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Google To Launch a New Safety Feature To Alert Users About Critical Issues In App

Google is set to roll out a new safety feature that will automatically issue an alert within the Google app people are using and help them address it, and the users no need to check email or phone alerts for a suspected hack or a compromise.

The new alerts are resistant to spoofing, so the users can always be sure they’re coming from Google.

“We’ll begin a limited roll out in the coming weeks and plan to expand more broadly early next year,” said Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, Vice President of Product, Privacy at Google.

Currently, Google uses Android alerts to notify people about critical issues with their Google Accounts, like a suspected hack.

“The tech giant saw a 20-fold increase in the number of people that engaged with these new notifications within an hour of receiving them, compared to email,” Roy-Chowdhury said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Safe Browsing protects more than four billion devices, Gmail blocks more than 100 million phishing attempts every day, and Google Play Protect scans over 100 billion apps every day for malware and other issues.

Google said that its refreshed Safety Centre is now live in the US and coming soon globally.

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Google To Launch a New Safety Feature To Alert Users About Critical Issues In App | NewsGram

Safety feature will automatically issue an alert within the Google app people are using and help them address it, there is no need to check

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New Testing Platform Created for Breast Cancer Cells

Researchers have developed a novel testing platform to evaluate how breast cancer cells respond to the recurrent stretching that occurs in the lungs during breathing.

The technology is designed to better understand the effects that the local tissue has on metastatic breast cancer to study how metastases grow in new tissue, the study, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials reported.

“One of the key features of breast cancer is that most patients survive if the disease stays local, but there is a greater than 70 percent drop in survival if the cells have metastasized,” said study author Luis Solorio from Purdue University in the US.

However, once the cells leave the primary tumor, they are often no longer responsive to the drugs that initially worked for the patient.

“We wanted to develop a system that could help us better understand how the physiology of a new tissue space affected tumor cells upon invasion into the new organ,” Solorio added.

The researchers created a magnetically moving cell culturing system where the cancer cells can be grown in 3D on a suspended extracellular matrix protein that is abundant in early metastatic lung tissue in order to evaluate the impact of mechanical forces.

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New Testing Platform Created for Breast Cancer Cells | NewsGram

Researchers have developed a novel testing platform to evaluate how breast cancer cells respond to the recurrent stretching in the lungs dur

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NASA to Launch $23 Million Titanium Space Toilet, Designed Better For Female Astronauts

A flight carrying NASA’s new $23 million titanium space toilet, designed as a better fit for female astronauts, failed to launch late Thursday and has another window Friday night.

NASA tweeted late Thursday the launch was canceled about 2 minutes before liftoff “due to an unknown problem with a component of ground support equipment.”

Northrop Grumman, maker of the Antares rocket, said a Friday night launch from Wallops Island, Virigina, would be attempted, if engineers can solve the issue.

Among the cargo heading to the International Space Station is a new toilet that is better designed for female astronauts to go No. 2, a NASA official said.

The toilets currently on the ISS cater more toward men. But with more women joining the ranks, NASA set out to make a better toilet, tilting the seat and making it taller, said Melissa McKinley, the project manager at the Johnson Space Center.

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NASA to Launch $23 Million Titanium Space Toilet, Designed Better For Female Astronauts | NewsGram

A flight carrying NASA's new $23 million titanium space toilet, designed as a better fit for female astronauts, failed to launch late Thursd

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Covid-19 Testing of Children Requiring Anaesthesia Promotes Efficient PPE Use: Researchers

Universal Covid-19 testing of children undergoing procedures requiring anaesthesia promotes efficient use of personal protective equipment (PPE), say researchers.

“Our study links the importance of universal testing for Covid-19, increased safety of staff, and efficient use of PPE, especially items such as N95 face masks, which are in low supply,” said study lead author Lenard Babus from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the US.

“If universal testing were used outside the hospital, outpatient facilities and other treatment centres could experience similar PPE and safety benefits,” Babus added.

Ruling out that Covid-19 prevents unnecessary use of the extensive PPE recommended by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CDC-recommended PPE for treating Covid-19 positive patients includes a respirator mask, such as an N95 or PAPR, and a gown, in addition to the standard PPE of a surgical mask, eye protection and gloves, which are always worn by healthcare workers during procedures requiring anaesthesia.

Hospitals frequently verbally screen patients for Covid-19 using three criteria: travel history, close contact or exposure to the disease, and symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath.

However, a positive screen doesn’t guarantee the presence of Covid-19.

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Covid-19 Testing of Children Requiring Anaesthesia Promotes Efficient PPE Use: Researchers | NewsGram

Universal Covid-19 testing of children undergoing procedures requiring anaesthesia promotes efficient use of personal protective equipment

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Yoga and Meditation to Benefit Patients with Chronic Pain, Depression

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course — yoga and meditation– was found to benefit patients with chronic pain and depression, leading to significant improvement in participant perceptions of pain, mood and functional capacity.

