http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/uoc--uss072511.php
Public release date: 25-Jul-2011
Contact: Andrea Estrada
University of California - Santa Barbara
UCSB scholars study the evolution of human generosity
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Imagine you're dining at a restaurant in a city you're visiting for the first –– and, most likely the last –– time. Chances are slim to none that you'll ever see your server again, so if you wanted to shave a few dollars off your tab by not leaving a tip, you could do so. And yet, if you're like most people, you will leave the tip anyway, and not give it another thought.
These commonplace acts of generosity –– where no future return is likely –– have long posed a scientific puzzle to evolutionary biologists and economists. In acting generously, the donor incurs a cost to benefit someone else. But choosing to incur a cost with no prospect of a compensating benefit is seen as maladaptive by biologists and irrational by economists. If traditional theories in these fields are true, such behaviors should have been weeded out long ago by evolution or by self-interest. According to these theories, human nature is fundamentally self-serving, with any "excess" generosity the result of social pressure or cultural conformity.
Recently, however, a team of scientists at UC Santa Barbara conducted a series of computer simulations designed to test whether it was really true that evolution would select against generosity in situations where there is no future payoff. Their work surprisingly shows that generosity –– acting to help others in the absence of foreseeable gains –– emerges naturally from the evolution of cooperation. This means that human generosity is likely to rest on more than social pressure, and is instead built in to human nature. Their findings appear in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Evidence Links Increases In Public Health Spending To Declines In Preventable Deaths
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/early/2011/07/19/hlthaff.2011.0196.abstract
Evidence Links Increases In Public Health Spending To Declines In Preventable Deaths
July 2011
Glen P. Mays1 and Sharla A. Smith2
Abstract
Public health encompasses a broad array of programs designed to prevent the occurrence of disease and injury within communities. But policy makers have little evidence to draw on when determining the value of investments in these program activities, which currently account for less than 5 percent of US health spending. We examine whether changes in spending by local public health agencies over a thirteen-year period contributed to changes in rates of community mortality from preventable causes of death, including infant mortality and deaths due to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. We found that mortality rates fell between 1.1 percent and 6.9 percent for each 10 percent increase in local public health spending. These results suggest that increased public health investments can produce measurable improvements in health, especially in low-resource communities. However, more money by itself is unlikely to generate significant and sustainable health gains; improvements in public health practices are needed as well.
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Evidence Links Increases In Public Health Spending To Declines In Preventable Deaths
July 2011
Glen P. Mays1 and Sharla A. Smith2
Abstract
Public health encompasses a broad array of programs designed to prevent the occurrence of disease and injury within communities. But policy makers have little evidence to draw on when determining the value of investments in these program activities, which currently account for less than 5 percent of US health spending. We examine whether changes in spending by local public health agencies over a thirteen-year period contributed to changes in rates of community mortality from preventable causes of death, including infant mortality and deaths due to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. We found that mortality rates fell between 1.1 percent and 6.9 percent for each 10 percent increase in local public health spending. These results suggest that increased public health investments can produce measurable improvements in health, especially in low-resource communities. However, more money by itself is unlikely to generate significant and sustainable health gains; improvements in public health practices are needed as well.
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Black student sues over valedictorian flap
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43887197/ns/us_news-life/
updated 7/26/2011 12:11:22 PM ET
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A black teenager is suing an Arkansas school district, contending her high school discriminated against her by refusing to let her be sole valedictorian even though she had the highest grade-point average.
Kymberly L. Wimberly, 18, filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in Pine Bluff against McGehee School District, its superintendent and the high school principal.
Wimberly, who graduated in May, got all “A’s” and just one “B” while at McGehee Secondary School, the suit says.
“Even though she had the highest Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) in her class, Defendants forced Wimberly to share the title of Valedictorian with a white student,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants’ actions were part of a pattern and practice of school administrators and personnel treating the African-American students less favorably than Caucasian students.”
Blacks represent about 46 percent of the 500-plus student body at McGehee Secondary, according to the lawsuit.
A message left with the office of Superintendent Thomas Gathen, who is black, was not immediately returned Monday evening.
The lawsuit, first reported on Monday by Courthouse News Service, says Wimberly’s mother, Molly Bratton, overheard other school staff talking in the copy room on May 10 that Wimberly’s status as valedictorian might cause a “big mess.” (Wimberly had a baby during her junior year, according to court documents.)
Adver
The next day, Principal Darrell Thompson went into Bratton’s office and told her that he had decided to name a white student, who had a lower GPA, as co-valedictorian, the suit contends.
Both students spoke at commencement in May, said Wimberly attorney, John W. Walker.
Bratton contends the superintendent wouldn't allow her to speak to the school board to challenge the decision until graduation had passed.
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updated 7/26/2011 12:11:22 PM ET
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A black teenager is suing an Arkansas school district, contending her high school discriminated against her by refusing to let her be sole valedictorian even though she had the highest grade-point average.
Kymberly L. Wimberly, 18, filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in Pine Bluff against McGehee School District, its superintendent and the high school principal.
