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Traditional depression treatments like psychotherapy or medication might work better for some patients when doctors add a dose of music therapy, a research review suggests.

Researchers examined data on 421 people who participated in nine previously completed short-term experiments testing the benefits of music therapy on its own or added to traditional interventions for depression.

Overall, the analysis found patients felt less depressed when music was added to their treatment regimen, according to the analysis in the Cochrane Library.

Music therapy also appeared to help ease anxiety and improve functioning in depressed individuals, and it appeared just as safe as traditional treatments.

“We can now be more confident that music therapy in fact improves patients’ symptoms and functioning, and that this finding holds across a variety of settings, countries, types of patients, and types of music therapy,” said senior study author Christian Gold of Uni Research Health in Bergen, Norway.

More than 300 million people worldwide have depression, which is projected to become the leading cause of disability by 2020, Gold and colleagues write.

Music therapy can include passive approaches that involve listening, active treatments that involve playing an instrument or singing or participating in a musical performance, or some combination of these approaches. What sets therapy apart from other musical endeavors is that it is typically led by a person with training in counseling, psychology or treating depression.

Even though music therapy has long been used all over the world, research to date has not offered a clear picture of its benefits, Gold said.

The last review of music therapy published by Cochrane in 2008 did not offer as much evidence of benefits, Gold said. A milestone study that came out in 2011 concluded that music could help but was only done in one country and left many unanswered questions, he said.

“The present review update confirms these findings and broadens them,” Gold said by e-mail. “We still think that more research is needed; however, we feel that research on music therapy for depression can now turn to more specific questions, such as comparing different types of therapy to each other.”

Studies included in the current review ranged in duration from six to 12 weeks. The smallest study had just 14 participants, and the largest one included 79 people.

The total number of treatment sessions ranged from eight to 48, and the duration of sessions varied from 20 minutes to two hours.

Only one of the studies in the analysis compared active versus passive music therapy, and it did not find a difference in the short-term severity of depression.

“The most important finding is that music therapy shows short-term beneficial effects for people with depression when added on top of baseline psychological or pharmacological treatment,” said Dr. Gjin Ndrepepa, a researcher at Technical University in Munich, Germany, who was not involved in the study.

How it works is not clear, Ndrepepa said by e-mail.

But modern brain imaging studies have shown that music therapy activates regions of the brain that are involved in regulating emotions. Joyful and sad music can have different effects, too, Ndrepepa added.

More research is still needed to figure out what type of music therapy works best for specific patient situations, Gold said.

Its job is to recognise music. Now it is the app’s turn to get fully recognised.

Shazam may soon get even more popular than it is already, now that Apple is said to go after the mobile application to acquire it. The price tag announced on December 12 was $400 million.

For those who have never used the app, Shazam is a music identification software. It was first only available on mobile devices but then a Windows version was also made to run on full-size computers and laptops.

Play a tune through any speaker available, launch Shazam on your device, bring the microphone close to the sound source or just play the music loud enough, and in the overwhelming number of cases the app will recognise the tune. It will display its title and often the name of the performing artist, on the screen of your device, all this in a second or two, sometimes even less.

The word Shazam, as defined by the online urban dictionary is an “exclamation… used to introduce an extraordinary deed, story, or transformation”. It comes from the world of American comics.

There are a couple of things that are absolutely amazing about Shazam and then there are another couple of imperfections, albeit minor ones. On the truly great side is the speed at which the application is able to recognise the music.

With the years we have become accustomed to the incredible search speed of the Google engine. You hardly finish typing your question in your web browser that already several answers or suggestions pop up before your very eyes. But these are typed words and we can more or less understand that the power of computers and networks today, combined with the genius of Google’s engineers, can do the trick. But how does Shazam manage to do it so quickly with music, with sound? It is impressive, by any standard.

The mere fact that Apple is buying Shazam says a lot about its importance. It reminds us of when Microsoft found Skype so significant that it had to buy it. This took place in 2011, for a trifle $8.5 billion. At some point all great applications started by small companies end up duly recognised and are bought by a giant in the IT industry.

Now, why is Shazam so important as an application? After all, it only recognises music!

