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Tired of nagging your spouse to lose a few kilos? You might get better results by going on a diet yourself.

Health experts have seen that the weight status of couples tends to move in sync. It is often similar when they get married, and if one partner gains weight over time, the other does as well. In fact, researchers have found that if one half a couple becomes obese, the risk that the other will follow suit rises by 37 per cent.

There are signs that the reverse is true as well. A long-term population study in England suggests that when one spouse loses weight, a “ripple effect” extends to the other spouse. Another study of bariatric surgery patients found that nearly two-thirds of their spouses were lighter a year after the procedure, with a median weight loss of just under 1.5 kilos.

Researchers led by psychologist Amy Gorin of the University of Connecticut set out to see whether they could replicate these results in a randomised controlled trial. They recruited 130 couples in which one partner was willing to try a weight-loss programme and the other was not. To be included, the partner on the programme had to be either overweight or obese (with a body mass index between 27 and 40) and the other partner had to be overweight (with a BMI over 25).

Couples did not have to be married, though 121 of them were.

The couples were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In one group, one of the partners received a free six-month membership to Weight Watchers, which included access to meetings and the use of digital tools to track eating and exercise habits. (The study was funded in part by Weight Watchers International.) In the other group, one of the partners got a simple four-page handout with information about exercise and healthy eating.

All of the participants were weighed and measured by professionals at the start of the study, three months in, and at the six-month mark.

In both groups, the partners who actively participated in a weight-loss program generally succeeded in losing weight. After six months of effort, those in the Weight Watchers group lost 4.5 kilos (or 4.5 per cent of their body weight), on average, while those who got the handout lost nearly 3 kilos (or 3.2 per cent of their body weight), on average. Those differences were not large enough to be statistically significant.

But Gorin and her colleagues were more interested in what had happened to the other half of these couples.

The partners of those who used Weight Watchers lost nearly 2.25 kilos, on average, and the partners of those who got the worksheet lost a little more than 1.8 kilos, on average. After six months, the average percentage of weight loss was an identical 2.09 per cent for both groups.

For the people who weren’t actively trying to lose weight — but did so anyway — it didn’t matter whether their partner was using Weight Watchers or the “self-guided” approach detailed on the handout. Nor did it matter if they were male or female, or if they overweight or obese when their partners began their weight-loss programme.

Experts believe the health benefits of weight loss kick in after body mass drops by 3 per cent. Overall, 32 per cent of the nondieting partners achieved that goal.

The researchers created mathematical models to predict how much weight the study participants would lose in each three-month period. Those models had errors, but those errors followed a distinctive pattern.

“If one member of a couple lost more [or less] than predicted at any given time point, the other member of the couple also lost more [or less] than predicted,” the researchers wrote.

The results bolster the case that couples have a significant influence on each others’ weight — for good or for bad. But longer-term studies will be needed to see whether people can maintain this “ripple effect” weight loss, the team noted.

The researchers used direct mail and online advertisements to recruit study participants, and offered to pay them $100 each if they completed the study. They wound up with a sample that was 96 per cent Caucasian. Future studies will need to be more diverse to assess whether the ripple effect applies to other racial and ethnic groups, the researchers wrote.

Still, the findings should encourage health experts to find ways to “harness household and social dynamics to promote clinically significant weight loss”, Gorin and her colleagues concluded. Doing so “could improve the reach and cost-effectiveness of weight management programmes”.

The study appears in the March issue of the journal Obesity.

Updated for 2018, the all-electric passenger version of Nissan’s utilitarian mid-size MPV and van line, the e-NV200 Evalia is a spacious and silent seven-seater that would be of particular interest and relevance to Jordanian motorists. With improved battery range since its recent revision, the e-NV200 is not currently listed as part of Nissan’s official Jordanian fleet.

Ideal for crowded Jordanian roads, and big families with its huge cabin and compact size, the e-NV200’s exclusive electric drive also well-positions it to benefit from EV tax concessions.

Space and utility

Bearing a family resemblance to other Nissans with its swept back boomerang headlights, the e-NV200’s grille is replaced with a panel that covers its plug-in recharging port. Designed with a low slanted bonnet, big front glasshouse and rakish A-pillars for clear and commanding road visibility and good aerodynamics, the e-NV200’s body is, however, tall, boxy and uniformly shaped beyond the front pillars. This allows for excellent space utilisation and passenger headroom, while a long wheelbase provides decent ride stability and generous legroom.

