Reviewed by James Ives, M.Psych. (Editor)Feb 11 2019Athletes know a vigorous workout can release a flood of endorphins: “feel-good” hormones that boost mood. Now there’s evidence that exercise produces another hormone that may improve memory and protect against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study co-led by Ottavio Arancio, MD, PhD, a researcher at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain.The study was published in Nature Medicine.Physical activity is known to improve memory, and studies suggest it may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. But researchers don’t understand why.A few years ago, exercise researchers discovered a hormone called irisin that is released into the circulation during physical activity. Initial studies suggested that irisin mainly played a role in energy metabolism. But newer research found that the hormone may also promote neuronal growth in the brain’s hippocampus, a region critical for learning and memory.”This raised the possibility that irisin may help explain why physical activity improves memory and seems to play a protective role in brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease” says Arancio, who is a professor of pathology and cell biology and of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.Irisin is reduced in brains of people with Alzheimer’sIn the new study, Arancio and his colleagues at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Queens University in Canada first looked for a link between irisin and Alzheimer’s in people. Using tissue samples from brain banks, they found that irisin is present in the human hippocampus and that hippocampal levels of the hormone are reduced in individuals with Alzheimer’s.Related StoriesCombining aerobic exercise and resistance training helps obese older adults preserve muscle massExtremely strenuous exercise can overload the heart without increasing cardiac riskExercise during pregnancy can promote bone health of both mother and childTo explore what irisin does in the brain, the team turned to mice. These experiments show that irisin, in mice, protects the brain’s synapses and the animals’ memory: When irisin was disabled in the hippocampus of healthy mice, synapses and memory weakened. Similarly, boosting brain levels of irisin improved both measures of brain health.Swimming boosts irisin, protects memory in miceThe researchers then looked at the effect of exercise on irisin and the brain. In the study’s most compelling experiments, the researchers found that mice who swam nearly every day for five weeks did not develop memory impairment despite getting infusions of beta amyloid — the neuron-clogging, memory-robbing protein implicated in Alzheimer’s.Blocking irisin with a drug completely eliminated the benefits of swimming, the researchers also found. Mice who swam and were treated with irisin-blocking substances performed no better on memory tests than sedentary animals after infusions with beta amyloid.Together the findings suggest that irisin could be exploited to find a novel therapy for preventing or treating dementia in humans, Arancio says. His team is now searching for pharmaceutical compounds that can increase brain levels of the hormone or can mimic its action.”In the meantime, I would certainly encourage everyone to exercise, to promote brain function and overall health,” he said. “But that’s not possible for many people, especially those with age-related conditions like heart disease, arthritis, or dementia. For those individuals, there’s a particular need for drugs that can mimic the effects of irisin and protect synapses and prevent cognitive decline.” Source:https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/ read more

Source:https://www.endocrine.org/ Reviewed by James Ives, M.Psych. (Editor)Mar 25 2019Exposure to the widely used chemical bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy, even at levels lower than the regulated “safe” human exposure level, can lead to changes in circadian rhythms, according to a mice study to be presented Monday at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, La. The researchers report these changes may be a contributing factor in hyperactivity seen in BPA-exposed mice.”The hypothalamus, which we have identified as a brain region that is particularly susceptible to developmental disruption by BPA, contains the site of the clock cells that govern daily rhythms throughout the body,” said researcher Deborah Kurrasch, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada. “We have shown in previous research that BPA exposure in utero can cause defects to the development of hypothalamic nuclei and hyperactivity, and here we explored whether a shift in circadian biology might explain why the animals moved more.”BPA is a chemical that is added to many commercial products, including water bottles, paper receipts, can liners and food storage containers. It is known as an endocrine-disrupting chemical–a chemical that interferes with the body’s hormones.Many animal and human epidemiological studies have demonstrated a link between BPA exposure and adverse health outcomes, Kurrasch noted. “Despite this considerable scientific evidence, governmental agencies around the world, including in the United States, Canada and Europe, declare BPA to be safe,” she said. One reason for this disparity is a lack of evidence BPA can affect brain development. “We wanted to provide that evidence,” she said.Related StoriesWomen’s pre-pregnancy obesity changes breast milk contents which can affect infant growthCannabis use during pregnancy may cause premature birthExercise during pregnancy can promote bone health of both mother and childThe study started with two groups of pregnant mice. One group ate regular food while the second group ate food containing low doses of BPA. The babies of these mice were grown to 12 weeks of age, then separated and housed singly in a specialized light-controlled environment. Their sleep/wake cycles and activity were closely monitored over four months.The mouse pups were kept in a cycle of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark for four weeks, and a 24-hour dark cycle for another four weeks. During the 24-hour dark cycle, the pups were subjected to light pulses to examine their ability to adjust their rhythms in response to unexpected stimuli.The researchers found the mouse pups exposed to low-dose BPA during gestation were significantly more active during the half-light, half-dark days, especially during the last third of the dark period. Disruptions of circadian rhythms were exaggerated in the 24-hour dark cycle.BPA-exposed mouse pups appear to adapt more quickly to new conditions, both in the shift from half-dark, half-light to total darkness, and in response to short-term light pulses during the total dark cycle.BPA-exposed mice exhibited alterations in their daily patterns and timing of activity, indicating disrupted circadian signaling. The researchers also observed that these effects were more pronounced when the animals were placed in 24-hour darkness.”Overall, we conclude that low-dose gestational BPA exposure alters circadian rhythms under various conditions, and that this may be a contributing factor to the observed hyperactivity in BPA-exposed mice.” Kurrasch said. read more

