http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100603172213.htm
ScienceDaily (June 4, 2010) — Moving to a new town or even a new neighborhood is stressful at any age, but a new study shows that frequent relocations in childhood are related to poorer well-being in adulthood, especially among people who are more introverted or neurotic.
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"We know that children who move frequently are more likely to perform poorly in school and have more behavioral problems," said the study's lead author, Shigehiro Oishi, PhD, of the University of Virginia. "However, the long-term effects of moving on well-being in adulthood have been overlooked by researchers."
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Among introverts, the more moves participants reported as children, the worse off they were as adults. This was in direct contrast to the findings among extraverts. "Moving a lot makes it difficult for people to maintain long-term close relationships," said Oishi. "This might not be a serious problem for outgoing people who can make friends quickly and easily. Less outgoing people have a harder time making new friends."
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The researchers also looked at mortality rates among the participants and found that people who moved often as children were more likely to die before the second wave of the study. They controlled for age, gender and race. "We can speculate that moving often creates more stress and stress has been shown to have an ill effect on people's health," Oishi said. "But we need more research on this link before we can conclude that moving often in childhood can, in fact, be dangerous to your health in the long-term."
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Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Predatory Pharma
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/04/news/companies/astrazeneca_pharmaceutical_fines.fortune/index.htm
By Ken Stier, contributorJune 4, 2010: 3:23 PM ET
FORTUNE -- The federal government is fed up with the amount of fraud, especially recurring fraud from the same companies, happening in the pharmaceutical industry. So regulators have decided that when it comes to punishments, it's time to get personal.
From now on, individual executives risk being ejected from their jobs -- and perhaps even barred from the industry -- for fraud their companies commit, even if they did not participate or even know about the crimes.
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The initiative is part of the Obama Administration's effort to slash health care fraud, estimated to cost taxpayers 3% to 10% of total sector spending -- $27 to $80 billion this year. Pharmaceutical fraud cases are usually comprised of kickbacks to doctors, overpricing, or off-label marketing, or a mix of the three.
In the government's most recent major settlement -- in which AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million -- the fine represented 16.5% of the $8.6 billion income (between 2001-2006) from U.S. sales of Seroquel, a powerful anti-psychotic. AstraZeneca (AZN) turned this narrowly approved drug into a cash cow by marketing it for much wider use, including by the elderly and children, even though they are particularly vulnerable to "serious and debilitating side effects."
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http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/06/guest-post-predatory-pharma-%E2%80%93-an-end-to-too-big-to-nail.html
One could reasonably ask why wouldn’t federal prosecutors sue and get a conviction of the corporation in court. Alas, there are rather thorny legal and practical problems involving a serial recidivist:
…when it came to prosecuting Pfizer for its fraudulent marketing, (of Bextra, Pfizer’s answer to Vioxx) the pharmaceutical giant had a trump card: Just as the giant banks on Wall Street were deemed too big to fail, Pfizer was considered too big to nail.
Why? Because any company convicted of a major health care fraud is automatically excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. Convicting Pfizer on Bextra would prevent the company from billing federal health programs for any of its products. It would be a corporate death sentence.
Prosecutors said that excluding Pfizer would most likely lead to Pfizer’s collapse, with collateral consequences: disrupting the flow of Pfizer products to Medicare and Medicaid recipients, causing the loss of jobs including those of Pfizer employees who were not involved in the fraud, and causing significant losses for Pfizer shareholders.
“We have to ask whether by excluding the company [from Medicare and Medicaid], are we harming our patients,” said Lewis Morris of the Department of Health and Human Services.
So, Pfizer and the feds cut a deal. Instead of charging Pfizer with a crime, prosecutors would charge a Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc.
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=================================================
Both articles are worth reading in their entireties.
..
By Ken Stier, contributorJune 4, 2010: 3:23 PM ET
FORTUNE -- The federal government is fed up with the amount of fraud, especially recurring fraud from the same companies, happening in the pharmaceutical industry. So regulators have decided that when it comes to punishments, it's time to get personal.
From now on, individual executives risk being ejected from their jobs -- and perhaps even barred from the industry -- for fraud their companies commit, even if they did not participate or even know about the crimes.
----- (skipping)
The initiative is part of the Obama Administration's effort to slash health care fraud, estimated to cost taxpayers 3% to 10% of total sector spending -- $27 to $80 billion this year. Pharmaceutical fraud cases are usually comprised of kickbacks to doctors, overpricing, or off-label marketing, or a mix of the three.
In the government's most recent major settlement -- in which AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million -- the fine represented 16.5% of the $8.6 billion income (between 2001-2006) from U.S. sales of Seroquel, a powerful anti-psychotic. AstraZeneca (AZN) turned this narrowly approved drug into a cash cow by marketing it for much wider use, including by the elderly and children, even though they are particularly vulnerable to "serious and debilitating side effects."
----- (skipping)
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/06/guest-post-predatory-pharma-%E2%80%93-an-end-to-too-big-to-nail.html
One could reasonably ask why wouldn’t federal prosecutors sue and get a conviction of the corporation in court. Alas, there are rather thorny legal and practical problems involving a serial recidivist:
…when it came to prosecuting Pfizer for its fraudulent marketing, (of Bextra, Pfizer’s answer to Vioxx) the pharmaceutical giant had a trump card: Just as the giant banks on Wall Street were deemed too big to fail, Pfizer was considered too big to nail.
Why? Because any company convicted of a major health care fraud is automatically excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. Convicting Pfizer on Bextra would prevent the company from billing federal health programs for any of its products. It would be a corporate death sentence.
Prosecutors said that excluding Pfizer would most likely lead to Pfizer’s collapse, with collateral consequences: disrupting the flow of Pfizer products to Medicare and Medicaid recipients, causing the loss of jobs including those of Pfizer employees who were not involved in the fraud, and causing significant losses for Pfizer shareholders.
“We have to ask whether by excluding the company [from Medicare and Medicaid], are we harming our patients,” said Lewis Morris of the Department of Health and Human Services.
So, Pfizer and the feds cut a deal. Instead of charging Pfizer with a crime, prosecutors would charge a Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc.
----- (skipping)
=================================================
Both articles are worth reading in their entireties.
..
Heart attack rates drop sharply
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37603300/ns/health-heart_health/
By Gene Emery
updated 2 hours, 12 minutes ago
BOSTON - Heart attack rates fell 24 percent in California between 2000 and 2008, probably because of better care, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first large survey since the adoption of new treatments and medicines for preventing heart attacks. It examined more than 46,000 heart attack hospitalizations.
Dr. Robert Yeh of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues said the 24 percent drop was seen even though doctors can better detect heart attacks and despite the growing rates of diabetes and obesity, both of which raise the risk of heart attack.
"We would expect an increase in heart attacks because we're picking up more heart attacks than we used to," Yeh said in a telephone interview. "We found that, despite that, they are still going down."
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By Gene Emery
updated 2 hours, 12 minutes ago
BOSTON - Heart attack rates fell 24 percent in California between 2000 and 2008, probably because of better care, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first large survey since the adoption of new treatments and medicines for preventing heart attacks. It examined more than 46,000 heart attack hospitalizations.
Dr. Robert Yeh of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues said the 24 percent drop was seen even though doctors can better detect heart attacks and despite the growing rates of diabetes and obesity, both of which raise the risk of heart attack.
"We would expect an increase in heart attacks because we're picking up more heart attacks than we used to," Yeh said in a telephone interview. "We found that, despite that, they are still going down."
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Short people at higher risk of heart problems
But short people have a lower rate of cancer.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37575194/ns/health-heart_health/
By Maria Cheng
AP Medical Writer
updated 7:01 p.m. ET, Tues., June 8, 2010
LONDON - Short people have a 50 percent higher risk of having a heart problem or dying from one, when compared to tall people, a new study says, though weight, blood pressure and smoking habits remain more important factors.
Previous studies have suggested a link between height and heart problems like angina, heart attacks and angioplasties. This is the first major review of such studies, including research from around the world, confirming the relationship.
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Experts did not consider patients' heights objectively, but within the context of a particular country's population. They found the shortest people in the population were one and a half times more likely to have heart problems or die from them than the tallest people.
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"We don't want to scare short people, but perhaps they should be extra cautious about their lifestyle," said Borge Nordestgaard, a professor of genetic epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen. He was not connected to the study.
Height's impact on heart disease was still less important than things like smoking, which increases the chance of a heart ailment by up to four times, he said.
Scientists aren't sure why short people might be more susceptible to heart problems, but think there could be several explanations. Being short might be a result of being poor, meaning people of small stature could be undernourished and vulnerable to health problems in general.
Experts also suggested there could be a biological explanation, such as a hormone imbalance that hurts the heart. Scientists also suspect that because short people have smaller arteries, those could theoretically get clogged quicker with cholesterol and be more easily damaged by any changes in blood pressure.
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Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Gulf Coast birds may be cooked alive by the oil spill
There is a video of the referenced segment at the following link.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/09/birds-cooked-oil/
By Amanda Terkel at 11:35 am
Yesterday, MSNBC did a segment with NBC reporter Kerry Sanders, who was live in East Grand Terre Island, LA, one of the places hardest hit by the BP oil spill. The area is covered with “thick, goopy oil” that is “hot because the oil absorbs the heat of the sun.” Sanders talked about the deadly mix of oil and heat for wildlife:
As you know, a bird has a natural repellent in its feathers that keeps the water out. That’s a little area — a little cushion — that keeps it cool. Well, this oil here gets on those feathers, and they lose that little insulation. And then, when you have this oil at 100+ degrees, the bird experts say, it begins to literally cook the birds.
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Sleep deprivation linked to depression in teens
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/09/sleep.deprivation.depression/index.html?hpt=Sbin
By Anne Harding, Health.com
June 9, 2010 8:20 a.m. EDT
(Health.com) -- Sleep-deprived high school students who doze off in class aren't just risking the wrath of their teachers. They're also three times more likely to be depressed than their alert classmates who get enough sleep, a new study has found.
"Sleep deprivation and depression go hand in hand among teenagers," says the study's lead author, Mahmood Siddique, D.O., a sleep medicine specialist at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. "Instead of giving them medications, I'd rather give them a chance to sleep better, and more."
Daytime sleepiness appears to be the new normal for adolescents. More than half of the 262 high school seniors who participated in the study were "excessively sleepy," according to a commonly used scale that gauges how likely a person is to doze off during everyday activities such as reading, watching TV, or sitting in a traffic jam.
The students reported sleeping an average of about six hours on school nights and eight hours on the weekend, far less than the nine hours a night--at least--that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends for high school students.
The rate of depression among the students was very high. Thirty percent of the teens had strong symptoms of depression, while an additional 32 percent had some depression symptoms, according to the study, which was presented today in San Antonio at SLEEP 2010, an annual meeting of sleep researchers.
The students who were excessively sleepy during the day were three times more likely to have strong depression symptoms than their well-rested peers, Dr. Siddique and his colleagues found. However, it's not clear from the study whether sleeping poorly is a symptom of depression, or vice versa.
"It makes sense that daytime sleepiness would be associated with depression," says James Gangwisch, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and sleep specialist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City. While the ill effects of depression on sleep are well known, he adds, mounting evidence suggests that sleep deprivation in and of itself can contribute to depression.
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By Anne Harding, Health.com
June 9, 2010 8:20 a.m. EDT
(Health.com) -- Sleep-deprived high school students who doze off in class aren't just risking the wrath of their teachers. They're also three times more likely to be depressed than their alert classmates who get enough sleep, a new study has found.
"Sleep deprivation and depression go hand in hand among teenagers," says the study's lead author, Mahmood Siddique, D.O., a sleep medicine specialist at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. "Instead of giving them medications, I'd rather give them a chance to sleep better, and more."
Daytime sleepiness appears to be the new normal for adolescents. More than half of the 262 high school seniors who participated in the study were "excessively sleepy," according to a commonly used scale that gauges how likely a person is to doze off during everyday activities such as reading, watching TV, or sitting in a traffic jam.
The students reported sleeping an average of about six hours on school nights and eight hours on the weekend, far less than the nine hours a night--at least--that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends for high school students.
The rate of depression among the students was very high. Thirty percent of the teens had strong symptoms of depression, while an additional 32 percent had some depression symptoms, according to the study, which was presented today in San Antonio at SLEEP 2010, an annual meeting of sleep researchers.
The students who were excessively sleepy during the day were three times more likely to have strong depression symptoms than their well-rested peers, Dr. Siddique and his colleagues found. However, it's not clear from the study whether sleeping poorly is a symptom of depression, or vice versa.
"It makes sense that daytime sleepiness would be associated with depression," says James Gangwisch, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and sleep specialist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City. While the ill effects of depression on sleep are well known, he adds, mounting evidence suggests that sleep deprivation in and of itself can contribute to depression.
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Happy Ending for 4-year old
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/05/95396/miami-boy-4-survives-six-story.html#storylink=omni_popular
Posted on Saturday, June 5, 2010
By Stephanie Geunardi | Miami Herald
Authorities and witnesses say that a palm tree likely saved the life of Joey Williams, a 4-year-old boy who fell Friday morning from a 17th-floor balcony after chasing a balloon through his apartment home at the Doubletree Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay.
The boy opened a sliding glass door, climbed over a covered balcony railing, bounced off the crown of the palm tree and safely landed on the "dirt surface" of an area surrounding the hotel's 10th-floor pool, said Kenia Reyes, a Miami police spokeswoman.
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Posted on Saturday, June 5, 2010
By Stephanie Geunardi | Miami Herald
Authorities and witnesses say that a palm tree likely saved the life of Joey Williams, a 4-year-old boy who fell Friday morning from a 17th-floor balcony after chasing a balloon through his apartment home at the Doubletree Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay.
The boy opened a sliding glass door, climbed over a covered balcony railing, bounced off the crown of the palm tree and safely landed on the "dirt surface" of an area surrounding the hotel's 10th-floor pool, said Kenia Reyes, a Miami police spokeswoman.
