Knowledge Update

New York, June 7 (IANS) Scientists have developed a new tool to modify brain activity and memory in targeted ways, without the help of any drugs or chemicals.

The new tool is a protein that can be encoded in animal genomes to effectively switch off their inhibitory synapses -- connections between neurons -- increasing their electrical activity.

The GFE3 protein may help researchers map the brain's connections and better understand how inhibitory synapses modulate brain function, said lead author Don Arnold, Professor at University of Southern California.

It also may enable them to control neural activity and lead to advancements in research for diseases or conditions ranging from schizophrenia to cocaine addiction, Arnold said.

"GFE3 harnesses a little known and remarkable property of proteins within the brain," Arnold said.

The protein takes advantage of an intrinsic process -- the brain's cycle of degrading and replacing proteins.

Most brain proteins last only a couple of days before they are actively degraded and replaced by new proteins. GFE3 targets proteins that hold inhibitory synapses together to this degradation system and as a result, the synapses fall apart.

"Rather than a cell deciding when a protein needs to be degraded, we sort of hijack the process," Arnold explained.

For the study, published in the journal Nature Methods, the team of scientists studied the protein's effect in both mice and zebrafish. 

The researchers found that GFE3 protein triggered the neurons on the two sides of the spine to work in opposition, generating uncoordinated movements.

Drugs could be used to inhibit inhibitory synapses in the brain, for instance benzodiazapines, which treat anxiety, insomnia or seizures. 

"Unfortunately, cells that have very different, even opposite functions tend to be right next to each other in the brain," Arnold said. 

"Thus, pharmacological experiments are especially difficult to interpret. By encoding GFE3 within the genome, we can target and modulate the inhibitory synapses of specific cells without affecting other cells that have different functions," Arnold noted.​

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) US-based tech giant InFocus on Tuesday launched Buddy, a portable notebook, that runs on Windows 10 and will be available exclusively on Snapdeal for Rs 14,999. "InFocus Buddy is our endeavour to cater to the core needs of youth - Internet browsing, multimedia and portability. The laptop delivers high performance, superior build quality of Foxconn, and a high design quotient while being low on budget," said InFocus India team in a statement. "We are confident that it will be well received by our customers who are looking to upgrade to a sleek notebook experience at an affordable price," said Tony Navin, Senior Vice President, Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives, Snapdeal, in a statement. The InFocus Buddy features a 13.3-inch HD display and is powered by 2.6 GHz Intel Celeron processor paired up with 2 GB RAM. It comes with a 32 GB eMMC storage and allows users to add up to 256 GB SSD internal storage. The battery in InFocus Buddy provides a backup of 8 hours. It supports a micro-SD card slot, two USB 3.0 ports and a HDMI port.

“UC News” app is powered by big data technology and is a one-stop source of trending and curated news content covering all popular categories that Indian users can consume on the go, the company said in a statement.

​New York, June 6 (IANS) A vast majority of the food and beverage products endorsed by some of the most popular celebrities in the US are unhealthy, finds a new study. The findings showed that advertisements on fast foods, sweets as well as non-alcoholic beverages like soda and other sugary drinks, were the second-largest in the endorsement category, comprising 18 per cent of endorsements and frequently targetted children and adolescents as the audience. Celebrity food endorsements promote higher product preference, and exposure to any kind of food advertising is linked to "excessive consumption, the researchers warned. "Research has already shown that food advertising leads to overeating and the food industry spends $1 billion per year marketing to youth alone," lead author Marie Bragg, assistant professor at the New York University (NYU). Full-calorie soft drinks were the most commonly endorsed in the category. Of 69 beverages endorsed, 49 or 71 per cent were sugar-sweetened. Twenty-one out of 26 food products -- or 81 per cent -- were deemed as "nutrient poor". In contrast, water-related endorsements appeared only thrice. Also, none of the stars were found endorsing fruits, vegetables or whole grains. Such advertisements have led to an alarming rise in childhood and teenage obesity, the researchers rued in the paper published in the journal Pediatrics. The study used a rigorous nutritional analysis to evaluate the health quotient of food and drinks marketed by music stars, reviewing dozens of advertisements that were disseminated over a 14-year period. "Because of our childhood and teenage obesity public health crises, it is important to raise awareness about how companies are using celebrities popular with these audiences to market their unhealthy products," added Bragg. "As the popularity of celebrities among adolescents makes them uniquely poised to serve as positive role models, they ought to endorse healthy products and aid in exacerbating the society's struggle with obesity," added Alysa N. Miller from NYU.

