Knowledge Update

New York, Feb 25 (IANS) Researchers have found a 700-per cent surge in infections caused by bacteria that is resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics among children in the US.

According to researchers, these antibiotic resistant infections -- caused by Enterobacteriaceae, a family of bacteria that also include such pathogens as Salmonella and Escherichia coli -- are linked to longer hospital stays and potentially greater risk of death.

The findings showed that the proportion of these infections in children caused by bacteria increased from 0.2 per cent in 2007 to 1.5 per cent in 2015, a more than 700 per cent increase in prevalence over the eight-year period.

"There is a clear and alarming upswing throughout US of antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections in kids and teenagers," said lead author Sharon B. Meropol, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at Case Western Reserve University in the US. 

Bacterial infections resistant to multiple drugs are especially concerning in children, for whom there are a limited number of stronger antibiotics currently approved for use compared to adults, putting kids at higher risk for worse outcomes, the researchers said. 

For the study, published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the team analysed data from 48 children's hospitals throughout the US, focusing on approximately 94,000 patients under the age of 18 who were diagnosed with Enterobacteriaceae - associated infections between 2007 and 2015. 

More than 75 per cent of the antibiotic-resistant infections were already present when the young people were admitted to the hospital, upending previous findings that the infections were mostly picked up in the hospital. 

This suggested that the bacteria may be increasingly spreading in the community. 

In addition, the bacterial infection may also cause a greater mortality risk among pediatric patients.

"Health care providers have to make sure we only prescribe antibiotics when they're really needed. It's also essential to stop using antibiotics in healthy agricultural animals", Meropol added.

​San Francisco, Feb 24 (IANS) US wireless communications service provider Verizon on Friday launched a new venture called Exponent Technologies that will help telecom carriers fuel digital transformation by expanding their Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and other internet service delivery platforms.

​London, Feb 24 (IANS) Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday reported losses of 7 billion pounds sterling ($8 billion) for 2016, taking its overall losses since its 2008 government bailout to over 58 billion pounds.

Beijing, Feb 24 (IANS) China on Friday said it has no intention of devaluing the yuan to boost exports, and expressed readiness to coordinate its economic and trade policies with the US.

​Beijing, Feb 24 (IANS) China will build 6 million new homes for residents of shanty towns before the end of 2017.

This was announced by Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Chen Zhenggao on Thursday, People's Daily reported.

Singapore, Feb 24 (IANS) Singaporean telecommunications company Singtel and Swedish communication technology firm Ericsson on Friday announced a partnership to co-develop a consumer internet of things (IoT) solution called Assured+.

​New York, Feb 24 (IANS) Standing with heels planted allows humans more swinging force when fighting, but the heel-down posture also makes us bad at fleeing, says a study. In contrast, many other species of mammals, including most primates, stand, walk and run with their heels elevated, and on the balls of their feet or toes, a posture important for quickness, said the study published in the journal Biology Open. The findings suggest that aggression played a role in shaping stance of modern humans. "This story is one more piece in a broader picture, a suite of distinguishing characteristics that are consistent with the idea that we're specialised at some level for aggressive behaviour," said lead author of the study David Carrier from University of Utah in the US. The physiological traits that confer advantages in fighting are different from those required for other tasks, such as running. "Certain species tend to be good at fighting or fleeing, but not both," Emily Carrington from US National Science Foundation (NSF) said. "This study provides insight into the basis for this trade-off. Animals that use their heels to plant their feet firmly to the ground, like bears, badgers and great apes, are able to deliver stronger blows to their opponents," Carrington added. The heel-up stance, called digitigrade and unguligrade, seen in animals from wolves to horses and deer, increases the economy of running by lengthening the leg and improving the storage and recovery of energy in the tendons and ligaments of the lower limb. The heel-down, or plantigrade, posture shared by great apes and other species, such as bears, wolverines and some rodents, is less specialised for running, however. The researchers hypothesised that the evolution of great apes' plantigrade stance had to do with how apes climb and forage in trees.

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) Rather than focussing only on weight-loss and a well-toned body, one should have a holistic approach to fitness and build stamina across all areas -- running marathons, lifting weights, cycling, and performing basic daily chores, experts say. "Fitness doesn't mean good looks, It means progressive improvement in strength, endurance and mobility. Weight lifting plays an important role in building all three," Rishabh Telang, fitness expert and level-2 crossFit trainer with Cult -- a Bengaluru-based fitness chain that was acquired by CureFit, a healthcare start-up launched by former Flipkart executives Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, in 2016. In a conventional gym training a person exercises his/her abs one day and chest the next day and then the whole process gets repeated in the next week. But that does not help in stamina building of the person. "You must have noticed body builders, who although are good at lifting weight and pumping iron, may start panting after climbing a slew of stairs or after running a small stretch. This is because the monotony of doing the same exercises week after week reduces your attendance over time," Telang told IANS in a telephonic interview. At the same time, a person who undergoes endurance training does various forms of machine-less exercises in a single session, which ensures a more balanced development of strength, flexibility and endurance rather than focusing on one and missing out on the other. "The human body should go through all formats of exercise. If it is given only one type of exercise, it will hit a plateau or stop reacting," Shwetambari Shetty, fitness expert and master trainer for Zumba at Tribe-Cult, told IANS. CureFit recently acquired the The Tribe fitness chain that also offers a mix of activities just as Cult does. Endurance training -- which can also be termed as functional training -- combines cardio endurance and weight lifting to build up muscles. The training session uses body as a machine and engages many muscles at once, leading to higher efficiency to build reasonably good endurance and stamina required for performing any functional task. "The functional movements which combine running, swimming, cross-training, martial art forms, etc. are also safer since one can have higher body control here rather when using machines," said Ankit Nagori, Co-Founder, CureFit. Endurance training also helps burn more calories, helps strength-building and reduces weight faster than conventional gym training Endurance training also focuses on interval training, which involves brief bursts of vigorous exercise separated by short periods of recovery. It has been proven to be an effective and time-efficient approach for improving cardiorespiratory fitness by various studies. It also helps achieve a holistic lifestyle good enough to shape the body as well as to tranquilise the mind; that is, it also plays a great role in alleviating stress, Telang said. Age is not a bar for fitness under the endurance-training method. "From a nine-year-old child to a 75-year-old lady, anyone can adapt as the techniques are basically day-to-day activity. "It can also be practiced by a pregnant woman and can prove to be very useful during the pre-natal and post-natal stages of birth. However, they should train only under the guidance of an expert," Shwetambri maintained. The benefits of endurance training, such as improved cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular endurance, has also been proved by various studies. A recent study, published in the journal Experimental Physiology, revealed that just a single session of endurance exercise helped participants increase the expression of genes that are used to repair damaged DNA as well as helped remodel heart tissue.

New York, Feb 24 (IANS) Facebook Live videos will soon be interrupted by 20-second ads as the social media giant has decided to make money from all the live videos it shares on its network. According to a report in ReCode on Thursday, Facebook would soon start putting ads in the middle of publishers' videos, much like TV commercials. The new update was being tested with a small group of US publishers currently. The ad revenue would be split between these publishers and Facebook, with the latter getting 45 per cent of the share, it said. "This is a big news for publishers, many of whom have trouble making money from videos they share to Facebook," the report said. As a policy, the ads appearing in the middle of a live stream cannot run until a video has crossed 20 seconds. Also, the ads must be at least two minutes apart. "Publishers need to be live for at least four minutes before they can take an ad break, and the stream must have at least 300 concurrent viewers. Each ad will last 20 seconds," a Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying.