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Sudharma Times
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{ 17 august 2020 ~ 23 august 2020 } |
Health
Related News
1.How low-carb,
high-fat diets affect older populations
22,Aug,2020
A new study observed improvements in body
composition, fat distribution and metabolic health in response to an eight-week
very low-carbohydrate diet.
The study led by researchers from the University
of Alabama at Birmingham’s Nutrition Obesity Research Centre was published in
the journal Nutrition and Metabolism.
Older adults with obesity are at particularly
high risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and
cardiovascular disease. Rather than total fat mass, deposition of fat in
certain areas, such as the abdominal cavity and skeletal muscle, may confer
this greatest risk of disease development.
The study’s lead author is Amy Goss, Ph.D., RDN,
an assistant professor with UAB’s Department of Nutrition Sciences. Goss says
her team aimed to determine if a very low-carbohydrate, or VLCD, high-fat diet
would deplete these fat depots and preserve lean mass without intentional
caloric restriction in older adults with obesity, thereby improving outcomes
related to cardiometabolic diseases, such as insulin sensitivity and the lipid
profile.
“After the eight-week intervention, despite the
recommendation to consume a weight-maintaining diet, the group consuming the
very low-carbohydrate diet lost more weight and total fat mass than the control
diet group,” Goss said.
Egg consumption was an important part of the VLCD
prescription. Goss and her team provided eggs to the participants in this diet
group and asked them to consume at least three per day.
“While eggs were a part of this study, we can’t
conclude that our findings are a result of daily egg consumption; but I think
what we can conclude is that whole eggs can be incorporated into the diet in a
healthful way without adversely impacting blood cholesterol in older adults,”
she said.
The primary difference in fat loss between the
two groups was from the abdominal cavity and the skeletal muscle depots.
“We also found significant improvements in the
overall lipid profile that would reflect the decreased risk of cardiovascular
disease,” Goss said. “Further, insulin sensitivity improved in response to the
very low-carbohydrate diet reflecting the reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Overall, we observed improvements in body composition, fat distribution and
metabolic health in response to an eight-week, very low-carbohydrate diet.”
2. Covid-19 cannot
be transmitted through breast milk, study reveals
20,Aug,2020
Answering the
critical question of whether Covid-19 can be transmitted through breast milk or
not, a recent study suggests that breast milk cannot transmit the virus to the
infant.
The study, which was
published in the online edition of JAMA was conducted by the researchers from
the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and University of
California Los Angeles.
The study examined
64 samples of breast milk collected by the Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research
Biorepository from 18 women across the United States infected with severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Although one sample
tested positive for viral RNA, subsequent tests found that the virus was unable
to replicate, and thus unable to cause infection in the breastfed infant.
“Detection of viral
RNA does not equate to infection. It has to grow and multiply in order to be
infectious and we did not find that in any of our samples,” said Christina
Chambers, PhD, MPH, co-principal investigator of the study, professor of
paediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine, director of Mommy’s Milk Human
Milk Research Biorepository and co-director of the UC San Diego Center for
Better Beginnings.
“Our findings
suggest breast milk itself is not likely a source of infection for the infant,”
Chambers added.
The current
recommendations to prevent transmission while breastfeeding are hand hygiene
and sterilising pumping equipment after each use.
“In the absence of
data, some women infected with SARS-CoV-2 have chosen to just not breastfeed at
all,” said Grace Aldrovandi, MD, co-principal investigator of the study, chief
of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and a
professor of paediatrics in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UC Los
Angeles.
“We hope our results
and future studies will give women the reassurance needed for them to
breastfeed. Human milk provides invaluable benefits to mom and baby,” added
Aldrovandi.
Early breastfeeding
is associated with a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome and obesity
in children, as well as improved immune health and performance on intelligence
tests. In mothers, breastfeeding has been associated with lower risks for
breast and ovarian cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
The researchers also
mimicked conditions of the Holder pasteurization process commonly used in human
donor milk banks by adding SARS-CoV-2 to breast milk samples from two different
donors who were not infected.
The samples were
heated to 62.5-degree celsius for 30 minutes and then cooled to 4-degree
celsius. Following pasteurization, infectious virus was not detected in either
sample.
“This is a very
positive finding for donor milk, which so many infants, especially those born
premature, rely on. Our findings fill in some important gaps, but more studies
are needed with larger sample sizes to confirm these findings,” said Chambers.
Chambers said future
work will not only look at whether breast milk is free of the virus, but also
whether it contains active antiviral components. For example, antibodies to
SARS-CoV-2 that women may produce after exposure to the virus and then transfer
to their infants through breast milk, protecting them from Covid-19.
3.Here’s how
Covid-19 smell loss differs from common cold
19,Aug,2020
The new research has
revealed how smell loss associated with COVID-19 infection differs from what
you typically might experience with a bad cold or flu.
The research from a
European group of smell disorder experts, including Professor Philpott, was
conducted at the University of East Anglia.
The study published
in the journal Rhinology is the first to compare how people with COVID-19 smell
and taste disorders differ from those with other causes of upper respiratory
tract infections.
The main differences
found are that, although COVID-19 patients also lose their sense of smell, they
can breathe freely, do not tend to have a runny or blocked nose, and they
cannot detect bitter or sweet tastes.
These findings lend
weight to the theory that COVID-19 infects the brain and central nervous
system.
The research team
hope that their work could help develop smell and taste tests for fast COVID-19
screening - in primary care and emergency departments.
Lead researcher Prof
Carl Philpott, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “The loss of smell and
taste is a prominent symptom of COVID-19, however, it is also a common symptom
of having a bad cold. We wanted to find out exactly what differentiates
COVID-19 smell loss with the kind of smell loss you might have with a cold and
blocked-up nose.”
The research team
carried out smell and taste tests on 10 COVID-19 patients, 10 people with bad
colds and a control group of 10 healthy people - all matched for age and sex.
Prof Philpott said:
“We wanted to see if their smell and taste test scores could help discriminate
between COVID-19 patients and those with a heavy cold. We know that COVID-19
behaves differently to other respiratory viruses, for example by causing the
body’s immune system to over-react, known as a cytokine storm, and by affecting
the nervous system.”
“So we suspected
that patterns of smell loss would differ between the two groups. We found that
smell loss was much more profound in the Covid-19 patents. They were less able
to identify smells, and they were not able to identify bitter or sweet tastes.
In fact, it was this loss of true taste which seemed to be present in the
COVID-19 patients compared to those with a cold.”
He added that this
is very exciting because it means that smell and taste tests could be used to
discriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with a regular cold or flu.
“Although such tests
could not replace formal diagnostic tools such as throat swabs, they could
provide an alternative when conventional tests are not available or when rapid screening
is needed - particularly at the level of primary care, in emergency departments
or at airports.
This research also
shows that there are altogether different things going on when it comes to
smell and taste loss for COVID-10 patients, compared to those with a bad cold.
It has previously
been suggested that the COVID-19 virus affects the central nervous system,
based on the neurological signs developed by some patients. There are also
similarities with SARS, which has also been reported to enter the brain,
possibly via smell receptors in the nose.
“Our results
reflect, at least to some extent, a specific involvement at the level of the
central nervous system in some COVID-19 patients.”
It is particularly
interesting that COVID-19 seems to particularly affect sweet and bitter taste
receptors because these are known to play an important role in innate immunity.
“More research is
needed to see whether genetic variation in people’s bitter and sweet taste
receptors might predispose them to COVID-19, or conversely, whether COVID-19
infection changes how these receptors function, either directly or through a
cytokine storm - the over-reaction of the body’s immune system,” Philpott said.
4. Depression rate doubles during Covid-19 pandemic in UK,
official data shows
18,Aug,2020
The proportion of people in Britain suffering with depression has almost
doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 19% of adults reported some
form of depression during June, compared with 10% in the nine months to March
2020. Stress and anxiety were the most common types of depression listed by
people, it said.