Apparels form one of the largest retail categories all over the world. It is one of the most happening retail categories. Consumers belonging to different segments have different choices and their choices in this category change fast. When we think of fashion, we think of apparels first. As fashion by nature is changing continuously, the consumer preferences related to apparels keep on changing. The changes in this category is not related only to merchandise being retailed, but also in the way retailing is done. The advent of new technologies provide new ways for apparel retailing. When we look at the data related to online retailing, we find that clothing is one of the most purchased product categories. This trend is visible in many parts of the world like Europe, Middle East, Latin America and so on. Online shoppers have many obvious advantages over offline shoppers. The most important is they can buy directly from the merchants situated in any part of the world. This may result in better value for their money and direct interactions with these merchants expedites the process of product development as consumers' choices and consumers have chances of being better informed about the products. No wonder, a large number of online shoppers from Eastern European countries can be seen buying directly online from the clothing merchants in East Asian or Western European countries. In other cases, there are large number of customers who do the switching between the channels. They sometimes use the ecommerce websites as virtual shop windows, and purchase in physical stores. Filtering options and attractive images facilitate smooth browsing and shopping experience. Many online retailers are creating attractive social media profiles, and are able to pull the buyers towards through Facebook and Twitter. The social media offers many conveniences at one place. They can compare the product offerings, they can get the opinions of other shoppers through reviews and can check the availability and product details about large number of products in short time by using various combinations of filters and keywords.​​ The possibility of shopping through mobile phones and tablets have made online buying further attractive. In a few countries, shopping through mobile phones is growing very fast. For example, in South Korea, thirty percent shoppers purchased their recent clothing through mobile phones. Consumers are also using mobile applications like The Hunt, LIKEtoKNOW.it, Keep, Lyst etc. The distinction between the online and offline activities of shoppers are getting blurred. Shoppers are not only moving between the devices, they are using mobile devices for shopping while in stores as well. It helps them in assuring that they get the best value for their money and they are able to check all the relevant products before making any purchase. We will see far smarter technologies in near future, which will change the way we shop today. The advent of Virtual Reality and various apps has so many surprises in store for all of us. A new app under development will do away with the need of physically trying clothes on our bodies. It will create a composite image of a person's form and then facilitate the 'trying on' items of clothing.

New York, June 7 (IANS) Photo sharing app Instagram has rolled out an update that makes it easier and faster for iOS users to share photos and videos -- without opening the app.

With the help of share extensions users can now send pictures directly to their feeds from apps like photos.

Share extensions became available to developers back in 2014 when iOS 8 was released. Apps that already have the share option enabled include Facebook (Instagram's parent company) and Twitter, but it took Instagram about two years to finally add the feature, technology website techcrunch.com reported on Monday.

How it works? A user first needs to update to the latest version and then open the app he or she wants to send a picture from. 

Press the share button and tap on the Instagram icon. A window will open to let the user write a caption before posting to Instagram.

The update also alters the context of an Instagram post by enabling users the ability to post a photo without filters and edits.​

​London, June 6 (IANS) Women as well as young adults are twice as likely to experience anxiety as men, a new study says.

Anxiety disorder -- the most common mental health problems -- is often manifest as excessive worry, fear and a tendency to avoid potentially stressful situations including social gatherings.

"Anxiety disorders can make life extremely difficult for some people and it is important for our health services to understand how common they are and which groups of people are at greatest risk," said led author Olivia Remes at the University of Cambridge.

The findings showed that nearly one in ten adults (10.9 per cent) with heart disease were affected by generalised anxiety disorder but women were almost twice as likely to be affected as men.

Also, women affected with heart diseases, cancer and even pregnancy showed a higher level of anxiety than men. 

