May 08
A new study has explained why we feel human connection, without real relationships, through reading.
University at Buffalo, SUNY psychologist Shira Gabriel and graduate student Ariana Young showed that when we read, we psychologically become part of the community described in the narrative—be they wizards or vampires.
That mechanism satisfies the deeply human, evolutionarily crucial, need for belonging.
The researchers recruited 140 undergraduates for the study. F
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Tags: Read, Read ‘twilight’
May 02
A new research has suggested that toddlers given milk at bedtime are far more likely to be overweight when they are older.
US researchers who followed almost 7,000 children found that those who were regularly fed a bottle of milk at age two were 30 percent more likely to be obese by the time they turned five and a half, reports the Daily Mail.
They warned that parents who continue to give children a bottle at an age when they have started eating solid foods are overfeeding them.
They said that an 8oz bottle of full-fat milk contains 150 calories – 12 percent of the energy a child aged between one and two needs in a day.
Mothers are advised to gradually wean their babies off either breast milk or formula milk from the age of six months.
But many carry on giving children bottles of milk – either formula, or whole or semi-skimmed – just before bedtime to help them sleep, even when they are on solid food.
That compared with just 16 percent of children not being given a bottle.
The researchers said midwives and GPs should encourage mothers to wean their babies off bottles completely once they reach their first birthday.
Tags: Bedtime, Given Milk, Toddlers Given, Toddlers Given Milk
Apr 28
A study led by researchers at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and the University of South Florida has found that Cotinine, a compound derived from tobacco, reduced plaques associated with dementia and prevented memory loss in a mouse model of Alzheimers disease.
We found a compound that protects neurons, prevents the progression of Alzheimers disease pathology, enhances memory and has been shown to be safe, said Valentina Echeverria, a scientist at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and an assistant professor of Molecular Medicine at USF Health.
It looks like cotinine acts on several aspects of Alzheimers pathology in the mouse model.
Full article…
Tags: Compound, Tobaccoderived Compound
Apr 23
L&M Companies Inc. has issued a national recall of whole cucumbers because of the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
Raleigh, N.C.-based L&M said in a press release issued on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site that no illnesses have been reported in association with this recall, and no other products are involved other than this one lot of cucumbers.
The recalled product was directly distributed by L&M Companies between March 30 and April 7 to wholesalers in New York (200 cartons), Florida (591 cartons), Illinois (139 cartons), Indiana (30 cartons) and Tennessee (15 cartons), and one retailer with distribution centers in Mississippi (420 cartons), Nebraska (92 cartons), Texas (2 cartons) and Wyoming (101 cartons).
“L&M Companies is issuing a nationwide recall out of an abundance of caution because the company recognizes the possibility that wholesale customers could have redistributed the product in states beyond those listed above,” according to the company.
The recalled lot of bulk cucumbers was harvested in South Florida on March 29.
Full article…
Tags: National Recall, Salmonella