Wimberly, who graduated in May, got all “A’s” and just one “B” while at McGehee Secondary School, the suit says.
“Even though she had the highest Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) in her class, Defendants forced Wimberly to share the title of Valedictorian with a white student,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants’ actions were part of a pattern and practice of school administrators and personnel treating the African-American students less favorably than Caucasian students.”
Blacks represent about 46 percent of the 500-plus student body at McGehee Secondary, according to the lawsuit.
A message left with the office of Superintendent Thomas Gathen, who is black, was not immediately returned Monday evening.
The lawsuit, first reported on Monday by Courthouse News Service, says Wimberly’s mother, Molly Bratton, overheard other school staff talking in the copy room on May 10 that Wimberly’s status as valedictorian might cause a “big mess.” (Wimberly had a baby during her junior year, according to court documents.)
Adver
The next day, Principal Darrell Thompson went into Bratton’s office and told her that he had decided to name a white student, who had a lower GPA, as co-valedictorian, the suit contends.
Both students spoke at commencement in May, said Wimberly attorney, John W. Walker.
Bratton contends the superintendent wouldn't allow her to speak to the school board to challenge the decision until graduation had passed.
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Monday, July 25, 2011
New Court Filing Reveals How the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election Was Hacked Monday 25 July 2011
http://www.truth-out.org/new-court-filing-reveals-how-2004-ohio-presidential-election-was-hacked/1311603015
New Court Filing Reveals How the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election Was Hacked
Monday 25 July 2011
by: Bob Fritakis
A new filing in the King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell case includes a copy of the Ohio Secretary of State election production system configuration that was in use in Ohio's 2004 presidential election when there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush.
The filing also includes the revealing deposition of the late Michael Connell. Connell served as the IT guru for the Bush family and Karl Rove. Connell ran the private IT firm GovTech that created the controversial system that transferred Ohio's vote count late on election night 2004 to a partisan Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by SmarTech. That is when the vote shift happened, not predicted by the exit polls, that led to Bush's unexpected victory. Connell died a month and a half after giving this deposition in a suspicious small plane crash.
New Court Filing Reveals How the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election Was Hacked
Monday 25 July 2011
by: Bob Fritakis
A new filing in the King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell case includes a copy of the Ohio Secretary of State election production system configuration that was in use in Ohio's 2004 presidential election when there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush.
The filing also includes the revealing deposition of the late Michael Connell. Connell served as the IT guru for the Bush family and Karl Rove. Connell ran the private IT firm GovTech that created the controversial system that transferred Ohio's vote count late on election night 2004 to a partisan Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by SmarTech. That is when the vote shift happened, not predicted by the exit polls, that led to Bush's unexpected victory. Connell died a month and a half after giving this deposition in a suspicious small plane crash.
If Corporations And The Rich Paid Taxes At The Same Level As The 1960s, The Debt Would Disappear
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/07/25/277857/corporations-rich-taxes-debt-disappear/
By Zaid Jilani on Jul 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm
As congressional negotiators continue to debate the contents of a deficit reduction package, discussions are reportedly tilting toward a deal that will include spending cuts but no revenue increases.
Over at the Campaign for America’s Future, the Institute for Policy Studies’ (IPS) Sam Pizzigati notes that one way to very easily tackle U.S. debt going forward would be to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy to levels more closely matching mid-20th century rates. Pizzigati cites an IPS paper from last spring to make the argument that if corporations and households making more than $1 million paid the same rates as they did in 1961, our debt would virtually disappear in a decade.
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As ThinkProgress has previously reported, the richest Americans are paying their lowest taxes in a generation. Additionally, Center for American Progress experts Michael Linden, Seth Hanlon, and Jordan Eizenga have shown that the United States is actually very low-tax compared to other developed countries.
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By Zaid Jilani on Jul 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm
As congressional negotiators continue to debate the contents of a deficit reduction package, discussions are reportedly tilting toward a deal that will include spending cuts but no revenue increases.
Over at the Campaign for America’s Future, the Institute for Policy Studies’ (IPS) Sam Pizzigati notes that one way to very easily tackle U.S. debt going forward would be to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy to levels more closely matching mid-20th century rates. Pizzigati cites an IPS paper from last spring to make the argument that if corporations and households making more than $1 million paid the same rates as they did in 1961, our debt would virtually disappear in a decade.
[...]
As ThinkProgress has previously reported, the richest Americans are paying their lowest taxes in a generation. Additionally, Center for American Progress experts Michael Linden, Seth Hanlon, and Jordan Eizenga have shown that the United States is actually very low-tax compared to other developed countries.
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The budget deals of Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, in one chart
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-budget-deals-of-reagan-bush-clinton-and-obama-in-one-chart/2011/07/06/gIQA98w11H_blog.html?fb_ref=NetworkNews&fb_source=home_oneline
Posted at 11:04 AM ET, 07/07/2011
The budget deals of Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, in one chart
By Ezra Klein
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Posted at 11:04 AM ET, 07/07/2011
The budget deals of Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, in one chart
By Ezra Klein
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Sunday, July 24, 2011
Vegetarian Diet May Protect Against Common Bowel Disorder
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719194358.htm
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — Vegetarians are a third less likely to get a common bowel disorder (diverticular disease) than their meat eating counterparts, finds a new study published on the British Medical Journal website.
