Knowledge Update

​Toronto, March 20 (IANS) Nearly 20 per cent of people receiving treatment for hypertension do not actually have a problem, but they are often misdiagnosed as a result of doctors using manual devices to measure blood pressure, a study has showed.

"About 20 per cent of people receiving treatment for hypertension don't actually have a problem and do not need medication. This is due mainly to the fact that their blood pressure was improperly measured," said lead author Janusz Kaczorowski, Professor at Universite de Montreal in Canada.

More than half of doctors in the study, published in the journal Canadian Family Physician, were found using manual devices to measure blood pressure, a dated technology that often leads to misdiagnosis.

A survey among Canadian family doctors in 2016 revealed that 52 per cent of the 769 respondents used a manual tensiometer to measure blood pressure. Only 43 per cent used an automatic device.

"Clinicians should use automatic devices," Kaczorowski said. 

Automated measurement has the advantage of eliminating what's known as white-coat syndrome -- which refers to artificially high blood pressure resulting from the stress of being in a doctor's office and human interaction.

Clinicians should adopt these devices to detect individuals likely to suffer from high blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

It is possible to lower blood pressure through a healthy diet, regular physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption, reduced intake of dietary sodium, avoidance of exposure to tobacco products, and stress management, the researchers suggested. 

​London, March 20 (IANS) Middle-aged men with high body mass index (BMI) and prediabetes condition cannot process carbohydrate-rich foods in the evening, as it may have a negative effect on their blood glucose regulation, a study has showed.

The findings showed that the internal clock influences how people with impaired glucose metabolism react to foods rich in carbohydrate, fats and protein. 

"The study shows that at least for men with a glucose metabolism disorder, the time of day at which they eat a high-carbohydrate meal is relevant," said Katharina Kessler at German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) in Germany. 

Interestingly, the effect was not observed in healthy men, although there was a general decline in glucose tolerance during the course of the day, Kessler said. 

For the study, reported in the journal Scientific Reports, the team conducted a nutrition study on 29 men, with an average age of 46 years and an average BMI of 27, meaning they were normal to very overweight. 

The participants followed two different diets. Participants in group A consumed carbohydrate-rich foods (containing starch and sugar) from the morning until about 1.30 p.m. and high-fat foods from 4.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

Participants in group B ate high-fat foods in the morning and high-carbohydrate foods in the afternoons and evenings. 

"When we compared the blood glucose measurements according to the two diets, their blood glucose levels after diet B averaged 7.9 per cent higher than after diet A, in which the participants consumed a high-fat meal in the evening," Kessler noted. 

Thus, people who already have a disturbed glucose metabolism should orient themselves on their internal clock and avoid high-carbohydrate meals in the evening, the researchers recommended.

​London, March 20 (IANS) Love to drink hot chocolate? Beware, it may be as salty as seawater with 16 times more salt than the maximum target, researchers warned.

The findings showed that each serving of chocolate powder is worse than eating a bag of crisps. Out of the 28 food categories analysed, only 'bread rolls' were found to reach the agreed salt reduction.

Most people were found to eat one third more than the maximum recommended intake which may lead to higher blood pressure, putting strain on the heart, arteries, kidneys and brain and eventually leading to heart attacks, strokes, dementia and kidney disease.

"Salt is the forgotten killer. We are shocked to see that many food manufacturers and retailers are still failing to meet the salt reduction targets, despite having had years to work towards them," Katharine Jenner, nutritionist at Consensus Action on Salt and Health -- a Britain-based organisation, was quoted as saying to the telegraph.co.uk.

Further, a huge disparity in similar food products was found. 

A shopping basket of everyday items could contain 57g more salt depending on which brands were selected.

Some breakfast cereals contained just three per cent of the salt, compared to others, the researchers said.

Reducing daily salt intake from 8g to 6g per day could prevent 14,000 deaths a year, the researchers noted.

​Oslo, March 20 (IANS) Norway has toppled Denmark from the number one position as the "happiest country in the world", according to a United Nations report on Monday.

The Scandinavian nation, which was ranked fourth in last year's report, jumped to the top this year on the basis of several key calculations, including levels of caring, freedom to make life decisions, generosity, good governance, honesty, health and income.

