Deborah Campbell, Author at Argyll Free Press

Many U.S. Children Don’t See Healtcare Providers After Concussions

June 21, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

According to a new U.S. study, roughly 1.9 million children get concussions from recreational activities and various sports each year, and the problem is that a vast majority of them don’t get checked out by doctors after they get injured.

Anthony Kontos, head of the sports medicine concussion program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, explains that a lot of parents are not aware “that there are active and early interventions and therapies that can be used to treat kids following a concussion.”

Kontos, who wasn’t directly involved in the study, added that the misconception that all can be done to help a concussion heal is rest does a lot of harm.

“The fact that kids aren’t being seen by healthcare professionals trained in concussion following this injury is a problem, and we need to do a better job of educating parents, coaches and kids of the benefits of seeking appropriate and timely clinical care,” Kontos said in an email.

To estimate the number of recreation- and sport-related concussions, researchers reviewed three different nationwide databases. According to the paper published in the journal Pediatrics, it is difficult to get an exact count because not all injuries are reported and not every child is examined by a health professional.

However, the estimation is still somewhere around 1.1 million children (below 18) who get concussions from recreational activities and sports in the U.S. annually. The more worrying statistic says about 511,000 to 1.2 million kids do not see healthcare providers after they get injured.

Senior study author, Dr. Mersine Bryan of the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the University of Washington, said the list of reasons why children are not seen by doctors after concussions is long.

Identifying and recognizing concussions have something to do with that, but not because parents think head injuries are too mild to seek medical care.

“If a child has a head injury and is experiencing symptoms afterward, such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, or fatigue, they should be evaluated by healthcare providers,” added Bryan by email.

The study was limited in accuracy because it did not take into consideration how many kids with symptoms actually did have concussions. Even so, the findings are similar to other research estimating the prevalence of concussions among children.
Image Source: Gecko Sports Blog

Two Gun-related Emoji Won’t Roll Out with Unicode 9.0

June 18, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

The next emoji update is due soon – but two characters that were originally planned to roll out will be missing. According to the organization overseeing emoji, the “late stage” change in the number of new emoji may have had an unlikely source: Apple.

It seems that the tech giant used its influence with Unicode Consortium to prevent two new characters representing rifles from being on the roster of the upcoming Unicode 9.0 update.

BuzzFeed reports 74 emoji were slated to be introduced later this month, but two of them – a rifle and a “modern pentathlon” – were taken off the list. If you’re wondering why the symbols were even developed in the first place, it has to do with the upcoming Olympic Games.

This year, shotgun, rifle, and pistol shooting are all Olympic events, and pistol shooting will be included in the modern pentathlon. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple was the one to ask the removal of the two characters from the Unicode 9.0 update.

The request was made during a Unicode Consortium meeting in May, when Microsoft, who’s also a voting member, reportedly backed up Apple. However, it seems the decision to pull the two emoji was not a controversial one, anyway.

When Unicode confirmed the removal of the modern pentathlon rifle emoji last month, the organization did not elaborate why they were pulled out at such a “late stage” of the 9.0 update.

“These will not be recommended for emoji presentation by vendors when the final version of Unicode 9 is released next month,” is what the organization wrote in a blog post at the time.

Even though Apple has yet to comment on its objection to the emoji, there are some speculations; as BuzzFeed points out, the two emoji were already under harsh criticism from British gun control activists.

The Unicode Consortium is an independent organization, so technically, it could do whatever it wanted to. But because member companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google are the ones implementing the characters on their platforms, they get to vote to approve the new ones.

Unicode’s 9.0 update will roll out June 21, and it will add 72 new emoji, such as bacon, avocado and selfie symbols.
Image Source: Local TV Witi

Diet Rich in Whole Grains Associated With Lower Death Risk

June 14, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

A new meta-analysis found that you can increase your longevity by following a diet rich in whole grains. People who ate at least three servings of whole grains each day were 20 percent less likely to die early compared with people who ate less than one serving daily.

The researchers reviewed 14 previous studies, all of whom were at least six years long; many of the studies spanned over more than 10 years. The focus point of the analysis was looking at specific causes of death.

It was found that eating three servings of whole grains a day was linked to a 25 percent decreased risk of death from heart disease, and a 14 percent decreased risk of death from cancer, compared with eating less than one serving of whole grains daily.

According to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, adults should eat three or more servings of whole grains each day. However, Americans eat less than one serving a day, on average, according to the study published in the journal Circulation.

Senior author of the study Dr. Qi Sun, an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said, “these findings lend further support to the U.S. government’s current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which suggest high consumption of whole grains to facilitate disease prevention.”