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) -- an anxiety disorder characterised by obsessions and compulsions -- was in general, found only one in a hundred, but the proportion with the disorder was double in pregnant women and slightly higher in the period immediately after birth.

"Anxiety disorders can also lead to impairment, disability, and risk of suicide," added Louise Lafortune, research associate at the University of Cambridge.

Further, the level of anxiety among young individuals -- both male and female -- under 35 years of age were found to be disproportionate.

In addition, people from Western Europe and North America were found more likely to suffer from anxiety than people from other cultures.

"By collecting all these data together, we see that these disorders are common across all groups, but women and young people are disproportionately affected. Also, people who have a chronic health condition are at a particular risk, adding a double burden on their lives," Remes noted.

For the study, published in the journal Brain and Behaviour, the team studied 48 scientific reviews that showed data between 1990 and 2010.

The overall proportion of people affected remained largely unchanged, with around four out of every 100 experiencing anxiety.​

Dubai, June 7 (IANS) US tech giant IBM on Tuesday announced that it has signed a 10-year technology services agreement with Emirates airline worth $300 million.

IBM and Dubai's government-controlled Emirates said in a joint statement that the American firm will provide IT infrastructure as a service, allowing the airline to improve

​London, June 6 (IANS) Finnish scientists have recovered important metals -- lithium, cobalt and nickel -- from battery waste with nearly 100 per cent purity.

Recovered metals could be used in the manufacture of batteries, and in the future especially in batteries of electric vehicles.

Researchers from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) were able to extract cobalt at 99.6 per cent purity, nickel at 99.7 per cent purity, and lithium at 99.9 per cent purity from battery waste. 

"The manufacturing of new batteries requires metals of particularly high purity. If the purity of lithium is below 99.5 per cent, it is not suitable as raw material for batteries. In other words, the difference between 99.4 per cent and 99.9 per cent purity is very significant," said one of the researchers Sami Virolainen.

The findings were presented at the 'Circular Materials' conference organised by Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Lithium and cobalt are increasing in importance because they are needed in batteries of electronic devices and especially in electric cars. 

Forecasts indicate that the global need for lithium may quadruple between the years 2011 and 2025. 

The study separated metals through a liquid-liquid extraction process on a pilot scale. In the process, extraction takes place between two liquid phases which do not dissolve in each other. 

All other impurities are separated from the solution, leaving only lithium, cobalt and nickel. 

Previous studies have attempted to extract all three metals, but have only succeeded in extracting two at a relatively high purity and the third with low purity, the study said.

"As a separation process, liquid-liquid extraction is a viable option when nearly 100 per cent purity and a high recovery rate are required," Virolainen noted.​

​Washington, June 6 (IANS) Using 29 years of data from satellite imageries, NASA scientists have found extensive greening in the Arctic region, thanks to rising temperatures.

The northern reaches of North America are getting greener, said the study that provides the most detailed look yet at plant life across Alaska and Canada. 

In a changing climate, almost a third of the land cover -- much of it Arctic tundra -- is looking more like landscapes found in warmer ecosystems, the researchers said.

With 87,000 images taken from Landsat satellites, the researchers found that western Alaska, Quebec and other regions became greener between 1984 and 2012. 

Landsat is a joint NASA/US Geological Survey programme that provides the longest continuous space-based record of the Earth's land vegetation in existence.

"It shows the climate impact on vegetation in the high latitudes," said one of the researchers Jeffrey Masek from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

Temperatures are warming fast in the Arctic which has led to longer seasons for plants to grow in and changes to the soils. 

Overall, the scientists found that 29.4 percent of the region greened up, especially in shrublands and sparsely vegetated areas, while 2.9 percent showed vegetation decline.

The findings were reported in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.

Landsat, like other satellite missions, can use the amount of visible and near-infrared light reflected by the green, leafy vegetation of grasses, shrubs and trees to characterize the vegetation. 

Then, with computer programs that track each individual pixel of data over time, researchers can see if an area is greening -- if more vegetation is growing, or if individual plants are getting larger and leafier. 

If, however, the vegetation becomes sparser, the scientists would classify that area as browning.​