Features

NEW YORK –– Major US wireless carriers and smartphone makers have agreed to introduce tools to enable users to lock their devices and wipe them clean of data if stolen, responding to pressure on the telecommunications industry to do more to stem theft.

Starting in July 2015, all smartphones manufactured by the companies will come with free anti-theft tools preloaded on the devices or ready to be downloaded, according to wireless association CTIA, which announced the agreement on Tuesday.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney, George Gascon welcomed the voluntary agreement but said it fell short of what they have advocated to prevent theft.

The prosecutors have urged manufacturers and carriers to carry the tools as a default in their devices, rather than having users download them.

“While CTIA’s decision to respond to our call for action by announcing a new voluntary commitment to make theft-deterrent features available on smartphones is a welcome step forward, it falls short of what is needed to effectively end the epidemic of smartphone theft,” the prosecutors said in a joint statement.

In 2012, 1.6 million Americans were victimised for their smartphones, according to Schneiderman’s office.

The 10 device makers signing the voluntary agreement included Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. , Google Inc. and HTC America Inc. The wireless carriers included Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., Sprint Corp., T-Mobile US Inc. and US Cellular.

“This flexibility provides consumers with access to the best features and apps that fit their unique needs while protecting their smartphones and the valuable information they contain,” said Steve Largent, chief executive of the CTIA.

The agreement extends individual decisions by Apple and Samsung to include features in their new mobile software that require a legitimate owner’s ID and password before a phone can be wiped clean or re-activated after being remotely erased.

It is easy to find angry people around you these days. There are so many of them, seething with rage, that it is a wonder our planet has not gone up in smoke. Scenes of anger are visible everywhere, whichever way you turn. 

On the roads: the horn-tooting motorists whizzing past you, sometimes overtaking you from the wrong side. In the airports or on railway platforms: If the flights/ trains are delayed or cancelled, the passengers hopping in sheer indignation. In shopping centres, restaurants, movie halls, hospitals, hotels and even educational institutions, the sound of fury is unmistakable. 

Anger, as defined by the dictionary, is an emotional response related to one’s psychological interpretation of having been offended, wronged or denied. It is a feeling of great annoyance or antagonism as a result of some real or perceived grievance. 

So, in other words, a whole lot of people are antagonistic because of false interpretation? And if the wrong perception is corrected, they will cool down? 

Honestly, I don’t know the answer. Personally when I was younger, I did not encounter too many wrathful persons. I was raised in a small town whose inhabitants had patience and empathy in large doses.  The closest I came to the term “anger” was when one Indian movie by the unlikely name of “Why does Mr. Pinto get angry” was released. Where quirky named films go, this one was a sure winner. People flocked to the theater just to see the answer to the query that the picture posed. 

My parents were cheerful and mild-mannered folks. Our mother was the stricter one, but she was more firm than furious while disciplining us. Our father had all the time in the world for every inane inquiry, and each discussion was laced in humour. I remember going to him with a math question when I was seven years old. He looked at me in complete surprise and absent-mindedly asked me when I had started school. He then drew a large kitty in my book and wrote my name on top of it. You go and colour this picture, he instructed me. The time for problem solving can wait. 

It was only when I started living in big cities that I encountered rage like never before. The weirdest part of this was the anger that strangers exhibited towards, well, strangers. 

Subsequently, I was informed about the term “fake fury”. Loosely described, this is apparently something that people indulge in to get themselves out of a sticky situation. You know, for example, if you are caught speeding and you exhibit a hyped version of this condition, there is a chance you might be left off without a ticket. 

I took this information with a pinch of salt and did not believe in anger games. But the other day I surprised myself. I had stopped my car in a no parking zone. The traffic warden was at my window in an instant. 

“That green van took my slot,” I accused even before he could say anything.

“Driving licence please?” the cop requested.

“Why don’t you fine the van driver?” I asked frowning. 

“Don’t teach me my job,” the officer said firmly.

“You are yelling at me? You see an innocent lady driver and want to fine her because some awful inconsiderate man bullied his way into her parking?” I screamed. 

“Oh, Ok! Just go, go,” he waved me away. 

“It works,” I muttered, hiding my smile.

FRANKFURT – Daimler is set to revive Maybach, a brand once coveted by oligarchs, rap stars and royals, to woo a growing class of ultra-wealthy clients in Asia and the United States, a person familiar with the company’s plans said.

