Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Prevention program safeguards children's brains from effects of poverty

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uog-pps112816.php

Public Release: 28-Nov-2016
Prevention program safeguards children's brains from effects of poverty
University of Georgia

A University of Georgia research team has shown for the first time that participation in a prevention program known as the Strong African American Families Program, which enhances supportive parenting and strengthens family relationships, removes the effects of poverty on brain development.

In a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, Gene H. Brody, the study's lead author and co-director of the UGA Center for Family Research, and his colleagues used MRI scans to examine the brain development of 59 adults who participated in SAAF at age 11 with 57 adults from nearly identical backgrounds who did not. They found that those who participated in SAAF--all of whom are 25 years old now--had greater volumes in regions of the brain that promote learning, memory and stress tolerance.

"You can think of a brain like a muscle that we have to strengthen throughout childhood and adolescence," said Brody, Regents Professor of Human Development and Family Science in UGA's College of Family and Consumer Sciences. "When that muscle gets the proper levels of stimulation and protections against stress that a nurturing caregiver provides, people tend to do much better."

Brody noted that scientists have begun to investigate the possibility that growing up in poverty may have effects on areas of the brain that support children's learning, memory, mood and the ability to cope with stress. SAAF was designed to enhance parenting and strengthen family relationships among African-American families living in the rural South.

"Not all children and adolescents who grow up in poverty experience adverse outcomes. A subset of young people who receive supportive parenting develop resilience to the consequences of poverty," said Brody, who also works as part of UGA's Owens Institute for Behavioral Research. "We're expanding these findings using a controlled trial of a prevention program to test those ideas and show that supportive parenting has important benefits for brain development.

"We've been following these participants since they were 11 years old and everything we've learned over the past 14 years has reinforced our conviction that caregiving is incredibly important to many facets of human development including brain development," he said.

In addition to effects on the brain, Brody's research with the SAAF participants has found they have lower levels of stress hormones circulating in their bodies, they have lower levels of inflammation, and they are less likely to show biological markers of premature aging.

"It's very gratifying to see scientific evidence that SAAF can benefit the health and well-being of young African-Americans," Brody said.

If substantiated, these findings may also highlight a strategy for policymakers and practitioners from pediatricians to parent-teacher organizations to use in ameliorating social disparities.

When judging other people, first impressions last

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/cu-wjo112816.php

Public Release: 28-Nov-2016
When judging other people, first impressions last
A well-known saying urges people to 'not judge a book by its cover' -- but people tend to do just that -- even after they've skimmed a chapter or 2, according to Cornell University research
Cornell University

A well-known saying urges people to "not judge a book by its cover." But people tend to do just that - even after they've skimmed a chapter or two, according to Cornell University research.

Vivian Zayas, professor of psychology at Cornell University, and her colleagues found that people continue to be influenced by another person's appearance even after interacting with them face-to-face. First impressions formed simply from looking at a photograph predicted how people felt and thought about the person after a live interaction that took place one month to six months later.

"Facial appearance colors how we feel about someone, and even how we think about who they are," said Zayas, an expert in the cognitive and affective processes that regulate close relationships. "These facial cues are very powerful in shaping interactions, even in the presence of other information."

•••••

If study participants thought a person in a photograph was likeable and had an agreeable, emotionally stable, open-minded and conscientious personality, that impression carried through after the face-to-face meeting. Conversely, participants who thought the person in the photograph was unlikeable and had a disagreeable, emotionally unstable, close-minded, and disagreeable personality kept that judgment after they met.

"What is remarkable is that despite differences in impressions, participants were interacting with the same person, but came away with drastically different impressions of her even after a 20-minute face-to-face interaction," Zayas said.

Zayas has two explanations for the findings. A concept called behavioral confirmation or self-fulfilling prophecy accounted for, at least in part, consistency in liking judgments. The study participants who had said they liked the person in the photograph tended to interact with them face to face in a friendlier, more engaged way, she said.

"They're smiling a little bit more, they're leaning forward a little bit more. Their nonverbal cues are warmer," she said. "When someone is warmer, when someone is more engaged, people pick up on this. They respond in kind. And it's reinforcing: The participant likes that person more."

Regarding why participants showed consistency in judgments of personality, a halo effect could have come into play, she said. Participants who gave the photographed person a positive evaluation attributed other positive characteristics to them as well. "We see an attractive person as also socially competent, and assume their marriages are stable and their kids are better off. We go way beyond that initial judgment and make a number of other positive attributions," Zayas said.

In a related study, she and her colleagues found that people said they would revise their judgment of people in photographs if they had the chance to meet them in person, because they'd have more information on which to base their assessment.

"And people really think they would revise," she said. "But in our study, people show a lot more consistency in their judgments, and little evidence of revision."

The study, "Impressions Based on a Portrait Predict, 1-Month Later, Impressions Following a Live Interaction," was recently published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

After election, a surge in the desire to 'do something'



The presidential election has led some dismayed by the result to put aside a sense of complacency and take action.
By Jessica Mendoza, Staff writer November 23, 2016
Christian Science Monitor

The election had barely been called for Donald Trump when Jenn Welch and Emily Winter decided they had to take action.

In an exchange over Facebook messenger late on Election Night, the two New York City comedians thought up ways they could champion the progress they worried would be lost under the new administration. By Thursday they had a plan: to stage a three-night comedy benefit on inauguration weekend as a form of community activism.

The project – which they dubbed “What A Joke” – would send all proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union. It also gave both women a sense they were taking meaningful steps towards dealing with the shock within themselves and their community.

“You’re donating money, but you’re also able to find relief and joy,” Ms. Welch says. “You have an audience coming out, choosing to sit together and experience something as a community, laugh together as a community. To me that is the most important part.”

As thousands of people took to the streets following the election in response to Mr. Trump’s surprise victory over Hillary Clinton, scores of other Americans began articulating their feelings in a different way.

•••••

As thousands of people took to the streets following the election in response to Mr. Trump’s surprise victory over Hillary Clinton, scores of other Americans began articulating their feelings in a different way.

Some, like Welch and Ms. Winter, organized campaigns that raised funds for advocacy groups. Others started calling their elected representatives or signing petitions. Still others took more personal routes – like going vegetarian to protest the president-elect’s policies on climate change.

•••••

Tom Price: 'Not One' Woman Struggled to Afford Birth Control

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/tom-price-not-one-woman-cant-afford-birth-control/509003/

Olga Khazan Nov 29, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump announced his pick to head the Health and Human Services Department on Tuesday: House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, a Republican from Georgia and a fierce opponent of abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and the law’s birth-control mandate.

Perhaps Price opposes the provision, which covers birth control without a copay, because he believes it to be unnecessary. In 2012, he made comments suggesting all women can afford birth control:

At the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference, Think Progress reporter Scott Keyes asked Price, “One of the main sticking points is whether or not contraceptive coverage is going to be covered under health insurance plans and at hospitals and whether they’re going to be able to pay for it, especially low-income women … where do we leave these women if this rule is rescinded?”

“Bring me one woman who has been left behind. Bring me one. There’s not one,” Price replied. “The fact of the matter is this is a trampling on religious freedom and religious liberty in this country.”

Price’s stated reason, that the mandate infringes on religious liberties, is a common one among conservatives. It's worth noting, however, that Obamacare doesn’t require anyone to buy or use birth control.

Actually, before contraceptives were added as a mandatory benefit under Obamacare, millions of women had trouble affording it. A survey commissioned by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund in 2010, before the mandate went into effect, found that a third of women struggled with the cost of prescription birth control— their co-pays ranged from $15 to $50 a month. Earlier surveys found poor women were more likely to use less-costly, and less-effective, methods of birth control, such as withdrawal or the rhythm method, rather than IUDs and the pill. The rapid decline in the teen pregnancy rate in recent years is largely thought to be due to the proliferation of free long-term reversible contraceptives, which can cost hundreds of dollars if not covered by insurance.

What’s more, even now that birth control is supposedly covered without cost, not all women are eligible for the discount, including millions of women who are uninsured or in the Medicaid coverage gap.

After the release of the clip in 2012, news sites quickly rounded up scores of women who said they had trouble affording birth control.

“Right after college when I got kicked off my parents' insurance, I couldn't afford it and had to stop taking it,” a 26-year-old named Lucille told Good magazine at the time. “As a result, I had a few unnecessary ‘scares’ that wouldn't have been ‘scares’ at all if I had the pill."

If Price helps Trump to achieve his goal of repealing and replacing Obamacare—without the contraceptive mandate—there may be many women like Lucille who have to stop taking their newly-expensive birth control.

