https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/08/23/Epi-Pen-Maker-Enters-Pharmaceutical-Industry-s-Hall-Shame
By Eric Pianin
August 23, 2016
For years, EpiPen, a medical injection device that can be easily jabbed into a person’s thigh, has been a lifesaver for hundreds of thousands of young people and adults who suffer life-threatening reactions to cashews and peanuts, shellfish, bee stings and other allergens. The handy EpiPens dispenses epinephrine, a drug that alleviates or reverses the worst of allergic reactions, such as the swelling of legs, necks and chests and the abrupt closing of airways. Parents often purchase multiple sets of EpiPens and keep them available at home, in their cars and at school.
At one time, the retail price in a pharmacy for a two-pen set was less than $100, according to pharmaceutical industry data. But after pharmaceutical company Mylan acquired the rights to the decades-old injectable drug in 2007, the price began to rise exponentially.
Last May, the retail price soared once again, this time to $608 for a two-pen set – a six-fold increase in less than a decade that has seriously driven up wholesale costs of the device and put increased financial pressure on consumers and health insurance providers to adjust to the blatant price gouging. Even the wholesale prices have rocketed during the same period, from just $56.64 to $365 for a two-set packet, according to one industry analysis.
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The petition notes that many families have been forced to turn to manual syringes as a cheaper alternative to the EpiPens, although that makes it harder and more time consuming to get the right dosage.
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As prices of EpiPens went up, so did the company stock, which tripled from $13.29 in 2007 to a high of $47.59 this year, as well as executives’ salaries. NBC reports that Bresh’s compensation jumped from $2,453,456 to $18, 931,068 – a 671 percent increase.
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Mylan asserts that it offers a $100 coupon that allows many consumers to pay very little or nothing for the EpiPens. However, Michael Rea, the chief executive of Rx Savings Solutions in Overland Park, Kansas, told The New York Times that people without health insurance or with high-deductible insurance plans can’t always use the coupons and are paying roughly $640 per set.
Mylan is the latest entry in the pharmaceutical industry price-gouging hall of shame. Gilead Pharmaceutical has long been criticized for its retail pricing of Sovaldi and Harvoni, two biometric drugs for the treatment of the often deadly Hepatitis C virus that cost as much as $1,000 per pill or $100,000 for a full treatment. A top executive of Valeant Pharmaceutical apologized to Congress in April after it purchased the rights to Nitropress and Isuprel, two heart and blood pressure medicines, and then jacked up their prices by 212 percent and 525 percent, respectively.
•••••
Turing Pharmaceuticals, headed at the time by wealthy hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, obtained the manufacturing license for an anti-parasitic drug called Daraprim and then raised the price by 5,556 percent. Shkreli, who was later forced out of the company, became the poster child for corporate greed in the pharmaceutical industry.
Ironically, he condemned Mylan this week during an interview with NBC News. "These guys are really vultures,” he said. “What drives this company's moral compass?"
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Health issues due to sea level rise impact communities in South Florida
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uomm-hid071116.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Health issues due to sea level rise impact communities in South Florida
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
The Florida Institute for Health Innovation released a report today on communities from Palm Beach to Key West with the greatest risk for adverse health effects of sea level rise. In conjunction with the South Florida Regional Planning Council and Florida Atlantic University's Center for Environmental Studies, Florida Institute for Health Innovation mapped zones most prone to environmental sea level rise impacts, described associated public health risks and identified the region's socially, economically and medically vulnerable communities most susceptible to sea level rise health effects.
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"Sea level rise represents an unexpected public health concern," said Roderick King, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation. "We normally think of populations with the lowest socio-economic status as being the most vulnerable, due to lack of financial resources to pay for health care. In the case of sea level rise, the most vulnerable turn out to be the wealthier populations who can afford to live close to the ocean. They may also be older, with health issues that require regular treatment, and if they can't access health care because the streets are flooded, it poses a significant problem."
•••••
Newly established vulnerability indicators include flooding risk; educational attainment, income and race; emergency department visits and hospitalizations due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pneumonia, giardiasis, and healthcare access.
•••••
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Health issues due to sea level rise impact communities in South Florida
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
The Florida Institute for Health Innovation released a report today on communities from Palm Beach to Key West with the greatest risk for adverse health effects of sea level rise. In conjunction with the South Florida Regional Planning Council and Florida Atlantic University's Center for Environmental Studies, Florida Institute for Health Innovation mapped zones most prone to environmental sea level rise impacts, described associated public health risks and identified the region's socially, economically and medically vulnerable communities most susceptible to sea level rise health effects.
•••••
"Sea level rise represents an unexpected public health concern," said Roderick King, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation. "We normally think of populations with the lowest socio-economic status as being the most vulnerable, due to lack of financial resources to pay for health care. In the case of sea level rise, the most vulnerable turn out to be the wealthier populations who can afford to live close to the ocean. They may also be older, with health issues that require regular treatment, and if they can't access health care because the streets are flooded, it poses a significant problem."
•••••
Newly established vulnerability indicators include flooding risk; educational attainment, income and race; emergency department visits and hospitalizations due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pneumonia, giardiasis, and healthcare access.
•••••
Many drugs can cause or worsen heart failure, cautions new statement
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/aha-mdc070616.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Many drugs can cause or worsen heart failure, cautions new statement
American Heart Association Scientific Statement
American Heart Association
Commonly used medications and nutritional supplements may cause or worsen heart failure, according to the first scientific statement from the American Heart Association to provide guidance on avoiding drug-drug or drug-condition interactions for people with heart failure.
The statement provides comprehensive information about specific drugs and "natural" remedies that may have serious unintended consequences for heart failure patients.
•••••
"Since many of the drugs heart failure patients are taking are prescribed for conditions such as cancer, neurological conditions, or infections, it is crucial but difficult for healthcare providers to reconcile whether a medication is interacting with heart failure drugs or making heart failure worse,"
•••••
In addition to prescription medications, over the counter drugs may also have unintended consequences for heart failure patients. For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including commonly used painkillers such as ibuprofen, can trigger or worsen heart failure by causing sodium and fluid retention and making diuretic medications less effective.
Over-the counter heartburn medications and cold remedies may also contain significant amounts of sodium, which is usually restricted in patients with heart failure.
"Patients have been taught to read food labels for sodium content, but they also need to read labels on over-the-counter medications and natural supplements," Page said.
Many supplements used in complementary and alternative medicine can be dangerous for people with heart failure, including products containing ephedra (which raises blood pressure) and others (including St. John's wort, ginseng, hawthorn, danshen, and green tea) that interfere with one or more commonly used heart failure medications. The statement also notes that nutritional supplements, herbs and other "natural" remedies should not be used to treat or manage heart failure symptoms.
"Keep a list of all your medications and doses to show at every medical visit, and inform a healthcare provider treating your heart failure before stopping or starting any medication. Ideally there should be a "captain" who oversees your medications. This person might be a physician, advanced practice nurse, nurse or a pharmacist who is managing your heart failure," Page said.
According to the statement, medications can cause problems in several ways: being toxic to heart muscle cells or changing how the heart muscle contracts; interacting with medications used to treat heart failure so that some of their benefits are lost; and containing more sodium than advised for patients with heart failure.