Unfortunately, a group of cured resins and fluorinated polymers was not included in the requirement of prior informed consent, which means they can be freely traded without notification. Some of these resins and polymers release toxic chemicals during breakdown, including fluoropolymers that can breakdown to hazardous fluorinated chemicals. However, delegates agreed to review these allowances at their next meeting in 2021.”This historic decision stops plastic trash dumping at the borders of exporting countries,” said Dr. Mariann Lloyd-Smith, IPEN Senior Advisor.Source: https://ipen.org/news/new-global-rules-curb-unrestricted-plastic-waste-exports Removing or reducing the use of hazardous chemicals in plastics production and at any subsequent stage of their life cycle. Setting of specific collection targets and obligations for plastics producers to cover the costs of waste management and clean-up. Preventing and minimizing the generation of plastic waste, including through increasing the durability, reusability and recyclability of plastic products. Significant reduction of single-use plastic products. Reviewed by James Ives, M.Psych. (Editor)May 13 2019Governments at the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP14) of the Basel Convention acted to restrict rampant plastic waste exports by requiring countries to obtain prior informed consent before exporting contaminated or mixed plastic waste. A deluge of plastic waste exports from developed countries has polluted developing countries in Southeast Asia after China closed the door to waste imports in 2018. IPEN, the global network of environmental health, science and public interest organizations that has exposed environmental impacts of plastic waste exports to developing countries, applauded the move as a critical step to stem the toxic tide of plastic waste.Norway proposed the new restrictions and received overwhelming support at the meeting. Opponents of the decision included Argentina, Brazil, US, and the chemicals and plastics industries. Aggressive industry and US lobbying at a previous UN meeting temporarily slowed progress on the plastics waste issue, but at this meeting, governments took a dramatic step forward. The decision occurred against a backdrop of a UNEP report on combatting marine litter and microplastics and consensus resolutions on this topic at the 3rd and 4th meetings of the UN Environment Assembly.The new UN decision will have the greatest impact on the US because the treaty prohibits the export of listed wastes from countries that have not ratified the Convention (such as the US). In 2018, the United States exported 157,000 large shipping containers of mixed plastic wastes to developing countries already overwhelmed with plastic pollution. The new UN decision will force the US to deal with its own plastic waste into the future.”With this amendment, many developing countries will, for the first time, have information about plastic wastes entering their country and be empowered to refuse plastic waste dumping,” said Dr. Sara Brosché, IPEN Science Advisor. “For far too long developed countries like the US and Canada have been exporting their mixed toxic plastic wastes to developing Asian countries claiming it would be recycled in the receiving country. Instead, much of this contaminated mixed waste cannot be recycled and is instead dumped or burned, or finds its way into the ocean.”Related StoriesNew small, optical nano-sensor could soon measure air pollutionInternational tourists are more susceptible to harmful effects of air pollutionStudy reveals how air pollution affects the human body at the metabolite levelGovernments noted that plastic can contain hazardous substances and that plastic pollution is, “a serious environmental problem on a global scale.” Previous studies of consumer products demonstrate that hazardous substances in plastics are carried into new products when recycled.Countries acknowledged the rapidly increasing levels of marine plastic litter and microplastics and the serious impacts it is having on marine biodiversity, ecosystems, fisheries, tourism, and local communities. At the meeting, a Stockholm Convention regional center documented concerns over hazardous chemicals present in plastics.The unanimously adopted actions on plastic wastes include: read more

The mother’s gut bacteria and diet appear to be crucial to promoting a healthy pregnancy.”Professor Nanan, University of Sydney School of Medicine and Charles Perkins Centre Reviewed by Alina Shrourou, B.Sc. (Editor)Jul 10 2019A healthy diet rich in fiber is generally recommended, but new research shows it could be even more important during pregnancy to promote the wellbeing of the mother and child.Plant-based fiber is broken down in the gut by bacteria into factors that influence the immune system.Researchers from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, the Barwon Infant Study from Deakin University, Monash University, James Cook University and the Australian National University collaborated to investigate the role of these metabolic products of gut bacteria during pregnancy.Senior author of the study Professor Ralph Nanan said the simple recommendation to ‘eat real food, mostly plants, and not too much’ might be the most effective primary prevention strategy for some of the most serious conditions of our time. Published today in Nature Communications, the study found that in humans, reduced levels of acetate, which is mainly produced by fibre fermentation in the gut, is associated with the common and serious pregnancy-related condition preeclampsia.Preeclampsia occurs in up to 10 percent of pregnancies and is characterized by high blood pressure, protein in the urine and severe swelling in the mother. It also interferes with the child’s immune development whilst in the womb, with some evidence suggesting a link to higher rates of allergies and autoimmune disease later in life.Related StoriesDrinking diet beverages may increase risk of stroke and heart attack in women over 50High-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may improve brain function and memory in older adultsSofrito cooking technique releases healthy nutrientsThe current study found that preeclampsia affected the development of an important fetal immune organ, the