•••••

==============================================

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2016/1129/Who-is-Rep.-Tom-Price-Trump-s-choice-for-HHS-secretary

Who is Rep. Tom Price, Trump's choice for HHS secretary?

By Amanda Hoover, Staff November 29, 2016
Christian Science Monitor

•••••

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Georgia Rep. Tom Price (R), a six-term Congressman who sharply criticized the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and vehemently supported Mr. Trump’s campaign for the presidency, to head the department of Health and Human Services.

As third-generation doctor who previously ran an Atlanta-based orthopedic clinic, Dr. Price has also served as a Georgia state senator, advocating for doctors and espousing views and policy proposals similar to the positions of the American Medical Association and Medical Association of Georgia.
[So his family has not been exposed to hardship. His comments suggest they have not participated in programs to help poor people, since he is so ignorant of the fact that it is hard for poor women to afford contraceptives without help.]

•••••

Legislation sponsored by Price, called the Empowering Patients First Act, would repeal the ACA and instead give tax credits to those purchasing individual and family health insurance plans. His proposal would also make substantial changes to Medicare and Medicaid, repackaging Medicaid as block grants sent to states, allowing them to determine who is eligible and what services would be covered.

The Empowering Patients First Act also contains a provision that requires “able-bodied” recipients to work for their healthcare, an idea that the Obama administration strongly opposed, and allows insurers licensed in one state to sell policies to those living in others.

•••••

Women Could Pay More Than Men For Health Care Under Trump

Now NPR is reporting on stuff like this, after the election. Before the election it was all about what Trump and other republicans were claiming about Hillary's emails.

So they can have both corporate donations from those like the Koch, and snookered ordinary people who think they are doing such a good job by reporting this.



November 29, 201611:44 AM ET
Michelle Andrews

Some women have been worried that they will lose insurance coverage for contraception under the Trump administration, but coverage for other women's health benefits could also be at risk.

At or near the top of the list is guaranteed coverage of maternity services on the individual insurance market. Before the health law, it was unusual for plans purchased by individuals to cover prenatal care and childbirth. But the Affordable Care Act requires that maternity care be included as one of 10 essential health benefits.

In 2009, the year before the health law passed, just 13 percent of individual plans available to a 30-year-old woman living in a state capital offered maternity benefits, according to an analysis by the National Women's Law Center.

Some plans offered maternity services as an add-on through a special rider that paid a fixed amount, sometimes just a few thousand dollars, the study found. But even with a rider, a woman's financial exposure could be significant: The total payment for a vaginal birth was $18,329 in 2010, according to a study by Truven Health Analytics.

Before Obamacare, women were also generally charged higher rates for health insurance than men on the individual market. According to the law center's analysis, 60 percent of best-selling individual plans in 2009 charged a 40-year-old nonsmoking woman more than a 40-year-old man who smoked, even in plans that didn't include any type of maternity coverage.

That inequity disappeared under the health law, which prohibited insurers from charging women higher rates than men for the same services.

•••••

And preventive health services for women could be on the line if the health law is repealed or changed. Some may be easier to get rid of than others, say women's health policy analysts.

Under Obamacare, preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have to be covered without copays or deductibles. The task force, an independent panel of medical experts, evaluates the scientific evidence for screenings, medications and services. That currently includes recommendations on screening for breast and cervical cancer and testing for the BRCA 1 and 2 genetic mutations that increase women's risk of breast cancer.

•••••

Coverage for contraception and other services endorsed by the Health Resources and Services Administration could be easier to eliminate.

•••••

Take coverage for birth control. Some health plans initially interpreted the requirement to cover FDA-approved contraceptives to mean that if they covered birth control pills, for example, they didn't have to cover other hormonal methods of contraception such as the vaginal ring or patch. Federal officials under Obama have declared that insurers couldn't pick and choose; they had to cover all 18 FDA-approved methods of birth control.

"A lot of the pieces of the preventive services benefits that clarify and make the coverage real and strong have been through [federal officials'] guidance, and there is fear that could be changed," Palanker says.

Frightened by Donald Trump? You don’t know the half of it

Scary but no surprise to those who have been paying attention.

Please make a donation to The Guardian to enable them to continue investigative reporting.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/30/donald-trump-george-monbiot-misinformation?CMP=share_btn_fb

George Monbiot
Nov. 30, 2016

Twitter: @GeorgeMonbiot. A fully linked version of this column will be published at monbiot.com

Yes, Donald Trump’s politics are incoherent. But those who surround him know just what they want, and his lack of clarity enhances their power. To understand what is coming, we need to understand who they are. I know all too well, because I have spent the past 15 years fighting them.

Over this time, I have watched as tobacco, coal, oil, chemicals and biotech companies have poured billions of dollars into an international misinformation machine composed of thinktanks, bloggers and fake citizens’ groups. Its purpose is to portray the interests of billionaires as the interests of the common people, to wage war against trade unions and beat down attempts to regulate business and tax the very rich. Now the people who helped run this machine are shaping the government.

I first encountered the machine when writing about climate change. The fury and loathing directed at climate scientists and campaigners seemed incomprehensible until I realised they were fake: the hatred had been paid for. The bloggers and institutes whipping up this anger were funded by oil and coal companies.

Among those I clashed with was Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The CEI calls itself a thinktank, but looks to me like a corporate lobbying group. It is not transparent about its funding, but we now know it has received $2m from ExxonMobil, more than $4m from a group called the Donors Trust (which represents various corporations and billionaires), $800,000 from groups set up by the tycoons Charles and David Koch, and substantial sums from coal, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies.

For years, Ebell and the CEI have attacked efforts to limit climate change, through lobbying, lawsuits and campaigns. An advertisement released by the institute had the punchline “Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution. We call it life.”

It has sought to eliminate funding for environmental education, lobbied against the Endangered Species Act, harried climate scientists and campaigned in favour of mountaintop removal by coal companies. In 2004, Ebell sent a memo to one of George W Bush’s staffers calling for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to be sacked. Where is Ebell now? Oh – leading Trump’s transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Charles and David Koch – who for years have funded extreme pro-corporate politics – might not have been enthusiasts for Trump’s candidacy, but their people were all over his campaign. Until June, Trump’s campaign manager was Corey Lewandowski, who like other members of Trump’s team came from a group called Americans for Prosperity (AFP).

•••••

I could fill this newspaper with the names of Trump staffers who have emerged from such groups: people such as Doug Domenech, from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, funded among others by the Koch brothers, Exxon and the Donors Trust; Barry Bennett, whose Alliance for America’s Future (now called One Nation) refused to disclose its donors when challenged; and Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, funded by Exxon and others.

•••••

Don’t imagine that other parts of the world are immune. Corporate-funded thinktanks and fake grassroots groups are now everywhere. The fake news we should be worried about is not stories invented by Macedonian teenagers about Hillary Clinton selling arms to Islamic State, but the constant feed of confected scares about unions, tax and regulation drummed up by groups that won’t reveal their interests.

•••••

When the Institute of Economic Affairs, as it so often does, appears on the BBC to argue against regulating tobacco, shouldn’t we be told that it has been funded by tobacco companies since 1963? There’s a similar pattern in the US: the most vocal groups tend to be the most opaque.

As usual, the left and centre (myself included) are beating ourselves up about where we went wrong. There are plenty of answers, but one of them is that we have simply been outspent. Not by a little, but by orders of magnitude. A few billion dollars spent on persuasion buys you all the politics you want. Genuine campaigners, working in their free time, simply cannot match a professional network staffed by thousands of well-paid, unscrupulous people.

You cannot confront a power until you know what it is. Our first task in this struggle is to understand what we face. Only then can we work out what to do.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Talking to your children about the environment

This booklet contains suggestions for teaching children at different ages about the environment.

http://www.psychology.org.au/publications/tip_sheets/children_environment/

This information booklet has been prepared for adults who want to talk with children and adolescents about the environment. It provides parents with tips on helping children to develop environmentally-friendly values and behaviours, helping them to understand the environmental challenges we face, and easing their anxiety about the threat of climate change.

Teaching children about the natural world is not just a nice thing to do - it is vital for the future of our children and the future of all life. Children are naturally curious and open to learning about nature, but in an increasingly urban society we often need to consciously create opportunities to help children bond with nature and learn about the environment.

These days, learning about nature is inextricably tied up with learning about climate change and other environmental problems. Climate change is now the subject of much concern and discussion amongst adults, and is often the subject of alarming and catastrophic news reports in the media. These problems are large, complex to understand, and have the potential to bring up strong feelings like fear, anxiety, frustration, anger or despair.

It is likely that many children are aware of the threat of climate change. However it is also quite likely that they are confused about the facts and the extent of the threat they personally face, and might feel anxious, concerned or confused. Worries and anxieties about these threats can become difficult for children of all ages to deal with.

