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When getting their infants vaccinated, mothers were more likely to use proven techniques to ease babies’ pain if they had been taught how to do so before taking their newborns home from the hospital, a study found. 

“Our primary goal was to give parents information that in general they don’t normally learn from anyone: how to soothe babies when they are in distress,” said study leader Anna Taddio, a professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and a senior associate scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children. “Parents tell us that it is quite stressful for them when their children have painful procedures done.” 

To discover whether simple education methods could help parents learn to soothe babies during a painful procedure like vaccination, Taddio and her colleagues recruited 3,420 mothers of newborns while they and the babies were still in the hospital. 

As reported in CMAJ, the researchers randomly assigned moms to one of three groups. All three groups received a pamphlet and a video about the importance of vaccinations. But one group also received a pamphlet describing three strategies for soothing babies’ pain. And another group got the pain pamphlet plus a video showing how to use the techniques. 

The strategies for soothing infants’ pain were breast feeding, giving them sugar syrup and applying a topical anaesthetic. 

When the children were two, four and six months old, the researchers asked the moms what types of calming strategies were used when the babies got vaccinations. By six months, 2,549 moms were still participating in the study. 

Fifty-three per cent of moms who did not get the pain-control educational materials said they had given babies sugary syrup, breastfed or used an over the counter anaesthetic. Among moms who received an educational pamphlet, however, 61 per cent used one of those strategies. And among those who got a pamphlet and a video, 63 per cent used one of the methods. 

That meant that 15 per cent to 19 per cent more women used pain soothing strategies when given education months before their babies’ vaccinations. 

The babies are not the only ones to benefit from this kind of educational intervention, said Dr Lonnie Zeltzer, a distinguished professor of paediatrics, anaesthesiology, psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

“By giving the parents these strategies to help their children, we are helping the parents mitigate their own anxieties and fears about pain exposure in their babies,” Zeltzer said. “And that, in turn can help the child feel calmer and less reactive and alarmed. We know from other studies that when someone is alarmed more adrenaline is produced. And if there is more adrenaline, there is an increase in sensory signals and an increase in the volume of pain signals. From that standpoint, this can be a major help for parents.” 

Beyond that, earlier studies done by Taddio showed that in some children, pain can change brain wiring. “Repeated pain exposure can create central pain circuits that make kids more pain sensitive,” Zeltzer said.

But if the child is distracted from the pain, that brain rewiring is less likely to occur, Zeltzer said. And the distraction is not that hard to manage, she added.

“In the early 80s I showed that if you can get children involved with a good story, a good enough distractor to hold the child’s attention, you could get the brain focus shifted and that actually reduces the pain,” Zeltzer said.

The range-topping and off-road oriented version of what is already one of the best off-road vehicles money can buy, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is as near unstoppable as passenger vehicles get. Short of highly modified, military and specialised off-roaders, the Rubicon version of Jeep’s defining model line is as good as it gets.

Launched earlier this year, the latest Rubicon is, as expected, factory-fitted with extensive off-road hardware, but also benefits from the new Jeep Wrangler model line’s across the board improvements in practicality, efficiency, usability, refinement, convenience and driver assistance and infotainment technology.

Iconic impression

With a lineage going back to the original 1941 US Army Willys Jeep, the all-new “JL” series may be the most sophisticated iteration of the iconic Jeep Wrangler line, yet retains a true ability and authenticity rooted in its past and reflected in its familiar design cues, ruggedly traditional body-on-chassis construction and integrated rollover protection bars. Utilising a greater degree of lightweight components and with a slightly more swept back grille and windshield for efficiency and refinement, the new “JL” Wrangler is immediately recognisable with its trademark seven-slot grille, tapered bonnet, large wheel-arches, short overhangs and boxy upright rearwards body.

An evolutionary design available in two- or four-door guise, the Wrangler’s proportions are aesthetically best in the former as experienced on Austrian alpine routes during test drive. The smaller two-door additionally offers excellent manoeuvrability on narrow routes, and a better 25.85-degree break-over angle for driving through heavily rutted and uneven terrain. The range-topping Rubicon has LED lights and broader and more off-road biased tyres with chunky and wide tread for improved traction over mud, snow and loose surfaces. The Rubicon also features heavy gauge tubular steel rock rails for added underbody protection.