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Many drugs can cause or worsen heart failure, cautions new statement
American Heart Association Scientific Statement
American Heart Association
Commonly used medications and nutritional supplements may cause or worsen heart failure, according to the first scientific statement from the American Heart Association to provide guidance on avoiding drug-drug or drug-condition interactions for people with heart failure.
The statement provides comprehensive information about specific drugs and "natural" remedies that may have serious unintended consequences for heart failure patients.
•••••
"Since many of the drugs heart failure patients are taking are prescribed for conditions such as cancer, neurological conditions, or infections, it is crucial but difficult for healthcare providers to reconcile whether a medication is interacting with heart failure drugs or making heart failure worse,"
•••••
In addition to prescription medications, over the counter drugs may also have unintended consequences for heart failure patients. For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including commonly used painkillers such as ibuprofen, can trigger or worsen heart failure by causing sodium and fluid retention and making diuretic medications less effective.
Over-the counter heartburn medications and cold remedies may also contain significant amounts of sodium, which is usually restricted in patients with heart failure.
"Patients have been taught to read food labels for sodium content, but they also need to read labels on over-the-counter medications and natural supplements," Page said.
Many supplements used in complementary and alternative medicine can be dangerous for people with heart failure, including products containing ephedra (which raises blood pressure) and others (including St. John's wort, ginseng, hawthorn, danshen, and green tea) that interfere with one or more commonly used heart failure medications. The statement also notes that nutritional supplements, herbs and other "natural" remedies should not be used to treat or manage heart failure symptoms.
"Keep a list of all your medications and doses to show at every medical visit, and inform a healthcare provider treating your heart failure before stopping or starting any medication. Ideally there should be a "captain" who oversees your medications. This person might be a physician, advanced practice nurse, nurse or a pharmacist who is managing your heart failure," Page said.
According to the statement, medications can cause problems in several ways: being toxic to heart muscle cells or changing how the heart muscle contracts; interacting with medications used to treat heart failure so that some of their benefits are lost; and containing more sodium than advised for patients with heart failure.
Common additive may be why you have food allergies
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/msu-cam071116.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Common additive may be why you have food allergies
Michigan State University
A Michigan State University researcher has found that a common food additive may be linked to a rise in food allergies.
Cheryl Rockwell, an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the College of Human Medicine, began studying the possible link between the synthetic food additive tert-butylhydroquinone, or tBHQ, nine years ago.
•••••
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1972, tBHQ is a preservative in many foods, such as cooking oil, nuts, crackers, waffles and breads. Often tBHQ is not listed on the label, Rockwell said.
Her research has shown that tBHQ causes T cells, a critical part of the body's immune system, to release a set of proteins that can trigger allergies to such foods as nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and shell fish.
"I think of the immune system as a military force," Rockwell said. "Its job is to protect the body from pathogens, such as viruses. The T cells are the generals."
Normally, the T cells release proteins, known as cytokines, that help fight the invaders, she said, but when tBHQ was introduced in laboratory models, the T cells released a different set of cytokines that are known to trigger allergies to some foods.
Her studies showed that when tBHQ was present, the T cells started behaving differently.
"The T cells stopped acting as soldiers in the defense against pathogens and started causing allergies, Rockwell said. "What we're trying to find out now is why the T cells are behaving this way."
The expanded use of tBHQ, she said, parallels a rise in food allergies and an increase in the severity of some allergic reactions.
•••••
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Common additive may be why you have food allergies
Michigan State University
A Michigan State University researcher has found that a common food additive may be linked to a rise in food allergies.
Cheryl Rockwell, an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the College of Human Medicine, began studying the possible link between the synthetic food additive tert-butylhydroquinone, or tBHQ, nine years ago.
•••••
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1972, tBHQ is a preservative in many foods, such as cooking oil, nuts, crackers, waffles and breads. Often tBHQ is not listed on the label, Rockwell said.
Her research has shown that tBHQ causes T cells, a critical part of the body's immune system, to release a set of proteins that can trigger allergies to such foods as nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and shell fish.
"I think of the immune system as a military force," Rockwell said. "Its job is to protect the body from pathogens, such as viruses. The T cells are the generals."
Normally, the T cells release proteins, known as cytokines, that help fight the invaders, she said, but when tBHQ was introduced in laboratory models, the T cells released a different set of cytokines that are known to trigger allergies to some foods.
Her studies showed that when tBHQ was present, the T cells started behaving differently.
"The T cells stopped acting as soldiers in the defense against pathogens and started causing allergies, Rockwell said. "What we're trying to find out now is why the T cells are behaving this way."
The expanded use of tBHQ, she said, parallels a rise in food allergies and an increase in the severity of some allergic reactions.
•••••
Clouds are moving higher, subtropical dry zones expanding, according to satellite analysis
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uoc--cam070816.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Clouds are moving higher, subtropical dry zones expanding, according to satellite analysis
Scripps-led study confirms computerized climate simulations projecting effects of global warming
University of California - San Diego
A Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego-led research team analyzing satellite cloud records has found that the cloudy storm tracks on Earth are moving toward the poles and subtropical dry zones are expanding. Cloud tops are also moving higher in the atmosphere.
The record confirms computer climate models that have predicted these changes to have taken place during the past several decades as a consequence of the accumulation of societally generated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
"What this paper brings to the table is the first credible demonstration that the cloud changes we expect from climate models and theory are currently happening," said study lead author Joel Norris, a climate researcher at Scripps.
•••••
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Clouds are moving higher, subtropical dry zones expanding, according to satellite analysis
Scripps-led study confirms computerized climate simulations projecting effects of global warming
University of California - San Diego
A Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego-led research team analyzing satellite cloud records has found that the cloudy storm tracks on Earth are moving toward the poles and subtropical dry zones are expanding. Cloud tops are also moving higher in the atmosphere.
The record confirms computer climate models that have predicted these changes to have taken place during the past several decades as a consequence of the accumulation of societally generated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
"What this paper brings to the table is the first credible demonstration that the cloud changes we expect from climate models and theory are currently happening," said study lead author Joel Norris, a climate researcher at Scripps.
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Thumb-sucking and nail-biting children show fewer allergies in later life
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uoo-tan070716.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Thumb-sucking and nail-biting children show fewer allergies in later life
University of Otago
Children who suck their thumbs or bite their nails may be less likely to develop allergies, according to a new study from New Zealand's University of Otago.
•••••
The study, which appears in the August issue of the US journal Pediatrics, suggests that childhood exposure to microbial organisms through thumb-sucking and nail-biting reduces the risk of developing allergies.
Study lead author Professor Bob Hancox says that this exposure may alter immune function so that children with these habits become less prone to developing allergy.
•••••
he members were checked at ages 13 and 32 years old for atopic sensitisation, defined as a positive skin prick test to at least one common allergen.
At age 13, the prevalence of sensitisation was lower among children who had sucked their thumbs or bit their nails (38 per cent) compared with those who did not (49 per cent).
Children who both bit their nails and sucked their thumbs had an even lower risk of allergy (31 per cent), Professor Hancox says.
The associations were still present at age 32 years and persisted even with adjustments for confounding factors such as sex, parental history of allergies, pet ownership, breast-feeding and parental smoking.
"The findings support the "hygiene hypothesis", which suggests that being exposed to microbes as a child reduces your risk of developing allergies," he says.
