Features

 Virtual has been on everyone’s lips for some time now. Virtual reality, virtual storage space, virtual server, virtual here, virtual there… But is it really virtual, or is it more real than you would think it is?

Used in IT, the meaning of virtual is not to be taken literally, of course. It is not the antonym of real. It refers to matters that are as tangible as anything you would have and use, be it machines, data or applications. Still, it has a specific meaning in the technological context, with the closest one being perhaps “simulated”, or “remote”.

As a very simple example, a cartoon or an animation movie would be virtual, whereas one with human beings acting in it would be real. From there we can extrapolate ad lib.

For the private user, virtual often refers to what takes place in the cloud. We speak of virtual storage, all these places like Dropbox and Google Drive where we save our files. In this context virtual is synonymous of remote, as opposed to local, to what is saved and stored on your very computer.

Based on the above definitions the expression virtual reality would be a blatant contradiction, per se. And yet, it merely illustrates reality, with advanced digital means and animation processes. As long as we understand what it is intended for the meaning is clear.

A Google search of the expression virtual reality return this, as a first definition: “The computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.” Again, the word simulation is used here, and rather wisely; it is a key word, a significant one in this case.

Apart of all above, and perhaps relevant in the professional IT field more often than in your home or small office, virtual machines constitute a most important and steadily growing application. Private users may not be directly involved, though they would be indirectly affected.

If you have a computer running under Windows 10 and for some reason absolutely need to also have Windows 7, computer virtualisation lets you have both on one computer, sparing you the expense and the trouble of having to buy and manage two physical computers where you would dedicate one for Windows 10 and one for Windows 7.

In such case, Windows 10 would be the main, the host operating system, and Windows 7 would run under additional software known as “virtual machine”, the two nicely installed on one physical machine. VMware and Oracle VM Virtual Box are two examples of excellent, widely used virtual machine software applications. In other words, having a virtual machine, simply means that you have more than one operating system (assume different Windows) running on the same physical computer.

Installing, setting up and using a virtual machine may not require a degree in rocket science, but it still takes a rather technically minded person to do, one who likes to play around with technology, a patient one preferably for things do not always work smoothly from the first attempt. It can be done using a laptop or a desktop computer. The result is very rewarding in all cases and puts power computing in your hands.

With server computers the result is even more spectacular, for it saves the owner significant amounts of money by avoiding the purchase of several physical server machines.

Just like the trend towards more cloud usage, the trend towards more virtual computers continues, making the virtual very real.

Despite the passage of time, some memories never really fade away. They simply lie in a semi dormant stage, just below the surface and a slight trigger — like a scenery, poem, incident or dialogue — brings them back to life in a jiffy.

Take me for example, while listening to an old song from an Indian film called “Parichay” that means “Introduction” in English, I was swamped with nostalgia. This movie was released in the year 1972 and was supposed to be a remake of the Hollywood classic “Sound of Music” though the director, strongly denied it. The picture had a lot of kid-artists, five to be precise, and my parents thought it was a good idea to gather our neighbourhood children, and take us all to the films together. We were ten in all and filled an entire row in the darkened theatre. The audience alternated between watching the child performers on the screen and us, although I must confess that there were times that they found our antics more entertaining. 

There was a subplot that ran parallel to the main storyline, which was very interesting. The primary theme was about disciplining the unruly bunch of ill-mannered kids but the secondary tale underlined the tenderness between an ailing musician father, and his teenaged daughter. The actors playing these two roles were exceptional and the there was a song that the father-daughter sang about the times gone by. The gentleness they imparted to their characters reduced me to tears. 

I remember snivelling softly so that none of my friends could notice my inability to control my emotions and call me a crybaby later. As we all know, at an age when I was not even eight years old, that was a fate worse than death. Suddenly I felt a warm hand on my scalp and a crisp white handkerchief under my nose. Even without turning sideways I understood it was my dad who had come to the rescue and I stopped weeping immediately.