There are two good reasons. The first is that recognising music is not a minor achievement, it should not be taken lightly. With the incredible coverage music has in the world, being able to put a name on a tune has become part of the entertainment business. Moreover, once you put a name on a song or piece of music, you may go after it and buy it. Or you may go and view the video on Youtube and, therefore, see the paid ads that are displayed there.

The second reason is that engineers are working on adding image or object recognition to Shazam capability. Point the device camera to whatever you are seeing and Shazam will tell you what it is, where it is, and so forth.

On the not-so-perfect side are the errors in recognition that happen, or even the non-recognition at all. Errors confusing a tune with another almost never happen, but it is sometimes the name of the performing artist that is mistaken for another artist who also has performed the same piece in another recording. Shazam may be excused for that, though again, it remains a shortcoming. For using Shazam frequently, I would say this happens very rarely, perhaps one in 50 times.

More frequent are the cases where Shazam is helpless. This would happen if you are playing jazz, and even more frequently if it is classical. With pop songs Shazam almost never fails.

Here again, one can understand how the world is going. Pop music, in all its various forms, is what the world listens to before any other genre. Jazz and classical come after. This is perhaps why the music recognition power of Shazam is more focused on pop songs. Perhaps Apple geniuses will take it to the next level one day!

Still, I am frustrated at Shazam’s inability to recognise this beautiful “Classics in Jazz” recording I have of a live concert that took place circa 1975. I had it on an audio cassette tape that I later digitised and saved on my computers’ hard disk. I do not know the name of the performing band. All I know is the date of the concert and that it took place in Germany. Despite countless attempts Shazam could not tell me more about it!

WUHU/SHANGHAI — In an industrial park on the edge of Shanghai, a dozen Chinese teenagers are taking a break from battling digital armies to focus on their yoga.

They are members of EDG, one of China’s top electronic sports teams, who spend six days a week in a military-style training compound to become world beaters in video games.

EDG’s players — when not doing yoga to stay limber — spend most of their time at the camp wielding virtual weaponry playing multiplayer battle games like “League of Legends” or Tencent Holdings Ltd’s popular “Honour of Kings”.

The team’s top players can rake in up to 30 million yuan ($4.54 million) a year each from tournament prize money, commercial endorsements and payments from avid fans who spend hours watching them play online.

China’s craze for e-sports is being propelled by the country’s booming video game market, the world’s largest and one that is expected to register $27.5 billion in sales this year, according to the gaming consultancy Newzoo.

Game developers like Tencent and NetEase Inc., and others like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., are competing to market video games, fill stadiums with fans and sell broadcast rights to the matches.

“We have found the fastest-growing and biggest demand is in e-sports, and we are following that trend,” said Wang Guan, general manager of e-sports at Alisports, an Alibaba subsidiary.

Cities around the country are looking to cash in on the market’s fast growth with video game theme-parks and e-sports venues. Some universities are even rolling out gaming degrees.

Alisports, which organises the World Electronic Sports Games, successfully lobbied the Olympic Council of Asia to include e-sports at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

The extent of the e-gaming boom was on display in Beijing in November at the world final of League of Legends, with a prize of over $4 million at stake.

A crowd of more than 40,000 people packed into the city’s Olympic Bird’s Nest Stadium to watch the South Korean gaming stars Faker and CuVee go head to head.

The raucous crowd, a bigger turnout than most local football games, underlined how popular gaming as a hobby and spectator sport has become in China.

Jiang Ping, 17, a university student in Beijing, paid 4,000 yuan to watch the final with his aunt. They were lucky: tickets sold on the grey market reportedly rose to more than 20 times the original price due to high demand.

“When I started playing this game five years ago, there weren’t that many people,” Jiang said. “Now the numbers are huge, and even the game itself is now owned by a Chinese firm, Tencent.”

Tencent owns the League of Legends developer Riot Games.

Tencent or die

The city of Wuhu, a backwater three hours away from Shanghai, is a symbol of China’s gaming potential — as well as its risks.

Many local governments have been seeking to develop more specialised industries, and Wuhu has targeted e-sports. In May, the city signed a deal with Tencent to build an e-sports university and a stadium for events. Other cities, like Zhongxian in the municipality of Chongqing, are also building facilities to profit from the e-sports boom.