•••••
Ms Stephanie Lynch, a medical student who undertook the study as a summer project, says "although thumb-suckers and nail-biters had fewer allergies on skin testing, we found no difference in their risk for developing allergic diseases such as asthma or hay fever".
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Thumb-sucking and nail-biting children show fewer allergies in later life
University of Otago
Children who suck their thumbs or bite their nails may be less likely to develop allergies, according to a new study from New Zealand's University of Otago.
•••••
The study, which appears in the August issue of the US journal Pediatrics, suggests that childhood exposure to microbial organisms through thumb-sucking and nail-biting reduces the risk of developing allergies.
Study lead author Professor Bob Hancox says that this exposure may alter immune function so that children with these habits become less prone to developing allergy.
•••••
he members were checked at ages 13 and 32 years old for atopic sensitisation, defined as a positive skin prick test to at least one common allergen.
At age 13, the prevalence of sensitisation was lower among children who had sucked their thumbs or bit their nails (38 per cent) compared with those who did not (49 per cent).
Children who both bit their nails and sucked their thumbs had an even lower risk of allergy (31 per cent), Professor Hancox says.
The associations were still present at age 32 years and persisted even with adjustments for confounding factors such as sex, parental history of allergies, pet ownership, breast-feeding and parental smoking.
"The findings support the "hygiene hypothesis", which suggests that being exposed to microbes as a child reduces your risk of developing allergies," he says.
•••••
Ms Stephanie Lynch, a medical student who undertook the study as a summer project, says "although thumb-suckers and nail-biters had fewer allergies on skin testing, we found no difference in their risk for developing allergic diseases such as asthma or hay fever".
Study: Water intake overlooked in obese individuals
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uomh-swi070716.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Study: Water intake overlooked in obese individuals
There might be something in the water when it comes to the relationship between hydration and body mass index
University of Michigan Health System
Researchers are learning whether a simple part of our diets might be linked to a healthier weight - and it has nothing to do with carbs, fat or protein.
The potential secret weapon? Water.
People who are obese and have a higher body mass index (BMI) are more likely to be inadequately hydrated and vice versa, suggests new research from the University of Michigan published in the Annals of Family Medicine.
•••••
Authors note that because the data is cross-sectional, they cannot say that inadequate hydration causes obesity or the other way around. But their findings highlight an important relationship between the two.
Chang says eating healthy foods high in water content, such as fruits and vegetables, can improve hydration status though more studies are needed to know whether hydration status can influence weight.
"Hydration may be overlooked in adult weight management strategies," says Chang, who is also a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI).
"Our findings suggest that hydration may deserve more attention when thinking about addressing obesity on a population level. Staying hydrated is good for you no matter what, and our study suggests it may also be linked to maintaining a healthy weight."
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Study: Water intake overlooked in obese individuals
There might be something in the water when it comes to the relationship between hydration and body mass index
University of Michigan Health System
Researchers are learning whether a simple part of our diets might be linked to a healthier weight - and it has nothing to do with carbs, fat or protein.
The potential secret weapon? Water.
People who are obese and have a higher body mass index (BMI) are more likely to be inadequately hydrated and vice versa, suggests new research from the University of Michigan published in the Annals of Family Medicine.
•••••
Authors note that because the data is cross-sectional, they cannot say that inadequate hydration causes obesity or the other way around. But their findings highlight an important relationship between the two.
Chang says eating healthy foods high in water content, such as fruits and vegetables, can improve hydration status though more studies are needed to know whether hydration status can influence weight.
"Hydration may be overlooked in adult weight management strategies," says Chang, who is also a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI).
"Our findings suggest that hydration may deserve more attention when thinking about addressing obesity on a population level. Staying hydrated is good for you no matter what, and our study suggests it may also be linked to maintaining a healthy weight."
Monday, August 22, 2016
Report identifies ways to boost children's quality of life through outdoor learning
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uop-riw070816.php
Public Release: 10-Jul-2016
Report identifies ways to boost children's quality of life through outdoor learning
University of Plymouth
Outdoor learning can have a significant and positive impact on children's quality of life but needs to be introduced more formally into global school curricula in order for its potential benefits to be fully realised, a new report suggests.
Student Outcomes and Natural Schooling has been produced by Plymouth University and Western Sydney University, following a conference organised in collaboration with the University of East London and Natural England, and with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
It highlights the many and varied benefits to children of learning in the natural environment, not just from an educational perspective but also in terms of their behaviour, social skills, health and wellbeing, resilience, confidence and sense of place.
But it also says that in an age dominated by a full curriculum, busier family lifestyles and increased fear within society, children are losing the freedom to play, explore and be active in their environment and being denied opportunities that could enhance their long term prospects.
The report, published today, identifies a framework showing how governments could build on existing and current research and introduce outdoor learning as an integral element of national education policies.
•••••
Public Release: 10-Jul-2016
Report identifies ways to boost children's quality of life through outdoor learning
University of Plymouth
Outdoor learning can have a significant and positive impact on children's quality of life but needs to be introduced more formally into global school curricula in order for its potential benefits to be fully realised, a new report suggests.
Student Outcomes and Natural Schooling has been produced by Plymouth University and Western Sydney University, following a conference organised in collaboration with the University of East London and Natural England, and with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
It highlights the many and varied benefits to children of learning in the natural environment, not just from an educational perspective but also in terms of their behaviour, social skills, health and wellbeing, resilience, confidence and sense of place.
But it also says that in an age dominated by a full curriculum, busier family lifestyles and increased fear within society, children are losing the freedom to play, explore and be active in their environment and being denied opportunities that could enhance their long term prospects.
The report, published today, identifies a framework showing how governments could build on existing and current research and introduce outdoor learning as an integral element of national education policies.
•••••
Georgia journalist arrested over open records request related to court
https://cpj.org/2016/07/georgia-journalist-arrested-over-open-records-requ.php
New York, July 6, 2016--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on prosecutors today to drop all charges against Mark Thomason, the publisher of local weekly newspaper Fannin Focus, in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Thomason, who was arrested June 24, faces felony charges including making a false statement in an open records request.
Thomason, who was released on a $10,000 bond June 25, told CPJ he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. As well as being accused of making a false statement, he said he faces additional felony charges of identity fraud and attempted identity fraud in relation to a subpoena for information about court bank accounts.
The open record request and subpoena relate to a legal battle over a previous open records request filed by Thomason when he was investigating allegations that a judge used a racial slur, according to statements by the journalist and court documents reviewed by CPJ. The attorney who helped him file the subpoena, Russell Stookey, also faces charges, according to reports.
•••••
The legal dispute is connected to a defamation case brought against Thomason in 2015 by court reporter Rhonda Stubblefield, who accused the journalist of libel over a story that said her transcripts may be incomplete, according to The Associated Press. Stubblefield sued the journalist after he filed a records request for a court transcript and audio recording, after it was alleged that a judge used a racial slur in court and that not every instance of the slur being used was recorded, according to reports.
The case, in which damages of $1.6 million were sought, was dropped but in April, Stubblefield sued Thomason for $16,000 to cover her attorney costs, the AP reported.
