A report by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides an expanded review of six new air quality regulations proposed or recently adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA). These include the first national standards for reducing dangerous emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. Though the cost of implementing the new regulations is estimated to be about $195 billion over the next 20 years or so, the economic, environmental and health benefits amount to well over $1 trillion, considerably outweighing ...

Reston, Va. – Positron emission tomography (PET) and a molecular imaging agent that captures the proliferation of cancer cells could prove to be a valuable method for imaging a form of Non-Hodgkin's disease called mantle cell lymphoma, a relatively rare and devastating blood cancer. The pilot study is published in the December issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Lymphoma is the term used for an array of cancers that affect blood cells and the lymphatic system. These cancers are typically categorized as either Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin's. Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) ...

Recently, a convicted sex offender was taken into custody and arrested as a result of an anonymous tip provided to the police. The man, identified as Brian Liska, was located at a Boy Scout's meeting at Irving Elementary School in Bloomington, Illinois. Liska faces Class 4 felony charges of being a child sex offender in a school zone. At the time of his arrest, Liska was reportedly wearing a Cub Scout leader uniform. Procedure necessitated the uniform being taken as evidence in the ongoing investigation resulting from the felony charges. Bloomington police spokesperson ...

Where does prejudice come from? Not from ideology, say the authors of a new paper. Instead, prejudice stems from a deeper psychological need, associated with a particular way of thinking. People who aren't comfortable with ambiguity and want to make quick and firm decisions are also prone to making generalizations about others. In a new article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Arne Roets and Alain Van Hiel of Ghent University in Belgium look at what psychological scientists have learned about ...

HOUSTON -- Variations in health care spending by Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) are similar throughout the state despite previous research, which found significant spending differences between the private and commercial sector in McAllen, Texas. The latest research results from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), the Commonwealth Fund, and the Brookings Institution are published in the December issue of the American Journal of Managed Care. Researchers compared variations in spending and inpatient admissions in ...

"Title washing" is an emerging form of fraud that allows car owners to take advantage of unwitting car buyers by concealing information on the car's title. It is principally done in one of two ways. Frequently the perpetrators take advantage of varying vehicle documentation laws among different states to hide flood-damaged and salvaged title labels on the car's title. Scammers are also able to dupe victims by filing fraudulent paperwork with the state to obtain a duplicate title that does not show the valid lien attached to a vehicle. Insurance companies brand ...

NOAA scientists plumbed the deep ocean, probed the heights of the stratosphere, and surveyed some of the fiercest storm systems on Earth in meeting 2011's scientific challenges. Their discoveries are paying off in longer storm warning lead times, better understanding of our climate, and new knowledge about environmental disasters. NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) conducts the scientific research that advances weather forecasting, climate prediction, and environmental modeling, as well as our understanding of coastal threats such as tsunamis and ...

Scots of Pakistani origin are 50 per cent more likely to be admitted to hospital with chest pain and angina than those of Indian ethnicity, a study has found. Scots of Indian and Pakistani origin also have much greater levels of hospital admissions for both conditions than people of white Scottish ethnicity. Those of Pakistani origin were twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with chest pain compared with white Scots, according to the University of Edinburgh study. Scottish residents who defined their ethnicity as Indian were also 40 per cent more likely to be ...

Federal prosecutors requested a 385-year sentence for Lee B. Farkas, for his role in a complex bank fraud. In their memo, the federal prosecutors noted, "Sentencing him to the maximum penalty allowed by law will send the most forceful and unequivocal message to senior corporate executives that engaging in fraud and deceit in order to pump up your company or line your own pockets is unacceptable and will have severe consequences." According to Peter Henning, a Wayne State law professor, in a blog for the NY Times, this sentence is a continuation of the development ...

AMES, Iowa – Astronomers have discovered two Earth-sized planets that survived getting caught in the red-giant expansion of their host star. Steve Kawaler, an Iowa State University professor of physics and astronomy and a leader of the Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation, helped the research team study data from the Kepler space telescope to confirm that tiny variations of light from a star were actually caused by two planets of that star. The findings are published in the Letters section of the Dec. 22 edition of the journal Nature. Stéphane Charpinet of the Institut ...

When most people hear the acronyms DUI and DWI, they think of someone accused of driving after having had a few too many cocktails. That is definitely not always the case, though. Laws in Arizona and across the country prohibit driving under the influence (DUI) of or driving while impaired (DWI) by not only alcohol but any other substance -- legally prescribed medications, over the counter remedies, herbs, supplements and more -- that influences the concentration, attention span, motor skills, judgment and reaction time of the driver. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control ...

We know a lot about the links between a pregnant mother's health, behavior, and moods and her baby's cognitive and psychological development once it is born. But how does pregnancy change a mother's brain? "Pregnancy is a critical period for central nervous system development in mothers," says psychologist Laura M. Glynn of Chapman University. "Yet we know virtually nothing about it." Glynn and her colleague Curt A. Sandman, of University of the California Irvine, are doing something about that. Their review of the literature in Current Directions in Psychological Science, ...