Usefully cavernous, clean and with obvious appeal for businesses operating mainly in urban conditions in panel van guise, the seven seat Evalia model, however, has particular potential as a chauffeured business vehicle for hotels, airlines and other business. It is, however, possibly more useful as potential family transportation in Jordan, where its electric motor provides cost efficient, particularly in economically chaste times. Meanwhile with the safety of seven formal seats to accommodate large families, the e-NV200 Evalia is at its best in terms of efficiency and range operating in city conditions.

Quiet efficiency

Powered by an AC synchronous electric motor driving the front wheels through a single-speed automatic gearbox, the e-NV200 develops 187lb/ft torque and 107BHP, which allows it to carry its 1689kg mass through 0-100km/h in 14-seconds. With its torque instantly available from moving off, the e-NV200 seems quicker and more responsive than headline figures suggest. With torque so readily and immediately available, the e-NV200’s accelerator pedal can, however, more gradually dial in power and responsiveness for a more fluid and intuitive experience.

Nearly silent operating, a distant electric motor whine lends more involvement when the e-NV200 is pressed hard. Confident and responsive on inclines at moderate speeds, the e-NV200 rate of acceleration diminishes somewhat as it nears its official 123km/h top speed.

Driven in strong head winds on strong inclines on coastal highways in Tenerife, Spain, the e-NV200 regularly exceeded its top speed by some 10km/h. Updated for further single charge driving without increasing the size of its 40Kw battery pack, the e-NV200’s claimed range is 301km in the city and 200km on the combined cycle.

Supple comfort

A potentially popular people carrier for Jordan, the e-NV200’s immediate torque and increased range would be well-suited to Amman’s hilly topography. However, and as with all electric vehicles, generous range estimates are reduced with aggressive driving, accelerator input and high speed.

Meanwhile, the e-NV200 charging time, depending on conditions is quoted at 40-60 minutes from low battery alert to 80 per cent charge, with a high capacity 50Kw charger, when available. More commonly, its 7Kw charger takes 7.5-hours for a full charge. Domestic electric charging is possible, but hardly convenient at 21.5-hours. 

A comfortable ride with MacPherson strut front suspension and slim and supple 185/65R15 tyres, the e-NV200 well absorbs road imperfections and is refined and quiet inside. Settled and smooth at moderate speeds, it can feel less settled at high speed and in strong crosswinds, where its rugged torsion beam and leaf spring would be better planted with more cargo or passengers, while its tall flanks — good for space efficiency — mean that one has to correct steering input to counteract heavy wind forces. Meanwhile ventilated disc brakes all round perform well and are supported by electric regenerative braking force.

Generous and accommodating

Relatively narrow and with terrific front visibility and commanding driving position, the e-NV200 is easy to thread through narrow roads. Steering is light and easy, while the slim front tyres can be overpowered with sudden torque, but, however, give a good picture of the road for such a vehicle. Understeer through tight hard driven corners is corrected by easing off power or by stability control systems. 

Inside, the e-NV200 features comfortable seats and generous passenger space, while fit, finish and materials are well-assembled, practically designed and pleasant, yet not particularly exotic. 

Accessible through large and wide swing angle front doors, big sliding side doors and with large rear cargo loading access and 523mm lift-over, the e-NV200 Evalia is practical and spacious. Accommodating seven passengers comfortably including a minimum of 440-litres, and features two spacious individual front seats, 40/60 split folding three-seat middle bench, and two side-mounted fold down seats in the rear cargo area. With rear rows folded, the Evalia can also accommodate up to 3000-litres. Meanwhile numerous storage spaces, large side mirrors, colour reversing monitor and an intuitive infotainment system are also useful.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: AC synchronous electric motor

Battery: 40kwh lithium-ion

Gearbox: 1-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 107 (109) [80]

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 187 [254]

Rev limit: 10500rpm

0-100km/h: 14-seconds

Top speed: 123km/h

Energy consumption, combined: 259Wh/km

Range, city/combined: 301/200km

Range, city / combined: 301/280km

Battery charging time, domestic supply / 7kW charger: 21.5-/7.5-hours

Battery charging time, high capacity 50kW charger: 40-60 minutes*

Height: 1,858mm

Width: 1,755mm

Length: 4,560mm

Wheelbase: 2,725mm

Track: 1,530mm

Overhang, F/R: 985/850mm

Ground clearance: 153mm

Kerb weight: 1,689kg

Payload: 561kg

Luggage volume, min/max: 440-3,000-litres

Loading height: 523mm

Sliding door width/height: 700/1,171mm

Rear door width/height: 1,261/1,228mm

Doors/seats: 5/7

Steering: Electric-assisted

Turning circle: 10.6-metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson strut / torsion beam, leaf spring

Brakes: Ventilated discs, regenerative braking

Tyres: 185/65R15

*From low battery alert to 80 per cent, depending on conditions

The majority of people believe cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is successful more often than it tends to be in reality, according to a small US study. 