thymus, which sits just behind the breastbone.Fetuses in preeclamptic pregnancies were found to have a much smaller thymus than children from healthy pregnancies.The cells the thymus normally generates, called T cells (thymus-derived cells) – specifically those associated with the prevention of allergies and autoimmune conditions such as diabetes – also remained lower in infants after preeclampsia, even four years after delivery.The mechanisms of acetate on the developing fetal immune system were further examined in separate experiments involving mice that showed acetate was central in driving fetal thymus and T cell development.Together, these results showed that promoting specific metabolic products of gut bacteria during pregnancy might be an effective way to maintain a healthy pregnancy and to prevent allergies and autoimmune conditions later in life.They may also, in part, explain the rapid increase of allergies and autoimmune conditions as Western diets are increasingly dominated by highly processed foods, which are very low in fibre.”More studies are urgently needed to understand how we can best target this system to reduce the growing burden of immune related diseases in the modern world,” said co-author Peter Vuillermin, co-lead of the Barwon Infant Study, a major birth cohort study being conducted by the Child Health Research Unit at Barwon Health in collaboration with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and Deakin University. Source:University of SydneyJournal reference:Hu, M. et al. (2019) Decreased maternal serum acetate and impaired fetal thymic and regulatory T cell development in preeclampsia. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10703-1. read more

Credit: iStock Internet of Things for smarter living These data then have to be sent to and processed by the electric grid so that it can allocate resources appropriately. This is what Olivier Van Cutsem, a doctoral student in the Electronics Laboratory, is now working on. “The aim of a smart grid is to ensure that users get a top-notch service. This involves managing energy peaks and volatility in renewable energy output while at the same time keeping costs down and ensuring a constant level of comfort,” explains the researcher. Using a smart building simulator developed by the lab, he is studying the benefits that smart buildings could bring through their energy strategies. “By looking at grid signals or available local output, we can adjust the load at certain times. An apartment could, for instance, be heated a few minutes earlier if the electricity is cheaper at that time or if that will curtail a peak in usage,” says Van Cutsem. “There is also some room for maneuver in terms of the comfort that users are willing to accept. We know that people tend to heat their apartments to between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius, so we could opt for the lower end of the scale when the grid is busy.”Creating this comprehensive system requires a cross-disciplinary approach with input from researchers in various fields. Some laboratories, for example, are working on the smart grid, while others are focusing on data protection and comfort. “Our laboratory brings its expertise in electronics; our researchers are working on how to improve energy metering, communications between connected devices, and data collection and use, in order to enhance coordination between buildings and the grid,” explains Lilis. This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. A smart grid that decides how best to distribute energy based on availability, cost and customers’ needs – that’s the energy concept being developed by researchers in the School of Engineering’s Electronics Laboratory. They have designed a system capable of collecting data on people’s energy usage and comfort within buildings. By gathering data sent from connected devices – like smartphones and the sensors in electronic appliances – the system can obtain an overall picture of a building’s electricity needs over time and by room. This data can then be passed on to a smart grid in order to anticipate energy needs and decide how best to allocate available resources.Buildings already have systems that can collect data from certain devices. There are, for example, systems to turn lights on automatically when you enter a room, to lower the heating when you leave your apartment or to start your washing or coffee machine remotely from your smartphone. But these interfaces all work separately to enhance the user’s comfort or save energy in different ways. They can’t be used to gain any precise, overarching insight into the electricity needs of an entire building or to optimize resource allocation. And these devices have totally unrelated applications, with one perhaps being used to increase safety while another may control heating, for example. The interface developed by the researchers will be able to combine all these data and thus cover various energy needs. The researchers’ findings have been published in the journal Elsevier Automation in Construction.The program developed in the Electronics Laboratory is capable of collecting data from any sensor. “There are a huge number of smartphones and connected devices available on the market, covering everything from household and leisure appliances to safety. They all use sensors, but the underlying technologies can be very different,” explains George Lilis, who worked on the interface as part of his Ph.D. “Our solution must be compatible with various technologies so that it can be connected to any device. That way, the building and the grid’s energy needs can be managed smoothly regardless of the devices in place.” This interface is very flexible and ensures the best possible data protection, which means it can be integrated into any type of building. The program was designed to be as generic as possible, and the computer code used is open source. Explore further Researchers at EPFL have developed a system that can be installed in a building to collect data on people’s energy usage. The aim is then to send this data directly to a smart electric grid that will allocate resources optimally. Citation: Smart buildings that can manage our electricity needs (2018, January 15) retrieved 18 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-01-smart-electricity.html Provided by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne read more

