Knowledge Update

Bengaluru, April 6 (IANS) Leading e-retailer Flipkart on Wednesday opened a mobile website using a UC Browser of China to enable its users to access its offerings even on a slow 2G network.

​Washington, April 7 (IANS) NASA is preparing to launch on Saturday a super-pressure balloon about the size of a football stadium to carry a pioneering telescope designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays from near space.

The super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight is set to be launched from Wanaka Airport in New Zealand, on a potential 100-day journey.

If weather is conducive for launch, lift-off is scheduled between 8 and 11.30 a.m. locally, NASA said in a statement on Friday.

"At this time, the weather at the ground and lower levels looks very good for a Saturday launch attempt," said Gabe Garde, mission manager for the 2017 Wanaka Balloon Campaign.

"However, we continue to evaluate the forecast stratospheric winds and predicted flight trajectory to ensure conditions are acceptable before launch," Garde added.

The purpose of the flight is to test and validate the SPB technology with the goal of long-duration flight at mid-latitudes. 

In addition, the University of Chicago's Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon (EUSO-SPB) is a mission of opportunity flying on the 2017 SPB test flight.

EUSO-SPB is designed to detect high-energy cosmic rays originating from outside our galaxy as they penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. 

As these high-energy particles enter the atmosphere, they interact with nitrogen molecules in the air and create a UV fluorescence light. 

EUSO-SPB will be looking downward at a broad swathe of the Earth's atmosphere to detect the UV fluorescence from these deep space cosmic rays coming in from above.

Once launched, the 532,000-cubic-metre balloon will ascend to an operational float altitude of 33.5 kilometres. 

NASA estimates the balloon will circumnavigate the globe about the southern hemisphere's mid-latitudes once every one to three weeks, depending on wind speeds in the stratosphere.

Toronto, April 7 (IANS) Having a furry friend at home may lead to reduced risk of allergy and obesity in children, suggests a new research.

Babies from families with pets -- usually dogs -- showed higher levels of two types of microbes associated with lower risks of allergic disease and obesity, according to the study published in the journal Microbiome.

"The abundance of these two bacteria were increased twofold when there was a pet in the house," said one of the study authors, Anita Kozyrskyj, from the University of Alberta in Canada.

The latest findings from Kozyrskyj and her team's work on fecal samples collected from infants registered in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development study build on two decades of research that show children who grow up with dogs have lower rates of asthma.

In the current study, the researcher found that exposure to pets in the womb or up to three months after birth increases the abundance of two bacteria, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira, which have been linked with reduced childhood allergies and obesity, respectively.

The pet exposure was shown to affect the gut microbiome indirectly -- from dog to mother to unborn baby -- during pregnancy as well as during the first three months of the baby's life. 

In other words, even if the dog had been given away for adoption just before the woman gave birth, the healthy microbiome exchange could still take place.

The study also showed that the immunity-boosting exchange occurred even in three birth scenarios known for reducing immunity - cesarean section versus vaginal delivery, antibiotics during birth and lack of breastfeeding.

New York, April 7 (IANS) Are you a night owl and have trouble getting up in the morning? It may be because your internal clock is genetically programmed to run slowly, researchers have found.

The findings showed that a mutation in a gene called CRY1 alters the human circadian clock, which dictates rhythmic behaviour such as sleep/wake cycles. 

People who are carriers of the gene variant experienced nighttime sleep delays of 2-2.5 hours compared to non-carriers, the researchers reported in the journal Cell.

"Carriers of the mutation have longer days than the planet gives them, so they are essentially playing catch-up for their entire lives," said lead author Alina Patke, from the Rockefeller University in New York City, US.

Night owls are often diagnosed at sleep clinics with delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) -- where a person's circadian ryhthm is delayed from the typical day/night cycle.

Mutation in CRY1 led to the development of DSPD, which affects up to 10 per cent of the population, according to clinical studies.

People with DSPD often struggle to fall asleep at night, and sometimes sleep comes so late that it fractures into a series of long naps. 

