Features

To a company or an organisation, the IT (Information Technology) department is what the nervous system is to a human body. Nothing would function without it. This is hardly an exaggeration.

Ever since business has been structured in a modern manner, the accounting and the HR (the human resources, previously called “personnel administration”) departments, among others, have been found in virtually all companies, enterprises, organisations and corporations. At least once they reached a certain size.

For the last thirty years or so, another department has joined them, gaining more and more significance, to the point of exceeding all others with time. It is the IT department. Understanding its importance is easy. Everything goes through computers and networks these days, including the workflow of older departments such as accounting and HR. They just cannot operate anymore without proper, efficient and fast servers, networks and application software.

In other words, virtually all functions in an organisation would simply come to a full stop if the IT would fail. The fact that ever larger parts of work are done online since circa 2010 adds to the importance of the IT team. Think of online banking, shopping, airline reservations, and such. Would they work at all without top notch, reliable IT services?

And, yet, some organisations fail to understand this and take an outdated, rather conservative approach to their handling of the IT operations. In their mind information technology is needed alright, but only like a burden you cannot do without, like just another additional accessory, a department that costs a lot in the end, and whose significance, whose role is greatly exaggerated. Whereas it really should be sitting at the top of the organisational pyramid.

The fact is that IT does cost a lot. When you add up the price of the qualified human resources required to manage and to handle it properly, the cost of the equipment, of the software and the never-ending upgrades, the money and the effort it takes to replace server computers every six years or so, you get an alarming bill. And yet, it is more than worth it in terms of ROI (return on investment). This is not a department where you can cut corners, where you would skimp. Good managers know it all too well.

In business size matters. The larger the corporation and the readier it is to invest big amounts of money and effort in its IT services. Take Amazon for instance — probably the ultimate example. You can say that its success story is 75 per cent IT and 25 per cent good management, innovative, daring ideas and warehousing.

However, smaller businesses should realise that betting on IT from the very start is the way to ensure growth, profitability and sustainability. On the other hand, organisations that are not built for profit-making, such as government institutions for instance, face a different difficulty: they have to work on pre-defined, often tight budgets, while they still have to run efficient IT departments. Theirs certainly is quite a challenge.

Back to businesses, and to name only a few striking success stories of IT teams among Jordan’s large companies: we can cite the Arab Bank, Aramex, the Housing Bank and Hikma Pharmaceuticals. It is not an overstatement to say that the quality of their IT services directly helped them grow and become what they are and as profitable as they are, in addition to the great reputation they enjoy with the population.

Using consistent bedtime strategies such as allowing infants to fall asleep on their own can improve their sleep, New Zealand researchers say. 

Children whose parents used these strategies were more likely to sleep longer and have fewer bedtime behavioural difficulties, the researchers wrote in the journal Sleep Health. 

“It’s really hard being a parent, and we we’d like to be able to tell them which strategies to implement that will actually help,” said lead study author Burt Hatch of the University of California at Davis MIND Institute in Sacramento. 

About a third of infants experience sleep difficulties, such as trouble falling asleep or repeatedly waking throughout the night, the study authors wrote. These sleep problems are often associated with difficulties during later development, including anxiety, aggression and impulsivity. 

“Although consistency around bedtime has always been thought to be important, there’s not much data around parents implementing it or the long-term effects,” he told Reuters Health by phone. 

Hatch and colleagues analysed data from a randomised controlled trial that was primarily designed to study ways to prevent infants from becoming overweight. As part of that study, parents were educated about appropriate ways to manage an infant’s sleep with minimal interference. Emphasis was placed on putting infants down to sleep when tired but still awake, allowing them to fall asleep on their own without touching or feeding, providing a consistent environment for infants to sleep in, and minimising parents sleeping with their infants on the same bed. 

The research team surveyed parents during the fourth and sixth months after birth to learn how often they followed the strategies. Then, three and a half years later, they asked parents to rate difficulties with bedtime resistance, sleep initiation and nighttime waking. 