On the other hand, children can also be very quick to grasp problems and are able to apply great energy and enthusiasm to putting solutions in place. The good thing about environmental problems is that we know what many of the solutions are, and many of them are very simple. Indeed, children are often reported to be better at getting going with environmental solutions than the adults are!

New study shows marijuana users have low blood flow to the brain

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/ip-nss112716.php

Public Release: 27-Nov-2016
New study shows marijuana users have low blood flow to the brain
Hippocampus, the brain's key memory and learning center, has the lowest blood flow in marijuana users suggesting higher vulnerability to Alzheimer's
IOS Press

s the U.S. races to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, a new, large scale brain imaging study gives reason for caution. Published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, researchers using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), a sophisticated imaging study that evaluates blood flow and activity patterns, demonstrated abnormally low blood flow in virtually every area of the brain studies in nearly 1,000 marijuana users compared to healthy controls, including areas known to be affected by Alzheimer's pathology such as the hippocampus.

•••••

Low blood flow in the hippocampus in marijuana users reliably distinguished marijuana users from controls. The right hippocampus during a concentration task was the single most predictive region in distinguishing marijuana users from their normal counterparts. Marijuana use is thought to interfere with memory formation by inhibiting activity in this part of the brain.

According to one of the co-authors on the study Elisabeth Jorandby, M.D., "As a physician who routinely sees marijuana users, what struck me was not only the global reduction in blood flow in the marijuana users brains , but that the hippocampus was the most affected region due to its role in memory and Alzheimer's disease. Our research has proven that marijuana users have lower cerebral blood flow than non-users. Second, the most predictive region separating these two groups is low blood flow in the hippocampus on concentration brain SPECT imaging. This work suggests that marijuana use has damaging influences in the brain - particularly regions important in memory and learning and known to be affected by Alzheimer's."

•••••

According to Daniel Amen, M.D., Founder of Amen Clinics, "Our research demonstrates that marijuana can have significant negative effects on brain function. The media has given the general impression that marijuana is a safe recreational drug, this research directly challenges that notion. In another new study just released, researchers showed that marijuana use tripled the risk of psychosis. Caution is clearly in order."


tags: drug use, drug abuse

Parents don't notice young children's PTSD -- but may need support themselves

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uoea-pdn110316.php

Public Release: 8-Nov-2016
Parents don't notice young children's PTSD -- but may need support themselves
University of East Anglia

Young children may experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for years without it being recognised by their parents according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Researchers investigated how children under 10 experience PTSD weeks, months and years after a traumatic event.

They found that children's suffering is often under-recognised by parents - despite being shaped to a large extent by the parents' own stress in response to the child's trauma.

Lead researcher Dr Richard Meiser-Stedman, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "When people talk about PTSD they often think about soldiers returning from war zones. But children who experience traumatic events such as car accidents, assaults, and natural disasters are also at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Symptoms can include traumatic memories and nightmares, avoiding reminders of the trauma, and feeling like the world is very unsafe.

•••••

KEY FINDINGS:

- Children showing signs of stress soon after a trauma will not necessarily go on to suffer PTSD after three years.

- Some children may develop PTSD that persists for years following a trauma - but this is only likely to happen in a minority of cases. Most will 'bounce back' naturally in time.

- Most parents of children still experiencing difficulties after three years did not recognise their child's PTSD. Relying on parent reports of PTSD may therefore be inadequate for identifying chronic patterns in young children.

- Trauma severity was linked with incidence of PTSD up to six months after an accident, but not three years after.

- Child intelligence and age were not linked with incidence of PTSD.

- Children were more likely to suffer PTSD after a trauma if their parents also suffered PTSD - both soon after the event, and even three years afterwards. But even these parents may not spot their child's suffering.

•••••

Giving more pregnant women common thyroid medicine may reduce risk of complications

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/sfe-gmp110716.php

Public Release: 8-Nov-2016
Giving more pregnant women common thyroid medicine may reduce risk of complications
Society for Endocrinology

Extending the number of pregnant women given the common drug levothyroxine to boost thyroid hormone levels may lead to a reduced number of stillbirths, early caesarean sections and low-weight babies, according to a new study presented today at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Brighton.

The thyroid gland is an organ found in the base of the neck. It produces essential hormones that control the body's metabolism - the way we use energy. Thyroid hormones are also critical for foetal brain development, but babies cannot make any of their own until the second trimester and have to source all of it from their mothers.

2-3% of pregnant women have mild hypothyroidism, meaning they have low levels of thyroid hormones. This can be treated with a hormone replacement drug called levothyroxine.

•••••

They found that women with mild hypothyroidism treated with levothyroxine had a lower risk of giving birth to low weight babies and were also less likely to undergo an early caesarean. Untreated women with mild hypothyroidism were more likely to have a stillbirth than women with normal thyroid function and no stillbirths occurred in the treated group. However, there was no significant difference between the other obstetric outcomes or when all outcomes were combined.

•••••

While further trials are needed to confirm these findings, Dr Taylor believes more substantial benefits might be found by treating the pregnant women at an earlier stage than used in this study. "

•••••

Blood fats equal risk of pancreatitis

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uoct-bfe110816.php

Public Release: 8-Nov-2016
Blood fats equal risk of pancreatitis
University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

New research from the University of Copenhagen shows that mild to moderate levels of blood fats equals an increased risk developing acute pancreatitis. It is far more serious than we previously believed it to be, according to the professor behind the study.

Pancreatitis is very painful and it may lead to fatalities. Until now, medical science has connected the risk of developing this illness to gallstone, a high intake of alcohol and very high concentrations of blood fats. However, new research reveals that even mildly increased levels of blood fats is a risk factor. The latest study has involved more than 115,000 participants from Denmark, and the results have just been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine.

"We were surprised by the results, which show that even a mild to moderate rise in blood fats increases the risk of developing acute pancreatitis. In fact, it turns out that the risk of developing pancreatitis is far greater than the risk of developing say, cardiovascular diseases," says medical student Simon Bo Pedersen from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital.

Far more serious than it was previously believed to be

Normal levels of blood fats would typically be 0-2 mmol per litre, while 2-10 is classified as a mild to moderate increase. If blood fat levels rise above 10 mmol per litre, it is considered a very high increase and previously, this was considered the risk factor to look for in relation to pancreatitis. However, this latest study shows that even a 2 mmol per litre increase significantly increases the risk of pancreas inflammation, and the risk is nine times higher with blood fat levels at 5-10 mmol per litre.

"It's far more serious than we previously believed it to be. Risk factors should therefore include a mild to moderate increase in blood fats, i.e. if a patient suddenly suffers e.g. severe stomach pains, which is a symptom related to acute pancreatitis, we should measure the patient's blood fats," says Professor Børge Nordestgaard from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital.

•••••

Television cooking shows overlook safe food handling practices

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/ehs-tcs110816.php

Public Release: 8-Nov-2016
Television cooking shows overlook safe food handling practices
Many programs miss the opportunity to model proper safety measures, according to a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
Elsevier Health Sciences

Forty-eight million cases of foodborne illness are reported annually in the United States, including 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These illnesses can result from improper food safety practices in retail settings, but illness from food prepared at home is also a concern; yet, little is known about illness from consumer practice.

•••••

Adherence to food safety practices by consumers has declined in recent years. For example, fewer consumers reported washing hands before handling food, cooking to required temperatures, or separating meat and poultry from ready-to-eat foods in 2011 than in 2008 or 2010. Only 33% of consumers said they trusted the government for food safety information, whereas more than half trusted media. An overwhelming majority (73%) obtained food safety information from media, and 22% of those used cooking shows as their primary source of information. Likewise, in a poll of television viewers, 50% of respondents watched some television cooking shows, and 57% reported purchasing items based on those shows.

•••••

A panel of state regulators and food safety practitioners participated in the assessment, viewing 10 popular cooking shows, with two to six episodes per show watched for a total of 39 episodes.

"The majority of practices rated were out of compliance or conformance with recommendations in at least 70% of episodes and food safety practices were mentioned in only three episodes," said lead author Nancy L. Cohen, PhD, RD, LDN, FAND. "Only four practices were observed to be in compliance or conformance with recommendations in more than 50% of the episodes. For most behaviors observed, the percentage of shows in conformance with recommended practices was much lower than that seen in restaurant employees and consumers in general."

•••••

Trump's political success was a triumph of style over substance

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uobc-tps110816.php

Public Release: 8-Nov-2016
Trump's political success was a triumph of style over substance: UBC research
University of British Columbia

Style, not substance, accounts for Donald Trump's U.S. Republican presidential nomination, according to a psychological analysis from the University of British Columbia.