Some industry participants, however, are already worried about a bubble forming, and rising debt levels as local governments jump into e-sports investment.

“Maybe some of the developers don’t have pure intentions, they are just using e-sports as an excuse to get land at a cheap price from local government,” said Tao Junyin, marketing director of VSPN, a leading e-sports content company.

Han Li, manager of Wuhu’s e-sports association, said the city had discussed ideas including an e-sports-themed hotpot restaurant, bar and cinema, in addition to the gaming school and arena.

Ultimately, though, China’s gaming giants are the ones calling the shots, he said.

“Tencent has a controlling power in the whole industry, so we have to find a way to work with Tencent. You either die or you go Tencent,” he said.

Tencent declined to comment.

Socialist values

Local gamers also face tougher regulation than peers in the United States, South Korea or Japan, with a recent government push to emphasise “core socialist values” in entertainment products including songs, online streaming and video games.

This year, Tencent limited the time children could play its popular Honour of Kings game after coming under fire over gaming addiction. In November it said it would bring the top-selling game “Playerunknown’s Battleground” to China, but would tweak the game to fit with “socialist core values”.

Tencent’s main local rival, NetEase, has already embedded banners with patriotic slogans into one of its popular battlefield games to head off official criticism.

“In China, you have to follow the government’s decree,” said Tao of VSPN. “But you can always make moderations to the games so that it will pass the censor.”

Nonetheless, China’s youth seem enthralled, prompting some universities to start offfering e-sports degrees, from professional gaming to e-sports commentating and graphic design.

Liu Xuefeng, a freshman from Anhui province, applied for a gaming degree programme in the western city of Chengdu — despite facing push-back from his concerned parents.

“I am very interested in this programme, and they couldn’t stop me, so they had to cave in the end,” he said, adding that he wanted to be an e-sports commentator. “There is great potential in the development of the gaming business.”

The allure of becoming the next big gaming star is already sparking fierce competition to get into the market, said David Ng, head of Super Generation Investment, which owns the EDG e-sports team.

“Sometimes we will have a thousand application letters in our mail box to join our team on a single day.”

As work worries abate, sleep difficulties may also diminish when workers make the transition to retirement, according to a recent study from Finland.

In particular, complaints of non-restorative sleep and waking up too early in the morning decreased significantly, especially among pensioners who had poor health and stressful work lives before retirement, researchers found.

“People reported experiencing more early morning awakenings and non-restorative sleep during the final working years than after retirement,” said lead author Saana Myllyntausta, a psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Turku.

Sleep is considered non-restorative when a person is still tired after sleeping seven to eight hours. Sleep difficulties and short sleep cycles are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and early death, Myllyntausta and her colleagues note in the journal Sleep.

“This study would suggest that sleep quality, a key component of our health, is considerably poorer during the working years,” Myllyntausta told Reuters Health by e-mail.

The study team analysed survey data from 5,800 Finnish public sector employees who retired on a statutory basis between 2000 and 2011. Mandatory retirement age specified in the public sector worker pension law was generally 63 to 65 until 2004, the researchers note. In 2005, it was expanded to ages 63 to 68, except for certain worker categories such as primary schoolteachers, for whom mandatory retirement is at age 60.

Every four years, the participants responded to surveys and for the current study, researchers analysed their responses during the years just before retirement and in the transitional years right afterward.

In the final survey before retirement, 30 per cent of the employees reported sleep difficulties, but after retirement, 26 per cent reported sleep problems. In the years immediately following retirement, the likelihood of sleep problems dropped 11 per cent overall compared to the final years of work.

In particular, waking up too early was 24 per cent less likely and non-restorative sleep fell by 53 per cent. Little change was seen in difficulties falling asleep or maintaining sleep, however.

In general, sleep duration increased by about 20 minutes after retirement, and for those who had sleep difficulties or were heavy alcohol users before retirement, sleep increased by 45 minutes.

The researchers note that sleep difficulties before retirement occurred more noticeably in those with poorer health, shorter sleep times, psychological stress and job strain.

“Retirement from work is a great opportunity to make positive changes in sleep, as working hours no longer dominate sleep timing and work-related stresses are removed,” Myllyntausta said. “People can make sure they get an adequate amount of restorative sleep.”