My father had a unique manner of blessing everyone who greeted him, which was very exceptional. He would literally cup our head with his palm and say “bless you”. The gesture was so reassuring that we literally felt blessed and all our troubles lifted instantly. If I had a row with one of my siblings, he would hear me out and then calm me down by running his hand on my head repeatedly, while reciting the numerous nicknames he had for me. Some of them were so funny that I would burst out in laughter.

It will be twenty-two years this month since I lost him but listening to the father-daughter song earlier, I was flooded with memories. The lyrics, penned by India’s famous poet and lyricist Gulzar, describe how centuries may come and go, but the remembrance of even the smallest things, never truly disappears from our subconscious.

Humming along with the professional singers, I tried to master the stanzas and teach myself the melody as a tribute to my father. 

“Beeti hui batiyan koi dohraye,” I sang in Hindi. 

“Sorry?” my husband exclaimed

“Will someone repeat the long forgotten conversations,” I translated. 

“Bhoole huye naamon se koi toh bulaye,” I crooned some more. 

“Will someone call me by my long forgotten names?” my spouse interpreted this time. 

“Sorry?” it was my turn to be shocked. 

“You can still decipher pure Hindi?” I asked. 

“Once upon a time I was called Gulzar,” he laughed. 

PARIS — Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may have been wrongly blamed for muscle pain and weakness, said a study on Wednesday that pointed the finger at a psychological phenomenon called the “nocebo” effect.

It happens when people suffer side-effects because they expect to — the opposite of the “placebo” effect when a patient gets better on a dummy drug they believe to be the real thing.

“Patients can experience very real pain as a result of the nocebo effect and the expectation that drugs will cause harm,” said Peter Sever of Imperial College London, the lead author of a study published in The Lancet medical journal.

In this case, multiple reports of alleged side-effects from statins appear to have convinced people to experience them — and prompted many to stop taking the drug.

A large-scale quitting of statins is estimated to have resulted in “thousands of fatal and disabling heart attacks and strokes, which would otherwise have been avoided”, wrote the research team.

“Seldom in the history of modern therapeutics have the substantial proven benefits of a treatment been compromised to such an extent by serious misrepresentations of the evidence for its safety.”

Statins are prescribed to lower cholesterol in people at high risk of heart attack or a stroke. 

Known side effects include an increased diabetes risk, the study said. But muscle pain and weakness has remained contentious, with some studies finding a link, and others none.

The latest study offers an explanation for the apparent contradiction.

Benefits outweigh risks

Data gathered from about 10,000 people in Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia between 1998 and 2004, showed that patients who did not know they were given a statin in a drug trial did not report significantly more muscle complaints.

It is only when they were told they were taking a statin that people started complaining of muscle ailments — 41 per cent more compared to those not taking the drug.

The muscle symptoms thus appeared “unlikely to be due to the drug itself”, Sever told AFP.

“Just as the placebo effect can be very strong, so too can the nocebo effect.”

The researchers also found no evidence for a heightened risk of erectile dysfunction or sleep disturbance from statin use.

“We hope that patients will understand this and be prepared to take the statin,” said Sever.

“The problem is that patients and doctors are not prescribing statins or patients are not taking them for fear of side effects. They need to weigh up the benefit of the statins and the risks. The latter are minimal.”

Amitava Banerjee of University College London, an expert in drug trial analysis, said the study showed that “muscle pain is very common, but far less commonly caused by statins”.

“If you are at high risk of cardiovascular disease or have had a heart attack or stroke and a statin is recommended, fear of muscle-related side effects alone should not prevent you taking a statin,” Banerjee, who was not involved in the study, commented via the Science Media Centre in London.

One limitation of the study was that it considered a single statin, atorvastatin.

The trial was funded by Pfizer, which markets atorvastatin under the trade name Lipitor.

First introduced nearly a decade ago and affectionately known as “Godzilla” by fans, the Nissan GT-R soon became a legend in its own time. Renowned for its huge performance envelope, practicality and attainability, the GT-R was the affordable four-wheel-drive supercar, able to mix with far pricier and more exotic nameplates.