Springing and crawling

Available with Jeep’s naturally-aspirated 3.6-litre “Pentastar” V6 engine and slick and responsive 8-speed automatic gearbox in the Middle East, the Wrangler produces 281BHP at a somewhat high-revving 6,400rpm and 256lb/ft torque at 4,100rpm. Responsive and progressive from idling to redline, the Wrangler is eager and smooth in delivery, and flexible in mid-range.

Meanwhile, precise and linear throttle response allows for accurate power modulation for on- and off-road control. In addition to rear-wheel-drive mode for on-road efficiency, all Wranglers feature full-time and automatically variable high ratio four wheel drive for most driving situations, and low ratio four-wheel-drive for more demanding situations.

Fitted with a more aggressive 4.1:1 final drive ratio than entry-level Sport and deluxe trim Sahara Wrangler versions for improved off-road ability and what felt like marginally improved acceleration and response, this, however, comes at the price of slightly higher 10.1-l/100km/h fuel consumption and lower top speed, rated at 156km/h. The Rubicon’s low gear transfer ration is also lower at 4:1, which allows for a significantly lower crawl ratio to deploy full power at slow speed for low traction, heavily rutted and steep inclines. Most significantly the Rubicon receives both front and rear locking differentials in place of other versions limited-slip rear differential.

Unstoppable ability

Capable of crawling at a ratio 77.2:1 with its more off-road-oriented Rock-Track transfer case, the Rubicon locking differentials can be deployed at the rear, or for all four wheels in unison, which allows it to keep driving even if only one wheel has traction. A formidable off-roader in basic form, the Wrangler Rubicon also includes electronically disconnecting anti-roll bars, which provide longer wheel travel and axle articulation. With anti-roll bars disconnected, the Rubicon’s wheels better keep contact with the ground for improved off-road ability, while its increased 255mm ground clearance allows for excellent 36.4 degree approach and 30.8 degree departure angles, and 762mm water fording capability.

Driven mainly off-road and through gravelly dirt roads, the Rubicon was smooth, supple and forgivingly fluent with anti-roll bars disconnected. However, for better body control and steering precision, anti-roll bars are best left engaged on quicker, less demanding routes and on tarmac. Rare in riding on a rugged front and rear live axles combined with coil springs for comfort and wheel travel, the Wrangler drives with a more settled, refined and precise manner off-road than expected from a vehicle with live front axles. A slow steering ratio is meanwhile forgiving off-road but still accurate on-road if requiring more input.

Configurable cabin

Nimble and agile with tidy turn-in owing to its small size and short wheelbase, the upright and boxy Wrangler is nonetheless stable on road, while its shape, high seating and now lower waistline offer good views for placing it accurately when driving on- or off-road. The Rubicon’s chunky and knobbly tyres are not as comfortable or quiet on tarmac as Sport and Sahara models, but comfortably absorb imperfections, while anti-rebound damper keep it settled over crests and dips. Well insulated from harshness inside, the Wrangler’s cabin provides supportive, ergonomic and comfortable seating.

Available with a host of driver assistance systems from rear crosspath detection, parking camera and assistance, Electronic Roll Mitigation and more, the Wrangler also features a more sophisticate Uconnect infotainment system, and sportier, better quality interior trim, including contrasting colour panels. Offered with three fully detachable roof options, the Wrangler uniquely provides an open-air off-road driving experience. And while its windshield can also be folded down and its doors removed, detaching such components is now easier, and with dedicated storage space for bolts and tools, is also more organised and practical than ever.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 3.6-litre, in-line, V6-cylinders

Bore x Stroke: 96 x 83mm

Compression ratio: 11.3:1

Valve-train: DOHC, 24-valve, variable timing

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive

Driveline: Low ratio transfer, locking front, centre and rear differentials

Gear ratios: 1st 4.714:1; 2nd 3.143:1; 3rd 2.106:1; 4th 1.667:1; 5th 1.285:1; 6th 1:1; 7th 0.839:1; 8th 0.667:1

