http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uocm-slb022516.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Sleep loss boosts hunger and unhealthy food choices
Mechanism mimics the marijuana 'munchies'
University of Chicago Medical Center
Skimping on sleep has long been associated with overeating, poor food choices and weight gain. Now a new study shows how sleep loss initiates this process, amplifying and extending blood levels of a chemical signal that enhances the joy of eating, particularly the guilty pleasures gained from sweet or salty, high-fat snack foods.
•••••
Friday, April 22, 2016
Increased risk of obesity with increased time in the US in Filipino immigrants in New York
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/sdmc-iro022916.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Increased risk of obesity with increased time in the US in Filipino immigrants in New York
Data suggest that immigrants lose the health advantage they carry to the US
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
A study led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center has found increased risk of obesity among Filipino immigrants living in the New York City metropolitan area. The findings were published in the January/March issue of the journal, Family & Community Health.
Aimee Afable, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate, said, "Our latest study is the first to examine association between time in the U.S. - a marker of assimilation - in Filipino immigrants, the second largest Asian immigrant group in the U.S., and overweight/obesity risk." An earlier study found a similar pattern among New York City immigrants from China.
Dr. Afable continues, "The study of how assimilation to U.S. society influences health of immigrants is of particular interest to public health researchers because we know that immigrants arrive in the U.S. with a health advantage. However, evidence suggests that this advantage erodes over time, a process sometimes referred to as 'unhealthy assimilation.' It is not clear whether this pattern varies by country of origin of the immigrant group."
•••••
"In an urban context such as New York City, these stressors may include work stress that accompanies more sedentary occupations; discrimination; limited time for rest and recreation; less healthy diets; and an overburdened healthcare system - all factors that create a situation dramatically different from what they left behind in their countries of origin."
•••••
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Increased risk of obesity with increased time in the US in Filipino immigrants in New York
Data suggest that immigrants lose the health advantage they carry to the US
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
A study led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center has found increased risk of obesity among Filipino immigrants living in the New York City metropolitan area. The findings were published in the January/March issue of the journal, Family & Community Health.
Aimee Afable, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate, said, "Our latest study is the first to examine association between time in the U.S. - a marker of assimilation - in Filipino immigrants, the second largest Asian immigrant group in the U.S., and overweight/obesity risk." An earlier study found a similar pattern among New York City immigrants from China.
Dr. Afable continues, "The study of how assimilation to U.S. society influences health of immigrants is of particular interest to public health researchers because we know that immigrants arrive in the U.S. with a health advantage. However, evidence suggests that this advantage erodes over time, a process sometimes referred to as 'unhealthy assimilation.' It is not clear whether this pattern varies by country of origin of the immigrant group."
•••••
"In an urban context such as New York City, these stressors may include work stress that accompanies more sedentary occupations; discrimination; limited time for rest and recreation; less healthy diets; and an overburdened healthcare system - all factors that create a situation dramatically different from what they left behind in their countries of origin."
•••••
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Study reveals greater climate impacts of 2C temperature rise +-
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/21/study-reveals-greater-climate-impacts-of-2c-temperature-rise-heatwaves?CMP=twt_a-science_b-gdnscience
Damian Carrington
April 21, 2016
A difference of half a degree centigrade may be barely noticeable day to day, but the difference between 1.5C 2.7F) and 2C (3.6F) of global warming is a shift into a new, more dangerous climate regime, according to the first comprehensive analysis of the issue.
The scientists found the additional 0.5C (0.9F) would lead to longer heatwaves, greater droughts and, in the tropics, reduced crop yield and all coral reefs being put in grave danger.
The global climate change deal agreed in Paris in December pledged to “hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C.” Vulnerable countries, such as low-lying islands, have warned that 2C of climate change would wipe their nations from the map.
Understanding the different impacts from 1.5C or 2C of warming has been made more urgent by the recent run of record temperatures, with 2014 and 2015 breaking long-term records and recent months smashing previous highs. In February, the global temperature was 1.34C (2.4F) above the average from 1951-1980, according to Nasa data.
•••••
The researchers found: “For heat-related extremes, the additional 0.5C marks the difference between events at the upper limit of present-day natural variability and a new climate regime, particularly in tropical regions.”
•••••
Damian Carrington
April 21, 2016
A difference of half a degree centigrade may be barely noticeable day to day, but the difference between 1.5C 2.7F) and 2C (3.6F) of global warming is a shift into a new, more dangerous climate regime, according to the first comprehensive analysis of the issue.
The scientists found the additional 0.5C (0.9F) would lead to longer heatwaves, greater droughts and, in the tropics, reduced crop yield and all coral reefs being put in grave danger.
The global climate change deal agreed in Paris in December pledged to “hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C.” Vulnerable countries, such as low-lying islands, have warned that 2C of climate change would wipe their nations from the map.
Understanding the different impacts from 1.5C or 2C of warming has been made more urgent by the recent run of record temperatures, with 2014 and 2015 breaking long-term records and recent months smashing previous highs. In February, the global temperature was 1.34C (2.4F) above the average from 1951-1980, according to Nasa data.