Revised for the second time in its lifespan, the 2017 GT-R is expected to see the model line out until a replacement arrives before the end of the decade. Sharper, more poised, comfortable and faster than ever, the 2017 model is a testament to the GT-R’s enduring technology and high capabilities, and keeps it more than just relevant or competitive among newer rivals.

Manga style

An evolutionary update picking up where the last significantly upgraded model left off in 2011, the newest GT-R’s most noticeable visual difference is its new “V-motion” grille design and mesh, and corresponding bonnet design. Also redesigned are the front bumper, intakes and spoiler lip, along with the side sills and rear bumper and brake vents, while new body colours include a distinctive shiny orange hue.

Together the changes lend the GT-R’s sharp-edged body a sportier, wider and more urgent demeanour. The changes also allow for improved engine cooling and air flow without compromising the GT-R’s high levels of downforce or low wind-cheating CD0.26 aerodynamics. 

Under its dramatic almost Manga comic book-like aesthetic, the GT-R is built on a unique front-midship platform primarily incorporating high precision steel and aluminium construction, not shared with any other Nissan alliance vehicle. Stiffened again since its last model revision for improved comfort, handling, road-holding and safety, the GT-R’s exclusive layout is designed to ensure a low centre of gravity and balanced within wheelbase weighting. It features a dry sump engine mounted low and behind the front axle, sending power to a rear transaxle 6-speed dual clutch gearbox and differential. In turn up to 50 per cent power is sent back to the front wheels through a second central driveshaft.

Warp speed

Significantly revised with new components and a power hike from 478BHP to 542BHP at its last major update, the GT-R’s mighty 3.8-litre parallel twin-turbo V6 this time receives revised ignition timing and additional boost pressure, yielding a further 20BHP. Developing 562BHP at 6800rpm and — with a modest torque rise — 470lb/ft at 3300-5800rpm, the 2017 GT-R’s output increases may not seem dramatic, but improves mid-range flexibility and performance, without sacrificing fuel efficiency, which remains unchanged at 10.7l/100km, combined.

Somewhat docile sounding at light load and engine speeds with a distinct mid-range turbo whine, the GT-R’s exhaust note is now more evocative, vocal and resonant at heavier loads and higher revs. 

Deceptively yet scintillatingly swift, the GT-R’s somewhat subdued sound, comfortable and hugely confident and poised ride at times disguise its dramatic abilities. With its four-wheel-drive and sticky 255/40ZRF20 front and rear 285/35ZRF20 tyres providing phenomenal traction and quick-spooling turbos, the GT-R unquestioningly bolts with little drama but huge capability.

One of the world’s fastest accelerating cars, the GT-R dispatches the 0-100km/h sprint in 2.7-seconds or less and is capable of a 315km/h top speed. Pulling with vicious urgency through its mid-range and to its 7100rpm rev limit and with decisively swift gear shifts, the GT-R makes short shrift of steep hill climbs, as it accumulates speed at an incredible rate.

Tenacious traction

Highly reassuring with plenty of high speed stability and downforce, the GT-R is also rightly renowned for it enormous levels of traction and grip. 

With its four-wheel-drive system actively altering power distribution between front and rear and a limited-slip doing sending power to the rear wheel best able to put it down, the GT-R easily carries huge speed through corners. And with its now stiffer structure, it is more so capable and focused. However, pushed to its high grip limit the GT-R’s suspension is set-up for more benign under-steer, though which the front wheels scramble to find traction if one pushes through, or by easing off the throttle.

Driven with more precision by turning in early and sharp, and lifting off the throttle to shift weight to the rear and outside for tighter cornering lines helps. 

However, with its huge grip levels, the GT-R instead thrives on aggressive inputs. Highly effective so, the GT-R is not unlike the 1980s Audi Quattro. Dropping to a lower gear than instinctive when approaching a corner allows access to enough power to unstick the rear wheels and tighten a cornering line. Reapplying the throttle with a heavy foot once pointed in the right direction, the GT-R’s four-wheel-drive hunts for and finds the necessary traction to rocket through and out onto the straight.

