Newborn hearing screening is transforming the lives of deaf children
The combination of newborn hearing screening and other developing technologies promises to qualitatively change life expectations for children who are born with impaired hearing, the National Screening Unit's conference was told today.
Professor Greg Leigh from the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children and the University of Newcastle told delegates in Wellington that the most notable among these developments has been the increasing accessibility of cochlear implantation. Since universal screening was introduced in New South Wales, the age at which children receive a cochlear implant has been consistently falling.
Health & Wellness
Washington - A chemical used to make baby bottles and other shatterproof plastic containers could be linked to a range of hormonal problems, a preliminary government report has found.
An international group of researchers found two SNPs linked to an increased risk of lung cancer. Both of them are located on chromosome 15 inside a region that contains genes for nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha subunits 3 and 5, which were already suspected of playing a role in lung cancer progression.
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| Haitians look at the damages caused by looters at a gas station in Port-au-Prince. |
Rising food prices are in the news, as riots occur in many countries in reaction to the doubling of the price of wheat and rice. Of course, it isn't the rich, the politicians, or the heads of the multinationals; it isn't any of the Pathocrats who are suffering.
It is people who are struggling to make ends meet, to find food for their families, their children, their elderly parents.
In February 2004, the Pentagon, in a secret report, predicted food riots as the result of the changing climate. It looks like they have arrived, although quite a few years before the Pentagon predicted. The article linked above includes:
The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.The famine has begun. Will their other scenarios come about as quickly?
'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'
The following are a selection of articles from around the world discussing rising food prices:
CHEAP FOSSIL FUEL has made us what we are. Which is to say: rich, powerful - Look at us! We can make the ice caps melt! The oceans rise! But something else too: cheap fossil fuel has made us the first people on Earth with no need of our neighbors.
Think, in the course of an ordinary day, how often you rely on the people who live near you for anything of practical value. Perhaps carpooling your kids to school or soccer. If you live in a rural community, there may be a volunteer fire department, which keeps your insurance affordable. But your food, your fuel, your shelter, your clothes, and your entertainment most likely come from a distance and arrive anonymously at that. A meteorite could fall on your cul-de-sac tomorrow, disappearing your neighbors, and the routines of your daily life wouldn't change.
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| ©Joel Sartore |
Think, in the course of an ordinary day, how often you rely on the people who live near you for anything of practical value. Perhaps carpooling your kids to school or soccer. If you live in a rural community, there may be a volunteer fire department, which keeps your insurance affordable. But your food, your fuel, your shelter, your clothes, and your entertainment most likely come from a distance and arrive anonymously at that. A meteorite could fall on your cul-de-sac tomorrow, disappearing your neighbors, and the routines of your daily life wouldn't change.
When Cara Culver suspected her 2-year-old daughter Judith might have autism, she didn't listen to the advice of the first doctor she visited.
Culver, who lived in Valencia, Spain, at the time with Judith, her husband Alex and their son Marc, now 5, said the number of children diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder that impairs social and language development, is not as high in Spain as it is in the United States.
Culver, who lived in Valencia, Spain, at the time with Judith, her husband Alex and their son Marc, now 5, said the number of children diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder that impairs social and language development, is not as high in Spain as it is in the United States.
Each day, we are bombarded with options -- at the local coffee shop, at work, in stores or on the TV at home. Do you want a double-shot soy latte, a caramel macchiato or simply a tall house coffee for your morning pick-me-up" Having choices is typically thought of as a good thing. Maybe not, say researchers who found we are more fatigued and less productive when faced with a plethora of choices.
Researchers from several universities have determined that even though humans' ability to weigh choices is remarkably advantageous, it can also come with some serious liabilities. People faced with numerous choices, whether good or bad, find it difficult to stay focused enough to complete projects, handle daily tasks or even take their medicine.
These findings appear in the May issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association.
Researchers conducted seven experiments involving 328 participants and 58 consumers at a shopping mall. In the laboratory experiments, some participants were asked to make choices about consumer products, college courses or class materials. Other participants did not have to make decisions but simply had to consider the options in front of them.
