Vitamin D may reduce cancer risk, breast cancer mortality

Apart from building healthy bones, vitamin D also may reduce cancer risk as well as BreastCancer mortality, especially in women with a lower body mass index.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women worldwide and is the leading cause of death from cancer in women. Reproductive risk factors such as early onset of puberty, late menopause, later age at first pregnancy, never having been pregnant, obesity, and a family history have all been shown to be associated with breast cancer development.

The role of vitamin D concentration in the development of breast cancer, however, continues to be debated.

Researchers involved in the study concluded that postmenopausal women had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency at the time of their breast cancer diagnoses, associated with higher rates of obesity than women of the same age group without cancer.

Similar studies also have previously demonstrated a relationship between vitamin D and breast cancer mortality. Women in the highest quartile of vitamin D concentrations, in fact, had a 50% lower death rate from breast cancer than those in the lower quartile, suggesting that vitamin D levels should be restored to a normal range in all women with breast cancer.

Apart from building healthy bones, vitamin D also may reduce cancer risk as well as breast cancer mortality, especially in women with a lower body mass index.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women worldwide and is the leading cause of death from cancer in women. Reproductive risk factors such as early onset of puberty, late menopause, later age at first pregnancy, never having been pregnant, obesity, and a family history have all been shown to be associated with breast cancer development.

The role of vitamin D concentration in the development of breast cancer, however, continues to be debated.

Researchers involved in the study concluded that postmenopausal women had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency at the time of their breast cancer diagnoses, associated with higher rates of obesity than women of the same age group without cancer.

Similar studies also have previously demonstrated a relationship between vitamin D and breast cancer mortality. Women in the highest quartile of vitamin D concentrations, in fact, had a 50% lower death rate from breast cancer than those in the lower quartile, suggesting that vitamin D levels should be restored to a normal range in all women with breast cancer.

Sony 'Master Series' A9F Bravia OLED TV launched in India for Rs 399,990

Sony 'Master Series' A9F Bravia OLED TVs comes with with features like Netflix calibrated mode, hands-free voice search and TV centre speaker mode to work with home theatre systems

Taking its popular Bravia OLED TV line-up to a new level, Sony India on Monday launched "A9F" under its "Master Series" with features like Netflix calibrated mode, hands-free voice search and TV centre speaker mode to work with home theatre systems.

Running Android TV 8.0 Oreo operating system (OS), the new television series -- "KD-55A9F" (55-inch) that costs Rs 399,990 while "KD-65A9F" (65-inch) is priced at Rs 559,990 -- will be available in India from September 20.

Equipped with "X1 Ultimate" picture processor and "pixel contrast booster" -- which is Sony's original panel controller for OLED -- the TVs would deliver 4K HDR picture quality and better contrast, the company said in a statement.

Sony has incorporated "single slate design" in its new TV offering with only one stand in the back to hold it up.

The TVs also come with "Acoustic Surface Audio+" technology to facilitate multi-dimensional sounds.

"The TVs would provide a faster, easier and more intuitive interface for the consumers to use," the company claimed.

Additionally, the TVs also come with multi-lingual support, accommodating 11 Indian languages and over 14 international dialects.

The "X1 Ultimate Picture Processor" can intelligently detect and analyse each object in the picture through Sony's new object-based super-resolution mechanism - pixel contrast booster- for exceptional accuracy and detail.

The object-based HDR remaster has been updated and allows each object to be remastered individually for better depth and accurate texture.

With this recent launch, Sony will continue to enhance its premium line-up in its Bravia TV range to cater the niche customers and chase more value and strong foothold, Sony India Managing Director Sunil Nayyar told Press Trust of India.

Besides, Sony would also continue to have its affordable range to cater the entry-level customers in 32-inch and 40-inch screen size as per its "twin strategy" in the segment.

Sony, which is strengthening its premium image here, would also enhance the domestic manufacturing of the TV units through its local partner.

"Our contribution of the premium sales is increasing rapidly.

Boat products review: Inexpensive phone accessories with quirky design

Boat is inexpensive, not cheap. It needs a bit of tweaking before taking on the audio biggies

Quirky is a characteristic of Boat, a comparatively new consumer electronics brand founded in 2016. Its designs have a generous use of bright colours -- red, pink, blue, fluorescent -- and the occasional grey and black, aimed at catching the eye in the cluttered segment of affordable mobile phone accessories. The company makes earphones, headphones and portable speakers, along with accessories such as chargers and cables. We tested out one in each category for its design, quality and ruggedness.

