Knowledge Update

​Toronto, June 14 (IANS) In addition to combatting pests, covering soil with wood mulch can actually help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says a study.

Using mulch in agriculture can cut nitrous oxide emissions up to 28 per cent, the findings showed.

"In addition to saving water, improving soil, combatting pests and stopping weeds, wood mulch actually reduces the release of a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide," said Craig Nichol from the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus in Canada. 

"Provided you are not driving great distances to obtain the mulch, it would appear that mulch could be a powerful tool in helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly if used in these agricultural systems," Nichol said.

Nichol's research was part of a two-year study in which small emissions-recording chambers were placed on top of bare soil as well as soil covered by mulch.

In addition to reduced levels of nitrous oxide emissions, mulched areas also showed a 74 per cent reduction in soil nitrates. The nitrates are the source material for nitrous oxide emissions and can also leach into groundwater.

The study recently published in the journal Agricultural Water Management.

Nitrous oxide emitted from soil accounts for one half of agriculture emissions that contribute to global warming, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.​

​Beijing, June 13 (IANS) China's first high-orbit remote sensing satellite, Gaofen-4, has been activated after six months of in-orbit testing, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced on Monday.

Gaofen-4 is China's first geosynchronous orbit high-definition optical imaging satellite and the world's most sophisticated, Xinhua reported.

Unlike Gaofen-1 and Gaofen-2 in low-orbits around the Earth, Gaofen-4 is orbiting at 36,000 km. High-orbit satellites have the advantage of being able to photograph "grand scenarios". Low-orbit satellites, in contrast, can see more detail at faster speed.

Low-orbit satellites cannot always follow natural disasters, but Gaofen-4 can continuously observe a disaster because it moves synchronously with the Earth.

It improves the response to disasters like earthquakes, landslides and typhoons with its high-precision sensors.

Gaofen-4, which was launched in December 2015, has a designed lifespan of eight years, compared to other remote sensing satellites which remain in service for less than three to five years.

During the in-orbit test, Gaofen-4 has been used to collect imageries of flood-hit areas in south China and monitor fires that occurred in Sichuan province and Russia.

China started the Gaofen project with the launch of Gaofen-1 in April 2013. It aims to launch seven high-definition observation satellites before 2020, designed for disaster prevention, surveillance of geological disasters and forest disasters and weather forecast.

Gaofen-3 is set to be launched in August 2016, according to the SASTIND.​

London, June 13 (IANS) An international team of scientists has discovered a material that can clear up nuclear waste gases produced by nuclear-fuel reprocessing plants more efficiently, cheaply and safely than currently available methods.

The material, abbreviated as SBMOF-1, is a nanoporous crystal and belongs to a class of materials that are currently used to clear out CO2 emissions and other dangerous pollutants.

The team led by scientists from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland carried out the screening of large material databases of over 125,000 candidates before identifying SBMOF-1 as the likely material to be able to absorb nuclear waste gases like xenon and krypton emitted as by-products of nuclear-fuel reprocessing. 

Current ways of capturing and clearing out these gases involve distillation at very low temperatures, which is expensive and poses a risk of explosion.

SBMOF-1 can separate xenon and krypton at room temperature, according to the study published recently in the journal Nature Communications. 

These materials are also very versatile, and scientists can tweak them to self-assemble into ordered, pre-determined crystal structures. 

In this way, they can synthesise millions of tailor-made materials that can be optimised for gas storage separation, catalysis, chemical sensing and optics.​

New York, June 13 (IANS) Deficiencies in certain vitamins are the likely reason behind the development of migraines in children, teens and young adults, finds a new study.

The findings revealed that a high percentage of children, teens and young adults with migraines had mild deficiencies in vitamin D, riboflavin and coenzyme Q10 -- a vitamin-like substance found in every cell of the body that is used to produce energy for cell growth and maintenance.

While girls and young women were more likely to have coenzyme Q10 deficiencies, boys and young men were more likely to have vitamin D deficiency.

Further, patients with chronic migraines were more likely to have coenzyme Q10 and riboflavin deficiencies than those with episodic migraines.