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Children's quality of life declining
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/08/children.wellbeing/index.html?hpt=Sbin
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
June 8, 2010 4:44 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- About 21 percent of children in the United States will be living below the poverty line in 2010, the highest rate in 20 years, according to a new analysis of children's well-being released Tuesday.
The study, funded by the private philanthropy Foundation for Child Development, found that families' economic well-being has plummeted to near 1975 levels, said Kenneth Land, project coordinator and professor of sociology and demography at Duke University.
"Virtually all of that progress is wiped out through job losses, through declines in real income, and other aspects of family economic well-being," Land said.
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About 15.6 million children are estimated to be living in poverty this year, but study authors say this number will start going down.
This year, as many as 500,000 children may be homeless in the United States, according to the report.
Children living in families in which neither parent has secure employment will rise to about 20 million this year, up 4 percent from 2006.
Also, many children live in households where all members do not have access to enough safe and nutritious foods. From 2007 to 2010, an additional 750,000 children are estimated to live in food-insecure households, the report said.
There is also potential for an uptick in obesity as families with tight budgets move toward lower quality food because of the recession, Land said. Healthy foods tend to be expensive, while processed and fast foods are cheaper and more readily available to some families.
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Chaotic childhoods have enormous implications for physical health, said Dr. Alan Kazdin, professor of psychology at Yale University and researcher at the Yale Child Conduct Clinic. Higher rates of cancer, liver disease, respiratory disease and other conditions have been found in people who grew up under stressful conditions, said Kazdin, who was not involved in the study.
..
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
June 8, 2010 4:44 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- About 21 percent of children in the United States will be living below the poverty line in 2010, the highest rate in 20 years, according to a new analysis of children's well-being released Tuesday.
The study, funded by the private philanthropy Foundation for Child Development, found that families' economic well-being has plummeted to near 1975 levels, said Kenneth Land, project coordinator and professor of sociology and demography at Duke University.
"Virtually all of that progress is wiped out through job losses, through declines in real income, and other aspects of family economic well-being," Land said.
----- (skipping)
About 15.6 million children are estimated to be living in poverty this year, but study authors say this number will start going down.
This year, as many as 500,000 children may be homeless in the United States, according to the report.
Children living in families in which neither parent has secure employment will rise to about 20 million this year, up 4 percent from 2006.
Also, many children live in households where all members do not have access to enough safe and nutritious foods. From 2007 to 2010, an additional 750,000 children are estimated to live in food-insecure households, the report said.
There is also potential for an uptick in obesity as families with tight budgets move toward lower quality food because of the recession, Land said. Healthy foods tend to be expensive, while processed and fast foods are cheaper and more readily available to some families.
----- (skipping)
Chaotic childhoods have enormous implications for physical health, said Dr. Alan Kazdin, professor of psychology at Yale University and researcher at the Yale Child Conduct Clinic. Higher rates of cancer, liver disease, respiratory disease and other conditions have been found in people who grew up under stressful conditions, said Kazdin, who was not involved in the study.
..
Stress of daily grind takes toll on teeth
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37557066/ns/health-oral_health/
By Diane Mapes
msnbc.com contributor
updated 8:29 a.m. ET, Wed., June 9, 2010
The foreclosures, the financial meltdowns, the freaky environmental disasters — they’ve all become part of our daily grind.
But for some, that's not just a metaphor.
“I’ve gone several years without grinding but now it’s back,” says Betsy Riley, a 57-year-old program manager from Washington, D.C., who’s cracked five teeth and suffered a world of dental woes due to anxiety-provoked grinding. “All the stories about the economy, all the people who’ve lost their jobs. Plus every time you turn on the TV, there are mudslides, earthquakes, volcanoes.”
Grinding and clenching — otherwise known as bruxism — is indeed on the rise, say dentists across the country.
“I would absolutely say there’s been an uptick of about 20 percent in terms of the number of appliances or chipped teeth or things directly related to bruxism that I attribute to these stressful times,” says Manhattan dentist Dr. Michael Sinken. “I have a friend who has a practice that’s 90 percent TMJ. He says he’s absolutely seen an increase in business. People are hurting.”
Chewing over our problems
A recent study in the journal Head & Face Medicine found that sleep bruxism is more common with people who claimed to experience daily problems and trouble at work, a finding that hardly surprises former journalist Heather Draper.
“I was a business editor at a daily newspaper and had to cover the economy going into the crapper, at the same time realizing how bad it looked for my industry,” says the 46-year-old who now works as a nonprofit communications manager in Denver.
Looming layoffs and financial uncertainties (Draper was eventually laid off, forced to sell her house and take a job at a drastic pay cut) wore her down.
In turn, she wore her teeth down.
“I’ve done it for years — I have several crowns — but I’ve had a ton of anxiety in the last two years and it’s gotten worse,” she says.
Dr. Matthew Messina, a Cleveland-area dentist and consumer advisor for the American Dental Association, says his patients’ teeth are feeling the pressure, too.
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..
By Diane Mapes
msnbc.com contributor
updated 8:29 a.m. ET, Wed., June 9, 2010
The foreclosures, the financial meltdowns, the freaky environmental disasters — they’ve all become part of our daily grind.
But for some, that's not just a metaphor.
“I’ve gone several years without grinding but now it’s back,” says Betsy Riley, a 57-year-old program manager from Washington, D.C., who’s cracked five teeth and suffered a world of dental woes due to anxiety-provoked grinding. “All the stories about the economy, all the people who’ve lost their jobs. Plus every time you turn on the TV, there are mudslides, earthquakes, volcanoes.”
Grinding and clenching — otherwise known as bruxism — is indeed on the rise, say dentists across the country.
“I would absolutely say there’s been an uptick of about 20 percent in terms of the number of appliances or chipped teeth or things directly related to bruxism that I attribute to these stressful times,” says Manhattan dentist Dr. Michael Sinken. “I have a friend who has a practice that’s 90 percent TMJ. He says he’s absolutely seen an increase in business. People are hurting.”
Chewing over our problems
A recent study in the journal Head & Face Medicine found that sleep bruxism is more common with people who claimed to experience daily problems and trouble at work, a finding that hardly surprises former journalist Heather Draper.
“I was a business editor at a daily newspaper and had to cover the economy going into the crapper, at the same time realizing how bad it looked for my industry,” says the 46-year-old who now works as a nonprofit communications manager in Denver.
Looming layoffs and financial uncertainties (Draper was eventually laid off, forced to sell her house and take a job at a drastic pay cut) wore her down.
In turn, she wore her teeth down.
“I’ve done it for years — I have several crowns — but I’ve had a ton of anxiety in the last two years and it’s gotten worse,” she says.
Dr. Matthew Messina, a Cleveland-area dentist and consumer advisor for the American Dental Association, says his patients’ teeth are feeling the pressure, too.
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Monday, June 07, 2010
Overtreated: More medical care isn't always better
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100607/ap_on_he_me/us_med_overtreated;_ylt=A0wNdPJMag1M4nMBvBus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFkdjdkYnZxBHBvcwMxMzQEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9oZWFsdGgEc2xrA292ZXJ0cmVhdGVkbQ--
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer – Mon Jun 7, 9:43 am ET
WASHINGTON – More medical care won't necessarily make you healthier — it may make you sicker. It's an idea that technology-loving Americans find hard to believe.
Anywhere from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the tests and treatments we get are estimated to be unnecessary, and avoidable care is costly in more ways than the bill: It may lead to dangerous side effects.
It can start during birth, as some of the nation's increasing C-sections are triggered by controversial fetal monitors that signal a baby is in trouble when really everything's fine.
It extends to often futile intensive care at the end of the life.
In between:
_Americans get the most medical radiation in the world, much of it from repeated CT scans. Too many scans increase the risk of cancer.
_Thousands who get stents for blocked heart arteries should have tried medication first.
_Doctors prescribe antibiotics tens of millions of times for viruses such as colds that the drugs can't help.
_As major health groups warn of the limitations of prostate cancer screening, even in middle age, one-third of men over 75 get routine PSA tests despite guidelines that say most are too old to benefit. Millions of women at low risk of cervical cancer get more frequent Pap smears than recommended; millions more have been screened even after losing the cervix to a hysterectomy.
_Back pain stands out as the No. 1 overtreated condition, from repeated MRI scans that can't pinpoint the trouble to spine surgery on people who could have gotten better without it. About one in five who gets that first back operation will wind up having another in the next decade.
Overtreatment means someone could have fared as well or better with a lesser test or therapy, or maybe even none at all. Avoiding it is less about knowing when to say no, than knowing when to say, "Wait, doc, I need more information!"
----- (skipping) [Please read the whole article]
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By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer – Mon Jun 7, 9:43 am ET
WASHINGTON – More medical care won't necessarily make you healthier — it may make you sicker. It's an idea that technology-loving Americans find hard to believe.
Anywhere from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the tests and treatments we get are estimated to be unnecessary, and avoidable care is costly in more ways than the bill: It may lead to dangerous side effects.
It can start during birth, as some of the nation's increasing C-sections are triggered by controversial fetal monitors that signal a baby is in trouble when really everything's fine.
It extends to often futile intensive care at the end of the life.
In between:
_Americans get the most medical radiation in the world, much of it from repeated CT scans. Too many scans increase the risk of cancer.
_Thousands who get stents for blocked heart arteries should have tried medication first.
_Doctors prescribe antibiotics tens of millions of times for viruses such as colds that the drugs can't help.
_As major health groups warn of the limitations of prostate cancer screening, even in middle age, one-third of men over 75 get routine PSA tests despite guidelines that say most are too old to benefit. Millions of women at low risk of cervical cancer get more frequent Pap smears than recommended; millions more have been screened even after losing the cervix to a hysterectomy.
_Back pain stands out as the No. 1 overtreated condition, from repeated MRI scans that can't pinpoint the trouble to spine surgery on people who could have gotten better without it. About one in five who gets that first back operation will wind up having another in the next decade.
Overtreatment means someone could have fared as well or better with a lesser test or therapy, or maybe even none at all. Avoiding it is less about knowing when to say no, than knowing when to say, "Wait, doc, I need more information!"
----- (skipping) [Please read the whole article]
..
Untangling the Mystery of Knotted Flex
Rats, won't keep the snarls out of long hair worn loose :-D
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100606202219.htm
ScienceDaily (June 7, 2010) — Aston University scientist Robert Matthews believes his "Loop Conjecture" theory can prevent knots in everything from simple flex through to mountain and sailing ropes and potentially DNA structure
We all know the problem: given half a chance, headphone cords, electric flex and the like will tie themselves into a hopelessly tangled knot. How do they do it -- and what can we do to prevent it?
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Robert Matthews, Visiting Reader in Science at Aston, has developed a mathematical theory which suggests the risk of knots forming can be dramatically reduced much more easily -- and without any gizmos. According to the "Loop Conjecture," all that's required is that the loose ends of cord, flex etc be clipped together, forming a simple loop. Rough estimates based on the mathematics of so-called "Self Avoiding Walks" suggest looping could produce up to a ten-fold reduction in the risk of knots forming in headphone flex.
Those taking part in The Great British Knot Experiment will compare the risk of getting knots in both open-ended and looped cord, to see if they follow the formulas underpinning the "Loop Conjecture". Participants will also be able to go further, looking at the effect of cord thickness, rigidity and other parameters likely to affect knotting risk.
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A Sense of Humor Helps Keep You Healthy Until Retirement Age
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100604073717.htm
ScienceDaily (June 5, 2010) — A sense of humor helps to keep people healthy and increases their chances of reaching retirement age. But after the age of 70, the health benefits of humor decrease, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found.
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A positive effect "There is reason to believe that sense of humor continues to have a positive effect on mental health and social life, even after people have become retirees, although the positive effect on life expectancy could not be shown after the age of 75. At that point, genetics and biological aging are of greater importance," says project leader Professor Sven Svebak at NTNU's Department of Neuroscience.
Svebak and his colleagues evaluated people's sense of humor with three questions from a test designed to measure only friendly humor. The test is not sensitive to humor that creates conflicts, is insulting or that is a variation of bullying, explains Svebak.
The questions revealed a person's ability to understand humor and to think in a humorous way, Svebak says. He believes there are many myths and misunderstandings about humor. For example, one myth is that happy people have a better sense of humor than people who are more serious.
"But it is not enough to be full of laughter, as we say in Trøndelag. Humor is all about ways of thinking and often occurs in a process or in dialogue with others. It does not need to be externalized," he says. "What people think is fun, is a different matter. Commonly, people with the same sense of humor tend to enjoy themselves together and can communicate humor without huge gestures. A twinkle in the eye can be more than enough." He adds that a sense of humor can be learned and improved through practice.
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ScienceDaily (June 5, 2010) — A sense of humor helps to keep people healthy and increases their chances of reaching retirement age. But after the age of 70, the health benefits of humor decrease, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found.
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A positive effect "There is reason to believe that sense of humor continues to have a positive effect on mental health and social life, even after people have become retirees, although the positive effect on life expectancy could not be shown after the age of 75. At that point, genetics and biological aging are of greater importance," says project leader Professor Sven Svebak at NTNU's Department of Neuroscience.
Svebak and his colleagues evaluated people's sense of humor with three questions from a test designed to measure only friendly humor. The test is not sensitive to humor that creates conflicts, is insulting or that is a variation of bullying, explains Svebak.
The questions revealed a person's ability to understand humor and to think in a humorous way, Svebak says. He believes there are many myths and misunderstandings about humor. For example, one myth is that happy people have a better sense of humor than people who are more serious.
"But it is not enough to be full of laughter, as we say in Trøndelag. Humor is all about ways of thinking and often occurs in a process or in dialogue with others. It does not need to be externalized," he says. "What people think is fun, is a different matter. Commonly, people with the same sense of humor tend to enjoy themselves together and can communicate humor without huge gestures. A twinkle in the eye can be more than enough." He adds that a sense of humor can be learned and improved through practice.
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Life on Titan?