Reverse/final drive: 3.295:1/4.1:1

Low ratio transfer/crawl ratios: 4:1/77.2:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 281 (285) [209] @6,400rpm

Specific power: 77.9BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 148.7BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 256 (347) @4,100rpm

Specific torque: 96.2Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 183.6Nm/tonne

Top speed: 156km/h

Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined;13.5-/8.2-/10.1-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 235g/km

Fuel capacity: 66-litres

Length: 4,334mm

Width: 1,894mm

Height: 1,879mm

Wheelbase: 2,459mm

Overhang, F/R: 741/1,036

Ground clearance: 255mm

Approach/break-over/departure angles: 36.4°/25.85°/30.8°

Water fording: 762mm

Seating: 4

Headroom, F/R: 1,036-1,083/1,023-1,059mm

Legroom, F/R: 1,038/904mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,417/1,458mm

Cargo volume min/max: 203-/598-litres

Kerb weight: 1,890kg

Weight distribution, F/R; 50 per cent/50 per cent

Payload: 439kg

Steering: Power-assisted rack & pinion

Steering ratio: 16.14:1

Lock-to-lock: 3.68-turns

Turning circle: 10.36-metres

Suspension: Solid axles, coil springs, hydraulic anti-rebound dampers, electronically disconnecting anti-roll bars

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated disc, 330 x 28mm/disc, 342 x 14mm

Brake calipers, F/R: twin-/single-piston

Tyres: LT285/70R17C

Even though many people swear by fitness trackers to help lose weight and stay in shape, a review of existing research confirms that many of these gadgets are not very good at measuring how much energy we burn. 

For the analysis, researchers examined data from 60 previously published studies that tested the accuracy of energy expenditure measurements for 40 different devices worn on the arm or wrist. Accuracy varied widely, but it was a bit better when devices factored in other measurements like heart rate to calculate calories burned. 

“Our paper shows that estimates are often poor and they vary depending on the activity being performed,” said lead study author Ruairi O’Driscoll of the University of Leeds in the UK.

“Consumers should be aware of the potential for error in their devices, especially if they are using it to inform their eating behaviours,” O’Driscoll said by e-mail. 

When fitness trackers overestimate exercise, people who need more exercise to maintain or lose weight might get too little activity, increasing their risk for obesity and other chronic health problems, the researchers note in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. At the same time, trackers that underestimate activity might lead some people to overdo it and put too much stress on their cardiovascular system. 

All of the studies in the analysis looked at energy expenditure in different ways, and with different types of exercise and activities. They often compared fitness trackers to proven methods of monitoring energy expenditure that are typically used only for research, like locking people in a room to assess every calorie consumed and burned or asking people at home to drink specially treated water that makes it possible to detect energy output with a urine test. 

Taken as a group, the consumer devices tended to slightly underestimate energy expenditure, the researchers found. The devices with the biggest underestimations of energy burned, according to the results, were: Garmin Vivofit, Jawbone UP24 and SenseWear Armband Pro3. 

At first glance, other fitness trackers got measurements more similar to those from proven methods of assessing energy expenditures: Apple Watch, Bodymedia CORE armband, Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Flex, Jawbone UP, Nike FuelBand, SenseWear Armband, and SenseWear Armband Mini. 

But in many cases, there was not enough data to rule out the possibility that results were random or due to chance. 

Devices tended to be more accurate at measuring energy expenditure when they also monitored heart rate or body heat, but this was not consistent across all types of activities. 

Accuracy also depended on the activity. Fitness trackers often did a poor job of measuring less vigorous movement like walking, climbing stairs, and doing household tasks. 

Participants in the studies were 35 years old on average and typically not overweight. Results might be different for older people or obese individuals, the study authors note. 

“Most research has shown that wearable devices and activity monitors are not that accurate for measuring energy expenditure,” said Dr Mitesh Patel, director of the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 

“For most people, energy expenditure estimates from wearable devices should be used as a gauge [e.g. high or low] as the numbers may not be accurate but trends higher or lower may be more likely to be correct,” Patel, who was not involved in the study, said by e-mail. “Other measures like step counts may be a more accurate and better indicator of how much activity a person has done.” 