Credit: University of Bath Explore further Artificial intelligence poses a range of challenges to policymakers. As a technology that is now pervasive, it is impacting on democracy, security and the global economy in ways that are not yet well-known to publics around the world – and, being covert, these impacts are generally not balanced against strong political will to shape them with effective policymaking. Equally, it is a field of technology beset by alarmist sentiments that have little bearing on the actual risks which it presents, or may yet present, to humanity. Citation: How policymakers should approach AI (2018, January 24) retrieved 18 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-01-policymakers-approach-ai.html Provided by University of Bath Thoughtful policymaking will be required over the coming years and decades if AI is to be successfully and productively incorporated into human society – and it was with this in mind that I recently answered the call by the UK’s House of Lords for evidence on AI. My answers to their questions are below, and I will add some concluding notes at the end.The pace of technological changeWhat is the current state of AI and what factors have contributed to this? How is it likely to develop over the next 5, 10 and 20 years? What factors, technical or societal, will accelerate or hinder this development?AI is now a pervasive technology. For clear thinking about AI policy it is best to take a very simple, straightforward definition of AI as any technological artefact that generates action in response to its own perception of context. With this definition we can see a clear continuous progress from the mechanical governors of the industrial revolution to the “self-learning” systems of the last few years. While machine learning has produced advances that stun us all with their capacity to capture human intelligence, it is important to realise that a) there is a great deal of precedent for what happens each time technology advances our capacity to compute, and b) that computation is a physical process. This latter is important because it excludes one class of alarmist concerns about AI: that one nation, company, or even machine will suddenly create perfect omniscience and thus dominate the world. In fact, laws of computation are laws of nature, and it is provably intractable to know or foresee everything. Computation is not an abstraction like math; computation requires time, energy, and space for storage of intermediate results.Having said that, AI is already super-human in many domains and in the next 5-20 years it is quite likely that we will be able to capture and express all of extant culturally-communicated human knowledge with it. Already we are far better at predicting individuals’ behaviour than individuals are happy to know, and therefore than companies are happy to publicly reveal. Individuals and parties exploiting this are very likely compromising democracy globally, notably in the UK. There is an incredibly large project here for the social sciences and the humanities as we urgently address the political, economic, and existential (in the philosophical sense) challenges of massive improvements in communication, computation, and prediction. Again, natural laws of biology tell us to anticipate an accelerated pace of change given the increased plasticity of increased intelligence. Therefore we need to ensure our societies are robust to this increase, with sufficient resilience built into the system to allow individuals to have periods out of work finding a new place in the economy. This requires adequate minimum wages, adequate individual savings, and an adequate civil safety net. The greatest decelerators of this process would be: 1) war – including cyber/stealth war inducing democracies to dismantle their own critical infrastructures and 2) cybersecurity. The government’s present policy of outlawing adequate encryption is a severe threat to the UK on many levels, but particularly with respect to AI.Is the current level of excitement which surrounds artificial intelligence warranted?See above. Basically, yes, it is if anything belated given that AI is already the core technology of the richest corporations on both sides of the great firewall of China, and given the impact on individual security and on democracy. But no, AI itself is not itself a legal or moral actor and will not take over the world on its own, and there is no particular new threat beyond the damage already done and our increasing reliance on a more-easily-assaulted digital/electric infrastructure. I say again because I cannot understate the importance: having backdoors in our encryption is a substantial security error.Impact on societyHow can the general public best be prepared for more widespread use of artificial intelligence?See first my answer to Question 1, which addresses retraining. The most important thing is that we reduce the Gini coefficient so that our population retains (or recovers) its social mobility, and those able to innovate have the freedom to do so and the ability to hire others. The productivity and invention intelligent technology should generate should be sufficient to solve the problems of society providing that the economic and political renovations necessary to handle the new redistribution challenges are made.I am particularly concerned that we are again, as in the nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries, in a context of increased inequality and its concomitant political polarisation. We need to remember, as we knew in 1945, that it is in the interest of the elite even more than the rest to have a society sufficiently stable to run nations and businesses. The redistribution we practiced from 1945-1978 was not a (successful) war on communism, but rather a necessary economic tactic to counter the technological innovations of petroleum and early ICT. Late (contemporary) ICT requires even greater innovations in shared transnational regulation; the treaties the EU has been experimenting with are not perfect but they need to be improved and extended globally, because the economy is now global.Who in society is gaining the most from the development and use of artificial intelligence and data? Who is gaining the least? How can potential disparities be mitigated?It is critical to realise that we have all gained immeasurably from having knowledge at our fingertips. Poor people now have a longer life expectancy than billionaires a century ago. Any talk of “wage stagnation” just tells us how impoverished prices are as an indication of economic value, and how poorly the discipline of economics is serving our society – we need to make massive investment to improve the social sciences. Having said that, and reiterating from Question 3, the current aggravation of the essential political problems of a high Gini coefficient economy, and also of sustainability, must necessarily be addressed because they threaten stability.Public perceptionShould efforts be made to improve the public’s understanding of, and engagement with, artificial intelligence? If so, how?The UK is doing an outstanding job of this, a credit to universities, government, the BBC, The Guardian, and the Royal Society. We should maintain this level of investment, and probably offer more – particularly through digital university outreach. This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. Time is right to capitalise on artificial intelligence read more