The data raises questions about the wider public health costs of a pandemic
that has already left Britain with the highest excess mortality rate among
major European countries, according to a recent ONS analysis.
“Adults who were young, female, unable to afford an unexpected expense or
disabled were the most likely to experience some form of depression during the
pandemic,” said Tim Vizard, ONS principal research officer.
One in eight adults developed moderate to severe depression during the
pandemic, the ONS said. Only one in 25 saw an improvement.
A surge in depression is also likely to further harm the economy, which has
already suffered a historic blow from the pandemic and the national lockdown it
prompted in March.
A 2018 study from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development put the cost of mental health problems in Britain at around 4% of
its annual economic output.
5.
D614G: Malaysia
detects coronavirus strain that’s 10 times more infectious
17,Aug,2020
Malaysia has detected a strain of the new coronavirus that’s been found to
be 10 times more infectious. The mutation called D614G was found in at least
three of the 45 cases in a cluster that started from a restaurant owner
returning from India and breaching his 14-day home quarantine. The man has
since been sentenced to five months in prison and fined. The strain was also
found in another cluster involving people returning from the Philippines.
The strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines may be incomplete
or ineffective against the mutation, said Director-General of Health Noor
Hisham Abdullah.
The mutation has become the predominant variant in Europe and the U.S.,
with the World Health Organization saying there’s no evidence the strain leads
to a more severe disease. A paper published in Cell Press said the mutation is
unlikely to have a major impact on the efficacy of vaccines currently being
developed.
“People need to be wary and take greater precautions because this strain
has now been found in Malaysia,” Noor Hisham wrote in a Facebook post on
Sunday. “The people’s cooperation is very needed so that we can together break
the chain of infection from any mutation.”
While Malaysia has largely managed to prevent a resurgence of the virus
seen elsewhere in the world, the number of new cases found in the country has
been picking up. The country confirmed 26 new cases on Saturday, the most since
July 28, and added 25 cases on Sunday.
6.
Covid-19, Cold, Flu
or Allergy: Know the symptoms
16,Aug,2020
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, any fevers, aches, and pains can be scary.
Do you have the virus? Should you be getting tested? Here’s a look at symptoms,
causes and how to tell what’s what:
IT IS HARD TRYING TO TELL THEM APART
Fever, fatigue, aches, and pains mark Covid-19, flu, respiratory allergies,
and the common cold, which makes it near-impossible to figure out when to get
tested for Sars-CoV-2.
Covid-19, flu, and cold are contagious respiratory illnesses caused by
different viruses. The Sars-CoV-2 virus causes Covid-19, flu is caused by
influenza viruses such as A/H1N1, A/H3N2, B/Colorado, and B/Phuket, among
others, and the common cold symptoms are caused by more than 200 known viruses,
including some coronaviruses.
Allergies are triggered by hypersensitivity to allergens in the
environment, such as pollen, dust, fungi ould.
SIMILARITIES
Covid-19, the flu and the common cold are self-limiting diseases that
usually last for one (cold) to two weeks.
Covid-19, the flu and cold can spread with close contact, mainly from
infected droplets released into the air when infected people cough, sneeze, or
speak. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of others nearby or be
inhaled.
Covid-19 and the flu may lead to hospitalization and death from
complications, which can include respiratory failure, sepsis, cardiac arrest.
A severe allergic reaction may cause death from anaphylactic shock.
A common cold can cause complications like ear infection, sinusitis, strep
throat, and croup, among others.
The risk in all four is highest in older adults, people with certain
underlying medical conditions, and pregnant women.
DIFFERENCES
Children and young people are at higher risk of severe illness and complications
from the flu, but Covid-19 raises the risk of multi-system inflammatory
syndrome in children.
Adults with Covid-19 may have additional complications, such as the
formation of blood clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs,
or brain.
ompared
with July 2019.