Other factors by which 155 countries were measured in the annual World Happiness Report are: inequality, life expectancy, GDP per capita, public trust (i.e. a lack of corruption in government and business), and social support.

Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and and Finland round out the top five, while the Central African Republic came last in the World Happiness Report.

Western Europe and North America dominated the top of table, with the US and Britain at 14th and 19th, respectively, reported BBC.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and those hit by conflict have predictably low scores. 

Syria placed 152 of 155 countries -- Yemen and South Sudan, which are facing impending famine, came in at 146 and 147.

The World Happiness Report was released to coincide with the United Nations' International Day of Happiness on March 20.

​London, March 19 (IANS) Even if you have the very best Wi-Fi system available, you won't get more than 300Mbit per second speed in total.

However, researchers now claim to have achieved Wi-Fi at a lightning speed of 42.8Gbit per second which is 100 times faster.

​Toronto, March 19 (IANS) Allowing your kids play out in the open can help them develop a deep love for nature as they grow, a study has shown. "Developing positive experiences in nature at a young age can influence our attitudes and behaviours towards nature as adults," said Catherine Broom, Assistant Professor at University of British Columbia in Canada. In the study, published in the Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 87 per cent of children who played outside as children expressed a continued love for nature as young adults. Of that group, 84 per cent said taking care of the environment was a priority. "It is important to study these childhood experiences in order to develop environmental awareness and action in the next generation," Broom added. For the study, the team interviewed 50 university students between the ages of 18 to 25. Of the group, 100 per cent of females stated that they loved nature and 87 per cent of males responded the same. Environmental awareness programmes at a young age can also help develop children's awareness and action, the researchers added. "Our findings imply that providing positive childhood experiences in nature, such as outdoor school programmes, may help to develop care for the environment in adults," Broom noted. The researchers suggested that schools and early childhood classroom activities should connect positive experiences in nature with mindful learning and reflection that help empower students to take a personal role in protecting the environment by recycling, turning off the lights, and using alternative transportation methods. "Students need to learn and have a conscious understanding that the decisions we make each day can influence our environment, such as where we buy our food and how we use the Earth's natural resources," Broom said.

​New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) At a time when everyone is talking about connected devices, here comes a touchscreen "smart" mirror that -- just like your smartphone -- can be your personal assistant. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection and an android phone for the app download. You can turn this normal mirror from domestic firm Nuovo into a smart device that will keep you updated with notifications from social sites like Facebook and Twitter, get you latest news from leading publications, access YouTube videos and even book a cab through Uber. "Based on Linux-based operating system, the mirror is a plug-and-play device. It is a robust material that can be installed in any area of the user's choice. It can be wall-hung or built-in into the decorative wall as per user's decor need," Prasoon Shrivastava, Founder and CEO of Nuovo, told IANS. Have a problem remembering the daily tasks? No problem -- the smart mirror can help you stay on top of your schedule with the help of Google Calendar and keep you updated with the latest decor trends and even lets you access emails. A user can even control which app is to be displayed on the mirror. The apps which are integrated in the mirror include Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Clock (with stopwatch and alarm), News, YouTube, Maps, Uber, and Calendar updates. According to Shrivastava, the technology is secure and does not store users data on the device. "The mirror does not store any personal data of the user. The user behaviour data is stored in our cloud-based secure server with top-notch security features," Shrivastava added. The company provides one-year warranty and extended warranty is also offered. Nuovo provides free-of-cost installation. The device, launched in February this year, comes with a choice of frame -- wooden, metal and decorative -- and is available in four sizes -- 24-inch, 32-inch, 42-inch and 50-inch. In a wooden frame, the 24-inch version is priced at Rs 145,499, the 32-inch comes for Rs 175,599, the 42-inch is available for Rs 226,599 and the 50-inch model for Rs 305,999. The metal-frame variant is costly with the four variants at Rs 155,599, Rs 187,999, Rs 239,999 and Rs 335,999. Asked if Indians were ready to adopt such technology, Shrivastava said the first prototype was made keeping in mind its usability in homes. There will be other prototypes as well, which will be made keeping in mind commercial offices, hotels and the like as per their requirements. "This is our first product in the market. In the next six months, we have a pipeline of products to be rolled out which when combined together in any habitable space shall enhance user experience and improve the performance of habitable spaces," Shrivastava said.

​New York, March 19 (IANS) NASA has added four new teams to study the Moon, near-Earth asteroids and other components of the solar system.

According to a report in Engadget on Sunday, the first group from the University of Colorado will study on robotics, cosmology, astrophysics and heliophysics to advance manned space exploration.

While the second group has been assigned on a project called "Toolbox for Research and Exploration", responsible for developing tools and methods for the manned exploration of celestial bodies. 

"The third group from Georgia Institute of Technology will explore how radiation affects human-made composite materials. They'll also look into how real-time detectors can help minimise astronauts' exposure to harmful radiation," the report added.

The fourth group, called Exploration Science Pathfinder Research for Enhancing Solar System Observations or ESPRESSO will assist NASA in understanding the events that are hazardous for robotic and human explorers in space. 

With the better knowledge of hazardous events in space, disasters can be predicted and managed. 

"NASA will set aside $3 to $5 million of its budget per year to fund the teams' research for the next five years," the report noted.

​New York, March 19 (IANS) People with proportionately higher quantities of harder calcified plaque best predicted risk of heart attacks, while soft plaque did not, representing a potential paradigm shift, researchers said.

The study may be a "game-changer" for determining who is at risk of a heart attack.

"It's a disease marker, not a risk marker. And we think it's possibly a very important predictor," said Brent Muhlestein from the Intermountain Medical Centre Heart Institute in Utah, US.

Atherosclerosis is caused when plaque -- a sticky deposit known to cause ruptures -- builds up in the arteries, narrowing and hardening them.

The notion that soft plaque is more likely to rupture and cause heart attacks than hard calcium deposits in coronary arteries may be wrong, according to the study that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in Washington D.C.

"We previously thought the lipid-laden soft plaque was more likely to rupture and cause heart attacks, but based on our new research, it's more the calcified plaque that appears to be associated with adverse cardiovascular events," Muhlestein added.

Furthermore, the study potentially could mean a lot of patients may not require statin therapy, even though they have high cholesterol.

"Maybe we can find and identify them. If there's no atherosclerosis, you're not going to have a heart attack. So the coronary calcium score may allow us to much more effectively select who we treat," Muhlestein said.

For the study, the team evaluated the composition of coronary artery plaque identified in the subjects through computerised tomography (CT) coronary angiography.

The patients were followed for an average of nearly seven years to see if their plaque composition had predicted whether they'd have a cardiac event.

​Toronto, March 19 (IANS) Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 789. Whether this pun makes you giggle or groan in pain, your reaction is a consequence of the ambiguity of the joke.

Thus far, models have not been able to fully account for the complexity of humour or exactly why we find puns and jokes funny but researchers now suggest a novel approach: quantum theory.

In a paper, they have outlined a quantum inspired model of humour, hoping that this new approach may succeed at a more nuanced modelling of the cognition of humour.

"Funniness is not a pre-existing 'element of reality' that can be measured; it emerges from an interaction between the underlying nature of the joke, the cognitive state of the listener, and other social and environmental factors," explained Liane Gabora from University of British Columbia, corresponding author of the paper.

This makes the quantum formalism an excellent candidate for modelling humour, Gabora added in the paper published in the journal Frontiers in Physics.

The results indicate that apart from the delivery of information, something else is happening on a cognitive level that makes the joke as a whole funny whereas its deconstructed components are not, and which makes a quantum approach appropriate to study this phenomenon.

For decades, researchers have tried to explain the phenomenon of humour and what happens on a cognitive level in the moment when we "get the joke".

During the build-up of the joke, we interpret the situation one way, and once the punch line comes, there is a shift in our understanding of the situation, which gives it a new meaning and creates the comical effect, the authors noted.

Although much work remains before the completion of a formal quantum theory model of humour, the findings provide an exciting first step and opens for the possibility of a more nuanced modeling of humour, the team said.