Knowledge Update | Horizon University UAE – Essential Insights

New York, May 17 (IANS) Regular exercise at any age could keep the mind young and help you stave off Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

People with dementia may experience memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language.

In this study, the researchers discovered a positive correlation between fitness and blood flow to areas of the brain where the hallmark tangles and plaques of Alzheimer's disease pathology are usually first detected.

"This is an important first step towards demonstrating that being physically active improves blood flow to the brain and confers some protection from dementia," said lead researcher Nathan Johnson from the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences in the US.

Conversely, the findings suggest that people who live sedentary lifestyles, especially those who are genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's, might be more susceptible.

The findings were published in the journal NeuroImage.

For the study, thirty men and women aged 59-69 were put through treadmill fitness assessments and ultrasounds of the heart. Then they received brain scans to look for blood flow to certain areas of the brain.

"We set out to characterise the relationship between heart function, fitness, and cerebral blood flow, which no other study had explored to date," Johnson said.

"In other words, if you're in good physical shape, does that improve blood flow to critical areas of the brain? And does that improved blood flow provide some form of protection from dementia?," Johnson noted.

The results showed blood flow to critical areas of the brain - and so the supply of oxygen and vital nutrients - was higher in those who were more physically fit.

This study demonstrates that regular exercise at any age could keep the mind young, Johnson said.

Since people who exercise frequently often have reduced arterial stiffness, the researchers believe that regular physical activity -- regardless of age -- maintains the integrity of the "pipes" that carry blood to the brain.​

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) In a bid to take on video-sharing website YouTube, social networking giant Facebook is planning a new feature called “Slideshow” which will include music from Warner Music Group to help users create “soundtrack options”.

​Tokyo, May 17 (IANS) Environment ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Monday in Japan collectively said they were committed to ensuring global climate change would be tackled swiftly in line with a deal struck in Paris last year.

Beijing, May 16 (IANS) China's central bank on Monday pumped 25 billion yuan ($3 billion) into the market to preserve liquidity.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) put 45 billion yuan into seven-day reverse repo, a process by which central banks purchase securities from banks with an agreement to sell

​New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) The World Bank said on Monday it has approved a $625 million loan to support India's grid connected rooftop solar programme to generate clean energy.

London, May 16 (IANS) Researchers have identified a biomarker that can not only predict the progression of a deadly lung diseased called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but also lead to better treatment.

COPD is a group of lung diseases that block airflow and make it difficult to breathe.

According to researchers, a process initiated in neutrophils -- the most common type of white blood cells found in mammals and important for fighting infection -- may lead to worse outcomes for some patients with COPD.

"The study found that a recently identified form of neutrophil behaviour called neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation is present in the lungs of COPD patients and may weaken their ability to eat and kill bacteria," said lead author James D Chalmers from the University of Dundee in Scotland. 

For the study, the team recruited 141 patients with stable COPD. 

The findings showed that during neutrophilic airway inflammation -- when NET formation weakens neutrophils' bacteria-fighting capability -- patients experience more frequent chest infections, worse lung function and quality of life.

Further, the amount of NET complexes in the lungs of patients was directly related to the severity of their COPD and the risk of exacerbations. 

NETs increased significantly during exacerbations that did not respond to corticosteroid treatment.

The marker may also help in identifying patients at higher risk of the disease deterioration as well as those who may need treatments other than corticosteroids like anti-inflammatory medicine (steroids).

"The study stressed the need to identify new COPD treatments and further discover whether inhibiting NET formation will result in improved clinical outcomes for patients with COPD," the researchers concluded.

The results were presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference in California recently.​

Havana, May 17 (IANS) The US economic sanctions against Cuba impeded the development of bilateral ties despite normalisation of relations, a Cuban official said on Monday, urging the US to lift them.

London, May 15 (IANS) An international team of scientists has developed a new bio-glass material that can mimic and potentially encourage cartilage to repair or regrow.

This material developed by the researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Milano-Bicocca can be formulated to exhibit different properties and the researhers are now hoping to use it to develop implants for replacing damaged cartilage discs between vertebrae.

They believe that it also has the potential to encourage cartilage (a flexible connective tissue found in places such as in joints and between vertebrae in the spine) cells to grow in knees, which has previously not been possible with conventional methods.

"Our research shows that a new flexible version of this material could be used as cartilage-like material," said professor Julian Jones, one of the developers of the bio-glass from the department of materials at Imperial College.

"Patients will readily attest to loss of mobility that is associated with degraded cartilage and the lengths they will go to try and alleviate often excruciating pain. We still have a long way to go before this technology reaches patients," Jones added in a university statement.

The bio-glass consists of silica and a plastic or polymer called polycaprolactone. It displays cartilage-like properties such as flexibility, strength, durability and resilience.

It can be made in a biodegradable ink form, enabling the researchers to 3D print it into structures that encourage cartilage cells in the knee to form and grow -- a process that they have demonstrated in test tubes.

It also displays self-healing properties when it gets damaged, which could make it a more resilient and reliable implant and easier to 3D print when it is in ink form.​

​New York, May 16 (IANS) In an example of where the scientific community can make a contribution to knowledge described in important ancient texts, researchers have used advanced astronomical software to accurately date lyric poet Sappho’s ‘Midnight Poem’ which describes the night sky over Greece more than 2,500 years ago.

London, May 15 (IANS) Researchers have found new evidence that humans were living in southern Arabia 10,000 years earlier than initially perceived.

The last Ice Age made much of the globe uninhabitable, but there were oases where people were able to cluster together and survive.

The findings, based on the study of a rare DNA lineage, showed that one of the oases existed in southern Arabia and modern humans dwelt in this territory during the last Ice Age also, known as the Pleistocene glaciation.

R0a -- the rare mitochondrial DNA lineage -- was found to be most frequent in Arabia and the Horn of Africa, said lead author Francesca Gandini, research fellow at the University of Huddersfield in Britain.

Also found was evidence for the movement of people in the R0a descent through the Middle East and into Europe indicating a likely trading network and a "gene flow" from Arabia into the territories that are now Iran, Pakistan and India.

Nearly 15,000 years ago when the Ice Age had receded, the people in this region disappeared.​