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ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — Vegetarians are a third less likely to get a common bowel disorder (diverticular disease) than their meat eating counterparts, finds a new study published on the British Medical Journal website.
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Household Smoke Increases Severity of Bronchiolitis in Babies
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110720103520.htm
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — A study by the University of Liverpool has found that babies admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis from a household where a parent smokes are twice as likely to need oxygen therapy and five times as likely to need mechanical ventilation as babies whose parents do not smoke.
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ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — A study by the University of Liverpool has found that babies admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis from a household where a parent smokes are twice as likely to need oxygen therapy and five times as likely to need mechanical ventilation as babies whose parents do not smoke.
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Chance Favors the Concentration of Wealth, Study Shows
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110721172334.htm
ScienceDaily (July 21, 2011) — Most of our society's wealth is invested in businesses or other ventures that may or may not pan out. Thus, chance plays a role in where the wealth of a society will end up.
But does chance favor the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, or does it tend to level the playing field? Three University of Minnesota researchers have built a simplified model that isolates the effects of chance and found that it consistently pushes wealth into the hands of a few, ever-richer people.
The study, "Entrepreneurs, chance, and the deterministic concentration of wealth," is published in the July 20 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
The researchers simulated the performance of a large number of investors who started out with equal amounts of capital and who realized returns annually over a number of years. But wealth did not remain equal, because each year an entrepreneur's return was a random draw taken from a pool of possible return rates. Thus, a high return did not guarantee continuing high returns, nor did early low returns mean continuing bad luck.
Even though all investors had an equal chance of success, the simulations consistently resulted in dramatic concentration of wealth over time. The reason: With compounding capital returns, some individuals will have a string of high returns and, given enough time, will accumulate an overwhelming share of the wealth.
This appears to be a fundamental feature of economies where wealth is primarily generated from returns on investment (for example, through business ownership and growth), the researchers said.
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"This leads to the surprising finding that wealth will concentrate due to chance alone in growing, stagnant or shrinking economies," said author Steve Polasky, professor of applied economics in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.
The simulation results showed wealth concentrating regardless of economic cycles of growth and recession and regardless of whether wealth is split between two offspring every generation. As wealth concentrates with a few individuals, the growth of the economy will depend more and more on the returns of those few, making the economy less resilient to disruptions in their investments, the researchers said.
"The irony is that the economic diversity that helps ensure the presence of some successful enterprises and spurs economic growth could be lost if the success of these enterprises undermines economic diversity," said Fargione. "To retain the benefits of a diverse capitalist economy, we need economic policies that counter what seems to be the innate tendency for economies to concentrate wealth and become less diverse."
The simulations showed that a tax (or other mandatory donation to the public good) on the largest inherited fortunes would short-circuit the over-concentration of wealth. But the researchers stress that their point is to advocate not a particular policy, but a policy that accomplishes the goal of protecting long-term economic stability.
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ScienceDaily (July 21, 2011) — Most of our society's wealth is invested in businesses or other ventures that may or may not pan out. Thus, chance plays a role in where the wealth of a society will end up.
But does chance favor the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, or does it tend to level the playing field? Three University of Minnesota researchers have built a simplified model that isolates the effects of chance and found that it consistently pushes wealth into the hands of a few, ever-richer people.
The study, "Entrepreneurs, chance, and the deterministic concentration of wealth," is published in the July 20 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
The researchers simulated the performance of a large number of investors who started out with equal amounts of capital and who realized returns annually over a number of years. But wealth did not remain equal, because each year an entrepreneur's return was a random draw taken from a pool of possible return rates. Thus, a high return did not guarantee continuing high returns, nor did early low returns mean continuing bad luck.
Even though all investors had an equal chance of success, the simulations consistently resulted in dramatic concentration of wealth over time. The reason: With compounding capital returns, some individuals will have a string of high returns and, given enough time, will accumulate an overwhelming share of the wealth.
This appears to be a fundamental feature of economies where wealth is primarily generated from returns on investment (for example, through business ownership and growth), the researchers said.
[.....]
"This leads to the surprising finding that wealth will concentrate due to chance alone in growing, stagnant or shrinking economies," said author Steve Polasky, professor of applied economics in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.
The simulation results showed wealth concentrating regardless of economic cycles of growth and recession and regardless of whether wealth is split between two offspring every generation. As wealth concentrates with a few individuals, the growth of the economy will depend more and more on the returns of those few, making the economy less resilient to disruptions in their investments, the researchers said.
"The irony is that the economic diversity that helps ensure the presence of some successful enterprises and spurs economic growth could be lost if the success of these enterprises undermines economic diversity," said Fargione. "To retain the benefits of a diverse capitalist economy, we need economic policies that counter what seems to be the innate tendency for economies to concentrate wealth and become less diverse."