According to the study, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, most of the participants (89 per cent) reported the programme helped them find ways to better cope with their pain while 11 per cent remained neutral.

Chronic pain is a common and serious medical condition affecting an estimated 100 million people in the US, which correlates with annual costs of approximately $635 billion.

The small-scale study was conducted in a semi-rural population in Oregon, US, where issues of affordability, addiction and access to care are common. Participants received intensive instruction in mindfulness meditation and mindful hatha yoga during an eight-week period.

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Yoga and Meditation to Benefit Patients with Chronic Pain, Depression | NewsGram

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course -- yoga and meditation-- was found to benefit patients with chronic pain and depression,

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Irregular, Long Menstrual Cycle Associated with Increased Early Death Risk

Irregular and long menstrual cycles in adolescence and adulthood are associated with a greater risk of early death (before age 70), warn researchers.

These associations were stronger for deaths related to cardiovascular disease and when long and irregular cycles were consistently present during adolescence and throughout adulthood. They were also slightly stronger among women who smoked, according to the study, published in the journal BMJ.

“The results highlight the need to consider the menstrual cycle as a vital sign of general health in women throughout their reproductive lifespan,”

said study authors from the University of Harvard in the US. Irregular and long menstrual cycles are common among women of reproductive age and have been associated with a higher risk of major chronic diseases including ovarian cancer, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and mental health problems.

But the evidence linking irregular or long menstrual cycles with mortality is scant.

So a team of researchers set out to evaluate whether irregular or long menstrual cycles throughout the life course are associated with premature death (before age 70).

Their findings are based on data from 79,505 premenopausal women (average age 38 years) with no history of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes who were taking part in the Nurses’ Health Study II.

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Irregular, Long Menstrual Cycle Associated with Increased Early Death Risk | NewsGram

Irregular and long menstrual cycles in adolescence and adulthood are associated with a greater risk of early death (before age 70), warn res

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AI Algorithm to Detect Covid-19 in CT Scans Accurately

Researchers have demonstrated that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm could be trained to classify Covid-19 pneumonia in computed tomography (CT) scans with up to 90 per cent accuracy.

Also, it correctly identifies positive cases 84 per cent of the time and negative cases 93 per cent of the time. The study, recently published in Nature Communications, shows the new technique can also overcome some of the challenges of current testing.

“We demonstrated that a deep learning-based AI approach can serve as a standardized and objective tool to assist healthcare systems as well as patients,”

said study author Ulas Bagci from the University of Central Florida in the US.

“It can be used as a complementary test tool in very specific limited populations, and it can be used rapidly and at large scale in the unfortunate event of a recurrent outbreak,”

Bagci added.

According to the researchers, CT scans offer a deeper insight into Covid-19 diagnosis and progression as compared to the often-used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR, tests. These tests have high false-negative rates, delays in processing and other challenges.

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AI Algorithm to Detect Covid-19 in CT Scans Accurately | NewsGram

Researchers have demonstrated that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm could be trained to classify Covid-19 pneumonia in computed tom

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Airborne Transmission of Covid-19 Spreads More Quickly Indoors: Study

A new research adds to the growing body of evidence that airborne transmission of Covid-19 spreads more quickly in enclosed spaces.

Researchers were able to link a community outbreak of Covid-19 in China to a source patient who likely spread the virus to fellow bus riders through the bus’s air conditioning system.

“Our study provided epidemiologic evidence of transmission over long distances, which was likely airborne,”

said study lead author Ye Shen from University of Georgia in the US.

According to the study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, it was largely believed that close contact through droplets is a major route of transmission for Covid-19.

“However, the widely adopted social distancing and hand washing did not effectively prevent the transmission globally. Instead, the number of new Covid-19 cases increased steadily,”

said Shen.

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Airborne Transmission of Covid-19 Spreads More Quickly Indoors: Study | NewsGram

A new research adds to the growing body of evidence that airborne transmission of Covid-19 spreads more quickly in enclosed spaces.

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Heart Disease in Teens Related to Diabetes Exposure in Womb: Study

In a major study, researchers have revealed that heart disease in young adults and teenagers may be related to exposure to diabetes in the womb.

A study of young adults and teenagers in Canada, whose mothers had diabetes during their pregnancies found the offspring had a 50 percent to 200 percent higher risk of developing heart disease before age 35 than those who were not exposed in the womb.