Credit: Delft University of Technology Credit: Delft University of Technology More information: An Experimentally Validated Dynamical Model of a Single-Track Hydrofoil Boat: drive.google.com/file/d/0ByXgJ … eFVaazhMeXk3S0E/view Once out on the water, it soon became clear that the low weight of the 2016 TU Delft Solar Boat (100 kg) combined with the innovative steering mechanism meant that the boat was able to achieve top speeds of up to 55 km/h.In 2016, this speed won the TU Delft Solar Boat Team two silver medals; at the solar boat world championships in Friesland and at the Monte Carlo Cup in Monaco. But this is the first time there has been any scientific evidence to support this stability mechanism.”It’s fantastic that these students have been able to demonstrate with this research paper that a pilot can sail a boat much like we ride a bike,” says Schwab.”And it’s not every day that research carried out by Master’s students is published in an academic journal.” This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. Explore further Mathematical modelFoils (or struts) are small wings under a boat, which, provided the boat is travelling at a sufficient speed, can raise the hull out of the water in the same way as an aircraft’s wings lift the hull of an aircraft into the air.Scientists and researchers have been struggling with the challenge of improving the stability of ‘flying boats’ for many years. Students Gijsbert van Marrewijk and Johan Schonebaum have been gripped by this phenomenon ever since they were members of the TU Delft Solar Boat Team in 2013.”We used a mathematical model to validate whether a single-track hydrofoil using two foils one behind the other in the water would remain stable in the same way as we stay upright on a bike,” says Marrewijk.Experimenting with the 2016 TU Delft Solar Boat, designed and built by TU Delft students under the supervision of bicycle researcher Arend Schwab, they showed that the hydrofoil can indeed be kept upright during flight using the principle of steering into the fall. During these experiments, the pilot steered into the direction of the fall and the students recorded things such as speed, altitude and roll angle.”Because steering and keeping a hydrofoil upright is much more difficult than riding a bike, the pilot received intensive training from the students on the Solar Boat team,” explains Schonebaum.But a boat is not a bike; instead of revolving wheels it has small foils under the surface of the water.Not to mention the fact that weight is distributed and carried differently.”It is extremely difficult for a hydrofoil pilot to simply take to the water straight away, which is why we developed a computer simulator to enable the pilot to practice beforehand.”The validated mathematical model was built into this training tool.From now on, the teams will be able to use this model to calculate the stability of new solar boat designs in advance.”Before we developed this model, we would only find out that the boat wasn’t stable enough once we got it onto the water. This simulator will probably save future Solar Boat teams a lot of unnecessary hours of building and frustration,” says Schonebaum.The research has already been put to use in the design of this year’s solar boat.The team has expanded the steering system based on these research results, which means that the boat can now turn at a higher speed and with a smaller turning circle. Schematic representation of the TU Delft Solar Boat, with two foils one behind the other.The students used this representation to create a dynamic mathematical model, which can be used to predict the behaviour of all hydrofoils. Credit: Delft University of Technology When you’re about to fall when riding your bike, you steer into the direction of the fall without even realising it. This correction can be explained using the principles of physics; your supports, i.e. the wheels, remain in balance due to the centre of gravity. Now, for the very first time, it has also been scientifically proven that this principle of bicycle stability can also be used to maintain the stability of a hydrofoil, such as the TU Delft Solar Boat. The students recently published their findings in the Naval Engineers Journal, an academic journal published by the American Society of Naval Engineers. Citation: Cycling motion keeps hydrofoils upright during flight (2018, April 12) retrieved 18 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-04-motion-hydrofoils-upright-flight.html Provided by Delft University of Technology Self-fueling boat sets off from Paris on 6-year world trip “Being published is great, of course, but more importantly, this new knowledge into how hydrofoil technology works can now also be used to make shipping more sustainable in the future,” says Marrewijk. Traditional boats always needed several foils to raise the boat out of the water without losing balance. “Just like stabilisers keep a bicycle upright when children are learning to ride,” explains Marrewijk. A boat that is lifted out of the water in this new way needs fewer foils and therefore faces less water resistance, which makes sailing much more economical.”The resistance involved here can be compared with that of a human hand gliding through the water,” according to Marrewijk. “Follow-up research is needed to find out exactly how much more economical that could be for a bigger boat, but we expect that shipbuilding companies will certainly be interested in this principle for keeping hydrofoils upright during flight.” read more