The simulations showed that a tax (or other mandatory donation to the public good) on the largest inherited fortunes would short-circuit the over-concentration of wealth. But the researchers stress that their point is to advocate not a particular policy, but a policy that accomplishes the goal of protecting long-term economic stability.
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Optimism Associated With Lower Risk of Having Stroke
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110721163025.htm
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2011) — A positive outlook on life might lower your risk of having a stroke, according to new research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In an observational study, a nationally representative group of 6,044 adults over age 50 rated their optimism levels on a 16-point scale. Each point increase in optimism corresponded to a 9 percent decrease in acute stroke risk over a two-year follow-up period.
"Our work suggests that people who expect the best things in life actively take steps to promote health," said Eric Kim, study lead author and a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Michigan.
Optimism is the expectation that more good things, rather than bad, will happen.
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"Optimism seems to have a swift impact on stroke," said Kim, noting that researchers followed participants for only two years. The protective effect of optimism may primarily be due to behavioral choices that people make, such as taking vitamins, eating a healthy diet and exercising, researchers said. However, some evidence suggests positive thinking might have a strictly biological impact as well.
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ScienceDaily (July 22, 2011) — A positive outlook on life might lower your risk of having a stroke, according to new research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In an observational study, a nationally representative group of 6,044 adults over age 50 rated their optimism levels on a 16-point scale. Each point increase in optimism corresponded to a 9 percent decrease in acute stroke risk over a two-year follow-up period.
"Our work suggests that people who expect the best things in life actively take steps to promote health," said Eric Kim, study lead author and a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Michigan.
Optimism is the expectation that more good things, rather than bad, will happen.
[.....]
"Optimism seems to have a swift impact on stroke," said Kim, noting that researchers followed participants for only two years. The protective effect of optimism may primarily be due to behavioral choices that people make, such as taking vitamins, eating a healthy diet and exercising, researchers said. However, some evidence suggests positive thinking might have a strictly biological impact as well.
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Can Feeling Too Good Be Bad? Positive Emotion in Bipolar Disorder
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110722142100.htm
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2011) — Positive emotions like joy and compassion are good for your mental and physical health, and help foster creativity and friendship. But people with bipolar disorder seem to have too much of a good thing. In a new article to be published in the August issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologist June Gruber of Yale University considers how positive emotion may become negative in bipolar disorder.
One of the characteristics of bipolar disorder is the extreme periods of positive mood, or mania. People in the grip of mania also have increased energy, sleep less, and experience extreme self-confidence. At first glance, this may sound good and even desirable. However, during these times of mania, people with bipolar disorder often take dangerous risks, run up their credit card debt, and wreak havoc in marriages. "The fact that positive emotion has gone awry is something unique about bipolar disorder, as almost all other emotional disorders are characterized by difficulties in negative emotions" Gruber says.
Gruber points out that positive emotions are problematic for people with bipolar disorder even when they're not experiencing mania. Gruber has studied people whose bipolar disorder is in remission and found that they still experience more positive emotions than people who have never had bipolar disorder. More positive emotions may not sound like a bad thing, but there are times when these positive emotions aren't appropriate.
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Psychologists should also consider that there are downsides of positive emotions even for people who don't have bipolar disorder, Gruber says. "Although positive emotions are generally good for us, when they take extreme forms or when they're experienced in the wrong context, the benefits of positive emotion begin to unravel," she says. The goal: "experience it in moderation, in the right place and time."
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ScienceDaily (July 22, 2011) — Positive emotions like joy and compassion are good for your mental and physical health, and help foster creativity and friendship. But people with bipolar disorder seem to have too much of a good thing. In a new article to be published in the August issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologist June Gruber of Yale University considers how positive emotion may become negative in bipolar disorder.
One of the characteristics of bipolar disorder is the extreme periods of positive mood, or mania. People in the grip of mania also have increased energy, sleep less, and experience extreme self-confidence. At first glance, this may sound good and even desirable. However, during these times of mania, people with bipolar disorder often take dangerous risks, run up their credit card debt, and wreak havoc in marriages. "The fact that positive emotion has gone awry is something unique about bipolar disorder, as almost all other emotional disorders are characterized by difficulties in negative emotions" Gruber says.
Gruber points out that positive emotions are problematic for people with bipolar disorder even when they're not experiencing mania. Gruber has studied people whose bipolar disorder is in remission and found that they still experience more positive emotions than people who have never had bipolar disorder. More positive emotions may not sound like a bad thing, but there are times when these positive emotions aren't appropriate.
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Psychologists should also consider that there are downsides of positive emotions even for people who don't have bipolar disorder, Gruber says. "Although positive emotions are generally good for us, when they take extreme forms or when they're experienced in the wrong context, the benefits of positive emotion begin to unravel," she says. The goal: "experience it in moderation, in the right place and time."
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Saturday, July 23, 2011
Blue Collar Workers Work Longer and in Worse Health Than Their White Collar Bosses
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110721163029.htm
ScienceDaily (July 21, 2011) — While more Americans are working past age 65 by choice, a growing segment of the population must continue to work well into their sixties out of financial necessity. Research conducted by the Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine looked at aging, social class and labor force participation rates to illustrate the challenges that lower income workers face in the global marketplace.
