated by social media, a group of scientists from Indiana University has started to tackle new areas of health research.

"We try to find the commonality between biological, social, and technological networks, and the internet. Previous studies -- whether in hospitals or by sociologists -- could handle only 20, 30 or 40 patients in a study," said Luis Rocha, principal investigator of the Complex Adaptive Systems and Computational Intelligence (CASCI) group at Indiana University.

"Software is now driving our research, so through social media we can plug into millions and millions of people worldwide with very different types of conditions. This helps us tap into the psychological and social elements of healthcare, making this a major game changer," Rocha said.

The researchers partnered with Pune-based Persistent Systems, a provider of large-scale software-driven healthcare solutions, to develop sophisticated algorithms to analyse the connection between medicine and social behaviour in health issues, particularly how they are discussed across social media. 

For example, in looking at the analysis of depression, millions of posts are first analysed based on defined hashtags with the relevant drug names across social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. 

The algorithms find connections on how drugs interact with each other, and how people are describing them, while also looking for clusters of symptoms at a scale not previously possible. 

Identifying and validating new clusters of drugs, natural products and symptoms can act as an early warning system for adverse drug effects and interactions.

The methodology also allows the study of multiple health issues with distinct social attitudes, such as depression and epilepsy.

Another goal is to allow health specialists to visualize and interact with the data in three dimensions, allowing them to study cohort and individual behaviours in much detail in a virtual reality setting. 

"Tapping into the scale of social networks offers an incredible source of consumer and patient data, opening up a whole new type of software-driven solution," Sid Chatterjee, Chief Technology Officer at Persistent Systems, said.

​New York, Oct 14 (IANS) A team of US researchers has developed a reliable and accurate navigation system that exploits existing environmental signals such as cellular and Wi-Fi rather than the Global Positioning System (GPS).

The technology can be used as a stand-alone alternative to GPS or complement current GPS-based systems to enable highly reliable, consistent and tamper-proof navigation. 

The technology could also be used to develop navigation systems that meet the stringent requirements of fully autonomous vehicles, such as driverless cars and unmanned drones, said the team from University of California, Riverside. 

"Our goal is to get autonomous vehicles operate with no human-in-the loop for prolonged periods of time, performing missions such as search, rescue, surveillance, mapping, farming, firefighting, package delivery and transportation," said Zak Kassas, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Most navigation systems in cars and portable electronics use the space-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). 

For precision technologies, such as aerospace and missiles, navigation systems typically combine GPS with a high-quality on-board Inertial Navigation System (INS).

Despite advances in this technology, current GPS/INS systems will not meet the demands of future autonomous vehicles for several reasons. 

GPS signals alone are extremely weak and unusable in certain environments like deep canyons.

"Civilian GPS signals are unencrypted, unauthenticated, and specified in publicly available documents, making them hackable," the researchers noted.

Instead of adding more internal sensors, Kassas and his team have been developing autonomous vehicles that could tap into the hundreds of signals around us at any point in time, like cellular, radio, television, Wi-Fi and other satellite signals.

The system can be used to supplement INS data in the event that GPS fails. 

The team presented its research at the 2016 Institute of Navigation Global Navigation Satellite System Conference (ION GNSS+), in Portland, Oregon recently.

​New York, Oct 14 (IANS) Young kids who miss daytime nap and also stay up late at night are likely to consume more calories, suggests new research.

​Seoul, Oct 13 (IANS) Driven by the worldwide recall of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over battery problems, South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products fell at the fastest pace in four months in September, government data showed Thursday.

​Seoul, Oct 13 (IANS/Yonhap) The chief of Samsung Electronics' mobile division has vowed to thoroughly investigate the cause of the problems involving its Galaxy Note 7 and restore confidence and trust in the quality of the firm's products, industry sources said.

​New York, Oct 13 (IANS) Internet giants Google and Facebook have teamed up with Pacific Light Data Communication and undersea communication solution provider TE SubCom to build the first direct submarine cable system between Los Angeles and Hong Kong with ultra high-capacity.