New Jersey drivers who operate their motor vehicles in a negligent manner can be held financially responsible for their actions. However, determining when a driver's conduct is negligent, and to what extent he or she should be held liable, can be challenging. If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, a basic knowledge of how New Jersey law determines fault and liability can help you become better informed of your legal options and lessen the chance of being taken advantage of by your insurance company. Types of Fault Negligence is one of the many types of fault. ...

Despite the numerous medical advances that happen every day, the infant mortality rate in the United States is still higher than most European countries. While experts believe this is closely linked to the growing rate of pre-term births, researchers are committed to finding ways to make labor and delivery safer. Northwestern Medicine® researchers are examining a new device that may support improved newborn health at delivery through closer monitoring of infant oxygen use during labor. "Poor birth outcomes are often directly related to loss of oxygen during labor and ...

Low in the south in the summer sky shines the constellation Scorpius and the bright, red supergiant star Antares. Many of the brightest stars in Scorpius, and hundreds of its fainter stars, are among the youngest stars found near the earth, and a new analysis of them may result in a rethinking of both their ages and the ages of other groups of stars. New research by astrophysicists from the University of Rochester focused on stars in the north part of the constellation, known as Upper Scorpius, which is a part of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, one of our best ...

At UCLA's Laboratory of Integrative Neuroimaging Technology, researchers use functional MRI brain scans to observe brain signal changes that take place during mental activity. They then employ computerized machine learning (ML) methods to study these patterns and identify the cognitive state — or sometimes the thought process — of human subjects. The technique is called "brain reading" or "brain decoding." In a new study, the UCLA research team describes several crucial advances in this field, using fMRI and machine learning methods to perform "brain reading" on smokers ...

The problem with credit scores is that in order to build credit, generally you have to have some sort of debt. Traditionally, this meant taking on a mortgage, car loan, student loan or credit card and paying it back responsibly. But what if you can't qualify for or don't want this kind of debt? After going through personal bankruptcy or foreclosure, some people have difficulty getting approved for a loan or a credit card. Others have been so burned by debt that they insist on living a cash-only lifestyle. How can you rebuild your credit without taking out a loan or charging ...

BEER-SHEVA, Israel – Long-term healthy dietary interventions frequently induce a rapid weight decline, mainly in the first four to six months, followed by weight stabilization or regain, despite continued dieting. The partial regain may discourage people from adhering to healthier habits, but research now shows that improvements to health remain even if weight is regained. The study recently released online in Diabetes Care (Print: February 2012) identified two distinct biomarker patterns that correspond to weight change, one of which continues to improve with time. ...

Penn State University has been reeling from the Gerald Sandusky sex abuse scandal - a past assistant coach at the university. As a result of the scandal, President Graham Spanier and legendary football coach Joe Paterno are no longer with the University. The famed football program, that recently made Paterno the winningest coach in Division I college football, has been tainted by allegations that officials knew of Sandusky's sexual assaults for years and were ignored. The Sandusky Grand Jury Report A grand jury indictment issued in November brought to light the ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – On the 15th anniversary of the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park, a quiet but profound rebirth of life and ecosystem health is emerging, scientists conclude in a new report. For the first time in 70 years, the over-browsing of young aspen and willow trees has diminished as elk populations in northern Yellowstone declined and their fear of wolf predation increased. Trees and shrubs have begun recovering along some streams, providing improved habitat for beaver and fish. Birds and bears also have more food. "Yellowstone increasingly looks ...

A UCSF study shows a popular treatment for a potentially blinding eye infection is just as effective if given every six months versus annually. This randomized study on trachoma, the leading cause of infection-caused blindness in the world, could potentially treat twice the number of patients using the same amount of medication. "The idea is we can do more with less," said Bruce Gaynor, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology. "We are trying to get as much out of the medicine as we can because of the ...

There are few things that are more important than seeing to our own health and the health of loved ones. Yet, when a serious injury or illness strikes, we have no choice but to place trust in the competency and compassion of medical professionals. Unfortunately, sometimes this trust is violated: thousands of preventable medical mistakes occur every year in the United States. For patients who are harmed or the families of patients who are killed, there are after-the-fact remedies available with the assistance of Colorado medical malpractice attorneys. But, a focus ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Bioengineers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed a new silk-based microneedle system able to deliver precise amounts of drugs over time and without need for refrigeration. The tiny needles can be fabricated under normal temperature and pressure and from water, so they can be loaded with sensitive biochemical compounds and maintain their activity prior to use. They are also biodegradable and biocompatible. The research paper "Fabrication of Silk Microneedles for Controlled-Release Drug Delivery" appeared in Advanced Functional ...

It's no surprise that disputes between divorced couples can get ugly, especially when children are involved. But what happens when one parent begins making questionable domestic violence allegations? WTSP, a CBS affiliate in Tampa Bay, recently reported on a case where a woman accused her former husband of domestic violence for administering a single spank as punishment to their 14 year old daughter. Domestic Violence and Florida Law Domestic violence is a term defined by Florida Statute to include any assault, battery, stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment or ...

A commentary by Dr. David Spence of The University of Western Ontario and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues that vitamin therapy still has a role to play in reducing stroke. Vitamin B therapy was once widely used to lower homocysteine levels. Too much of this amino acid in the bloodstream was linked to increased risk of stroke and heart attack. But several randomized trials found lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins did not result in a cardiovascular benefit. And a ...