Eating for the sake of pleasure, rather than survival, is nothing new. But only in the past several years have researchers come to understand deeply how certain foods—particularly fats and sweets—actually change brain chemistry in a way that drives some people to overconsume.
Scientists have a relatively new name for such cravings: hedonic hunger, a powerful desire for food in the absence of any need for it; the yearning we experience when our stomach is full but our brain is still ravenous. And a growing number of experts now argue that hedonic hunger is one of the primary contributors to surging obesity rates in developed countries worldwide, particularly in the U.S., where scrumptious desserts and mouthwatering junk foods are cheap and plentiful. Read Article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-and-fat-trick-the-brain-into-wanting-more-food/?utm_content=buffer88f70&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer A wearable robot could prevent future falls among those prone to stumbles.
The new exoskeleton packs motors on a user’s hips and can sense blips in balance. In a small trial, the pelvic robot performed well in sensing and averting wearers’ slips, researchers report May 11 in Scientific Reports. Exoskeletons have the potential to help stroke victims and people with spinal cord injuries walk again (SN: 11/16/13, p. 22) — and even kick soccer goals (SN Online: 6/12/14). But this new model focuses on a more ordinary aspect of the human condition: falling on your face or your rear. “Exoskeletons could really help in this case,” says study coauthor Silvestro Micera, an engineer at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. Most exoskeletons guide the movement of the wearer, forcing the person to walk in a particular way. But the new pelvic device allows the user to walk normally and reacts only when it needs to. A computer algorithm measures changes in a wearer’s hip joint angles to detect the altered posture that goes along with slipping. The robot then uses its motors to push the hips back into their natural position to, hopefully, prevent a fall. Read Article: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-pelvic-exoskeleton-stops-people-taking-tumbles Restaurant foods and commercially processed foods sold in stores accounted for about 70 percent of dietary sodium intake in a study in three U.S. regions, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.
Sodium is an important contributor to high blood pressure, one of the leading causes of heart attack and stroke. The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day, which is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of salt. For nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults, the maximum sodium intake recommendation is even lower -- 1500 mg/day -- based on their age, race or ethnicity, or existing high blood pressure. Sodium can be difficult to avoid, especially when people eat a lot of processed food from grocery stores or restaurants. In fact, the average American adult consumes more than 3,400 mg of sodium per day. To address this serious health threat, in 2010 the Institute of Medicine recommended gradually decreasing sodium levels in commercially processed foods. Read Entire Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170508162241.htm Common painkillers such as ibuprofen and naproxen are already known to raise people's risk of a heart attack. Now a new study shows the risk comes within the first week of using the drugs.
The study doesn't mean that everyone should avoid taking the pills to treat headaches, lower fevers and reduce aches and pains, but does suggest people who know they have a bigger-than-average heart attack risk should avoid long-term use and high doses, the researchers said. Read Entire Article: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/heart-attack-risk-painkillers-starts-within-week-study-n756991 Engineering researchers have developed a revolutionary process for 3D printing stretchable electronic sensory devices that could give robots the ability to feel their environment. The discovery is also a major step forward in printing electronics on real human skin.
Read Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170510132651.htm Read about a promising study showing that the risk of heart transplant rejection can be reduced.5/9/2017
The risk of heart transplant rejection can be reduced by desensitising patient antibodies, according to research presented at Heart Failure 2017 and the 4th World Congress on Acute Heart Failure.
The European Society of Cardiology announced that this breakthrough comes on the 50th anniversary of heart transplantation. Before heart transplantation the serum of heart transplant candidates is tested for levels of anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) which could bind to donor HLA antigens and cause rejection of the organ. At the time of transplantation, a virtual crossmatch is conducted to determine if the patient’s anti-HLA antibodies are directed against the donor’s specific HLA antigen – if yes, they are called “donor specific anti-HLA antibody” (DSA). “Most centres do not perform heart transplantation in patients with a high DSA level since the risk of antibody-mediated rejection is high, particularly hyper-acute rejection,” said lead author Dr Guillaume Coutance, a cardiologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France. “Patients then have to wait for a donor with different HLA antigens.” To reduce the chance of rejection in these patients at high immunological risk, in 2009 Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital began a desensitisation programme. The current study analysed the impact of the programme on survival after heart transplantations performed during 2009 to 2015. The type of desensitisation patients receive depends on their DSA level, which is measured by mean fluorescence intensity (MFI). An MFI between 500 and 1000 is considered “low DSA” and an MFI above 1000 is considered “high DSA”. All patients receive anti-thymocyte globulins and conventional immunosuppressive therapy (calcineurin inhibitors, mycophenolate mofetil, and corticosteroids). On top of this, patients with low DSA levels receive intravenous immunoglobulins. Patients with high DSA levels are treated with plasmapheresis before and after transplantation, followed by intravenous immunoglobulins after the complete cycle of plasmapheresis. The study included 523 patients who were 50 years old on average and 77% were men. Nearly half (46%) of patients had no DSA, 17% had low DSA, and 37% had high DSA levels. Patients were followed-up for an average of 3.7 years and survival was compared between the three groups. Read Article: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/european-society-cardiology-heart-transplant-rejection-risk-reduced-desensitising-patient-antibodies/ By gaining a clear understanding of how indices are created and how they differ, you will be on your way to making sense of the daily movements in the marketplace.
Here we'll compare and contrast the main market indices so that the next time you hear someone refer to "the market," you'll have a better idea of just what they mean. The Dow The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is one of the oldest, most well-known and most frequently used indices in the world. It includes the stocks of 30 of the largest and most influential companies in the United States. The DJIA is what's known as a price-weighted index. It was originally computed by adding up the per-share price of the stocks of each company in the index and dividing this sum by the number of companies—that's why it's called an average. Unfortunately, it is no longer this simple to calculate. Over the years, stock splits, spin-offs, and other events have resulted in changes in the divisor, making it a very small number (less than 0.2). Read more: An Introduction To Stock Market Indexes http://www.investopedia.com/articles/analyst/102501.asp#ixzz4gBVACwQp Follow us: Investopedia on Facebook |
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