Thomason told CPJ that he and his lawyer subpoenaed checks from two public checking accounts that are used to pay court expenses. He said they believed the accounts, one of which was a courthouse account in the name of Chief Superior Court Judge Brenda Weaver, would show that the court had paid the court reporter's legal fees. Thomason also filed an open records request to a bank where the Appalachian judicial circuit operating accounts were allegedly housed, to seek records of checks that the county had written to the judges. In the request, Thomason said that "some checks appear to have not been deposited but cashed illegally," reports said.
Weaver, chief judge of the local superior court, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that she was upset by the subpoena and the records request. Weaver told the newspaper she believed Thomason's reporting was part of a vendetta against her.
According to Gawker, Weaver asked district attorney Alison Sosebee to file the indictments against the journalist.
The indictments for identity fraud relate to the subpoena and claim that Thomason sought the bank information to "unlawfully appropriate resources of [Judge Weaver]." It said that he issued the subpoena "without the consent of Brenda S. Weaver."
•••••
https://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/district-attorney-drops-charges-against-jailed-georgia-journalist-at
Luis Ferre Sadurni | Freedom of Information | News | July 7, 2016
Following almost two weeks of pressure from free speech groups and press coverage, a Georgia district attorney moved to drop felony charges against a newspaper publisher and his attorney earlier today.
•••••
On June 13, a judge dismissed Stubblefield’s claim to recoup attorneys’ fees from Thomason. Almost a week later, Thomason and Stookey were indicted and jailed after Weaver contacted district attorney Sosebbee with her fear that the men might steal her personal bank records. They were released on $10,000 bond and, in Thomason’s case, under strict bond conditions, which included drug tests and a bar that impedes him from covering the courthouse for his newspaper.
“I adhered to and followed Georgia law during the entire process,” Thomason said. “The judge has gone on record saying that she takes this personal. It’s not personal. My attorney’s sole intention throughout this was to show that attorney fees had already been paid, which the judge admitted.”
•••••
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-07-07/judge-in-jam-despite-ending-case-against-journalist-who-filed-open-records-request
•••••
Weaver’s conduct now will be reviewed by the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, an independent agency that investigates alleged judicial misconduct and can recommend sanctions including removal from office.
•••••
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/embattled-judge-resigns-from-states-judicial-watch/nsFLM/
Aug. 12, 2016
Superior Court Judge Brenda Weaver, under fire for helping obtain an indictment against a local newspaper publisher and his lawyer, has resigned as a member and chair of the state’s judicial watchdog agency.
•••••
New York, July 6, 2016--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on prosecutors today to drop all charges against Mark Thomason, the publisher of local weekly newspaper Fannin Focus, in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Thomason, who was arrested June 24, faces felony charges including making a false statement in an open records request.
Thomason, who was released on a $10,000 bond June 25, told CPJ he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. As well as being accused of making a false statement, he said he faces additional felony charges of identity fraud and attempted identity fraud in relation to a subpoena for information about court bank accounts.
The open record request and subpoena relate to a legal battle over a previous open records request filed by Thomason when he was investigating allegations that a judge used a racial slur, according to statements by the journalist and court documents reviewed by CPJ. The attorney who helped him file the subpoena, Russell Stookey, also faces charges, according to reports.
•••••
The legal dispute is connected to a defamation case brought against Thomason in 2015 by court reporter Rhonda Stubblefield, who accused the journalist of libel over a story that said her transcripts may be incomplete, according to The Associated Press. Stubblefield sued the journalist after he filed a records request for a court transcript and audio recording, after it was alleged that a judge used a racial slur in court and that not every instance of the slur being used was recorded, according to reports.
The case, in which damages of $1.6 million were sought, was dropped but in April, Stubblefield sued Thomason for $16,000 to cover her attorney costs, the AP reported.
Thomason told CPJ that he and his lawyer subpoenaed checks from two public checking accounts that are used to pay court expenses. He said they believed the accounts, one of which was a courthouse account in the name of Chief Superior Court Judge Brenda Weaver, would show that the court had paid the court reporter's legal fees. Thomason also filed an open records request to a bank where the Appalachian judicial circuit operating accounts were allegedly housed, to seek records of checks that the county had written to the judges. In the request, Thomason said that "some checks appear to have not been deposited but cashed illegally," reports said.
Weaver, chief judge of the local superior court, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that she was upset by the subpoena and the records request. Weaver told the newspaper she believed Thomason's reporting was part of a vendetta against her.
According to Gawker, Weaver asked district attorney Alison Sosebee to file the indictments against the journalist.
The indictments for identity fraud relate to the subpoena and claim that Thomason sought the bank information to "unlawfully appropriate resources of [Judge Weaver]." It said that he issued the subpoena "without the consent of Brenda S. Weaver."
•••••
https://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/district-attorney-drops-charges-against-jailed-georgia-journalist-at
Luis Ferre Sadurni | Freedom of Information | News | July 7, 2016
Following almost two weeks of pressure from free speech groups and press coverage, a Georgia district attorney moved to drop felony charges against a newspaper publisher and his attorney earlier today.
•••••
On June 13, a judge dismissed Stubblefield’s claim to recoup attorneys’ fees from Thomason. Almost a week later, Thomason and Stookey were indicted and jailed after Weaver contacted district attorney Sosebbee with her fear that the men might steal her personal bank records. They were released on $10,000 bond and, in Thomason’s case, under strict bond conditions, which included drug tests and a bar that impedes him from covering the courthouse for his newspaper.
“I adhered to and followed Georgia law during the entire process,” Thomason said. “The judge has gone on record saying that she takes this personal. It’s not personal. My attorney’s sole intention throughout this was to show that attorney fees had already been paid, which the judge admitted.”
•••••
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-07-07/judge-in-jam-despite-ending-case-against-journalist-who-filed-open-records-request
•••••
Weaver’s conduct now will be reviewed by the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, an independent agency that investigates alleged judicial misconduct and can recommend sanctions including removal from office.
•••••
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/embattled-judge-resigns-from-states-judicial-watch/nsFLM/
Aug. 12, 2016
Superior Court Judge Brenda Weaver, under fire for helping obtain an indictment against a local newspaper publisher and his lawyer, has resigned as a member and chair of the state’s judicial watchdog agency.
•••••
Truth is in danger as new techniques used to stop journalists covering the news
In the U.S. the press is affected by owners and advertisers.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/s-tii070716.php
I don't have TV service so I can't speak to that, but on-line mainstream "news" sites almost always ignore anything to do with climate disruption. Eg., I could find no mainstream news sites that mentioned that July 2016 was not only the hottest July since records began being kept in 1880, but the hottest month period. A few had articles about it, but no mention on their home page, so you only saw the articles if you already knew about it and did a search. This is habitual behaviour for information about global warming and some other information, eg. in politics.
And there is the recent case of a Georgia judge who had a reporter arrested because she didn't like his freedom of information request.
Public Release: 10-Jul-2016
Truth is in danger as new techniques used to stop journalists covering the news
SAGE
The truth is being suppressed across the world using a variety of methods, according to a special report in the 250th issue of Index on Censorship magazine.
Physical violence is not the only method being used to stop news being published, says editor Rachael Jolley in the Danger in Truth: Truth in Danger report. As well as kidnapping and murders, financial pressure and defamation legislation is being used, the report reveals.
"In many countries around the world, journalists have lost their status as observers and now come under direct attack."