This overly optimistic view, which may partly stem from seeing happy outcomes in television medical dramas, can get in the way of decision-making and frank conversations about end of life care with doctors, the research team writes in American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 

CPR is intended to restart a heart that has stopped beating, known as cardiac arrest, which is typically caused by an electrical disturbance in the heart muscle. Although a heart attack is not the same thing — it occurs when blood flow to the heart is partly or completely blocked, often by a clot — a heart attack can also cause the heart to stop beating. 

Whatever the cause of cardiac arrest, restarting the heart as quickly as possible to get blood flowing to the brain is essential to preventing permanent brain damage. More often than not, cardiac arrest ends in death or severe neurological impairment. 

The overall rate of survival that leads to hospital discharge for someone who experiences cardiac arrest is about 10.6 per cent, the study authors note. But most participants in the study estimated it at more than 75 per cent. 

“The majority of patients and non-medical personnel have very unrealistic expectations about the success of CPR as well as the quality of life after patients are revived,” said lead author Lindsey Ouellette, a research assistant at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine in Grand Rapids. 

Patients and family members should know about the realistic success rate and survival numbers when planning a living will and considering a “Do Not Resuscitate” order, Ouellette said. 

“We think it is best to have the latest and most accurate information when dealing with this life-impacting decision, whether or not to undertake or continue CPR,” she told Reuters Health in an e-mail. 

To gauge perceptions of CPR, the researchers surveyed 1,000 adults at four academic medical centres in Michigan, Illinois and California. Participants included non-critically ill patients and families of patients, who were interviewed during random hospital shifts. 

In addition to asking about general knowledge of CPR and personal experiences with CPR, the researchers presented participants with several scenarios and asked them to estimate the likelihood of CPR success and patient survival in each case. 

One scenario involved a 54-year-old who suffered a heart attack at home and required CPR by paramedics. About 72 per cent of the survey participants predicted survival and 65 per cent predicted a complete neurological recovery. 

In a scenario describing a trauma-related cardiac arrest in an 8-year-old, 71 per cent predicted CPR success and 64 per cent predicted long-term survival of the child. 

“Many people felt if a person was successfully revived, they would return to ‘normal’ rather than possibly needing lifelong care,” Ouellette said. 

At the same time, more than 70 per cent of respondents said they watched TV medical dramas regularly, and 12 per cent said these shows were a reliable source of health information. 

“Tempering unrealistic expectations may not make for ‘good TV,’ but perhaps we can get a better idea of just how these dramas may impact the views people hold about CPR and other aspects of medicine,” she said. 

“People think about CPR as a miracle, but it’s another medical act,” said Dr Juan Ruiz-Garcia of Hospital Universitario de Torrejon in Madrid who was not involved in the study. “I’m not really sure what people would choose if they knew the real prognosis of it,” he told Reuters Health by phone. 

CPR should be part of the conversation about end-of-life care and advanced directives among families, said Carolyn Bradley of Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.

“When doing CPR at a hospital, we tend to move the family away, but we’ve created a situation where families may not be there for the final moments,” she said in a phone interview.

“Have a critical conversation with your health care provider and go with questions about what would happen during CPR,” she said. “What does it look like? What happens to my body? Who will be around? It could be the end-of-life. Statistically, it is.”

Istanbul: Journal of Caucasian Studies (JOCAS), September 2015-March 2017

The Journal of Caucasian Studies (JOCAS) is a peer-reviewed, bi-annual, international, academic journal.

It is also multilingual, including articles in English, Turkish and Russian. JOCAS gives voice to a new generation of Circassian scholars who have emerged in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse, and are assertively researching the history and culture of the Caucasus in the context of today’s globalised world. Included in the editorial board is anthropologist Seteney Shami, who grew up in Jordan, taught at Yarmouk University, and is now director of the Arab Council for Social Sciences in Beirut.