“These observations support our hypothesis that cardiovascular disease morbidity in adolescence and early adulthood is related to exposure to maternal diabetes in utero,” said Jonathan McGavock from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

For the study, published in the journal CMAJ, the research team looked at data on more than 290,000 children born to almost 190,000 mothers in Manitoba between 1979 and 2005.

Of the total children, 2.8 percent were exposed to gestational diabetes, and 1.1 percent to pre-existing type 2 diabetes.

Exposure to both types of diabetes became more common during the study period, a trend seen elsewhere in the world.

The three most frequent diagnoses among offspring exposed to diabetes were high blood pressure (8,713 people), type 2 diabetes (3,568 people), and ischemic heart disease (715).

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Heart Disease in Teens Related to Diabetes Exposure in Womb: Study | NewsGram

In a major study, researchers have revealed that heart disease in young adults and teenagers may be related to exposure to diabetes in the w

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Even Low Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy Can Impact Child’s Brain Development

Researchers have found that even low levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy can have an impact on a child’s brain development.

The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, said that it is also associated with greater psychological and behavioural problems in youth including anxiety, depression and poor attention.

“Our research found that even small amounts of alcohol consumed while pregnant can have a significant impact on a child’s brain development,”

said study lead author Briana Lees from the University of Sydney in Australia.

For the findings, the researchers investigated whether any alcohol consumption in pregnancy was related to psychological, behavioural, neural and cognitive differences in children aged nine to ten years.

With a sample of 9,719 youth, this is the largest study to investigate the impact of low-level alcohol use during pregnancy. Low levels of drinking were considered one to two drinks per occasion with a maximum of six drinks per week.

In the study, 25 per cent of children had been exposed to alcohol in utero (in the womb), 60 per cent of these children had been exposed to low-level alcohol use, and 40 per cent had been exposed to heavier levels.

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This is How NASA is Preparing Astronauts for Next Moonwalks in 2024

As NASA plans to return humans to the Moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis programme, the agency has already started preparing astronauts for the challenges that they will face on the lunar surface.

The training includes performing tasks underwater in especially built giant pools and using different analog environments to simulate lunar conditions. As part of a test series occurring in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) at Johnson Space Center in Houston, astronauts in a demonstration version of the exploration spacesuit and engineers in “hard hat” dive equipment are simulating several different tasks crew could do on the surface of the Moon, NASA said.

“This early testing will help determine the best complement of facilities for hardware development and requirements for future Artemis training and missions,” said Daren Welsh, extravehicular activity test lead for these Artemis preparation test runs.

“At the same time, we are going to be able to gather valuable feedback on spacewalk tools and procedures that will help inform some of the objectives for the missions.”

The NBL is 202 ft in length, 102 ft in width and 40 ft in depth (20 ft above ground level and 20 ft below) and holds 6.2 million gallons of water.

Astronauts are practicing a variety of tasks, including picking up samples of lunar regolith, examining a lunar lander, and planting an American flag.

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This is How NASA is Preparing Astronauts for Next Moonwalks in 2024 | NewsGram

As NASA plans to return humans to the Moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis programme, the agency has already started preparing astronauts for

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Covid Patients More Likely to Face Kidney Damage Risk: Study

Researchers have found that many hospitalised patients with Covid-19 may face an increased risk for kidney damage or acute kidney injury (AKI), a dreaded complication for those suffering from infection.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, revealed that Covid-19 patients experience elevated levels of soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR), an immune-derived pathogenic protein that is strongly predictive of kidney injury.

“SuPAR is a circulating factor we’ve seen contribute to kidney injury in thousands of patients,”

said study author Jochen Reiser from the University of Michigan in the US.

“RNA viruses such as HIV and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) elicit a suPAR response of the innate immune system, leading to a rise in blood suPAR levels,” Reiser added.

“If there is a hyperinflammatory suPAR response, kidney cells may be damaged,”

he explained.

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Covid Patients More Likely to Face Kidney Damage Risk: Study | NewsGram

Researchers have found that many hospitalised patients with Covid-19 may face an increased risk for kidney damage or acute

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Amazon Launches New Programme to Help Customers Shop For Sustainable Products

Amazon has launched a new programme to help make it easy for customers to discover and shop for more sustainable products.

As part of this programme, customers will now see the “Climate Pledge Friendly” label when searching for more than 25,000 products, Amazon said on Wednesday.

This label will signify that the products have one or more of 19 different sustainability certifications that help preserve the natural world, such as reducing the carbon footprint of shipments to customers.

“Climate Pledge Friendly is a simple way for customers to discover more sustainable products that help preserve the natural world,”

Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

As part of the Climate Pledge Friendly initiative, Amazon also announced Compact by Design, a new externally-validated certification that identifies products which, while they may not always look very different, have a more efficient design.