About 15 per cent of parents used the four strategies consistently, with younger moms more likely to use more strategies. At the same time, moms who experienced maternal depression were less likely to use the bedtime strategies. 

Importantly, children were more likely to have sleep self-control by age three if more bedtime strategies were used and were more likely to have sleep difficulties if their mother had maternal depression. Consistent bedtime routines helped sleep duration as well. 

“The most important message here is that parents can make simple changes that have both an immediate impact and long-term impact,” Jodi Mindell of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health by phone. Mindell, who was not involved with this study, researches pediatric sleep disorders. 

A limitation of the study is that it lacked diversity, Hatch said. This intervention was focused on one maternity hospital in New Zealand that serves mostly Caucasian, college-educated parents. These programmes should be offered to higher risk groups, including different socioeconomic levels and those with a history of depression, he said. 

“We often find that expectant mothers are largely focused on the birth as opposed to the many challenges that come after that process,” said Liora Kempler of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. Kempler, who was not involved with this study, researches maternal and infant sleep after childbirth, especially among first-time mothers. 

Although most perinatal programmes offer advice about pain relief, feeding and sleep after birth, the 

“I believe it’s useful for pregnant women to educate themselves about parenting over time and how their behaviour can impact their infant,” Kempler told Reuters Health by e-mail. “This not only helps them make informed decisions but gives them confidence in making those decisions, rather than being confused by the variable and often conflicting advice offered by Dr Google and well-meaning family and friends.” 

While many people can pick up on signs of postpartum depression in new mothers, the same signs are often mistaken for something else or missed entirely in fathers, a British study suggests. 

There needs to be greater awareness that the mental health disorder can occur in either parent for up to a year after the birth of a child, researchers say. 

New fathers, like mothers, can grapple with anxiety, depression and traumas and also struggle to bond with their babies, said Mark Williams, founder of Fathers Reaching Out, a UK-based charity that promotes mental health awareness. Williams was not involved in the new study. 

In fact, a previously published research review found that one in four fathers experienced postpartum depression within three to six months after a child was born. 

Study leader Viren Swami, a professor of social psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK, started researching the subject after he was diagnosed with the disorder after the birth of his son. 

“Once I was diagnosed, I wanted to do more research into it and find out why so many people, like myself, think that men can’t get postnatal depression,” Swami told Reuters Health via phone. 

Swami and his colleagues recruited 406 volunteers, ages 18 to 70, and had them read two vignettes describing almost identical situations where the subject suffered from postpartum depression, but one with a man and another with a woman. 

Participants were initially asked if they believed anything was wrong with the subjects. Almost everyone — 97 per cent — responded ‘yes’ for the vignette with the woman, and 79.5 per cent responded ‘yes’ for the male. 

Next, participants were asked what they thought was wrong. In the case of the mother, 90.1 per cent correctly listed postpartum depression, postnatal depression or depression, while only 46.4 per cent did so for the father. 

Answers listing “baby blues” as the reason were scored as incorrect because this kind of short-lived mood swing is different from postnatal or postpartum depression and usually resolves within a week after birth, Swami and his team write in the Journal of Mental Health. 

For the woman, a clear majority of 92.9 per cent said depression was the problem. 

Among those who did feel something was off with the man in the case study, 61 per cent correctly thought it could be some form of depression. But 20.8 per cent thought the father’s symptoms could be stress, 11 per cent responded with tiredness and stress and a few others said it could be anxiety, feeling neglected or “baby blues”. 

The invisibility of their depression may force fathers to cope on their own instead of seeking professional help, the research team says. 

One shortcoming of the study is that participants were recruited online, so they may not represent all adults, the researchers note. 

“Because many people do not realise that men can get PND [postnatal depression], it is easier [to] minimise the symptoms, the severity of PND or the need to reach out and seek help,” said Brandon Eddy, an assistant professor from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who was not involved in the study. 

But some of the new results are encouraging, he said. 

“Although a much higher percentage of respondents recognised PND in women, there was still a substantial amount that recognised PND in father,” Eddy said via e-mail. 