•••••
The researchers found: “For heat-related extremes, the additional 0.5C marks the difference between events at the upper limit of present-day natural variability and a new climate regime, particularly in tropical regions.”
•••••
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Climate disruption and extreme weather
https://www.facebook.com/katharine.hayhoe/posts/1685284071696473
From Facebook post by Katharine Hayhoe
Apr. 19, 2016
Houston and southeast Texas is being hammered by devastating rain and flood this week--flooding homes, damaging infrastructure, and even leading to loss of life. In this age of digital media we often become inured to pictures of disaster; but when it's happening somewhere you're familiar with, affecting people you know, it is very real.
When disaster like this strikes, the most common question for climate scientists is, "is this natural? or is it climate change?" But this is like asking our cardiologist, after a frightening and unexpected heart attack, "is this genetic? or is it my lifestyle?"
•••••
As a cardiologist would say, however, often our lifestyle choices - what we eat, and how much we do (or don't) exercise - exacerbate our health risks. In the same way, our collective lifestyle choices as the human race - depending on fossil fuels for most of our energy, as we have over the past three centuries - exacerbate our risks of heavy precipitation.
The physics connecting a warming world to heavier precipitation has been well established since the 1800s. As the planet warms, more water evaporates from oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. When the "genetic risk" of a naturally-occurring storm comes along, as it usually does at this time of year, there is now on average more "lifestyle-enhanced" water vapour available for it to pick up and dump on us than there would have been 50 or 100 years ago.
This year, though, the situation is particularly dire. Over the last few decades, we've seen record-breaking years and months. But these typically occur one at a time, broken up by more "normal" conditions. Global temperature records aren't usually smashed in long continuous strings; yet that's exactly what we've seen recently. 2014 was the warmest year on record, quickly surpassed by 2015; every month in 2016 has been remarkably warmer than average, so far; and NASA Goddard's Gavin Schmidt, one of the smartest and most knowledgeable climate scientists I know, estimates a >99% chance of 2016 breaking records as well.
What does this astonishing string of record-breaking temperatures mean for extreme precipitation risks? Simply this: the warmer the planet, the greater the amount of extra water available for storms to sweep up and dump on us. And the terrible events this week illustrate how - nine times out of ten - climate change doesn't bring strange and new impacts we've never seen before; it takes the naturally-occurring risks we've already faced in the past, and gives them steroids.
From Facebook post by Katharine Hayhoe
Apr. 19, 2016
Houston and southeast Texas is being hammered by devastating rain and flood this week--flooding homes, damaging infrastructure, and even leading to loss of life. In this age of digital media we often become inured to pictures of disaster; but when it's happening somewhere you're familiar with, affecting people you know, it is very real.
When disaster like this strikes, the most common question for climate scientists is, "is this natural? or is it climate change?" But this is like asking our cardiologist, after a frightening and unexpected heart attack, "is this genetic? or is it my lifestyle?"
•••••
As a cardiologist would say, however, often our lifestyle choices - what we eat, and how much we do (or don't) exercise - exacerbate our health risks. In the same way, our collective lifestyle choices as the human race - depending on fossil fuels for most of our energy, as we have over the past three centuries - exacerbate our risks of heavy precipitation.
The physics connecting a warming world to heavier precipitation has been well established since the 1800s. As the planet warms, more water evaporates from oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. When the "genetic risk" of a naturally-occurring storm comes along, as it usually does at this time of year, there is now on average more "lifestyle-enhanced" water vapour available for it to pick up and dump on us than there would have been 50 or 100 years ago.
This year, though, the situation is particularly dire. Over the last few decades, we've seen record-breaking years and months. But these typically occur one at a time, broken up by more "normal" conditions. Global temperature records aren't usually smashed in long continuous strings; yet that's exactly what we've seen recently. 2014 was the warmest year on record, quickly surpassed by 2015; every month in 2016 has been remarkably warmer than average, so far; and NASA Goddard's Gavin Schmidt, one of the smartest and most knowledgeable climate scientists I know, estimates a >99% chance of 2016 breaking records as well.
What does this astonishing string of record-breaking temperatures mean for extreme precipitation risks? Simply this: the warmer the planet, the greater the amount of extra water available for storms to sweep up and dump on us. And the terrible events this week illustrate how - nine times out of ten - climate change doesn't bring strange and new impacts we've never seen before; it takes the naturally-occurring risks we've already faced in the past, and gives them steroids.
Increase in Atmospheric Moisture Tied to Human Activities
Also, warmer water evaporates faster.https://www-pls.llnl.gov/?url=science_and_technology-earth_sciences-moisture
Observations and climate model results confirm that human-induced warming of the planet is having a pronounced effect on the atmosphere’s total moisture content. Those are the findings of a new study appearing in the Sept. 17 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“When you heat the planet, you increase the ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture,” said Benjamin Santer, lead author from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Program for Climate Modeling and Intercomparison. “The atmosphere’s water vapor content has increased by about 0.41 kilograms per square meter (kg/m²) per decade since 1988, and natural variability in climate just can’t explain this moisture change. The most plausible explanation is that it’s due to the human-caused increase in greenhouse gases.”
