Features

What is LASER?

LASER is an acronym that stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) – it is basically amplified light. LASER has many uses in the medical and cosmetic field; the most popular of which is hair removal. It is a very safe procedure provided you have done your homework and made sure you are in safe hands.

How does LASER work?

Melanin is the pigment that gives your hair and skin its colour. LASER machines work by targeting the melanin inside the hair follicle, which absorbs the LASER heat. This heat destructs the hair follicle and causes it to fall out and stop growing. Hair follicles go through a cycle of three phases: 

• Anagen (Growth phase)

• Catagen (Transitional phase) 

• Telogen (Resting phase)

Hairs in the Anagen phase contain the highest amount of melanin and therefore are the hairs mostly affected by LASER sessions.

Is it permanent?

LASER hair removal is semi-permanent. It destroys most hair follicles. Some hairs, however, will grow again and these need maintenance or retouch sessions every few months (on average every six months to one year). The areas showing best results are usually ones with dark thick hairs and light skin. Areas with thin light-coloured hairs or darker skin tend to respond less and therefore will need more maintenance sessions – like bikini line, the thighs and the upper arms.

Which LASER machines are best?

This depends on skin type. Where IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) machines do have an effect on hair growth; this effect tends to be temporary and not as good as LASER machines. Alexandrite LASERs are the best for targeting hair follicles overall. They are the preferred machines for people with fair skin. In people with darker skin tones, however, the safer option is Diode or Nd-Yag LASERs.

Do I have to wait until I’m done having kids to start LASER hair removal?

No. Pregnancy lengthens the growing phase of the hair cycle (that is why we notice that we have lush lustrous hair during pregnancy). Unfortunately, this also applies to body hair as well, so you may notice an increase in body hair during pregnancy. But the good news is that everything should go back to normal after you give birth. The increase in hair growth persists only in the case where there is a disruption in hormones. LASER hair removal is a safe procedure during breastfeeding and even during pregnancy although it is best to postpone your LASER sessions until after you give birth.

Response to LASER hair removal depends on:

• The type and efficacy of the machine

• The parameters used: inappropriately higher parameters can cause burns and insufficient parameters can delay response, therefore, increasing the number of sessions needed

• The person administering the session. LASER has to be done either by a doctor or by a licensed professional under direct medical supervision by a doctor. Your doctor will perform an assessment and examination before the first session. We need to make sure there are no medical causes that could lead to a lack of response to LASER and therefore a waste of money, such as Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome or insulin resistance. Sometimes we also do a patch test to make sure the readings will be safe for your skin tone before the sessions. We also need to observe the results of every session and tailor the parameters accordingly

Before your LASER sessions

• Avoid tanning for at least six weeks before you start your sessions and in between your sessions. Getting tanned darkens your skin tone, which means having to lower the LASER readings for your next session to avoid burns. Doing so can delay response to the LASER, therefore necessitating more sessions

• You need to stop waxing, sugaring, threading or plucking the hairs six weeks before your sessions

• You need to shave the hairs the day before your session with a razor

• Keep your skin hydrated in between sessions but avoid using any cream or moisturizer 48 hours before your session

• Inform your doctor if you are taking or have recently taken Roaccutane for acne, because you should not undergo LASER sessions during Roaccutane treatment and sometimes for a while after you finish taking it

• Avoid using chemical peeling agents or bleaching agents for at least a week before your session

After your LASER sessions

• Hair will continue to grow in length normally after your session. After 10 to 14 days, some hair will fall out randomly (a maximum of 15 to 20 per cent of the hair in a certain body area will fall out after your session). As you progress with your sessions, you will start noticing some empty areas of skin with no hairs. Sometimes we don’t see hair falling out; you will only notice that there is less and less hair growing back after your session

• You might have some skin redness in the treated areas, sometimes with small red spots surrounding hair follicles. You should not worry, but contact the clinic if the redness does not disappear the day after your session. You can use cold compresses to alleviate the pain and irritation afterwards if there was any

• Avoid saunas, hot showers or exercises that cause excessive sweating for 12 hours after your session (or until the skin redness settles down if there was any)

• Use the moisturiSer your doctor prescribes after your session and a sunscreen on the treated areas after every session as well as in between your sessions. Sometimes your doctor will prescribe special creams for treated areas as well

• Do not shave, wax, sugar or pluck the hairs in between sessions. You can shave instead. Shaving does not affect the result of LASER; so you can shave as frequently as you want in between sessions starting from the day after your session 

• To make sure you get the best results, schedule an appointment every four to six weeks and do not skip sessions

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

People exposed to even low levels of air pollution are more likely to develop structural changes in the heart that can be a precursor to heart failure, a UK study suggests. 