The first issue of JOCAS (Vol. 1, No. 1, September 2015) attests to the intent to cover historical as well as contemporary issues in many fields of relevance to Circassian communities at home and in the diaspora.

Lars Funch Hansen leads off with an article entitled “iCircassia: Digital Capitalism and New Transnational Identities”, contending that: “A concrete empowerment of Circassian actors through the Internet is taking place.” (p. 1)

Whereas the exile of Circassians from their homeland in 1864 wiped Circassia off the map, the recent creation of many Circassian websites and Circassians’ avid use of social media has restored their homeland to the global map. Hansen considers this on-line activity part of the Circassian revival, and poses many pertinent questions about its implications, such as how the Internet contributes to new hybrid identities, and whether it will encourage Circassians to return to their ancestral homeland or have the opposite effect.

In another article in JOCAS’s first issue, Sufian Zhemukhov and Sener Akturk address the future of the Circassian language by analysing Russia’s language policy over the years. They begin by noting that “although the Soviet Union was originally the most ardent supporter of multiethnic, multiculturalist, affirmative action policies when it was founded in the 1920s, the political leadership in Moscow gradually shifted towards assimilationist state policies already during the Soviet period but decisively after the collapse of the Soviet Union”. (p. 42)

The authors innumerate the many obstacles to reviving the Circassian language erected by said state policy, and connect language to other issues such as nationalism, education and immigration possibilities. They conclude, “Circassians and other non-Russian ethnic groups struggle with an ineffective language policy and an education system that puts their languages on the brink of extinction.” (p. 65)

A third article in the same issue by Yahya Khoon focuses on Prince Sefer Bey Zanuko who led the Circassian resistance to Russia’s conquest of the Northwest Caucasus in the early 19th century, but has received less attention in Western and Soviet research than the leaders of the resistance in the Northeast Caucasus. Though this article is purely historical, one notices a parallel to current reality, though Khoon does not mention it: Prince Zanuko’s main rival for leadership was Muhammad Amin, an Islamist, who was bolstered by ties to Imam Shamil, the famous leader of the militant Sufi movement, presaging by over a century the Islamist challenge to nationalist movements and regimes throughout the Middle East. 

This biographical account is one of several in the journal’s first issues. Other important persons covered are Hadji Murat, a deputy of Imam Shamil; Muhammed Zahid Shamil, Imam Shamil’s grandson; and General Musa Kundukhov, who organised the resettlement of approximately five thousand Chechen, Ossetian and Circassian families in Ottoman territory.

In the March 2017 issue (Vol. 2, No. 4), there is an interesting article on the return of the Adyge and Abkhaz living in Turkey to their ancestral homeland in the Caucasus—something that had only been a dream until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many visited, but some decided not to settle down in view of the difficult conditions prevailing in their homeland. Others, “with a decision to burn all the bridges, moved to the homeland for good”. The author, Jade Cemre Erciyes, concludes, “Since 1991, the ideology of return has been transformed according to the conditions of travel and communication.” (p. 2) 

The topics covered in the journal’s first two years of publication are wide-ranging. History predominates with studies of the Caucasian politics of Russian Tsar Paul I; the Circassian-Polish-Hungarian Alliance in the final days of the 1848-1848 Hungarian Revolution; “Russification” in the North Caucasus; the Abkhazian migration of 1867 to the Ottoman Empire, as recorded in Russian, Ottoman and British documents; and Ottoman policies on Circassian refugees in the Danube Vilayet (today Bulgaria), as well as social projects for children, the poor and the elderly among the immigrants there.

Other articles involve culture and/or more current issues, such as mythological narratives in the folklore of the Circassian diaspora in Turkey; current and potential ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus; the phenomenon of political alienation in the historical fate of the Circassian people; and Circassians in American newspapers. Some volumes include reviews of relevant books.

Judging from the first few issues, JOCAS will contribute not only to Caucasian studies, but to historical reassessment of aspects of Ottoman, Russian and great power politics, as well as to refugee, displacement and diaspora studies in a global context. JOCAS can be accessed online at http://dergipark.gov.tr/jocas

By Sonia Salfity 

When it comes to creating a healthy diet plan, small changes can make the biggest difference in the long run. Having a daily morning routine helps me stay motivated and helps me get right back on track when I falter. I still make mistakes, but the structure it gives my days means that, when my train gets off track, it is no longer doomed to crash! This morning routine keeps me on auto pilot when it comes to making my health top priority:

Starting the day with a cup of half boiling water and half cold water mixed with fresh juice of half a lemon. I drink this on an empty stomach half an hour before breakfast as a way to keep me hydrated and to get rid of unwanted toxins.