The daily drive supercar

With stiffer structure and revised suspension rates, the updated GT-R is not just taut and well-controlled through corners when set to its adaptive dampers’ firmer mode, but it is also more pliant, forgiving and fluently supple ride in comfort mode. Taking imperfections in its stride despite low profile tires, the GT-R is a stable and refined ride. 

Meanwhile, its 6-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox’ characteristic telltale low speed gnashing sounds have however been reduced. Finger-snap swift shifting with three responsiveness levels, the GT-R’s manual mode paddle-shifters are now steering wheel-mounted, rather than fixed to the steering column, to allow mid-corner shifting with both hands on the wheel.

Driven in more luxurious Premium version with stitched tan leather, carbon-fibre panels and aluminium elements, the revised GT-R features a redesigned dashboard, higher quality button clicking and thinner dashboard padding, and retains its clear instrumentation and driver-oriented centre console. 

From its 20cm infotainment screen one can access, configure and personalise a long list of additional performance instruments, including but not limited to g-force, boost pressure, gearbox temperature and oil pressure gauges. Though wide and low, the GT-R’s driving visibility is good, and driving position focused, supportive and adjustable, but slightly high-set. Front space is nevertheless generous, rear useable and boot space accommodating, but hindered by a high loading lip.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 3.8-litre, in-line, front-mid, twin-turbo V6-cylinders 

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

Bore x stroke: 95.5 x 88.4mm

Compression ratio: 9:1

Gearbox: 6-speed automated dual-clutch, transaxle

Drive-line: Four-wheel-drive, limited slip differential

Ratios: 1st 4.0565; 2nd 2.03016; 3rd 1.595; 4th 1.2486; 5th 1.0012; 6th 0.7964; R 3.3833

Final drive ratios, F/R: 2.937/3.7

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 562 (570) [419] @6800rpm

Specific power: 147.9BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 320.7BHP/tonne

Torque, Net, lb/ft (Nm): 470 (637) @3300-5800rpm

Specific torque: 167.6Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 363.5Nm/tonne

Maximum engine speed: 7100rpm

0-100 km/h: 2.7-seconds (est.)

Top speed: 315km/h

Fuel consumption, combined: 11.8-liters/100 km

Fuel capacity: 74 litres

CO2 emissions, combined: 275g/km

Height: 1370mm

Width: 1895mm

Length: 4710mm

Wheelbase: 2780mm

Tread, F/R: 1590/1600mm

Minimum ground clearance: 105mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficient: 0.26

Head room, F/R: 967/850mm

Legroom, F/R: 1132/670mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1379/1270mm

Boot capacity: 315-litres

Unladen weight: 1740kg

Weight distribution F/R: 54 per cent/46 per cent

Steering: speed-sensitive electronic assist rack and pinion

Lock-to-lock: 2.4-turns

Suspension, F/R: Double wishbone/multi-link, adaptive dampers

Brakes, F/R: 6-/4-piston callipers, ventilated discs, 390/380mm

Tyres, F/R: 255/40ZRF20/285/35ZRF20

The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts is quite busy this spring. Three new exhibitions grace its halls, besides the permanent collection, and more is in store for art lovers who should not miss the chance of seeing works by “pioneering” Arab painters, photos of two foremost Mexican artists and surprising installations by young Jordanian artists.

From the works that form part of the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation — the personal art collection of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, that wishes “to contribute to the intellectual development of the art scene in the Gulf region by building a prominent, publicly accessible art collection in the UAE” — exhibited on the ground floor, the viewer can draw delight and an idea of how the art scene evolved in the Arab world from the late 1880s.

Or, as curator of Barjeel Art Foundation Suheyla Takesh puts it, “notice the selected paintings not only reflect a socio-political condition of their time and individual preoccupations of their makers, but bear testimonies to the training the artist had, as well as underline their cross-geographic and cross-societal exposure”.