This research is part of the overall Finnish Retirement and Aging study, which follows aging workers with wearable activity and sleep monitors from final working years into retirement.

“What we have learned about aging and sleep up to now comes mainly from studies comparing young adults with elderly people, which somewhat neglect sleep changes in middle age,” said Dr Jean-Claude Marquie of the University of Toulouse in France who was not involved in the study.

“Yet, ageing is a developmental process which takes place throughout adulthood,” Marquie told Reuters Health by e-mail. “The failure of studies to examine these middle years means that it is unclear whether changes in habits, sleep length and quality of sleep occur gradually or only in later years.”

The Finnish study, for instance, shows that sleep problems were rated higher in 2006 than in 1996, which could reflect an increased public awareness of sleep problems or changes in working conditions, such as more stressful work and longer work schedules, Marquie said. In general, sleep problems started in the 30s and then increased into the 50s, and sometimes even the 70s.

“Another important issue is that former shift workers show similar levels of sleep complaints as current shift workers,” noted Marquie, who is studying the effects of night shift work on sleep, heart disease risk and aging.

“Perhaps the main message is that some of the consequences of poor working conditions can be reversible [but not all of them], and the transition to retirement may be a ‘blessed’ period that is important not to push back too far,” Marquie said.

WASHINGTON — US regulators are gearing up for a vote on a plan which — depending on your viewpoint — would “restore internet freedom” or, alternatively, result in “the death of the Internet” as we know it.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will consider a rollback of its 2015 order aimed at enforcing “net neutrality”, or the notion of treating all data and content providers equally.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai last month unveiled the plan, the latest twist in a dispute over more than a decade, with both sides claiming to promote a “free and open” Internet.

The plan, widely expected to be approved on a 3-2 party-line vote on Thursday, would reverse the rules adopted two years earlier which ban broadband providers from blocking or throttling rivals, or using “fast” and “slow” lanes for different services.

Pai, named chairman by President Donald Trump, said the 2015 rules “depress investment and innovation”.

Critics of the existing rules say they rely on 1930s-era rules for telephone companies, which could in theory lead to price regulation and other burdens.

But net neutrality backers argue that the rollback will enable Internet service providers (ISPs) to shut out rivals that compete with their services or those of partners. They point out that some ISPs in the past have tried to force users to their own search engines, or block online calling services such as Skype or Vonage, or require a premium for Apple’s FaceTime video calling.

The Pai proposal “will lead to a dramatic transformation of how the Internet works,” said Sarah Morris, who heads the New America Foundation’s Open Policy Institute.

“Internet service providers as gatekeepers have a lot of incentives to engage in shenanigans. The threats to our ability to navigate the Internet and go to every corner of it are at risk if the Pai plan is adopted,” she told a conference on Tuesday.

Pillow in the face?

New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo wrote that “the freewheeling internet has been dying a slow death” and that the FCC actions “would be the final pillow in its face”.

Senior Executive Vice President Bob Quinn of AT&T, one of the large broadband firms which has lobbied and sued to block earlier FCC regulatory efforts, said apocalyptic predictions are wrong.

“AT&T intends to operate its network the same way AT&T operates its network today: in an open and transparent manner,” Quinn said in a blog post last month.

Michael Powell, head of the trade group for major broadband firms NCTA — The Internet & Television Association, said member companies have agreed to respect principles to “satisfy their customers’ desire to visit any lawful website or run any lawful application”.

But some are not mollified by these assurances, arguing that broadband is largely controlled by a handful of firms — including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast — with little competition or consumer choice in many markets.

“Why would they spend millions of dollars lobbying if they are going to treat everybody equally and not extract monopoly rents?” asked Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents major tech firms.

“If they are allowed to build superfast lanes, they would cease to invest in the other lanes. It means everybody else is going to be left on the equivalent of dirt roads.”

The question of “paid prioritisation”, whether broadband firms can charge more for improved access, has been among the most hotly debated.

Critics say broadband firms would be able to extort higher fees and limit access for new startups if the proposal is adopted.

But University of California economist Michael Katz argues this is a basic business principal at work.

“The logic of net neutrality would also argue for banning e-commerce sites from purchasing faster delivery from Fedex or UPS, or from offering free shipping,” Katz said in a research paper.