More water vapor – which is itself a greenhouse gas – amplifies the warming effect of increased atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. This is what scientists call a “positive feedback.”
•••••
The water vapor feedback mechanism works in the following way: as the atmosphere warms due to human-caused increases in carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor increases, trapping more heat in the atmosphere, which in turn causes a further increase in water vapor.
Basic theory, observations and climate model results all show that the increase in water vapor is roughly 6 percent to 7.5 percent per degree Celsius warming of the lower atmosphere.
•••••
Ex-Fox host tells CNN: Fox is a ‘cult’ and O’Reilly is a liar
No surprise to anybody who is attached to reality.
Although his reference to the "liberal" media is laughable.
Ex-Fox host tells CNN: Olbermann was right all along — Fox is a ‘cult’ and O’Reilly is a liar
David Edwards
Mar. 8, 2015
Former Fox News host Eric Burns on Sunday told CNN that revelations that Bill O’Reilly did not always tell the truth should not come as a surprise to anyone who watched the evidence Keith Olbermann presented when he worked as a host for MSNBC.
Burns, who hosted Fox’s media critic show Fox News Watch for a decade, explained to CNN’s Brian Stelter that O’Reilly had been “puffing up his credentials” and his ratings.
“I think the way to understand this is to make a distinction between culture and cult,” Burns said. “I’m saying that the people who watch Fox News are cult-ish. Because for many years, conservatives have been extremely upset in this country because the only newscast that they had to watch were liberal, you people at CNN and how liberal you are. And NBC and ABC and CBS.”
“The extreme right… they never had their own television station. When they got one, their appreciation, their audience loyalty — and I know what the audience loyalty was like when I was there — their audience loyalty soared. And so O’Reilly as the head of the cult is not held to the same standards as Brian Williams.”
•••••
“No one expects much out of O’Reilly as a Fox News host,” Burns continued. “No one expects the truth. He’s been caught in numerous lies, and those have never been a story.”
“To the Fox News cult, this kind of thing doesn’t matter. It’s a lie from the liberal media.”
•••••
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Childhood poverty, parental abuse cost adults their health for years to come
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/pu-cpp022916.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Childhood poverty, parental abuse cost adults their health for years to come
Purdue University
Growing up in poverty or being abused by parents can lead to accumulated health problems later in life, according to research from Purdue University.
"Childhood disadvantage has long-term health consequences - much longer than most of us realize," said Kenneth F. Ferraro, distinguished professor of sociology. "A novel aspect of this study is that childhood disadvantage was linked to the onset of new health problems decades later."
•••••
"Health problems and quality of life issues were a concern during the first wave of the study. However, when we revisited the study's adult participants 10 years later, childhood poverty and frequent abuse were related to the onset of new health problems, such as cancer and heart disease, even after we adjusted for risk factors including health lifestyle and socioeconomic status," said Ferraro, who also is interim head of sociology and director of Purdue's Center on Aging and the Life Course.
In addition to childhood poverty and abuse, family composition, including if both parents were present, was measured. The link between each of these childhood experiences and 14 adult outcomes also was examined for potential mediating effects. Family composition affected four of the 14 outcomes, including the likelihood of smoking and financial strain during adulthood. In comparison, childhood poverty affected nine outcomes and parental abuse affected 11 outcomes, such as smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. The authors found that childhood poverty and abuse led to adult behavioral problems as well as directly influenced disease development in later life.
In this study, abuse was considered to be physical or verbal. And, if both parents were abusive, it escalated the risk for health problems.
"It's also possible we have underrepresented the relationship between childhood disadvantage and later-life health problems because those most severely affected were not able to participate in a social survey," Ferraro said. "But, now that we have identified some of the early origins of adult disease, we should focus on greater resources, even during midlife, to break the chain of risks."
tags: child abuse
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Childhood poverty, parental abuse cost adults their health for years to come
Purdue University
Growing up in poverty or being abused by parents can lead to accumulated health problems later in life, according to research from Purdue University.
"Childhood disadvantage has long-term health consequences - much longer than most of us realize," said Kenneth F. Ferraro, distinguished professor of sociology. "A novel aspect of this study is that childhood disadvantage was linked to the onset of new health problems decades later."
•••••
"Health problems and quality of life issues were a concern during the first wave of the study. However, when we revisited the study's adult participants 10 years later, childhood poverty and frequent abuse were related to the onset of new health problems, such as cancer and heart disease, even after we adjusted for risk factors including health lifestyle and socioeconomic status," said Ferraro, who also is interim head of sociology and director of Purdue's Center on Aging and the Life Course.