The title of the exhibition prepares one for what to expect: “Lines of Subjectivity: Portrait and Landscape Painting”.

The portrait, this most subjective and ancient art form, bears witness to man’s desire to immortalise self or others.

Whether executed on commission for royal, religious or wealthy figures, for love of the subject or purely for some aesthetic or prominent features, or to render the artist himself — realistic, abstract, beautified, tortured or distorted — the painted portrait, unlike that taken by camera, will always be subjective.

In the case of the works on display at the gallery in Lweibdeh, the viewer may see how “the art of portraiture developed in the Arab world”, says art curator and critic Nat Muller in her “notes on portraiture” on display by Barjeel.

From classical to stylised, the viewer can admire early works of influential artists from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia and Palestine.

Whether in classic “academic” pose, almost sculptural, sketched, stylised or rendered with a wealth of detail, the portraits on display are testimony to the artists’ skill and their take on life, magnetic points of attraction in front of which the viewer will feel compelled to linger.

The landscapes reflect a way of life, now mostly gone, and artistic progression, as they go from explicit figurative to impressionistic to somehow naive and to hauntingly abstract.

It is a privilege to sample the art from the Barjeel collection. 

The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts has signed a collaboration agreement with the foundation, which will enable many Jordanian artists to showcase their work in the UAE.

On the upper floor, a pleasant surprise in a different medium awaits the viewer.

It is a “photographic exhibition of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera”, to the realisation of which contributed the embassy of Mexico.

The photographs permit a glimpse at the life of these two famous artists recognised well beyond their native Mexico. 

The film captured different instances of the lives of this unlikely couple — he 23 years her senior, she of often poor health but steely spirit — who lived a complex and intense relationship that involved separation, during which they met other individuals, and re-encounters.

It shows them in tender, loving moments, in intense involvement in some political or humanitarian cause, at work — in Kahlo’s case in the studio in their “Blue house”, in Rivera’s, determined that art has to be seen by everybody, on his murals on different institutions and in different places — with friends, alone, together.

The few grainy photographs have the power to recreate the tumultuous lives of two of the best Mexican artists in amazing detail, a feat for which the curators of the exhibition have to be thanked.

The flat photo images conjure much of the full life of the two, helped by the captions, no doubt, giving one an idea of what their life must have been.

Like the 1954 picture of the two protesting in Ciudad de Mexico against the US intervention in Guatemala, or heading the delegation of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers’ Union during a Labour Day demonstration.

Kahlo at work on an old typewriter would be a usual activity, but knowing that she is typing a letter dictated by Rivera after the cancellation of his authored project at the Rockefeller Centre for including an image of Lenin (in 1933) — a mural that was later destroyed — makes the Marxist inclination of the artists known, places their existence in context and could stir interest in the tortured history of Central America at the beginning of the century. 

Images of Kahlo and Rivera as children, young people, a couple, on the deathbed and even the former’s funeral skilfully recreate a full life cycle, giving the curious viewer a satisfying look into their lives.

In the old building of the gallery, on the newly built upper floor — a modern, industrial hall-looking space with gleaming overhead structures — the installations called “Metascape” showcases creative installations by young Jordanian artists who, after having participated in a workshop, displayed their works.

It is refreshing, symbolic and imaginative, modern yet anchored in traditional, and definitely catches the eye.

The exhibitions can be viewed through May 30.

LONDON — Inhaled nanoparticles like those pumped out in vehicle exhausts can work their way through the lungs and into the bloodstream where they can raise the risk of heart attack and stroke, scientists said on Wednesday.

In experiments using harmless ultra-fine particles of gold, the scientists were able for the first time to track how such nanoparticles are breathed in, pass through the lungs and then gain access to the blood.

Most worryingly, the researchers said at a briefing in London, the nanoparticles tend to build up in damaged blood vessels of people who already suffer from coronary heart disease — the condition that causes heart attacks — and make it worse.