Fitness trackers with heart rate monitors might be more accurate because the added data helps assess how hard people are working during exercise, said Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved in the study. 

“There are several trackers under $150 that do include heart rate technology, so you don’t need to get a top-of-the-line tracker,” Cadmus-Bertram said by e-mail.

“Overall, consumers do need to recognise that the technology isn’t perfect and that trackers are providing estimates; it’s not a magic number that reflects the exact number of calories burned.”

It’s never too early or too late to foster good sleep habits in your baby and ultimately help yourself get some much needed rest as well! Here’s how to prepare your baby for better sleep with this sleep-time routine. 

Bath time

• Prepare everything you need beforehand

• Drop the shampoo and soap bottles in the warm bath water so they will warm up

• Always check the bath water temperature with your elbow; don’t only depend on the thermometer

• During the first months, start with washing your baby’s body first, dry your baby and then wash baby’s head

• A bath supporter is very useful

• When your baby can sit (around six months), use a non-slip bathtub and use bath support combined with an extra non-slip bathmat. This is very helpful for safety

• Always keep your baby within arm’s reach; never leave your baby unattended

• An easy-pour rinse cup helps keep shampoo and water out of your baby’s eyes during hair washing

• Make bath time a special time; add bath toys, bubbles and sing too!

• Make sure to rinse off or wash (not just dry) all the toys used in the bath

Changing baby’s nappy

• Warm your clean hands before changing your baby 

• As baby gets older, it will be difficult to control his movements. Keep his hands busy with an attractive toy (sounds, shapes) that is suitable for his age

• Don’t leave your baby unattended even for a second; prepare all the changing items needed before you start (keep it all in a basket)

Sleep time

• Stay flexible. No single approach will work with all babies all the time or even all the time with the same baby. Do whatever you can to make your baby sleep happily; don’t let your baby cry-it-out. My first baby liked me to swing him in my arms until he fell asleep while my other baby slept on his bed with calm music

• Make a routine every night (bath, last feed, massage, sleep)

• Getting enough sunlight during the day for your baby can improve baby’s sleep at night

• Massage your baby gently before sleep

• Dim the lights

• Reduce noise 

• Sing to your baby

• Use a rocking chair

• Start bedtime stories

Staying asleep

• Make sure your baby is not hungry. If you are breastfeeding, you can pump your milk for the last feed and give it to baby with a bottle. This will ensure that your baby will drink all your milk without taking a bit of it at the breast and then falling asleep before filling its tummy up. 

• Burp your baby well before sleeping

• Create the right bedroom temperature and humidity and check your baby’s hands and feet. If they’re cold, put on a blanket; if they’re hot, remove the blanket

• Don’t add anything to baby’s milk bottle (rice, cereal, rice water)

• Relieve teething pain

• Hug your baby (sometimes they wake up and just need a hug) Rechange the nappy if it’s wet 

•    Clear baby’s nose

•Remove airborne irritants 

• If your baby uses a pacifier, keep an extra one handy nearby in case your baby wakes up and you can’t find it 

• Lay baby nearby especially during the first six months. Put baby in a small crib next to you as the baby will smell your scent and sleep well

• Raise your baby’s head if baby has a cold and runny nose. Baby will breathe much better

Shush! 

There is no need to walk on your toes or to worry about normal household sounds as most babies won’t wake up. However, do be aware of sudden loud noises which may awaken your sleeping baby 

*The content has been adapted for Family Flavours from Razan Rousan’s book Tiny Tips 

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

LONDON — Crunchy and tasty, yes, but could carrots also strengthen cement and cut carbon dioxide emissions for the building industry? 

A group of researchers at Britain’s Lancaster University has been using a household food blender to mix particles from the root vegetable with concrete to see if they can produce a stronger and more environmentally sound product.

“We found out you could increase the strength of concrete by 80 per cent by using a small amount of this new material,” lead researcher Mohamed Saafi told Reuters.

The addition of carrots prevent any cracks in the concrete, the team said. It also means less cement is required, therefore lowering the global carbon dioxide (CO2) output.