Psychology researchers at the university compared Trump's speech style and Twitter usage to that of the other top nine Republican contenders. The real-estate mogul and reality star consistently ranked highest in ratings of grandiosity, "I"-statements, informal language, vocal pitch variation, and use of Twitter.

"Trump's outrageous statements over the course of the campaign led many political pundits to underestimate his chances of success," said supervising author Delroy L. Paulhus, a personality psychology researcher and professor at UBC. "Contrary to what might be expected, grandiosity, simplistic language and rampant Twitter activity were statistical predictors of success in the Republican primaries. Although Trump's bombastic communication style was shocking -- even detestable to many viewers -- our research suggests that this style helped him win the Republican nomination."

•••••

"Even in everyday life, the difficulty of fact-checking everything people tell us forces us to rely on how they say it -- and we've shown that this holds true even in political elections," said Paulhus. "This phenomenon not only helps explain Donald Trump's political rise, but how questionable political leaders might gain power--even in democracies."

New study: Male chimpanzees can be players and good fathers

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/gwu-nsm110816.php

Public Release: 8-Nov-2016
New study: Male chimpanzees can be players and good fathers
Research on humans' closest living relatives suggests male chimpanzees are focused on offspring rather than building relationships with females
George Washington University

New research suggests that male chimpanzees are more invested in protecting their own offspring than previously thought. Researchers found male chimpanzees spend time with non-mating female chimpanzees that are caring for their offspring. This finding is unexpected since the species is highly promiscuous and researchers previously questioned whether male chimpanzees could recognize their offspring.

Because males spending time with nursing mothers did not increase the likelihood that they would be the father of that mother's next infant, the findings support the paternal effort hypothesis, in which males associate more with mothers in order to protect their offspring, rather than curry favor with the female.

•••••

Aging bonobos in the wild could use reading glasses too

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/cp-abi102816.php

Public Release: 7-Nov-2016
Aging bonobos in the wild could use reading glasses too
Cell Press

As people age, they often find that it's more difficult to see things up close. Reading a newspaper suddenly requires a good pair of reading glasses or bifocals. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on November 7 find that the same goes for bonobos, one of human's closest primate relatives along with chimpanzees, even though they obviously don't read.

This long-sightedness in bonobos is most evident as older animals engage in grooming their peers, the researchers say. The older they get, the longer they stretch their arms from the rest of their bodies as they groom.

"We found that wild bonobos showed the symptoms of long-sightedness around 40 years old," says Heungjin Ryu of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University. "We were surprised that the pattern found in bonobos is strikingly similar to the pattern of modern humans. This suggests that senescence of the eyes has not changed much from the Pan-Homo common ancestor, even though the longevity of modern humans is far longer than that of chimpanzees and bonobos."

Ryu says that researchers had already noticed this trend of bonobos needing longer distances for grooming before. There had also been anecdotal reports in chimpanzees. It's just that no one paid much attention to it.

"One day, I was with another researcher and observed the oldest male bonobo Ten (TN) grooming Jeudi (JD)," Ryu recalls. "TN had to stretch his arm to groom JD, and only when he found something on JD's body would he come close to remove it using his mouth. It was funny to see how he groomed."

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Common food additive promotes colon cancer in mice

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/gsu-cfa110216.php

Public Release: 7-Nov-2016
Common food additive promotes colon cancer in mice
Georgia State University

Emulsifiers, which are added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life, can alter intestinal bacteria in a manner that promotes intestinal inflammation and colorectal cancer, according to a new study.

The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, show regular consumption of dietary emulsifiers in mice exacerbated tumor development. The study was led by Drs. Emilie Viennois, Didier Merlin, Andrew T. Gewirtz and Benoit Chassaing, researchers in Georgia State University's Institute for Biomedical Sciences.

Colorectal cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, was responsible for about 700,000 deaths in 2012. There is increasing awareness that the intestinal microbiota, the vast, diverse population of microorganisms that inhabits the human intestines, play a role in driving colorectal cancer.

The microbiota is also a key factor in driving Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the two most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is known to promote colon tumorigenesis and gave rise to the term "colitis-associated cancer." Low-grade inflammation, a condition more prevalent than IBD, was shown to be associated with altered gut microbiota composition and metabolic disease and is observed in many cases of colorectal cancer. These recent findings suggest dietary emulsifiers might be partially responsible for this association.

"The incidence of colorectal cancer has been markedly increasing since the mid-20th century," said Viennois, assistant professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences. "A key feature of this disease is the presence of an altered intestinal microbiota that creates a favorable niche for tumorigenesis."

"The dramatic increase in these diseases has occurred amidst constant human genetics, suggesting a pivotal role for an environmental factor," said Chassaing, assistant professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences.

Previous reports by the Georgia State research team suggested that low-grade inflammation in the intestine is promoted by consumption of dietary emulsifiers, which are detergent-like molecules incorporated into most processed foods that alter the composition of gut microbiota. The addition of emulsifiers to food seems to fit the time frame and had been shown to promote bacterial translocation across epithelial cells. Viennois and Chassaing hypothesized that emulsifiers might affect the gut microbiota in a way that promotes colorectal cancer. They designed experiments in mice to test this possibility.

•••••

The addition of emulsifiers to food seems to fit the time frame and had been shown to promote bacterial translocation across epithelial cells. Viennois and Chassaing hypothesized that emulsifiers might affect the gut microbiota in a way that promotes colorectal cancer. They designed experiments in mice to test this possibility.

In this study, the team fed mice with two very commonly used emulsifiers, polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose, at doses seeking to model the broad consumption of the numerous emulsifiers that are incorporated into the majority of processed foods. Researchers observed that consuming emulsifiers drastically changed the species composition of the gut microbiota in a manner that made it more pro-inflammatory, creating a niche favoring cancer induction and development.

•••••

This study demonstrated that emulsifier-induced alterations in the microbiome were necessary and sufficient to drive alterations in intestinal epithelial cells' homeostasis, which is thought to govern tumor development. The effects of consuming emulsifiers were eliminated in mice devoid of microbiota (germ-free mice), and transplanting microbiota from emulsifier-treated mice to germ-free mice was sufficient to transfer alterations in intestinal epithelial cells' homeostasis, suggesting a central role played by the microbiota in tumor development.

Overall, these findings support the concept that agitating host-microbiota interactions to cause low-grade gut inflammation can promote colon carcinogenesis. The team is now investigating which microbiota members are triggering this detrimental effect, as well as the mechanism of altered microbiota-induced cancer promotion.

Low vitamin D levels linked to increased risk of bladder cancer

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uow-lvd110316.php

Public Release: 7-Nov-2016
Low vitamin D levels linked to increased risk of bladder cancer
University of Warwick

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of developing bladder cancer, according to a systematic review of seven studies presented today at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Brighton. Though further clinical studies are needed to confirm the findings, the study adds to a growing body of evidence on the importance of maintaining adequate vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D, which is produced by the body through exposure to sunshine, helps the body control calcium and phosphate levels. Vitamin D can also be obtained from food sources such as fatty fish and egg yolks. Previous studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with a host of health problems including cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, autoimmune conditions, and cancer.

In countries with low levels of sunlight, it is difficult to obtain enough vitamin D from food alone. In the UK, 1 in 5 adults are vitamin D deficient and 3 in 5 have low levels. This is especially prevalent in people with darker skin: in winter, 75% of dark-skinned people in the UK are vitamin D deficient.

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Increasing cost of natural hazards as climate changes

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uoa-ico110716.php

Public Release: 7-Nov-2016
Increasing cost of natural hazards as climate changes
University of Adelaide

A new comprehensive study of Australian natural hazards paints a picture of increasing heatwaves and extreme bushfires as this century progresses, but with much more uncertainty about the future of storms and rainfall.

Published today (Tuesday 8 November) in a special issue of the international journal Climatic Change, the study documents the historical record and projected change of seven natural hazards in Australia: flood; storms (including wind and hail); coastal extremes; drought; heatwave; bushfire; and frost.

"Temperature-related hazards, particularly heatwaves and bushfires, are increasing, and projections show a high level of agreement that we will continue to see these hazards become more extreme into the 21st century," says special issue editor Associate Professor Seth Westra, Head of the Intelligent Water Decisions group at the University of Adelaide.

"Other hazards, particularly those related to storms and rainfall, are more ambiguous. Cyclones are projected to occur less frequently but when they do occur they may well be more intense. In terms of rainfall-induced floods we have conflicting lines of evidence with some analyses pointing to an increase into the future and others pointing to a decrease.