“There are many fathers out there who suffer from PND who think they are alone and nobody sees their suffering. More people are beginning to recognise that paternal PND is real,” he added. 

Previous research has shown that educational programmes about maternal postnatal depression can improve awareness of the disease, the researchers wrote. 

“Similarly rigorous programmes to support new fathers and raise awareness of paternal postnatal depression are now urgently required,” they said. 

People who eat lots of ultra-processed foods are more likely to develop heart disease and to die sooner than those who stick with foods in their original form, two large studies conclude. 

Heavily processed foods are often high in sugar, fat and empty calories. Consuming lots of these foods has long been linked to an increased risk of a wide variety of health problems that can lead to heart disease or an early grave, such as obesity, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, cancer and depression. 

Now, two studies published in The BMJ offer fresh evidence of the health risks of ultra-processed foods. One study linked eating more than four daily servings of ultra-processed foods to a 62 per cent higher risk of premature death compared with eating little or none of these foods. The other tied every 10 percentage-point increase in the share of the diet made up of ultra-processed foods to more than a 10 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. 

“In modern society the food environment is dominated by the ready availability of relatively cheap and accessible ultra-processed foods that are constantly marketed,” said Mark Lawrence, a public health and nutrition professor at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia and author of an editorial accompanying the studies. 

“It is difficult for anyone to avoid these social pressures to consume ultra-processed foods,” Lawrence said by e-mail. 

Neither study was designed to determine whether or how ultra-processed foods might directly cause health problems or premature death. 

It is possible, however, that chemical additives and industrial processing that alters the cellular structure of foods both play a role, Lawrence said. 

“In other words, it’s not just about the presence in these foods of so-called ‘risk’ nutrients such as sodium and saturated fat,” Lawrence said. 

The study of ultra-processed foods and mortality surveyed roughly 20,000 people primarily in Spain, ages 20 to 91, about their eating habits every two years from 1999 to 2014. During that period, 335 participants died. 

People who ate the most processed foods — averaging more than five servings a day — were also more likely to be obese, smokers, frequent snackers, regular television watchers and to have conditions like cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and depression. 

The study of ultra-processed foods and cardiovascular disease risk gave an average of six diet surveys to about 105,000 adults in France over two years. Researchers followed the participants for an average of around five years, starting when they were about 43 years old. 

During the study, a total of 1,409 first-time cardiovascular disease events like heart attacks and strokes occurred. 

Compared with people who consumed the least amount of processed foods, those who ate the most were 12 per cent more likely to have cardiovascular disease, 13 per cent more likely to have coronary heart disease and 11 per cent more likely to have cerebrovascular disease. 

“There is an association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, when all lifestyle factors were accounted for, and these associations are not fully explained by the nutritional quality of these ultra-processed foods,” lead study author Bernard Srour of the University of Paris said by e-mail. 

Both studies relied on participants to accurately recall what they ate, which can be unreliable. Another drawback is the potential for many factors that lead people to buy ultra-processed foods like poverty or limited education to independently contribute to heart disease and premature death. 

Still, people should try to avoid or limit heavily processed foods. 

“Frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with poorer health, and more mortality,” said Maira Bes-Rastrollo of the University of Navarra, senior author of the mortality study. 

 “We do not know if some are worse than others,” Bes-Rastrollo said by e-mail.

Designed specifically for electrification rather than adapted from a regular combustion engine model, the Hyundai Ioniq is offered in three guises including hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric, as driven. An efficient, quiet and smooth commuter with decent range and re-charge times, the Ioniq Electric is well-engineered, well-executed and competitively priced with EV rivals like the Chevrolet Bolt and Renault Zoe. Particularly adept for commuting, it also competes well against similarly sized combustion engine cars, including its own Hyundai Elantra saloon sister, with which it shares certain basic and aesthetic similarities.

Smooth style

Incorporating lightweight components including its bonnet and tailgate, to keep its weight somewhat restrained next to some similarly sized EVs to reduce energy consumption and improve driving characteristics, the Ioniq Electric’s Lithium-ion batteries are also some 20 per cent lighter than many competitors. 