While exposure to air pollution has long been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, less is known about how pollutants might alter the structure and function of the heart, the study team writes in Circulation. 

Researchers looked at data on exposure to traffic-related air pollution and results from heart MRIs for 3,920 adults who did not have cardiovascular disease. They found that previous exposure to tiny particles known as PM2.5, which include dust, dirt, soot and smoke and to nitrogen dioxide, a poisonous gas in car exhaust, were associated with enlargement on both sides of the heart. 

“Air pollution appears to be damaging for cardiovascular health even at a relatively low exposure level,” said lead study author Nay Aung of Queen Mary University of London. 

Individuals exposed to higher level of air pollutants were more likely to have larger cardiac ventricles (main pumping chambers) after accounting for potential factors that can independently influence the size of these chambers, Aung said by e-mail. 

 “This is important because these observed changes in the heart were similar to the patterns seen in heart failure development,” Aung said. 

To assess exposure to traffic fumes, researchers examined data on average annual air pollution levels at participants’ home addresses at the start of the study. 

Half of the participants were exposed to average annual concentrations of less than 9.9 microgrammes of PM2.5 particles per cubic metre of air (ug/m3) and 28.2 ug/m3 of nitrogen dioxide. 

For fine particulate matter, that is well within UK guidelines limiting average exposure to no more than 25 ug/m3 of PM2.5, although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are no safe limits for PM2.5 exposure, Aung and colleagues note in Circulation. 

Researchers measured participants’ heart structure with MRIs a median of 5.2 years after assessing their air pollution exposure. 

For every extra 1 ug/m3 of PM2.5 and every additional 10 ug/m3 of nitrogen dioxide people were exposed to near their homes, their hearts were enlarged by approximately 1 per cent, the study found. 

The type of enlargement seen in the study is a “well-recognised... adaptation heralding heart failure development”, the authors note. 

Heart failure happens when the heart muscle is too weak to pump enough blood through the body. Symptoms can include fatigue, weight gain from fluid retention, shortness of breath and coughing or wheezing. Medications can help strengthen the heart and minimise fluid build up in the body.

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how air pollution might directly cause enlargement in the heart. 

It is possible that when people inhale polluted air it causes inflammation in the lungs and blood vessels and fine particulate matter enters the bloodstream, said Benjamin Horne, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Medical Centre Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

This can overwork the heart, Horne, who was not involved in the study, said by e-mail.

“Even people who are free from cardiovascular disease may, over time, develop diseases due to chronic exposure to air pollution,” Horne said.

MONTREAL — Airline fuel efficiency on transatlantic flights has improved by 1 per cent a year since 2014 as carriers buy modern planes, but the industry still lags its own climate goals, a study released on Wednesday said. 

The industry’s average fuel efficiency improved to 34 passenger kilometres per litre of fuel from 33 between 2014 and 2017 as carriers opted for modern aircraft with lower fuel burn and operated fuller planes, the study from the US-based International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) said.

Airlines have been switching to more fuel-efficient aircraft in an attempt to mitigate the impact of high oil prices on their margins.

The aviation industry has also set a non-binding goal of capping emissions from international flights at 2020 levels, despite rising passenger traffic as global travel demand climbs.

In 2010, the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) set a goal of 2 per cent annual fuel efficiency improvement through 2050 for all international flights. 

Airline trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects an average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5 per cent per year on all international flights from 2009 to 2020.

While the study only looked at transatlantic flights, the ICCT said airlines will have to become more efficient to meet industry goals.

“New policies to accelerate investments in more fuel-efficient aircraft and operations are critical if industry is to meet its long-term climate goals,” said Dan Rutherford, aviation programme director for the US-based independent non-profit research organisation.

The study compared the fuel efficiency of non-stop passenger flights between North America and Europe by 20 major airlines, following a similar study conducted in 2014. 