The study used the burden of arthritis to examine these connections because 49 million U.S. adults have arthritis, and 21 million suffer activity limitations as a result. The condition is also relatively disabling and painful but not fatal. The researchers found that blue collar workers are much more likely to work past 65 than white collar workers and are much more likely to suffer from conditions like arthritis, reducing their quality of life and work productivity.
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At all ages, blue-collar workers in the workforce are in worse health than white-collar workers. By age 65, 19% of white-collar workers with arthritis remain in the workforce compared with 22% of blue-collar workers. But employed blue-collar workers have more severe disease than employed white-collar workers, and look forward to fewer years of healthy life -- approximately 11 for blue-collar workers and 14 for white-collar workers.
The investigators reported that lower-income workers of older age in the service and farming sectors-- two job types that are unlikely to come with pension plans--are more likely to have arthritis than not, with 58% of service workers and 67% of farm workers continuing to work despite struggling with the painful health condition. Sixteen percent of all blue collar workers are over 65 and 47% report they have arthritis. By contrast, 14% of white collar workers work beyond the age of 65, and 51% of these workers reporting arthritis. Overall, approximately 15% of all workers remain in the workforce at or past retirement age, and 44% have arthritis.
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ScienceDaily (July 21, 2011) — While more Americans are working past age 65 by choice, a growing segment of the population must continue to work well into their sixties out of financial necessity. Research conducted by the Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine looked at aging, social class and labor force participation rates to illustrate the challenges that lower income workers face in the global marketplace.
The study used the burden of arthritis to examine these connections because 49 million U.S. adults have arthritis, and 21 million suffer activity limitations as a result. The condition is also relatively disabling and painful but not fatal. The researchers found that blue collar workers are much more likely to work past 65 than white collar workers and are much more likely to suffer from conditions like arthritis, reducing their quality of life and work productivity.
[.....]
At all ages, blue-collar workers in the workforce are in worse health than white-collar workers. By age 65, 19% of white-collar workers with arthritis remain in the workforce compared with 22% of blue-collar workers. But employed blue-collar workers have more severe disease than employed white-collar workers, and look forward to fewer years of healthy life -- approximately 11 for blue-collar workers and 14 for white-collar workers.
The investigators reported that lower-income workers of older age in the service and farming sectors-- two job types that are unlikely to come with pension plans--are more likely to have arthritis than not, with 58% of service workers and 67% of farm workers continuing to work despite struggling with the painful health condition. Sixteen percent of all blue collar workers are over 65 and 47% report they have arthritis. By contrast, 14% of white collar workers work beyond the age of 65, and 51% of these workers reporting arthritis. Overall, approximately 15% of all workers remain in the workforce at or past retirement age, and 44% have arthritis.
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Breastfeeding May Prevent Asthma in child
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110721212452.htm
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2011) — Feeding a baby on only breast milk and for up to 6 months after birth can reduce their risk of developing asthma-related symptoms in early childhood, according to new research.
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The strongest links were seen with wheezing and persistent phlegm, as children were 1.4 and 1.5 times more likely to develop these symptoms if they had never been breastfed.
Children who were fed other milk or solids during their first 4 months in addition to breast milk had an increased risk of wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm during the first 4 years, compared to children who were exclusively breastfed for their first 4 months.
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ScienceDaily (July 22, 2011) — Feeding a baby on only breast milk and for up to 6 months after birth can reduce their risk of developing asthma-related symptoms in early childhood, according to new research.
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The strongest links were seen with wheezing and persistent phlegm, as children were 1.4 and 1.5 times more likely to develop these symptoms if they had never been breastfed.
Children who were fed other milk or solids during their first 4 months in addition to breast milk had an increased risk of wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm during the first 4 years, compared to children who were exclusively breastfed for their first 4 months.
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July 22, 2011: A day of records
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1854
Posted by: JeffMasters, 4:56 PM GMT on July 23, 2011
The crest of the extreme heat wave of July 2011 has passed, although temperatures are still going to be dangerously hot in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today. New York City (Central Park) will reach 100° again, as well as Philadelphia and possibly Washington Dulles. Heat index values could surpass the 110° mark today, and excessive heat warnings are in effect from New York City to South Carolina, as well as a large portion of the Central United States. Yesterday, the heat index soared past 120° in Wilmington, DE (124), Easton, MD (125), Annapolis, MD (120) and Atlantic City, NJ (122), among others. A more complete list of Friday's heat index extremes can be found here.