In terms of design, it is a low-slung and arcing fastback-like five-door hatchback with smooth flowing surfacing, squinting headlights and aerodynamically optimised design. Its batteries are meanwhile positioned under the boot for a lower driving position and profile, rather than under the cabin, as some other taller and specifically designed EVs.

Most noticeably different in aesthetic with a smooth grey enclosed cover in place in place of Ioniq Hybrid versions’ broad hexagonal grille, the Ionic Electric only features slim lower and small gill-like vertical side air inlets. Combined with its smooth shape and extensive underbody coverings, the Ioniq Electric achieves excellent aerodynamic efficiency for reduced wind resistance and noise. Meanwhile, behind its encased fascia, the Ionic Electric is powered by a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor driving the front wheels through a single-speed automatic gearbox for seamlessly uninterrupted power delivery.

Torque and traction

A quicker and more versatile drive than its maximum 118BHP power output figure suggests, the Ioniq Electric instead relies on and rides on a continuously abundant and broad wave of torque, peaking at 217lb/ft. Muscualr and flexible on the move and willingly responsive at highway speeds, the Hyundai Electric dashes through the 0-100km/h benchmark in a reasonably brisk 9.9-seconds and onto a 165km/h top speed, which is noticeable high than many EV competitors, yet still limited by motor revs and its single gear ratio, so less than comparable with combustion engine models. 

Rich in torque, the Ionic Electric overtakes with confidence, climbs inclines with ease and is responsive from standstill. However, with so much torque going through the front wheels and their efficient low rolling resistance 205/55R16 tyres, the Ioniq Electric does have to claw away to find traction on steep inclines with overly smooth low traction tarmac, as its electronic traction control cuts power to avoid wheelspin. Similarly, through hard driven corners and switchbacks, one also needs to very gently ease in the accelerator by a corner’s apex to avoid provoking torque steer and understeer.

Refined ride

However, one suspects that changing to grippier tyres would be better suited to Jordanian roads, even if at a slight cost to energy efficiency and range. That said, one found the Ioniq Electric’s trip computer more accurately predicted range than many others, while driving range itself may not be the best in the segment at 280km under ideal conditions, but is sufficient in real world driving conditions for typical commuter driving, while the upside is that the Ioniq’s smaller, lighter batteries less adversely affect driving dynamic, efficiency and braking than other EVs with heavier batteries. 

A smooth, refined and comfortable ride on highway and in town, the Ioniq Electric feels alert, responsive and manoeuvrable in the city, with its quick 2.66-turn steering. Driven hard through brisk switchbacks the Ioniq Electric remains reassuring, agile and comfortably capable, despite its use of a lighter more compact rear torsion beam suspension in place of the Hybrid version’s more sophisticated multi-link set-up. However, being more comfort-oriented, it is not quite in its element driven like a hot hatch, and feels slightly aloof, with its electronic stability controls diligently helping out.

Well-equipped 

and efficient

Absorbent and stable at speed with its relatively long wheelbase, the Ioniq Electric could benefit from slightly firmer damping for a tauter more grounded feel over rouger patches of tarmac. Inside, it is quiet and comfortable with well-adjustable front seating and a partially open centre console adding more space, width and an airier ambiance, compared with Hybrid versions. Fit, finish, materials and layouts are pretty good and rear legroom generous, but its rakish roofline reduces rear headroom for tall passengers. Boot space is meanwhile slightly less than Hybrid versions owing to bigger potteries, but its usefully flat 350-litres expands to 1,410-litres with rear seats folded

Well-equipped, the Ioniq Electric’s usefully features a reversing camera, parking sensors and blindspot warnings to compensate for side and rear visibility. Offered at JD22,500 on the road from the official local dealership the Ioniq Electric is compelling choice in the EV segment, and comes with free six month access to Hyundai’s fast charge dealership facility, with conveniently quick 30-minute zero-80 per cent charging. Using a home wall charger unit, charge time increases to four hours 25 minutes, while plugging into a regular wall socket increases the charge time to 12-hours.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: Permanent magnet synchronous motor