Starting January 1, 2019, most airlines flying international routes will begin monitoring their fuel and carbon emissions as part of a landmark agreement brokered two years ago by ICAO.

According to industry figures, air transport accounts for 2 per cent of global man-made carbon emissions. 

Budget carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, which operates new Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 737 MAX aircraft, was ranked first of the 20 transatlantic carriers for fuel efficiency, while British Airways, part of the International Airlines Group, came in last.

Of the US carriers, Delta Air Lines had the most fuel-efficient fleet, meeting the industry average, while United Airlines was ranked third from the bottom.

Nicotine and other chemicals exhaled by e-cigarette smokers can move through air vents, leaving residue on surfaces in other locations, a new study found. 

In a California mall, researchers tracked e-cigarette chemicals from a vape shop and found the residue in a business next door. 

Although studies have identified the chemicals in vaping fluids and in the aerosol users breathe in, little is known about what is exhaled and what settles on surfaces, said Careen Khachatoorian of the University of California at Riverside, who led the study. 

“Electronic cigarettes and refill fluids seem to be evolving and new products are brought to the market every day,” she told Reuters Health by e-mail. “The scientific community should keep up with these new products to inform users, non-users and especially people who do not know they are being passively exposed.” 

In a two-story mall with a vape shop on the bottom floor, Khachatoorian and colleagues analysed the build-up of e-cigarette exhaled aerosol residue in cotton towels, paper towels and terrycloth towels that they placed around the vape shop and in an adjacent shop with a connected HVAC system. 

They tested the towels for short-term exposures of one day, four days and eight days and long-term exposures after one month, two months and three months. They specifically looked for nicotine, other alkaloids and tobacco-specific nitrosamines, which have been linked to carcinogens. 

They also placed fabrics in a mall hallway on a separate HVAC system for one day, three days and one week. 

They found nicotine, alkaloids and nitrosamines in the towels in the adjacent shop after both short-term and long-term exposures. The concentrations generally increased over time, according to a report in the journal Tobacco Control. 

Even samples exposed for one day had detectable nicotine. The control samples — the towels placed in the mall hallway — had no traces of nicotine. 

“[Analogous] to thirdhand smoke, electronic cigarette aerosol or residue can occur during and after use has ended,” Khachatoorian said. “Unlike cigarette smoking, we do not yet know the long-term health effects of e-cigarette use and passive use.” 

The researchers plan to study the residue left by e-cigarette aerosol and identify more chemicals and quantities of chemicals that stick to surfaces. 

Future studies should also understand what harms are associated with secondhand and thirdhand exposure, said Eric Soule of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. 

Soule, who was not involved with this study, researches indoor e-cigarette use and has found it generates large amounts of particulate matter, which could be harmful to inhale. Researchers need to understand the short-term and long-term effects, he added. 

“Regardless of the harm caused from exposure to e-cigarette aerosol relative to cigarette smoke, policies should be established that protect non-tobacco users from exposure to e-cigarette aerosol, especially in public places or private residences,” he told Reuters Health by e-mail. 

In a mall, for instance, a vape shop could be required to use a special air filter and separate ventilation system, Soule said. 

“While many cigarette smokers avoid smoking indoors or around non-smokers because of the known health effects of secondhand and thirdhand smoke exposure, many e-cigarette users report vaping in their cars, in their homes or around their children and pets,” he said. “Given the deposition of toxicants that results from indoor e-cigarette use, vapers should similarly avoid e-cigarette use indoors or around others.” 

If Helen of Troy had a “face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium”, Hema Malini has a face “that launched a thousand roads and smoothened the portly potholes of Bihar”. Everyone familiar with Greek mythology knows about the legendary Helen of Sparta who was the most tantalising character in all literature, ancient and modern. An entire war, which lasted for ten years, was fought over her. 

Malini, on the other hand, is an Indian actress, dancer and politician, who was born in 1948 in Chennai, India and is popularly known as Bollywood’s “dream girl” after her film “Sapno ka Saudagar” ran to packed houses in 1968. At the height of her career, her suitors were Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Dharmendra — three of the most successful thespians of Indian cinema. Malini’s mother decided that Jeetendra was the best husband material for her daughter and coaxed her to meet his parents. Meanwhile, Dharmendra, when he got to know about this, stormed into their house in a drunken state, declared his love for Malini and asked for her hand in marriage. The only problem was that he was already married to Prakash Kaur and had four children with her.