In addition to childhood poverty and abuse, family composition, including if both parents were present, was measured. The link between each of these childhood experiences and 14 adult outcomes also was examined for potential mediating effects. Family composition affected four of the 14 outcomes, including the likelihood of smoking and financial strain during adulthood. In comparison, childhood poverty affected nine outcomes and parental abuse affected 11 outcomes, such as smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. The authors found that childhood poverty and abuse led to adult behavioral problems as well as directly influenced disease development in later life.
In this study, abuse was considered to be physical or verbal. And, if both parents were abusive, it escalated the risk for health problems.
"It's also possible we have underrepresented the relationship between childhood disadvantage and later-life health problems because those most severely affected were not able to participate in a social survey," Ferraro said. "But, now that we have identified some of the early origins of adult disease, we should focus on greater resources, even during midlife, to break the chain of risks."
tags: child abuse
E-cigarettes are estimated to have helped 16,000-22,000 smokers in England to quit in 2014
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/w-eae022916.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
E-cigarettes are estimated to have helped 16,000-22,000 smokers in England to quit in 2014
Wiley
Researchers from University College London estimate that use of e-cigarettes produced 16K-22K additional long-term quitters in England in 2014.1 A long-term quitter is someone who has not smoked for at least one year.
•••••
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
E-cigarettes are estimated to have helped 16,000-22,000 smokers in England to quit in 2014
Wiley
Researchers from University College London estimate that use of e-cigarettes produced 16K-22K additional long-term quitters in England in 2014.1 A long-term quitter is someone who has not smoked for at least one year.
•••••
Does daylight saving time increase risk of stroke?
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/aaon-dds022216.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Does daylight saving time increase risk of stroke?
American Academy of Neurology
Turning the clock ahead or back one hour during daylight saving time transitions may be tied to an increased risk of ischemic stroke, but only temporarily, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.
Ischemic stroke is the most common kind of stroke, accounting for 87 percent of all cases. It is caused by a clot blocking blood flow to the brain.
"Previous studies have shown that disruptions in a person's circadian rhythm, also called an internal body clock, increase the risk of ischemic stroke, so we wanted to find out if daylight saving time was putting people at risk," said study author Jori Ruuskanen, MD, PhD, of the University of Turku in Turku, Finland.
•••••
Researchers found that the overall rate of ischemic stroke was 8 percent higher during the first two days after a daylight saving time transition. There was no difference after two days.
People with cancer were 25 percent more likely to have a stroke after daylight saving time than during another period. The risk was also higher for those over age 65, who were 20 percent more likely to have a stroke right after the transition.
Hospital deaths from stroke did not increase in the week after a daylight saving time transition.
•••••
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Does daylight saving time increase risk of stroke?
American Academy of Neurology
Turning the clock ahead or back one hour during daylight saving time transitions may be tied to an increased risk of ischemic stroke, but only temporarily, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.
Ischemic stroke is the most common kind of stroke, accounting for 87 percent of all cases. It is caused by a clot blocking blood flow to the brain.
"Previous studies have shown that disruptions in a person's circadian rhythm, also called an internal body clock, increase the risk of ischemic stroke, so we wanted to find out if daylight saving time was putting people at risk," said study author Jori Ruuskanen, MD, PhD, of the University of Turku in Turku, Finland.
•••••
Researchers found that the overall rate of ischemic stroke was 8 percent higher during the first two days after a daylight saving time transition. There was no difference after two days.
People with cancer were 25 percent more likely to have a stroke after daylight saving time than during another period. The risk was also higher for those over age 65, who were 20 percent more likely to have a stroke right after the transition.
Hospital deaths from stroke did not increase in the week after a daylight saving time transition.
•••••
Snoring in children can affect their health
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uog-sic022916.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Snoring in children can affect their health
University of Gothenburg
Children commonly snore from time to time and that is often harmless. But children with frequent snoring and breathing problems during sleep have an increased risk of having trouble concentrating and learning difficulties. A newly published study from Sahlgrenska Academy shows that many parents of children that snore are not aware of the possible risks associated with frequent snoring in children.
Periodic snoring in children is not unusual. But, when snoring becomes persistent and the child experiences sleep apnea, sleep quality is affected. This, in turn, can lead to problems with daytime tiredness, concentration and learning difficulties, bedwetting and delayed growth.
•••••
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
Snoring in children can affect their health
University of Gothenburg
Children commonly snore from time to time and that is often harmless. But children with frequent snoring and breathing problems during sleep have an increased risk of having trouble concentrating and learning difficulties. A newly published study from Sahlgrenska Academy shows that many parents of children that snore are not aware of the possible risks associated with frequent snoring in children.
Periodic snoring in children is not unusual. But, when snoring becomes persistent and the child experiences sleep apnea, sleep quality is affected. This, in turn, can lead to problems with daytime tiredness, concentration and learning difficulties, bedwetting and delayed growth.