Gearbox: 1-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive

Gear ratio: 7.412:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 118 (120) [88]

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 217 (295)

Battery type, capacity/voltage: Lithium-ion polymer, 28kwh/360v

0-100km/h: 9.9-seconds

Top speed: 165km/h

Charging time, mains charging, 240v/7kw wallbox: 12-/4-hours, 25-minutes

Charging time, 50kw fast charger, 0-80 per cent: approximately 30-minutes

Energy consumption: 11.5kWh/100km

Maximum range: 280km

Length: 4,470mm

Width: 1,820mm

Height: 1,450mm

Wheelbase: 2,700mm

Track, F/R: 1,555/1,564mm

Headroom, F/R: 994/950mm

Legroom, F/R: 1073/906mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1425/1396mm

Cargo volume, min/max: 350-/1,410-litres

Payload: 405-460kg

Kerb weight: 1,420-1,475kg

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam

Steering: Electric-assisted, rack and pinion

Lock-to-lock: 2.66-turns

Steering ratio: 13.9:1

Turning circle: 10.6-metres

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 279mm/discs, 284mm, regenerative braking

Tyres: 205/55R16

Price, starting from: JD22,500 (on-the-road, comprehensive insurance)

By Dina Halaseh

Educational Psychologist

We talk about keeping our body healthy but what about our brain? Let us embark on a journey into the brain! Here are the four ingredients for a healthy brain. 

Step 1: Exercise

One of the advantages of exercising is increasing the flow of blood throughout the body, including the brain. This increases the oxygen in the brain and helps improve mental sharpness. Comparing elderly people who exercise to those who do not, we see a massive influence from exercise on their cognitive functions. Skills such as response time were higher amongst active persons.

It is never too late though; you can get the benefit of exercise if you start today! Exercise helps build neural connection and increases the neurons’ ability to withstand stress and resist damage. Starting a new sport or working out in any way will enhance cognitive skills.

Step 2: Sleep

Who does not enjoy sleeping? We spend such a huge part of our lives doing so, but is it actually important?

Sleep is a vital component to our health in general and to our brain in specific. This is a missed point among many parents. Sleepdeprived students tend to have trouble with impulsivity and motivation, as well as lower brain function in general.

For younger students, just having them sleep well and exercise will instantly improve their academic performance. Not getting enough sleep not only makes us cranky, but it also affects our attention, executive function, reasoning ability and overall skills.

The exact amount of sleep needed is different from one person to another. It changes with time due to many factors including age, pregnancy and gender.

Step 3: Diet

No need to think twice to understand that eating habits impact the central nervous system. We all know how it feels after a huge meal; no one can function well. Imagine doing so regularly; what will that do to your brain?

Science shows us that even if overeating does not cause obesity, it will still impair brain function.

We always worry about how overeating may cause diabetes, heart disease or obesity, but in reality, it also results in weaker brain function. To maintain a healthy functioning brain, our food should be filled with leafy greens, Omega-3 fatty acids, raw walnuts, fish, avocado, broccoli, oranges and berries, all of which actually boost brain power. Staying away from sugar seems like an impossible task, but once the addiction is broken, it becomes much easier.

Step 4: Brain training

Use it or lose it! Brain exercises are just as important as physical exercises. If you want to keep your brain sharp and healthy, you need to ensure you allow your brain to build new brain cells and neural connection. Continuous learning and trying new things will enable you to develop new skills and help your brain adapt and respond to challenge in a much better and improved way. Here are a few tips on how you can do this:

• Learning new things and going back to studying helps you stay sharp and fight mental decline.

• Pursuing a new hobby — learning a new language, music or even art improves your brain ability. The more you challenge yourself, the better it is for you in the long run!

• Solving crosswords, sudoku, chess and online brain training games. These games help increase mental skills. This needs commitment and perseverance from your end, and just like physical exercising, to improve, you need to do this continuously.