"Further studies are needed to elucidate whether vitamin supplementation is effective in migraine patients in general and whether patients with mild deficiency are more likely to benefit from supplementation," said lead author Suzanne Hagler from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in the US.

For the study, the team analysed patients with migraines who had baseline blood levels checked for vitamin D, riboflavin, coenzyme Q10 and folate, all of which were implicated in migraines by previous studies.

Many were put on preventive migraine medications and received vitamin supplementation, if levels were low.

Previous studies have indicated that certain vitamins and vitamin deficiencies may be important in the migraine process. However, studies using vitamins to prevent migraines have had conflicting success.

The results were presented at the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society in San Diego, in the US, recently.​

New York, June 12 (IANS) Exposure to blue light for a short period can help you make difficult decisions faster up to 40 minutes after the exposure had ended, suggests new research.

"Previous studies only focused on the effects of light during the period of exposure. Our study adds to this research by showing that these beneficial effects of blue wavelength light may outlast the exposure period by over 40 minutes," said lead author Anna Alkozei, post-doctoral fellow at the University of Arizona.

The results also showed that a short single exposure to blue light for half an hour is sufficient to produce measurable changes in reaction times and more efficient responses (answered more items correctly per second) during conditions of greater cognitive load after the light exposure had ended.

Moreover, these improvements were directly associated with measurable changes in the activation of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain implicated in planning complex cognitive behaviour and decision making.

"Blue-enriched white light could be used in a variety of occupational settings where alertness and quick decision making are important, such as pilot cockpits, operation rooms, or military settings,” Alkozei noted.

It could also be used in settings where natural sunlight does not exist, such as the International Space Station.

“Importantly, our findings suggest that using blue light before having to engage in important cognitive processes may still impact cognitive functioning for over half an hour after the exposure period ended,” Alkozei pointed out.

The research abstract was published in an online supplement of the journal Sleep.

Toronto, June 12 (IANS) Ancient geologic events may have left deep 'scars' that can play a crucial role in earthquakes, mountain formation, and other ongoing geomorphological processes on our planet, says a new study.

An international team of geologists has created super-computer models that suggest former plate boundaries could stay hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. 

These multi-million-year-old geological structures, situated at sites away from existing plate boundaries, may trigger changes in the structure and properties at the surface in the interior regions of continents.

"This is a potentially major revision to the fundamental idea of plate tectonics," said study lead author Philip Heron from University of Toronto.

Heron, together with University of Aberdeen geologist Randell Stephenson, has proposed a "perennial plate tectonic map" of the Earth to help illustrate how ancient processes may have present-day implications, according to the study published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

"It's based on the familiar global tectonic map that is taught starting in elementary school," said co-author Russell Pysklywec, who is also chair of University of Toronto's department of earth sciences. 

"What our models redefine and show on the map are dormant, hidden, ancient plate boundaries that could also be enduring or 'perennial' sites of past and active plate tectonic activity," he added.

The team used Toronto's SciNet -- Canada's most powerful computer and one of the most powerful in the world -- to make numerical models of the crust and upper-mantle into which they could introduce ancient scar-like anomalies.

Using these models, the researchers found that different parts of the mantle below the Earth's crust may control the folding, breaking, or flowing of the Earth's crust within plates -- in the form of mountain-building and seismic activity -- when under compression.

In this way, the mantle structures dominate over shallower structures in the crust that had previously been seen as the main cause of such deformation within plates.

"The mantle is like the thermal engine of the planet and the crust is an eggshell above," said Pysklywec. "We're looking at the enigmatic and largely unexplored realm in the Earth where these two regions meet," he added.

The simulations show that mantle anomalies are generated through ancient plate tectonic processes, such as the closing of ancient oceans, and can remain hidden at sites away from normal plate boundaries until reactivation generates tectonic folding, breaking, or flowing in plate interiors.​

​Ottawa, June 12 (IANS) The construction of a record-setting 53-metre high tower building, using mostly wooden material, is under way on the campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada's Vancouver city.