Researchers from several universities have determined that even though humans' ability to weigh choices is remarkably advantageous, it can also come with some serious liabilities. People faced with numerous choices, whether good or bad, find it difficult to stay focused enough to complete projects, handle daily tasks or even take their medicine.
These findings appear in the May issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association.
Researchers conducted seven experiments involving 328 participants and 58 consumers at a shopping mall. In the laboratory experiments, some participants were asked to make choices about consumer products, college courses or class materials. Other participants did not have to make decisions but simply had to consider the options in front of them.
The first prospective study investigating cultural identity and mental health status among adolescents living in a culturally diverse society has revealed that there is an association between the two, and that effects differ by gender and ethnic group. Researchers say the findings, published today (15 April 2008) in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, could inform policies affecting educational and social institutions caring for young people.
Led by Kamaldeep Bhui, Professor of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, the research looked at 11-14 year-old White British and Bangladeshi pupils taken from a representative sample of schools in east London*, and assessed cultural identity via their preference for friends and clothes from their own, or other cultural groups. The pupils were then classified into traditional, integrated, assimilated or marginalised groups. In a follow-up study two years later, a number of the same pupils were resurveyed and completed measures of mental health.
Led by Kamaldeep Bhui, Professor of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, the research looked at 11-14 year-old White British and Bangladeshi pupils taken from a representative sample of schools in east London*, and assessed cultural identity via their preference for friends and clothes from their own, or other cultural groups. The pupils were then classified into traditional, integrated, assimilated or marginalised groups. In a follow-up study two years later, a number of the same pupils were resurveyed and completed measures of mental health.
University of Florida researchers have identified a gene variation in heart disease patients who appear especially vulnerable to the physical effects of mental stress - to the point where blood flow to the heart is greatly reduced.
"Searching for the presence of this gene may be one way to better identify patients who are at an increased risk for the phenomenon," said David S. Sheps, M.D., a professor and associate chairman of cardiovascular medicine at UF's College of Medicine and the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Those with the gene variation are three times more likely to experience dangerous decreases in blood flow to the heart - a condition doctors call ischemia - than heart disease patients without it. Ischemia increases the chance these patients will suffer a heart attack, heart rhythm abnormalities or sudden death, UF researchers report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
"Searching for the presence of this gene may be one way to better identify patients who are at an increased risk for the phenomenon," said David S. Sheps, M.D., a professor and associate chairman of cardiovascular medicine at UF's College of Medicine and the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Those with the gene variation are three times more likely to experience dangerous decreases in blood flow to the heart - a condition doctors call ischemia - than heart disease patients without it. Ischemia increases the chance these patients will suffer a heart attack, heart rhythm abnormalities or sudden death, UF researchers report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Imagine not being able to tell your son's voice from that of a complete stranger. Welcome to the life of a 60-year-old British woman known as KH. Although a handful of people have reportedly lost the ability to recognize voices after a stroke or other brain damage, researchers believe KH is the first documented case of someone who never developed this ability in the first place.
The case came to light a few years ago when KH read an article in New Scientist magazine about people who can't recognize individuals by face. The article struck a chord, and she contacted the magazine, explaining that she had an analogous voice-recognition problem. For as long as she could remember, the voices of even her closest relatives were indistinguishable. New Scientist contacted Bradley Duchaine, a cognitive neuroscientist featured in the article, and Duchaine invited KH to visit his lab at University College London.
The case came to light a few years ago when KH read an article in New Scientist magazine about people who can't recognize individuals by face. The article struck a chord, and she contacted the magazine, explaining that she had an analogous voice-recognition problem. For as long as she could remember, the voices of even her closest relatives were indistinguishable. New Scientist contacted Bradley Duchaine, a cognitive neuroscientist featured in the article, and Duchaine invited KH to visit his lab at University College London.
Comment: Psychologist Barry Schwartz discusses this topic in greater detail in his lecture "The Paradox of Choice - Why More Is Less".
Here is a full version of the material as presented at Google HQ on 27 April 2006:
A more concise version is available from here:
Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice (TED Talks)