The net neutrality battle has been the subject of a series of court challenges over the past decade, and more litigation is likely unless Congress establishes clear guidelines.

Google, Netflix, 

Russian bots

Large tech firms like Google, Facebook and Netflix oppose the FCC draft rules, arguing that ISPs could effectively cut off or limit user access to some services.

But with political and public sentiment shifting against Silicon Valley in recent months, Pai has turned the tables by blaming the large tech platforms for limiting consumer choice.

“These providers routinely block or discriminate against content they don’t like,” Pai told a recent conference.

Pai said his plan would “restore a light-touch” regulatory approach, while arguing that “some have tried to whip Americans into a frenzy by making outlandish claims”.

Still, the FCC actions have sparked protests around the country, and some 21 million comments in its online system. But the comment system was tainted by what appeared to be “bots”, possibly from Russia, repeating similar messages.

“The FCC is on course to eliminate net neutrality guided by a record corrupted by hundreds of thousands of filings with stolen identities [and] close to half a million comments from Russian e-mail addresses,” said FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who opposes the Pai plain.

“No vote should take place until a responsible investigation is complete.”

An FCC spokesman said the vote “will proceed as scheduled on December 14”.

LOS ANGELES — With anticipation building for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, Disney-Pixar’s animated comedy “Coco” handily won its third straight crown at a moderate North American box office with $18.3 million at 3,748 sites.

“Coco” joined “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, “Fate of the Furious” and “Split” as 2017 titles to top the domestic box office for three weekends in a row. The major studios have held off on any new openings since the Thanksgiving holiday but that changes on the evening of December 14 when previews start for Disney-Lucasfilm’s “The Last Jedi” amid expectations of an opening weekend in the $200 million range.

“Coco”, a colourful celebration of Mexico’s Day of the Dead, showed impressive holding power with a 33 per cent decline from its second weekend to lift its 19-day domestic total to $135.5 million. It has performed similarly to Disney’s animated “Moana”, which opened at the same time last year and had totalled $144.7 million after three weekends.

There was a single wide opening this weekend with Broad Green Pictures’ final movie, “Just Getting Started”, showing little traction with moviegoers with $3.2 million at 2,146 locations. “Just Getting Started”, a poorly reviewed action comedy starring Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones, wound up in 10th place behind A24’s sixth weekend of awards contender “Lady Bird” with $3.5 million at 1,557 venues.

The fourth weekend of Warner Bros.-DC Entertainment’s superhero team-up “Justice League” finished with just over half of “Coco” with $9.6 million at 3,508 locations with a 42 per cent decline. “Justice League” has taken in $212.1 million in 24 days and is the 10th biggest movie of 2017 — but it is also the lowest performer among the five DC Extended Universe movies. “Wonder Woman” had hit $318 million domestically at the 24-day point in June.

“Justice League” has gone past $600 million worldwide with an international total of $401 million. Its performance pushed Warner Bros past the $5 billion mark worldwide for 2017. The studio announced on Sunday that it has become the first studio to cross the $2 billion mark for the year, led by “Wonder Woman” with $412 million and “It” with $327 million.

Lionsgate’s third weekend of inspirational drama “Wonder” finished in third place with $8.5 million at 3,519 North American sites with a 35 per cnet decline. “Wonder” became the 27th movie of the year to cross the $100 million mark — and one of the least costly among that group, given its $20 million budget. Production companies on the Jacob Tremblay vehicle are Mandeville Films, Participant Media, Walden Media and TIK Films.

A24’s expansion of James Franco’s comedy-drama “The Disaster Artist” came in fourth with a solid $6.4 million at 840 venues, up from 19 last weekend. That edged the sixth weekend of Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” with $6.3 million at 3,047 sites, which put its domestic total above $300 million. The third Thor movie was a key factor in November’s box office staying ahead of the same month last year.

Paramount’s fifth weekend of “Daddy’s Home 2” finished sixth with $6 million at 3,263 locations, down only 21 per cent, to lift its 31-day total to $91.2 million. The original “Daddy’s Home” wound up its domestic run two years ago with $150.4 million.

