Obesity has gone up but it can't be because of larger portion sizes in fast food. Despite the perception that meals have gotten bigger, the sizes and formulations have been basically unchanged since 1996, according to two new reports from researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.
Culture
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has announced the extension of the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebate program, which will continue to provide $2,000 rebates for large-battery system plug-in hybrid electric and battery-electric vehicles until June 30, 2015, or until the 500 vehicle benchmark is reached. To date, DEP has more than 150 rebates remaining at this amount and has spent $4.35 million on rebates for electric vehicles in Pennsylvania since 2011.
The bremelanotide pivotal registration program for the phase 3 reconnect study in the United States for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) has begun.
Should people suffering from Ebola be given treatments that have been rushed through the FDA approval process? The patients and their families, primarily in West Africa, cannot give informed consent due to cultural and language barriers and the general desperation that goes with a life-threatening illness.
Is the situation any more clear in developed countries, where language and cultural barriers are not a problem?
A suicide attempt by a parent increased the odds nearly 5-fold that a child would attempt suicide, according to a new analysis.
Other studies have established that suicidal behavior can run in families but few studies have looked at the pathways by which suicidal behavior is transmitted in families.
A commentary in Annals of Internal Medicine by America's 16th Surgeon General, David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., suggests that credibility is one of the most important qualities of an effective Surgeon General.
Violent conflict may, under certain conditions, offer a biological benefit to those who take part in it, say anthropologists who correlated violent raids and combat to reproductive fitness.
In the paper, authored by Luke Glowacki, a Harvard doctoral student working with Richard Wrangham, an anthropology professor, the authors noted that members of an East African herding tribe who engaged in conflict - in the form of violent raids carried out on neighboring groups - had more wives, and thus more opportunities to increase their reproductive success through having more children.
Companies rarely acknowledge customers who fill out satisfaction surveys but a sincere, well-timed "thank you" can reap huge rewards, according to a Michigan State University marketing scholar.
Energy is cheaper in America than in Germany and it shows in how bright comparably sized cities are. American cities emit several times more light per capita than comparably sized German ones, according to a recent paper. The size of the gap grew with city size, as light per capita increased with city size in the USA but decreased with city size in Germany. The study also examined regional differences, and found that light emission per capita was higher in cities in the former East of Germany than from those in the former West.
Researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Medical Center studied the impact of text message reminders for the second dose of influenza vaccine required for many young children to protect them against the virus.
By Liz Thach, Professor management and wine business at Sonoma State University, Sonoma State University
What beverage has grown continuously in consumption for the past 20 years in America? Wine.
Researchers have published what they are calling the first full scientific study of the landmark crime experiment they conducted on policing with body-worn-cameras in Rialto, California in 2012 - the results of which have been cited by police departments around the world as justification for rolling out this technology.
Gallbladder removal is one of the most common operations performed in older adults. Yet, research from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston shows many patients who would benefit most from the surgery don't get it.
Only a minority of patients in England with gout with indications to receive urate-lowering therapy were treated according to guideline recommendations, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA. And the British pride themselves on free health care so why patients are not getting it remains unclear.
An international research team has determined the genetic sequencing of 16 mosquitoes - Anopheles genus, the sole carriers of human malaria--providing new insight into how they adapt to humans as primary hosts of the disease.