People with DSPD also have trouble conforming to societal expectations and morning work schedules, which leads to anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. 

The gene mutation was discovered while studying the skin cells of people with DSPD. 

The circadian clock responds to external environmental cues, so it is possible for people to manage the effects of the mutation on sleep. 

"An external cycle and good sleep hygiene can help force a slow-running clock to accommodate a 24-hour day," Patke said.

New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) As heart attacks continue to kill one person in every 33 seconds in India, health experts on Friday said that olive oil can help in decreasing cardio vascular diseases.

Olive oil is rich in MUFA or mono unsaturated fatty acids which helps in improving glycemic control and plasma lipid control and increase insulin sensitivity in diabetics and improve cardio vascular health, according to the experts.

The World Heath Organisation estimated that by 2020, cardiovascular disease will be the cause of over 40 per cent deaths in India as compared to 24 per cent in 1990.

"Olive oil contains a very important health benefiting element called oleic acid. It is known to be extremely heart-healthy and capable of fighting free radical damage (or oxidative stress), which has numerous health implications," said Nidhi Dhawan, head dietician at city based Saroj Superspecialty hospital. 

Dhawan said that due to the presence of powerful antioxidants known as polyphenols, olive oil is considered an anti-inflammatory food.

"It has been proven that olive oil is beneficial as it prevents strokes, keeps the heart young, fights osteoporosis, protects from depression, prevents skin and breast cancer," said Neelima Burra, Chief Marketing Officer of Cargill foods. 

The experts were speaking on the occasion of World Health Day.

Unlike other edible oils, olive oil contains about 75 per cent mono saturated fat which makes it the healthiest. 

Cargill food had earlier launched Leonardo Olive -- approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) -- keeping in mind the rising cases of cardio vascular and other diseases such as diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive and pulmonary disease and cancer.

Stating that there was a rise in cardio vascular cases in rural India as well, Burra said that there is a need for the people of rural India to have more awareness about olive oil and its health benefits.

​London, April 7 (IANS) Imagine a milk carton sending you an alert on smartphone when its content is about to go out-of-date. This could soon be possible, thanks to the researchers who have fabricated for the first time printed transistors consisting entirely of two-dimensional nano-materials.

The team used standard printing techniques to combine graphene nano-sheets as the electrodes with two other nanomaterials, tungsten diselenide and boron nitride as the channel and separator (two important parts of a transistor) to form an all-printed, all-nano-sheet, working transistor.

This study, published in the journal Science, opens the path for industry, such as ICT and pharmaceutical, to cheaply print a host of electronic devices from solar cells to LEDs with applications from interactive smart food and drug labels to next-generation banknote security and e-passports, the researchers said.

The research could thus unlock the potential for applications such as food packaging that displays a digital countdown to warn you of spoiling, wine labels that alert you when your white wine is at its optimum temperature, or even a window pane that shows the day's forecast. 

"In the future, printed devices will be incorporated into even the most mundane objects such as labels, posters and packaging," said lead researcher Jonathan Coleman, an investigator in AMBER, the materials science research centre hosted in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

"Printed electronic circuitry (constructed from the devices we have created) will allow consumer products to gather, process, display and transmit information: for example, milk cartons could send messages to your phone warning that the milk is about to go out-of-date," Coleman added. 

These 2D materials combine electronic properties with the potential for low-cost production. 

"We believe that 2D nano-materials can compete with the materials currently used for printed electronics. Compared to other materials employed in this field, our 2D nano-materials have the capability to yield more cost effective and higher performance printed devices," Coleman said.

The research shows that conducting, semiconducting and insulating 2D nano-materials can be combined together in complex devices. 

"We felt that it was critically important to focus on printing transistors as they are the electric switches at the heart of modern computing. We believe this work opens the way to print a whole host of devices solely from 2D nano-sheets," Coleman said.