Numerous records fell yesterday as far north as Maine. There were plenty of daily records to talk about, but here are some of the noteworthy all-time record high temperatures:
• Newark, NJ: 108° (old record was 105° set in 2001)
• Washington Dulles, DC: 105° (old record was 104° on multiple dates)
• Bridgeport, CT: 103° (ties the old record set in 1957)
• Hartford, CT: 103° (old record was 102° set on multiple dates)
• New Haven, CT: 102° (old record was 101° set in 1926)
Baltimore hit 106°, one degree shy of their all-time high record which was set in 1936. New York City (Central Park) set a daily record of 104°, which was 2 degrees shy of their 106° all-time high record, which was also set in 1936. More on the record-setting year of 1936 in yesterday's blog from Jeff. Two notable all-time record high minimums were also set yesterday: 84° in New York (Central Park) and 86° in Newark, NJ.
Our weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, keeps track of 303 select stations in the U.S. with long standing record histories. So far this summer, seven of these have broken or tied their all-time maximum temperature records. Some of these were long-standing:
• Amarillo, TX 111° (1892)
• Dodge City, KS 110° (1874 tied)
• Newark, NJ 108° (1893)
• D.C. Dulles 105° (1962)
• Tallahassee, Fl 105° (1883)
• Hartford, CT 103° (1885)
• New Haven, CT 102° (1780)
The last summer to have more all-time high records than this year was 2002, which set 9. Christopher C. Burt estimates that yesterday probably rates in the top five hottest days on record for the mid-Atlantic states (Washington D.C. to Boston).
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Posted by: JeffMasters, 4:56 PM GMT on July 23, 2011
The crest of the extreme heat wave of July 2011 has passed, although temperatures are still going to be dangerously hot in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today. New York City (Central Park) will reach 100° again, as well as Philadelphia and possibly Washington Dulles. Heat index values could surpass the 110° mark today, and excessive heat warnings are in effect from New York City to South Carolina, as well as a large portion of the Central United States. Yesterday, the heat index soared past 120° in Wilmington, DE (124), Easton, MD (125), Annapolis, MD (120) and Atlantic City, NJ (122), among others. A more complete list of Friday's heat index extremes can be found here.
Numerous records fell yesterday as far north as Maine. There were plenty of daily records to talk about, but here are some of the noteworthy all-time record high temperatures:
• Newark, NJ: 108° (old record was 105° set in 2001)
• Washington Dulles, DC: 105° (old record was 104° on multiple dates)
• Bridgeport, CT: 103° (ties the old record set in 1957)
• Hartford, CT: 103° (old record was 102° set on multiple dates)
• New Haven, CT: 102° (old record was 101° set in 1926)
Baltimore hit 106°, one degree shy of their all-time high record which was set in 1936. New York City (Central Park) set a daily record of 104°, which was 2 degrees shy of their 106° all-time high record, which was also set in 1936. More on the record-setting year of 1936 in yesterday's blog from Jeff. Two notable all-time record high minimums were also set yesterday: 84° in New York (Central Park) and 86° in Newark, NJ.
Our weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, keeps track of 303 select stations in the U.S. with long standing record histories. So far this summer, seven of these have broken or tied their all-time maximum temperature records. Some of these were long-standing:
• Amarillo, TX 111° (1892)
• Dodge City, KS 110° (1874 tied)
• Newark, NJ 108° (1893)
• D.C. Dulles 105° (1962)
• Tallahassee, Fl 105° (1883)
• Hartford, CT 103° (1885)
• New Haven, CT 102° (1780)
The last summer to have more all-time high records than this year was 2002, which set 9. Christopher C. Burt estimates that yesterday probably rates in the top five hottest days on record for the mid-Atlantic states (Washington D.C. to Boston).
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Handshakes
I really don't like the person who made up that garbage about a "firm" handshake being a sign of good character. It gives aggressive, insensitive, and mean people an excuse to hurt me under the guise of politeness.
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Friday, July 22, 2011
Millions affected by drought in Kenya and the Horn of Africa
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies need donations.
I never earmark my donations, except sometimes for "disaster relief", because the disasters that make the news often get more than is needed, then there is not money for others. And when their are several disasters close together, people donate as much as they can (or want to) to the earlier ones, and the ones that come after don't get enough.
http://www.ifrc.org/news-and-media/news-stories/africa/kenya/planning-ahead-and-planning-for-today/
Published: 22 July 2011 11:51 CET
It sounds obvious, but drought affects everything. The day is marked out by the task of finding enough water for yourself, your family and livestock and safely carrying it home.
Fatima Daar Foot has walked many miles to the village of Dertu in north-east Kenya on her daily trip to find water. She is accompanied by her family’s last remaining mule. “All our animals are dead due to the drought,” she says. “We have nothing left. All the camels and goats are dead, and the food prices are so high that we cannot afford to buy food.”
[.....]
Drought affects food prices and incomes. Food prices have increased substantially in the whole of the drought area. Some staple foods have doubled in price. One kilo of rice used to cost 60 shilling (about 40 pence), but now costs 120 shilling. A kilo of sugar was 80 shilling but now it is 150. And while prices rise, the drought makes it harder for families to earn a living from the land, so their ability to buy is reduced.
The village of Dertu is the only water point covering a radius of 50km. It has inevitably become a destination for pastoralists looking for water for themselves and their animals. Some farmers have taken their animals into Somalia where there is more vegetation, but also more danger, but others have died due to lack of food.