We always ensure that we are medically healthy, that is a given. When we are sick, we aim to get better. Yet we forget that being healthy is not as simple as not getting sick. By merely striving to stick to exercising more, eating better, sleeper longer and training our brain, we ensure that our brain gets what it needs to stay healthy.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

Many American children are still being poisoned by laundry pods, according to a new study that suggests voluntary safety standards do not do enough to prevent children from eating them. 

Poison control centres fielded nearly 73,000 calls for help related to single-use liquid laundry detergent packets, or pods, from 2012 through 2017, the first six years these products were on the market. Nearly all of these cases were among children under six years old. In many instances, children easily unwrapped brightly coloured packages they mistook for candy. 

The annual rate of laundry pod calls to poison control for kids under six more than doubled from 2012 to 2015, before voluntary safety standards from the American Society for Testing and Materials called for plainer, opaque packages that were harder for children to unwrap. 

Then, from 2015 to 2017, the annual call rate dropped 18 per cent among children under six even as it surged among older children and adults. 

“The current voluntary standard, public awareness campaigns and product and packaging changes to-date are good first steps, but the numbers are still unacceptably high,” said senior study author Gary Smith, director of the Centre for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. 

“We can do better,” Smith said by e-mail. 

It is possible that safety standards fell short of expectations because they allowed manufacturers to meet child-resistant packaging requirements in a variety of ways instead of adhering to a single strict standard, researchers note in Paediatrics. 

Chemicals in laundry pods can cause seizures, coma, severe breathing impairments, eye damage and burns. 

Eight people died in the study after eating laundry pods.  Two of these fatalities involved curious babies. 

“Like other poisons, young children can become much sicker than other older individuals,” Smith said.

The City Always Wins

Omar Robert Hamilton

New York: Picador, 2017

Pp. 309

Midway through this novel, Hafez, a filmmaker, says, “It’s impossible to do the 18 Days without being clichéd”, referring to the sequence of massive demonstrations that brought down then-president Hosni Mubarak (p. 149).

The author, Omar Robert Hamilton, also a filmmaker as well as a writer, avoids the pitfall of repeating clichés by focusing on a more difficult, controversial stage. The narrative begins on October 9, 2011. Egypt is under supposedly interim army rule, but those who made the revolution are still agitating for freedom, bread and justice, especially for the sake of the prisoners and martyrs.

Dating chapters and interspersing headlines gives the book the semblance of a documentary and, in fact, the big events are real. But the core of the story is a fictionalised account of the Egyptian uprising from the inside, centring around a small group of activists grouped in the ChaosCairo collective. However, despite the name, their work is far from chaotic; it is intensely practical. Held together by their belief that life can be better for all, they organise street protests, assist the injured, help mothers locate their ‘disappeared’ children, comfort the families of martyrs, agitate for the release of political prisoners and document all that happens in film and soundtracks to be posted on social media. They are so brave, so committed, so dedicated to human values. They seem prepared for any situation except for the looming decline of the mass movement.

In the opening page, the reader is thrust into the compressed urgency of a hospital morgue overflowing with those killed when the army opened fire on demonstrators at the Maspero building, site of Egypt’s state television and radio. An argument breaks out between parents of the victims, who want to bury them immediately, and activists who want to wait for autopsies in order to bring the killers to justice. Many of the parents, however, no longer have faith in justice. This is only one of many dilemmas facing those who want to continue the revolution. 

Also, on the first page, one meets Mariam, arguably the heroine of the novel, although she would surely insist that the people on the frontlines are the real heroes. Soon the reader meets other members of Chaos, most importantly Khalil, Mariam’s lover, son of an Egyptian mother and Palestinian father, who grew up in the US. The author’s creation of Khalil as a main character seems quite deliberate. On the one hand, it indicates that the revolution in Egypt is connected to the Palestinian cause. Though most of the story is narrated in third person, Khalil narrates select passages, allowing him to reflect on his Palestinian background and the situation in Egypt. On the other hand, Khalil is sometimes suspect as an “outsider” when the government tries to blame the continuation of the protests on foreign interference. 