There's an increasing trend to label journalists as "extremists" or "terrorists" so governments can crackdown on reporting they don't like. According to Index's Mapping Media Freedom project, which tracks attacks on journalists in more than 40 countries, 35 incidents were reported where journalists were being linked to "extremism" to restrict reporting, 11 in Russia and others in Belgium, Hungary, France and Spain.
Veteran journalists say certain countries including Syria are becoming almost impossible to cover. And citizen journalists in Syria say they are under enormous pressure to stop reporting but feel a responsibility to carry on despite the risks, particularly since so few international journalists are left in Syria. "All we can do is persevere, coping with the fear and the risks," one told Index.
Laura Silvia Battaglia, who trains journalists in Iraq says:
"In Iraq providing safety training is not only necessary, it's a duty for international originations who care about journalists and activists in dangerous zones. [...] Local journalism is vital if the Iraqi people are to know what is happening in their country, and to do that journalists need to continue to protect themselves."
•••••
Immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/esoc-irc070516.php
Public Release: 9-Jul-2016
Immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis
Extra-low dose combination of two anticytokines reduces disease activity and cardiovascular events
European Society of Cardiology
Immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016 by Professor Aida Babaeva, head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Volgograd State Medical University, Volgograd, Russia.1 The combination of two extra-low dose anticytokine drugs reduced rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and cardiovascular events.
"Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon (IFN), which normally protect the body, attack healthy cells," said Professor Babaeva. "Patients have painful and inflamed joints. They are also at increased cardiovascular risk, particularly if their rheumatoid arthritis is not controlled."
Professor Babaeva's previous research showed that treatment with anticytokine drugs can decrease the activity of rheumatoid arthritis. Extra-low dose anti-TNFα reduced levels of inflammatory mediators and cytokines including C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor, TNF, interleukin-1 (IL-1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The effect was more apparent and developed earlier when patients were treated with a combination of anti-TNFα and anti-IFN?, both at extra-low doses.
The current study investigated the impact of the combination of drugs on cardiovascular events.
•••••
Patients taking the combination of anticytokines had a lower rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score, as measured by the DAS28,2 and more dramatic decreases in IL-1, IL-6 and TNFα than the group on standard therapy alone.
The incidence of cardiovascular events (unstable angina, severe hypertensive crisis, and deterioration of chronic heart failure) was more than double in the group on conventional disease-modifying drugs alone (37%) compared to those also taking the combination of anticytokines (13%).
•••••
She concluded: "We do not think that all patients with rheumatoid arthritis should be treated with this combination. In patients with highly active disease, the standard biologics are better at preventing severe complications such as progressive joint destruction and/or systemic manifestations (vasculitis, uveitis, involvement of internal organs). We recommend this new approach for preventing cardiovascular events in patients with moderate disease activity who are not receiving the standard biologics and who do not have severe complications."
Public Release: 9-Jul-2016
Immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis
Extra-low dose combination of two anticytokines reduces disease activity and cardiovascular events
European Society of Cardiology
Immunotherapy reduces cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016 by Professor Aida Babaeva, head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Volgograd State Medical University, Volgograd, Russia.1 The combination of two extra-low dose anticytokine drugs reduced rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and cardiovascular events.
"Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon (IFN), which normally protect the body, attack healthy cells," said Professor Babaeva. "Patients have painful and inflamed joints. They are also at increased cardiovascular risk, particularly if their rheumatoid arthritis is not controlled."
Professor Babaeva's previous research showed that treatment with anticytokine drugs can decrease the activity of rheumatoid arthritis. Extra-low dose anti-TNFα reduced levels of inflammatory mediators and cytokines including C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor, TNF, interleukin-1 (IL-1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The effect was more apparent and developed earlier when patients were treated with a combination of anti-TNFα and anti-IFN?, both at extra-low doses.
The current study investigated the impact of the combination of drugs on cardiovascular events.
•••••
Patients taking the combination of anticytokines had a lower rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score, as measured by the DAS28,2 and more dramatic decreases in IL-1, IL-6 and TNFα than the group on standard therapy alone.
The incidence of cardiovascular events (unstable angina, severe hypertensive crisis, and deterioration of chronic heart failure) was more than double in the group on conventional disease-modifying drugs alone (37%) compared to those also taking the combination of anticytokines (13%).
•••••
She concluded: "We do not think that all patients with rheumatoid arthritis should be treated with this combination. In patients with highly active disease, the standard biologics are better at preventing severe complications such as progressive joint destruction and/or systemic manifestations (vasculitis, uveitis, involvement of internal organs). We recommend this new approach for preventing cardiovascular events in patients with moderate disease activity who are not receiving the standard biologics and who do not have severe complications."
Fruit and veg give you the feel-good factor
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uow-fav070916.php
Public Release: 9-Jul-2016
Fruit and veg give you the feel-good factor
New research suggests up to 8-a-day can make you happier
University of Warwick
COVENTRY, UK - July 2016: University of Warwick research indicates that eating more fruit and vegetables can substantially increase people's later happiness levels.
Published in the prestigious American Journal of Public Health, the study is one of the first major scientific attempts to explore psychological well-being beyond the traditional finding that fruit and vegetables can reduce risk of cancer and heart attacks.
Happiness benefits were detected for each extra daily portion of fruit and vegetables up to 8 portions per day.
The researchers concluded that people who changed from almost no fruit and veg to eight portions of fruit and veg a day would experience an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to moving from unemployment to employment. The well-being improvements occurred within 24 months.
•••••
The study followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people. These subjects kept food diaries and had their psychological well-being measured. The authors found large positive psychological benefits within two years of an improved diet.
Professor Andrew Oswald said: "Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health. People's motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical-health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later. However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate."
•••••
The authors found that alterations in fruit and vegetable intake were predictive of later alterations in happiness and satisfaction with life. They took into account many other influences, including changes in people's incomes and life circumstances.
•••••
Public Release: 9-Jul-2016
Fruit and veg give you the feel-good factor
New research suggests up to 8-a-day can make you happier
University of Warwick
COVENTRY, UK - July 2016: University of Warwick research indicates that eating more fruit and vegetables can substantially increase people's later happiness levels.
Published in the prestigious American Journal of Public Health, the study is one of the first major scientific attempts to explore psychological well-being beyond the traditional finding that fruit and vegetables can reduce risk of cancer and heart attacks.
Happiness benefits were detected for each extra daily portion of fruit and vegetables up to 8 portions per day.
The researchers concluded that people who changed from almost no fruit and veg to eight portions of fruit and veg a day would experience an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to moving from unemployment to employment. The well-being improvements occurred within 24 months.
•••••
The study followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people. These subjects kept food diaries and had their psychological well-being measured. The authors found large positive psychological benefits within two years of an improved diet.
Professor Andrew Oswald said: "Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health. People's motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical-health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later. However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate."
•••••
The authors found that alterations in fruit and vegetable intake were predictive of later alterations in happiness and satisfaction with life. They took into account many other influences, including changes in people's incomes and life circumstances.
•••••
Dam good! Beavers may restore imperiled streams, fish populations
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/usu-dgb070816.php
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Dam good! Beavers may restore imperiled streams, fish populations
Utah State, Eco Logical Research, NOAA, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, South Fork Research Publish in Nature's Scientific Reports
Utah State University
Utah State University scientists report a watershed-scale experiment in highly degraded streams within Oregon's John Day Basin demonstrates building beaver dam analogs allows beavers to increase their dam building activities, which benefits a threatened population of steelhead trout.
