Culture

Operators of facilities that store or process crops treated with methyl bromide should take extra precautions to protect their workers from postharvest exposure to the fumigant, advise experts at UC Davis, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 10 percent of U.S. high schoolers report being hit, slapped or physically hurt by their boyfriend or girlfriend in the past year, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control. And nearly one in four have been victimized through technology, according to a nationwide survey by Liz Claiborne Inc. and the Family Prevention Fund.

Teen dating abuse is often misunderstood or just missed by adults. That’s because many teens don’t share stories of abuse and much of the abuse takes place out of view.

Eureka Resources, LLC, said today that the Company is prepared to meet or exceed new standards proposed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for treatment of oil and gas wastewater, including drilling and production fluids and tophole and flowback water.

SironRX Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel regenerative therapies to accelerate dermal and bone healing, announced today a $3.4 million Series A investment led by North Coast Angel Fund. Additional investors include Cleveland Clinic, JumpStart Inc., Fletcher Spaght Investments, Glengary LLC, Ohio Tech Angel Fund III, Early Stage Partners, X Gen Ltd. and a significant number of individuals.

Watching TV for an average of six hours a day could shorten your life expectancy by almost five years, indicates research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The impact rivals that of other well known behavioral risk factors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, they say.

Sedentary behavior, as distinct from too little exercise, is associated with a higher risk of death, particularly from heart attack or stroke. Watching TV accounts for a substantial amount of sedentary activity, but its impact on life expectancy has not been assessed, say the authors.

Excessive drinking and an unbalanced diet are two preventable contributors to health problems in the developed world but different studies have found varying linkages between amounts of alcohol consumed and quality of diet. A new study of adults in Spain has found that heavy drinking, binge drinking, a preference for spirits, and drinking alcohol at mealtimes were associated with a poor adherence to major food consumption guidelines.

Results will be published in the November 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Parents of nut-allergy sufferers face hostility and skepticism in trying to find safe environments for their children, a new study has found.

Researchers found that parents are routinely made to feel by friends and even family that their child’s nut allergy is a ‘frivolous and self indulgent fad invented and maintained by attention-seeking people.’

Children in the study described how they were bullied by classmates saying, “I’ve got nuts and I’m gonna touch you!” 

The last century has seen two major pandemics caused by the H1N1 virus — the Spanish Flu in 1918 and 2009's Swine Flu scare, which had thousands travelling with surgical masks and clamoring for vaccination. But scientists did not know what distinguished the Swine Flu from ordinary influenza in pigs or seasonal outbreaks in humans, giving it the power to travel extensively and infect large populations.

Four new studies by researchers at the University at Buffalo have found that when a woman's goal is to be romantically desirable, she distances herself from academic majors and activities related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The studies, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, were undertaken to determine why women, who have made tremendous progress in education and the workplace over the past few decades, continue to be underrepresented at the highest levels of STEM.

When it comes to finding a job, 'sometimes it's who you know' is common wisdom. But usually it is work experience that generally helps people foster the kinds of personal contacts that can lead to new career opportunities, not just social skill, and a new study from North Carolina State University shows that this is really only true for men. The study finds that work experience doesn't improve women's chances of finding a job through social contacts.

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack's commitment to invest $100 million through the Wetlands Reserve Program to acquire permanent easements from landowners and assist with wetland restoration on nearly 24,000 acres of agricultural land in the Northern Everglades Watershed is a smart ecological and economic investment, according to conservation group Environmental Defense Fund, which also says maintaining funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program and other USDA conservation programs is critical.

"Involving

The perceived role of God in illness and recovery is a primary influence upon the health care beliefs and behaviors of American Muslims, a survey has discovered. Outreach and education efforts by the health care community can help address Muslim concerns and improve health care quality in this rapidly growing population, the report recommends.

Tel Aviv — Most marketing departments work hard to establish a flawless reputation for their product or service. But new research from Tel Aviv University is showing that perfection is not all it's cracked up to be.

TORONTO, Ont. — More patients are tested and treated for osteoporosis when fracture clinics have someone dedicated to screening for the bone disease, a new study has found. Those patients also do better when the clinic actually provides bone mineral density (BMD) testing or prescription drug treatment as part of its program rather than just referring fracture patients elsewhere.

An analysis of heart disease and stroke statistics collected in 192 countries by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the relative burden of the two diseases varies widely from country to country and is closely linked to national income, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

Reporting in the journal Circulation, the UCSF scientists found that developing countries tend to suffer more death and disability by stroke than heart disease – opposite the situation in the United States and other countries with higher national incomes.