•••••
'Need for Sleep': Even elite students are not spared
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/dms-fs022916.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
'Need for Sleep': Even elite students are not spared
Duke-NUS Medical School
The legendary work ethic of East Asian students may have driven them to the top of the standardised test leaderboard but researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) found that adolescents who sleep five hours a night for a week experience significant cognitive degradation. These findings caution against the levels of sleep curtailment practiced by as many as half of East Asian students in their headlong pursuit of higher grades.
•••••
"East Asian societies highly value academic achievement as a yardstick of success and the need to push harder and for longer is deeply ingrained. The present findings should cause students, parents and educators to reflect on how they use time more efficiently to allow for sufficient nocturnal sleep. This would enable them to realise the benefits of the hard work they put in," added Professor Michael Chee, senior author and Director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke-NUS.
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
'Need for Sleep': Even elite students are not spared
Duke-NUS Medical School
The legendary work ethic of East Asian students may have driven them to the top of the standardised test leaderboard but researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) found that adolescents who sleep five hours a night for a week experience significant cognitive degradation. These findings caution against the levels of sleep curtailment practiced by as many as half of East Asian students in their headlong pursuit of higher grades.
•••••
"East Asian societies highly value academic achievement as a yardstick of success and the need to push harder and for longer is deeply ingrained. The present findings should cause students, parents and educators to reflect on how they use time more efficiently to allow for sufficient nocturnal sleep. This would enable them to realise the benefits of the hard work they put in," added Professor Michael Chee, senior author and Director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke-NUS.
New UTSA study delves into what makes a great leader
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uota-nus022516.php
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
New UTSA study delves into what makes a great leader
Management professor's top-tier research stresses the power of positive thinking in the workplace
University of Texas at San Antonio
•••••
Her top-tier research on leadership showed that ineffective or abusive leaders will create stressful situations for their employees by humiliating them in front of others, playing favorites or not giving their subordinates proper credit for their work.
"When you feel stressed, you feel helpless and your productivity and creativity is diminished," she said. "Many times this originates with the leader. For example, you might come to work unsure of what you're supposed to be doing because you get conflicting expectations from your direct supervisor or your boss. The solution is clear roles and communication."
•••••
Krasikova also stressed the importance of high-quality interpersonal relationships between leaders and subordinates, with an emphasis on trust, loyalty and mutual professional respect.
"When a confident, creative leader also has good relationship with subordinates, it has even a stronger impact on subordinates' creativity," she said. "Creativity flourishes in supportive environments where leaders and subordinates have good interpersonal relationships. In such environments, subordinates will go an extra mile for a leader without expecting anything in return because they have a good relationship. They can depend on each other, because they trust each other."
However, when a leader is not confident or creative, there's a trickle-down effect and employees feel less confident in their own abilities to be creative.
•••••
Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
New UTSA study delves into what makes a great leader
Management professor's top-tier research stresses the power of positive thinking in the workplace
University of Texas at San Antonio
•••••
Her top-tier research on leadership showed that ineffective or abusive leaders will create stressful situations for their employees by humiliating them in front of others, playing favorites or not giving their subordinates proper credit for their work.
"When you feel stressed, you feel helpless and your productivity and creativity is diminished," she said. "Many times this originates with the leader. For example, you might come to work unsure of what you're supposed to be doing because you get conflicting expectations from your direct supervisor or your boss. The solution is clear roles and communication."
•••••
Krasikova also stressed the importance of high-quality interpersonal relationships between leaders and subordinates, with an emphasis on trust, loyalty and mutual professional respect.
"When a confident, creative leader also has good relationship with subordinates, it has even a stronger impact on subordinates' creativity," she said. "Creativity flourishes in supportive environments where leaders and subordinates have good interpersonal relationships. In such environments, subordinates will go an extra mile for a leader without expecting anything in return because they have a good relationship. They can depend on each other, because they trust each other."
However, when a leader is not confident or creative, there's a trickle-down effect and employees feel less confident in their own abilities to be creative.
•••••
When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/pifc-wsl022516.php
Public Release: 28-Feb-2016
When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Damages from extreme events like floods are even more relevant than the mean sea level itself when it comes to the costs of climate impacts for coastal regions. However, while it is now rather well understood how sea-levels will rise in the future, only small progress has been made estimating how the implied damage for cities at the coasts will increase during the next decades. A team of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now provides a method to quantify monetary losses from coastal floods under sea-level rise. For the first time, the scientists show that the damage costs consistently increase at a higher rate than the sea-level rise itself.
"When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster, our analyses show," explains Markus Boettle, lead author of the study published in the journal Natural Hazards and the Earth System. Rising sea levels as a major impact of climate change pose a risk for coastal regions - the mean regional sea level rise takes effect by more frequent and more intense coastal flood events. "At the same time, the severity of flood impacts is not only determined by environmental factors, but also to a significant extent by human decisions: flood defense measures can counteract the increasing flood risk," says Boettle.