•••••
When Lewis and Clark made their way through the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century, the area's streams teemed with steelhead and beaver. But subsequent human activities, including harvesting beaver to near extirpation, led to widespread degradation of fish habitat.
Bouwes says these activities may have also exacerbated stream channel incision, meaning a rapid down-cutting of stream beds, which disconnects a channel from its floodplain and near-stream vegetation from the water table. He notes beavers build dams in the incised trenches, but because of the lack of large, woody material, their dams typically fail within a year.
"It's an ubiquitous environmental problem in the Columbia River Basin and throughout the world." Bouwes says. "It sets a chain of ecological effects in motion that result in habitat destruction, including declines in fish populations and other aquatic organisms."
•••••
When Lewis and Clark made their way through the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century, the area's streams teemed with steelhead and beaver. But subsequent human activities, including harvesting beaver to near extirpation, led to widespread degradation of fish habitat.
Bouwes says these activities may have also exacerbated stream channel incision, meaning a rapid down-cutting of stream beds, which disconnects a channel from its floodplain and near-stream vegetation from the water table. He notes beavers build dams in the incised trenches, but because of the lack of large, woody material, their dams typically fail within a year.
"It's an ubiquitous environmental problem in the Columbia River Basin and throughout the world." Bouwes says. "It sets a chain of ecological effects in motion that result in habitat destruction, including declines in fish populations and other aquatic organisms."
•••••
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Dam good! Beavers may restore imperiled streams, fish populations
Utah State, Eco Logical Research, NOAA, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, South Fork Research Publish in Nature's Scientific Reports
Utah State University
Utah State University scientists report a watershed-scale experiment in highly degraded streams within Oregon's John Day Basin demonstrates building beaver dam analogs allows beavers to increase their dam building activities, which benefits a threatened population of steelhead trout.
•••••
When Lewis and Clark made their way through the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century, the area's streams teemed with steelhead and beaver. But subsequent human activities, including harvesting beaver to near extirpation, led to widespread degradation of fish habitat.
Bouwes says these activities may have also exacerbated stream channel incision, meaning a rapid down-cutting of stream beds, which disconnects a channel from its floodplain and near-stream vegetation from the water table. He notes beavers build dams in the incised trenches, but because of the lack of large, woody material, their dams typically fail within a year.
"It's an ubiquitous environmental problem in the Columbia River Basin and throughout the world." Bouwes says. "It sets a chain of ecological effects in motion that result in habitat destruction, including declines in fish populations and other aquatic organisms."
•••••
When Lewis and Clark made their way through the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century, the area's streams teemed with steelhead and beaver. But subsequent human activities, including harvesting beaver to near extirpation, led to widespread degradation of fish habitat.
Bouwes says these activities may have also exacerbated stream channel incision, meaning a rapid down-cutting of stream beds, which disconnects a channel from its floodplain and near-stream vegetation from the water table. He notes beavers build dams in the incised trenches, but because of the lack of large, woody material, their dams typically fail within a year.
"It's an ubiquitous environmental problem in the Columbia River Basin and throughout the world." Bouwes says. "It sets a chain of ecological effects in motion that result in habitat destruction, including declines in fish populations and other aquatic organisms."
•••••
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse premature aging
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/esoc-wlf070516.php
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse premature aging
Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later
European Society of Cardiology
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse the premature aging associated with obesity, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later.
"Obese people are prematurely old," said lead author Dr Philipp Hohensinner, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. "They have an increased level of inflammation, with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important in cell signalling) in their fat tissue. Obese people also have shorter telomeres at the end of their chromosomes."
Telomeres are the internal clock of each cell. Telomeres get shorter when a cell divides or when oxidative stress causes them to break. When the telomeres get very short the cell can no longer divide and is replenished or stays in the body as an aged cell. Previous research found that obese women had shorter telomeres compared to women with a healthy weight, which amounted to an added eight years of life.
•••••
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse the premature aging associated with obesity, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later.
"Obese people are prematurely old," said lead author Dr Philipp Hohensinner, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. "They have an increased level of inflammation, with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important in cell signalling) in their fat tissue. Obese people also have shorter telomeres at the end of their chromosomes."
Telomeres are the internal clock of each cell. Telomeres get shorter when a cell divides or when oxidative stress causes them to break. When the telomeres get very short the cell can no longer divide and is replenished or stays in the body as an aged cell. Previous research found that obese women had shorter telomeres compared to women with a healthy weight, which amounted to an added eight years of life.
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse premature aging
Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later
European Society of Cardiology
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse the premature aging associated with obesity, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later.
"Obese people are prematurely old," said lead author Dr Philipp Hohensinner, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. "They have an increased level of inflammation, with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important in cell signalling) in their fat tissue. Obese people also have shorter telomeres at the end of their chromosomes."
Telomeres are the internal clock of each cell. Telomeres get shorter when a cell divides or when oxidative stress causes them to break. When the telomeres get very short the cell can no longer divide and is replenished or stays in the body as an aged cell. Previous research found that obese women had shorter telomeres compared to women with a healthy weight, which amounted to an added eight years of life.
•••••
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse the premature aging associated with obesity, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later.
"Obese people are prematurely old," said lead author Dr Philipp Hohensinner, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. "They have an increased level of inflammation, with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important in cell signalling) in their fat tissue. Obese people also have shorter telomeres at the end of their chromosomes."
Telomeres are the internal clock of each cell. Telomeres get shorter when a cell divides or when oxidative stress causes them to break. When the telomeres get very short the cell can no longer divide and is replenished or stays in the body as an aged cell. Previous research found that obese women had shorter telomeres compared to women with a healthy weight, which amounted to an added eight years of life.
Traffic noise increases the risk of heart attack
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/dai-tni070816.php
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Traffic noise increases the risk of heart attack
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
Your risk of heart attack increases with the amount of traffic noise to which you are exposed. The increase in risk - though slight - is greatest with road and rail traffic noise, less with aircraft noise. Such are the conclusions reached by Andreas Seidler and co-authors in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International after evaluating information from statutory health insurers on over a million Germans over the age of 40 (Dtsch Arztbl Int; 2016; 113: 407-14).
•••••
The authors believe the lower risk from aircraft noise can be explained by the fact that, unlike road and rail traffic noise, aircraft noise never remains continuously above 65 dB. They also see indications from their analysis that exposure to traffic noise influences not just the genesis, but the course of a heart attack.
•••••
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Traffic noise increases the risk of heart attack
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
Your risk of heart attack increases with the amount of traffic noise to which you are exposed. The increase in risk - though slight - is greatest with road and rail traffic noise, less with aircraft noise. Such are the conclusions reached by Andreas Seidler and co-authors in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International after evaluating information from statutory health insurers on over a million Germans over the age of 40 (Dtsch Arztbl Int; 2016; 113: 407-14).
•••••
The authors believe the lower risk from aircraft noise can be explained by the fact that, unlike road and rail traffic noise, aircraft noise never remains continuously above 65 dB. They also see indications from their analysis that exposure to traffic noise influences not just the genesis, but the course of a heart attack.