More than 786,000 people were involved in the reviewed studies; nearly 98,000 deaths were recorded in all of the studies, including more than 37,000 from cancer, and more than 23,000 from heart disease.

Dr. Sun noted that several individual studies consistently suggested that people who consumed more grains had a reduced risk of death. Each serving (0.5 ounces or 16 grams) of whole grains a day was linked to a 7 percent reduction in the risk of death.

According to the meta-analysis, people in the studies ate different types of whole grains. However, in the U.S., more than 70 percent of whole grains that the participants ate came from breads and cereal grains – including rice, oatmeal, and barley.

Two previous meta-analyses already proved the benefits of following a diet rich in whole grains, as they are associated with lower cholesterol levels, lower blood sugar levels, and lower amounts of body fat.
Image Source: Pixabay

Electronic Arts Wants to Support Indie Game Developers

June 13, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Electronic Arts revealed its new EA Originals initiative at this year’s E3, which seeks to offer support to independent game developers for their various projects.

It is noteworthy that in last year’s E3 event, one of the main attractions at the EA press conference was Unravel, a game showcasing spectacular visuals by Coldwood Interactive, which was assisted by EA in bringing it to consoles.

After the E3 in 2015, Unravel got released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, showing that the partnership is able to follow through with the promise of getting the game out to the gaming community.

EA Originals is a follow-up on the partnership with Coldwood over Unravel, and it wants to support even more indie game developers. On the stage at E3, VP Patrick Söderlund, one of the EA Studios executives, talked about the three pillars that support the EA Originals initiative.

The first is the goal of bringing and unique gaming experiences to the masses while the second is offering small developers the necessary support to develop their projects, market and eventually publish them.

Furthermore, the third pillar is all about providing indie game developers with financial security by allowing them to keep all the profits generated by the game they created. Needless to say, this is an incredibly valuable thing for small studios that are just launching their brand in the industry.

Following Söderlund on the E3 stage was Klaus Lyngeled of Sweden-based Zoink! Games. His presentation revolved around Fe, the first game created and published under the EA Originals initiative.

Fe allows players to explore a dark forest while they control a small creature that looks like a fox. The game begins by showing the creature waking up alone in the forest, and it is up to the player to help it survive in the unknown universe.

The presentation of the Zoink! developer revealed that Fe shares a narrative about the relationship with nature. The players will encounter other creatures and animals, each with a unique song; learning the songs will enable the access to more parts of the world.

In advance of E3, Electronic Arts revealed the list of all the games that will become available in small events in Los Angeles and London dubbed as EA Play.
Image Source: Quarter Disorder

An AI Kill Switch Is Needed to Stop Robots from Taking Over

June 9, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

What is today an old sci-fi fear of technology taking control over humanity, could very well become reality one day – or at least a real threat. That’s why scientists today have started thinking ahead and developing a kill switch for artificial intelligence (AI).

Two researchers, Stuart Armstrong, from the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, and Laurent Orseau, from Google DeepMind, have already published a paper on why and how future AI machines could be prohibited from learning to override human input.

With their solution, humans will forever remain in charge of machines. “It is sane to be concerned – but, currently, the state of our knowledge doesn’t require us to be worried,” said Dr. Orseau.

However, he also agrees that it’s smart to start working on AI safety before any kind of problem arises. AI safety is concerned with making sure the algorithms providing the machines with learning power work the way they are supposed to.

The research of Orseau and Armstrong focuses on how scientists can be sure AI machines can be interrupted by the humans in their charge – at any time, without the machines themselves learning the code for the kills switch. This way, they cannot overcome or prevent human intervention.

“Now and then it may be necessary for a human operator to press the big red button to prevent the agent from continuing a harmful sequence of actions,” they wrote in their paper, called “Safely Interruptible Agents.”

The challenge is to find a way to disable the AI machine without the learning agent learning how to disable the red button, for example.

It’s important to be prepared, the authors explained, since it’s unlike for AIs to behave “optimally” at all times. Thus, the machines we create should not “be able to disregard human attempts to stop or interrupt its functioning.”

For example, an AI created in 2013 was taught to play Tetris, but in order to avoid losing a game, the machine had learned to pause the game indefinitely.

Other scientists also agree to the importance of a kill switch, such as University of Sheffield AI expert Noel Sharkey. He also told the BBC that the ideal situation would be if the AI program could stop itself when it detects that something is wrong.
Image Source: Flickr

Facebook Says It Does Not Eavesdrop On Your Conversations

June 6, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Facebook has denied in an official blog post that it is eavesdropping on people’s conversations to deliver targeted ads and to alter their News Feeds.

