The Fitbit on your wrist not only counts your steps and minutes of sleep, it can also help tell if you’re coming down with the flu — and warn health authorities to get ready to help.

A study in the United States has found that heart rate and sleep data from wearable fitness tracker watches can predict and alert public health officials to real-time outbreaks of flu more accurately than current surveillance methods.

The study used data from more than 47,000 Fitbit users in five US states. The results, published in The Lancet Digital Health journal, showed that by using Fitbit data, state-wide predictions of flu outbreaks were improved and accelerated.

The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 6,50,000 people worldwide die of respiratory diseases linked to seasonal flu each year.

Traditional surveillance reporting takes up to three weeks, meaning response measures — such as deploying vaccines or anti-virals and advising patients to stay at home — can often lag. Read Complete Article

A team of researchers has conducted a detailed study on how leaving school and getting a job can lead to a drop in the amount of physical activity while becoming a mother is linked to increased weight gain.

The research which was published in Obesity Review was led by researchers from the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) at the University of Cambridge.

The study focused on the changes in physical activities, differences in diet and its result in body weight as young adults move from academics to become a parent.

As many leave the stage of adolescence, people tend to put on weight, which is a result of changes in diet, and physical activity.

The team conducted two studies, which studied the transition from high school into employment, and then that of becoming a parent. Read Complete Article

India has been ranked very low at 76th place out of 82 countries on a new Social Mobility Index compiled by the World Economic Forum, while Denmark has topped the charts.

The report, released ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the WEF, also lists India among the five countries that stand to gain the most from a better social mobility score that seeks to measure parameters necessary for creating societies where every person has the same opportunity to fulfil his potential in life irrespective of socioeconomic background.

Increasing social mobility, a key driver of income inequality, by 10 per cent would benefit social cohesion and boost the world’s economies by nearly 5 per cent by 2030, the WEF said.

But, few economies have the right conditions to foster social mobility.

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Dell Inspiron 13 7391 is a two-in-one notebook, with a 360-degree rotating display lid giving it flexibility of working as a laptop, a tablet (and entertainment display in stand and tent mode). The notebook’s compact design and lightweight build make it easy to carry it around. Powered by the Intel Core i5 Gen 10th processor, the Dell Inspiron 13 7391 seems to be a feature-rich convertible notebook that does not compromise on performance.

Let’s find out how this device fares on key parameters:

Design

Design is often seen as a crucial differentiator in the convertible notebook segment. And the Dell Inspiron 13 7391 scores big in this department. Made of aluminium, this notebook oozes luxury. Its compact size (not bigger than a 10.1-inch tablet) and lightweight build (1.4 kg) ensure easy portability.

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Health News: A pinch in the leg, a squeal and a trickle of tears. One baby after another in Malawi is getting the first and only vaccine against malaria, one of history’s deadliest and most stubborn of diseases. The southern African nation is rolling out the shots in an unusual pilot programme along with Kenya and Ghana. Unlike established vaccines that offer near-complete protection, this new one is only about 40% effective.

But experts say it’s worth a try as progress against malaria stalls: Resistance to treatment is growing and the global drop in cases has leveled off. With the vaccine, the hope is to help small children through the most dangerous period of their lives. Spread by mosquito bites, malaria kills more than 400,000 people every year, two-thirds of them under 5 and most in Africa.

Seven-month-old Charity Nangware received a shot on a rainy December day at a health clinic in the town of Migowi. She watched curiously as the needle slid into her thigh, then twisted up her face with a howl. Read Complete Article

Health News: Researchers have developed an algorithm which can predict the risk of gestational diabetes even before pregnancy, an advance that may lead to lifestyle interventions for reducing high blood sugar which affects nearly one in six pregnant women.

The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, analysed data on nearly 6,00,000 pregnancies available from Israel’s largest health organisation, Clalit Health Services.

“Our ultimate goal has been to help the health system take measures so as to prevent diabetes from occurring in pregnancy,” said study senior author Eran Segal from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

According to the researchers, gestational diabetes is characterised by high blood sugar levels which occur during pregnancy in women with no history of diabetes.

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After creating an immense buzz with the trailer of the forthcoming movie ‘Malang‘, the makers of the film on Thursday dropped the much-anticipated title track of the romantic-action thriller.

The lead actor of the flick, Aditya Roy Kapur, hopped on to Instagram to share the news of the title track release among his followers and posted a poster with a caption that read, “Get ready to fall in love and unleash the madness within you with #MalangTitleTrack Song out now: Link in bio! #Malang.”

Unlike the trailer which gave a powerful action-packed sight to the movie, the title track has fallen to a rather soothing spot, both with the song as well as the video.

Clocking in at two-minutes and fifty-nine seconds, the video is a finely flavored mixture of the chemistry between the lead actors Aditya and Disha and the blossoming romance of the two in Goa.

The title track has both sides of the coin, it is the lovely bond brewing between the two, but given a minute to the video, it holds a slightly melancholic mood from Aditya who is remembering their first meeting. Read Complete Article

Lead actors of the upcoming movie ‘Love Aaj Kal‘, Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan, shared the first poster of the much-awaited movie on Thursday.

Helmed by Imtiaz Ali, the poster introduces Sara as Zoe and Kartik as Veer.

Sara shared the first poster of the film on Instagram and wrote, “Meet Veer and Zoe [?] Come get wound up in our whirlwind wonderland #LoveAajKal, Trailer out tomorrow!!”

She also announced the date of the trailer launch, which is scheduled for Friday.

In the poster, Kartik is seen lying on a bed with his eyes shut, while is Sara lying upon him, looking a little gloomy.

The ‘Pati, Patni Aur Woh’ actor too shared the poster on his Instagram stories.

This new outing of Imtiaz Ali is a sequel to the director’s film ‘Love Aaj Kal’ that released in 2009, which starred Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan. Read Complete Article

Beauty Sleep: While taking a good night sleep, makes one feel energetic and refreshed for the day, Biologists have explained for the first time why having a good night’s sleep really could prepare us for the rigorous activities of the day ahead.

The study was published in the journal Nature Cell Biology. The study conducted on mice shows how the body clock mechanism boosts our ability to maintain our bodies when we are most active.

And because we know the body clock is less precise as we age, the discovery, argues lead author Professor Karl Kadler, may one day help unlock some of the mysteries of ageing.

The discovery throws fascinating light on the body’s extracellular matrix -which provides structural and biochemical support to cells in the form of connective tissue such as bone, skin, tendon and cartilage. Readmore Interesting points

NEET MDS Result 2020: The National Board of Examination has declared the NEET MDS result 2020. Candidates can check MDS Result on the official website – natboard.edu.in.

How to check NEET MDS 2020 result

Step 1: Visit the official website – natboard.edu.in

Step 2: Click on the ‘NEET MDS Result’ link

Step 3: A PDF file will appear on the display screen

Step 4: Scroll down to check your NEET MDS Result 2020. Download it for future reference

NEET MDS 2020 cut off

The National Board of Examination has also released the NEET MDS 2020 cut off scores for various categories. For candidates belonging to the general and EWS category, the cut off score is 286 out of 960, for SC/ST/OBC (including PwD of SC/ST/OBC) category is 250 and finally for PwD candidates (general) category, the cut off score is 268. Read Complete Article