I wonder if we'll be able to send spacecraft there to bring back samples within my lifetime? I don't know how long a journey that would take, once a rocket was built.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100606103125.htm
ScienceDaily (June 7, 2010) — Two new papers based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft scrutinize the complex chemical activity on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. While non-biological chemistry offers one possible explanation, some scientists believe these chemical signatures bolster the argument for a primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life on Titan's surface. According to one theory put forth by astrobiologists, the signatures fulfill two important conditions necessary for a hypothesized "methane-based life."
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Evidence Growing of Air Pollution's Link to Heart Disease, Death
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100510161244.htm
ScienceDaily (May 11, 2010) — The scientific evidence linking air pollution to heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular death has "substantially strengthened," and people, particularly those at high cardiovascular risk, should limit their exposure, according to an updated American Heart Association scientific statement.
The evidence is strongest for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) having a causal relationship to cardiovascular disease, said the expert panel of authors who updated the association's 2004 initial statement on air pollution, also published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The major source of PM2.5 is fossil fuel combustion from industry, traffic, and power generation. Biomass burning, heating, cooking, indoor activities and forest fires may also be relevant sources, particularly in certain regions.
"Particulate matter appears to directly increase risk by triggering events in susceptible individuals within hours to days of an increased level of exposure, even among those who otherwise may have been healthy for years," said Robert D. Brook, M.D., lead author of the statement, which was written after review of epidemiological, molecular and toxicological studies published during the past six years.
"Growing evidence also shows that longer-term PM2.5 exposures, such as over a few years, can lead to an even larger increase in these health risks. In this context, the American Heart Association said that PM2.5 should be recognized as a 'modifiable factor' that contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality."
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ScienceDaily (May 11, 2010) — The scientific evidence linking air pollution to heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular death has "substantially strengthened," and people, particularly those at high cardiovascular risk, should limit their exposure, according to an updated American Heart Association scientific statement.
The evidence is strongest for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) having a causal relationship to cardiovascular disease, said the expert panel of authors who updated the association's 2004 initial statement on air pollution, also published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The major source of PM2.5 is fossil fuel combustion from industry, traffic, and power generation. Biomass burning, heating, cooking, indoor activities and forest fires may also be relevant sources, particularly in certain regions.
"Particulate matter appears to directly increase risk by triggering events in susceptible individuals within hours to days of an increased level of exposure, even among those who otherwise may have been healthy for years," said Robert D. Brook, M.D., lead author of the statement, which was written after review of epidemiological, molecular and toxicological studies published during the past six years.
"Growing evidence also shows that longer-term PM2.5 exposures, such as over a few years, can lead to an even larger increase in these health risks. In this context, the American Heart Association said that PM2.5 should be recognized as a 'modifiable factor' that contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality."
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Friday, June 04, 2010
Spending Time in Nature Makes People Feel More Alive
http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3639
2010-06-03
Being outside in nature makes people feel more alive, finds a series of studies published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology. And that sense of increased vitality exists above and beyond the energizing effects of physical activity and social interaction that are often associated with our forays into the natural world, the studies show.
"Nature is fuel for the soul, " says Richard Ryan, lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. "Often when we feel depleted we reach for a cup of coffee, but research suggests a better way to get energized is to connect with nature," he says.
The findings, adds Ryan, are important for both mental and physical health. "Research has shown that people with a greater sense of vitality don't just have more energy for things they want to do, they are also more resilient to physical illnesses. One of the pathways to health may be to spend more time in natural settings," says Ryan.
In recent years, numerous experimental psychology studies have linked exposure to nature with increased energy and heightened sense of well-being. For example, research has shown that people on wilderness excursions report feeling more alive and that just recalling outdoor experiences increases feelings of happiness and health. Other studies suggest that the very presence of nature helps to ward off feelings of exhaustion and that 90 percent of people report increased energy when placed in outdoor activities.
What is novel about this research, write the authors, is that it carefully tests whether this increased vitality associated with the outdoors is simply the feel-good spillover from physical activity and people-mixing often present in these situations
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Across all methodologies, individuals consistently felt more energetic when they spent time in natural settings or imagined themselves in such situations. The findings were particularly robust, notes Ryan; being outside in nature for just 20 minutes in a day was enough to significantly boost vitality levels. Interestingly, in the last study, the presence of nature had an independent energizing effect above that of being outdoors. In other words, conclude the authors, being outdoors was vitalizing in large part because of the presence of nature.
The paper builds on earlier research by Ryan, Netta Weinstein, a psychologist at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and others showing that people are more caring and generous when exposed to nature. "We have a natural connection with living things," says Ryan. "Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments." These studies, concludes Ryan, underscore the importance of having access to parks and natural surroundings and of incorporating natural elements into our buildings through windows and indoor plants.
..
2010-06-03
Being outside in nature makes people feel more alive, finds a series of studies published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology. And that sense of increased vitality exists above and beyond the energizing effects of physical activity and social interaction that are often associated with our forays into the natural world, the studies show.
"Nature is fuel for the soul, " says Richard Ryan, lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. "Often when we feel depleted we reach for a cup of coffee, but research suggests a better way to get energized is to connect with nature," he says.
The findings, adds Ryan, are important for both mental and physical health. "Research has shown that people with a greater sense of vitality don't just have more energy for things they want to do, they are also more resilient to physical illnesses. One of the pathways to health may be to spend more time in natural settings," says Ryan.
In recent years, numerous experimental psychology studies have linked exposure to nature with increased energy and heightened sense of well-being. For example, research has shown that people on wilderness excursions report feeling more alive and that just recalling outdoor experiences increases feelings of happiness and health. Other studies suggest that the very presence of nature helps to ward off feelings of exhaustion and that 90 percent of people report increased energy when placed in outdoor activities.
What is novel about this research, write the authors, is that it carefully tests whether this increased vitality associated with the outdoors is simply the feel-good spillover from physical activity and people-mixing often present in these situations
----- (skipping)
Across all methodologies, individuals consistently felt more energetic when they spent time in natural settings or imagined themselves in such situations. The findings were particularly robust, notes Ryan; being outside in nature for just 20 minutes in a day was enough to significantly boost vitality levels. Interestingly, in the last study, the presence of nature had an independent energizing effect above that of being outdoors. In other words, conclude the authors, being outdoors was vitalizing in large part because of the presence of nature.
The paper builds on earlier research by Ryan, Netta Weinstein, a psychologist at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and others showing that people are more caring and generous when exposed to nature. "We have a natural connection with living things," says Ryan. "Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments." These studies, concludes Ryan, underscore the importance of having access to parks and natural surroundings and of incorporating natural elements into our buildings through windows and indoor plants.
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Are We Losing Our Empathy?
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/are-we-losing-our-empathy.html
posted by Ann Pietrangelo May 31, 2010 5:05 pm
College students today are less empathetic than college students of the past. At least that’s what University of Michigan researchers have concluded.
The meta-analysis combined the results of 72 different studies of American college students that were conducted between 1979 and 2009 and involved 14,000 students. Today’s students were found to possess about 40 percent less empathy than students of 20 or 30 years ago, with the biggest drop coming after the year 2000.
Who or what is to blame for the apparent loss of empathy? After all, the study participants are the offspring of those more empathetic college kids from the 70’s and 80’s.
There are plenty of theories as to the cause. Violence on television, in the movies, and in video games has desensitized us to the plight of others; online social networking encourages an “all about Me” attitude; texting and virtual friendships have pulled us further apart rather than closer together; a generation raised with an overabundance of “you are special” affirmations. Maybe none of these theories explains it; maybe all of them do.
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The president took a lot of heat for that statement, as if empathy makes one weak or unable to make a fair judgment. But empathy is not about weakness; it is about strength and intelligence.
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posted by Ann Pietrangelo May 31, 2010 5:05 pm
College students today are less empathetic than college students of the past. At least that’s what University of Michigan researchers have concluded.
The meta-analysis combined the results of 72 different studies of American college students that were conducted between 1979 and 2009 and involved 14,000 students. Today’s students were found to possess about 40 percent less empathy than students of 20 or 30 years ago, with the biggest drop coming after the year 2000.
Who or what is to blame for the apparent loss of empathy? After all, the study participants are the offspring of those more empathetic college kids from the 70’s and 80’s.
There are plenty of theories as to the cause. Violence on television, in the movies, and in video games has desensitized us to the plight of others; online social networking encourages an “all about Me” attitude; texting and virtual friendships have pulled us further apart rather than closer together; a generation raised with an overabundance of “you are special” affirmations. Maybe none of these theories explains it; maybe all of them do.
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The president took a lot of heat for that statement, as if empathy makes one weak or unable to make a fair judgment. But empathy is not about weakness; it is about strength and intelligence.
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Thursday, June 03, 2010
Arctic Ice at Low Point Compared to Recent Geologic History
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100602193423.htm
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Less ice covers the Arctic today than at any time in recent geologic history.
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"The ice loss that we see today -- the ice loss that started in the early 20th Century and sped up during the last 30 years -- appears to be unmatched over at least the last few thousand years," said Leonid Polyak, a research scientist at Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University. Polyak is lead author of the paper and a preceding report that he and his coauthors prepared for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
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"Underneath the surface, the ice can be thick or thin. The newest satellite techniques and field observations allow us to see that the volume of ice is shrinking much faster than its area today. The picture is very troubling. We are losing ice very fast," he said.
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ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Less ice covers the Arctic today than at any time in recent geologic history.
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"The ice loss that we see today -- the ice loss that started in the early 20th Century and sped up during the last 30 years -- appears to be unmatched over at least the last few thousand years," said Leonid Polyak, a research scientist at Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University. Polyak is lead author of the paper and a preceding report that he and his coauthors prepared for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
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"Underneath the surface, the ice can be thick or thin. The newest satellite techniques and field observations allow us to see that the volume of ice is shrinking much faster than its area today. The picture is very troubling. We are losing ice very fast," he said.
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Burger Diet Boosts Kids' Asthma and Wheeze Risk
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100602193320.htm
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Eating three or more burgers a week may boost a child's risk of asthma and wheeze -- at least in developed nations -- reveals a large international study, published in Thorax.
Conversely, a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, and fish seems to stave off the risk, the research shows.
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ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Eating three or more burgers a week may boost a child's risk of asthma and wheeze -- at least in developed nations -- reveals a large international study, published in Thorax.
Conversely, a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, and fish seems to stave off the risk, the research shows.
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'Helicopter' Parents Have Neurotic Kids
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/helicopterparentshaveneurotickidsstudysuggests;_ylt=AtLMc4NVeUPx0tsmOJCYaWus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTRyZDhsdTZ0BGFzc2V0A2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMTAwNjAzL2hlbGljb3B0ZXJwYXJlbnRzaGF2ZW5ldXJvdGlja2lkc3N0dWR5c3VnZ2VzdHMEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDaGVsaWNvcHRlcnBh
Rachael Rettner
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com rachael Rettner
livescience Staff Writer
livescience.com – Thu Jun 3, 12:31 pm ET
BOSTON - Overly protective parents might be leaving a lasting impact on their child's personality, and not in a good way, a new study finds.
The results show having so-called "helicopter parents" was associated with being dependent, neurotic and less open, a slew of personality traits that are generally thought of as undesirable.
The study, which surveyed college freshman, is one of the first to try to define exactly what helicopter parenting is, and measure it. The term was originally coined by college admissions personnel when they started to notice a change in parents of prospective students - parents would call the admissions office and try to intervene in a process that had previously just been between the student and the college, said study researcher Neil Montgomery, a psychologist at Keene State College in N.H.
While the findings are only preliminary, and more studies are needed to back up the results, they suggest this type of over-parenting might lead to children who are ultimately not ready to leave the nest.
"I think what the helicopter parents did is they decided, 'OK we know what good parenting looks like, we're just going to ratchet it up to a new level, and our kids are going to be even better,'" Montgomery said. "The problem is, when they ratcheted it up, they went too far, and in fact, caused an expansion of childhood or adolescence."
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Students with helicopter parents tended to be less open to new ideas and actions, as well as more vulnerable, anxious and self-consciousness, among other factors, compared with their counterparts with more distant parents.
"We have a person who is dependent, who is vulnerable, who is self-conscious, who is anxious, who is impulsive, not open to new actions or ideas; is that going to make a successful college student?" Montgomery said. "No not exactly, it's really a horrible story at the end of the day."
On the other hand, in non-helicoptered students who were given responsibility and not constantly monitored by their parents, so-called "free rangers" the effects were reversed, Montgomery said.
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Rachael Rettner
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com rachael Rettner
livescience Staff Writer
livescience.com – Thu Jun 3, 12:31 pm ET
BOSTON - Overly protective parents might be leaving a lasting impact on their child's personality, and not in a good way, a new study finds.
The results show having so-called "helicopter parents" was associated with being dependent, neurotic and less open, a slew of personality traits that are generally thought of as undesirable.
The study, which surveyed college freshman, is one of the first to try to define exactly what helicopter parenting is, and measure it. The term was originally coined by college admissions personnel when they started to notice a change in parents of prospective students - parents would call the admissions office and try to intervene in a process that had previously just been between the student and the college, said study researcher Neil Montgomery, a psychologist at Keene State College in N.H.
While the findings are only preliminary, and more studies are needed to back up the results, they suggest this type of over-parenting might lead to children who are ultimately not ready to leave the nest.
"I think what the helicopter parents did is they decided, 'OK we know what good parenting looks like, we're just going to ratchet it up to a new level, and our kids are going to be even better,'" Montgomery said. "The problem is, when they ratcheted it up, they went too far, and in fact, caused an expansion of childhood or adolescence."
----- (skipping)
Students with helicopter parents tended to be less open to new ideas and actions, as well as more vulnerable, anxious and self-consciousness, among other factors, compared with their counterparts with more distant parents.
"We have a person who is dependent, who is vulnerable, who is self-conscious, who is anxious, who is impulsive, not open to new actions or ideas; is that going to make a successful college student?" Montgomery said. "No not exactly, it's really a horrible story at the end of the day."