The brand will be used to adorn an exclusive version of its S-Class limousine fitted with soft-touch leather and bespoke materials to help lure clients from other high-end brands like Rolls Royce and Bentley.

The Maybach will be showcased at both the Guangzhou and the Los Angeles auto shows in November and cost more than double the 165,000-euro ($228,000) asking price of its current flagship, the Mercedes-Benz S600, the person said.

Not to be outdone, rival BMW is expected to unveil a concept version of its top-of-the-line 7-series limousine at the Beijing auto show later this week, as it seeks to attract Chinese clients who are snapping up German premium cars.

The Mercedes Maybach will have a wheelbase that is 20 centimetres longer than even the extended version of its S-Class, allowing for extra leg space and making it the longest limousine in the Mercedes range until the expected launch of an even longer Pullman version, the source said.

Daimler stopped making bespoke Maybach limousines in 2012 after efforts to sell cars based on a unique design and costing around $380,000 failed to gain traction with clients.

Only 200 Maybachs were sold in 2011, but the cars were coveted by celebrities including Russia’s Roman Abramovich, hip hop musician Jay-Z and King Juan Carlos of Spain.

Since mid-2012, the number of millionaires worldwide has grown by nearly 2 million, the vast majority of them in the United States and Asia, Credit Suisse said in its World Wealth Report.

There are 98,700 individuals with assets worth more than $50 million each, and by 2018, global wealth will jump a further 40 per cent to reach $334 trillion, the Swiss bank’s study shows.

A Mercedes-Benz Pullman “state limousine” designed to ferry around politicians is also under development and is set to cost up to $1 million in its armour-plated version, said the person familiar with Daimler’s plans.

The car is expected to have a wheelbase that is a full metre longer than that found in the current S-Class, to allow for an extra row of rear-facing seats in the passenger compartment.

The original Mercedes-Benz Pullman 600, launched by Mercedes-Benz at the Frankfurt auto show in 1963, was over six metres in length and had a top speed of 200 kilometres per hour (124 mph). It gained notoriety as a “dictator ship” because it proved so popular with despots.

Owners of the Pullman, which had a complex hydraulic suspension that allowed it to hustle along at high speeds on bad quality roads, included Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Persia, the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu and Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito.

At the time, Mercedes wanted to show rivals Rolls-Royce and Cadillac that it could make a car that was comfortable even at high speeds, a feat that was difficult for armour-plated vehicles weighing over 3.4 tonnes.

NEW YORK – The shortest path to the Internet for some remote corners of the world may be through the skies.

That is the message from US tech giants seeking to spread the online gospel to hard-to-reach regions.

Google took a step in that direction this week with the acquisition of Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones that can help boost Internet access to remote areas.

“It’s still early days, but atmospheric satellites could help bring Internet access to millions of people, and help solve other problems, including disaster relief and environmental damage like deforestation,” said a Google spokesman.

Titan’s drones are able to run for five years at an altitude of some 65,000 feet (20,000 metres). They can perform similar functions to geostationary satellites, but are less costly.

Drones are just one of several ideas being explored by Google, Facebook and others that may involve satellites, high-altitude balloons, blimps or other flying machines.

Google has already begun work on Project Loon, which uses large balloons for transmitting Internet signals to regions that are not now connected.

Tests were carried out last year in New Zealand, and one balloon circumnavigated the world in 22 days.

Google’s plan is to keep the balloons aloft in the stratosphere for 100 days, with movements guided by an algorithmic formula.

A similar idea comes from Facebook, which last month unveiled its “Connectivity Lab” aimed at spreading the Internet with drones, satellites and solar-powered planes.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said recently that he sees a potential in drones because they “have more endurance than balloons, while also being able to have their location precisely controlled”.

“And unlike satellites, drones won’t burn up in the atmosphere when their mission is complete,” he added.

Facebook is working with global partners, including Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm, in a group called Internet.org that seeks to improve Internet access to lesser developed regions.

Question marks 

It’s not quite clear if these ideas are merely pie in the sky.

“It’s all very interesting but the technology is very unproven,” said Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies.

Kay said Google appears to outflank Facebook for Titan and that “it’s a bit of a defensive move, but it’s also possible that this will not bear practical fruit.”

Jack Gold, analyst with J. Gold Associates, was more skeptical.