•••••
Public Release: 28-Feb-2016
When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Damages from extreme events like floods are even more relevant than the mean sea level itself when it comes to the costs of climate impacts for coastal regions. However, while it is now rather well understood how sea-levels will rise in the future, only small progress has been made estimating how the implied damage for cities at the coasts will increase during the next decades. A team of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now provides a method to quantify monetary losses from coastal floods under sea-level rise. For the first time, the scientists show that the damage costs consistently increase at a higher rate than the sea-level rise itself.
"When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster, our analyses show," explains Markus Boettle, lead author of the study published in the journal Natural Hazards and the Earth System. Rising sea levels as a major impact of climate change pose a risk for coastal regions - the mean regional sea level rise takes effect by more frequent and more intense coastal flood events. "At the same time, the severity of flood impacts is not only determined by environmental factors, but also to a significant extent by human decisions: flood defense measures can counteract the increasing flood risk," says Boettle.
•••••
Philippines affected by more extreme tropical cyclones
No surprise.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uos--pab022616.php
Public Release: 28-Feb-2016
Philippines affected by more extreme tropical cyclones
University of Sheffield study finds hazardous tropical cyclones in the Philippines are increasing in intensity causing widespread damage and loss of life, which may be due to rising sea-surface temperatures
University of Sheffield - Faculty of Engineering
Tropical cyclones in the Philippines are becoming more extreme and causing greater amounts of devastation, a new study has shown.
Geographers from the University of Sheffield have analysed annual data over the period from 1951 to 2013 and saw a slightly decreasing trend in the number of smaller cyclones (above 118 kilometres per hour) that hit land in the Philippines, particularly in the last two decades.
More hazardous tropical cyclones (above 150 kilometres per hour) were shown to be on the increase in recent years, with the northern island of Luzon frequently affected by these weather events and associated rainfall.
Previous research has suggested that the increase in the number of intense tropical cyclones could be due to rising sea-surface temperatures since the 1970s as a result of climate change. However it is too early to draw conclusions that will influence tropical cyclone projections, so this remains an active part of research on extreme climate events.
•••••
tags: extreme weather
'Good cop' parent not enough to buffer some harmful effects of 'bad cop' parent
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/isu-cp041916.php
Public Release: 19-Apr-2016
'Good cop' parent not enough to buffer some harmful effects of 'bad cop' parent
Iowa State University
New research shows harsh parenting may increase a child's risk for poor physical health and obesity as they get older. And attempts by one parent to counterbalance the harsh behavior are not always effective in lessening that risk.
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He and his colleagues at the University of California-Davis and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the link from harsh parenting to physical health is buffered by a warm and nurturing coparent. However, when they measured the effect on body mass index, the health risk of harsh parenting increased as warmth from the other parent increased.
"Harshness leads to problems with physical health, and no matter how hard a spouse tries they may not be able to erase those effects," Schofield said. "Instead of saying, 'I'm the law and my wife is the gospel' or something like that, better to acknowledge that in terms of harshness, your spouse is not going to be a buffer for the child, so behave responsibly."
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Harsh parenting was defined as parents who reject, coerce, are physically aggressive and are self-centered. No parent in this sample was observed hitting their adolescent, but Schofield says there were other signs of physical aggression, such as pinching and pushing.
Schofield says harsh parenting creates a chronic stressful environment that children can be exposed to for nearly two decades. This exposure can have a lasting effect on the developing brain during childhood and early adolescence, he added. Other research shows there are negative biological responses - chronic release of hormones, inflammation and lower cardiovascular reactivity - that can result from chronic stress.
•••••
Researchers point out that the differences in physical health and BMI were not evident at the beginning of adolescence, which suggests that the negative health effects were not preexisting. The effects persisted into young adulthood after many had moved out of their parents' homes.
•••••
The average person wants to believe their parents' behavior - even if it was harsh or aggressive - was for their own good or at the very least benign. Schofield says this belief makes it hard for some parents to change harsh behavior, such as spanking or extreme timeouts.
"We're fighting against that emotional connection to our own caregiver, who parented us that way," Schofield said. "If we accept that the behavior is damaging, we have to accept that our parent who loved us did something that may have been bad for us. It's not a complicated idea, but there's just too much emotion in the way."
•••••
Researchers controlled for several factors including family per-capita income-to-needs ratio, adolescent gender, parent education and family size. Factors such as smoking, overeating, parent income and family structure did not influence the results.
Public Release: 19-Apr-2016
'Good cop' parent not enough to buffer some harmful effects of 'bad cop' parent
Iowa State University
New research shows harsh parenting may increase a child's risk for poor physical health and obesity as they get older. And attempts by one parent to counterbalance the harsh behavior are not always effective in lessening that risk.
•••••
He and his colleagues at the University of California-Davis and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the link from harsh parenting to physical health is buffered by a warm and nurturing coparent. However, when they measured the effect on body mass index, the health risk of harsh parenting increased as warmth from the other parent increased.
"Harshness leads to problems with physical health, and no matter how hard a spouse tries they may not be able to erase those effects," Schofield said. "Instead of saying, 'I'm the law and my wife is the gospel' or something like that, better to acknowledge that in terms of harshness, your spouse is not going to be a buffer for the child, so behave responsibly."