On the other hand, in non-helicoptered students who were given responsibility and not constantly monitored by their parents, so-called "free rangers" the effects were reversed, Montgomery said.
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Planet Triple Play: Saturn, Mars and Venus Appear Together
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100603/sc_space/planettripleplaysaturnmarsandvenusappeartogether;_ylt=At8FUR9VTTytFVebg70if.ys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpdjM3Ym9rBHBvcwMzNgRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDcGxhbmV0dHJpcGxl
Geoff Gaherty
Starry Night Education
SPACE.com geoff Gaherty
starry Night Education
space.com – Thu Jun 3, 9:45 am ET
If you live in the northern hemisphere, go out any night this week an hour or so after sunset and look at the western sky to catch a planetary triple play starring Venus, Saturn and Mars.
The first thing skywatchers will see — weather permitting — is the brilliant planet Venus, slightly north of west, in the constellation Gemini. Look for Gemini's twin first magnitude stars, Pollux and Castor, just above Venus.
As the sky gets darker, the planet Mars can be spotted to Venus' left as it appears in the constellation Leo very close to the bright, first magnitude star Regulus. Further still to the left will be Saturn shining in the western part of the constellation Virgo.
This sky map shows how to spot all three planets as they appear across a 71-degree angle in the night sky. For comparison, your closed fist held at arm's length covers about 5 degrees of arc in the sky.
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Geoff Gaherty
Starry Night Education
SPACE.com geoff Gaherty
starry Night Education
space.com – Thu Jun 3, 9:45 am ET
If you live in the northern hemisphere, go out any night this week an hour or so after sunset and look at the western sky to catch a planetary triple play starring Venus, Saturn and Mars.
The first thing skywatchers will see — weather permitting — is the brilliant planet Venus, slightly north of west, in the constellation Gemini. Look for Gemini's twin first magnitude stars, Pollux and Castor, just above Venus.
As the sky gets darker, the planet Mars can be spotted to Venus' left as it appears in the constellation Leo very close to the bright, first magnitude star Regulus. Further still to the left will be Saturn shining in the western part of the constellation Virgo.
This sky map shows how to spot all three planets as they appear across a 71-degree angle in the night sky. For comparison, your closed fist held at arm's length covers about 5 degrees of arc in the sky.
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Republicans still blocking about 240 administration nominees
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024067.php
June 2, 2010
BRING ON THE RECESS APPOINTMENTS.... As of last week, there are about 240 administration nominees waiting for a vote in the Senate, an almost comically ridiculous number given how long they've been waiting. On Thursday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) tried to move about a third of them as a bloc -- all of whom had had already been through the vetting process, and been approved by the relevant committee -- but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused.
McConnell didn't have a good reason, except to say his feelings were hurt when the White House gave a recess appointment to Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year. Last week was McConnell's way of saying he holds a grudge -- and doesn't much care if the federal government has the personnel in place to function as it's supposed to.
With that in mind, don't be too surprised if President Obama, left with little choice, makes some recess appointments during Congress' Memorial Day recess.
"The president is naturally frustrated at another work period ending with a record-breaking number of nominations bottled on the floor, and he will consider next steps over the course of the coming days," a White House aide said. [...]
Congressional aides have suggested Obama may use this week to circumvent the Senate confirmation process and clear at least some of the more than 100 names lingering on the executive calendar. Obama has used his recess appointment powers just once, clearing 15 names in March.
It's not just scandalous Republican obstructionism that's the problem here, though that's clearly part of it. There's also the matter of limited Senate floor time left this year, and the fact that, with GOP filibusters on practically everything and everyone, it takes 30 hours for the chamber to vote on one nominee, even if he or she will end up being confirmed easily.
The government has important government offices that need qualified officials. The country need not suffer because Republicans have broken the Senate. Recess appointments are far from ideal -- I've really never cared for them -- but I just don't see how the GOP has left with the White House with any other choice.
President Obama has two options: allow key posts to remain vacant indefinitely in the face of unprecedented obstructionism, or start embracing recess appointments. I reluctantly endorse the latter.
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June 2, 2010
BRING ON THE RECESS APPOINTMENTS.... As of last week, there are about 240 administration nominees waiting for a vote in the Senate, an almost comically ridiculous number given how long they've been waiting. On Thursday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) tried to move about a third of them as a bloc -- all of whom had had already been through the vetting process, and been approved by the relevant committee -- but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused.
McConnell didn't have a good reason, except to say his feelings were hurt when the White House gave a recess appointment to Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year. Last week was McConnell's way of saying he holds a grudge -- and doesn't much care if the federal government has the personnel in place to function as it's supposed to.
With that in mind, don't be too surprised if President Obama, left with little choice, makes some recess appointments during Congress' Memorial Day recess.
"The president is naturally frustrated at another work period ending with a record-breaking number of nominations bottled on the floor, and he will consider next steps over the course of the coming days," a White House aide said. [...]
Congressional aides have suggested Obama may use this week to circumvent the Senate confirmation process and clear at least some of the more than 100 names lingering on the executive calendar. Obama has used his recess appointment powers just once, clearing 15 names in March.
It's not just scandalous Republican obstructionism that's the problem here, though that's clearly part of it. There's also the matter of limited Senate floor time left this year, and the fact that, with GOP filibusters on practically everything and everyone, it takes 30 hours for the chamber to vote on one nominee, even if he or she will end up being confirmed easily.
The government has important government offices that need qualified officials. The country need not suffer because Republicans have broken the Senate. Recess appointments are far from ideal -- I've really never cared for them -- but I just don't see how the GOP has left with the White House with any other choice.
President Obama has two options: allow key posts to remain vacant indefinitely in the face of unprecedented obstructionism, or start embracing recess appointments. I reluctantly endorse the latter.
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Study Suggests Inexperienced Medical Staff Make Fatal Medication Errors
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100602091319.htm
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Are new medical residents a threat to patients? According to Dr. David Phillips and Gwendolyn Barker from the University of California, San Diego in the US, fatal medication errors peak in July in teaching hospitals in particular, which coincides with the yearly influx of new medical residents who are given increased responsibility for patient care.
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The authors found that inside medical institutions, fatal medication errors spiked in July and in no other month. This July peak was visible only in counties with teaching hospitals. In these counties, the number of July deaths from medication errors was 10 percent above the expected level. No similar link was observed for other causes of death or for deaths outside hospitals.
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ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Are new medical residents a threat to patients? According to Dr. David Phillips and Gwendolyn Barker from the University of California, San Diego in the US, fatal medication errors peak in July in teaching hospitals in particular, which coincides with the yearly influx of new medical residents who are given increased responsibility for patient care.
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The authors found that inside medical institutions, fatal medication errors spiked in July and in no other month. This July peak was visible only in counties with teaching hospitals. In these counties, the number of July deaths from medication errors was 10 percent above the expected level. No similar link was observed for other causes of death or for deaths outside hospitals.
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Wednesday, June 02, 2010
TV Food Advertisements Promote Imbalanced Diets
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100601072514.htm
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Making food choices based on television advertising results in a very imbalanced diet according to a new study comparing the nutritional content of food choices influenced by television to nutritional guidelines published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Investigators found that a 2,000-calorie diet consisting entirely of advertised foods would contain 25 times the recommended servings of sugars and 20 times the recommended servings of fat, but less than half of the recommended servings of vegetables, dairy, and fruits. In fact, the excess of servings in sugars and fat is so large that, on average, eating just one of the observed food items would provide more than three times the recommended daily servings (RDS) for sugars and two and a half times the RDS for fat for the entire day.
"The results of this study suggest the foods advertised on television tend to oversupply nutrients associated with chronic illness (eg, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium) and undersupply nutrients that help protect against illness (eg, fiber, vitamins A, E, and D, calcium, and potassium)," according to lead investigator Michael Mink, PhD, Assistant Professor and MPH Program Coordinator, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA.
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ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Making food choices based on television advertising results in a very imbalanced diet according to a new study comparing the nutritional content of food choices influenced by television to nutritional guidelines published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Investigators found that a 2,000-calorie diet consisting entirely of advertised foods would contain 25 times the recommended servings of sugars and 20 times the recommended servings of fat, but less than half of the recommended servings of vegetables, dairy, and fruits. In fact, the excess of servings in sugars and fat is so large that, on average, eating just one of the observed food items would provide more than three times the recommended daily servings (RDS) for sugars and two and a half times the RDS for fat for the entire day.
"The results of this study suggest the foods advertised on television tend to oversupply nutrients associated with chronic illness (eg, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium) and undersupply nutrients that help protect against illness (eg, fiber, vitamins A, E, and D, calcium, and potassium)," according to lead investigator Michael Mink, PhD, Assistant Professor and MPH Program Coordinator, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA.
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Student Uses Pedal Power to Create Novel Machine
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100528101548.htm
ScienceDaily (June 1, 2010) — An innovative bicycle-powered water pump, created by a student at the University of Sheffield, has proved a huge success and is now in regular production in Guatemala, transforming the lives of rural residents.
Jon Leary, 24, a MEng student in the University´s Department of Mechanical Engineering, took his bicycle machine design from a Steel City drawing board to the heart of Guatemala as part of his dissertation, which required him to `make something useful out of rubbish.´
During his four month stint in Guatemala, Jon spent time improving the design for his bicibomba movil -- a mobile bicycle-powered water pump to be used for irrigation and general water distribution -- by working with the Guatemalan NGO Maya Pedal, who design and build a variety of weird and wonderful bicycle machines using abandoned bikes sent over from the US and Canada. Maya Pedal´s aim is to produce machines which can improve the daily lives of locals, without them having to resort to expensive electrical or environmentally damaging fossil fuelled machines. Their machines, which are human-powered sustainable energy sources, range from the bicilavadora (bicycle washing machine) to the bicimolino (corn grinder).
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ScienceDaily (June 1, 2010) — An innovative bicycle-powered water pump, created by a student at the University of Sheffield, has proved a huge success and is now in regular production in Guatemala, transforming the lives of rural residents.
Jon Leary, 24, a MEng student in the University´s Department of Mechanical Engineering, took his bicycle machine design from a Steel City drawing board to the heart of Guatemala as part of his dissertation, which required him to `make something useful out of rubbish.´
During his four month stint in Guatemala, Jon spent time improving the design for his bicibomba movil -- a mobile bicycle-powered water pump to be used for irrigation and general water distribution -- by working with the Guatemalan NGO Maya Pedal, who design and build a variety of weird and wonderful bicycle machines using abandoned bikes sent over from the US and Canada. Maya Pedal´s aim is to produce machines which can improve the daily lives of locals, without them having to resort to expensive electrical or environmentally damaging fossil fuelled machines. Their machines, which are human-powered sustainable energy sources, range from the bicilavadora (bicycle washing machine) to the bicimolino (corn grinder).
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Air Traffic Poised to Become a Major Factor in Global Warming, Scientists Predict
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100526124715.htm
ScienceDaily (May 31, 2010) — The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predict that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or triple by 2050.
The study is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.
Bethan Owen and colleagues note that aviation is not now one of the main drivers of global warming, with international aviation (source of 60 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft) not even included in the Kyoto Protocol. Global air traffic currently contributes to between 2 and 3 percent of carbon dioxide emissions -- the main "greenhouse" gas linked to global warming.
The scientists' computer model forecast that emissions of carbon dioxide will likely double or triple within the next 50 years. By 2100, carbon dioxide emissions could increase by up to seven times the current levels, they say.
"Even though there have been significant improvements in fuel efficiency through aircraft technology and operational management, this has been outweighed by the increase in air traffic," the study states.
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ScienceDaily (May 31, 2010) — The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predict that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or triple by 2050.
The study is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.
Bethan Owen and colleagues note that aviation is not now one of the main drivers of global warming, with international aviation (source of 60 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft) not even included in the Kyoto Protocol. Global air traffic currently contributes to between 2 and 3 percent of carbon dioxide emissions -- the main "greenhouse" gas linked to global warming.
The scientists' computer model forecast that emissions of carbon dioxide will likely double or triple within the next 50 years. By 2100, carbon dioxide emissions could increase by up to seven times the current levels, they say.
"Even though there have been significant improvements in fuel efficiency through aircraft technology and operational management, this has been outweighed by the increase in air traffic," the study states.
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Quit Smoking After Fracture Surgery for Better Healing
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100601151110.htm
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Smokers who refrain from using tobacco during the six-week period following emergency surgery for an acute fracture heal more quickly and experience fewer complications than patients who continue to smoke during the healing process, according to a study published in the June 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).
"Our results indicate that a smoking cessation intervention program during the first six weeks after acute fracture surgery decreases the risk of postoperative complications by nearly half," said Hans Nåsell, MD, senior surgical consultant, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Smoking inhibits circulation and lowers blood oxygen levels, which can affect short-term and long-term healing in several ways, including:
* failure or delayed healing of bone, skin and other soft tissues; or
* causing wound site infections.
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ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Smokers who refrain from using tobacco during the six-week period following emergency surgery for an acute fracture heal more quickly and experience fewer complications than patients who continue to smoke during the healing process, according to a study published in the June 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).
"Our results indicate that a smoking cessation intervention program during the first six weeks after acute fracture surgery decreases the risk of postoperative complications by nearly half," said Hans Nåsell, MD, senior surgical consultant, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Smoking inhibits circulation and lowers blood oxygen levels, which can affect short-term and long-term healing in several ways, including:
* failure or delayed healing of bone, skin and other soft tissues; or
* causing wound site infections.
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Empathy: College Students Don't Have as Much as They Used To
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100528081434.htm
ScienceDaily (May 29, 2010) — Today's college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and '90s, a University of Michigan study shows.
The study, presented in Boston at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analyzes data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years.
"We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000," said Sara Konrath, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research. "College kids today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait."
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Why is empathy declining among young adults?
Konrath and O'Brien suggest there could be several reasons, which they hope to explore in future research.
"The increase in exposure to media during this time period could be one factor," Konrath said. "Compared to 30 years ago, the average American now is exposed to three times as much nonwork-related information. In terms of media content, this generation of college students grew up with video games, and a growing body of research, including work done by my colleagues at Michigan, is establishing that exposure to violent media numbs people to the pain of others."