Cement is responsible for 7 per cent of total global CO2 emissions, according to International Energy Agency estimates.

The carrot particles are provided by CelluComp, a Scottish-based company who work on the development of sustainable materials.

CelluComp CEO Christian Kemp-Griffin explained that a carrot is made up nearly entirely of water but still stays rigid and crunchy because of cellulose, a fibrous substance found in all plants.

“Those fibres have strength characteristics in them. It’s the building blocks of the strength of a vegetable,” he told Reuters.

Cellulose is also found in wood, but is easier to extract from vegetables. With large amounts of vegetable waste available as a byproduct of agriculture, it is a cheap and environmentally friendly source of the fibres.

“You can just pop a few of these fibres into other materials and it becomes an additive that gives performance characteristics,” he said.

Only a tiny amount of cellulose is needed to alter the properties of cement because it changes the way water behaves during the process when cement hardens.

“It’s not the physical fibre that’s causing the strength. It’s the way it holds water. Our material loves to hold onto water. There is a chemical reaction happening between the fibres and the cement.” 

Saafi’s team will continue to test their mixtures, with sugar beets also being used as CelluComp can get large amounts of beet pulp.

Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel
Ben White
London: Pluto Press, 2018
Pp. 208

In a relatively brief book, journalist Ben White covers a lot of ground: He pinpoints the salient features of the prevailing situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and analyses where things are heading. Without wishful thinking, he points to sources of hope for the future.

Ironically, these “cracks in the wall”, as he calls them, are largely of Israeli politicians’ own making, though they would lack potency were it not for the Palestinians’ continued resistance over decades.

White begins with a reality check demonstrating that Palestine/Israel is already a single apartheid state, as the result of Israeli colonisation efforts since 1967, which greatly accelerated during the decades of the so-called peace process, leading to de facto, creeping annexation. This has created a situation which international diplomats and some Israeli leaders have warned of, namely, that in the absence of a two-state solution, Israel’s ruling over millions of Palestinians would compromise Israel’s Jewishness and claimed democracy. 

Yet, White notes, “this picture painted of a single political entity in which millions of Palestinians cannot vote actually describes the status quo [of some time now], not a future scenario… it is the prospect of a ‘two-state solution’, the idea that Israel’s presence and control over the occupied Palestinian territories still have to be determined or are, in some way, temporary or negotiable, which keeps the same international diplomats from denouncing Israel apartheid as it exists today”. (p. 28)

But as time passes, it becomes harder to deny the obvious.

White covers the impasse in Israeli politics regarding the Palestinian question, which derives from the fact that “the Israeli maximum on offer does not meet the Palestinian minimum, or the demands of international law”. (p. 31)

While analysing the Israeli political scene, White covers the many internal differences, but stresses “the commonalities that unite Israel’s main political leaders and factions, namely the belief in the right of the Jewish people to the entire land of Eretz Yisrael… and the denial of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. It is impossible to understand how we got to where we are today without grasping this uncomfortable truth…” (p. 32)

A very serious issue that has recently emerged is the widening gap within Jewish communities abroad and between them and Israel, partly due to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and partly because the younger generation does not find Zionism relevant to their lives. “This fragmentation within the organised Jewish community, especially in the US, and the growth in opposition to not just individual Israeli policies but to Zionism itself, is the first ‘crack in the wall’.” (p. 52)

This is especially significant since American Jews’ support is not primarily measured in terms of donations but more in terms of the role they play in shaping US foreign policy. This chapter is particularly interesting for it traces fluctuations in Jewish support to Zionism and Israel historically, and covers many new groups from liberal Zionist ones, such as J Street, to Jewish Voice for Peace whose work for equality and justice in Palestine closely aligns with that of progressive Palestinians. 

Another serious crack in the wall is that support to Israel is no longer a bipartisan issue in the US as it always has been. Rather, leftists and members of the Democratic Party are moving away from unconditional support to Israel while Republicans and right-wingers are moving closer. This dynamic is connected to Israel’s miserable human rights record and its increasing alliance with ultra-right, racist forces, many of whom have anti-Semitic roots but are now ready to support Israel.