“People have played with it for years and it is not going anywhere,” Gold said.

“I don’t think it’s cost-effective for companies like Google and others to put up a thousand drones just to get people access.”

Gold maintained that Google “can do all kinds of experiments, they’ve got the cash and money to do that. But I’m not sure I would at this point look at it as a serious way for them to deliver Internet.”

Google has a ground game as well as an air game, however. The California giant is expanding its Google Fibre project to dozens of US cities.

And sources familiar with Google’s plans say the work in the skies is not merely a pipe dream: Data from Loon and Titan drones may be integrated into other projects, notably efforts to fine-tune services such as Google Maps.

NEW YORK — Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 smartphone is more durable than last year’s model and other leading Android phones, but the iPhone 5S outperformed all of them in part because of its smaller size, a new study finds.

The S5 scored well given its water resistance and a sturdy back panel made of plastic, according to SquareTrade, a provider of extended protection plans. The iPhone 5s won points for being just 4 inches (10 centimetres) diagonally, compared with about 5 inches (12.7cm)  for the Android phones. That makes the iPhone easier to grip and thus less likely to slip out of one’s hands.

Nonetheless, all the smartphones tested had a medium risk of breakage, and differences between the various phones weren’t major.

SquareTrade evaluated the phones based on such criteria as size, weight, grip and the quality of the front and back panels. The company measured how far the phones slide when pushed across a table on their backs and how well they withstand drops from four feet (122cm) and being dunked in water for 10 seconds. Robots were used to ensure consistency.

SquareTrade provided The Associated Press with the results ahead of Monday afternoon’s announcement.

The S5 scored a six on a 10-point durability scale, with 10 having the highest risk. The new HTC One phone scored a 6.5, while Google’s Nexus 5 had a seven. The iPhone 5S was at 5.5.

None of those phones is as durable as last year’s Moto X from Motorola. It had a 4.5 rating, thanks to a rounded back molded to the shape of a user’s hand, making it easier to grip. Last year’s HTC One model also had a 4.5.

Last year’s Samsung Galaxy S4, meanwhile, had a score of seven.

The S5, the new HTC One, the Nexus and the iPhone all had strong front panels, despite being made of mostly glass. SquareTrade considered both the materials used and design factors such as button placement to gauge how likely a user would drop the phone while using it. The back panels on the One and the iPhone were moderate, while those on the S5 and the Nexus performed well.

The S5 and the One were the hardest to grip, while the One and the Nexus had poor marks for water resistance — the phones still worked, but had no sound. Both the S5 and the iPhone survived the dunk test, even though only the S5 is officially marketed as water resistant — for up to 30 minutes.

Only the Nexus 5 passed the slide test, but it was the only of the four to fail the drop test.

The Nexus slid 1.7 feet  (0.5 metres) when pushed by a robot, compared with 2.5 feet  (0.76 metres) or more for the others. The more a phone slides, the greater its chance of falling off the edge of a table. After getting dropped, the Nexus was shattered, while the others had only superficial damage.

SquareTrade said the S5’s performance on the drop test was noteworthy, because the S4 had done poorly.

Always better a small car done well than a large car done badly was the thought running through one’s mind after being left with a three-day gap in Dubai after a last minute cancellation of a much anticipated super saloon test drive before it had begun owing to technical problems — likely caused by an over-zealous and under-talented previous test driver. And with the similarly anticipated Peugeot 208 test drive hastily and obligingly rescheduled, one was thankful to avoid a large under-powered family saloon or crossover SUV, and left in wide-grinned delight over the little Pug’s nippy agility, sense of clarity and frugal sensibility regardless of a power disadvantage well in excess of 400BHP to the previously expected super saloon.

Well-kitted runaround

Having already driven a high torque Euro-spec turbo-diesel version and eagerly awaiting the much-lauded GTI hot hatch variant, the mid-range 1.6 litre petrol Peugeot 208 provided welcome opportunity to sample the feisty and fun French supermini. Zippier and more responsive turning-in owing to the lighter petrol four-cylinder engine rather than the previously tested oil-burner, the 1.6 VTI was a practical and maneuverable companion in a fast-paced yet congested urban setting. Darting between luxury hotels, convention halls, shopping malls and along wrong turns into near standstill back road traffic or relentlessly busy but fast highways, the 208’s four-speed automatic gearbox provided convenience in traffic, while  it’s sequential tiptronic function allowed one to manually choose and hold gears as needed.