[...]
In response to the tragedy unfolding in Kenya and the Horn of Africa, the IFRC has launched an urgent appeal to raise vital funds to provide assistance to the men, women and children who continue to face unimaginable suffering and hardship as a result of the worst regional drought in 60 years.
Red Cross National Societies from Kenya, Norway and Finland are collaborating on a new project which will be started in Dertu shortly. In the middle of this dry, arid land, they will create a ‘greenbelt’, providing the pastoralists with an alternative grazing ground for their animals and a chance to re-establish their livelihoods.
This project consists of providing ready access to water by taking it from new and existing boreholes and rivers to irrigate the land. Next year, the village will see the return of workable vegetation, benefitting those who stay, but also the pastoralists who remain committed to their way of life.
In the meantime, water-trucking, borehole rehabilitation and other assistance measure will ensure that Fatima, and many women like her, who take the long walk in search of water should have something to take home.
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Hot and bothered: 8 AC-less ways to beat the heat this summer
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/blogs/hot-and-bothered-8-ac-less-ways-to-beat-the-heat-this-summer
Wed, Jun 23 2010 at 11:31 PM EST
I don’t know what the weather’s like where you live but here in Brooklyn it’s hot as blazes … only three days into summer and the sauna-like temps have me in a total panic about spikes in my electric bills.
Naturally, this has me thinking about creative ways that I can avoid using my two window-unit air conditioners (as much) over the coming weeks. As a renter living in a fourth-floor walk-up, home improvement projects like installing ceiling fans and replacing windows are out of the question so I thought I’d share some easy, low-tech tactics I plan on trying out to stay cool, keep my fossil fuel usage to a minimum, and, perhaps most importantly, save a few bucks as I sweat it out at home.
• H 2 the O: I do this all the time anyways — I'm a thirsty kind of guy — but to keep me from having total freak outs when the ConEd bill arrives, I'll be making sure that my Britta pitcher is always full of ice-cold water and my body is naturally hydrated. Adding a sprig of mint to a glass of cold water helps, too.
• Giving the oven a rest
• Dress lightly
• Keep the blinds closed
• At night, I'll be opening windows and using a couple of small fans to get a nice cross-breeze going.
I mayself use a 20-inch box fan in my kitchen window with the air going out, and an open window on the other side of the house. This pulls the cool night air thru the house.
• Deep freeze: While we're on the topic of fans, here's a trick I've yet to try out: Put a handful of ice cubes or a couple of frozen water bottles in a chilled bowl and place it front of a fan. It's a super-effective way to cool down quick without cranking up the AC.
• Cold showers and wet sheets: The first part of this tip is self-explanatory but wet sheets? Rumor is that placing a damp sheet in front of an open window or even sleeping with cold, damp sheets or bath towels provides relief. I'm willing to give it a shot.
• Add water to a spray bottle and spray yourself.
[.....]
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Wed, Jun 23 2010 at 11:31 PM EST
I don’t know what the weather’s like where you live but here in Brooklyn it’s hot as blazes … only three days into summer and the sauna-like temps have me in a total panic about spikes in my electric bills.
Naturally, this has me thinking about creative ways that I can avoid using my two window-unit air conditioners (as much) over the coming weeks. As a renter living in a fourth-floor walk-up, home improvement projects like installing ceiling fans and replacing windows are out of the question so I thought I’d share some easy, low-tech tactics I plan on trying out to stay cool, keep my fossil fuel usage to a minimum, and, perhaps most importantly, save a few bucks as I sweat it out at home.
• H 2 the O: I do this all the time anyways — I'm a thirsty kind of guy — but to keep me from having total freak outs when the ConEd bill arrives, I'll be making sure that my Britta pitcher is always full of ice-cold water and my body is naturally hydrated. Adding a sprig of mint to a glass of cold water helps, too.
• Giving the oven a rest
• Dress lightly
• Keep the blinds closed
• At night, I'll be opening windows and using a couple of small fans to get a nice cross-breeze going.
I mayself use a 20-inch box fan in my kitchen window with the air going out, and an open window on the other side of the house. This pulls the cool night air thru the house.
• Deep freeze: While we're on the topic of fans, here's a trick I've yet to try out: Put a handful of ice cubes or a couple of frozen water bottles in a chilled bowl and place it front of a fan. It's a super-effective way to cool down quick without cranking up the AC.
• Cold showers and wet sheets: The first part of this tip is self-explanatory but wet sheets? Rumor is that placing a damp sheet in front of an open window or even sleeping with cold, damp sheets or bath towels provides relief. I'm willing to give it a shot.
• Add water to a spray bottle and spray yourself.
[.....]
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Hacker posted women's nude photos on their own Facebook pages
I checked, and I had already set my contact info to be available only to friends. And I don't accept friend requests from total strangers. Although I do have friends of friends.
http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2011/07/22/7142013-hacker-posted-womens-nude-photos-on-their-own-facebook-pages
7/22/2011
By Suzanne Choney
Joseph Bernard Campbell wasn't "just" a cyber stalker haunting and hunting one woman; he was after as many as he could get it seems, hacking between 350 and 500 email accounts. In at least 19 cases, he captured personal, nude and semi-nude photos that the women had emailed to boyfriends, some of them in the military overseas, and then broke into the women's Facebook accounts and made those photos their profile pictures.