White also devotes a chapter to BDS as a sign of growing disenchantment with Israel. He has clear counterarguments to claims that BDS is anti-Semitic. Throughout, his writing is both lucid and inventive. For example, he entitles the chapter spelling out hope for the future “Palestinian green shoots and signposts”, noting that recently, “there have been a number of developments emerging from Palestinian grassroots activists and intellectuals that offer signposts on the way to post-apartheid Palestine/Israel — green shoots that are a stark contrast to the political stagnation in the principle political organisations”. (p. 120)

In this chapter he discusses prisoners’ hunger strikes, the increasing number of protests uniting Palestinians on both sides of the green line, united opposition to the destruction of Bedouin communities, and revitalised struggle in Jerusalem.

In the last chapter, White explores the advantages of a single democratic state as opposed to the two-state model that has only served as a cover for Israel’s intensified colonisation. While the two-state solution is generally assumed to have most support, White quotes a number of polls showing it is not so clear-cut. Overall, White’s arguments have added credibility because he cites a wide variety of surveys and other sources, Palestinians as well as Israelis, and Jews across the political spectrum from hard-core Zionists to anti-Zionists. All in all, “Cracks in the Wall” is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of Palestine.

WASHINGTON — Using nothing more than a simple vial of saliva, millions of people have created DNA profiles on genealogy websites. 

But this wealth of information is effectively inaccessible to genetics researchers, with the sites painstakingly safeguarding their databases, fearful of a leak that could cost them dearly in terms of credibility.

This problem of access is one that Bonnie Berger, a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her colleagues think they can solve, with a new cryptographic system to protect the information.

“We’re currently at a stalemate in sharing all this genomic data,” Berger told AFP. “It’s really hard for researchers to get any of their data, so they’re not really helping science.”

“No one can gain access to help them find the link between genetic variations and disease,” she said. “But just think what could happen if we could leverage the millions of genomes out there.”

The idea of this new cryptographic method, described on Thursday in the US journal Science, was developed in connection to finding drug candidates in datasets from pharmaceuticals companies.

In an earlier work, the researchers have shown the concept could be applied to DNA profiles.

Labs are constantly looking to identify links between millions of drug compounds and the tens of thousands of proteins in the human body, to identify good candidates for certain drugs. 

But they do not want their competitors to know what they are working on. Often, their drug compounds are patented and secret. So they do not share much.

‘Secret sharing’

With the researchers’ new scalable technique, the first based on a secure “neural network”, Berger explained, labs could share their sensitive data, dividing it between several servers that would run to find new links based on the data sample as a whole.

But no entity would be able to access the initial inputs, which might include proprietary information — provided they do not decide to collude with each other.

Each entity would get results based on its contributions. 

Berger says their technique is based on a cryptographic framework called “secret sharing”.

The researchers introduced new optimization and artificial intelligence techniques to be able to handle the millions of chemical compounds or genomes that need to be analysed.

“We can do something that was absolutely not possible before,” the MIT professor said, noting that existing cryptographic methods involve unwieldy large-scale computer calculations and communications costs.

They also only work for thousands of data points, not millions.

The same technique could allow the major genealogy websites, like Ancestry.com and 23andMe, to open their databases to researchers and pool them.

Ancestry has more than 10 million registered profiles, while 23andMe has more than 5 million.

Berger told AFP she had been in contact with both companies about her findings. 

Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage and others offer physical, genealogical and sometimes even medical data — such as a history of cancer in the family. It is this information that researchers want to match against certain genetic variations.

23andMe has taken a step in this direction, via a partnership with pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline. A 23andMe spokesman told AFP that scientific collaborations have led to the publication of about 100 research articles.

But the company only offers researchers a statistical summary of the results, in this format: “30 per cent of males aged 20-35 have reported being diagnosed with X disease and have Y variants/mutations in common.”

And user participation is on a voluntary basis, which limits the scope of the findings.

Privacy concerns

The intersection of genetics and genealogy has made headlines in the United States. Last week, a new study showed that half of all Americans could be identified from relatives’ DNA samples found in GEDmatch, a free website.