The recent rise of social media may also play a role in the drop in empathy, suggests O'Brien.
"The ease of having 'friends' online might make people more likely to just tune out when they don't feel like responding to others' problems, a behavior that could carry over offline," he said.
Add in the hypercompetitive atmosphere and inflated expectations of success, borne of celebrity "reality shows," and you have a social environment that works against slowing down and listening to someone who needs a bit of sympathy, he says.
"College students today may be so busy worrying about themselves and their own issues that they don't have time to spend empathizing with others, or at least perceive such time to be limited," O'Brien said.
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ScienceDaily (May 29, 2010) — Today's college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and '90s, a University of Michigan study shows.
The study, presented in Boston at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analyzes data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years.
"We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000," said Sara Konrath, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research. "College kids today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait."
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Why is empathy declining among young adults?
Konrath and O'Brien suggest there could be several reasons, which they hope to explore in future research.
"The increase in exposure to media during this time period could be one factor," Konrath said. "Compared to 30 years ago, the average American now is exposed to three times as much nonwork-related information. In terms of media content, this generation of college students grew up with video games, and a growing body of research, including work done by my colleagues at Michigan, is establishing that exposure to violent media numbs people to the pain of others."
The recent rise of social media may also play a role in the drop in empathy, suggests O'Brien.
"The ease of having 'friends' online might make people more likely to just tune out when they don't feel like responding to others' problems, a behavior that could carry over offline," he said.
Add in the hypercompetitive atmosphere and inflated expectations of success, borne of celebrity "reality shows," and you have a social environment that works against slowing down and listening to someone who needs a bit of sympathy, he says.
"College students today may be so busy worrying about themselves and their own issues that they don't have time to spend empathizing with others, or at least perceive such time to be limited," O'Brien said.
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Squirrels Show Softer Side by Adopting Orphans
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100601114631.htm
ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Those neighbourhood squirrels you often see fighting over food may not seem altruistic, but new University of Guelph research has found that the critters will actually take in orphaned relatives.
The study by Guelph Prof. Andrew McAdam, along with researchers from the University of Alberta and McGill University, revealed that red squirrels will adopt pups that have lost their mother.
It's a significant finding because while such adoptions are typical among species that live in extended family groups, it's much less common among asocial animals, such as squirrels.
"Social animals, including lions and chimpanzees, are often surrounded by relatives, so it's not surprising that a female would adopt an orphaned family member because they have already spent a lot of time together," said McAdam, an evolutionary biologist. "But red squirrels live in complete isolation and are very territorial. The only time they will allow another squirrel on their territory is the one day a year when the females are ready to mate or when they are nursing their pups."
But the study, published in Nature Communications, also found that squirrels have their altruistic limits. They will adopt only if the orphans are related, and even then it's a rare occurrence.
Over two decades, the research team has come across only five cases of adoption.
"That's five cases out of the thousands of litters that have been born since the project began," said McAdam. "Adoption does happen, but it's rare."
Jamie Gorrell, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, identified 34 cases of potential adoption over 20 years. An adoption is possible only if the mother dies and a nearby squirrel is also nursing.
"We discovered relatedness plays a critical role in whether a neighbouring squirrel will adopt or not," said McAdam.
In all five adoption scenarios, the pups were nieces, nephews, siblings or grandchildren to the adoptive mother.
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ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — Those neighbourhood squirrels you often see fighting over food may not seem altruistic, but new University of Guelph research has found that the critters will actually take in orphaned relatives.
The study by Guelph Prof. Andrew McAdam, along with researchers from the University of Alberta and McGill University, revealed that red squirrels will adopt pups that have lost their mother.
It's a significant finding because while such adoptions are typical among species that live in extended family groups, it's much less common among asocial animals, such as squirrels.
"Social animals, including lions and chimpanzees, are often surrounded by relatives, so it's not surprising that a female would adopt an orphaned family member because they have already spent a lot of time together," said McAdam, an evolutionary biologist. "But red squirrels live in complete isolation and are very territorial. The only time they will allow another squirrel on their territory is the one day a year when the females are ready to mate or when they are nursing their pups."
But the study, published in Nature Communications, also found that squirrels have their altruistic limits. They will adopt only if the orphans are related, and even then it's a rare occurrence.
Over two decades, the research team has come across only five cases of adoption.
"That's five cases out of the thousands of litters that have been born since the project began," said McAdam. "Adoption does happen, but it's rare."
Jamie Gorrell, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, identified 34 cases of potential adoption over 20 years. An adoption is possible only if the mother dies and a nearby squirrel is also nursing.
"We discovered relatedness plays a critical role in whether a neighbouring squirrel will adopt or not," said McAdam.
In all five adoption scenarios, the pups were nieces, nephews, siblings or grandchildren to the adoptive mother.
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The What? Collider
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627621.400-those-unrelated-related-items.html
THE Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, seems fated to suffer misnomers. We reported on 13 February that it got called the Large Hadron Colander in a London pub quiz.
Now Richard Walder tells us that there is an exhibition of artworks at the De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea on the English south coast, with the theme "The artist and the role of science in the search for the 'God particle'". It features photographs of colliders and particle smashers from around the world, one of which has this caption: "Shown here is the 27-kilometre underground tunnel on the French/Swiss border known to science as 'The Large Hardon' collider". It was only a matter of time.
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THE Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, seems fated to suffer misnomers. We reported on 13 February that it got called the Large Hadron Colander in a London pub quiz.
Now Richard Walder tells us that there is an exhibition of artworks at the De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea on the English south coast, with the theme "The artist and the role of science in the search for the 'God particle'". It features photographs of colliders and particle smashers from around the world, one of which has this caption: "Shown here is the 27-kilometre underground tunnel on the French/Swiss border known to science as 'The Large Hardon' collider". It was only a matter of time.
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Tuesday, June 01, 2010
US tent cities highlight new realities as recession wears on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/26/tent-city-california-recession-economy
Oliver Burkeman in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 March 2009 19.18 GMT
For years, Joan Burke has had to battle the fact that homelessness, for most Americans, is an invisible scourge. Recently, however, invisibility hasn't exactly been the problem.
Ten minutes' walk from where she works, at the homelessness charity Loaves and Fishes, in Sacramento, California, lies an all-too-visible "tent city" - a shanty town, built on wasteground beside railway tracks, that has become one of the most prominent symbols of the recession.
Tent cities reminiscent of the "Hoovervilles" of the Great Depression have been springing up in cities across the United States - from Reno in Nevada to Tampa in Florida - as foreclosures and redundancies force middle-class families from their homes.
"Where the tent city is now is literally a toxic waste dump, it's unsafe, but these people are very resourceful," Burke said. "Some people are living in squalor, with just a tarp tied to a chainlink fence. But then you'll see someone with several tents: The tent they live in, plus some outbuilding tents. And they couldn't be more neat and more tidy. They're working hard to create a sense of home."
Many of the 200 residents of Sacramento's Tent City, as with those around the country, are not recent victims of the downturn: They are the chronically homeless, some of them mentally ill. But the encampment seized national attention after Oprah Winfrey featured it on her daytime television show, part of a series of reports she has been running on the "new faces" of homelessness.
Embarrassed by an influx of television crews, Arnold Schwarzenegger this week announced plans to house the tent-dwellers in a nearby convention centre until a $1m (£690,000) plan for more permanent shelter can be implemented.
The California governor told reporters he had "personally delivered a letter to President Barack Obama last week, to request that economic stimulus funds for the homeless be fast-tracked".
Obama grappled with the phenomenon on Tuesday, when a reporter at his primetime news conference asked him about the "tent cities sprouting up across the country". The president said he was "heartbroken that any child in America is homeless", adding: "The most important thing I can do on their behalf is to make sure their parents have a job."
In both the number and types of inhabitants, the new tent cities do not equate to the homelessness of the 1930s. But the symbolism is powerful, and may have significant political consequences. It was not all that far from Sacramento, or from Fresno - home to another Californian tent city - that the celebrated Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange took her haunting photos of families living in makeshift camps, forced west by the collapsed economy and the Dust Bowl further east.
"We all take care of each other," Michelle Holbrook, a 34-year-old resident of the Sacramento camp who lost her job as a carer, told the San Jose Mercury News. "I've become the camp mother: I do most of the cooking, and make hot water for coffee." A resident of Reno's tent city, Tammy, said: "We eat things that other people throw out, or whatever ... It's really embarrassing to say, but that's the way it sometimes is out here." Another Reno tent-dweller, Jim, told one of Oprah's reporters it was "like learning how to live all over again".
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Oliver Burkeman in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 March 2009 19.18 GMT
For years, Joan Burke has had to battle the fact that homelessness, for most Americans, is an invisible scourge. Recently, however, invisibility hasn't exactly been the problem.
Ten minutes' walk from where she works, at the homelessness charity Loaves and Fishes, in Sacramento, California, lies an all-too-visible "tent city" - a shanty town, built on wasteground beside railway tracks, that has become one of the most prominent symbols of the recession.
Tent cities reminiscent of the "Hoovervilles" of the Great Depression have been springing up in cities across the United States - from Reno in Nevada to Tampa in Florida - as foreclosures and redundancies force middle-class families from their homes.
"Where the tent city is now is literally a toxic waste dump, it's unsafe, but these people are very resourceful," Burke said. "Some people are living in squalor, with just a tarp tied to a chainlink fence. But then you'll see someone with several tents: The tent they live in, plus some outbuilding tents. And they couldn't be more neat and more tidy. They're working hard to create a sense of home."
Many of the 200 residents of Sacramento's Tent City, as with those around the country, are not recent victims of the downturn: They are the chronically homeless, some of them mentally ill. But the encampment seized national attention after Oprah Winfrey featured it on her daytime television show, part of a series of reports she has been running on the "new faces" of homelessness.
Embarrassed by an influx of television crews, Arnold Schwarzenegger this week announced plans to house the tent-dwellers in a nearby convention centre until a $1m (£690,000) plan for more permanent shelter can be implemented.
The California governor told reporters he had "personally delivered a letter to President Barack Obama last week, to request that economic stimulus funds for the homeless be fast-tracked".
Obama grappled with the phenomenon on Tuesday, when a reporter at his primetime news conference asked him about the "tent cities sprouting up across the country". The president said he was "heartbroken that any child in America is homeless", adding: "The most important thing I can do on their behalf is to make sure their parents have a job."
In both the number and types of inhabitants, the new tent cities do not equate to the homelessness of the 1930s. But the symbolism is powerful, and may have significant political consequences. It was not all that far from Sacramento, or from Fresno - home to another Californian tent city - that the celebrated Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange took her haunting photos of families living in makeshift camps, forced west by the collapsed economy and the Dust Bowl further east.
"We all take care of each other," Michelle Holbrook, a 34-year-old resident of the Sacramento camp who lost her job as a carer, told the San Jose Mercury News. "I've become the camp mother: I do most of the cooking, and make hot water for coffee." A resident of Reno's tent city, Tammy, said: "We eat things that other people throw out, or whatever ... It's really embarrassing to say, but that's the way it sometimes is out here." Another Reno tent-dweller, Jim, told one of Oprah's reporters it was "like learning how to live all over again".
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The Wage Penalty for State and Local Government Employees
I have been wondering about the claim that state and local government employees appear to earn more than private-sector workers. It certainly doesn't fit with my observations.
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/wage-penalty-2010-05.pdf
John Schmitt
May 2010
As recent reports in the media have emphasized, on average, state and local government employees appear to earn more than private-sector workers.
But, on average, state and local workers are also older and substantially better educated than privatesector workers. Half of state and local employees have a four-year college degree or more, and almost one-fourth have an advanced degree. Less than 30 percent of private-sector workers have a four-year college degree, and less than 10 percent have an advanced degree. The typical state and local worker is also about four years older than the typical private-sector worker.
Sixty percent of state and local government employees are women, compared to 46 percent of employees in the private sector.
When state and local government employees are compared to private-sector workers with similar characteristics – particularly when workers are matched by age and education – state and local workers actually earn 4 percent less, on average, than their private-sector counterparts. For women workers, the public-sector penalty is about 2 percent of earnings; for men, it is about 6 percent of earnings.
The wage penalty for working in the state-and-local sector is particularly large for higher-wage workers. While low-wage workers receive a small wage premium in state-and-local jobs (about 6 percent for a typical low-wage worker), the typical middle-wage worker earns about 4 percent less in state-and-local work, and the typical high-wage worker makes about 11 percent less than a similar private-sector worker
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(government wages)
50 no-sweat ways to burn calories
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37378884/ns/health-womens_health/
By Brooke Le Poer Trench
Image: allure
updated 8:47 a.m. ET, Tues., June 1, 2010
Women with great bodies have a dirty little secret. Sure, they work out and eat well — but they also sneakily burn hundreds more calories than everyone else. From the outside, they don't seem to be doing anything particularly strenuous. "You wouldn't believe how many straightforward ways there are to burn calories," says Lauren Slayton, director of foodtrainers.net. "But it's easy to miss the opportunities if you're not looking for them."
Research has shown that swapping sedentary habits, such as watching television, for pretty much anything that doesn't involve sitting down can make a world of difference. "Most people don't realize that a little extra effort can yield great results," says Steven Wheelock, a trainer at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts.
The experts we consulted explain how to take every opportunity to flex your muscles, boost your heart rate, and eat foods that yield maximum fullness for minimal calories. Just don't tell anyone.
1. Take vitamin D
Women who were deficient in it lost weight more slowly in a study in the British Journal of Nutrition. Stephen Gullo, a weight-loss expert in New York City and author of "The Thin Commandments" (Rodale), recommends 2,000 milligrams daily.
2. Drink coffee
Studies have found that caffeine increases the rate at which you burn calories, according to Susan B. Roberts, author of "The 'I' Diet" (Workman) and a professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University in Boston.
3. Sleep more
Getting fewer than four hours of sleep over an extended period of time slows the metabolism. Experts recommend aiming for between seven and nine.