Fox’s fifth frame of “Murder on the Orient Express” followed with $5.1 million at 3,201 sites for a total of $92. 7 million. The Kenneth Branagh vehicle, which has a $55 million budget, has been a solid performer internationally with $182 million in grosses outside the US.

Sony’s fourth weekend of faith-based animated drama “The Star” came in eighth with $3.7 million at 2,976 venues, off only 10 per cent. The film, co-financed by Walden Media and released through the Affirm label, has totaled $32.3 million in 24 days.

With five convertible models including a pair of two seat folding roof roadsters and three soft-top four seat saloon-based models, Mercedes has become a go-to brand for practical yet luxurious open top motoring. 

The smallest four-seat convertible the Stuttgart maker has to offer, the C-Class Cabriolet is a well-equipped, safe and highly useable drop top. Echoing its larger E- and S-Class Cabriolet sister models, the C-Class Cabriolet is not an outright sports car, but more of a comfortable yet capable grand tourer.

Head turner

Stylish, elegant and with the tri-star badge atop its bonnet, the C-Class Cabriolet proved something of a head-turner during test drive, garnering numerous positive glances and comments. Designed with smooth curves and edges, flowing lines and subtly muscular surfacing, the C-Cabriolet’s fascia features a broad and hungry grille with a concave studded mesh background and a large metallic emblem. Big deep side intakes lend the C-Class Cabriolet more assertive presence, while its sweptback headlights feature an LED strip that trails off towards a side character line extanding across the flanks.

Bearing resemblance to Mercedes’ other four-seat drop tops, the C-Class Cabriolet has an elegantly smooth appeal to its design, with its electrically folding fabric roof stowing away behind the rear seats and into the boot for an elegantly flush waistline. Despite a smaller boot lid, the Cabriolet’s full luggage volume is comparable to the C-Class Coupe. However, with the roof folded down, luggage volume is reduced from 360-litres to a still very useful 285-litres, while rear headroom is marginally improved, albeit along with reduced shoulder room.

Smooth and responsive

Owing to its roof folding mechanism and the extensive bracing and reinforcement to compensate for the expected loss of structural rigidity in the absence of a fixed roof, the C-Class Cabriolet is some 140kg heavier than the corresponding version. Though heavier than the Coupe version, the turbocharged 2-litre, four-cylinder C200 Cabriolet, as driven, is only marginally slower in acceleration and maximum speed than the C200 Coupe, but its performance provides brisk capabilities that are well-suited to its more relaxed but still mildly sporting character and dynamic abilities.

The second to entry-level model in the range, the C200 Cabriolet develops 181BHP at 5500rpm and 221lb/ft torque 1200-4000rpm. Driving the rear wheels, the C200 Cabriolet accelerates through 0-100km/h in 7.8-seconds, attains 233km/h, and returns efficient 6.2l/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency. 

Slick and smooth, Mercedes’ new 9-speed automatic is much improved on the previous 7-speed. With better responsiveness and a broader range of ratio, and well-mated to a versatile engine, improves responsiveness from standstill, enhances mid-range flexibility and provides for low rev high speed refinement and efficiency.

Confident and comfortable

With faint four-cylinder chatter at idle, the E200 is smooth and quick-spooling off the line. Settling into a generous and wide maximum torque mid-range, the C200 Cabriolet makes confident on the move progress. Best exploited in its mid-range in town and on highway, the C200 Cabriolet also revs smoothly and eagerly when driving through snaking switchbacks or winding hill climbs. 

Confident, consistent and as quick as it needs to be to be enjoyable the C200 Cabriolet’s 2-litre engine — in a more aggressive state of tune — also powers 208BHP and 242BHP C250 and C300 Cabriolet versions.

Stable, planted and refined inside, even with a fabric roof, the C200 Cabriolet is consummate grand tourer, happily, confidently and comfortably crunching long distances. Like Mercedes’ other convertible offerings, the C200 Cabriolet is particularly well suited for topless winter and night-time driving, with a subtle windshield top deflector directing wind away from the cabin. 