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Amazon Launches New Programme to Help Customers Shop For Sustainable Products | NewsGram

Amazon has launched a new programme to help make it easy for customers to discover and shop for more sustainable products.

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Self-Driving Cars To Navigate Rush Hour Traffic On This Planet: NASA

A laser-based technology designed to help spacecraft land on a proverbial dime for missions to the Moon and Mars is also helping self-driving cars navigate rush hour traffic on this planet, NASA has said.

The technology will undergo testing on upcoming suborbital rocket launches with Jeff Bezos’s aerospace company, Blue Origin, on its New Shepard rocket and ride to the Moon on several commercial landers as part of the Artemis programme which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024.

Future missions will require multiple supply deliveries as well as people to land within a few hundred yards of each other.

Only a precision landing and hazard avoidance system can make that possible.

Future landers may use a full suite of technology, including next-generation sensors, cameras, specialised algorithms, and a high-performance spaceflight computer that all work in concert.

NASA organised the development of these capabilities under the Safe and Precise Landing — Integrated Capabilities Evolution project, or SPLICE.

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Self-Driving Cars To Navigate Rush Hour Traffic On This Planet: NASA | NewsGram

Land on a proverbial dime for missions to the Moon and Mars is also helping self-driving cars navigate rush hour traffic on this planet, NAS

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Let’s Celebrate World Alzheimer’s Day!

World Alzheimer’s Day is observed every year on September 21. The Alzheimer’s disease is seen in people especially after 65 years of age where they are unable to remember things or tasks. Taking necessary precautions while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and keeping away from drugs can keep mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s and dementia at bay.

With aging, all kinds of diseases start targeting our body. One of the major disease is Alzheimer’s/dementia in elderly people where they tend to forget basic tasks. The number of such people is increasing by the day. That is why World Alzheimer’s Day or Dementia Day is celebrated every year on September 21 to prevent this disease from spreading to people. It is aimed at bringing awareness so that the elderly can be saved from this disease.

Dr Adarsh Tripathi, Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, King George Medical University, says in order to protect the elderly from dementia, it is necessary that all family members maintain affinity towards them. Do not let them feel lonely, take time out to talk to them, do not ignore their concerns but listen to them carefully. These are the steps to help the elderly people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s.

However, several steps such as keeping their mind occupied with other tasks, taking care of their favourite things, sleep-wake time, breakfast and food arrangements at the scheduled time can help prevent Alzeihmer’s or dementia to a great extent.

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Let's Celebrate World Alzheimer's Day! | NewsGram

World Alzheimer's Day is observed every year on September 21. The Alzheimer's disease is seen in people especially after 65 years of age whe

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Climate Change Threatens Health, Future of All Children, Adolescents

Many wealthy nations are letting the world’s younger generations down by failing to curb planet-warming emissions, a U.N.-backed report said Wednesday, warning climate change posed an urgent threat to the health and future of every child and adolescent.

A new global index showed children in Norway, South Korea and the Netherlands had the best chance at survival and well-being thanks to good health care, education and nutrition.

But a ranking of countries by per-capita carbon emissions put those and other rich nations, including the United States and Australia, close to the bottom on that measure, as major contributors to global health threats driven by climate change.

“Countries need to overhaul their approach to child and adolescent health, to ensure that we not only look after our children today but protect the world they will inherit in the future,”

said former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, co-chair of the international commission that produced the report.

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Climate Change Threatens Health, Future of All Children, Adolescents | NewsGram

Many wealthy nations are letting the world's younger generations down by failing to curb planet-warming emissions, a U.N.-backed report

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Covid-19 Diagnosed On Same Emergency Scans Intended To Diagnose Stroke

Researchers have found that Covid-19 may be diagnosed on the same emergency scans intended to diagnose stroke.

The findings published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, have important implications in the management of patients presenting with suspected stroke through early identification of Covid-19.

In the study, the research team from King’s College London in the UK, said the emergency scans captured images of the top of the lungs where a fluffiness known as ‘ground glass ‘pacification’ allowed Covid-19 to be diagnosed.

For the findings, 225 patients were examined from three London Hyper-Acute Stroke Units. The emergency stroke scan consisted of a computed tomography (CT) of the head and neck blood vessels.

The researchers said the results show that when the team saw these changes in the top of the lungs during the emergency scan, they were able to reliably and accurately diagnose Covid-19 and the changes also predicted increased mortality.

“This is particularly relevant given the limitations of currently available Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing as it takes time to complete the test and sometimes it is inaccurate,” said study author Tom Booth.

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Covid-19 Diagnosed On Same Emergency Scans Intended To Diagnose Stroke | NewsGram

Researchers have found that Covid-19 may be diagnosed on the same emergency scans intended to diagnose stroke. In the study, the research te