His first wife refused to give him a divorce so Dharmendra allegedly converted to Islam to marry Malini. “Today we can laugh over it, but at that time it wasn’t funny. Strangely, my father had no problems with Dharmendra other than the one related to me. In fact, they got along so well whenever I wasn’t around. They would always be laughing and I would want to freeze the moment. If only they could be like that forever. Everyone in my family adored him, just not as a prospective son-in-law,” Malini has said in her biography, “Beyond the Dream Girl”.

For some inexplicable reason, politicians in India are obsessed with Malini’s face. When Lalu Prasad Yadav came to power as the chief minister of Bihar in the year 2000, he claimed that the roads of Bihar would soon be made “as smooth as Malini’s cheeks”. This statement caused much hilarity in the local press but the dignified film star, who had joined Indian politics by then, first as a member of the Rajya Sabha (the upper house) and then as a duly elected representative of the Lok Sabha (the lower house) handled the matter with poise and grace. In other words, she ignored it.

Constantly reinventing herself, she is a very accomplished actress of Bollywood today, and has appeared in over 150 films, in a career that has lasted over 40 years. Also she has been immortalised as the chatterbox Basanti in the box office blockbuster “Sholay” and is a great devotee of lord Krishna and ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 

It was interesting to meet her recently at a function in Dubai, where she gave a presentation on the opening of a new ISKCON temple there. Glowing in a resplendent pink saree, it was difficult to imagine that she would be seventy years old next month.

Soon we were posing for pictures.

“You look lovely,” I complimented her.

“Follow the basic teaching of ISKCON,” she lectured. 

I listened to her carefully.

“Your soul must be clean,” she instructed.

“Then you will look beautiful,” she confided.

“The dream girl forgot to mention,” my spouse whispered.

“What?” I questioned.

“Your forehead must be botoxed,” he laughed.

WASHINGTON — Ever feel like it’s 7am, even though the clock says 9am?

A team of researchers at Northwestern University said on Monday they have designed a blood test that can measure a person’s inner body clock within 1.5 hours, an advance that may help personalise medical treatments in the future.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer-reviewed US journal.

The “circadian rhythm” governs all cells in the body and is a burgeoning field of research.

This biological clock regulates “all sorts of biological processes, when you feel sleepy, when you feel hungry, when your immune system is active, when your blood pressure is high, when your body temp changes”, said lead author Rosemary Braun, assistant professor of biostatistics at Northwestern University.

When the clock is not regulated properly, research has shown a link to diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart problems and diabetes.

Other research has pointed to the possibility some medical interventions like chemotherapy or blood pressure drugs might be more effective if taken at a certain time.

For the study, researchers took more than 1,100 blood samples from 73 people.

Samples were taken every two hours and gene activity was tested at each interval to see how it changed over the day.

The research allowed scientists to decipher if a person’s body clock was off, for example, by up to two hours.

All the data from the 73 people studied was computerised, and it revealed a pattern.

“What the algorithm told us, is that there were a small set of about 40 markers that could predict the time of day with great accuracy,” said Braun.

Using this algorithm, scientists only need to take two blood draws to have enough information to decipher person’s body clock.

The Last Earth

Ramzy Baroud

UK: Pluto Press

Pp. 272

Many books have been written about Palestine and the Palestinians. Nonetheless, Ramzy Baroud’s new book stands out as unique. For those familiar with Baroud’s analytical writing, “The Last Earth” has the same precision and clarity of language found in his columns, and the same adherence to fact, but it is written with all the pathos and lyricism of fiction. Drawing inspiration from Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry, the title of “The Last Earth” is such an obvious metaphor for what Palestinians are seeking but seldom find — a safe place to which they can always return, a homeland.

“The Last Earth” is based on oral history and the idea of “history from below”, recounting the life stories of eight Palestinians from different generations and different parts of Palestine or places of exile. Several years ago, Baroud and his co-researchers issued a call for Palestinians everywhere to share their stories. Fifty of the hundreds who responded were interviewed; finally, eight particularly vivid and representative stories were chosen for inclusion in the book, told by Baroud in compelling prose.