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By Brooke Le Poer Trench
Image: allure
updated 8:47 a.m. ET, Tues., June 1, 2010
Women with great bodies have a dirty little secret. Sure, they work out and eat well — but they also sneakily burn hundreds more calories than everyone else. From the outside, they don't seem to be doing anything particularly strenuous. "You wouldn't believe how many straightforward ways there are to burn calories," says Lauren Slayton, director of foodtrainers.net. "But it's easy to miss the opportunities if you're not looking for them."
Research has shown that swapping sedentary habits, such as watching television, for pretty much anything that doesn't involve sitting down can make a world of difference. "Most people don't realize that a little extra effort can yield great results," says Steven Wheelock, a trainer at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts.
The experts we consulted explain how to take every opportunity to flex your muscles, boost your heart rate, and eat foods that yield maximum fullness for minimal calories. Just don't tell anyone.
1. Take vitamin D
Women who were deficient in it lost weight more slowly in a study in the British Journal of Nutrition. Stephen Gullo, a weight-loss expert in New York City and author of "The Thin Commandments" (Rodale), recommends 2,000 milligrams daily.
2. Drink coffee
Studies have found that caffeine increases the rate at which you burn calories, according to Susan B. Roberts, author of "The 'I' Diet" (Workman) and a professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University in Boston.
3. Sleep more
Getting fewer than four hours of sleep over an extended period of time slows the metabolism. Experts recommend aiming for between seven and nine.
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An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
I think the following comment from another blog is worth sharing.
I would also add that the BP oil blowout is an example of over-active optimism.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/05/why-obama-should-put-bp-under-temporary-receivership.html
bakho said in reply to me...
The only certain way to stop the leak is to drill a relief well. That is the way they stopped the last one (in Mexico) and that took 9 months to stop. The current relief well will take at least until August. Everything else is like Apollo 13, but much more complicated. They have drilled into Pandora's box. The blowout preventer was Plan B. Plan C is drilling a relief well. Plan C requires months to complete.
They are working over 5000 feet under the sea. Only the Big oil companies have much experience down there. The US government has little expertise in drilling. All the expertise and the drilling equipment and the deep underwater equipment designed for drilling is in the hands of Big Oil.
All the oil companies are chipping in because the spill is a major political disaster that threatens all their oil leases.
Granted the top management at BP is probably MBA types and not engineers. However, in a government takeover, there would have to be a reporting structure. It would have to be someone familiar enough with undersea oil drilling to communicate effectively with the engineers and approve or deny proposals.
The reason why those rigs have blowout preventers is precisely because a leak like this cannot be stopped after the fact in a timely fashion any other way. Since the blowout preventer is not functional, they are screwed.
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of remediation." This is another case where prevention must work because remediation is too slow and not always possible.
Reply May 31, 2010 at 08:48 PM
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Memorial Day
Memorial Day makes me sad for those who died for our country, as well as grateful to them.
And it also makes me sad that our species is still so dumb and immature that we still have wars.
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And it also makes me sad that our species is still so dumb and immature that we still have wars.
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Friday, May 28, 2010
Comment language
Someone left a comment for the post "Big corporations work to kill unemployment benefit."
I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm hoping you will re-post your comment with language that is more appropriate to the tone I try to have for this blog, and less offensive to some people. I don't care if some people are offended by your sentiment, I'm talking about a word that many would be offended by.
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I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm hoping you will re-post your comment with language that is more appropriate to the tone I try to have for this blog, and less offensive to some people. I don't care if some people are offended by your sentiment, I'm talking about a word that many would be offended by.
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Ocean Stored Significant Warming Over Last 16 Years
This will probably mean stronger hurricanes.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100521192533.htm
ScienceDaily (May 22, 2010) — The upper layer of the world's ocean has warmed since 1993, indicating a strong climate change signal, according to a new study. The energy stored is enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs per each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet.
"We are seeing the global ocean store more heat than it gives off," said John Lyman, an oceanographer at NOAA's Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, who led an international team of scientists that analyzed nine different estimates of heat content in the upper ocean from 1993 to 2008.
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"The ocean is the biggest reservoir for heat in the climate system," said Josh Willis, an oceanographer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and one of the scientists who contributed to the study. "So as the planet warms, we're finding that 80 to 90 percent of the increased heat ends up in the ocean."
A warming ocean is a direct cause of global sea level rise, since seawater expands and takes up more space as it heats up. The scientists say that this expansion accounts for about one-third to one-half of global sea level rise.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100521192533.htm
ScienceDaily (May 22, 2010) — The upper layer of the world's ocean has warmed since 1993, indicating a strong climate change signal, according to a new study. The energy stored is enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs per each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet.
"We are seeing the global ocean store more heat than it gives off," said John Lyman, an oceanographer at NOAA's Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, who led an international team of scientists that analyzed nine different estimates of heat content in the upper ocean from 1993 to 2008.
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"The ocean is the biggest reservoir for heat in the climate system," said Josh Willis, an oceanographer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and one of the scientists who contributed to the study. "So as the planet warms, we're finding that 80 to 90 percent of the increased heat ends up in the ocean."
A warming ocean is a direct cause of global sea level rise, since seawater expands and takes up more space as it heats up. The scientists say that this expansion accounts for about one-third to one-half of global sea level rise.
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Dangerous Lung Worms Found in People Who Eat Raw Crayfish
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100525171319.htm
ScienceDaily (May 26, 2010) — If you're headed to a freshwater stream this summer and a friend dares you to eat a raw crayfish -- don't do it. You could end up in the hospital with a severe parasitic infection.
Physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have diagnosed a rare parasitic infection in six people who had consumed raw crayfish from streams and rivers in Missouri. The cases occurred over the past three years, but three have been diagnosed since last September; the latest in April. Before these six, only seven such cases had ever been reported in North America, where the parasite, Paragonimus kellicotti, is common in crayfish.
"The infection, called paragonimiasis, is very rare, so it's extremely unusual to see this many cases in one medical center in a relatively short period of time," says Washington University infectious diseases specialist Gary Weil, MD, professor of medicine and of molecular microbiology, who treated some of the patients. "We are almost certain there are other people out there with the infection who haven't been diagnosed. That's why we want to get the word out."
Paragonimiasis causes fever, cough, chest pain, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. The infection is generally not fatal, and it is easily treated if properly diagnosed. But the illness is so unusual that most doctors are not aware of it. Most of the patients had received multiple treatments for pneumonia and undergone invasive procedures before they were referred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital or St. Louis Children's Hospital at Washington University Medical Center.
ScienceDaily (May 26, 2010) — If you're headed to a freshwater stream this summer and a friend dares you to eat a raw crayfish -- don't do it. You could end up in the hospital with a severe parasitic infection.
Physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have diagnosed a rare parasitic infection in six people who had consumed raw crayfish from streams and rivers in Missouri. The cases occurred over the past three years, but three have been diagnosed since last September; the latest in April. Before these six, only seven such cases had ever been reported in North America, where the parasite, Paragonimus kellicotti, is common in crayfish.
"The infection, called paragonimiasis, is very rare, so it's extremely unusual to see this many cases in one medical center in a relatively short period of time," says Washington University infectious diseases specialist Gary Weil, MD, professor of medicine and of molecular microbiology, who treated some of the patients. "We are almost certain there are other people out there with the infection who haven't been diagnosed. That's why we want to get the word out."
Paragonimiasis causes fever, cough, chest pain, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. The infection is generally not fatal, and it is easily treated if properly diagnosed. But the illness is so unusual that most doctors are not aware of it. Most of the patients had received multiple treatments for pneumonia and undergone invasive procedures before they were referred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital or St. Louis Children's Hospital at Washington University Medical Center.
FDA: Some heartburn meds pose long-term fracture risk
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/26/heartburn.medication.fractures/index.html?hpt=Sbin
(CNN) -- Some heartburn medications could increase the risk of hip, wrist and spine fractures in high doses or with long-term use, the Food and Drug Administration warned.
Such so-called proton pump inhibitors are used for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, stomach and small intestine ulcers and inflammation of the esophagus, along with frequent heartburn.
They include esomeprazole, sold under the brand name Nexium, dexlansoprazole (Dexilant). lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec, Zegerid), pantoprazole (Protonix) and rabeprazole (Aciphex). Over-the-counter versions include omeprazole (Prilosec OTC, Zegerid OTC) and lansoprazole (Prevacid 24HR).
The product labeling will be changed to describe the possible increased risk, the FDA said in a statement Tuesday.
"Epidemiology studies suggest a possible increased risk of bone fractures with the use of proton pump inhibitors for one year or longer, or at high doses," said Dr. Joyce Korvick, deputy director for safety in FDA's Division of Gastroenterology Products.
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(CNN) -- Some heartburn medications could increase the risk of hip, wrist and spine fractures in high doses or with long-term use, the Food and Drug Administration warned.
Such so-called proton pump inhibitors are used for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, stomach and small intestine ulcers and inflammation of the esophagus, along with frequent heartburn.
They include esomeprazole, sold under the brand name Nexium, dexlansoprazole (Dexilant). lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec, Zegerid), pantoprazole (Protonix) and rabeprazole (Aciphex). Over-the-counter versions include omeprazole (Prilosec OTC, Zegerid OTC) and lansoprazole (Prevacid 24HR).
The product labeling will be changed to describe the possible increased risk, the FDA said in a statement Tuesday.
"Epidemiology studies suggest a possible increased risk of bone fractures with the use of proton pump inhibitors for one year or longer, or at high doses," said Dr. Joyce Korvick, deputy director for safety in FDA's Division of Gastroenterology Products.
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Anorexia brain shrinkage reversible
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37377651/ns/health-womens_health/
updated 11:05 a.m. ET, Thurs., May 27, 2010
Anorexics who lose excessive weight can also see a shrinking in the brain's gray matter. But new research suggests when they reach a healthy body size they also pack on the gray matter volume.
The eating disorder officially known as anorexia nervosa, in which an individual starves him or herself or binges and purges, can lead to all sorts of problems as the person becomes malnourished.
"Anorexia nervosa wreaks havoc on many different parts of the body, including the brain," said study team leader Christina Roberto of Yale University.
Past research has shown that anorexics who had maintained a healthy body weight for at least a year didn't show significant differences in brain volume compared with their counterparts without an eating disorder, suggesting any neural deficits had been rectified. But how fast the matter returns and how this happens over time were not known.
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"Within a few weeks a little over a month we started to see that reversal. Their gray matter didn't fully normalize, but another study suggests if a patient maintains that weight over time it probably will fully normalize."
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In terms of full recovery from the disorder, Roberto said overall about one-third of sufferers get better fully, one-third struggle over time, and one-third remain chronically ill.
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updated 11:05 a.m. ET, Thurs., May 27, 2010
Anorexics who lose excessive weight can also see a shrinking in the brain's gray matter. But new research suggests when they reach a healthy body size they also pack on the gray matter volume.
The eating disorder officially known as anorexia nervosa, in which an individual starves him or herself or binges and purges, can lead to all sorts of problems as the person becomes malnourished.
"Anorexia nervosa wreaks havoc on many different parts of the body, including the brain," said study team leader Christina Roberto of Yale University.
Past research has shown that anorexics who had maintained a healthy body weight for at least a year didn't show significant differences in brain volume compared with their counterparts without an eating disorder, suggesting any neural deficits had been rectified. But how fast the matter returns and how this happens over time were not known.
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"Within a few weeks a little over a month we started to see that reversal. Their gray matter didn't fully normalize, but another study suggests if a patient maintains that weight over time it probably will fully normalize."
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In terms of full recovery from the disorder, Roberto said overall about one-third of sufferers get better fully, one-third struggle over time, and one-third remain chronically ill.
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Thursday, May 27, 2010
2010 Atlantic hurricane season forecast
I noticed that the media account did not mention the factor of the record level sea surface temperatures.http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1493
Posted by: JeffMasters, 3:29 PM GMT on May 27, 2010
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its 2010 Atlantic hurricane season forecast today. NOAA forecasts a very active and possibly hyperactive season. They give an 85% chance of an above-normal season, a 10% chance of a near-normal season, and just a 5% chance of a below-normal season. NOAA predicts a 70% chance that there will be 14 - 23 named storms, 8 - 14 hurricanes, and 3 - 7 major hurricanes, with an Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) in the 155% - 270% of normal range. If we take the midpoint of these numbers, NOAA is calling for 18.5 named storms, 11 hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes, and an ACE index 210% of normal. A season with an ACE index over 175% is considered "hyperactive." An average season has 10 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 intense hurricanes. The forecasters note that in regards to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,
"Historically, all above normal seasons have produced at least one named storm in the Gulf of Mexico, and 95% of those seasons have at least two named storms in the Gulf. Most of this activity (80%) occurs during August-October. However, 50% of above normal seasons have had at least one named storm in the region during June-July."
The forecasters cited the following main factors that will influence the coming season:
1) Expected above-average SSTs [SST = Sea Surface Temperatures] in the hurricane Main Development Region (MDR), from the Caribbean to the coast of Africa. SSTs in the MDR are currently at record levels, and the forecasters note that several climate models are predicting record or near-record SSTs during the peak portion of hurricane season (August - October.) "Two other instances of very warm SSTs have been observed in the MDR during February-April (1958 and 1969). In both years, the SST anomaly subsequently decreased by roughly 50% during the summer months. For 2010, although the record SST departures may well decrease somewhat, we still expect a continuation of above average SSTs throughout the Atlantic hurricane season. "
2) We are in an active period of hurricane activity that began in 1995, thanks to a natural decades-long cycle in hurricane activity called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). "During 1995-2009, some key aspects of the tropical multi-decadal signal within the MDR have included warmer than average SSTs, reduced vertical wind shear and weaker easterly trade winds, below-average sea-level pressure, and a configuration of the African easterly jet that is more conducive to hurricane development from tropical waves moving off the African coast. Many of these atmospheric features typically become evident during late April and May, as the atmosphere across the tropical Atlantic and Africa begins to transition into its summertime monsoon state."