Cairns has an extensive CCTV network, which as well as keeping homeless people under surveillance is sometimes used to help them. Credit: Andreina Schoeberlein/Flickr, CC BY-NC Surveillance evokes fear of a “big brother” state watching our every move. The proliferation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in our cities and the emergence of big data have only deepened this fear. Marginalised groups such as people sleeping rough feel the impact most acutely, as their lack of shelter exposes them to constant surveillance. Acting on these concerns, local police, council and social service personnel work together to manage the behaviour of people sleeping rough. They do this either through enforcement – move-ons, seizing alcohol, arrest, and so one – or through efforts to remove the homeless from public view, such as taking them to the police watch house or local sobering-up facility. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Provided by The Conversation AMA adopts new policy on housing for homeless Explore further Our recent research investigated the role of surveillance in coordinating responses to homelessness in Cairns. Homelessness occurs here at twice the national rate. For rough sleepers, being surveilled can result in unwanted questioning by police, being moved on, or even being arrested. We found, however, that surveillance was also used to coordinate genuinely supportive responses by local social services.Researchers have linked surveillance of the homeless to efforts by public and other agencies to ensure city centres are attractive spaces for consumers, tourists and private investors. We found surveillance in Cairns is largely directed at reducing the impact of homelessness on the city’s image. This can result in people who are homeless being excluded from safe and familiar areas where they have ready access to support.However, other researchers point out that responses to homelessness are diverse and multifaceted. Genuine attempts to help the homeless often exist alongside exclusionary practices. Despite this, little research has been done on how surveillance practices may interface with these more supportive initiatives. We argue that the exclusionary effects of surveillance on the homeless are not a fait accompli. It is important to challenge these negative effects and to harness the potential for surveillance to contribute to social justice. A tool to manage ‘antisocial behaviour’Driven by concerns about the fragility of Cairns’ tourism-dependent economy, surveillance is indeed used to manage and clear public spaces of people seen as disrupting the city’s image as safe and inviting. People who are homeless are disproportionately surveilled. Public debate on homelessness in Cairns often centres on “antisocial behaviour” by so-called “itinerant” Indigenous people from remote communities who sleep rough in the city. Local media, politicians and business owners publicly lament the impact on local commerce and efforts to promote Cairns as a welcoming place for visitors. Surveillance is typically used to monitor ‘antisocial’ behaviour in public places but could just as easily be used to identify people in need of help. Credit: tsyklon/Shutterstock Surveillance plays a key role in coordinating these activities. Information on the location and behaviour of homeless people is gleaned from council-operated CCTV cameras and foot patrols and passed on to police and other agencies. Help with access to services and resourcesYet homelessness in Cairns is not only seen as a problem of antisocial behaviour. Community activists and social services highlight the social and economic forces driving homelessness. These range from unaffordable housing and barriers to accessing mainstream health and welfare services, to racism and the ongoing legacy of colonisation. Indeed, even local politicians and council staff acknowledge that responses that move people on do not resolve the issues underlying their homelessness, which call for different approaches. Reflecting these alternative views, Cairns has some important programs that help people overcome the practical, institutional and socio-economic barriers to exiting homelessness. For instance, the Cairns Street to Home program helps rough sleepers get into permanent housing. It also provides them with health care and (re)connects them to mainstream health and welfare institutions.Importantly, these initiatives are supported by the same surveillance practices that coordinate the more disciplinary and exclusionary responses. CCTV camera operators provide the location of rough sleepers to outreach workers seeking to engage new clients and support existing ones. The council also uses its surveillance capacities to help service providers locate rough sleepers who have no fixed address and often no phone in urgent situations, such as when they have a limited time to accept a social housing offer or are overdue for psychiatric medications. Using surveillance for progressive endsOur research shows that, as well as contributing to the policing and displacement of homelessness, surveillance can help overcome barriers that people face to accessing the resources they need to end their homelessness. This suggests that while surveillance comes with inherent dangers, such as the exclusion of marginalised groups, these are not necessary or essential functions. Australian cities have invested extensive public resources in surveillance infrastructure. Greater effort should be made to harness these public assets to achieve positive social outcomes, such as enabling people who are homeless to find housing. Citation: Turning ‘big brother’ surveillance into a helping hand to the homeless (2018, October 22) retrieved 17 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-10-big-brother-surveillance-homeless.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. read more

Explore further In this Sept. 18, 2018, photo Ford assembly line worker Nicholas Gotts, wearing a new wearable technology called an EksoVest, works on a vehicle in Flat Rock, Mich. The wearable device, that the automaker will be providing plants around the world, provides lift assistance from 5 to 15 pounds per arm. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) In this Sept. 18, 2018, photo Ford assembly line worker Nicholas Gotts, wearing a new wearable technology called an EksoVest, works on a vehicle in Flat Rock, Mich. The wearable device, that the automaker will be providing plants around the world, provides lift assistance from 5 to 15 pounds per arm. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Ford Motor Co. and other manufacturers want to help their workers take a load off. Or at least make it easier to lift a load up. In this Sept. 18, 2018, photo Ford assembly line worker Nicholas Gotts, wearing a new wearable technology called an EksoVest, works on a vehicle in Flat Rock, Mich. The wearable device, that the automaker will be providing plants around the world, provides lift assistance from 5 to 15 pounds per arm. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) In this Sept. 18, 2018, photo Ford assembly line worker Nicholas Gotts wears a new wearable technology called an EksoVest in Flat Rock, Mich. The wearable device, that the automaker will be providing plants around the world, provides lift assistance from 5 to 15 pounds per arm. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) In this Sept. 18, 2018, photo Ford assembly line worker Nicholas Gotts, wearing a new wearable technology called an EksoVest, works on a vehicle in Flat Rock, Mich. The wearable device, that the automaker will be providing plants around the world, provides lift assistance from 5 to 15 pounds per arm. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Ford, exoskeleton company address strain in overhead tasks In this Sept. 18, 2018, photo Ford assembly line worker Nicholas Gotts, wearing a new wearable technology called an EksoVest, works on a vehicle in Flat Rock, Mich. The wearable device, that the automaker will be providing plants around the world, provides lift assistance from 5 to 15 pounds per arm. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Ford is among several companies providing wearable technology to elevate and support their workers’ arms.Nicholas Gotts wears an EksoVest during his shifts building Mustangs at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit. He says the exoskeleton makes his job “a whole lot easier and a lot less strenuous.”Ford piloted the EksoVest at two U.S. plants before deciding last year to expand its use to 15 factories and seven countries. The vest provides lift assistance for 5 to 15 pounds (2.3 to 6.8 kilograms) per arm.Aerospace giant Boeing Co. is among other companies that provide their workers with exoskeletons. This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. Citation: Companies hope vests will ease burden for assembly workers (2019, January 31) retrieved 17 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-01-companies-vests-ease-burden-workers.html © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. read more

Deciding to show the match on Seven Two, instead of their main channel, the game was broadcast by Seven in standard definition with football fans far from impressed with the vision nor the commentary. Channel Seven have been heavily criticised for their coverage of Manchester United’s friendly against Perth Glory on Saturday at Optus Stadium. Seven surprisingly won the rights to broadcast the match despite Fox Sports, SBS and Channel Ten usually televising the round ball game in Australia. So Channel 7 paid money to televise one of the biggest football clubs touring Australia on their tv channels and they stick it on a SD channel so that they could show a Fast and Furious movie in HD… #MUFCvPER- Kieran L 🇦🇺 (@kieran_shaker) July 13, 2019Watching @ManUtd v @PerthGloryFC on 7Two is a throwback to the glorious days of European football from the mid-Eighties. Shitty low-definition pictures and commentary that sounds like it’s come from a box-room…… #MUFCvPER #mufctour- Russ Gibbs (@RussGibbs10) July 13, 2019#MUFCvPER Typical channel 7, putting it on the channel with the worst picture quality. I’ve seen better PQ on NPL streamed games.- Orange_Snow (@Orange_Snow_) July 13, 2019Can Basheer & Lazaridis STFU and commentate on the actual game please. Now my eyes and ears are hurting #PERvMUN- MickeyT (@tanka_21) July 13, 2019Painful watching #PERvMUN on murky 7Two after watching WWC, Copa, AFCON and MLS on Optus, BeIN, SBS HD and ESPN.- edwyatt (@edwyatt) July 13, 2019Why aren’t these commentators commentating on the game? 🤔 #pervmun @7Sport- Judith L (@joodoff) July 13, 2019Not sure how much more I can take… pic.twitter.com/dIcSwxcQ4B- Josh (@miryuz_) July 13, 2019Thank god someone else said it. I can’t believe what I’ve been hearing for the first 20 mins of utter waffle… (‘Olle gunnar’ who calls him that? Plus all sorts of other weird bollocks..)- Gavin Latz (@GavinLatz) July 13, 2019This commentary …. #MUFCvPER pic.twitter.com/GGHvW06W0U- Christina Trajceska (@CTrajceska) July 13, 2019To make matters worse, the game itself struggled to hit any great heights in the first half with neither side able to open the scoring. MORE: Peter Crouch confirms retirementRed Devils star Paul Pogba was named on the bench for the match, with Romelu Lukaku missing completely through a minor injury. read more

Published on SHARE SHARE EMAIL COMMENT SHARE November 26, 2018 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the country’s first hyper converged infrastructure state data centre here on Monday.He said it would facilitate the completion of projects in a time-bound manner and now all information related to government departments would be available at one place.“Information on all government departments will now be available at one place. The centre will also help in speeding up our activities and save energy,” Rawat said, after inaugurating the facility at the IT Park on Sahastradhara Road.“We had to develop a system which helps the government start and complete development projects within a fixed timeframe. Such a data centre which the State had long been waiting for is a step in that direction,” the Chief Minister said.The three-tier State data centre has been developed by the Information Technology Development Agency of the Uttarakhand government. It is the first data centre in the country with 100 per cent software-based hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) technology.The data centre has 105 terabyte form, which can be expanded up to 12 petabyte. It covers all citizen-centric services. Rawat congratulated the ITDA for successfully completing the State data centre ahead of time.  Uttarakhand COMMENTS read more

politics 0 SHARE SHARE EMAIL COMMENTS The BJP is getting converted to “Congress Janata Party” with the influx of MLAs from the opposition party, Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) chief Subhash Velingkar said Friday.Ten Congress legislators in the coastal State, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, joined the BJP on Wednesday, leaving the opposition party with just five MLAs in the 40-member Assembly.Velingkar, former Goa RSS chief, said, “The BJP has lost its ideological base. It is no more a party which honours ideology. It has become Congress Janata Party.” “Out of total 27 BJP MLAs in the Goa Assembly, 18 were in the Congress,” Velingkar said, adding that the BJP during last two years had engineered four “switch overs”.In the last two-and-a half years, the Congress has lost 13 of its MLAs to the BJP which now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Assembly.In 2017 State elections, the Congress won 17 of the 40 Assembly seats in the politically volatile State, which has a history of legislators switching loyalties and bringing down governments. COMMENT July 12, 2019 SHARE Published on read more