"One thing that became very clear is how much all these hazards are interconnected. For example drought leads to drying out of the land surface, which in turn can lead to increased risk of heat waves and bushfires, while also potentially leading to a decreased risk of flooding."

The importance of interlinkages between climate extremes was also noted in the coastal extremes paper: "On the open coast, rising sea levels are increasing the flooding and erosion of storm-induced high waves and storm surges," says CSIRO's Dr Kathleen McInnes, the lead author of the coastal extremes paper. "However, in estuaries where considerable infrastructure resides, rainfall runoff adds to the complexity of extremes."

•••••

tags: extreme weather

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Review suggests eating oats can lower cholesterol as measured by a variety of markers

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/smh-rse100616.php

Public Release: 7-Oct-2016
Review suggests eating oats can lower cholesterol as measured by a variety of markers
Oats appear to impact non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B
St. Michael's Hospital

Researchers have known for more than 50 years that eating oats can lower cholesterol levels and thus reduce a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Studies during that time have focused on the impact of oats on levels of LDL (or "lousy") cholesterol, which collects in the walls of blood vessels where it can cause blockages or blood clots.

But there is growing evidence that two other markers provide an even more accurate assessment of cardiovascular risk -- non-HDL cholesterol (total cholesterol minus the "H" or "healthy cholesterol") and apolipoprotein B, or apoB, a lipoprotein that carries bad cholesterol through the blood. This is especially true for people with metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes, since they typically do not have elevated LDL cholesterol levels.

A new systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials has concluded that eating oat fibre can reduce all three markers.

•••••

r. Vuksan said oats are a rich source of beta-glucan, a viscous soluble fibre, which seems to be responsible for the beneficial effects. The first study of its kind, published in 1963, found that substituting white bread with oat bread containing 140g of rolled oats lowered LDL cholesterol.

•••••

"Diets enriched with about 3.5 grams a day of beta-glucan fiber from oats were found to modestly improve LDL cholesterol, but also non-HDC and apoB compared to control diets," Dr. Vuksan said.

The review found that overall, LDL cholesterol was reduced by 4.2 per cent, non-HDL cholesterol by 4.8 per cent and apoB by 2.3 per cent.

Dr. Vuksan said it could be difficult for people to consume the recommended amount of oat fiber by eating oat meal alone so he recommends people increase their consumption of oat bran. For example, one cup of cooked oat bran (88 calories) contains the same quantity of beta-glucan as double the amount of cooked oat meal (166 calories). Oat bran can also be eaten as a cereal, used in some baked goods (although since it is low in gluten, the texture may be tough) or sprinkled on other foods.

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Study challenges idea of mandatory water intake

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/mu-sci100716.php

Public Release: 7-Oct-2016
Study challenges idea of mandatory water intake
Monash University

A multi-institute study led by Monash University has revealed for the first time the mechanism that regulates fluid intake in the human body and stops us from over-drinking, which can cause potentially fatal water intoxication. The study challenges the popular idea that we should drink eight glasses of water a day for health.

The study showed that a 'swallowing inhibition' is activated by the brain after excess liquid is consumed, helping maintain tightly calibrated volumes of water in the body.

•••••

"If we just do what our body demands us to we'll probably get it right - just drink according to thirst rather than an elaborate schedule," Associate Professor Farrell said.

•••••

Building on a previous study, the researchers asked participants to rate the amount of effort required to swallow water under two conditions; following exercise when they were thirsty and later after they were persuaded to drink an excess amount of water.

The results showed a three-fold increase in effort after over-drinking.

"Here for the first time we found effort-full swallowing after drinking excess water which meant they were having to overcome some sort of resistance," Associate Professor Farrell said.

"This was compatible with our notion that the swallowing reflex becomes inhibited once enough water has been drunk."

•••••

"There have been cases when athletes in marathons were told to load up with water and died, in certain circumstances, because they slavishly followed these recommendations and drank far in excess of need," he said.

Drinking too much water in the body puts it in danger of water intoxication or hyponatremia, when vital levels of sodium in the blood become abnormally low potentially causing symptoms ranging from lethargy and nausea to convulsions and coma.

Associate Professor Farrell said elderly people, however, often didn't drink enough and should watch their intake of fluids.

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Fewer indications of ADHD in children whose mothers took vitamin D during pregnancy

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uosd-fio100716.php

Public Release: 7-Oct-2016
Fewer indications of ADHD in children whose mothers took vitamin D during pregnancy
Children of mothers who took vitamin D during pregnancy with resultant high levels of the vitamin in the umbilical blood have fewer symptoms of ADHD at the age of 2.5 years
University of Southern Denmark Faculty of Health Sciences

Children of mothers who took vitamin D during pregnancy with resultant high levels of the vitamin in the umbilical blood have fewer symptoms of ADHD at the age of 2½ years.

These were the findings in a new study from the Odense Child Cohort just published in The Australia & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

- "And for every 10 nmol/L increase in the vitamin D concentration in umbilical blood, the risk of a being among the 10% highest score on the ADHD symptom scale fell by 11%," explains one of the study's initiators, Professor Niels Bilenberg.

•••••

- "And the trend was clear: those mothers who had taken vitamin D, and had a vitamin D level (25OHD) in their umbilical blood over 25 nmol/L, had children with lower ADHD scores," continues Bilenberg. "This was after we had corrected for other factors that could explain the link, such as the mother's age, smoking, alcohol, obesity, education, number of children, psychiatric disease in the parents, child's sex, age and seasonal variation."

•••••

The study offers no explanation as to how vitamin D can protect against ADHD, but other studies have shown that vitamin D plays an important role in the early development of the brain.

"We had an idea about it," says Aaby, "but we cannot say with certainty that vitamin D protects against early symptoms of ADHD. Our study only indicates that there is a link that we cannot explain in any other way."

Hospital rankings may rely on faulty data

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/rumc-scr100616.php

Public Release: 6-Oct-2016
Study: Hospital rankings may rely on faulty data
Greater transparency and validation needed
Rush University Medical Center

The October 2016 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, features the article "Consumer Rankings and Health Care: Toward Validation and Transparency" by Bala Hota, MD, MPH, and co-authors, Rush University Medical Center (RUMC), Chicago. After RUMC received a lower than expected ranking for patient safety in the 2015-16 U.S. News & World Report's (USNWR) "Best Hospitals" rankings, the authors compared the data that USNWR used for their hospital to their own internal data.

The authors found that the USNWR data showed many more patient safety events, such as pressure ulcers, almost all of which had actually been present at the patient's admission. Suspecting a broader problem, Hota et al. analyzed data on a sample of hospitals and found that RUMC was not the only organization with discrepancies in data. False-positive event rates were common among high-transfer and high-volume hospitals.
[So some were being blamed for things that were not their fault.]
•••••

In an accompanying editorial, "The Quality Measurement Crisis: An Urgent Need for Methodological Standards and Transparency," David M. Shahian, MD, Elizabeth Mort, MD, MPH, and Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, reflect on the Hota et al. article to conclude, "Just as health care providers have ethical and moral responsibilities to the public they serve, rating organizations and journalists that grade providers have similar obligations--in their case, to ensure measure validity and methodological transparency."

•••••

Rating hospital quality is not as simple as rating the quality of a car, though. One reason is that patients vary in terms of how sick they are when they arrive at the hospital or undergo surgery. Older patients with multiple health problems or advanced diseases are more likely to develop an infection or complication than younger, healthier patients -- even though they receive the same quality of care.

The best hospital rating systems try to account for severity of illness. However, a Rush data expert's recent analysis of U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" rankings shows that these rating systems often are dependent on faulty data sets and performance metrics.

•••••

"When we compared the data that U.S. News used for our hospital to our own internal data, we found big differences," says Hota, Rush's chief research informatics officer. "U.S. News showed many more patient safety events than our actual rates."

For example, U.S. News data showed that 25 patients at Rush had developed pressure ulcers, or bed sores, over a particular time period. In fact, only one patient had developed a pressure ulcer while at Rush.

•••••

"When we compared the data that U.S. News used for our hospital to our own internal data, we found big differences," says Hota, Rush's chief research informatics officer. "U.S. News showed many more patient safety events than our actual rates."

For example, U.S. News data showed that 25 patients at Rush had developed pressure ulcers, or bed sores, over a particular time period. In fact, only one patient had developed a pressure ulcer while at Rush.

•••••

Beer eases final moments for euthanized invertebrates, study finds

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/scoe-bef100616.php

Public Release: 6-Oct-2016
Beer eases final moments for euthanized invertebrates, study finds
Graduate student seeks out humane method for ending lives of research subjects
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Debates about humane treatment of animals are commonplace when the species in question is a charismatic mammal such as a panda or a familiar, furry house pet. But what about invertebrates?