Working out in the morning, as this has lasting effects on your energy. Not everyone is a morning person, but morning exercisers are more likely to stick with their routines and achieve their goals. My 45-minute high-speed morning walks have become as routine as brushing my teeth, so even when I give into that bag of chips the night before or a cookie with my coffee, I do not dwell on my “failures” and skip the walk.

Never leaving the house without breakfast even if I’m not hungry because I do not want to be tempted by the first billboard on my drive to work showing off those juicy hamburgers or ice cream blizzards. I am also more likely to skip whatever high calorie treats my co-workers bring to the office if I have arrived with a highly nutritious breakfast in my tummy.

A balanced breakfast with two eggs cooked with approximately two cups of fresh spinach and kale leaves (if I have leftover cooked quinoa, I will add 1/4 cup to the eggs and veggies along with some sliced tomatoes) and a touch of sea salt and fresh pepper. This super breakfast powers me for hours

Another breakfast that keeps me full for hours is a slice of brown toast with a ripe slice of mashed avocado, a tiny drop of olive oil, a dash of sea salt and a fresh squeeze of half a lemon to top it off. This combination is exquisite and holds me for hours

Eating blueberries, blackberries or a banana and drinking a glass of low-fat milk for breakfast lasts me five hours. Or I pack them to go to snack on later.

Never leaving the house without my water bottle. I sometimes add fresh squeezes of lemon to it for the extra zest to help cut my cravings for sweet and salty snacking between meals. 

Sit down with a pen and paper and write down your own daily plan that fits your lifestyle. You only have one body. Take care of it. Invest in it by putting the correct plan in place today so you can save yourself many headaches down the road.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

Learning to respond to your failures with kindness, or self-compassion, may help offset the negative effects of perfectionism at any age, according to a small study of Australian teens and adults. 

“We know that perfectionism can often lead to people pushing themselves too far in the pursuit of an unobtainable excellence, and as a result experience burn-out and depression symptoms,” lead author Madeline Ferrari, a clinical psychologist at Australian Catholic University in Strathfield, New South Wales, told Reuters Health by e-mail. “However self-compassion seems to offer the opportunity to manage these perfectionism beliefs and not fall into the depression trap.” 

While striving to attain high personal standards is not unhealthy in itself, the authors write in the online journal PLoS ONE, there is a “maladaptive” form of perfectionism that includes self-criticism, fear of making mistakes and worry about negative evaluations by others. 

Past research has tied this negative form of perfectionism to heightened risk for depression, they write. To see whether self-compassion or a lack of it might influence that link, and whether age makes a difference, Ferrari’s team sent questionnaires to more than 1,000 teens and young adults. 

The anonymous, voluntary questionnaires were administered to 541 adolescents in grades seven to 10 at five Australian private high schools to assess their levels of perfectionism, depression and self-compassion. About 8 in 10 participants were girls. 

The study team gave similar questionnaires to a group of 515 adults recruited from the general population and ranging in age from 18 to 72 years, of whom about 7 in 10 were women. 

Researchers found a strong relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression among both adolescents and adults. But among people with high levels of self-compassion, the link between perfectionism and depression was “decoupled”, they report.

“Self-compassion seems to sever the link between perfectionism [and depression], even though it is really tentative and not definitive,” said Serena Chen, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley who was not involved in the study.

Perfectionism, depression and self-compassion are all correlated with one another, but the direction and influence of the effects is unclear, she added. It could be that depression leads people to be more perfectionistic or maybe people who are perfectionists have lower self-compassion, Chen said in a telephone interview. 

“[The researchers] want to make the case that self-compassion is a good thing. It is good for you... but we don’t know from this study that self-compassion is causing anything,” she added. 

Women and girls reported having significantly more depressive symptoms compared to men and boys in both study groups, but men tended to report higher self-compassion levels than women, the study authors found. 

Among the study’s limitations, they acknowledge, is that because both study groups had a high proportion of females, more research is needed to make certain that the findings apply equally to men and women. Further research involving an active intervention to see if increasing self-compassion weakens the risk of depression would be needed to prove the link, they add. 