Its bold and green design aims to demonstrate that building large, wooden structures is not too much complex, Xinhua news agency quoted Russell Acton, principal architect from the building designer Acton Ostry Architects, as saying.

"It's got less of an environmental impact with respect to producing greenhouse gases," he said, adding that the 18-storey building will serve as a student dormitory.

He said the design is hybrid, using concrete for a podium on the first floor, and for two core structures.

"Absolutely, it's as strong. There are particular code requirements, building code requirements we have to adhere to and prove out that it's as strong as a concrete or steel building. It will perform similarly to the same level as concrete or steel when in a seismic event," Acton added.

The dormitory building, named Brock Commons, is designed to accommodate 400 students and expected to be completed by September 2017 with an investment of 53 million Canadian dollars (more than $41 million).

According to the UBC, the wooden material to be used, including cross laminated timber floors and glued laminated timber wall pillars, will be all produced and pre-fabricated in Canada, partly in an effort to boost local forestry industry.

The designers said the structure should last as long as a steel or concrete tower of the same size, or having a life length of about 60 to 100 years.​

​New York, June 11 (IANS) An individual's caloric intake and body weight can deeply influence the time spent in specific sleep stages, says a new study.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania analysed sleep patterns among 36 healthy adults who experienced two consecutive nights of 10 hours in bed per night at the university hospital. 

Using polysomnography, the researchers recorded physiological changes that occur during sleep on the second night.

Body composition and resting energy expenditure were assessed on the morning following the first night of sleep, while food and drink intake was measured each day.

The researchers found that body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and resting energy expenditure were not significant predictors of sleep stage duration, but that overweight adults exhibited a higher percentage of time spent in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep than normal-weight adults. 

REM is a sleep stage when dreams typically occur characterised by faster heart rate and breathing.

The researchers also found that increased protein intake predicted less stage 2 sleep -- the period when a person's heart rate and breathing are relatively normal and his/her body temperature lowers slightly -- and predicted more REM sleep.

The study findings will be presented at SLEEP 2016 -- a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society to be held in Denver, Colorado, from June 11 to 15. 

"In a culture of increasing pressure to sacrifice sleep to maintain productivity, this research adds to the body of knowledge on how lifestyle behaviours may influence the quality of our sleep" said study lead author Andrea M. Spaeth.

A 2013 study from the team found that those with late bedtimes and chronic sleep restriction may be more susceptible to weight gain due to the increased consumption of calories during late night hours. 

A 2015 study from the same group found that eating less late at night may help curb the concentration and alertness deficits that accompany sleep deprivation.​

​London, June 11 (IANS) All the countries who signed up to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change complied with their emission targets, says a new study.

"There is often scepticism about the importance of international law, and many critics claim that the Kyoto Protocol failed. The fact that countries have fully complied is highly

​London, June 11 (IANS) Prolonged repetitive physical workload increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, new research has found.

The findings suggest that building workers are particularly vulnerable to developing the condition.

For example, exposure to repeated vibration , carrying or lifting weights greater than 10 kg, bending/turning, and working with hands either below knee level, or above shoulder level may put people at higher risk of developing the inflammatory disorder affecting many joints, including those in the hands and feet, the findings showed.

For the study, the researchers analysed information from a population of 3,680 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 5,935 matched controls included in the Swedish Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA). 

To investigate whether some people are more susceptible than others, the risk was compared in participants with and without a specific genotype (HLA-DRB1), and an analysis was performed in relation to the presence/absence of ACPA (anti-citrullinated protein antibodies) among rheumatoid arthritis patients.

"We found that some types of physical workload increased the odds of developing RA (rheumatoid arthritis) more than others," said Pingling Zeng from Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. 

"There also appeared to be a significant interaction between genetic makeup, in terms of HLA-DRB1 genes, and the risk of ACPA-positive RA from specific types of physical workload," she noted.

The estimated odds ratio of developing rheumatoid arthritis in exposed versus unexposed participants was greater than or equal to 1.5, the study said.

The findings were presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2016) in London.

"These new insights into the cause of RA may hopefully lead to effective strategies to prevent the development of RA, particularly in those RA patients with a susceptible genotype," Zeng concluded.​