3) There will either be La Niña or neutral conditions in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific. El Niño is gone, and it's demise will likely act to decrease wind shear over the tropical Atlantic, allowing more hurricanes to form. "La Niña contributes to reduced vertical wind shear over the western tropical Atlantic which, when combined with conditions associated with the ongoing high activity era and warm Atlantic SSTs, increases the probability of an exceptionally active Atlantic hurricane season (Bell and Chelliah 2006). NOAA's high-resolution CFS model indicates the development of La Niña-like circulation and precipitation anomalies during July."
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Government warns of worst hurricane season since 2005
According to the "reasoning" of global warming deniers, the government and individuals should not prepare ahead of time for a heavy hurricane season because scientists cannot give exact forecasts.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100527/us_nm/us_hurricane_forecast;_ylt=AvkR8eM201sKr5c4q71iKeas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpc29ubnZkBHBvcwM0MARzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDZ292ZXJubWVudHdh
By Christopher Doering Christopher Doering – Thu May 27, 1:12 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Atlantic storm season may be the most intense since 2005, when Hurricane Katrina killed over a thousand people after crashing through Gulf of Mexico energy facilities, the U.S. government's top climate agency predicted on Thursday.
In its first forecast for the storm season that begins next Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast 14 to 23 named storms, with 8 to 14 developing into hurricanes, nearly matching 2005's record of 15.
Three to seven of those could be major Category 3 or above hurricanes, with winds of more than 110 miles per hour (177 km per hour), the agency said, echoing earlier predictions from meteorologists for a particularly severe season that could disrupt U.S. oil, gas and refinery operations.
"If this outlook holds true, this season could be one of the more active on record," said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's administrator. "The greater likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a landfall."
In addition to the risk that major hurricanes can pose to about one-quarter of U.S. oil production and more than a 10th of natural gas output offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, this year's storms could threaten to complicate efforts to combat the environmental disaster of BP's gushing oil well.
The hurricane season officially starts on June 1 and typically peaks between late August and mid-October. An average Atlantic hurricane season brings 11 tropical storms with six hurricanes, including two major hurricanes, NOAA said.
The 2009 season, which had only three hurricanes and was the quietest year since 1997 due in part to the weather anomaly El Nino, followed several years of unusually intense activity that was particularly disruptive for U.S. energy supplies.
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BP Reportedly Preventing Fishermen from Wearing Respirators
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/27/coast_guard_grounds_ships_involved_in
At least seven fishermen involved in the cleanup of the BP oil spill were hospitalized on Wednesday after reporting nausea, dizziness, headaches and chest pains. The fishermen were likely exposed to both the leaked oil and chemical dispersants. As a precautionary measure, the Coast Guard has ordered all 125 commercial ships helping with the cleanup to return to land. For weeks, cleanup crews hired by BP have been reporting health issues, but their complaints have largely been ignored. We speak to Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, and Albert Huang, an environmental justice attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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For weeks, cleanup crews hired by BP have been reporting health issues, but their complaints have largely been ignored. As recently as Tuesday, BP spokesperson Graham MacEwen told the Los Angeles Times he was unaware of any health complaints among cleanup workers. BP has refused to provide respirators to many hired fishermen, and the company has reportedly threatened to fire workers who use their own respirators on the job.
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AMY GOODMAN: What about respirators? Are people wearing respirators?
CLINT GUIDRY: No, ma’am. Having had prior experience, I know these people. They’re friends. They’re family. I bought respirators, and I brought them down to these people. And when they tried to wear them, the BP representatives on site told them that it wasn’t a dangerous situation, and they didn’t need to wear them, and if they did, they would be taken off the job.
AMY GOODMAN: If they wore respirators, they’d be taken off the job?
CLINT GUIDRY: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Why?
CLINT GUIDRY: Because BP lies, and BP protects BP. And that is the biggest problem we have in the south of Louisiana right now, is BP, with its big oil big money, is buying up all the cover—and when I say "cover" I mean camouflage—that they can to try to make a little of the situation, not only environmentally, but health-wise. This is ridiculous.
AMY GOODMAN: But how does wearing respirators threaten BP? How do the workers, the cleanup crews, wearing respirators, how does that threaten BP?
CLINT GUIDRY: If you would do your research, the same situation occurred with Exxon Valdez over twenty years ago. It is a question of liability. The minute BP declares that there is a respiratory danger on the situation is the day that they let the door open for liability suits down the line. If they could have gotten away with covering this up, like they did in Alaska Valdez situation, like Exxon, they would not have to pay a penny for any kind of health-related claims.
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At least seven fishermen involved in the cleanup of the BP oil spill were hospitalized on Wednesday after reporting nausea, dizziness, headaches and chest pains. The fishermen were likely exposed to both the leaked oil and chemical dispersants. As a precautionary measure, the Coast Guard has ordered all 125 commercial ships helping with the cleanup to return to land. For weeks, cleanup crews hired by BP have been reporting health issues, but their complaints have largely been ignored. We speak to Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, and Albert Huang, an environmental justice attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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For weeks, cleanup crews hired by BP have been reporting health issues, but their complaints have largely been ignored. As recently as Tuesday, BP spokesperson Graham MacEwen told the Los Angeles Times he was unaware of any health complaints among cleanup workers. BP has refused to provide respirators to many hired fishermen, and the company has reportedly threatened to fire workers who use their own respirators on the job.
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AMY GOODMAN: What about respirators? Are people wearing respirators?
CLINT GUIDRY: No, ma’am. Having had prior experience, I know these people. They’re friends. They’re family. I bought respirators, and I brought them down to these people. And when they tried to wear them, the BP representatives on site told them that it wasn’t a dangerous situation, and they didn’t need to wear them, and if they did, they would be taken off the job.
AMY GOODMAN: If they wore respirators, they’d be taken off the job?
CLINT GUIDRY: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Why?
CLINT GUIDRY: Because BP lies, and BP protects BP. And that is the biggest problem we have in the south of Louisiana right now, is BP, with its big oil big money, is buying up all the cover—and when I say "cover" I mean camouflage—that they can to try to make a little of the situation, not only environmentally, but health-wise. This is ridiculous.
AMY GOODMAN: But how does wearing respirators threaten BP? How do the workers, the cleanup crews, wearing respirators, how does that threaten BP?
CLINT GUIDRY: If you would do your research, the same situation occurred with Exxon Valdez over twenty years ago. It is a question of liability. The minute BP declares that there is a respiratory danger on the situation is the day that they let the door open for liability suits down the line. If they could have gotten away with covering this up, like they did in Alaska Valdez situation, like Exxon, they would not have to pay a penny for any kind of health-related claims.
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Oil recovery workers remain hospitalized
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/27/gulf.oil.spill.sickness/index.html?hpt=Sbin
May 27, 2010 2:30 p.m. EDT
Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- Seven oil spill recovery workers who complained of feeling ill remained hospitalized in a New Orleans suburb Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
All seven were at West Jefferson Medical Center, said spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo. The symptoms they had complained of -- dizziness, nausea and headaches -- have somewhat subsided, and they are in good spirits and under observation, she said.
About 10 workers complained of feeling ill Wednesday, prompting officials to recall more than 100 boats from an area adjacent to the Mississippi River delta. Lisa Faust with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said she believes as many as five were treated at the scene.
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The Unified Command -- a coalition of agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior and the National Parks Service -- said Wednesday it recalled 125 vessels from Breton Sound, which lies about 50 miles southeast of New Orleans.
"No other personnel are reporting symptoms, but we are taking this action as an extreme safeguard," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Robinson Cox.
The vessels were involved in cleaning up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico since April, when an oil rig sank about 40 miles south of Louisiana, opening up a leak that has been gushing crude oil into the water.
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May 27, 2010 2:30 p.m. EDT
Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- Seven oil spill recovery workers who complained of feeling ill remained hospitalized in a New Orleans suburb Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
All seven were at West Jefferson Medical Center, said spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo. The symptoms they had complained of -- dizziness, nausea and headaches -- have somewhat subsided, and they are in good spirits and under observation, she said.
About 10 workers complained of feeling ill Wednesday, prompting officials to recall more than 100 boats from an area adjacent to the Mississippi River delta. Lisa Faust with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said she believes as many as five were treated at the scene.
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The Unified Command -- a coalition of agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior and the National Parks Service -- said Wednesday it recalled 125 vessels from Breton Sound, which lies about 50 miles southeast of New Orleans.
"No other personnel are reporting symptoms, but we are taking this action as an extreme safeguard," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Robinson Cox.
The vessels were involved in cleaning up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico since April, when an oil rig sank about 40 miles south of Louisiana, opening up a leak that has been gushing crude oil into the water.
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Companies, hospitals move away from toxic material
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/26/abandoning.pvc/index.html?hpt=Sbin
By David S. Martin, CNN Senior Medical Producer
May 26, 2010 8:04 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Worried about toxic waste and chemical exposure, more and more companies and hospitals are moving away from polyvinyl chloride.
PVC is used in everything from home siding, pipes and flooring to school supplies, car interiors and packaging, electrical cords and medical tubing. But making or burning PVC waste produces dioxins, cancer-causing chemicals that are among the most toxic substances known.
"Our concerns about the ways in which PVC can be disposed of, burned for example ... caused us to begin eliminating PVC from our products," Hewlett-Packard's Tony Prophet said. The computer giant launched its first PVC-free notebook computer last year.
Microsoft, Honda, Wal-Mart, Target and Nike are among other large corporations moving away from polyvinyl chloride, said Mike Schade, the PVC campaign coordinator for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.
"There's been a major market shift away from PVC in just about every major sector of the economy," Schade said.
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By David S. Martin, CNN Senior Medical Producer
May 26, 2010 8:04 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Worried about toxic waste and chemical exposure, more and more companies and hospitals are moving away from polyvinyl chloride.
PVC is used in everything from home siding, pipes and flooring to school supplies, car interiors and packaging, electrical cords and medical tubing. But making or burning PVC waste produces dioxins, cancer-causing chemicals that are among the most toxic substances known.
"Our concerns about the ways in which PVC can be disposed of, burned for example ... caused us to begin eliminating PVC from our products," Hewlett-Packard's Tony Prophet said. The computer giant launched its first PVC-free notebook computer last year.
Microsoft, Honda, Wal-Mart, Target and Nike are among other large corporations moving away from polyvinyl chloride, said Mike Schade, the PVC campaign coordinator for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.
"There's been a major market shift away from PVC in just about every major sector of the economy," Schade said.
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Man infects himself with computer virus
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37360942/ns/technology_and_science-security/
By Adam Hadhazy
updated 2:34 p.m. ET, Wed., May 26, 2010
University of Reading researcher Mark Gasson has become the first human known to be infected by a computer virus.
The virus, infecting a chip implanted in Gasson's hand, passed into a laboratory computer. From there, the infection could have spread into other computer chips found in building access cards.
All this was intentional, in an experiment to see how simple radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips like those used for tracking animals can host and spread technological diseases.
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By Adam Hadhazy
updated 2:34 p.m. ET, Wed., May 26, 2010
University of Reading researcher Mark Gasson has become the first human known to be infected by a computer virus.
The virus, infecting a chip implanted in Gasson's hand, passed into a laboratory computer. From there, the infection could have spread into other computer chips found in building access cards.
All this was intentional, in an experiment to see how simple radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips like those used for tracking animals can host and spread technological diseases.
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Martin Gardner, the Mathematical Gamester (1914-2010)
I well remember the article on flexagons he wrote for Scientific American. I enjoyed making some and decorating them to see how they would change when flexed.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=profile-of-martin-gardner
For 25 years, he wrote Scientific American's Mathematical Games column, educating and entertaining minds and launching the careers of generations of mathematicians
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=profile-of-martin-gardner
For 25 years, he wrote Scientific American's Mathematical Games column, educating and entertaining minds and launching the careers of generations of mathematicians
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TV host Art Linkletter dies at 97
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37362082/ns/today-entertainment/
By Lynn Elber
updated 5/26/2010 3:58:00 PM
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LOS ANGELES — Art Linkletter, who as the gently mischievous host of TV's "People Are Funny" and "House Party" in the 1950s and '60s delighted viewers with his ability to get kids — and grownups — to say the darndest things on national television, died Wednesday. He was 97.
Linkletter died at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, said his son-in-law, Art Hershey, the husband of Sharon Linkletter.
"He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him," Hershey said.
Linkletter had been ill "in the last few weeks time, but bear in mind he was 97 years old. He wasn't eating well, and the aging process took him," Hershey said.
Linkletter hadn't been diagnosed with any life-threatening disease, he said.
Linkletter was known on TV for his funny interviews with children and ordinary folks. He also collected their comments in a number of best-selling books.
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By Lynn Elber
updated 5/26/2010 3:58:00 PM
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LOS ANGELES — Art Linkletter, who as the gently mischievous host of TV's "People Are Funny" and "House Party" in the 1950s and '60s delighted viewers with his ability to get kids — and grownups — to say the darndest things on national television, died Wednesday. He was 97.
Linkletter died at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, said his son-in-law, Art Hershey, the husband of Sharon Linkletter.
"He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him," Hershey said.
Linkletter had been ill "in the last few weeks time, but bear in mind he was 97 years old. He wasn't eating well, and the aging process took him," Hershey said.
Linkletter hadn't been diagnosed with any life-threatening disease, he said.
Linkletter was known on TV for his funny interviews with children and ordinary folks. He also collected their comments in a number of best-selling books.
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Caffeine May Slow Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, Restore Cognitive Function
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100517111937.htm
ScienceDaily (May 18, 2010) — Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
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"Epidemiological studies first revealed an inverse association between the chronic consumption of caffeine and the incidence of Parkinson's disease," according to Mendonça and Cunha. "This was paralleled by animal studies of Parkinson's disease showing that caffeine prevented motor deficits as well as neurodegeneration "Later a few epidemiological studies showed that the consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine was inversely associated with the cognitive decline associated with aging as well as the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Again, this was paralleled by animal studies showing that chronic caffeine administration prevented memory deterioration and neurodegeneration in animal models of aging and of Alzheimer's disease."