According to its spokesperson, Facebook only uses its access to people’s microphones for certain features. This announcement was made in response to recent rumors saying that the social network can and is listening through people’s smartphone mics to better target advertising based on what they are talking about.

But Facebook clearly stated that the device’s microphone is only used by the social network for features that require it and that the ads people see on Facebook are based only on their use on the platform.

Even though the suggestion that Facebook’s ears might be always open had been thrown around in anecdotal reports for years, the possibility was boosted last week. But the site swiftly denied those rumors.

“Facebook does not use your phone’s microphone to inform ads or to change what you see in News Feed,” the company wrote in a blog post on 2 June.

“Some recent articles have suggested that we must be listening to people’s conversations in order to show them relevant ads. This is not true. We show ads based on people’s interests and other profile information – not what you’re talking out loud about.”

Facebook also pointed out that, as with any other app, it asks for access to your phone’s mic so it can use it for specific features. “We only access your microphone if you have given our app permission and if you are actively using a specific feature that requires audio,” the site explained.

What features, you’re asking? Recording a video requires the mic, for instance, as well as including music or other audio in the status updates.

But if you’re still not convinced and you don’t want Facebook snooping around, you can easily turn off your microphone for Facebook – or any other app, for that matter.

Some features will become unusable, but it will mean that Facebook will no longer ‘hear’ anything since you’ve turned off microphone access at the level of the operating system.

To deny Facebook’s access, all you have to do is head to the privacy settings on iOS or Android and toggle the permissions that the app is given.
Image Source: Yahoo!

Microsoft Wants to Win VR Without Actually Releasing a VR Headset

June 1, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Even though virtual reality is upon us, the arrival of Microsoft’s HoloLens won’t be for a while longer.

Microsoft isn’t keen on building its own traditional VR headset, and it doesn’t have a release date for its magical augmented reality (AR) headgear. So until that happens, Microsoft has concocted a plan.

It wants to use the allure of VR and AR to sell VR headset manufacturers, developers, and users on its Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft announced on Wednesday that Windows Holographic won’t be simply a special version of Windows that connects to its HoloLens headset.

Sometime soon, Microsoft wants to bring all its features to the traditional versions of Windows 10, which means opening up the floodgates for VR headset makers to develop their own headsets for computers using Microsoft’s most recent OS.

But Microsoft grand vision needs all those headsets to play nice with Windows, too. If successful, the plan would allow people to work together from across different time zones as if they were in the same office, regardless of the headset each of them is using.

Even if one person would be using an HTC Vive and their colleague a HoloLens, Microsoft’s new platform would allow them to see each other and their surroundings so they could collaborate on their project.

This will be made possible with the help of the HoloLens’ sensors; as they scan the room, Microsoft’s platform can share that visual data with the HTC Vive user as well.

Of course, this unbelievable scenario only really works if at least one person has purchased a $3,000 HoloLens Development Kit – which hasn’t even made it to the shelves yet.

But Microsoft’s plan doesn’t have to wait some more years until a consumer-ready version of the HoloLens will arrive; before the idea of VR and AR collaboration will bear fruit, the company hopes to inspire as many developers as possible to create Universal Windows Applications for VR headsets right now.

The catch is that if they start using Microsoft’s standard, the applications they build now will work just as well on AR headsets like the HoloLens later.

Microsoft’s idea is simpler pitch than asking VR developers to build apps for the HoloLens itself, which might not be released yet for some years.
Image Source: Wired

Americans Are Reluctant to Join Clinical Trials

May 25, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

A new survey showed that Americans are reluctant when it comes to participating in clinical trials. It found that only four in 10 Americans have a positive opinion of them, and just one-third citizens would be likely to enroll in one.

According to a study by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in NYC, the findings of the survey are cause for concern, especially for cancer research. Almost all advances ever made in terms of cancer treatment were first evaluated in a clinical trial.

Previous research has also revealed that only 4 percent of cancer patients in the U.S. actually enroll in clinical trials annually.

“When it comes to advancing cancer care, clinical research is the rocket fuel for better treatments, more accurate diagnoses and, ultimately, cures,” explained Dr. Jose Baselga, head physician and chief medical officer at the cancer center.

If the low rates of enrollment keep up, cancer research and discovery will soon hit a crisis point because further education is the key to participation and progress. At the moment, Memorial Sloan Kettering is conducted around 900 cancer clinical trials.

The recent survey based its statistics on more than 1,500 adults aged 18 to 69 years old. The respondents were mainly worried about safety and potential side effects. Half of them were also concerned about out-of-pocket costs and insurance coverage.