"This crisis has put the public finances under
signific
Business
News
~by
JATIN
1.TikTok to challenge Trump's crackdown in court
amid rising dispute
-23 August 2020
TikTok plans to sue the U.S.
government, the company confirmed Saturday, arguing that President Donald
Trump’s moves to block the app had deprived it of due process and claiming it
had been unfairly and incorrectly treated as a security threat.
The lawsuit, which the company plans to file
next week, would amount to the most public pushback against the U.S. by TikTok,
which is owned by the Chinese internet company Byte Dance.
2.United States just crossed the line debt hawks
warned about for decades
-22 August 2020
Economists and deficit hawks
have warned for decades that the United States was borrowing too much money.
The federal debt was ballooning so fast, they said, that economic ruin was
inevitable: Interest rates would skyrocket, taxes would rise and inflation
would probably run wild.
The death spiral could be triggered once the
debt surpassed the size of the U.S. economy — a turning point that was probably
still years in the future.
The coronavirus pandemic, and the economic
collapse that followed, unleashed a historic run of government borrowing:
trillions of dollars for stimulus payments, unemployment insurance expansions,
and loans to prop up small businesses and to keep big companies afloat.
That nonchalant attitude toward what were once
thought to be major breaking points reflects an evolution in the way investors,
economists and central bankers think about government debt.
As levels of debt among rich nations like the
United States and Japan have climbed relentlessly in recent decades, the cost
of carrying that debt — reflected in interest rates — has tumbled, leaving
little indication that markets were losing confidence in the willingness and
ability of these countries to carry their financial burdens.
And since the 2008 financial
crisis, traditional thinking about borrowing by governments — at least those
that control their own currencies — has further weakened, as central banks in
major developed markets became enormous buyers in government bond markets.
At the end of last year, the United
States was about $17 trillion in debt — roughly 80% of the gross domestic
product. In January, government analysts predicted that debt would approach
100% of the GDP around 2030. But by the end of June, the debt stood at $20.53
trillion, or roughly 106% of GDP, which shrank amid widespread stay-at-home
orders. (These numbers do not count trillions more the government owes itself
in bonds held by the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.)
3.UK government debt exceeds £2 trillion for the
first time in July
-21 August 2020
British government debt has
exceeded £2.0 trillion for the first time following large state borrowing as
the coronavirus pandemic pushed the UK economy deep into recession, official
data showed Friday.
At the end of July, total accumulated debt hit
£2.004 trillion ($2.61 trillion, 2.2 trillion euros), the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
The debt increased by £227.6 billion compared
with July 2019.
"Without that support things would have
been far worse."
UK borrowing last month alone was estimated at
£26.7 billion, the ONS said.
4. Departing
World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo gets top job at PepsiCo
-20
August 2020
The World Trade Organization's
exiting chief, who is leaving the crisis-stricken institution a year ahead of
schedule, will move to the private sector as a top executive at PepsiCo, the
company said Thursday.
Roberto Azevedo, who on August 31 will step down
as WTO Director-General after seven years at the helm, will the next day become
an executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer with PepsiCo,
the US soft drink and snacks giant said in a statement.
Azevedo, who made the surprise announcement in
May that he would end his second WTO term 12 months early, for "personal
reasons", is leaving the organization engulfed in multiple crises.
Meanwhile, trade negotiations appear hopelessly
stalled and trade tensions between the US and China continue to soar.
Washington accuses the court of major overreach
and has blocked appointments of new judges, leaving it without the quorum
needed to hear cases.
5.World Trade Organization goods trade index hits
record low, detects some recovery signs
-19 August 2020
The World Trade Organization
said on Wednesday its goods trade barometer hit a record low, suggesting global
merchandise trade registered a historic fall in the second quarter of 2020 as
the coronavirus pandemic raged.
"Additional indicators point to partial
upticks in world trade and output in the third quarter, but the strength of any
such recovery remains highly uncertain: an L-shaped, rather than V-shaped,
trajectory cannot be ruled out," the WTO said on its website.