“Our study contributes to the growing recognition that in embracing our mistakes, failures and vulnerabilities, i.e., being self-compassionate, we become more resilient,” Ferrari said. 

This should come as relief to parents, she added. “Noticing perfectionist tendencies in children shouldn’t be a cause for panic. Instead, this is an opportunity to model and teach self-compassion, especially when a child’s performance doesn’t meet their own standards.” 

“We treat other people with more compassion and understanding than we do ourselves,” said Kristin Neff, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin who, was not involved in the study. 

“The most important part of self-compassion is being kind to yourself. Self-compassion doesn’t mean you don’t point out your mistakes. You do so with constructive criticism,” Neff said in a phone interview. “Validate that it hurts, you’re disappointed and acknowledge the pain, but tell yourself that failure is part of being human. Ask yourself what you would say to a friend that made the same mistake and then tell that to yourself. ”

BERKELEY, California — When it comes to a sustainable future, scientists are not seeing clearly.

Researchers have developed a new type of tinted “smart window” that generates electricity when darkened.

The windows “can be automatically converted into a solar cell to generate electricity for us”, said Peidong Yang, a chemistry professor at UC Berkeley and researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the Berkeley Hills who heads the team responsible for the discovery.

The new solar technology could potentially be used to power everything from electric vehicles to skyscrapers. Similar to solar panels currently in use, the windows would be able to generate electricity, send it to an inverter that changes that energy from a DC current to an AC current. That energy could then be used to power the building or car that houses the windows.

The smart windows are made from a mineral called perovskite. When the crystal is heated, its internal structure rearranges to darken the colour of the glass, allowing it to absorb more light and create electricity. Scientists have known about the unique properties of perovskite for decades, but have only learned to harness them in the past five years.

While similar self-tinting windows on the market conserve energy passively by lowering the cost of air-conditioning, Yang’s innovation actively and reliably produces low amounts of electricity. Even after multiple transitions from light to dark, the smart windows are still able to produce electricity — something other versions have largely struggled to do.

There are several hurdles the team needs to jump through in order to transition the material from an idea to a marketable product.

The smart windows, which are in the early stages of development, switch from transparent to opaque at a very high temperature — around 100oC. The team hopes to bring down the transition temperature to around 65oC in order to make them more efficient for a wider variety of climates.

There is still more work to be done.

“Typically technologies require at least a decade — if not more — to go from laboratory discovery to commercial product,” said Nathan Neale, a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Neale is part of a team working on a similar technology that uses perovskite to create solar power-generating windows.

Both Neale and Yang’s teams are working to increase the amount of energy their perovskite-based windows produce. Commercial silicon-based solar panels currently convert about 20 per cent of the sunlight they receive to energy. In order to be fully marketable, Yang insists a solar panel must be able to convert at least 10 per cent of the sun’s rays to energy.

Neale’s team has developed a version of this new smart window that converts roughly 11 per cent of the light it sees to energy, but loses effectiveness after each transition. The energy-generating windows from the Berkeley Lab remain effective after multiple cycles, but have not been able to energise more than 7 per cent of the sunlight they receives. Yang said raising this number will be a critical next step in the development process.

Another hurdle? The color of the glass.

“People do not like to have coloured windows,” said Michael McGehee, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University in Palo Alto. At the moment, the smart windows tint to shades of red and yellow.

Robert Rozbicki, chief technology officer at View, a company that has installed dynamic glass at the San Francisco Airport and Kaiser Permanente agrees: “ Having the right colour is important for both architects and occupants.”

Researchers at the Berkeley Lab are already working on ways to offer a more pleasing color palette.

A burgeoning trend in sustainable design and architecture, “dynamic glass” windows are created through a process called chromogenic glazing, where researchers apply a thin veneer of chemicals to sheets of glass in order to change the properties of the material. The glazes fall into three categories: thermochromic, electrochromic and photochromic.

The smart windows that Yang and his colleagues are developing have been glazed using a thermochromic solution. Thermochromic glass reacts to heat — and in some cases, water vapour, which acts as a catalyst — causing the glass to darken and, in some cases, generate energy.

“The advantage of thermochromic [glazing] is that often you don’t need wires to the window, but at the same time, it’s not controllable like electrochromic glazing,” said Rozbicki.