Almost the same number of survey takers was reluctant to participate in clinical trials because of the inconvenience of trial locations, or because they thought they would be part of a control group receiving a placebo instead of an active treatment drug.

Furthermore, another one-third of those surveyed was skeptic about unproven treatments while a similar number said clinical trials makes them feel like a guinea pig.

But the number of respondents who have a positive impression of these trials rose significantly (from 40 to 60 percent) after they were given information about clinical trials.

“While concerns regarding clinical trials are understandable, it is critical that the cancer community address common myths and misunderstandings around issues like effectiveness, safety, and use of placebo,” said Dr. Paul Sabbatini, deputy physician-in-chief for clinical research at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Sabbatini believes it’s critical that more people find out about the importance of clinical trials; they offer the medical community the best opportunity of finding new ways to prevent, treat and cure cancer.
Image Source: Eye For Pharma

Sunscreen Gene Could Protect Skin Against Melanoma

May 21, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Summer is almost here, which means it’s time to make sure we keep our skin as protected as possible against the harmful UV radiation.

Almost in time with the season, a team of scientists from the University Of Southern California discovered a so-called “sunscreen gene” that could keep melanoma – the most severe form of skin cancer – at bay.

Researchers noticed that melanoma patients who presented mutant or deficient versions of the “UV radiation Resistance Associated Gene” were less protected from the damaging ultraviolet rays.

“If we understand how this UV-resistant gene functions and the processes by which cells repair themselves after ultraviolet damage, then we could find targets for drugs to revert a misguided mechanism back to normal conditions,” explained Chengyu Liang from the USC.

According to medical reports, over 90 percent of the cases of melanoma skin cancer develop because cells were damaged from being exposed to UV radiation.

People who have low levels of the UV-resistant gene could be at higher risk of skin cancer, especially if they are frequent beach-goers or tanning fans, explained the team.

This study could be the proof that having the UV-resistant gene might be a biomarker for preventing skin cancer. For the research, medical data from 340 melanoma patients was used.

At the same time, the team worked with an experimental group with reduced levels of the UV-resistant gene and a control group with a mutant copy of that gene in melanoma cells and 50 fly eyes.

What they did was give a UV shot to cells with the normal UV-resistant gene and to cells that carried defective copies of it. A day later, the cells carrying normal versions of the gene were able to repair more than 50 percent of the damaged cells.

On the other hand, the defective samples had repaired less than 20 percent of the UV-induced damage. In simpler terms, people with the normal UV-resistant gene can repair the UV-induced sunburns that can occur when they sunbathe or go tanning, whereas those with the defective copy of the gene will have more damage left unrepaired.

In turn, this damage translates into an increased risk of developing skin cancers such as melanoma. Researchers noted their study merely presents a correlation between the sunscreen gene and skin cancer.
Image Source: Barefoot Traveller

Stop Wasting Perfectly Good Food

May 20, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Most restaurants throw away perfectly edible food.

Congress wants people to stop wasting perfectly good food. The “Domestic Harmony Act” is an undergoing project that wants to bring awareness to the fact that there is a big difference between “expires on” and “best used by.”

Chellie Pingree’s, a member of the Republican party, and Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut State Senator joined forces in order to bring more light to the expiration labels that are put on food products. According to them, when the “Domestic Harmony Act” will be implemented, Americans will have clearer views on how to use certain food products, when to throw them away, and when to repurpose them.

Pingree grew up on a farm, so when she was little, she knew that when a strawberry went stale, you could always put it in a pie. When the milk turned sour, you used it to make biscuits, and when there was a little mold on the cheese, you just scrapped the compromised part and put some macaroni on the stove.

On the other hand, Sen. Blumenthal is the kind of person who checks and double checks the expiration date on a food item before consuming or using it. He was one of the majority of Americans who believe that if a product is labeled “best used before” then the date inscribed on the package is the same as the time in which the food becomes inedible.

There is a tremendous difference between the expiration date on a food item and the “best before” one. The first is, or should be, a clear indicator of the day in which that food expires, turning from thing that is good for you to something that will probably make you sick.

On the other hand, the “best before” date is another thing entirely. This labeling method is used to offer the public a guideline. When the “best before” date passes, you can repurpose that food, cook it, in order to make it edible again.

Americans should stop wasting perfectly good food. They tend to throw away products that could be either eaten, cooked, or donated. Some are starving while others are wasting.

The two Republicans want to bring awareness to the importance of not throwing away food items that can be otherwise used, even if their label says that they’re expired.

Image source: Wikipedia

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