Maneuverable in tight car parks, stable on highways and practical enough for an airport run, the 208 1.6 VTI is a fun and practical small hatchback that is just as much at home through winding roads as it is on city streets, and with a stylish new design language, recaptures some of the essence of Peugeot’s much-loved and now iconic 1980s and 1990s 205. Well-kitted in mid-spec Active Plus trim, the 208 featured useful conveniences like dual zone climate control, front electric windows, keyless entry central locking, 60:40 split folding rear seats to extend luggage capacity, variable assist steering, user-friendly touchscreen infotainment screen, and CD player with USB and AUX connectivity, ABS brakes, and driver and passenger airbags.

Elegantly toned

A return to form in terms of design, the Peugeot 208 has a classy and quintessentially French styling sensibility that combines elegant details like the chrome-ringed, low slung and wide floating style grille with an athletic form and presence owing to its wide track, short overhangs and big footprint for a small car. With its rounded but tightly stretched back skin, subtly toned wheel arches, and concave and convex bonnet and body panel surfacing, the Peugeot 208 has a decidedly contemporary style that emits a sense of urgency and purpose, and indulgence and refinement at the same time. Wraparound front and rear lights blend seamlessly with prominent side creases, while a big glasshouse provides excellent visibility.  

With a large lion emblem adorning a grooved bonnet surface to seemingly reflect the brand’s confident new design language and persona, the Peugeot 208’s measured sense of class and design refinement carries over into the cabin, where a sparingly tasteful use of metallic chrome-like details juxtaposed with glossy black panels lends a modern, elegant and upbeat cabin ambiance. Intuitively laid out and user-friendly, the 208’s controls and functions are within easy reach, while its most prominent interior design element is its low slung steering column and small and sporty steering wheel, over, rather than through, which one peers at the coned dials and instrument binnacle. Unorthodox at first, one quickly adapts to the 208’s steering and instrument layout.

Alert and revvy

With no sunroof and height adjustable seat, the driven 208 Active Plus generously accommodates larger drivers, while reach and rake adjustable steering allows one to find a suitably comfortable and alert driving position, from which the quick and direct steering ratio requires small and measured inputs, with most maneuvers dispatched from quarter-to-three grip. Though best looking in three-door format, the tested five-door version’s additional rear doors offer improved rear access and practicality, and with single glass panes, little alter the 208’s stylish silhouette or glasshouse profile, with the B-pillar moved back only slightly. However, the glasshouse outline’s decorative C-pillar chrome kink is absent from the five-door version. Rear seats offer decent space and comfort, while the 208’s boot is more accommodating than one expects.

With a 1.6 litre four-cylinder engine with variable 16 valve timing under its sculpted bonnet the Peugeot 208 1.6 VTI develops 118BHP at 6,000rpm and 118lb/ft at 4,250rpm, which allows it to accelerate to 100km/h in 10.4-seconds and onto a 190km/h maximum, while returning frugal 5.8l/100km combined cycle fuel efficiency. A buzzy but eager and revvy engine, the 208’s 1.6 motor is smooth and progressive in delivery, and refined when cruising. Mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox, the 208’s 1.6 engine could do with an extra gear ratio to distribute its power for slightly quicker acceleration and lower engine speeds on highways, but when wrung hard with aggressive throttle inputs and high revs, rises to the occasion and delivers adequately brisk on-the-move acceleration in top and mid gears.

Pouncing Pug

Responsive through gears and stable on the highway, the Peugeot 208 1.6 however feels alert and ready to maneuver. Though not slow by any means in outright terms, the 208 1.6 version’s relatively modest performance means one has to push it hard to for brisk progression, and lends it the inimitable charisma of a “slow”, small and light car being driven fast. A delightfully chuckable city car, the Peugeot 208’s quick ratio steering is well-weight for comfort and resistance, but more importantly, is direct and responsive on centre and through turns. Turning in with crisp accuracy and mosquito-like immediacy, the 208 is a fun and flickable corner carver, whose wide track and short overhangs lend it a stable footprint, while its compact size and short wheelbase make it maneuverable and agile.