This technique has been a boon for US police forces, who have used it to identify suspects in cold cases dating back decades, such as the “Golden State Killer,” who is blamed for 12 murders and more than 50 rapes starting in the mid-1970s.

It can also be used by people looking for their biological parents.

But what happens if the data falls into the wrong hands? Hackers could potentially exploit the information to nefarious ends. Or what if insurance companies and others used it to discriminate against customers?

Benjamin Berkman, a bioethics researcher at the National Institutes of Health, told AFP there is “not really evidence of systemic discrimination”, but noted that “doesn’t mean that it couldn’t become a problem”.

“People are very worried about genomic privacy. It’s something that they cite as a reason why they’re not getting genetic testing, or they’re not enrolling in research,” Berkman said.

Playing golf is associated with better strength and balance, a sharper mind, a lower risk of heart disease and a longer life, according to public health experts who say more people should take up the sport. 

While an estimated 60 million people play golf at least twice a year, golfers are primarily middle aged and older, affluent, male, white, and living in North America, Europe and Australia, experts note in the 2018 International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. 

“Golf can provide aerobic physical activity to persons of all ages, and strength and balance benefits to older adults,” said Dr Andrew Murray of the University of Edinburgh in the UK. 

“Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health, decreasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, as well as dementia, depression and anxiety,” Murray, lead author of the consensus statement, said by e-mail. 

 “Golf is not unique in providing this, and anything involving physical activity can be of great benefit,” Murray added. “Golf additionally is green exercise, gives time to relax, and in a world where older adults are generally less active than youngsters, can be played from three to 103.” 

To assess the physical and mental health benefits of golf and propose ways to make the sport more accessible to a wider population, Murray and more than two dozen other experts in public health, health policy and industry reviewed data from 342 previously published studies on the sport. The work was funded in part by the World Golf Foundation. 

Compared with other sports, the risk of injury in golf is moderate, these experts conclude. But because golf is an outdoor activity, golfers may have a higher risk of skin cancer than people who take up indoor sports or activities that do not involve as much time outside. 

To get the most benefit from the sport, golfers should play for at least 150 minutes a week and avoid riding in the golf cart, the authors advise. Players should also do warm-up and strengthening exercises to lower their risk of injury and use sunscreen and protective clothing to limit their risk of skin cancer.

Cost and perceptions of the sport as the domain of older white men may put some people off the idea of playing golf, however. The sport is also perceived as difficult to learn and unwelcoming to women and people of colour.

Leaders in golf should make a greater effort to make the sport more inclusive and welcoming of people from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds, the experts advise. 

“Golf is one of many sporting activities that may contribute to the lowering of global physical inactivity, and it is a sport that is particularly popular among middle-aged and older adults with the potential of lifelong participation,” said Peter Krustrup, a professor of sport and health sciences at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense who was not involved in the consensus statement. 

For people who need to improve cardiovascular fitness, however, golf may need to be supplemented with other exercise, Krustrup said by e-mail. 

“Golf is a low-impact sport and golfers never reach very high heart rates when playing golf, making golf a non-optimal sport [for improving] cardiorespiratory fitness and musculoskeletal fitness,” Krustrup said. “Therefore, it makes good sense that the consensus statement says that taking part in physical activities additional to golf is likely to offer further health benefits.” 

Most elderly patients taking multiple prescription medications would be willing to reduce their daily pill regimen to minimise their risk of side effects like falls or dangerous drug interactions, a US study suggests. 

Nine out of ten people 65 and older are willing to stop taking one or more medications if their doctor recommends this, the study found. And two-thirds of older adults would like to cut back on the total number of medicines they take. 

Approximately half of adults 65 and older are taking five or more medications, researchers note in JAMA Internal Medicine. While this is necessary in some circumstances, drugs that are safe and effective in isolation can become dangerous in certain combinations and contribute to side effects like dizziness, cognitive impairment, falls, hospitalisations and deaths. 

“Over time the potential benefits and harms can change,” said lead study author Emily Reeve of the University of Sydney in Australia. 

“So it’s important to regularly review the medications that older adults are taking and consider whether they are all still necessary,” Reeve said by e-mail. 