By beginning with the story of a young man and woman who had no choice but to flee the battle in Yarmouk camp and risk the perilous passage to Europe, the book reminds that the Nakba —Palestinian displacement and dispossession — is ongoing. Braving the Mediterranean Sea and well-fortified European borders is the contemporary Palestinian exodus. This first story is also daring in describing the love affair that grew between the two young people as they volunteered to help the wounded in the camp’s Palestine hospital: “The overpowering chemistry they instantly felt transcended the gore around them as they both stood defenceless in front of their unexpected emotions.” (p. 16)

Another story describes the valiant, though ultimately futile, attempts of the fellahin in villages north of Gaza to protect their land and families in 1936 and again in 1948. A subsequent story highlights how refugee women shouldered innumerable tasks after the 1967 occupation when “most of the men disappeared into the gorge of gruelling labour in Israel” and women were left to manage virtually everything. (p. 94)

A more contemporary story features a family in Burqin in the northern West Bank, whose members have consistently resisted the occupation whether as fedayeen in the mountains or political prisoners on a hunger strike. Each story encompasses the extended family of the main subject, showing generational changes, new gender roles and successive historical stages. While one knows that such Palestinians exist, it is seldom if ever one gets such an intimate portrait of their background, convictions and feelings. The book serves the purpose of a collective memoir.

These are the stories of unsung heroes and lesser known massacres and destroyed villages. They are stories of seemingly unresolvable dilemmas and new paths charted, such as that of Umm Marwan, a Gaza mother. “Two opposing forces lived within her: an unfamiliar sense of responsibility towards a revolution she hardly understood and her cultural socialization where women were taught that their place was in the home and not the battlefield… But there was something that she did well and which she did fearlessly. In wedging herself between screaming children and angry soldiers, she found her calling.” (p. 104)

There are also unsolvable dilemmas like the case of Ali whose story is told via the letters he writes to his daughter from whom he has been involuntarily separated. Totally emblematic of the Palestinian cause, he has no “last earth” where he can live with his family, after fighting for Palestine all his life.

The way the stories are told makes it clear that the intent is not to arouse pity but to elicit recognition of Palestinians as people deserving of being in control of their lives and not subject to the interests and whims of their coloniser and world powers. In Baroud’s words, “the book tells the story of a people whose history cannot be reduced to a timeline of conflict, but rather is embroidered and torn with complex human emotions, hopes, dreams, struggles, and priorities that seem to pay no heed to politics, the military balance, or ideological rivalries”. (p. 266)

Despite the diversity and individuality of the respective stories, there is an essential common strain as a result of Zionist policy against the Palestinians. As Ilan Pappe points out in the foreward: “The uniformity of this Palestinian experience throughout the years… turns the Palestinian memory, oral history, and recollection into not just a registry of atrocities but also tools of cultural resistance.” (p. xiii)

Baroud’s book excels in its honesty. Though extolling the positives of pre-48 Palestine, it is not presented as a paradise as in some nostalgic accounts; nor are all Palestinians presented as heroes. Several of the stories include a class aspect, as when fellahin had to fend off attempts by big clans in their area to take over their land and keep them in a state of near-slavery. Some stories note people’s feelings of betrayal by the leadership, then and now. 

Baroud has turned Palestinian history into a page turner without sacrificing truth or integrity. “The Last Earth” is exciting and enlightening as it gets to the heart of the refugee experience in an unprecedented way, showing the full range of Palestinians’ humanity. It is a persuasive, literary argument for why Palestinians deserve to be free in their own country.

The more sociable version of the Jeep Wrangler, the longer four-door model is a more spacious and family-friendly way to enjoy the most iconic of the off-roaders’ extensive abilities.

In its second generation being offered as a four-door SUV, the four-door Wrangler may not have the same classic proportions and may not be quite as manoeuvrable as the traditional two-door Wrangler, but its extra doors and length hugely broaden the appeal of the Wrangler as both an uncompromising off-road SUV and daily drive family car rolled into one.

Authentic aesthetic

Launched globally back in July as the latest “JL” incarnation of Jeep’s most capable and authentic models, the new Wrangler is a more comfortable, refined and practical daily driver, in both two- and four-door guises.

Uncompromisingly true to a deep off-roading heritage since the 1941 Willys Jeep military vehicle, the latest JL-generation Wrangler retains its traditional and rugged body-on-chassis construction, live axle suspension and off-road hardware. 