Tidy turning in, the Peugeot 208 grips hard and displays good body through a tight and fast corner, or series of switchbacks, with its light 1,150kg mass easily controlled by suspension settings that find a happy medium between ride comfort and controlling body lean through bends. The 208’s tyres are similarly well chosen at 195/55R16, with good cornering rigidity and ride suppleness. The tyre choice also grips well but is slim enough to complement the steering system’s direct slack-free responsive delicacy and nuanced feel and feedback, which allows one to intuitively come back on power early to eagerly dart out of a corner and onto the next. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1.6 litre, transverse 4 cylinders

Valve train: 16 valve, DOHC, variable valve timing

Gearbox: 4-speed automatic, front-wheel drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 118 (120) [88] @ 6,000rpm

Torque lb/ft (Nm): 118 (160) @ 4,250rpm

0-100 km/h: 10.7 seconds

Top speed: 190km/h

Fuel consumption, urban / extra-urban / combined: 8.1 / 4.5 / 5.8l/100km

CO2 emissions, combined: 134g/km

Fuel capacity: 50 litres

Length: 3,962mm

Width: 1,739mm 

Height: 1,460mm

Wheelbase: 2,538mm

Track, F/R: 1,475 / 1,471mm

Overhang, F/R: 772 / 652mm

Luggage capacity, minimum: 285 litres

Kerb weight: 1,150kg

Steering: Variable assistance, rack & pinion

Turning circle: 10.4 metres

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts / torsion beam

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs / discs

Tyres: 195/55R16

House of the Wolf

Ezzat El Kamhawi

Translated by Nancy Roberts

Cairo-New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2013

While the title might strike a sinister chord, “House of the Wolf” is not about wild animals, but the saga of an Egyptian family named Al Deeb (Arabic for wolf). It tells the story of four generations who grow up, marry, have children and marry them off, in order to continue the cycle of life. The plot would be a bit rambling if not for two elements that provide structure, and rich emotional and historical dimensions. The first is a torrid, but ill-fated love affair; the second is that the Deeb family history is fused with that of Egypt.

The emotional depth of “House of the Wolf” derives from the fiercely guarded love of the main character, Mubarka Al Fouli, who marries into the Deeb clan but not as she envisions. Mubarka is a girl of such disquieting beauty and “ability to close the windows to her spirit so tightly that [one] couldn’t see anything of her”, that many suspect she is possessed by demons. (p. 9) Only one lad of the village, Muntasir Al Deeb, dares to approach her. Right away, they fall madly in love, with all the innocence and sensuality of youth. Then, on a selfish whim, Muntasir’s good-for-nothing uncle arranges to marry her instead. As a wife, Mubarka shuts down emotionally for many years, reserving her love for her children and later grandchildren, but she never forgets Muntasir, who leaves the village in a rage. One races through the novel if only to know whether the lovers ever get a second chance, but there are many other reasons to keep reading to the end.

The shifting fortunes of the Deeb family are chronicled in the context of developments in their village, Al Ish, which, in turn, are related to the major events of Egypt’s modern history from Napoleon’s invasion up into the 2000s. The story of the early days of Al Ish (The Nest) is both charming and instructive, comparable to an allegory for how self-sufficient, egalitarian, farming communities once existed the world over before greed and power-seeking infringed on their simple, harmonious life. As a Nile Delta village, Al Ish symbolises Egypt’s transformation from an overwhelmingly peasant society engaged in cotton cultivation to a more modern, diversified, capitalist economy. 

When Mohammed Ali’s emissaries come to Al Ish, they are astonished to find no central square and no appointed leader. “We all speak for the village,” say the inhabitants. (p. 16) But everything changes with the installation of a Turkish mayor, armed sentries, tax collection, conscription, etc. Muntasir’s father, Salama, leads a Robin Hood-like resistance to the new authority, while his son is later to stage attacks against British colonialism. However, as the Deebs prosper, they become the leading family of the village; the first Salama’s nephew becomes mayor, and the whole clan moves from their farmhouse into the mansion that had been built for the previous mayor. 

“The House of the Wolf” is fictionalised history-from-below wherein one sees colonialism, two world wars, independence, the Palestine War, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s regime and Sadat’s trip to Jerusalem through the eyes of the villagers. There are also devastating floods and cholera epidemics, but of all the calamities, the recurring wars with Israel and the Yemen war are considered the worst as they take away husbands and sons, disrupting the cycle of life prized by the villagers. Less dramatic, but equally powerful transitions also chip away at traditional life: a school is built in the village and Mubarka no longer has to stay in Zagazig with the children so they can get an education; the next generation goes to university. Remittances from Egyptians working in the Gulf fund high-rise apartment buildings which dwarf the original village homes and new economic policies break up the communal way of life.  