Rockerz 430 (on-ear wireless headphones)

The packaging of Boat products is unimpressive across categories. The boxes are flimsy and aesthetically banal -- uncharacteristically opposite of how the products look. The Rockerz 430 we reviewed has a charcoal grey exterior and is bright red inside. The plastic headband feels solid and the PU coating makes the headphones comfortable to hang on the neck when not in use. It’s also light.

have never been a fan of small ear-cups that sit on the ears and not cover them completely. Doesn’t matter the cushioning on the cups, even the slightest of pressure makes the headphones hard to keep on for extended use. The Rockerz 430 has a passive noise cancellation, which means they sit on the ears snuggly to block the outside noise by design; and the headphones won’t slip off even if you run with them. But not everyone can get used to the pressure on the outer ear.

The Rockerz 430 is paired easily, and is even faster to connect the next time. The over-enthusiastic announcer welcoming you with “you have plugged into Nirvana” is quite unnecessary though.

Moving on, the headphones don’t falter on delivering the low frequency sounds right. The sub-bass is deep and surround. Even the mids -- that include the vocals -- are clear. Listening to Drake and DJ Khaled is a pleasure, but only until the highs kick in. It seems like in order to achieve satisfactory base, the highs have been amped up. And the distortion is quite evident when bass takes a back seat. The snare drums in Highway to Hell by AC/DC were overbearing after a point, and by the time I moved an era to Charlie Puth’s Done for Me for its treble-heavy music and Puth’s high-pitched voice, I could not increase the volume over 70 per cent. While the bass is good, the overall sound quality Rockerz 430 delivers for Rs 1,995 -- even though cost-effective -- is average, at best.

Read more about : BassHeads 225, Stone 200 (Bluetooth speakers), Charging cable (for iOS)

PM Modi Celebrates Raksha Bandhan with Children & Women’s.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today followed on Twitter 55 women, including sports and media personalities, to mark Raksha Bandhan.

These women include professional badminton doubles player Ashwini Ponnappa, tennis players Sania Mirza and Karman Kaur Thandi, athlete P T Usha, former Miss India and child rights activist Swaroop, and journalists Romana Isar Khan, Sweta Singh, Padmaja Joshi, Sheela Bhatt and Shalini Singh.

Others followed by the prime minister on the micro-blogging platform include actor Koena Mitra, weightlifter Karnam Malleswari, photo journalist Renuka Puri and some BJP members and state government ministers.

Some of those followed by Modi, thanked him and wished him on Raksha Bandhan.

Sources in the government said the prime minister followed them on Twitter to mark the festival.

The prime minister follows 2,000 people on his personal Twitter handle @narendramodi and is followed by 43.7 million people.

His official Twitter handle @PMOIndia follows 438 people, including world leaders. The official account is followed by 26.9 million people.

Article Source : BS

Xiaomi Poco F1 launched in India at Rs 20,999, to go on sale on August 29

Poco -- a sub-brand Xiaomi will use the manufacturing and supply chain as well as the after-sales network of the Chinese parent in order to bring Poco F1 to the customers

Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, launched the Xiaomi Poco F1 in India today, under their new sub-brand Poco which stands for 'a little'. The Flipkart-exclusive smartphone is the most affordable smartphone to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC and is a premium addition to the portfolio of parent Xiaomi, known mostly for its budget and mid-range smartphones.

In a recent media interaction, Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain had said that the company was working on a premium smartphone, which would not be from the company’s existing portfolio, but a new offering designed specifically for Indian consumers. The Poco F1 launched today, has premium looks, features and specifications while the price starts from Rs 20,999 and one can get a first sale offer of Rs 1000 instant cashback if bought through HDFC Bank credit or debit card.

"As a small outfit within Xiaomi, Poco has the freedom to start from scratch, zeroing in on the product choices and technologies that matter. The brand focusses on delivering performance and innovation, which we believe will resonate with tech enthusiasts," Jai Mani, Head of Product at Poco Global, said.