Hamilton himself has direct experience with the events and issues of which he writes so poignantly and precisely: Based in Cairo, he is cofounder of Mosireen, a media collective formed in 2011, and of the Palestine Festival of Literature. Incidentally, he is the son of Ahdaf Soueif, founder of the Palestine Festival of Literature, who has often connected Egypt and Palestine, as in her brilliant novel, “The Map of Love” (1999).

Hamilton’s filmmaking skills are apparent in his writing. Scenes depicting violence are rendered in short sentences replete with sensory details; one automatically visualises them. The narrative never pauses for breath, never flinches from harsh reality — there are no platitudes, as Hamilton follows the work of the Chaos collective through the elections, Morsi’s year in power, then the army retaking control in summer 2013, at which time all activists of whatever stripe are targeted for arrest. In big and small incidents, conversations and descriptions, the author reflects the shift from revolution to counterrevolution. Early on, there are examples of what an empowered citizenry can achieve, as when Mariam walks into a police station with a lawyer, and with threats of a large demonstration and press conference — and sheer persistence, obtains the release of a young man arrested for wall painting. 

Later, as the progressives lose the initiative, their debates intensify. They become painfully aware of the limitations of not having a defined strategy or tactics, and of the fact that only a small percentage of Egyptians are ready to keep fighting. Added to their pro-active work, they must create anti-sexual harassment teams to deal with the escalating violence which comes from unnamed sources. They sense the limits of social media. They feel they are falling into a trap, but do not know how to stop the deteriorating chain of events, as they face “a new dawn of the pro-military’s bullying triumphalism, and the Brotherhood’s sanctimonious hypocrisy. And the hectoring paternalism of the international commentariat”. (p. 198)

Hamilton’s writing is at once raw and lyrical — raw when describing the regime’s violence and lyrical when sketching the young activists’ hope and dreams. While his sympathies are clear, he does not romanticise the revolutionaries, nor suggest in hindsight what they might have done better. Instead, he offers evidence from direct experience which is worth pondering by all those who envision a better future. With a similar situation now brewing in Sudan, this book will not soon lose its current relevance.

SAN JOSE ­— Apple Inc launched a “Sign In With Apple” function to rival Facebook and Google web login accounts, drawing a contrast with rivals by stressing protection of users’ information.

Apple will also tighten controls on location tracking. When users sign in with their Google or Facebook Inc profiles to third-party apps, the apps often share valuable data with Google and Facebook, a practice that Apple is looking to stop. Apple said it created a system to let users generate a random, unique e-mail to use with each app so that users do not have to reveal their real e-mail address.

The company, meanwhile, retired the iTunes app for the Mac. Originally introduced in 2001 by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as a way to load songs onto the then-new iPod, iTunes became sprawling over the years, letting users manage music and movies as well as handle backups and updates to iPhones and iPads. Apple said it will replace iTunes with standalone apps for music, video content and podcasts.

Apple delivered the announcements to app developers who descended on San Jose, California, for the annual developer conference. Apple’s App Store is a key driver of the iPhone maker’s services segment, which brought in $37.1 billion in revenue last year.

Apple takes a cut of sales from apps sold through the store, though that practice is under scrutiny in several legal proceedings.

Investors are looking to Apple’s services business to power revenue and profits as iPhone sales decline. Revenue from the company’s signature device had its biggest-year-over year drop in Apple’s most recent quarter.

But the company still sold more than 10 times as many iPhones and iPads as it did Mac computers last year, so many developers focus on writing their apps for them rather than the Mac.

Apple announced an update of the Mac Pro, a $6,000-and-up high-powered machine intended for professional users such as movie editors, with pricy add-ons such as a $1,000 monitor stand. The Mac Pro has never sold in great numbers, but the device is important to Apple’s image as a technology leader and in courting the creative professionals who Jobs won over. Microsoft Corp has targeted the same users with its Surface Studio computers.

The annual developer conference is occurring against the backdrop of increased scrutiny of Apple’s practices and those of other tech companies.