It turns out a beer can make a difference.

A scientist at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) recently sought out the most humane way to end the lives of the tiny snails she is raising in a laboratory here.

The answer: A dip in a few ounces of beer or a 5 percent ethyl alcohol solution, as the first step in a two-step process, sedates and immobilizes the snails. Then they don't exhibit signs of physical distress during the final step -- a terminal dunk in 95 percent ethyl alcohol.

The process is much like that used with domestic animals, when a veterinarian sedates a dog or cat before administering a final dose of a euthanasia drug.

"There are already strict protocols established for research with certain animals. You have to be sure they are not in pain and that they are treated humanely," said Cody Gilbertson, a graduate student at ESF, whose master's research (funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative) focuses on an endangered population of Chittenango ovate amber snails. "There's not much out there regarding the treatment of invertebrates.

"We looked at how to humanely euthanize invertebrates, especially land snails, as well as preserve tissue for research," she said. "We wanted to see if there was a way to minimize suffering and minimize the tissue damage that occurs when you put them straight into 95 percent ethyl alcohol. We aren't yet certain what pain these animals experience, but veterinarians can look for changes in tissue structure to better understand how the snails are reacting."

•••••

"Our finding that beer, a globally available beverage, so effectively anesthetizes snails offers a new technique promoting good welfare for invertebrate research subjects everywhere," Wyatt said. "This is especially true for our population health studies of free-ranging endangered snails in remote locations from Tahiti to Chittenango Falls."

•••••

Traditional euthanization involves a lethal dose of ethyl alcohol (also called ethanol). Gilbertson said when the snails, which are less than an inch long, are dropped into a 95 percent solution, they show signs of physical stress: they quickly retract their tentacles, expel mucus and defecate. They retract deeply into their shells, making their tissue more difficult for researchers to access.

A preliminary dip in beer, however, specifically Pabst Blue Ribbon with its 4.74 percent alcohol content, or a five percent ethyl alcohol solution, gradually immobilizes the snails and makes them unresponsive to stimuli such as a needle scrape or prick. Left alone, they are back to normal in about an hour. But if, in that anesthetized state, they are dropped into 95 percent ethyl alcohol, they die quickly without reacting.

Gilbertson said she used beer in the research because it's inexpensive and available nearly everywhere.

Although unheralded in pop culture, snails perform essential ecosystem functions and are frequently involved in research projects. They are found in a range of environments -- dry, wet, tropical and temperate. They are a food source for many species and terrestrial snails provide other animals with a good source of calcium. They are part of the nutrient cycle, breaking down leaf litter into soil.

"Land snails can be indicator species," Gilbertson said. "If you are monitoring a native population and they start to decline, you know something might be degrading the habitat, which could influence other species' decline. Snails are like canaries in a coal mine."

Emergency situations amplify individual tendencies to behave egoistically or prosocially

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/m-tho100516.php

Public Release: 5-Oct-2016
To help or not to help?
Emergency situations amplify individual tendencies to behave egoistically or prosocially
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

In emergency situations do people think solely of themselves? In a study published in Nature Scientific Reports, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have shown that readiness to help depends heavily on personality. The results show that most people would help others in emergency situations, some of them even more so than in harmless everyday situations.

It is said that people show their true colours in times of adversity. In a recently published study, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have found that extreme conditions bring out the good in people as well as the bad. In their experiments, prosocial and altruistic people in particular often helped others even more in an emergency situation than in a relaxed and non-threatening situation, whereas selfish participants became less cooperative. "Emergency situations seem to amplify people's natural tendency to cooperate," says Mehdi Moussaïd, researcher in the Center for Adaptive Rationality at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

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Smoking bans persuade light users to give up the habit

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/osu-sbp100516.php

Public Release: 5-Oct-2016
Smoking bans persuade light users to give up the habit
New study provides best evidence to date of value of bans
Ohio State University

A new national study shows for the first time how smoking bans in cities, states and counties led young people living in those areas to give up, or never take up, the use of cigarettes.

In particular, the study found that young males who were light smokers before a smoking ban was instituted in their area were more likely to give up cigarettes after a ban went into effect. Smokers who lived in areas where there was never a ban weren't likely to drop their cigarette habit.

Smoking bans did not seem to affect tobacco use among women, although their use was already below that of men.

•••••

Results showed that the probability of a young man smoking in the last 30 days was 19 percent for those living in an area without a ban, but only 13 percent for those who live in an area with a ban.

For women, the probability was the same (11 percent) regardless of where they lived.

•••••

Smoking bans didn't work to reduce or end smoking for those who smoked more than a pack a day when the bans began, he said. What they did do was prevent light smokers from becoming heavy smokers.

"We found that locations that have had a smoking ban for longer periods of time have fewer youth, regardless of gender, who are heavy smokers than other areas," he said.

These results accounted for the effects of other tobacco control policies such as taxes, as well as characteristics of the individuals and where they live, said co-author Brian Kelly, professor of sociology at Purdue University and director of Purdue's Center for Research on Young People's Health.

•••••

It is possible that men in the study were more likely to frequent bars, so they encountered smoking restrictions more often than women, Vuolo said. That may have led more men to give up smoking.

In any case, bans appear to convince social smokers to give up the habit.

"There's a lot of evidence that casual, social smokers are influenced by their environment. If they can't smoke inside with their friends at a restaurant or bar, they may choose not to smoke at all," Vuolo said.

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Why are Kansas and Texas doing so badly, and California so well?

http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/syndicated-columnists/article116731403.html

by Robert Reich
Nov. 26, 2016

California is now the capital of liberal America. Along with its neighbors Oregon and Washington, it will be a nation within a nation starting in January, when the federal government goes dark.

In contrast to much of the rest of the nation, Californians preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. That came to about 3 million votes. Californians also returned large Democratic majorities to the state legislature to work with a Democratic governor, and they sent a Democrat, Kamala Harris — part black, part Asian —to the U.S. Senate.

Californians also voted to extend a state tax surcharge on the wealthy and to adopt local housing and transportation measures, along with a slew of local tax increases and bond proposals.

In other words, California is the opposite of Trumpland.

The differences go deeper. For years, conservatives have been saying that a healthy economy depends on low taxes, few regulations and low wages.

At the one end of the scale are Kansas and Texas, with among the nation’s lowest taxes, fewest regulations and lowest wages.

At the other end is California, with among the nation’s highest taxes, especially on the wealthy; toughest regulations, particularly when it comes to the environment; most ambitious health care system, which insures more than 12 million poor Californians, in partnership with Medicaid; and high wages.

So, according to conservative doctrine, Kansas and Texas ought to be booming, and California ought to be in the pits.

Actually, it’s just the opposite.

For several years now, the rate of economic growth in Kansas has been the worst in the nation. Last year its economy actually shrank.

Texas hasn’t been doing all that much better. Its rate of job growth has been below the national average. The value of Texas exports has been dropping.

But what about so-called over-taxed, over-regulated, high-wage California?

California leads the nation in the rate of economic growth — more than twice the national average. If it were a separate nation, it would now be the sixth-largest economy in the world. Its population has surged to 39 million (up 5 percent since 2010).

California is home to the nation’s fastest-growing and most innovative industries — entertainment and high-tech. It incubates more startups than anywhere else in the world.

In other words, conservatives have it exactly backward.

Why are Kansas and Texas doing so badly, and California so well?

For one thing, taxes enable states to invest their people.

•••••

California’s regulations protect the public health and the state’s natural beauty, which also draws people to the state — including talented people who could settle anywhere.

Wages are high in California because the economy is growing so fast that employers have to pay more to attract workers. That’s not a bad thing. After all, the goal isn’t just growth. It’s a high standard of living.

•••••

California is far from perfect. A housing shortage has driven rents and home prices into the stratosphere. Roads are clogged. Its public schools used to be the best in the nation but are now among the worst — largely because of a proposition approved by voters in 1978 that’s strangled local school financing. Much more needs to be done.