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ScienceDaily (May 18, 2010) — Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
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"Epidemiological studies first revealed an inverse association between the chronic consumption of caffeine and the incidence of Parkinson's disease," according to Mendonça and Cunha. "This was paralleled by animal studies of Parkinson's disease showing that caffeine prevented motor deficits as well as neurodegeneration "Later a few epidemiological studies showed that the consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine was inversely associated with the cognitive decline associated with aging as well as the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Again, this was paralleled by animal studies showing that chronic caffeine administration prevented memory deterioration and neurodegeneration in animal models of aging and of Alzheimer's disease."
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Media Ignore The Fact That Man Who Alerted Police To Failed Times Square Bombing Is A Muslim Immigrant
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/05/senagalese-muslim-vendor/
The chief suspect in the case of the failed Times Square car bombing is Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, who has confessed to the plot. Much of the media has latched onto Shahzad’s Muslim faith and his Pakistani identity, making inflammatory remarks and suggestions about Muslims and Pakistanis:
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Yet one fact being ignored in the American media’s sensationalist narrative about the failed bombing is that the man who was responsible for police finding the bomb was Muslim. The UK’s Times Online reports that Aliou Niasse, a Senagalese Muslim immigrant who works as a photograph vendor on Times Square, was the first to bring the smoking car to the police’s attention:
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The chief suspect in the case of the failed Times Square car bombing is Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, who has confessed to the plot. Much of the media has latched onto Shahzad’s Muslim faith and his Pakistani identity, making inflammatory remarks and suggestions about Muslims and Pakistanis:
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Yet one fact being ignored in the American media’s sensationalist narrative about the failed bombing is that the man who was responsible for police finding the bomb was Muslim. The UK’s Times Online reports that Aliou Niasse, a Senagalese Muslim immigrant who works as a photograph vendor on Times Square, was the first to bring the smoking car to the police’s attention:
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Copycat Behavior in Children Is Universal and May Help Promote Human Culture
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503135705.htm
ScienceDaily (May 26, 2010) — Children learn a great deal by imitating adults. A new study of Australian preschoolers and Kalahari Bushman children finds that a particular kind of imitation -- overimitation, in which a child copies everything an adult shows them, not just the steps that lead to some outcome -- appears to be a universal human activity, rather than something the children of middle-class parents pick up. The work helps shed light on how humans develop and transmit culture.
Scientists "have been finding this odd effect where children will copy everything that they see an adult demonstrate to them, even if there are clear or obvious reasons why those actions would be irrelevant," says psychologist Mark Nielsen, of the University of Queensland in Australia. "It's something that we know that other primates don't do." If a chimpanzee is shown an irrelevant action, they won't copy it -- they'll skip right to the action that makes something happen.
ScienceDaily (May 26, 2010) — Children learn a great deal by imitating adults. A new study of Australian preschoolers and Kalahari Bushman children finds that a particular kind of imitation -- overimitation, in which a child copies everything an adult shows them, not just the steps that lead to some outcome -- appears to be a universal human activity, rather than something the children of middle-class parents pick up. The work helps shed light on how humans develop and transmit culture.
Scientists "have been finding this odd effect where children will copy everything that they see an adult demonstrate to them, even if there are clear or obvious reasons why those actions would be irrelevant," says psychologist Mark Nielsen, of the University of Queensland in Australia. "It's something that we know that other primates don't do." If a chimpanzee is shown an irrelevant action, they won't copy it -- they'll skip right to the action that makes something happen.
Pesticide Exposure May Contribute to ADHD
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100517132846.htm
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2010) — A team of scientists from the University of Montreal and Harvard University has discovered that exposure to organophosphate pesticides may be associated with increased risk of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children.
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The authors conclude that exposure to organophosphate pesticides, at levels common among U.S. children, may contribute to a diagnosis of ADHD.
"Previous studies have shown that exposure to some organophosphate compounds cause hyperactivity and cognitive deficits in animals," says lead author Maryse F. Bouchard of the University of Montreal Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center. "Our study found that exposure to organophosphates in developing children might have effects on neural systems and could contribute to ADHD behaviors, such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity."
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ScienceDaily (May 17, 2010) — A team of scientists from the University of Montreal and Harvard University has discovered that exposure to organophosphate pesticides may be associated with increased risk of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children.
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The authors conclude that exposure to organophosphate pesticides, at levels common among U.S. children, may contribute to a diagnosis of ADHD.
"Previous studies have shown that exposure to some organophosphate compounds cause hyperactivity and cognitive deficits in animals," says lead author Maryse F. Bouchard of the University of Montreal Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center. "Our study found that exposure to organophosphates in developing children might have effects on neural systems and could contribute to ADHD behaviors, such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity."
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Kissing kid's owies may benefit health
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37215005/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/
updated 2:16 p.m. ET, Tues., May 18, 2010
A loving mother who kisses her child's boo-boos may be providing more health benefits than she knows.
New research indicates that early childhood experiences can have a lasting effect on health by influencing a person's risk for chronic inflammation, the immune reaction that is the body's first line of defense against disease. Moms who soothe a child can help reduce stress, calming the hormones that can contribute to inflammation, the study suggests.
updated 2:16 p.m. ET, Tues., May 18, 2010
A loving mother who kisses her child's boo-boos may be providing more health benefits than she knows.
New research indicates that early childhood experiences can have a lasting effect on health by influencing a person's risk for chronic inflammation, the immune reaction that is the body's first line of defense against disease. Moms who soothe a child can help reduce stress, calming the hormones that can contribute to inflammation, the study suggests.
Many jobless can not collect unemployment benefits
http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/snapshot_20100520/#When:14:00:26Z
May 20, 2010
By Andrea Orr
(Updated to reflect most recent data)
Millions of the nation’s unemployed are not collecting unemployment benefits and are not eligible to do so under the laws in their state. Despite historically high unemployment, and record levels of long-term unemployment, only 67% of the unemployed workers in the U.S. were collecting unemployment insurance in the fourth quarter of 2009, the most recent quarter for which data are available from the Department of Labor. That “recipiency rate” includes workers receiving benefits under all of the extensions of emergency unemployment insurance that have been passed during the recession. When the recipiency rate is calculated based solely on the standard 26 weeks of unemployment, it drops to 35%: In other words, without the emergency extensions that have been passed, fewer than half of the country’s unemployed would be collecting unemployment. This unemployment insurance “recipiency rate" varies significantly by state. The Map shows the portion of unemployed workers in each state who were receiving benefits in the most recent quarter.
May 20, 2010
By Andrea Orr
(Updated to reflect most recent data)
Millions of the nation’s unemployed are not collecting unemployment benefits and are not eligible to do so under the laws in their state. Despite historically high unemployment, and record levels of long-term unemployment, only 67% of the unemployed workers in the U.S. were collecting unemployment insurance in the fourth quarter of 2009, the most recent quarter for which data are available from the Department of Labor. That “recipiency rate” includes workers receiving benefits under all of the extensions of emergency unemployment insurance that have been passed during the recession. When the recipiency rate is calculated based solely on the standard 26 weeks of unemployment, it drops to 35%: In other words, without the emergency extensions that have been passed, fewer than half of the country’s unemployed would be collecting unemployment. This unemployment insurance “recipiency rate" varies significantly by state. The Map shows the portion of unemployed workers in each state who were receiving benefits in the most recent quarter.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Fox News Video Omits Applause During Obama's West Point Speech
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/25/fox-news-video-omits-appl_n_588447.html
First Posted: 05-25-10 09:03 AM | Updated: 05-25-10 09:03 AM
Fox News video of President Obama's speech this weekend at West Point omits cadets' applause after the President discussed ending the Iraq War.
"WestPt cadets applaud Obama, FoxNews alters tape 2 remove applause," Michael Moore tweeted.
In the official video, seen at bottom, cadets applaud after Obama says, "through their competence and creativity and courage, we are poised to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer."
In the Fox News version of the video, seen below, there is no applause but rather an awkward pause.
Media Matters' Jamison Foser acknowledges that Fox News' microphone may not have picked up the audience applause, but suggests that the network still promoted that section of the clip to make it seem as though Obama's comments were not well received by the cadets:
Now, maybe Fox didn't intentionally remove the audience applause. Maybe Fox's video used a direct feed from Obama's microphone, and it simply didn't pick up audience noise. But if Fox didn't intentionally try to make Obama look silly, why did it choose a 2-minute clip -- out of a 32-minute speech -- that portrayed Obama looking silently around the room, seemingly for no reason?
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First Posted: 05-25-10 09:03 AM | Updated: 05-25-10 09:03 AM
Fox News video of President Obama's speech this weekend at West Point omits cadets' applause after the President discussed ending the Iraq War.
"WestPt cadets applaud Obama, FoxNews alters tape 2 remove applause," Michael Moore tweeted.
In the official video, seen at bottom, cadets applaud after Obama says, "through their competence and creativity and courage, we are poised to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer."
In the Fox News version of the video, seen below, there is no applause but rather an awkward pause.
Media Matters' Jamison Foser acknowledges that Fox News' microphone may not have picked up the audience applause, but suggests that the network still promoted that section of the clip to make it seem as though Obama's comments were not well received by the cadets:
Now, maybe Fox didn't intentionally remove the audience applause. Maybe Fox's video used a direct feed from Obama's microphone, and it simply didn't pick up audience noise. But if Fox didn't intentionally try to make Obama look silly, why did it choose a 2-minute clip -- out of a 32-minute speech -- that portrayed Obama looking silently around the room, seemingly for no reason?
..
Big corporations work to kill unemployment benefits extension because it closes their tax loopholes
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/25/corporate-ui-loophole/
This week, the House of Representatives is working on a package extending several popular tax breaks as well as important social safety net provisions like unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers. The bill costs about $200 billion, but is partially offset by a few tax changes, including the closing of a loophole that allow corporations to claim U.S. tax credits on profits earned overseas. These unjustified tax breaks have been on the radar of Congress’ tax writers for the last few years, but so far they’ve remained in the tax code due to pressure from big corporations. This time, even though the bill also extends some of their favored provisions, like the Research and Development tax credit, the Big Business lobby is fighting to preserve its ability to exploit tax loopholes, at the expense of the benefits extension:
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This week, the House of Representatives is working on a package extending several popular tax breaks as well as important social safety net provisions like unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers. The bill costs about $200 billion, but is partially offset by a few tax changes, including the closing of a loophole that allow corporations to claim U.S. tax credits on profits earned overseas. These unjustified tax breaks have been on the radar of Congress’ tax writers for the last few years, but so far they’ve remained in the tax code due to pressure from big corporations. This time, even though the bill also extends some of their favored provisions, like the Research and Development tax credit, the Big Business lobby is fighting to preserve its ability to exploit tax loopholes, at the expense of the benefits extension:
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Braise away the E. coli lettuce-recall blues
This reminds me of a few years ago when there was a recall of fresh spinach. Of course, the news media did not make it clear that the danger would come from eating it raw. I bought a frozen dinner containing spinach, and one of my co-workers expressed concern. I explained that cooking kills e coli, but she obviously was not convinced. My dinner did not make me sick.
http://www.salon.com/food/eyewitness_cook/index.html?story=/food/francis_lam/2010/05/11/e_coli_romaine_braised_lettuce
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 13:12 ET
Hey, romaine lettuce fans! It's been a tough week for you, I know. First there was a little recall of the stuff for that irritating kidney-hating bug E. coli 0145, then there was a different, precautionary recall, and now, as of yesterday, tainted lettuce was making people feel a way they don't ever want to feel again in 23 states. It's like Caesar's revenge. "How dare you keep throwing your stupid grilled chicken breast on my salad!" the ghost of the great emperor (OK, of the Mexican restaurateur) thunders.
The good news for you, though, is that none of the recalled lettuce was sold to retail grocery stores, so you probably don't have any at home. (Instead, it's poor kids eating in school cafeterias waking up in the middle of the night wondering what fresh hell is this.)
And the better news is that it's time to get you acquainted with cooking lettuce. Thorough cooking (not washing) can destroy E. coli, which tends to affect foods superficially, unless they're ground up like burgers ... wait, what's that? Stop your eeewing! Cooked lettuce is good stuff, a new way to think about vegetables we confine to salad.
[See article for recipes]
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Obama expands support to vets' caregivers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36968900/ns/politics-white_house/
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
updated 3:37 p.m. ET, Wed., May 5, 2010
WASHINGTON - Extra help is on the way for family members who give up their jobs to become caregivers for severely wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, courtesy of a bill signed Wednesday by President Barack Obama.
The bill, estimated to cost $3.7 billion over five years, also expands veterans care for women, the homeless, and those who live in rural areas.
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..
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
updated 3:37 p.m. ET, Wed., May 5, 2010
WASHINGTON - Extra help is on the way for family members who give up their jobs to become caregivers for severely wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, courtesy of a bill signed Wednesday by President Barack Obama.
The bill, estimated to cost $3.7 billion over five years, also expands veterans care for women, the homeless, and those who live in rural areas.
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Quality of Child Care Linked to Academic Achievement: Behaviors Persist Into Adolescence
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100514074921.htm
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2010) — Teens who were in high-quality child care settings as young children scored slightly higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement and were slightly less likely to report acting-out behaviors than peers who were in lower-quality child care arrangements during their early years, according to the latest analysis of a long-running study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
And teens who had spent the most hours in child care in their first 4½ years reported a slightly greater tendency toward impulsiveness and risk-taking at 15 than did peers who spent less time in child care.
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2010) — Teens who were in high-quality child care settings as young children scored slightly higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement and were slightly less likely to report acting-out behaviors than peers who were in lower-quality child care arrangements during their early years, according to the latest analysis of a long-running study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
And teens who had spent the most hours in child care in their first 4½ years reported a slightly greater tendency toward impulsiveness and risk-taking at 15 than did peers who spent less time in child care.
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