Apart from the flagship Snapdragon 845 chipset, the Poco F1 sports a 5.99-inch fullHD+ notch display with 19:9 aspect ratio. The notch houses an infrared face-unlock feature as well. The phone comes with a 20MP selfie camera and 12-megapixel and 5MP dual rear cameras, a 4000mAh battery, a fingerprint sensor on the back and LiquidCool Technology cooling system

The Poco F1 comes in three RAM and internal storage configurations - 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB and is available in three colour options - Rosso Red, Steel Blue and Graphite Black and a kevlar-backed armoured 8GB/256GB edition.

The OS is based on Android 8.1 Oreo with a MIUI skin on it and is expected to receive the Android P update in near future.

"Poco brand is focussed on innovation and has a different positioning. Our first handset - F1 - is for the power users....We don't think Poco will impact Xiaomi sales, Poco will be complementary to Xiaomi," its Global Head Alvin Tse said. (more)

CBSE wants to revamp Class X, XII exam pattern from 2020: Here's the plan

The questions will be shorter and stress would be on probing the critical thinking abilities of students

If everything goes according to plan, the question papers of Class X and XII will, in a couple years, wear a fresh look. The questions will be shorter and more in the nature of problem-solving. In effect, rote learning will walk out the door and questions based on testing students' analytical abilities will be the new norm.

All of these changes and more will become a reality if the CBSE Exams goes ahead with its revamp plan, as was reported on Thursday by 'The Times of India'.

"The questions will be more in the nature of problem-solving. There will be more short questions (between 1 to 5 marks). The stress would be on probing the critical thinking abilities of students and test actual learning outcomes rather than allow students to score high marks by virtue of rote," the report quoted a senior unnamed HRD official as saying.

According to the report, the CBSE also plans to hold vocational subject tests earlier and early declaration of results. The exams for vocational subjects will be held in February while the main subject tests will end in March "in around 15 days".

"This will give evaluators more time to check papers. Results, too, will likely be declared earlier", the report said.

The board is also mulling introducing new bylaws to simplify and shorten the affiliation process. According to the new affiliation/renewal laws, the decision will be based highly on the school's academic quality -- such as the quality of teachers, learning outcomes, and pedagogy. Also, the state's directorates of education/school education departments will evaluate the schools' facilities and the CBSE will depend on their reports while arriving at a decision.

"Instead, CBSE will put to use its resources in measuring the academic quality," the official said.

While the proposals regarding the examination schedule are "still at the discussion stage", according to the report, the board is already working toward implementing the changes in question paper by the year 2020.

Article Source : BS

MHRD announces entrance dates; JEE Mains to be held twice in 2019

All the exams will be computer-based except for NEET, which will be conducted in pen-and-paper mode

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on Tuesday announced the schedule for various entrance examinations till May 2019 to be conducted by the newly-established National Testing Agency (NTA).

It announced the schedule for UGC-NET, JEE Main I & II, CMAT & GPAT, and NEET-UG.

All these exams will be computer-based except for NEET, which will be conducted in pen-and-paper mode as before. This mode of writing exam was kept unchanged at the request of the Health Ministry.

"The change in the NEET exam pattern (as against the statement made on July 7, 2018) -- which will now be a single exam in pen-and-paper mode and in the same number of languages as has been conducted last year -- is on the request of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which wanted the same pattern as last year's to be maintained," the HRD Ministry said in its statement.

While declaring the establishment of NTA, the Ministry had in July said that all these exams will be conducted online.

As per the schedule announced on Tuesday, the UGC-NET will be conducted on several days during December 9-23, 2018; JEE-Main I on days between January 6 and 20, 2019, while JEE-Main II will be held between April 6 and 20, 2019.

The CPAT-GMAT entrance, earlier conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education, will be conducted by the NTA now on January 28 and NEET-Undergraduate on May 5 next year.

The Ministry said that through NTA it has also established 2,697 Test Practice Centres (TPCs) in schools and engineering colleges for candidates to practice and familiarise themselves with the pattern of the exams.

These centres will be available to the candidates on Sundays and Saturdays starting from September 1 and will be free of charge.

"The TPCs will have a downloaded Computer Based Test (CBT) which will be similar to the actual test to be conducted on the exam day. (more)