Along with improved off-road abilities, it is crucially a far smoother drive with improved functionality, equipment, safety and handling for everyday use.

Immediately recognisable as a Wrangler with its traditional tapered in bonnet, wide, flat wheelarches and upright seven-slot grille, the new model makes a slight aesthetic concession to modernity with its grille being slightly swept back for improved aerodynamics.

Meanwhile its round headlights now slightly protrude in on the outside grille slots, like the 1944-86 “CJ” generation Jeep. A mildly more contemporary take on a classic shape, the “JL” Wrangler also features more modern square rear lights and, contrary to prevailing trends, a lower waistline and bigger glasshouse for better visibility.

Form and functionality

Gaining over half a metre in length almost entirely in wheelbase, the extended four-door model is fine looking, but may not be quite as aesthetically resolved, tidily packaged or urgent in posture as the two-door version.

It more than makes up for this with the added practicality of extra doors for easier rear access and features significantly improved rear legroom. Cargo capacity more than doubles from the two-door’s 203-litres with seats folded up to 548-litres for the four-door, and from 598-litres to 1,059-litres with rear seats folded down.

Slightly larger yet meaningfully lighter than the “JK” generation model it replaces, the “JL” Wrangler is available in three trim levels starting with the entry-level Sport, as driven, and the mechanically identical but more luxuriously equipped Sahara model, as pictured. 

The third trim level is the off-road dedicated Rubicon, but all versions are equipped with the same naturally-aspirated 3.6-litre V6 Pentastar engine and smooth, slick and quick shifting 8-speed automatic gearbox across Middle East markets, including Jordan, where the US market’s turbocharged 2-litre hybrid model could have been a particularly popular choice given hybrid vehicle tax incentives.

Eager ability

Developing 281BHP at a somewhat high-revving 6,400rpm and 256lb/ft torque at 4,100rpm, the Wrangler’s Pentastar engine is smooth, responsive and eager. Keen off the line and with a generous and flexible mid-range, the Wrangler is willing and zealous to the redline, while its precise throttle control and progressive delivery allow one to unleash exact increments of power whether through on-road corners or driving through delicate off-road manoeuvres. Confident accelerating and versatile on the move, the Wrangler is capable of 177km/h and returns 9.7l/100km combined fuel efficiency, despite its upright design and 2,005kg weight.

Using rugged body-on-chassis construction with integrated rollover bars, the Wrangler is no soft-roader or half-hearted crossover. An authentic and capable off-roader, it is one of the few vehicles to employ front and rear live axles, and benefits from excellent 242mm ground clearance and 760mm water fording capability. Its short front and rear overhangs allow for generous 34.8 degree approach and 29.9 degree departure angles, but the longer four-door Wrangler’s 19.2 degree break-over angle is less than the two-door’s, which still makes it more capable than most SUVs.

The great outdoors

More refined, settled and smooth than expected of a body-on-chassis and all-round live axles design, if not quite as good as a Jeep Grand Cherokee on road, the four-door Wrangler’s longer wheelbase also makes it more stable and grippy on tarmac and dusty trails, if slightly less agile, nimble and manoeuvrable than the two-door on narrow roads. 

Superb off-road, the Wrangler Sport and Sahara models feature Jeep’s Selec-Trac four-wheel-drive system with three high ratio driving modes for tarmac and less demanding off-roading, and can allocate power frontwards when necessary in Auto mode. Low range 4x4 mode delivers effortless mobility over difficult and demanding off-road routes.

Refined and ergonomic inside with improved design and materials, the “JL” Wrangler equipment list includes plenty of standard and optional modern safety, driver assistance, convenience and infotainment systems, including intuitive Uconnect infotainment system, and blind spot and rear cross-path detection.

Seating is upright and alert, and with a bigger glasshouse provides improved visibility. Offered with three roof options providing fully open air front and rear motoring, the Wrangler is available with electrically retractable Sky One-Touch soft-top, fully removable Zipperless Premium Sunrider soft-top, or removable three piece Freedom Top hard-top options, while removable doors and fold down windshield are now more user-friendly.