But overall, the contrast is clear. Economic success depends on tax revenues that go into public investments, and on regulations that protect the environment and public health. And true economic success results in high wages.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/syndicated-columnists/article116731403.html#storylink=cpy

•••••

Certain healthy habits may shorten the time older adults spend disabled at end of life

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/ags-chh100516.php

Public Release: 5-Oct-2016
Certain healthy habits may shorten the time older adults spend disabled at end of life
American Geriatrics Society

It comes as no surprise that people tend to enjoy a better quality of life when they're able to perform daily activities (eating, dressing, toileting, getting up from a bed or chair, bathing, and walking around the house, for example) without assistance. Recently, researchers studied whether or not having a healthy lifestyle later in life could shorten the period of time before death that older adults spend living with disabilities that limit their independence. Their findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The research team studied information from 5,888 people 65-years-old and older who were enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

•••••

The researchers learned important new information from their study. They reported that several factors seemed to be associated with a longer period of disability before death among older adults. These activities included:

Smoking
Being inactive (Those who walked more city blocks per week experienced fewer years of disability than non-walkers. Each additional 25 blocks people walked slightly lengthened their able-bodied years.)
Eating an unhealthy diet
Being underweight or obese

Healthy lifestyle habits can potentially shorten the period of time older adults spend being less independent and more disabled before their death, said the researchers.

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Volunteering may have benefits for memory among older adults

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/ags-vmh100516.php

Public Release: 5-Oct-2016
Volunteering may have benefits for memory among older adults
American Geriatrics Society

A new research study has shown that volunteering regularly over time may have benefits for older adults. The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Older adult volunteers can help address many community needs. This study shows that older adults who volunteer, for example, enjoy better emotional and physical health, and even tend to live longer than non-volunteers do. And there is a huge economic upside to volunteering: the volunteer work that older adults perform generates some $162 billion dollars toward the U.S. economy every year.

•••••

After analyzing the information gathered over the 14-year period, the researchers reported that older adults who volunteered--even at a single point in time--showed a decreased risk for developing cognitive problems, even if they had other risk factors for cognitive impairment, such as smoking or being inactive.

People who volunteered regularly reduced their chances for developing cognitive problems by 27 percent.

•••••

New research calls into question merits of ice baths for athlete recovery

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/tps-nrc100316.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
New research calls into question merits of ice baths for athlete recovery
Ice baths do not significantly reduce post-exercise inflammation in muscles
The Physiological Society

Sports stars from Andy Murray to Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill rely on ice baths after competing - however new research suggests they should re-think their recovery plan. Researchers looking at post-exercise inflammation in skeletal muscle have found new evidence that challenges the merits of ice baths.

Contrary to popular belief, the researchers found that cold water immersion does not significantly reduce inflammation in muscles after resistance exercise. This is according to a study by Dr. Jonathan Peake and colleagues published in The Journal of Physiology.

Cold water immersion reduces muscle temperature and blood flow, and this was thought to enhance repair of muscles damaged by exercise, by reducing inflammation. However, there had not been any data--at least in humans-- to back this up, and Dr Peake's new research has called this benefit into question.

Commenting on this new research, Dr Jonathan Peake said: "As cold water immersion may not be the most effective strategy, athletes across various sports will need to re-think their strategies to minimize inflammation in the muscle."

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Even with charity or cash incentives, activity trackers do not appear to improve health

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/tl-tld100316.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology: Even with charity or cash incentives, activity trackers do not appear to improve health
The Lancet

Cash incentives helped increase exercise levels at 6 months, but not enough to benefit health, and 90% of participants stopped using the devices once incentives stopped

Regularly using an activity tracker (or pedometer) that monitors and provides feedback on physical activity does not increase activity levels enough to benefit health, even with the incentive of a financial reward, according to a randomised trial involving 800 full-time workers, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

"Over the course of the year-long study, volunteers who wore the activity trackers recorded no change in their step count but moderately increased their amount of aerobic activity by an average of 16 minutes per week. However, we found no evidence that the device promoted weight loss or improved blood pressure or cardiorespiratory fitness, either with or without financial incentives", explains lead author Professor Eric Finkelstein from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. "While there was some progress early on, once the incentives were stopped, volunteers did worse than if the incentives had never been offered, and most stopped wearing the trackers."

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'Goldilocks fires' can enhance biodiversity in Western forests

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uoc-fc100316.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
'Goldilocks fires' can enhance biodiversity in Western forests
University of Connecticut

Forest fires were long thought to have a negative impact on the environment and on biodiversity, but in recent decades the importance of fire in sustaining and even enhancing natural systems has been demonstrated by researchers and increasingly embraced by land managers.

Now, a team of scientists has shown that mixed-severity fires - those that are on the whole not too hot, not too cold, but just right - can lead to increased biodiversity of birds in California forests over time.

Fires in the U.S. are on average getting bigger and more severe - and are expected to continue to do so under future scenarios of climate change. The researchers suggest that forest managers should prioritize managing forests so that they are more likely to burn at a mixture of intensities: as the study's lead author Morgan Tingley puts it, "Goldilocks fires," or those that have large patches of both heavily-burned and lightly-burned forest.

"Due to climate change and a buildup of fuels from historical fire suppression, fires appear to be increasingly burning large swaths of forest at high severity, and that's not good for biodiversity," says Tingley, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut.

"Mixed-severity fire is more likely to occur when forests with a natural level of structural diversity burn, resulting in a mosaic of patches of different burn severities. To promote biodiversity, forests with a diversity of structures and ages should be a goal of management practices."

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Large animals, such as the imperious African elephant, most vulnerable to impact of human expansion

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uoe-las100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Large animals, such as the imperious African elephant, most vulnerable to impact of human expansion
University of Exeter

Some of the most iconic giants of the animal kingdom, such as the imperious African elephant, are most vulnerable to the detrimental impact of human expansion, new research has shown.

A team of scientists, led by Lewis Bartlett from the University of Exeter, have studied the alarming extent changes to the natural environment - through activities such as farming, expansion and climate change - have on the local ecosystem.

In particular, the team studied the influence that habitat loss and fragmentation - where once great swathes of land are broken into smaller, isolated patches - can have on native wildlife.

They discovered that larger animals, such as the the elephant, are more vulnerable to changes to their natural surroundings - and so be most exposed to the threat of extinction.

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Simpler strategies to promote physical activity as good as social media feedback

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/ps-sst100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Simpler strategies to promote physical activity as good as social media feedback
Penn State

Providing physically inactive adults access to online social networking about walking as well as personalized feedback did not add more benefit than just providing emailed tips, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The results suggest that despite enthusiasm for the potential of online networking sites to change behavior, using these sites and added feedback may not further increase adults' physical activity beyond simpler strategies such as informational tips.

"Given prior research showing that physical activity is influenced by physically active role models, we may need to find ways to expose people to these role models that do not require participants to engage in the time-consuming online or in-person interactions that have been part of this study, and numerous other prior studies," said Liza Rovniak, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences. "More needs to be learned about how to address barriers to online social media participation."

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We’re treating soil like dirt. It’s a fatal mistake, as our lives depend on it

Not just farmers. People rake up leaves and throw them away. Companies do mountaintop removal.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/25/treating-soil-like-dirt-fatal-mistake-human-life?CMP=share_btn_fb

George Monbiot
March 25, 2015

Imagine a wonderful world, a planet on which there was no threat of climate breakdown, no loss of freshwater, no antibiotic resistance, no obesity crisis, no terrorism, no war. Surely, then, we would be out of major danger? Sorry. Even if everything else were miraculously fixed, we’re finished if we don’t address an issue considered so marginal and irrelevant that you can go for months without seeing it in a newspaper.

It’s literally and – it seems – metaphorically, beneath us. To judge by its absence from the media, most journalists consider it unworthy of consideration. But all human life depends on it. We knew this long ago, but somehow it has been forgotten. As a Sanskrit text written in about 1500BC noted: “Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.”

The issue hasn’t changed, but we have. Landowners around the world are now engaged in an orgy of soil destruction so intense that, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, the world on average has just 60 more years of growing crops. Even in Britain, which is spared the tropical downpours that so quickly strip exposed soil from the land, Farmers Weekly reports, we have “only 100 harvests left”.

To keep up with global food demand, the UN estimates, 6m hectares (14.8m acres) of new farmland will be needed every year. Instead, 12m hectares a year are lost through soil degradation. We wreck it, then move on, trashing rainforests and other precious habitats as we go. Soil is an almost magical substance, a living system that transforms the materials it encounters, making them available to plants. That handful the Vedic master showed his disciples contains more micro-organisms than all the people who have ever lived on Earth. Yet we treat it like, well, dirt.

The techniques that were supposed to feed the world threaten us with starvation. A paper just published in the journal Anthropocene analyses the undisturbed sediments in an 11th-century French lake. It reveals that the intensification of farming over the past century has increased the rate of soil erosion sixtyfold.

Another paper, by researchers in the UK, shows that soil in allotments – the small patches in towns and cities that people cultivate by hand – contains a third more organic carbon than agricultural soil and 25% more nitrogen. This is one of the reasons why allotment holders produce between four and 11 times more food per hectare than do farmers.