Electrochromic windows, which are controllable, tint when stimulated by an electrical current. Recently, Boeing installed self-tinting electrochromic glass in its 787 Dreamliner that, at the push of a button, provide comfort to passengers and increase efficiency. Some rear-view mirrors also possess this technology.

Transition eyeglass lenses are coated in a photochromic glaze, which transitions to a darker colour when lit. While earlier versions only reacted to UV light, more recent iterations transition at the first sign of any type of bright light.

Both Yang and Neale are confident that these obstacles can easily be overcome, and that electricity-generating windows will gleam across skylines throughout the world. After that, the sky’s the limit.

“There’s lots of room where we can improve,” said Yang. “But it’s promising, very promising.”

MIAMI — Common dieting advice urges people to either eat fewer carbohydrates or less fat in order to shed weight. But a study Tuesday found neither approach is better than the other.

Nor is a person’s genetics or insulin metabolism a key factor in whether a diet works for them or not, said the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings could have implications for the $66 billion US weight loss industry, and particularly the latest trend of DNA dieting, which claims to point people to the best diet for their genes. 

“We’ve all heard stories of a friend who went on one diet — it worked great — and then another friend tried the same diet, and it didn’t work at all,” said lead author Christopher Gardner, professor of medicine at Stanford University. 

“It’s because we’re all very different, and we’re just starting to understand the reasons for this diversity. Maybe we shouldn’t be asking what’s the best diet, but what’s the best diet for whom?”

The study enrolled 609 people — 57 per cent women — aged 18 to 50 and randomly assigned them to either a low-fat or low-carb diet for a year. 

At the end, the average weight loss was six kilogrammes in both groups.

Some individuals lost far more — up to 30 kilogrammes, while some gained 10 kologrammes. But researchers were unable to find any link between dietary approach and superior weight loss.

After a year, “there was no significant difference in weight change between a healthy low-fat diet vs a healthy low-carbohydrate diet,” said the report.

At the beginning, “participants got part of their genome sequenced, allowing scientists to look for specific gene patterns associated with producing proteins that modify carbohydrate or fat metabolism”, said the report.

They also drank a shot of glucose on an empty stomach so researchers could measure their bodies’ insulin outputs.

“Neither genotype pattern nor baseline insulin secretion was associated with the dietary effects on weight loss,” it said.

What seemed to help people lose weight was following a single strategy: eat less sugar, less refined flour, and as many vegetables and whole foods as possible.

“On both sides, we heard from people who had lost the most weight that we had helped them change their relationship to food, and that now they were more thoughtful about how they ate,” said Gardner.

If you are a Windows 10 user you should get ready for an important upgrade this April.

Like all major software products, Microsoft’s Windows has had its ups and downs. More ups than downs, definitely.

Despite passing criticism, and against all odds, it is still, and by far, the most widely used computer operating system in the world. Some would argue that Windows is losing ground whereas Apple MacOs is gaining some. This is somewhat true, but the gap is still very wide. According to statista.com Windows had 91.5 per cent of the market share in 2013, and went “down” to 84 per cent in 2017. Over the same period, MacOS went from 8.5 per cent up to 11.5 per cent. Linux, Chrome OS and other operating systems take the remaining, insignificant market share.

Over the years Windows has proven that it is here to stay, despite a couple of short-lived mishaps such as Windows Millennium and Windows 8. Whereas the most popular version to date, and the one that has enjoyed the longest longevity remains Windows XP, the current Windows 10, slowly but surely, has shown beyond any doubt, that it is reliable, fast, stable and brings invaluable ease of use and a great graphic user interface for all to enjoy and interact with.

Even if you used to swear by the venerable Windows XP you cannot reasonably deny the fact that it looks a bit old, outdated, when compared to Windows 10. Windows XP is history.

The number of features and improvements that Windows 10 keeps bringing is too long to list here. Among the major ones: better built-in protection against viruses and threats of all kinds, and more specifically against the dreaded ransomware. A more intelligent handling of peripherals and connections is also on Windows 10 credit list.

Say you have a wireless printer installed on your home network and your entire settings have changed after your Internet service provider has just installed Fibre Optics for you. Windows 10 will act smartly and will detect your wireless printer over the newly set network without you having to do anything at all.