•••••
Harsh parenting was defined as parents who reject, coerce, are physically aggressive and are self-centered. No parent in this sample was observed hitting their adolescent, but Schofield says there were other signs of physical aggression, such as pinching and pushing.
Schofield says harsh parenting creates a chronic stressful environment that children can be exposed to for nearly two decades. This exposure can have a lasting effect on the developing brain during childhood and early adolescence, he added. Other research shows there are negative biological responses - chronic release of hormones, inflammation and lower cardiovascular reactivity - that can result from chronic stress.
•••••
Researchers point out that the differences in physical health and BMI were not evident at the beginning of adolescence, which suggests that the negative health effects were not preexisting. The effects persisted into young adulthood after many had moved out of their parents' homes.
•••••
The average person wants to believe their parents' behavior - even if it was harsh or aggressive - was for their own good or at the very least benign. Schofield says this belief makes it hard for some parents to change harsh behavior, such as spanking or extreme timeouts.
"We're fighting against that emotional connection to our own caregiver, who parented us that way," Schofield said. "If we accept that the behavior is damaging, we have to accept that our parent who loved us did something that may have been bad for us. It's not a complicated idea, but there's just too much emotion in the way."
•••••
Researchers controlled for several factors including family per-capita income-to-needs ratio, adolescent gender, parent education and family size. Factors such as smoking, overeating, parent income and family structure did not influence the results.
Massive floods hit Chile: Power cuts, mine shut, 4mn people left with no fresh water
https://www.rt.com/news/340141-chile-floods-millions-no-water/
April 19, 2016
Chile’s capital, Santiago, has been inundated by rains that caused the Mapocho River to breach its banks and flow into one of the city’s upbeat neighborhoods. The calamity has killed at least two people and left four million more short of water.
The intense rains that have been pouring down since Friday caused the Mapocho River to overflow for the first time in 30 years, mostly into the wealthy neighborhood of Providencia, with water streaming into cafes, shops, and underground car parking.
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The flooding triggered landslides into the Maipo and Mapocho Rivers, killing at least two people and cutting more than four million residents off from the fresh water.
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April 19, 2016
Chile’s capital, Santiago, has been inundated by rains that caused the Mapocho River to breach its banks and flow into one of the city’s upbeat neighborhoods. The calamity has killed at least two people and left four million more short of water.
The intense rains that have been pouring down since Friday caused the Mapocho River to overflow for the first time in 30 years, mostly into the wealthy neighborhood of Providencia, with water streaming into cafes, shops, and underground car parking.
•••••
The flooding triggered landslides into the Maipo and Mapocho Rivers, killing at least two people and cutting more than four million residents off from the fresh water.
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Historic Flooding Ongoing as Houston Records Its Rainiest Day Ever—Before Noon
Texas elects Republicans who block efforts to stop global warming, so this is fair. Most often, the countries which have contributed the least to global warming are affected the worst.http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/18/houston_flooding_is_historic_and_linked_to_climate_change.html
By Eric Holthaus
Apr. 18, 2016
Houston is in the midst of an unbelievable deluge, with already more rainfall in a single day than any hurricane to ever hit the hurricane-prone city. The National Weather Service has called Monday’s flooding “historic.”
More than 21,000 square miles of southeast Texas is now in a flash flood warning, but the worst flooding seems to be occurring in western parts of the Houston metro area. More than 17 inches of rainfall has fallen in just the past 24 hours in some neighborhoods, with about 1 foot of rain coming just since midnight—already making Monday the rainiest day ever in Houston before noon.
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Officials in Harris County, where Houston is located, have declared a disaster area and estimate at least 1,000 homes have already been flooded. More than half the watersheds in Harris County are experiencing significant flooding, with at least one cresting above its estimated 500-year flood mark, a new all-time record. Bayous and creeks have overtopped levees in some parts of Houston, and the water continues to rise, with downtown Houston also in the direct path of some of the worst floodwaters.
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Since the 1950s, Houston has seen a 167 percent increase in the heaviest downpours—defined as the number of days where total precipitation exceeded the heaviest 1 percent of all local events—one of the fastest rates of increase anywhere in the country. That’s exactly what’s expected to happen as the climate warms, since warmer air can hold more water vapor than cooler air.
An increase in the frequency of heavy rain events has long been considered one of the likeliest consequences of global warming, and a recent comprehensive National Academies report endorsed this link. Blocking weather patterns like this weekend’s may be happening more often due to climate change, boosting the likelihood of heavy rainfall events, according to a new study published last week.
This is at least the fourth major flood in the Houston area in just the past 12 months, with previous flooding events last May, June, and October pummeling Texas hard.