​London, April 6 (IANS) Consuming Marmite -- a tangy British spread -- daily may be good for the brain, as it has been found to increase a chemical messenger associated with healthy brain function, a study has showed. In the study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, participants consuming a teaspoon of Marmite every day for a month, showed a substantial reduction of around 30 per cent in their brain's response to visual stimuli. This beneficial effect may be due to the prevalence of vitamin B12 in Marmite increasing levels of a specific neurotransmitter -- known as GABA -- in the brain, the researchers said. "The high concentration of Vitamin B12 in Marmite is likely to be the primary factor behind results showing a significant reduction in participants' responsiveness to visual stimuli," said Daniel Baker, Lecturer at the University of York in London. GABA inhibits the excitability of neurons in the brain, with the chemical acting to 'turn down the volume' of neural responses in order to regulate the delicate balance of activity needed to maintain a healthy brain. The study suggested that dietary intervention could potentially have long-term effects on brain function. "These results suggest that dietary choices can affect the cortical processes of excitation and inhibition - consistent with increased levels of GABA - that are vital in maintaining a healthy brain," said Anika Smith, from the University of York. Conversely, GABA imbalances are also associated with a variety of neurological disorders. "Since we've found a connection between diet and specific brain processes involving GABA, this research paves the way for further studies looking into how diet could be used as a potential route to understanding this neurotransmitter," Baker said.

The global e-commerce giant Amazon announced on Thursday that it would be opening a new logistics hub in Barcelona that would create hundreds of jobs.

The centre would become the company's sixth logistics hub in Spain, Amazon has four of them in Catalonia, Efe news reported.

The new facility will create some 650 jobs over the next three years.

With the new distribution centre, Amazon seeks to handle its increasing sales volume in Spain, and cover the growing demand experienced by its pan-European logistics network, according to a company statement.

The expansion of its logistics infrastructure will enable Amazon to increase its sales, as well as its capacity to support thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises who sell their products through its third party sellers' web platform, "Amazon Marketplace".

The new hub will cover an area of 30,000 sq.metres, the equivalent of four soccer fields.

The centre is due to be operational by autumn 2017, and will initially hire 200 employees, whose selection process will begin in the coming months.

​Madrid, April 6 (IANS)

​New York, April 6 (IANS) A week after Microsoft announced its Windows 10 Creators Update, the company introduced new privacy tools that will offer customers more transparency and control.

​New York, April 6 (IANS) Eating potassium-rich foods like sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach, beans, bananas -- and even drinking coffee -- could be key to lowering blood pressure, new research suggests.

"Decreasing sodium intake is a well-established way to lower blood pressure, but evidence suggests that increasing dietary potassium may have an equally important effect on hypertension," said Alicia McDonough, Professor at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC).

Hypertension is a global health issue that affects more than one billion people worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that hypertension is responsible for at least 51 per cent of deaths due to stroke and 45 per cent of deaths due to heart disease.

For the study, published in the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, McDonough looked at population, interventional and molecular mechanism studies that investigated the effects of dietary sodium and potassium on hypertension.

The review found several population studies demonstrating that higher dietary potassium (estimated from urinary excretion or dietary recall) was associated with lower blood pressure, regardless of sodium intake. 

Interventional studies with potassium supplementation also suggested that potassium provides a direct benefit.

To understand the beneficial effects of potassium on hypertension, McDonough reviewed recent studies in rodent models.

These studies indicated that the body does a balancing act that uses sodium to maintain close control of potassium levels in the blood, which is critical to normal heart, nerve and muscle function.

"When dietary potassium is high, kidneys excrete more salt and water, which increases potassium excretion," McDonough said.

When dietary potassium is low, the balancing act uses sodium retention to hold onto the limited potassium, which is like eating a higher sodium diet, she said.

But how much dietary potassium should we consume? 

A 2004 Institute of Medicine report recommends that adults consume at least 4.7 grams of potassium per day to lower blood pressure, blunt the effects of dietary sodium and reduce the risks of kidney stones and bone loss, McDonough said.