Windows 10 also does excellent memory management and will make whatever amount of RAM you have installed in your computer to perform better. New hard disks, such as for example the ultra-fast Solid State Drive are perfectly managed by Windows 10, and so is USB-C, the latest version of USB.

To spare users the understandable fear of migrating from one version of Windows up to another, Microsoft has adopted a new, smarter PR strategy with Windows 10. It has more to do with psychology than technology!

Instead of giving a new name to a new version, the company is maintaining the same name throughout the upgrade process, Windows 10 in this very case, while of course bringing about the upgrade. Another significant point is that there is no need to go through what is considered as major surgery by consumers, and that would usually consist of having to completely uninstall the old system and then install the new one. With Windows 10 the process is smooth and transparent.

So it is always Windows 10, just to make you feel safer, more comfortable, but with a different release number for reference. Whereas the current one is 1709, the upcoming upgrade, expected to arrive early April will be 1809.

If you tend to hesitate to upgrade and prefer to wait until most of the population has done it, do not. Experience has shown that Windows 10 upgrades are a safe bet.

People with celiac disease,  who are extremely vigilant about not ingesting gluten, may perceive that their quality of life is reduced, according to a new study. 

Current guidelines for managing celiac disease call for “lifelong adherence to a strict, gluten-free diet”, study leader Randi Wolf of Columbia University in New York City told Reuters Health in an e-mail. 

But the “extreme vigilance” required to follow a strict gluten-free diet may also have negative consequences, both physically and emotionally, Wolf said. 

“We absolutely must continue to advocate for a strict gluten-free diet with the caveat that, for some, such hypervigilance comes at a cost that needs to be supported and addressed,” Wolf said. 

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects roughly one of every 100 people in the US People with celiac disease must avoid foods and medications that contain the gluten protein from wheat, barley or rye. Ingesting these proteins causes their immune system to attack their intestines, resulting in malnutrition and a host of other problems. 

As reported in Digestive Diseases and Sciences, Wolf’s team studied 80 teens and adults with celiac disease, most of whom had been diagnosed at least five years earlier. The participants spoke with the researchers in person and on the phone for a total of three times over the course of a month. 

Participants answered questions about dietary adherence, vigilance, energy levels, knowledge about gluten-containing foods and quality of life issues related to celiac disease. Based on their answers, they were classified as being “extremely vigilant” or “less vigilant”. 

Twelve of the 50 adults and seven of the 30 teenagers in the study were considered extremely vigilant. 

“The ‘extremely vigilant’ adults” — that is, those who only used celiac-friendly restaurants, asked thorough questions when eating out, examined all food, medication, supplement labels, avoided all potential sources of cross-contamination in the home, etc. – “had significantly lower quality of life scores compared to their less vigilant counterparts”, Wolf said. 

For those “extremely vigilant” patients, “having supportive family and friends, cooking at home [as opposed to eating out] and using Internet sites and apps to facilitate gluten avoidance were particularly prevalent strategies to maintain a strict gluten-free diet”, she said. 

The study cannot prove that being hypervigilant was the cause of participants’ worse quality of life. 

Wolf recommends ongoing involvement of a registered dietician, beyond the initial diagnosis. 

“Conversations to promote both dietary adherence and support quality of life issues will take time and cannot be done in a single visit,” she said. “We also need to explore interventions that could be combined with visits to a dietician that may help reduce some of the . . . anxiety and stress.” 

“We plan to pilot test various interventions, such as gluten sensor devices, cooking classes, and online discussion tools, to learn about their potential utility of promoting a strict gluten-free diet, but also maximising the quality of life,” said Wolf. 

Dr Benjamin Lebwohl, a gastroenterologist with Columbia University who was also part of the study team, said physicians need to promote a strict gluten-free diet for the control of symptoms and improved long-term health outcomes. 

“But we must acknowledge that tightening the screws on gluten avoidance may come at a cost in terms of quality of life. It is easy for us to tell patients to take additional precautionary measures, but such measures may take a toll on the patient,” he said. 

Shayna Coburn, a psychologist with the Children’s National Health System Celiac Programme, said the study is thought-provoking and highlights the struggle to balance safety and quality life for teens and adults with celiac disease. 

These findings remind us to not just encourage people to follow a strict gluten-free diet, but also to pay attention to their emotional and social needs, said Coburn, who was not involved in the study. 

“To achieve this, we need medical care that includes not only doctors, but dietitians and mental health professionals to support people in this challenging, lifelong diet,” she said.