​Seoul, Oct 13 (IANS) Samsung Electronics on Thursday began its refund and exchange programme for Galaxy Note 7 owners in South Korea after it discontinued production of the faulty smartphone. Note 7 owners were recommended to take their phones back to the store where they purchased the defective smartphones, Xinhua news agency reported. South Korean consumers can opt to get a full refund or exchange Note 7s with other devices, including Apple's iPhone 7 or LG Electronics' G5 and V20, or Samsung's Galaxy S7, S7 Edge and Galaxy Note 5. Samsung said in a statement that it will provide 100,000 won ($89) in gifts, including a 30,000-won coupon and a 70,000-won assistance for phone charges, if Note 7 owners replace their phones with Samsung products. The 30,000-won coupon would be given to all Note 7 buyers even if they exchange their phones with other products such as iPhone 7 or the LG G5. If Note 7 owners want to receive the full 100,000-won gift from Samsung, they are required to replace the phones with Samsung products until November 30. The refund and exchange programme will continue by the end of this year. The programme will differ by country.

​London, Oct 13 (IANS) In a move aimed at fostering peace, opening up access to space technologies and offering protection for citizens of planet Earth, a team of scientists and legal experts unveiled proposals for the "first nation state in space", media reported.

The "new nation" -- dubbed "Asgardia" after one of the mythical worlds inhabited by the Norse gods -- will eventually become a member of the United Nations, with its own flag and anthem devised by members of the public through a series of competitions, according to the team, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

Asgardia "will offer an independent platform free from the constraint of a land-based country's laws," according to the project website.

"For the first time in history a new nation state has been created -- not on Earth but in the heavens above," read a statement at asgardia.space

"Asgardia is the prototype of a free and unrestricted society which holds knowledge, intelligence and science at its core along with the recognition of the ultimate value of each human life," it said.

According to the project website any human living on Earth can become a citizen of Asgardia.

"You can join like-minded people on this new exciting step in fostering an extended future for humankind," it said.

Initially, it would seem, this new nation will consist of a single satellite, scheduled to be launched next year.

"Physically the citizens of that nation state will be on Earth; they will be living in different countries on Earth, so they will be a citizen of their own country and at the same time they will be citizens of Asgardia," project lead Igor Ashurbeyli, told the Guardian.

"When the number of those applications goes above 100,000 we can officially apply to the UN for the status of state," Ashurbeyli, a Russian businessman and nanoscientist who also founded the Vienna-based Aerospace International Research Center and is currently Chairman of Unesco's Science of Space committee, added.

Washington, Oct 13 (IANS) An iPad app, designed specifically for use in space, simplifies the way astronauts track their dietary intake and offers greater insight for physicians and researchers on the Earth looking to keep crews healthy and fit, NASA said.

The International Space Station Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT) iPad app, recently delivered to the space station, gives astronauts real-time feedback about their dietary habits.

"Understanding the relationship of diet with crew health is critical for future exploration missions, where nutrition will be a key countermeasure in mitigating the negative effects of spaceflight on the body," Scott M. Smith, nutritionist at NASA, said in a statement.

"We've recently documented that astronauts can protect their bones with good nutrition and exercise," Smith said. 

"This app puts the tools in their hands to track this information in real time," Smith explained.

The app does not require internet access to sync with the food database - that includes foods available on the space station, including those from international partner agencies - as many of the apps available on Earth require, NASA said.

The app reports nutrients specifically of concern for astronauts (and often terrestrial beings), ensuring adequate calorie consumption, minimising sodium intake and maintaining hydration to reduce kidney stone risk.

The app, developed through NASA's Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, used crowdsourcing techniques hosted by TopCoder. 

Designed for use on the space station, the solution had to meet strict criteria, offer multiple user options and work without internet connectivity. 

The app allows crew members to record foods available on the space station. It gives astronauts options to record foods from a checklist, search tool, using audio recording, taking photos or scanning barcodes, if available.

The app provides real-time information on key nutrients including calories, sodium and fluid, allowing crew members to see at lunch that they need to consume more water later in the day, for example. 

The app replaces a weekly computer questionnaire, which provided an estimate of dietary intake over the week. 

The detailed data not only helps crews in real time each day, but also will allow for more detailed assessments of dietary intake during flight and relating these to other crew health concerns like bone loss and vision changes, NASA said.