Whenever I mention this issue, people ask: “But surely farmers have an interest in looking after their soil?” They do, and there are many excellent cultivators who seek to keep their soil on the land. There are also some terrible farmers, often absentees, who allow contractors to rip their fields to shreds for the sake of a quick profit. Even the good ones are hampered by an economic and political system that could scarcely be better designed to frustrate them.

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Starting drinking alcohol during puberty is associated with future psychological disorders

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/ucdm-sda100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Starting drinking alcohol during puberty is associated with future psychological disorders
Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Alcohol consumption onset between eleven and thirteen years old is associated with an increased risk of psychological disorders in the future, according to a study conducted by the Complutense University of Madrid. The most common symptoms of more than 3.000 adolescents who participated in the research were bodily discomfort, hostility and aggression.

A study with 3.696 university students of 18 years old conducted by scientists at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Santiago de Compostela and founded by the National Drug Plan (Spain) reveals that starting drinking alcohol at an early age is associated with an increase of psychopathological symptoms, i.e. certain possibility of suffering from a psychological disorder in the future.

"The presence of these signs does not necessarily mean the existence of clinical disorders, but it can be interpreted as a susceptibility to suffer them", said Luis Miguel García Moreno, researcher at the Department of Psychobiology at the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM) and co-author of the study published in Psicothema.

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The study reveals that starting drinking between eleven and thirteen increases the risk of experiencing symptoms of discomfort compared to those whose consumption onset was at sixteen. The most common symptom recorded by those adolescents was somatization which involves experiencing feelings of bodily discomfort, especially with muscle aches, respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders.

Other common symptoms were hostility and aggression, leading to a greater propensity to expressing ideas or violent behavior towards others or themselves.

Gender differences

Regarding gender differences, "women showed signs of anxiety and depression, while men showed a certain degree of psychoticism", said García Moreno. Overall, women recorded higher values of indicators which, according to the psychologist, may point out a greater vulnerability of adolescent women to alcohol effects.

The authors indicate that a cause-effect relationship between alcohol consumption and the symptoms found cannot be established because of the cross-sectional nature of the study. "We can only be sure that there is a relationship and we cannot say what happens first: if the consumption produces these symptoms or if certain symptoms predispose to alcohol consumption", recalled García Moreno.

At present, the research team is working on more personalized ways of preventing alcohol intake, depending on the personal characteristics of each adolescent. To do this, they are trying to figure out what drives them to alcohol binge drinking.

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tags: drug use, drug abuse

Saturday, November 26, 2016

The psychology behind climate change denial

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uu-tpb100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
The psychology behind climate change denial
Uppsala University

Climate change is a serious threat to humans, animals, and the earth's ecosystems. Nevertheless, effective climate action has been delayed, partly because some still deny that there is a problem. In a new thesis in psychology, Kirsti Jylhä at Uppsala University has studied the psychology behind climate change denial. The results show that individuals who accept hierarchical power structures tend to a larger extent deny the problem.

In the scientific community there is a strong consensus that humans have significantly affected the climate and that we are facing serious challenges. But there is a lot of misinformation about climate change in circulation, which to a large part is created and distributed by organised campaigns with the aim of postponing measures that could combat climate change. And there are people who are more prone than others to trust this misinformation.

Previous research has consistently shown that it is more common among politically conservative individuals to deny climate change. In her thesis, Kirsti Jylhä has investigated this further and in more detail. Her studies included ideological and personality variables which correlate with political ideology, and tested if those variables also correlate with climate change denial.

The results show that climate change denial correlates with political orientation, authoritarian attitudes and endorsement of the status quo. It also correlates with a tough-minded personality (low empathy and high dominance), closed-mindedness (low openness to experience), predisposition to avoid experiencing negative emotions, and with the male sex. Importantly, one variable, named social dominance orientation (SDO), helped explain all these correlations, either entirely or partially.

Social dominance orientation is a measure of the acceptance and advocating of hierarchical and dominant relations between social groups. This acceptance of hierarchies also extends to accepting human dominance over nature. The correlation between SDO and climate change denial can perhaps be explained by considering the many injustices of climate change. Our current wealthy lifestyles are the primary cause of climate change, but the most serious consequences are affecting mainly poor countries and people, as well as animals and future generations of humans.

According to Kirsti Jylhä, it is possible that individuals who accept the unequal distribution of the risks and benefits of climate change, more easily can keep demanding more evidence for climate change before admitting and addressing it.

The question then is how the issue of climate change can best be presented to people with a high SDO to convince them of the need for action.

"The arguments used in the climate debate often revolve around giving up conveniences in life to help the environment or the poor or weak. But that is maybe not a convincing argument to someone who sees the world from a hierarchical viewpoint. It would perhaps be better to talk in other terms and describe how everyone will benefit from the measures instead of being affected by the consequences and that the measures don't have to be a threat to the current societal structure", says Kirsti Jylhä.

Potatoes and biochar are not friends

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/au-pab100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Potatoes and biochar are not friends
Adding biochar to soil can reduce yield in potatoes -- particularly if the soil is deficient in phosphorous and water
Aarhus University

Studies have shown that adding biochar to soil can improve soil fertility, increase nutrient utilisation in plants, improve soil water-holding capacity, increase crop yield and reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

However, if you are a potato farmer, your joy may be short-lived. Biochar and potatoes do not go very well together - at least not if you are aiming at saving water, according to results from Aarhus University.

During her PhD studies, Caixia Liu from the Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, investigated the effect of adding biochar produced from wood on potato growth, yield, nutrient uptake and water utilisation when three other factors were also taken into consideration: irrigation methods, phosphorous fertilization and inoculation with a certain class of beneficial fungi. The aim was to investigate the interactions between biochar and the fungi on the growth of potatoes.

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Potatoes should not bake in the potato field

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/au-psn100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Potatoes should not bake in the potato field
If you are a potato plant then a sweltering summer can be too much of a good thing; new studies show a clear correlation between increasing temperature and decreasing yield
Aarhus University

If you are a potato plant then a sweltering summer can be too much of a good thing. New studies show a clear correlation between increasing temperature and decreasing yield.

It might be true that climate change can heat up the Danish summer and transform Denmark into the tourist paradise of the future. However, if you prefer a steady supply of Danish-grown potatoes on your dinner table, you should be asking for cool summers.

Warming of the Danish summer weather is not exactly good news for potato farmers. New studies indicate that the optimal temperature in the potato growing season is around 15° C [59F] and that for each 1° C [1.8F] increase in temperature the dry matter yield falls by 10 percent. Temperature is even more important than the level of nitrogen fertilisation.

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Problem-solving spreads both socially and culturally in bumblebees

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/p-psb100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Problem-solving spreads both socially and culturally in bumblebees
Watching each other helps these social insects learn to pull strings for a sugar water reward
PLOS

String pulling is a popular problem-solving task for investigating cognitive abilities in vertebrates, but has never been tested in insects. Now, a social insect has joined the club, according to a study publishing October 4, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Lars Chittka from Queen Mary University of London, UK, and colleagues. The researchers found that bumblebees can figure out how to pull a string to get a sugar water reward, that watching this helps other bees learn to do it too, and that this new skill continues to spread through a colony even after the original string-puller is gone.

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Rising ocean temperatures impacting human health, new report finds

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uota-ro100416.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Rising ocean temperatures impacting human health, new report finds
University of Texas at Austin

Rising sea surface temperatures are causing marine-related tropical diseases and harmful algal blooms to spread towards the poles, a shift that is impacting human health, according to a chapter from a new report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) authored by professors from The University of Texas at Austin and Plymouth University.

The report, Explaining Ocean Warming: causes, scale, effects and consequences, was compiled for IUCN by 80 scientists in 12 countries and draws on several decades of scientific research from across the spectrum of marine science.

The chapter on "Impacts and effects of ocean warming on human health" highlights the spread of Vibrio vulnifucus, an often lethal disease-causing bacteria.

The bacteria and disease it causes have historically been a problem in warm waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, where 89 percent of human contraction has come from eating infected oysters. But the disease, which kills between one-third and one-half of those who end up in hospital, has been spreading. In recent years, outbreaks of related Vibrio bacteria have occurred in the Baltic Sea and in Alaska, 1,000 kilometers further north than previously recorded.

Harmful algal blooms, which can contaminate seafood with dangerous toxins that cause diseases such as ciguatera, are also spreading. Ciguatera causes severe, sometimes lethal, gastric and neurological damage.

"In just a few years we have moved from a place where we knew this was hypothetically possible, to actual recorded cases of transmission to humans through interaction with a warming marine environment," said co-author Camille Parmesan, an adjunct professor and a senior research fellow at the UT Ausin's Jackson School of Geosciences and a professor at Plymouth University.

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