"This reading - the lowest on record in
data going back to 2007, and on par with the nadir of the 2008-09 financial
crisis - is broadly consistent with WTO statistics issued in June, which
estimated an 18.5% decline in merchandise trade in the second quarter of 2020
as compared to the same period last year," the WTO said.
The exact extent of the fall will become clear
only when official trade data for April to June become available.
The WTO had forecast in April
that global trade in goods would fall between 13% and 32% in 2020 before
rebounding by 21-24% in 2021, but in June said rapid responses by governments
meant its pessimistic scenario for this year was unlikely.
6.Britain's
Marks & Spencer to shed 7,000 jobs in latest blow to retail sector
-18 August 2020
Marks & Spencer will cut a
further 7,000 jobs, it said on Tuesday, as the COVID-19 crisis deals another
blow to Britain's beleaguered retail sector.
"It is clear that there has been a material
shift in trade and whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new
post-COVID sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change,"
M&S said.Clothing and home trading in
its stores remained well below last year though online and home delivery were
strong, said the retailer, which has a UK workforce of about 78,000.
The 136-year old M&S is seeking to reinvent
itself after decades of failed attempts. In May it said the crisis would
indelibly change its business and that it would accelerate its turnaround plan.
Last month M&S shed 950 store management jobs. Its latest cuts will impact its headquarters, regional management and UK stores over the next three months.
M&S expects a significant proportion of its
cuts to be through voluntary departures and early retirement. Shop Workers'
trade union Usdaw called for urgent talks.
M&S shares were down 2.8% at 0818 GMT,
extending 2020 losses to 48%.
The firm said it was retaining a cautious
approach to planning for the balance of the year.
Clothing and home sales were down 29.9% in the
eight weeks since stores reopened. Store sales were down 47.9%, while online
sales were up 39.2%.
M&S said it was on track to launch an online
food service next month through its partnership with Ocado.
7.Japan's economy shrinks at record rate, slammed
by pandemic
-17 August 2020
Japan's economy shrank at
annual rate of 27.8% in April-June, the worst contraction on record, as the
coronavirus pandemic slammed consumption and trade, according to government
data released on Monday.
The economy shrank 0.6% in the January-March
period, and contracted 1.8% in the October-December period last year, meaning
that Japan slipped into recession in the first quarter of this year. Recession
is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
Japanese economic growth was flat in
July-September. Growth was minimal the quarter before that.
For the April-June period, Japan's exports
dropped at a whopping annual rate of 56%, while private consumption dipped at
an annual rate of nearly 29%.
That was without any full
shutdown of businesses to contain coronavirus outbreaks, which have worsened in
the past month, pushing the total number of confirmed cases to over 56,000.
Analysts say the economy is expected to recover
gradually, once the impact of the pandemic is curbed. Japan's export-dependent
economy relies heavily on growth in China, where outbreaks of the novel
coronavirus began and have since subsided. But demand has remained subdued.
Since GDP measures what the economy did compared
to the previous quarter, such a deep contraction will likely be followed by a
rebound, unless conditions deteriorate further.
Technology News
~by GAURAV
1.Why India need a strong cybersecurity policy
soon
-23 August 2020
Prime minister Narendra modi on Saturday
reiterated that the government will soon unveil a new cybersecurity policy.
during his speech from the red fort on the 74th Independence
Day, Modi said that India is alert cautious and is taking decision to counter
cyber threats and is constantly developing new systems.
The draft of National
cyber security strategy 2020, that envisages creating a secure cyberspace in India
is ready and is likely to be finalized this year.
The threats from
cyberspace can endanger all these aspects of Indian life the government is
alert to this threat and is taking all the necessary action,” Modi said the
government recently banned several Chinese apps to apps to protect the personal
data of the India users.