“There is no doubt that air pollution is a killer, and this study brings us a step closer to solving the mystery of how air pollution damages our cardiovascular health,” said Jeremy Pearson, a professor and associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation charity, which part-funded the study.

Experts have long known that air pollution carries serious health risks and can trigger fatal heart attacks and strokes. According to the World Health Organisation, outdoor air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 3 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012.

But until now, scientists had not been sure how particles inhaled into the lungs go on to affect heart health. The new findings, published on Wednesday in the journal ACS Nano, build on previous evidence and show that particles in the air we breathe get into blood and are carried to many different parts of the body, including arteries, blood vessels and the heart

“If reactive particles like those in air pollution ... reach susceptible areas of the body then even [a] small number of particles might have serious consequences,” said Mark Miller, a senior research scientist at the University of Edinburgh, who led the study.

Miller’s team used specialist techniques to track harmless gold nanoparticles breathed in by volunteers. They found the nanoparticles can migrate from the lungs into the bloodstream within 24 hours and are still detectable three months later.

The researchers also analysed surgically removed plaques from people at high risk of stroke and found that the nanoparticles tended to accumulate in the fatty plaques that grow inside blood vessels, and cause heart attacks and strokes.

Nicholas Mills, a professor of cardiology who also worked on the study, said the findings showed the importance of cutting emissions and limiting peoples’ exposure to nanoparticles.

You cannot not have one installed on your computer. And yet, life with an anti-virus programme on board is hard.

Living with computers in the pre-virus era, before say 1995, used to be simple, carefree. With the very software that is meant to fight the threats, life is now even more complicated, and not necessarily safer, what’s more. There are a few reasons for that.

It is to be noted here that the term “anti-virus” is used in its broad, general meaning. To go deeper in the subject, from the purely technical point of view, one would have to make the distinction between “anti-malware”, “anti-spam”, “anti-hacking”, “anti-phishing”, “antivirus” and a few other flavours of the generic name. To keep it simple this article will just use “anti-virus” to cover all these colourful variations.

First is the rather large number of antivirus software brands around. There are so many of them that the choice for those who are not particular technically minded gets really overwhelming: Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Microsoft Windows Defender, Norton Symantec, Avira, Avast, and Eset, to name a few. The first four remain the most widely used and trusted.

Some of the above brands propose a simple, free version. Only to come to you a few days or weeks after, with pop-up windows and messages, nagging, pushing you to upgrade and to pay for the higher version. Even within one given brand, the choice of the most adequate product for your personal use is complex and often impossible without the help of a tech-savvy friend, colleague or relative.

Installing, setting up, using and updating any of the above is never an easy job. Add to that the fact that most will slow down your computer and you end up hating them. Some will block an otherwise legitimate e-mail message that may be arriving in your mailbox. Others will block good, legitimate software applications from running or working correctly, without you even realising why. Others will simply prevent you from installing new software at all, from the very start, suspecting it of being malicious.

The extra burden that most antivirus products put on your computer is the reason why many consumers get the most powerful machine they can afford to buy, with substantial processing muscle and memory size, just to compensate for the technical resources that the antivirus will eat up to exist inside your computer.

There’s worse. Last year there were rumours on the web that one of the well-known antivirus makers was responsible for creating and releasing a virus that the maker itself alone was able to detect and block. There was never a way to verify these rumours and to date they remain, well, rumours. For most IT pundits and web analysts, however, they were not totally unfounded.

Can you do without antivirus at all? Certainly not, if you are using e-mail or browsing the web, which is probably the least that any of us does with a computer. Despite the hassle, the annoyance and the burden, it would be just too dangerous not to have an anti-virus installed on your machine. The threat is real and the offenders can strike any day if you leave your computer unprotected. For even with the shield, the protection is never 100 per cent.

I came to appreciate Microsoft Windows Defender with time. It is light, strong enough, and because it is made by the same company that makes Windows, the two go together rather nicely. And oh, it is legitimately free.