Although many occurrences in the novel show women’s weak status, in the end it is the women that hold the Deeb family together. Despite all the changes, Mubarka remains solid, the repository of the village and family memories of a century: “Replaying the tape of her life from the beginning, she would spend hours… commenting on scenes that no one but she had witnessed.” (p. 247)

Kamhawi’s writing is lucid and attention-grabbing, whether describing village customs or the sometimes out-of-bounds sexual escapades that occur within the extended family. Besides having a good command of history as it trickles down to ordinary people, he is quite adept at creating characters who are totally credible in their eccentricity, as well as depicting rather astounding behavior in a perfectly natural way. Not all the Deebs are exemplary, but Kamhawi treats them with empathy and humor, gently chiding the hapless but well meaning, while mercilessly ridiculing the selfish and cruel. Nancy Robert’s translation is seamless, preserving the local flavor of Egypt in fluid English prose.

Sally Bland

WASHINGTON – Wearable tech is moving beyond a small group of early adopters and going mainstream.

That’s the conclusion of market tracker IDC, which predicted sales of wearable tech items would triple this year to 19 million units worldwide, growing to 111.9 million by 2018.

“Wearable computing is still at the launchpad,” said IDC research manager Ramon Llamas.

“The market has certainly warmed up to the notion of wearables, but the spectrum of devices is so large, ranging from very simple, single-purpose devices to full-fledged computers that different categories will be able to gain salience sooner than others.”

IDC said the wearable sector is still led by fitness trackers such as Nike + FuelBand, Jawbone UP and Fitbit devices.

“The increased buzz has prompted more vendors to announce their intentions to enter this market,” Llamas said.

“Most importantly, end users have warmed to their simplicity in terms of design and functionality, making their value easy to understand and use.”

Smart accessories, such as the smartwatches from Pebble, Samsung and Sony “will also take a giant step forward, but their value proposition has yet to be completely clarified”, an IDC report said.

The report said wearable item such as Google Glass will not reach millions of consumers before 2016.

“To succeed, smart wearable vendors must convince users to shift to a new user experience while offering them a robust selection of third-party applications,” IDC said.

NEW YORK – For people with diabetes, one foot ulcer is very likely to lead to another, according to a new study that finds even minor lesions create a major risk of more severe foot wounds.

The best defence, Dutch researchers say, is to treat even minor sores carefully and to protect feet from pressure and injury with specialised footwear.

“I hope medical specialists and other healthcare practitioners will use this knowledge and implement it in clinical practice,” said senior author Sicco Bus, staff scientist with the Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam.

People with diabetes often lose feeling in their feet as a result of nerve damage, known as myelopathy. The lack of sensation makes diabetics prone to injure their feet without realising it, and allows small wounds to grow into serious ulcers that can eventually lead to infection or gangrene.

In the US, 26 million Americans have diabetes. Every year, 65,700 of these patients have lower-limb amputations.

Past research has shown that having had a foot ulcer is a significant risk factor for having more of them.

“Ulcer recurrence is a debilitating condition for the patient, risking further complications such as infection and amputation, and influencing loss of patient mobility and quality of life,” Bus told Reuters Health.

To find out what factors most strongly predict who will develop foot ulcers, Bus and his colleagues analysed data from a large trial of specialised footwear for diabetes patients with nerve damage in their feet (see Reuters Health article of January 24, 2013 here: reut.rs/1ewrG4F).

For the new analysis, the researchers focused on 171 participants, all of whom reported having a foot ulcer at least 18 months before the study began. For a period of 18 months, each person was checked for new ulcers every three months, and interviewed about their daily habits.

The pressure on their feet while walking barefoot and in the special footwear was also measured. During one week, sensors in the shoes reported how often the participants wore their shoes and how many steps they took.

During the study period, 71 people developed ulcers on the soles of their feet, 41 of them as a result of unrecognised “trauma”, Bus and his colleagues report in the journal Diabetes Care.