Analyst Reports 11 Jul 2019 Trading ideas: Eonmetall, MTD ACPI, I-Bhd, MAHB, ARB The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rallied 1.4% to 46,560 yuan (US$6,789.65) a tonne, tracking rises of London copper in the previous session.However, gains were capped as investors eyed forecasts for slower growth in China, with vehicle sales potentially falling in 2019 and a Reuters poll showing economists expect economic growth to weaken to a near 30-year low of 6.2% this year.Shanghai lead rose 0.9% while London lead eased 0.2%, hovering around its highest since April 30, as lead stocks continued to deteriorate, hitting their fresh 10-year low on Tuesday, latest data showed. The difference between LME cash and three month lead contracts flipped to a premium of US$10.5 a tonne on Wednesday after holding in discount zone for nearly a month, indicating nearby supply shortage.“Lead smelters are all losing money, so prices should rise. Lead consumption now is not very good, but it will be better. The 3rd and 4th quarters are the peak season for lead-acid battery consumption” a China-based lead sales manager said.London aluminium retreated from a two-month high, falling 0.2% and zinc fell 0.2% while nickel marched towards a three-month high, up 0.7% while Shanghai aluminium rose 0.5%, nickel advanced 2% and zinc eased 0.1%. — Reuters {{category}} {{time}} {{title}} Related News Copper SINGAPORE: Copper extended gains for the second straight session, as the US dollar eased after dovish comments by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell reinforced rate cut bets.Powell on Wednesday confirmed that the US economy is still under threat, stressing that uncertainties around trade tensions and concerns about the strength of the global economy continue to weigh on the US outlook.The US dollar retreated, greenback-priced metals cheaper for users of other currencies.Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1% to US$5,948 a tonne by 0326 GMT, after posting its biggest rise since Jan 25 in the previous session. Economy 12 Jul 2019 What Powell’s rate cut signal means for PBoC Related News Business News 10 Jul 2019 Gold slips as dollar strengthens ahead of Powell’s testimony Copper rallies: An interior view of the copper factory owned by Inshaf Ibrahim in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1% to US$5,948 a tonne after posting its biggest rise since Jan 25 in the previous session. — Reuters Tags / Keywords: read more

Telangana: 52 child labourers rescued from bangle factories in BalapurThe child labourers were rescued during a joint operation by Rachakonda ‘Operation Smile’ team and the Balapur police at various factories where bangles were being manufactured.advertisement Next India Today Web Desk New DelhiJuly 13, 2019UPDATED: July 13, 2019 18:59 IST A boy carrying coal at an open cast coal field. (Reuters image used for representation)At least 52 child bonded labourers were on Saturday rescued from a number of bangle factories in Balapur suburb in Ranga Reddy district, Telangana. The children were rescued after Balapur police conducted raids at six locations across the suburb.The child labourers were rescued during a joint operation by Rachakonda ‘Operation Smile’ team and the Balapur police at various factories where bangles were being manufactured.A total of 52 children working as bonded labourers have been rescued.Speaking to news agency ANI, a Balapur police officer said that all the children have been shifted to a rescue home and a case in this regard has been registered. A team has also been deployed to nab the owners of the factories where raids were conducted.The children will be handed over to their parents after the investigation in the case is completed.Ranga Reddy District, Telangana: 52 child labourers rescued from bangle factories in Balapur. Rachakonda ‘Operation Smile’ team along with Balapur police conducted raid at six locations where bangles were being manufactured, and rescued the children working as bonded labour.— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2019″The 52 children have been shifted to rescue home and a case is being registered under JJ Act & Child Labour Act in Balapur police station. A team deployed to nab accused. After a complete investigation, the rescued children will be handed over to their parents,” a Balapur police officer said.The 52 child labourers have been rescued just two days after 42 bonded labourers, including 16 children, were rescued from two locations in Tamil Nadu. The labourers were rescued from two wood cutting units in Kancheepuram and Vellore.In June, 26 child labourers were rescued from the plant of popular biscuit brand Parle-G in Raipur.A government task force on child labour had received a tip-off that minors were employed at Parle-G factory in Amasivni area, said Vidhan Sabha Police Station House Officer (SHO) Ashwani Rathore.Also Read | 26 child labourers rescued from Parle-G plant in ChhattisgarhAlso Read | World Day Against Child Labour: 11 child labour laws you need to knowAlso Watch | This man uses art to project the pains of bonded labourFor the latest World Cup news, live scores and fixtures for World Cup 2019, log on to indiatoday.in/sports. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for World Cup news, scores and updates.Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from Post your comment Do You Like This Story? Awesome! Now share the story Too bad. Tell us what you didn’t like in the comments Posted byChanchal Chauhan read more

Next Mumbai: 12-year-old boy drowns in pit at Worli Sea LinkThe boy was admitted to a nearby hospital by locals but he was declared brought dead.advertisement India Today Web Desk New DelhiJuly 13, 2019UPDATED: July 13, 2019 20:12 IST A 12-year-old boy drowned in a pit in Mumbai, Maharashtra | Photo from ANIHIGHLIGHTSThe pit was dug for Coastal Road Project at Coastal RoadThe boy was rushed to a nearby hospital after the incidentThe boy was declared dead by the hospitalA 12-year-old boy in Mumbai drowned in a pit on Saturday.The 12-year-old boy drowned in the pit dug for a Coastal Road Project at Coastal Road, Worli Sea Link.The boy was admitted to a nearby hospital by locals but he was declared brought dead.Earlier in the week, heavy rainfall in Mumbai led to the temporary suspension of activity at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.Large parts of the city and suburbs, besides Palghar, Thane and Raigad, were lashed with heavy rain since this week.As Mumbai started the week on a flooded note, a roof collapsed in Shivaji Nagar in Govandi. Eight people were injured in the incident.According to the Indian Meteorological Department, Mumbai will experience intermittent rain or showers with heavy falls at isolated places.Also Read | Mumbai’s Tulsi lake overflows due to heavy rainsAlso Read | Mumbai: Unable to locate 3-year-old Divyansh who fell into gutter, search teams call off operationsAlso Watch | Did this scooter fall into a rain-filled pothole’ in Mumbai?For the latest World Cup news, live scores and fixtures for World Cup 2019, log on to indiatoday.in/sports. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for World Cup news, scores and updates.Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from Post your comment Do You Like This Story? Awesome! Now share the story Too bad. Tell us what you didn’t like in the comments Posted byMohak Gupta Tags :Follow MumbaiFollow Worli Sea Link read more