The only shortcoming of Windows Defender is that it cannot be installed on a server computer. But for the private user and the home consumer who operate a laptop or a desktop computer this is not a relevant question, understandably.

LONDON — Scientists in the United States have developed a fluid-filled womb-like bag known as an extra-uterine support device that could transform care for extremely premature babies, significantly improving chances of survival. 

In pre-clinical studies with lambs, the researchers were able to mimic the womb environment and the functions of the placenta, giving premature offspring a crucial opportunity to develop their lungs and other organs.

Around 30,000 babies in the United States alone are born critically early — at between 23 and 26 weeks of gestation, the researchers told reporters in a telephone briefing. 

At that age, a human baby weighs little more than 500 grammes, its lungs are not able to cope with air and its chances of survival are low. Death rates are up to 70 per cent and those who do survive face life-long disability. 

“These infants have an urgent need for a bridge between the mother’s womb and the outside world,” said Alan Flake, a specialist surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who led the development of the new device.

His team’s aim, he said, was to develop an extra-uterine system where extremely premature babies can be suspended in fluid-filled chambers for a vital few weeks to bring them over the 28-week threshold, when their life chances are dramatically improved. 

It could take up to another 10 years, but by then he hopes to have a licensed device in which babies born very prematurely are given the chance to develop in fluid-filled chambers, rather than lying in incubators being artificially ventilated.

“This system is potentially far superior to what hospitals can currently do for a 23-week-old baby born at the cusp of viability,” Flake said. “This could establish a new standard of care for this subset of extremely premature infants.”

The team spent three years evolving their system through a series of four prototypes — beginning with a glass incubator tank and progressing to the current fluid-filled bag.

Six preterm lambs tested in the most recent prototype were physiologically equivalent to a 23- or 24-week-gestation human baby and were able to grow in a temperature-controlled, near-sterile environment, Flake said.

The scientists made amniotic fluid in their lab and set up the system so that this flowed into and out of the bag.

Lung development in foetal lambs is very similar in humans, said foetal physiologist Marcus Davey, who worked on team.

“Foetal lungs are designed to function in fluid. We simulate that environment... allowing the lungs and other organs to develop while supplying nutrients and growth factors,” he said.

Flake said the success of the system, details of which were published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, was due to its mimicking life in the uterus as closely as possible.

It has no external pump to drive circulation, because even gentle artificial pressure can fatally overload an underdeveloped heart, and there is no ventilator, because the immature lungs are not yet ready to breathe air.

Instead, the baby’s heart pumps blood via the umbilical cord into a low-resistance oxygenator that acts as a substitute for the placenta in exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Flake’s team plans to refine the system further and then downsize it for human infants, who are around a third of the size of the lambs used in the study.

After six years of living in Jordan, if I had to pick one thing that I absolutely adored about this country, it would not be Petra, the Dead Sea or even Wadi Rum, though I admired them all in equal measure. What I really loved instead regarding the Hashemite Kingdom was the manner in which the Jordanians solved all my problems each and every time, merely by exclaiming “don’t worry!”

There is a particular tone in which this phrase was expressed that cannot be mastered overnight. It came with the maturity, perseverance and experience that the inhabitants of this land acquired over a long period of time. To put it simply, what I mean is that they never uttered this term flippantly but delivered it with great authority, as if it was now the speaker’s duty to make sure that all the difficulties were resolved.

Incidentally, I was based for one decade in Africa earlier, and was well aware of the Swahili “Hakuna Matata”, which when roughly translated, meant “no worries”. That was also a wonderful expression, which signified a particular way of life. It made us conscious of how fleeting our existence was, and encouraged us to have no worries and just be happy.

But the primary difference in the two cultures was that there, one was supposed to avoid worry unilaterally on your own, but here, it seemed like it was the collective responsibility of all Jordanians to banish worry jointly. So anywhere I went, from the cellphone shop in upmarket Taj Mall to the cushion-store in downtown Amman, from the sugarcane juice seller in Irbid to the shoemaker in Salt, the interaction was always the same. 