Among those 41, the people who had minor lesions when the study began were nine times more likely than those who didn’t to develop an ulcer. Often the wounds were in the same place as a previous ulcer, suggesting there was ongoing pressure or injury happening at that spot, according to the researchers.

Patients who wore shoes customised to the pressure points of their feet, however, had a 57 per cent lower risk of developing a new ulcer compared to those who didn’t.

Currently, to prevent ulcers, doctors and nurses have to check the feet of diabetic patients every day for wounds or use specialised tools for determining pressure points that might be prone to blisters.

“Some diabetics wear wounds on their feet kind of in the same way that a person might wear a hole in their sock, but for a diabetic, this hole gets infected and often leads to an amputated foot,” Dr David Armstrong, a professor of surgery at the University of Arizona, told Reuters Health.

“Myelopathy is a massive problem, it’s silent, and it doesn’t hurt, even in instances of gangrene. It’s no one’s fault, but no one pays attention to it. This study opens up avenues for prevention,” said Armstrong, who was not involved in the research.

The protective effect of customised footwear seen in the study highlights the benefits of personalised healthcare in high-risk patients, noted Dr Lawrence Lavery, a professor of surgery at the Texas A&M Health Science Centre College of Medicine and the Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas.

Private insurers will have to step up to pay the expense, Lavery said. “This is something that is well worth investing in.”

NEW YORK – People with asthma-related breathing problems may be at increased risk for bone loss, according to a new study.

The study examined the records of more than 7,000 adults in Seoul, Korea, and found those with a certain characteristic of asthma had significantly lower bone density in a region of their spine than those without asthma symptoms.

The characteristic, called airway hyper responsiveness, means the airways in the lungs are particularly sensitive, and it doesn’t take much to trigger an asthma attack.

However, both men and women with airway hyper responsiveness were still in the normal range for overall bone density, on average. And researchers couldn’t say whether the asthma symptoms or the bone loss came first or what linked the two.

“Asthma could be a risk for bone loss. The degree to which their disease puts them at risk for bone loss and fractures needs to be further studied,” Dr Sonal Singh told Reuters Health.

“We should be thinking about fractures in patients with asthma,” he said. “The study did make me think about the link between asthma and bone loss as I see my patients.”

Singh, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, was not involved in the current research but has studied broken bones in people taking steroids for chronic obstructive lung disease.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 25 million Americans — or one in 12 — have asthma. The US Surgeon General in 2012 predicted that by 2020 half of Americans over age 50 could have weak bones.

For the new study, researchers led by Dr Jae Woo-jung of Seoul National University Medical Research Centre analysed the health records of 7,034 patients seen at their hospital.

They found average bone density was lower in the lumbar spine in the 216 people who tested positive for airway hyper responsiveness.

The lumbar spine is the region between the ribs and the pelvis.

In addition, about 45 per cent of those patients had osteopenia, or lower than normal bone density, and 6 per cent had osteoporosis. That compared to a 30 per cent rate of osteopenia and a 4 per cent rate of osteoporosis among people without airway hyper responsiveness, according to findings published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

The study also found a lower bone density in the lumbar spines of people who reported having been diagnosed with asthma than in people without asthma. But Singh said it was hard to know whether that was meaningful, because the researchers didn’t measure asthma objectively.

Previous studies have found lower vitamin D levels among patients with asthma and related symptoms, the authors write.

They did not respond to a request for comment but speculate in the study that vitamin D deficiency might factor into bone loss among people with asthma and airway hyper responsiveness.

The current study did not measure participants’ vitamin D levels, so it can’t say anything about the vitamin’s link to asthma and bone loss.

Fractures are a known side effect of the systemic steroids used to treat asthma, Jung and colleagues write. Several studies have also tied inhaled steroids to decreased bone density, they note.

Steroids can decrease bone formation by stopping calcium from being absorbed. The drugs can also interfere with production of sex hormones, causing muscle weakness and raising the risk of falls and related fractures, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The NIH also says that people with asthma may avoid calcium-rich milk and other dairy products as well as weight-bearing exercise — key ingredients for bone health.

In the new study, the researchers excluded patients who had used systemic steroid medications. But the study did not consider participants’ use of inhaled steroids or other drugs for control of asthma and related symptoms.

Singh said the study prompted him to want to examine asthma and bone loss in research considering ethnicity, physical activity, vitamin D levels and use of inhaled steroids.