Meanwhile, a combination of a powerful heater, toasty heated seats and seat back neck height Airscarf hot air vents provide a warmer environment for the driver and passengers even with the top open and exposed to the elements.

wSupportive and sporty

Comfortable and confident on the highway, the C200 Cabriolet rides somewhat on the firm side, especially through corners, where taut body control keeps it flat and poised. However, it is also adequately comfortable in the city, with its variable dampers taking the edge off sharper lumps, bumps and road imperfections, despite its staggered low profile 225/40R19 front and 245/35R19 rear tyres. 

Adequately accommodating four adults inside, the practical C200 Cabriolet’s front seats are however spacious and supportive, with an ergonomic, highly adjustable driving position that lends itself to confident driving. 

Meanwhile cabin ambiance is welcoming and elegantly sporty, with plenty of convenience and quality materials.

Though not an outright sports coupe like stiffer and more focused Mercedes-AMG variants of its Coupe sister model, the C200 Cabriolet is adept through corners, with quick and precise steering, and tidy and crisp turn-in. 

An intuitive drive, it is eager entering corners, and flat and balanced throughout. It is, however, set-up to be slightly on the tail happy side, and in Sport+ driving mode allows one some leeway before its electronic stability controls intervene. More rewarding when driven briskly yet smoothly and with well-timed and progressive throttle input, one does not have to rely on the electronics to keep the rear tyres dug into the ground.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged, in-line 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke: 83 x 92mm

Compression ratio: 9.8:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, variable timing, direct injection

Gearbox: 9-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive

Ratios: 1st 5.35; 2nd 3.24; 3rd 2.25; 4th 1.64; 5th 1.21; 6th 1.0; 7th 0.86; 8th 0.72; 9th 0.6

Reverse / final drive ratios: 4.8 / 3.07

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 181 (184) [135] @5500rpm

Specific power: 90.9BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 108.7BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 221 (300) @1200-4000rpm

Specific torque: 150.6Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 180.1Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 7.8-seconds

Top speed: 233km/h

Fuel consumption, combined: 6.2-6.6-litres/100km 

CO2 emissions, combined: 140-150g/km

Fuel capacity: 66-litres

Length: 4686mm

Width: 1810mm

Height: 1409mm

Wheelbase: 2840mm

Track, F/R: 1563 / 1546

Overhangs, F/R: 790 / 1056mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.28

Headroom, F/R: 1021 / 914mm

Shoulder width, F/R: 1392 / 1214mm

Luggage volume min/max (without spare tyre): 285-360-litres

Kerb weight: 1665kg

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning Circle: 11.22-meters

Suspension: Multi-link, variable damping

Brakes: Ventilated discs / discs

Tyres, F/R: 255/40R19 / 245/35R19 (optional)

Consumers like healthy eating blogs written by nutritionists who seem credible and who interact with their readers, a small study in Canada suggests.

The researchers looked at what properties of a food blog are most likely to encourage readers to make healthy changes in eating behaviour. They also found that references and links to extra information boosted both credibility and usefulness.

“Health professionals and laypersons alike frequently enlist blogs as way to provide dietary advice or to tell their story. But the Internet is a vortex for conflicting — and oftentimes wildly inaccurate — information, especially when it comes to a healthy diet,” said New Jersey-based independent nutritionist Felicia Stoler, who was not involved in the study.

“Blogs can provide a great reference for inspiration and motivation,” said Stoler, who holds a doctorate in clinical nutrition from Rutgers University. “But you need to look for credible sources. Preferably a registered dietician. It’s not uncommon for physicians, chiropractors and chefs to position themselves as nutritionists. Unfortunately, these folks don’t necessarily have the adequate background or training to properly advise individuals on their diet.”

Sophie Desroches of the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods at Laval University in Quebec City and her colleagues recruited a group of women to assess four healthy-eating blogs written by French Canadian registered dieticians.

The 33 participants answered questions and provided feedback on the usefulness and ease of use of each of the blogs.

Desroches, who did not respond to a request for comments, and her colleagues found that certain types of content and design features in a blog got the highest scores for usefulness. Of these, recipes, hyperlinks and references were the most important.

Hyperlinks provided an easier way to direct readers to additional resources while references, including blogger bios, improved the users’ feeling that the blogger is a credible source, according to the results in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The study participants also assumed that featured recipes were nutritionally sound, which in turn made them more inclined to incorporate those recipes into their own diets.

