Knowledge Update

​Moscow, Dec 2 (IANS) Scientists at the Far Eastern Federal University have invented a new method of producing nuclear fuel using electric current, said the university on Friday.

Main advantages of the new technology are low cost, quick manufacturing process, and improvement of product quality, Xinhua news agency reported.

Fuel can be produced even from uranium dioxide powder, which is not suitable for common technology, it said.

"The key idea of our method is heating with electric current. It flows through a mould that already has some powder on it. In such conditions, uranium oxide fuel experiences the powerful pulsed discharge and mechanical pressure simultaneously," said Ivan Tananaev, head of the department of nuclear technologies at the school of natural sciences.

​London, Dec 1 (IANS) Is your son in primary school showing poor reading and maths skills? Blame it on the sedentary lifestyle, suggests a study. The study showed that adolescent boys spending less time in physical activity and more hours in sitting idle are prone to show poor academic skills. "Boys who had a combination of low levels of physical activity and high levels of sedentary time had the poorest reading skills through Grades 1-3," said Eero Haapala from the University of Eastern Finland. On the other hand, increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time, may improve academic achievement, the researchers said. It could improve reading skills amongst boys in Grades 1-3. This was also associated with better arithmetic skills among boys in Grade 1. However, in girls, there were no such strong and consistent associations of physical activity and sedentary time with reading or arithmetic skills, the study observed. For the study, the team investigated the longitudinal associations of physical activity and sedentary time with reading and arithmetic skills in 153 children aged six-eight years in Grades 1-3 in primary schools. The study was recently published in the Journal of Science and Medicine and Sport.

​New York, Dec 1 (IANS) Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who took part in aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, running, jogging or swimming four times a week were found to have greater increase in brain volume as well as better cognitive functioning, researchers say. "Any type of exercise can be beneficial. But, aerobic activity may create potential benefits for higher cognitive functioning," said Jeongchul Kim from Wake Forest University in North Carolina, US. Individuals with MCI -- which affects memory and thinking skills -- are at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, the study said. "Even over a short period of time, we saw aerobic exercise lead to a remarkable change in the brain," added Laura D Baker from Wake Forest University. For the study, the team included 35 adults with MCI. The participants were divided into two groups. Sixteen adults (average age 63 years) engaged in aerobic activity, including treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical training, four times per week for six months. A control group of 19 adults (average age 67 years) participated in stretching exercises with the same frequency. The results, based on the high-resolution MRI images taken before the intervention and after six months, revealed that for both the aerobic and stretching groups, brain volume increased in most gray matter regions, including the temporal lobe, which supports short-term memory. "Compared to the stretching group, the aerobic activity group had greater preservation of total brain volume, increased local gray matter volume and brain tissue," Kim said. The stretching group showed atrophy within the connecting fibres in the brain's white matter, which could be an early marker for neurological changes. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, US, recently.

Islamabad/Beijing, Dec 1 (IANS) China and Pakistan have launched a direct rail and sea freight service, with the first cargo train departing from Yunnan, an inland province in southwest China.

Washington, Nov 30 (IANS) In the successful first relay test of a NASA radio aboard Europe's new Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), data from NASA rovers Opportunity and Curiosity reached Earth last week, the US space agency said on Wednesday.

The transmissions from the two active NASA rovers on Mars received by one of the twin Electra radios on the orbiter, mark a strengthening of the international telecommunications network supporting Mars exploration, NASA said.

The orbiter's main radio for communications with Earth subsequently relayed onward to Earth the data received by Electra.

"The arrival of ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter at Mars, with its NASA-provided Electra relay payload on board, represents a significant step forward in our Mars relay capabilities," said Chad Edwards from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. 

The European Space Agency's (ESA's) ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter reached Mars on October 19, 2016. 

"We now have a truly international Mars relay network that will greatly increase the amount of data that future Mars landers and rovers can return from the surface of the Red Planet," Edwards said.

NASA is on an ambitious journey to Mars that will include sending humans to the Red Planet. Current and future robotic spacecraft are leading the way and will prepare an infrastructure in advance for human missions. 

The JPL-designed Electra radios include special features for relaying data from a rover or stationary lander to an orbiter passing overhead. 

Relay of information from Mars-surface craft to Mars orbiters, then from the Mars orbiters to Earth, enables receiving much more data from the surface missions than would be possible with a direct-to-Earth radio link from the rovers or landers, NASA said.

​Wellington, Nov 30 (IANS) New Zealand scientists have unlocked the mystery of why so many cancer patients die of blood clots while undergoing chemotherapy in a study.

Chemotherapy stimulates release of tiny bubbles from the surface of cancer cells, causing the potentially fatal clots, said the study by University of Otago researchers that came out on Wednesday, Xinhua news reported.

Most deaths from cancer were caused by uncontrolled growth of tumour in vital organs, but the second most common way that cancer kills is by triggering blood clotting resulting in thrombosis.

The clots cause blockage of major blood vessels, preventing oxygen and nutrients to vital organs.

Despite being life-prolonging, chemotherapy is thus associated with a six-to-seven fold increase in the risk of thrombosis in cancer patients.

The link between cancer and thrombosis was noted over 100 years ago, but the reasons for the association had been elusive, Associate Professor Alex McLellan said in a statement.

McLellan's team discovered cancer cells treated with chemotherapy releasing lipid-rich bubbles from their membranes that activated coagulation (clotting) processes.

"We now have insight into how these bubbles from dying cancer cells may cause thrombosis during chemotherapy," McLellan said.

The research had showed that certain solid cancers were more active in promoting blood coagulation, as compared to lymphomas.

"A general pattern is that cancers such as pancreatic, lung and brain cancers carry the largest risk of thrombotic events," he said.

The study opened the possibility of developing inhibitors to the major coagulation pathway identified in cancer cells.

​Singapore, Nov 30 (IANS) The next time you try to tell a lie or simpler versions of truth to your kids, be careful.

A new study has suggested that children as young as two and a half years old can understand others' "false beliefs". This suggests that they can also recognise when people are lying, cheating, or pretending.

Using a methodology known as the 'false belief task', an international team of researchers tested the abilities of more than 140 toddlers aged two and a half, to understand when other people have different thoughts from them.

False beliefs are misconceptions that result from incorrect reasoning, and the researchers suspected it may be too advanced for children to understand, or there may be too much information for them to deal with at once.

However, the findings showed that the cognitive abilities of two-and-half-year olds more advanced than previously thought.

"Our findings suggest that children may be able to spot when parents are doing this (telling lie) from as early as two and a half years old. Parents of young children and early childhood educators should be aware that children's early cognitive abilities may be more advanced than previously thought," said Setoh Pei Pei, Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

For the study, the researchers used a modified story of 'Emma' and her apple in which the apple was taken away to an undisclosed location. The kids were then shown two object pictures and asked additional location questions. After this, they are asked where Emma will look for her apple.

The results suggest that young children are aware that others may hold different beliefs from them, but were not able to demonstrate this understanding due to information-processing overload. 

"The ability to answer questions about persons with false beliefs is present very early in development, contrary to what was traditionally thought," said Renee Baillargeon, Professor at the University of Illinois in the US. 

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

London, Nov 30 (IANS) Most of the tweets about plastic surgery are about celebrities while only a few of those are posted by credentialed plastic surgeons that offer evidence-based information, a study has revealed.

"Twitter provides a great opportunity to engage with and educate patients and the public about plastic surgery, but all too often, the conversation is dominated by celebrity gossip and marketing by practitioners who are not Board-certified plastic surgeons," said lead researcher Olivier Alexandre Branford from The Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

The researchers analysed 2,900 tweets -- including the words "plastic surgery" -- and found that only six per cent of tweets about plastic surgery were actually made by plastic surgeons while 70 per cent were posted by the public.

While the researchers believe that Twitter "may be the best-suited platform to fulfil the role of public education and engagement," the study reveals that a high percentage -- 37 per cent -- of tweets with hashtag "PlasticSurgery" by plastic surgeons were self-promotional.

It also noted that only five per cent of tweets included the "PlasticSurgery" hashtag.

The report, published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found that 50 per cent of the tweets were about celebrity plastic surgery while 44 per cent were about aesthetic surgery. 

Only a few posts provided information about the basic science of plastic surgery, patient safety issues or topics related to reconstructive surgery.

The researchers suggested plastic surgeons to reclaim plastic surgery from the tabloid press, celebrity gossip and cosmetic quackery in the interests of public safety and quality outcomes.

New York, Nov 30 (IANS) If you want your kids to become successful later in life, better avoid pressuring them over grades, suggests new research.

Parents should not obsess over grades and extracurricular activities for young schoolchildren, especially if such ambitions come at the expense of social skills and kindness, as doing so can work against helping kids become well adjusted and successful in life, the study said.

"When parents emphasise children's achievement much more than their compassion and decency during the formative years, they are sowing the seeds of stress and poorer well-being, seen as early as sixth grade," said study co-author Suniya Luthar, Professor at Arizona State University in the US.

"In order to foster well-being and academic success during the critical years surrounding early adolescence, our findings suggest that parents should accentuate kindness and respect for others at least as much as (or more than) stellar academic performance and extracurricular accolades," Luthar noted.

The study focused on perceptions of parents' values among 506 sixth grade students from an affluent community. 

Kids were asked to rank the top three of six things their parents valued for them. 

Three values were about personal successes such as good grades and a successful later career, and the other three were about kindness and decency towards others.

The researchers examined underlying patterns on scores based on children's perceptions of their parents' achievement emphasis (relative to children's kindness to others). 

These patterns on perceived achievement emphasis were compared against the children's school performance and actions as measured by grade point average and in-class behaviour.

Results showed that mothers and fathers perceived emphasis on achievement versus interpersonal kindness played a key role in the child's personal adjustment and academic performance, as did perceptions of parents' criticism.

The best outcomes were among children who perceived their mothers and fathers as each valuing kindness toward others as much as, or more than, achievements, Luthar said.

Much poorer outcomes were seen among children who perceived either mothers or fathers valuing their achievements more highly than they valued being kind to others. 

The findings, published online in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, demonstrate the value of being socially oriented, Luthar said. 

"It is beneficial for kids to be strongly connected with their social networks, whereas focusing too much on external validations (such as grades, extra-curricular honours) for their sense of self-worth can lead to greater insecurity, anxiety and overall distress," she added.

Washington, Dec 1 (IANS) NASA's Cassini spacecraft began a "ring-grazing" mission to study Saturn's rings and moons, media reports said.

According to NASA, the "thrilling" ride marked the first phase of a "dramatic endgame" for the 19-year-old spacecraft and over the next five months, Cassini will circle high over and under the poles of Saturn every seven days for a total of 20 times, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We're calling this phase of the mission Cassini's Ring-Grazing Orbits, because we'll be skimming past the outer edge of the rings," Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Linda Spilker said in a statement.

"In addition, we have two instruments that can sample particles and gases as we cross the ring-plane, so in a sense Cassini is also 'grazing' on the rings."

During the first two orbits, the spacecraft will pass directly through an extremely faint ring produced by tiny meteors striking Saturn's two small moons Janus and Epimetheus.

Then, ring crossings in March and April will send the spacecraft through the dusty outer reaches of the F ring, which marks the outer boundary of the planet's main ring system.

Cassini's ring-grazing orbits also offer "unprecedented opportunities to observe the menagerie of small moons", including best-ever looks at the moons Pandora, Atlas, Pan and Daphnis, said NASA.

However, these orbits are merely a prelude to the spacecraft's "Grand Finale phase" that will begin in April 2017, when Cassini is scheduled to fly through the 2,350 km gap between Saturn and its rings.

Finally, the long-lived spacecraft will make a mission-ending plunge into the planet's atmosphere on September 15, 2017.

Launched in 1997, Cassini has been touring the Saturn system since arriving there in 2004. 

During its journey, Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean within Enceladus and liquid methane seas on Titan. But the mission is drawing near its end because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.