•••••
Exercise improves memory in breast cancer survivors
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/nu-eim070716.php
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Exercise improves memory in breast cancer survivors
Surprising finding: Self-reported memory problems in survivors linked to high stress regardless of treatment
Northwestern University
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is related to improved subjective memory in breast cancer survivors, who often complain about memory problems, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. It appears the physical activity alleviates stress and benefits women psychologically, which in turn aids their memory.
A surprising finding is memory problems appear to be related to the high stress load cancer survivors experience, and may not be specific to chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
"Our research suggests these self-reported memory problems may be emotionally related," said lead author Siobhan Phillips, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "These women are frightened, stressed, fatigued, tapped out emotionally and have low self-confidence, which can be very mentally taxing and can lead to perceived memory problems."
•••••
Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Exercise improves memory in breast cancer survivors
Surprising finding: Self-reported memory problems in survivors linked to high stress regardless of treatment
Northwestern University
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is related to improved subjective memory in breast cancer survivors, who often complain about memory problems, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. It appears the physical activity alleviates stress and benefits women psychologically, which in turn aids their memory.
A surprising finding is memory problems appear to be related to the high stress load cancer survivors experience, and may not be specific to chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
"Our research suggests these self-reported memory problems may be emotionally related," said lead author Siobhan Phillips, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "These women are frightened, stressed, fatigued, tapped out emotionally and have low self-confidence, which can be very mentally taxing and can lead to perceived memory problems."
•••••
Neuroscience researchers caution public about hidden risks of self-administered brain stimulation
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uops-nrc070716.php
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
Neuroscience researchers caution public about hidden risks of self-administered brain stimulation
Penn and Harvard researchers lead charge in warning 'Do-it-yourself' users of transcranial direct current stimulation seeking enhanced brain function of potential unintended results
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The growing trend of "do-it-yourself" transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) poses hidden risks to healthy members of the public who seek to use the technique for cognitive enhancement. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, along with several members of the (cognitive) neuroscience research community warn about such risks involved in home use of tDCS, the application of electrical current to the brain. Their Open Letter will appear in the July 7th issue of Annals of Neurology.
•••••
"Published results of these studies might lead DIY tDCS users to believe that they can achieve the same results if they mimic the way stimulation is delivered in research studies. However, there are many reasons why this simply isn't true," said first author, Rachel Wurzman, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at Penn. "It is important for people to understand why outcomes of tDCS can be unpredictable, because we know that in some cases, the benefits that are seen after tDCS in certain mental abilities may come at the expense of others."
•••••
First, it is not yet known whether stimulation extends beyond the specific brain regions targeted. These indirect effects may alter unintended brain functions. "We don't know how the stimulation of one brain region affects the surrounding, unstimulated regions," said co-author Roy Hamilton, MD, MS, an assistant professor of Neurology and director of the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at Penn. "Stimulating one region could improve one's ability to perform one task but hurt the ability to perform another."
In addition, what a person is doing during tDCS - reading a book, watching TV, sleeping - can change its effects. Which activity is best to achieve a certain change in brain function is not yet known.
Wurzman, Hamilton and colleagues go on to say that they have never performed tDCS at the frequency levels some home users experiment with, such as stimulating daily for months or longer. "We know that stimulation from a few sessions can be quite lasting, but we do not yet know the possible risks of a larger cumulative dose over several years or a lifetime," they wrote.
The authors also suggest that small changes in tDCS settings, including the current's amplitude, stimulation duration and electrode placement, can have large and unexpected effects; more stimulation is not necessarily better.
Finally, the group warns that the effects of tDCS vary across different people. Up to 30 percent of experimental subjects respond with changes in brain excitability in the opposite direction from other subjects using identical tDCS settings. Factors such as gender, handedness, hormones, medication, etc. could impact and potentially reverse a given tDCS effect.
•••••
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
Neuroscience researchers caution public about hidden risks of self-administered brain stimulation
Penn and Harvard researchers lead charge in warning 'Do-it-yourself' users of transcranial direct current stimulation seeking enhanced brain function of potential unintended results
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The growing trend of "do-it-yourself" transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) poses hidden risks to healthy members of the public who seek to use the technique for cognitive enhancement. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, along with several members of the (cognitive) neuroscience research community warn about such risks involved in home use of tDCS, the application of electrical current to the brain. Their Open Letter will appear in the July 7th issue of Annals of Neurology.
•••••
"Published results of these studies might lead DIY tDCS users to believe that they can achieve the same results if they mimic the way stimulation is delivered in research studies. However, there are many reasons why this simply isn't true," said first author, Rachel Wurzman, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at Penn. "It is important for people to understand why outcomes of tDCS can be unpredictable, because we know that in some cases, the benefits that are seen after tDCS in certain mental abilities may come at the expense of others."
•••••
First, it is not yet known whether stimulation extends beyond the specific brain regions targeted. These indirect effects may alter unintended brain functions. "We don't know how the stimulation of one brain region affects the surrounding, unstimulated regions," said co-author Roy Hamilton, MD, MS, an assistant professor of Neurology and director of the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at Penn. "Stimulating one region could improve one's ability to perform one task but hurt the ability to perform another."
In addition, what a person is doing during tDCS - reading a book, watching TV, sleeping - can change its effects. Which activity is best to achieve a certain change in brain function is not yet known.
Wurzman, Hamilton and colleagues go on to say that they have never performed tDCS at the frequency levels some home users experiment with, such as stimulating daily for months or longer. "We know that stimulation from a few sessions can be quite lasting, but we do not yet know the possible risks of a larger cumulative dose over several years or a lifetime," they wrote.
The authors also suggest that small changes in tDCS settings, including the current's amplitude, stimulation duration and electrode placement, can have large and unexpected effects; more stimulation is not necessarily better.
Finally, the group warns that the effects of tDCS vary across different people. Up to 30 percent of experimental subjects respond with changes in brain excitability in the opposite direction from other subjects using identical tDCS settings. Factors such as gender, handedness, hormones, medication, etc. could impact and potentially reverse a given tDCS effect.
•••••
Boredom can lead to more extreme political views
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/kcl-bcl070716.php
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
Boredom can lead to more extreme political views
King's College London
Boredom may be contributing to a widening of political views among voters, according to a new study by researchers from King's College London and the University of Limerick.
Published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, the findings are based on one experiment and two scientific surveys carried out in the Republic of Ireland.
•••••
The researchers found that liberals in the low boredom group were more moderate in their political orientation, compared to liberals in the high boredom group. A similar trend was found for conservatives, though it was not statistically significant as there were only 26 politically right-wing participants, which reduced the study's statistical power.
The study authors also conducted a survey of 859 people living in Ireland and found that people who were easily bored tended to endorse more extreme political views. Another survey of 300 people found that being prone to boredom was associated with searching for meaning in life, which was in turn associated with political extremism.
Dr Wijnand van Tilburg from King's College London said: 'Boredom puts people on edge - it makes them seek engagements that are challenging, exciting, and that offer a sense of purpose. Political ideologies can aid this existential quest.'
He added: 'Boredom motivates people to alter their situation and fosters the engagement in activities that seem more meaningful than those currently at hand.' The authors suggest that adopting a more extreme political ideology is one way that people re-inject meaningfulness into a boring situation.