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http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/us/houston-texas-flooding/
Houston flooding: 5 dead, 1,200 rescued -- and more rain to come
By Holly Yan and Melissa Gray, CNN
Updated 2:17 PM ET, Tue April 19, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Get your taxes done for free by Tax-Aide or VITA
See the following link for more info, including locations and documents you need to bring with you.
http://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
Since 1968, volunteer-based program has helped nearly 50 million low- to moderate-income taxpayers
AARP Foundation Tax-Aide has more than 5,000 locations in neighborhood libraries, malls, banks, community centers and senior centers. There’s no fee and no sales pitch for other services and AARP membership is not required.
We help taxpayers of all ages.
A similar program is VITA. You can get info on both programs, including locations, at
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers
Sunday, April 17, 2016
March was Earth's 11th-straight warmest month on record
http://mashable.com/2016/04/14/earth-11-warmest-months/#owg8zBHsQgqw
By Andrew Freedman
April 14, 2016
UPDATE: April 15, 2016
NASA's March temperature data was released Friday, showing that it was the planet's second-most unusually mild month on record, only somewhat cooler than February 2016.
The NASA data shows the monthly global average temperature was 1.28 degrees Celsius, or 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 20th century average.
According to NASA, six straight months from 2015 into 2016 have had a temperature anomaly of at least 1 degree Celsius. That had not happened in any month prior to this record warm stretch.
Data released on Thursday shows that March 2016 was the warmest March since at least 1891, making it the planet's 11th consecutive month to set a global temperature milestone.
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The cause of the record warmth, scientists say, is a combination of a record strong El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the increasingly apparent effects of long-term human-caused global warming.
The world was already setting more and more warm temperature records without the El Niño's assistance, but what El Niño has done was dial up the already elevated temperatures to damaging levels.
•••••
By Andrew Freedman
April 14, 2016
UPDATE: April 15, 2016
NASA's March temperature data was released Friday, showing that it was the planet's second-most unusually mild month on record, only somewhat cooler than February 2016.
The NASA data shows the monthly global average temperature was 1.28 degrees Celsius, or 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 20th century average.
According to NASA, six straight months from 2015 into 2016 have had a temperature anomaly of at least 1 degree Celsius. That had not happened in any month prior to this record warm stretch.
Data released on Thursday shows that March 2016 was the warmest March since at least 1891, making it the planet's 11th consecutive month to set a global temperature milestone.
•••••
The cause of the record warmth, scientists say, is a combination of a record strong El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the increasingly apparent effects of long-term human-caused global warming.
The world was already setting more and more warm temperature records without the El Niño's assistance, but what El Niño has done was dial up the already elevated temperatures to damaging levels.
•••••
Friday, April 15, 2016
Supreme court considers taking case of man given life in prison for growing pot
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/15/lee-carroll-brooker-alabama-marijuana-sentence
Joanna Walters
April 15, 2016
The US supreme court is poised on Friday to decide whether to take on the case of a 76-year-old disabled army veteran handed a sentence of life in prison without parole for growing marijuana in his back yard to alleviate his own health problems.
If the court does not review the case, Lee Carroll Brooker is destined to die behind bars even though judges in his native Alabama have declared this was not an appropriate punishment.
•••••
But in announcing the state supreme court’s decision, Alabama’s chief justice, Roy Moore, issued a lengthy explanation pointing out that the original trial judge, Larry Anderson, had said: “If the court could sentence you to a term that is less than life without parole, I would. However, the law is very specific … there is no discretion.”
And Moore himself added that Brooker’s sentence was “excessive and unjustified” and urged the Alabama legislature to “revisit the statutory sentencing scheme” for the state.
•••••
Steensland submitted material during his client’s trial and sentencing proceedings that showed he was in the US army for nine years after joining up at the age of 17 and was frequently posted abroad, coming under enemy fire on tours in Lebanon and the Dominican Republic.
He rose to the rank of sergeant in the 82nd airborne division and was awarded the combat infantryman badge for participating in active ground combat, according to court documents.
•••••
Joanna Walters
April 15, 2016
The US supreme court is poised on Friday to decide whether to take on the case of a 76-year-old disabled army veteran handed a sentence of life in prison without parole for growing marijuana in his back yard to alleviate his own health problems.
If the court does not review the case, Lee Carroll Brooker is destined to die behind bars even though judges in his native Alabama have declared this was not an appropriate punishment.
•••••
But in announcing the state supreme court’s decision, Alabama’s chief justice, Roy Moore, issued a lengthy explanation pointing out that the original trial judge, Larry Anderson, had said: “If the court could sentence you to a term that is less than life without parole, I would. However, the law is very specific … there is no discretion.”
And Moore himself added that Brooker’s sentence was “excessive and unjustified” and urged the Alabama legislature to “revisit the statutory sentencing scheme” for the state.
•••••
Steensland submitted material during his client’s trial and sentencing proceedings that showed he was in the US army for nine years after joining up at the age of 17 and was frequently posted abroad, coming under enemy fire on tours in Lebanon and the Dominican Republic.
He rose to the rank of sergeant in the 82nd airborne division and was awarded the combat infantryman badge for participating in active ground combat, according to court documents.
•••••
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