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, low ratio transfer

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: 3.295:1/4.45:1

Low ratio transfer/crawl ratios: 2.72:1/44.2:1

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

Specific power: 77.9BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 148.3BHP/tonne

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

Specific torque: 96.2Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 183.2Nm/tonne

Top speed: 177km/h

Fuel consumption, urban/extra-urban/combined; 13-/7.8-/ 9.7-litres/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 225g/km

Fuel capacity: 81-litres

Length: 4,882mm

Width: 1,894mm

Height: 1,881mm

Wheelbase: 3,008mm

Track: 1,598mm 

Overhang, F/R: 741/1,036

Ground clearance: 242mm

Approach/break-over/departure angles: 34.8°/19.2°/29.9°

Water fording: 760mm

Seating: 5

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

Legroom, F/R: 1,038/974mm

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

Hip room, F/R: 1,370/1,140mm

Loading height: 762mm

Cargo volume min/max: 548-/1,059-litres

Kerb weight: 2,005kg

Weight distribution, F/R; 53 per cent/47 per cent

Payload: 564kg

Steering: Power-assisted rack & pinion

Steering ratio: 14.2:1

Lock-to-lock: 3.24-turns

Turning circle: 12.28-metres

Suspension: Solid axles, coil springs, anti-roll bars

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated disc, 330 x 24mm/disc, 328 x 12mm

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

Tyres: 245/75R17

Adolescents who worry about discrimination in society may be more likely to drink, smoke or experiment with drugs than teens who do not have these concerns, a US study suggests. 

“We didn’t previously know whether perceptions that discrimination is increasing in the larger society is a significant source of stress that is associated with risk of behavioural health problems,” said lead author Adam Leventhal, director of the Health, Emotion, and Addiction Laboratory at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. 

“This is a timely question given that the sociopolitical climate has recently intensified in the US due to social policies perceived by many to be discriminatory, including proposals to construct a US-Mexico border wall to deter undocumented immigration, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act that provides health insurance to millions of low-income Americans, and travel bans to prohibit entry into the US from several countries with religious minority populations,” Leventhal said by e-mail. 

For the study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers surveyed 2,572 high school students once in eleventh grade and again a year later to see how often they experienced stress, worry or concern regarding “increasing hostility and discrimination of people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation/identity, immigrant status, religion, or disability status in society”. 

Researchers scored students’ reported level of stress, worry, and concern on a scale from 0 for “none at all” to 4 for “extremely”. 

Overall, students’ average composite scores for all three feelings about discrimination increased from 1.56 in 2016, when they were in eleventh grade, to 1.71 the following year. 

As kids’ scores rose higher above the average, the greater their odds of risky behaviour a year later. Each one-unit standard deviation increase above the average scores in 2016 was associated with 77 per cent higher odds that students used cigarettes in 2017, 13 per cent higher likelihood that they used marijuana, and 11 per cent greater odds that they used alcohol. 

In addition, each one-unit increase above average scores in 2016 was associated with 11 per cent higher odds that students would report symptoms of depression in 2017 and 12 per cent greater likelihood that they would experience symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. 

These associations were not necessarily related to whether teens directly experienced discrimination. The study asked about their feelings related to their perception of how much discrimination exists in society. 

But the effects did appear more pronounced for students of colour at the 10 Los Angeles high schools where the surveys were conducted. 

For example, each one-unit increase in composite scores for concern about discrimination was associated with almost tripled odds that African American students would smoke, and 30 per cent greater likelihood that Hispanic teens would smoke. White students were 23 per cent more likely to smoke, but this difference was not statistically meaningful and might have been due to chance. 

The proportion of students reporting feeling “very or extremely concerned” about discrimination also increased from 42 per cent in the first survey in 2016 to 45 per cent the following year. 

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how perceptions of discrimination might directly impact teens’ behavioural health. It is also possible that teens’ experiences in Los Angeles might not reflect what would happen elsewhere in the US 

But the results still suggest that parents need to talk about discrimination with their kids, said Dr Nia Heard-Garris of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. 

“Even if parents think discrimination is not applicable to their teens or families, having a conversation about discrimination, even about the experiences of others, might be a way to start the conversation and then discuss ways to address discrimination personally or societally,” Heard-Garris, author of an accompanying editorial, said by e-mail. 

“Also, there may be a role for the paediatrician to help these families start these conversations, as some of the recent exposure to discrimination on national scale has been unavoidable for many teens,” Heard-Garris added.