•••••
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
Boredom can lead to more extreme political views
King's College London
Boredom may be contributing to a widening of political views among voters, according to a new study by researchers from King's College London and the University of Limerick.
Published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, the findings are based on one experiment and two scientific surveys carried out in the Republic of Ireland.
•••••
The researchers found that liberals in the low boredom group were more moderate in their political orientation, compared to liberals in the high boredom group. A similar trend was found for conservatives, though it was not statistically significant as there were only 26 politically right-wing participants, which reduced the study's statistical power.
The study authors also conducted a survey of 859 people living in Ireland and found that people who were easily bored tended to endorse more extreme political views. Another survey of 300 people found that being prone to boredom was associated with searching for meaning in life, which was in turn associated with political extremism.
Dr Wijnand van Tilburg from King's College London said: 'Boredom puts people on edge - it makes them seek engagements that are challenging, exciting, and that offer a sense of purpose. Political ideologies can aid this existential quest.'
He added: 'Boredom motivates people to alter their situation and fosters the engagement in activities that seem more meaningful than those currently at hand.' The authors suggest that adopting a more extreme political ideology is one way that people re-inject meaningfulness into a boring situation.
•••••
Head Start helped turn farm workers and domestics into teachers, administrators
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/ps-hsh070716.php
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
Head Start helped turn farm workers and domestics into teachers, administrators
Penn State
A federal preschool program gave a head start to more than just African American children in segregationist-dominated Mississippi, it also offered their parents and other adults a head start into higher paying occupations and new leadership opportunities, according to a Penn State historian.
"The idea behind the Head Start program was that we need to prepare kids from working-class backgrounds who perhaps did not have adequate stimulation at home to be prepared for the first grade, but the idea was also that you can't expect a child from a disadvantaged background to do well if there aren't opportunities for their parents," said Crystal Sanders, an assistant professor of history and African American studies. "You have to improve the community in which the child lives." The Head Start preschool program grew out of a key provision of the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 that required programs to operate with the maximum feasible participation of the poor.
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She added that the new jobs politically empowered blacks in Mississippi by giving them a chance to sidestep several methods that whites used to reinforce black disenfranchisement in Mississippi.
"Head Start created employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of working-class Americans across the country, but these jobs were particularly important in Mississippi because working-class African Americans typically worked in two fields: they were agricultural workers or domestic servants," said Sanders. "So, Head Start provided employment opportunities for them, which is significant because it allowed them to earn higher wages than they ever made before and freed them from the control of white employers, who often controlled their political activities through their jobs."
Managing the program funds also gave African Americans more respect and economic clout as they worked with food and drink vendors and local contractors.
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At the time, public education for black students stopped at the eighth grade in several parts of Mississippi, she added.
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Students also received regular health, vision, and hearing screenings, as well as daily nutritious meals.
"This is huge because many of these students have never been seen by a doctor before and many were children of sharecroppers, which meant that they often received diets that were heavy in starches and not balanced meals," said Sanders.
"The idea is that these students can only achieve academically if they are well."
Head Start was one of several federal anti-poverty programs started under President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty and authorized by Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Title II, a provision in the act, created the Community Action Program that required programs, like Head Start, be operated with "maximum feasible participation" of the poor.
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
Head Start helped turn farm workers and domestics into teachers, administrators
Penn State
A federal preschool program gave a head start to more than just African American children in segregationist-dominated Mississippi, it also offered their parents and other adults a head start into higher paying occupations and new leadership opportunities, according to a Penn State historian.
"The idea behind the Head Start program was that we need to prepare kids from working-class backgrounds who perhaps did not have adequate stimulation at home to be prepared for the first grade, but the idea was also that you can't expect a child from a disadvantaged background to do well if there aren't opportunities for their parents," said Crystal Sanders, an assistant professor of history and African American studies. "You have to improve the community in which the child lives." The Head Start preschool program grew out of a key provision of the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 that required programs to operate with the maximum feasible participation of the poor.
•••••
She added that the new jobs politically empowered blacks in Mississippi by giving them a chance to sidestep several methods that whites used to reinforce black disenfranchisement in Mississippi.
"Head Start created employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of working-class Americans across the country, but these jobs were particularly important in Mississippi because working-class African Americans typically worked in two fields: they were agricultural workers or domestic servants," said Sanders. "So, Head Start provided employment opportunities for them, which is significant because it allowed them to earn higher wages than they ever made before and freed them from the control of white employers, who often controlled their political activities through their jobs."
Managing the program funds also gave African Americans more respect and economic clout as they worked with food and drink vendors and local contractors.
•••••
At the time, public education for black students stopped at the eighth grade in several parts of Mississippi, she added.
•••••
Students also received regular health, vision, and hearing screenings, as well as daily nutritious meals.
"This is huge because many of these students have never been seen by a doctor before and many were children of sharecroppers, which meant that they often received diets that were heavy in starches and not balanced meals," said Sanders.
"The idea is that these students can only achieve academically if they are well."
Head Start was one of several federal anti-poverty programs started under President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty and authorized by Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Title II, a provision in the act, created the Community Action Program that required programs, like Head Start, be operated with "maximum feasible participation" of the poor.
The benefits of exercise during pregnancy
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/tju-tbo070716.php
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
The benefits of exercise during pregnancy
Women who exercise during pregnancy are more likely to deliver vaginally than those who do not, and show no greater risk of preterm birth.
Thomas Jefferson University
Researchers collected and re-examined clinical trial data on exercise during pregnancy and whether it plays a role in preterm birth, and found that exercise is safe and does not increase the risk of preterm birth. In addition, women who exercised were less likely to have a C-section than those who did not. The study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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The researchers found that there was no significant increase in preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks, in women who exercised than in those who did not. There were, however, a few benefits. Women who exercised were more likely to deliver vaginally - 73 percent of exercising women delivered vaginally whereas 67 percent of non-exercising women delivered vaginally. Likewise, there was a lower incidence of C-section in women who exercised during pregnancy - 17 percent of exercising women had a C-section versus 22 percent in those who did not. There was also lower incidence of gestational diabetes, and lower rates of high blood pressure in the exercising group.
All of the women included in this analysis were carrying a single baby (not twins), had normal weight to start with, and had no health conditions that prevented them from exercising.
•••••
Public Release: 7-Jul-2016
The benefits of exercise during pregnancy
Women who exercise during pregnancy are more likely to deliver vaginally than those who do not, and show no greater risk of preterm birth.
Thomas Jefferson University
Researchers collected and re-examined clinical trial data on exercise during pregnancy and whether it plays a role in preterm birth, and found that exercise is safe and does not increase the risk of preterm birth. In addition, women who exercised were less likely to have a C-section than those who did not. The study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
•••••
The researchers found that there was no significant increase in preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks, in women who exercised than in those who did not. There were, however, a few benefits. Women who exercised were more likely to deliver vaginally - 73 percent of exercising women delivered vaginally whereas 67 percent of non-exercising women delivered vaginally. Likewise, there was a lower incidence of C-section in women who exercised during pregnancy - 17 percent of exercising women had a C-section versus 22 percent in those who did not. There was also lower incidence of gestational diabetes, and lower rates of high blood pressure in the exercising group.
All of the women included in this analysis were carrying a single baby (not twins), had normal weight to start with, and had no health conditions that prevented them from exercising.
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