For the study, Reeve and colleagues examined survey data collected from 1,981 adults covered by Medicare, the US health insurance program for people 65 and older. Most of them had two or more chronic medical conditions, and more than half were no more than 74 years old.

While about 56 per cent of the participants took no more than five medications on a regular basis, 40 per cent of them took at least six drugs regularly, the study found.

Compared to people who took fewer than six medications, those taking more were almost three times more likely to express a willingness to stop taking one or more drugs.

People with more chronic medical problems were more likely to want to stop taking at least one drug than individuals with fewer health issues, the study also found. 

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how this willingness might translate into people actually stopping any of their routine medications, and it also was not designed to examine how stopping might impact people’s health. 

Still, the results suggest that at least some patients may be missing out on opportunities to cut back on medications they should not be taking, said Dr David Gifford of the American Health Care Association in Washington, DC.

“Patients need to tell their physicians when they think they are taking too many medications or want to take fewer medications, and physicians need to talk to their patients more about stopping medications and discussing the risk and benefits of medications,” Gifford, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by e-mail. 

Just because many health problems that develop with age — like high cholesterol or elevated blood pressure — can be controlled by medications, that does not always mean that people who start taking drugs need to continue treatment indefinitely, said Joshua Thorpe, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy. 

“While entirely appropriate, every medicine also carries potential risks and takes a toll on our minds and bodies,” Thorpe, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by e-mail. 

We are but human beings, and as such we like to associate one name with one main product. It makes sense and it makes our life easier. Essentially, Microsoft is about software, Samsung about smartphones, Sony makes TVs and Toyota makes cars. It is simple and clear.

The fact that giant manufacturers and industry leaders also offer products other than the ones they are chiefly famous for does not change the main image we automatically see when we think of them. For instance you would rarely remember that Microsoft does digital cameras though it actually makes excellent ones too.

When it comes to the greatest Internet search engine that is Google, we mainly see it as, well… a search engine. We tend to forget that Google is also the company that designed Android, the mobile operating system that operates the largest number — and by far — of mobile devices in the world. The fact that Android actually is “based on a modified version of the Linux kernel” does not change the concept and does not reduce the company’s merit.

Making a great operating system gives you the power, the tools to build hardware to run it. This is plain logic, and this is what Google is doing. The company’s smartphones are now so advanced, and so feature-rich that they are directly competing with the three big names, Apple iPhones, Samsung’s Galaxy series and Huawei smartphones.

Strangely, and until the second quarter of this year, Google smartphones are not even mentioned explicitly by their brand name in statista.com statistics about phones market shares. They are grouped and combined with the “others” category, well after Samsung, Apple, Huawei, LG and Sony.

And yet, Google’s Pixel phones models come with superior features such as a top-notch camera that alone deserves kudos. The latest model, Pixel 3, is expected to hit the market by early November. In almost every aspect, from screen colours and size, to camera resolution, processor and memory, Pixel 3 is a valid and qualified contender for all the models of the aforementioned three market leaders.

Naturally, usage over time is the only way to actually tell how reliable a product is and to judge it, and consequently how and if it will find its place in the top players league. Characteristics such as battery lifetime and autonomy, resistance to falls and physical shock, level of “waterproofing”, or quality of sound playback, all these take time to test and properly evaluate.

Google wants the consumer to go beyond the one-name one-product idea. The company is right in that sense that its Android operating system is software that is not “that far” from the software it took to make a great search engine and the Chrome web browser that complements it rather nicely. And in turn, these last items allows it to make an equally great smartphone.

Perhaps Japanese manufacturer Yamaha is the industry in the world that makes the largest possible range of products, having apparently nothing in common with each other, except for their undisputed, superior quality. From classical acoustic pianos, digital synthesisers, concert guitars, audio amplifiers, motorcycles and water motor sport vehicles, Yamaha does it all perfectly well.

There is therefore no reason why Google, “that specialises in Internet-related services and products”, cannot convince consumers that its Pixel smartphone is not at least as good as an iPhone or a Galaxy. It is worth remembering Google’s financial power: through its Alphabet multinational conglomerate, Google in 2017 had a revenue of $111 billion, the second in the world, exceeded only by Amazon with $177 billion.