As nation-state bad actors
from countries like china Russia and Pakistan amid the demand to keep the data
of Indians to remain within the boundaries of the country the government has
envisioned the country the government has envisioned the national cyber
security strategy 2020”.Prime minister Narendra modi on Saturday reiterated that
the government will soon unveil an new cybersecurity policy . during his speech
from the red fort on the 74th Independence Day, Modi said that India
is alert cautious and is taking decision to counter cyber threats and is
constantly developing new systems.
The draft of National
cyber security strategy 2020, that envisages creating a secure cyberspace in India
is ready and is likely to be finalized this year.
The threats from
cyberspace can endanger all these aspects of Indian life the government is
alert to this threat and is taking all the necessary action,” Modi said the
government recently banned several Chinese apps to apps to protect the personal
data of the India users.
As nation-state bad
actors from countries like china Russia and Pakistan amid the demand to keep
the data of Indians to remain within the boundaries of the country the
government has envisioned the country the government has envisioned the
national cyber security strategy 2020”.
2.With reels launch mark Zuckerberg’s personal
wealth hits $100 billon
-22 August 2020
The personal wealth of Facebook founder and CEO
mark Zuckerberg has touched $100 billion after the social network launched a
Tik Tok rival called integral reel this week .
With the launch of the
short -video making app Facebook stock rose by more than 6% (Zuckerberg holds a
13 per cent stake in the social networking giant).
This rise, Zuckerberg
has joined Amazona founder and CEO jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s bill gates in
the exclusive the BBC.
Zuckerberg plant to
donate 99 per cent of his Facebook share over his lifetime through the
charitable foundation he set up with his wife priscilla Chan.
Amid uncertainties
surround Tik Tok business in the US Facebook has introduced Instagram reels
that will allow people to create and discover short entertaining videos.
3.COVID-19 tracing app launches in northern
Ireland
-21 August 2020
The stop COVID NI proximity App is available on both the apple
store and google play and works by emitting anonymized coded key or identifier
beacons which change every 15 minutes.
The UK government was
developing its own app. which was originally supposed to rollout in England by June.
however, the app was ineffective at tracking iPhone users and work was
restarted using a new method developed by apple and google that the NI app is
based upon.
The app has been
designed to assist in stopping the spread of covid-19 by anonymously contact
with someone who has tested positive for the virus. It will notify any app
users that have been closer than two meters for more than 15 minutes in the
previous 14 days.
4.Nasa’s latest mars rover blasts off in search of
alien life
-20 August 2020
Nasa’s perseverance rover has successfully
blasted off on its $2.4 Mission to mars atop an atlas 5 rocket signs of life on
the planet.
The car – sized robotic
spacecraft is set to deploy a mini helicopter on mars for the first times time
and test equipment that may ultimately be used in a future manned mission.
The rocket carrying the
rover launched from the cape Canaveral air force station in Florida today at
around 12.50 pm GMT.
Dramatically a 4.2
magnitude earthquake shook southern California just 20 minutes before
departure.
“I’m so relieved: Nasa’s
science division chief Thomas Zurbuchen said on a live stream after the launch
saying everything looking good.
5.EVs, batteries and the multi-million- ton scrap
heap
-19 August 2020
As sale of electric vehicles start to soar, the thorny issue of
what to do with end-of-life lithium ion batteries isn’t going away. we look at
the problem and explore the solutions.
To say that the legacy
of today’s electric vehicles is set to be a mountain of lithium-ion battery
waste would be kind. in 2017 when worldwide sales of electrics vehicles
exceeded one million cars per year for the first-time calculation from UK based
University of Birmingham researchers revealed stark figures. these vehicles
alone are destined to leave some 250,000 tons of unprocessed battery waste when
they eventually reach the scrap heap in 2027 this is just the beginning.
Latest modelling from the Paris-based international energy agency indicates the number of electric cars on the road will lie between 125 million and 220 million by 2030. give this come the middle of this century the 250,000 –tone waste figure looks meagre against the tens of millions of tons of waste that could follow .and to make matters, recycling is playing catch-up.