The hurdle could be anything from say returning the cellphone, cushions not matching, sugarcane juice too watery, credit card not working, running short of cash and so on, the response was usually a unanimous “don’t worry” before a way was sought to sort it out. When I was a newcomer to this land the phraseology was repeated twice for my benefit, as an added reassurance. And once “don’t worry, don’t worry” was reiterated, I basically reached into the recesses of my subconscious and learned to develop trust. Soon I was delighted to discover that it actually worked and I relaxed while voicing my problems to a Jordanian who instantly came up with the familiar rejoinder.

And then, after another couple of years, I found myself at the receiving end of hearing their side and I realised that my usual response of “what will you do now” caused great confusion among them. If they could come up with a solution they would not have asked me for assistance, I figured. I was supposed to not only find the answer but also give mental assurance by imploring them to not worry. In other words, slowly but surely, I was turning into a Jordanian.

I must admit it still took me quite a while to perfect the right tone. My initial squeaks of “don’t worry” did not sound convincing even to my own ears.

“Hello habibti”, my Jordanian friend was on the phone the other day.

“The cake I baked for tonight’s party went flat,” she exclaimed in a dejected voice.

“What will you do now?” I asked automatically. 

There was a pin drop silence.

“Ahem! Don’t worry,” I said firmly.

“I will pass by the bakery,” I suggested.

“Are you sure?” she questioned.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” I assured authoritatively.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes (MSBR) appear to improve low back pain only slightly, and only temporarily, a review of previous research suggests.

These programmes combine meditation while sitting and walking, yoga, focusing attention on different parts of the body, and incorporation of mindfulness/awareness into everyday life. Earlier studies found MBSR to be helpful for a variety of chronic pain conditions.

But for low back pain, “it was surprising that we could not identify any difference between MBSR, usual care, or other psychological interventions on ‘mindfulnes’ and acceptance of pain in the short and long term,” Dennis Anheyer of University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, told Reuters Health by e-mail.

Anheyer and colleagues looked at data from seven previously published studies involving 864 patients altogether.

The studies that looked at pain intensity and pain-related disability found small improvements with MBSR only over the short term, and even these improvements were of questionable significance, they report in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Some studies showed meaningful improvements in physical functioning in the short term but the improvements not sustained in the long term.

“Our review also showed that studies using MBSR programmes that included yoga had better effects on disability and physical functioning than studies using MBSR programmes without yoga,” Anheyer said. “Physical activity might therefore be important for these factors.”

Surprisingly, MBSR was not associated with improvements in mindfulness.

The inconsistent findings point to a need for larger, carefully designed studies of MBSR and its various components in patients with low back pain, the researchers say.

In the meantime, patients with low back pain can safely attend MBSR courses, Anheyer said. “However”, he added, “they should not neglect the physical activity. [And] if you practise meditation or any kind of physical activity, do it regularly and continuously.”

Dr Judith A. Turner from the University of Washington in Seattle, who has studied MBSR and cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic low back pain, told Reuters Health by e-mail, “People with low back pain may find MBSR to be helpful, not only for their pain but also for managing stress and other problems. The risks are minimal, especially when compared to some other treatments for low back pain, such as surgery and opioid medication. Benefits for pain may be modest, but this is true for most treatments for chronic low back pain.”

“It is interesting that interventions that included a yoga component reduced disability, whereas those that did not include yoga did not reduce disability,” she said. “This suggests that MBSR programmes might be most helpful for back pain when they include yoga, although more research is needed to confirm this suggestion.”

“This review was of only a small number of studies and some of the studies included had methodological problems that limit confidence in the results,” Turner said. “Nonetheless, patients with chronic low back pain and their health care providers are looking for effective treatments that are alternatives to opioid medication, and MBSR is one such option. Another such option is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which has been demonstrated effective in the short- and long-term for chronic low back pain.”