[.....]
One method Campbell used, Sohl said, was to send emails to the women saying they had received a greeting card. The email instructed the recipients to type in their email addresses and passwords, but did not lead to any greeting cards.
Campbell would use the addresses and passwords to look into the accounts, where he found photographs ...
[...]
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, another man who made it a game to search through women's Facebook pages, search for their email addresses, hack their email and find intimate photos of them, then send them to people on their "contacts" lists, was sentenced Friday to four years in prison.
[...]
These criminal cases are examples of reasons not to publicly share your email address, even on sites like Facebook. And be aware that it's up to you to not post it.
As msnbc.com's Helen A.S. Popkin noted, in writing about yet another similar case last April, "Facebook privacy settings allow users to hide their email addresses from some or all Facebook users, but it is not the default setting."
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Thursday, July 21, 2011
Caffeine Consumption Linked to Female Infertility, Study Suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110720142359.htm
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — Caffeine reduces muscle activity in the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from a woman's ovaries to her womb. "Our experiments were conducted in mice, but this finding goes a long way towards explaining why drinking caffeinated drinks can reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant," says Sean Ward, professor of physiology and cell biology, at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, who conducted the study.
[...]
"This provides an intriguing explanation as to why women with high caffeine consumption often take longer to conceive than women who do not consume caffeine," said Ward.
Discovering the link between caffeine consumption and reduced fertility has benefits.
"As well as potentially helping women who are finding it difficult to get pregnant, a better understanding of the way Fallopian tubes work will help doctors treat pelvic inflammation and sexually-transmitted disease more successfully," said Ward.
It could also increase our understanding of what causes ectopic pregnancy, an extremely painful and potentially life-threatening situation in which embryos get stuck and start developing inside a woman's Fallopian tube.
[.....]
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ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — Caffeine reduces muscle activity in the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from a woman's ovaries to her womb. "Our experiments were conducted in mice, but this finding goes a long way towards explaining why drinking caffeinated drinks can reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant," says Sean Ward, professor of physiology and cell biology, at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, who conducted the study.
[...]
"This provides an intriguing explanation as to why women with high caffeine consumption often take longer to conceive than women who do not consume caffeine," said Ward.
Discovering the link between caffeine consumption and reduced fertility has benefits.
"As well as potentially helping women who are finding it difficult to get pregnant, a better understanding of the way Fallopian tubes work will help doctors treat pelvic inflammation and sexually-transmitted disease more successfully," said Ward.
It could also increase our understanding of what causes ectopic pregnancy, an extremely painful and potentially life-threatening situation in which embryos get stuck and start developing inside a woman's Fallopian tube.
[.....]
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Stronger Social Safety Net Leads to Decrease in Stress, Childhood Obesity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110721112620.htm
ScienceDaily (July 21, 2011) — Social safety net programs that reduce psychosocial stressors for low-income families also ultimately lead to a reduction in childhood obesity, according to research by a University of Illinois economist who studies the efficacy of food assistance programs on public health.
Craig Gundersen, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois, says food and exercise alone are not to blame for the extent of obesity among children in the United States. Psychosocial factors, such as stressors brought about by uncertainty about the economy, income inequality, and a fraying social safety net also must be considered, he says.
"Energy-in, energy-out is important, but energy imbalance isn't the only thing leading to overweight status among children," said Gundersen, the executive director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory at Illinois. "We also know that people have very different ways of responding to the same amount of food intake and exercise, and one of the factors that may influence how people react to eating and exercise is through the amount of stress they're under."
[...]
"Although there have been many different ways to reduce obesity, what we've found is that stress is a leading cause of obesity among children. So if there's any way we can reduce stressors from a policy standpoint, that will also have the effect of reducing obesity."
[...]
[.....]
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ScienceDaily (July 21, 2011) — Social safety net programs that reduce psychosocial stressors for low-income families also ultimately lead to a reduction in childhood obesity, according to research by a University of Illinois economist who studies the efficacy of food assistance programs on public health.
Craig Gundersen, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois, says food and exercise alone are not to blame for the extent of obesity among children in the United States. Psychosocial factors, such as stressors brought about by uncertainty about the economy, income inequality, and a fraying social safety net also must be considered, he says.
"Energy-in, energy-out is important, but energy imbalance isn't the only thing leading to overweight status among children," said Gundersen, the executive director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory at Illinois. "We also know that people have very different ways of responding to the same amount of food intake and exercise, and one of the factors that may influence how people react to eating and exercise is through the amount of stress they're under."
[...]
"Although there have been many different ways to reduce obesity, what we've found is that stress is a leading cause of obesity among children. So if there's any way we can reduce stressors from a policy standpoint, that will also have the effect of reducing obesity."
[...]
[.....]
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