Interaction between bloggers and blog readers enhanced ease of use and facilitated a sense of connection between content creators and readers, the researchers also found. That connection made readers more likely to move towards improving their dietary behaviours.

One of the surprising findings, the study team notes, was that users preferred a narrative approach to food-related personal experiences over and above straight expert advice — as long as the storytelling was coming from a credible source.

Many users found that videos were not relevant unless they featured specific cooking techniques, and on average, women felt videos were much too long. The users did tend to like vibrant colours, eye-catching photos and text that was well organised with subheadings.

The researchers acknowledge in their report that they studied just a small sampling of the healthy eating blogs on the internet, and that their group of assessors may not represent all French Canadian users.

Stoler advises readers of healthy eating blogs to maintain a degree of skepticism and ask themselves certain questions. Might this blogger be getting paid to promote a certain agenda? Is he or she disclosing any conflicts of interest? Does the blogger have any bias in favour of whatever they are promoting?

SAN FRANCISCO — From smartphone messaging tailored for tikes to computers for classrooms, technology titans are weaving their way into childhoods to form lifelong bonds, raising hackles of advocacy groups.

The debut this month in the US of a version of Messenger mobile application for children younger than 12 marked the first time leading online social network Facebook has stepped into the sensitive market.

California-based Facebook said Messenger Kids complies with regulations protecting children online, and offers more safeguards for youngsters.

Facebook said the new app, with no ads or in-app purchases, is aimed at 6- to 12-year-olds and does not allow children to connect with anyone their parent does not approve.

Messenger Kids is being rolled out for Apple iOS mobile devices in the United States on a test basis as a standalone video chat and messaging app.

Product manager Loren Cheng said the social network leader is offering Messenger Kids because “there’s a need for a messaging app that lets kids connect with people they love but also has the level of control parents want”.

Groups which monitor social media gave mixed reviews to the Facebook effort.

“Ideally, young children should not really be subjected to this kind of environment,” said Executive Director Jeff Chester of the Centre for Digital Democracy, a consumer protection group.

“[Messenger Kids] is the best we can do at the moment. The pressure on parents to let their children be on these services is so strong.”

Facebook, meanwhile, is motivated to increase the ranks of people using its offerings and get a new generation in the habit of using the social network.

John Simpson of the activist group Consumer Watchdog argued a need for academic studies into how the use of technology affects children.

“Tech companies are not doing this out of generosity and kindness of the heart, they’re doing it so they will build potentially loyal customers in the future,” Simpson said.

Two US senators wrote on Thursday to Facebook with concerns about how children’s personal data might be collected or used in Messenger Kids.

Tech invasion of schools

With Messenger Kids, Facebook gets children to spend time on the Internet and social networks, said David Monahan of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

He saw similar approaches from other tech giants, such as Google, which has spent years getting US schools to use its Chromebook devices for connecting to cloud-based content and services.

A Google for Education website aimed Chromebooks directly at classrooms, touting the devices as low-priced and easy to use.

Chromebooks have become the most prevalent computing hardware in US schools, despite Apple starting years earlier in aiming its Macintosh machines at education.

Selling computers to schools at attractive prices, aimed at high-volume deals and becoming part of people’ lives at early ages, is not new.

Apple, Microsoft, and HP have a history of it. But, Google has triumphed on this ground to the extent that The New York Times referred to the accomplishment in coverage as the “Googlification of Classrooms”.

Since Chromebooks act as portals to computing power and applications hosted online, Google gets the benefit of having students use its software for classwork, messaging and other services powered by the Internet cloud.

Google charges a one-time $30 licensing fee per Chromebook, and claims that more than 20 million students use its devices in schools around the world.

This has the potential of getting children, from a very young age, of “thinking about Google as a partner of the school” and, since it has the stamp of approval from educators believing it “must be a good product”, Monahan said.

Advocacy groups are also keen for assurance that companies behind technology, even if only internet-linked toys, will vigilantly guard children and their information.

Mattel recently backed off marketing a connected speaker for children due to worries about invading privacy and exposing youngsters to hackers and advertisers.

Earlier this year, a coalition of activist and consumer groups warned that smartwatches designed to help parents keep tabs on children could create privacy and security risks.