Two sources told Reuters the US Justice Department has jurisdiction for a potential antitrust probe of Apple as part of a broader review of technology companies. The department’s antitrust division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) met in recent weeks to give the Justice Department jurisdiction to undertake a potential antitrust probe of Apple and Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., the sources said.

Last month, the US Supreme Court allowed an antitrust lawsuit to proceed from users who allege Apple inflated app prices by not allowing iPhones to download them outside the App Store.

Spotify Technology SA, whose music service competes with Apple’s, has lodged an antitrust complaint in Europe over Apple’s App Store practices.

The next version of Apple’s operating system, iOS 13, will make it faster to download and open apps.

Apple software chief Craig Federighi announced at the conference new tools that will make it easier for developers to put their apps on Macs without completely rewriting the code.

Federighi said developers could take an existing iPad app and check a box to get a “tremendous head start” in building the same app for a Mac.

“This means one development team, for the first time, can build a single app that can span all the way from iPhone to iPad to Mac,” he said on stage.

The move could broaden the apps available for Macs and give Apple more chances to make money on apps for its longest-lived product line. Apple will also update its operating systems and apps at the annual conference.

Apple said its AppleTV operating system will work with Microsoft Xbox and Sony Corp PlayStation video game controllers, and said that users of its Apple Watch will be able to buy apps directly from the Watch.

It also introduced a system that would let users encrypt home security camera footage with an iPad or HomePod before sending it to Apple’s cloud so that Apple will not be able to view the video once it is stored in the cloud.

People who step on the scale every day during holidays tend to avoid gaining extra kilogrammes, a new US study suggests. 

Nutrition researcher Jamie Cooper of the University of Georgia and her colleagues set out to examine whether the simple act of weighing oneself daily could prevent weight gain during the winter holiday season, spanning mid-November to early January. 

This period has been shown to disproportionately contribute to yearly weight gain, sparing not even those who exercise regularly. 

Results published in the journal Obesity show that participants who weighed themselves daily and received graphical feedback of their weight changes either maintained or lost weight, while those who did not weight themselves daily gained an average of about 2.7 kilogrammes. 

In the group that did daily weight-checking, overweight and obese participants lost weight. 

“We were somewhat surprised... since our instructions were to maintain weight and not lose weight,” Cooper said in an e-mail to Reuters Health. 

People who started out at a weight that was in the normal range for their height, however, did stay in that range. 

“It is possible that [overweight and obese] adults were less aware of their actual body weights at the beginning of the study, and seeing their weight on the scale perhaps prompted them to make some healthier choices or behaviours which led to actual weight loss,” Cooper said. 

For the study, 111 adults, ages 18 to 65, were instructed to maintain their weight through the 2017-2018 holiday season. Half of them were randomly assigned to the self-weighing group. Researchers followed up after 14 weeks to see who had been successful. 

Sara Bleich of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Health it is hard to know whether the results were entirely due to daily self-weighing because the instruction to maintain weight may have affected participants’ behaviour.

Still, she believes the data could point to an easy way to ensure people stay conscious of their weight during the holidays. 

“The fact that we have a $70 billion weight loss industry in the United States is a testament to the fact that weight loss is very hard,” Bleich said. 

“What works for one person may not work for another... I would suggest that [daily weighing] is one more tool that can be added to the arsenal of behaviours people consider around the holidays to help prevent weight gain.” 

Dr Nanette Steinle, an endocrinologist and nutrition expert at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, agreed that the results suggest stepping on the scale every day could be a smart way to boost adherence to an overall “healthy living” plan. 

“Having defined goals or metrics and feedback towards goal achievement is often motivating to those who are engaging in weight management,” she said. 

Cooper believes the practice of weighing oneself everyday could have mass appeal, given it is a simple yet effective way to encourage people to stay fit during times when they are most prone to relax their exercise regimen or consume more calories than usual. 

“Daily self-weighing is quick, easy, and relatively low cost,” she said. 

Committing to a daily action “is also a way for people to self-select the behaviour changes they want to make,” she added. “For example, if someone likes to exercise, they can use that and adjust exercise levels to maintain weight. For a different person who doesn’t like to exercise, they can use a different strategy.”