Culture | Page 1879 | Science Codex

Brits reluctant to share personal data to enable 'smart' energy use

Reluctance to share data about personal energy use is likely to be a major obstacle when implementing 'smart' technologies designed to monitor use and support energy efficient behaviors, according to new research led by academics at The University of Nottingham.

The study, published online by the journal Nature Climate Change, found that while more than half of people quizzed would be willing to reduce their personal energy consumption, some were wary about sharing their information with third parties.

An hour of TV per day linked to unhealthy weight in kindergartners

Do overweight kids watch more television, or does television cause weight kids? That has long been the contention for people seeking a magic bullet in obesity: If we just reduce television time, kids won't be fat.

Electronic cigarettes gaining in popularity among teens

Teens no longer smoke just cigarettes. They have branched out to using alternative tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes, hookahs and little cigars. In fact, e-cigarette use is rising rapidly among both cigarette smokers and nonsmokers, according to a study to be presented Sunday, April 26 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego.

Emoticons and Happy Meals of healthy foods may make students eat better

If it works so well for McDonald's that places like California have tried to ban them, why not make Happy Meals for broccoli?

A paper at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego says that poor food choices in school cafeterias area risk factor for childhood obesity and students will make better choices if healthy foods are labeled with smiley faces and offe small prizes.

Despite warnings, health food stores recommend OTC dietary supplements to minors

Fifteen year olds are not only able to buy over-the-counter dietary supplements from a sampling of health food stores across the country, the staff at those stores actually went so far as to recommend certain products, despite labels reading "for adult use only."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against using body-shaping supplements -- supplements are unregulated by the US Food & Drug Administration -- for males and females under age 18. Despite the adults-only labeling, it is legal for minors to buy these products in 49 states.

7 great achievements in child health research

Pediatric research discoveries over the past 40 years have led to prevention and treatment strategies that have saved millions of lives worldwide. Seven of the greatest research achievements will be presented on Sunday, April 26 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting at the San Diego Convention Center.

'Summer slide' reduced by letting kids pick their own summer reading

At the end of the school year, districts often send stacks of books home with their students in the hopes of combating the "summer slide," the literacy loss experienced during the long break that hits low-income students particularly hard.

But a study by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center showed that these programs can be made significantly more effective with only a small tweak: Let the kids choose the books.

Despite pediatric guidelines, babies as young as 6 months using mobile media

More than one-third of babies are tapping on smartphones and tablets even before they learn to walk or talk, and by 1 year of age, one in seven toddlers is using devices for at least an hour a day, according to a study (http://www.abstracts2view.com/pas/view.php?nu=PAS15L1_1165.3) presented this morning at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego.

Cell phones distract parents watching kids on playgrounds

There was a time seeing a parent pushing their kid on a playground swingset looked cute, leading people to wistfully want their childhood back. Since now, that parent is likely to be on a mobile device while doing it, we are more likely to want modern children to have their childhoods back.

On the other side of that are helicopter parents who monitor every moment of their child's existence - and they are going to want to change their ways, according to a paper presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego.

Mental disorders don't predict future violence - with one exception

Most psychiatric disorders - including depression -- do not predict future violent behavior, according to new Northwestern Medicine longitudinal study of delinquent youth. Some delinquent youth with current psychiatric illness may also be violent. For example, males with mania were more than twice as likely to report current violence than those without. But these relationships are not necessarily causal.

Cheaters and the cheated: Biased reports on international students don't help

Monday’s Four Corners episode shed some much-needed light on longstanding problems in our higher education sector. Most importantly, it highlighted the role of some dodgy overseas education agents and the apparent collusion of some universities in fraudulent recruitment schemes for international students.

Alarming rise in cost of MS drugs over past 2 decades

A new study shows an "alarming rise" over the last 20 years in the costs of drugs used to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis or reduce the frequency of attacks, according to a study led by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Oregon State University (OSU).

The STEM diversity problem is because of the university diversity problem

The U.S. will make little progress toward changing the predominately white-male face of its science and technology workforce until higher education addresses the attitudes, behaviors and structural practices that undermine minority students' access and success at college, a new study suggests.

Before building houses, aid workers should read through archaeologists' notebooks

Aid workers who provide shelter following natural disasters, such as hurricanes or earthquakes, should consider long-term archaeological information about how locals constructed their homes in the past, and what they do when they repair and rebuild. Archaeologists and international humanitarian organizations are both involved in recovery, with the former doing this for the past, and the latter for the present. So says Alice Samson of the University of Cambridge in the UK, leader of an archaeological overview of building practices used in the Caribbean 1,400 to 450 years ago.

Recessions lead to depression

The recent Great Recession was accompanied by a significant and sustained increase in major depression in U.S. adults, according to a Loyola study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Prevalence of major depression increased from 2.33 percent during the years 2005-2006 to 3.49 percent in 2009-2010 to 3.79 percent in 2011-2012, according to the study by Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers.