Month: April 2014

Eight Energy-Saving Tips to Make Every Day Earth Day

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Earth Day 2014 is the 44th birthday of the modern environmental movement, and it provides a great opportunity to take small, easy steps to shrink your carbon footprint at home and put money back into your pocket year-round. Not only will you lower your utility bills, you can help the planet by implementing these simple steps in eight areas of your home for minimal, or no, cost.

1. Adjust your TV

Although today’s flat-panel televisions use far less energy than previous models, you can easily increase the savings even more. Go to your TV’s picture set-up menu and choose the “home” or “standard” screen setting — the “vivid” or “retail” settings are unnecessarily bright and burn up to 20 percent more power. Don’t forget to disable the “quick start” function that allows your TV to boot up a few seconds faster, but eats significantly more power during the 19 hours or so your TV is in standby mode and not being used.

2. Check your set-top box

The set-top box hooked up to your television to deliver pay-TV services from cable and satellite companies may well use more energy than your big screen TV alone (especially true for DVR set-top boxes). But the industry is working hard to bring more-efficient options to the market. Ask your service provider for an ENERGY STAR™ version 3 box, and if you have multiple TVs, request a whole-home DVR for your main TV and a thin client box (which uses far less power than a DVR, but still allows you to watch live or recorded shows) for the others.

3. Change your computer settings

A typical desktop computer and monitor running 24/7 wastes $40 a year more in electricity than when the devices are off. Adjust control-panel settings for the screen to turn off after 15 minutes of inactivity and for the computer to power down after 30. Be sure to set the screen to turn off, not to display a continuously running slide show or screen saver, because these use a lot of energy.

4. See the light (bulb)

Replacing old, inefficient light bulbs with new energy-saving versions can lead to big savings. To select the best one for your needs, consult NRDC’s updated Light Bulb Buying Guide. Choose “warm white” for the same yellow-white color as an old incandescent bulb; “daylight” produces a bluish-white light. Try each before switching out all your bulbs. LED bulbs, now less than $10 at big-box stores, are a good investment because they can save $100 or more over their lifetime. With 3 billion screw-based sockets still containing an inefficient incandescent or halogen bulb, switching to LEDs and CFLs would add up to a whopping $3 billion in savings for U.S. consumers and businesses while avoiding the electricity equivalent of 30 coal-burning power plants and preventing 100 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

EarthDay-infographic

5. Ensure your game console doesn’t guzzle energy when it’s supposedly off

Approximately half of U.S. households have a video-game console, and while the latest models are better at reducing power when idle, they could still consume as much electricity as your refrigerator if left on when the TV is turned off. With the new Xbox One and PS4, go into the unit’s menu to ensure the automatic power-down feature is enabled and set for one hour of inactivity or less. Even then, Xbox One’s “Instant on” and PS4’s standby mode are configured by default to remain connected to the internet, which can represent half their total energy use, so consider disabling those features. With older consoles, also set the menu to power down after one hour of inactivity or less. And don’t stream video with your game console because it requires up to 30 times more energy to play a movie than such devices as a smart TV or an external box like Apple TV, Roku or Amazon Fire TV.

6. Dial back the water heater

Water heating is typically a home’s third-largest energy expense. Lowering the temperature setting from 140 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit saves money and still gets the water plenty hot. If you’re going to be away for days, drop the setting even more.

7. A programmable thermostat is your friend

Why run your central air conditioning or furnace at the same temperatures round-the-clock when you’re not home most of the day? Program your thermostat to reflect your schedule. Most models have a temporary override if that schedule changes. If you can’t program your thermostat, get a new one, and if you want to splurge, buy a Nest model that learns your schedule and can provide even greater savings. (Don’t forget to regularly clean or replace your A/C and heating filters to save additional electricity and money.)

8. Watch that washer and dryer

With new detergents designed to work in cold water, select that setting for all but the dirtiest loads. If you have an electric water heater, and a slightly older washer, you’ll save up to 50 cents a load, or around $175 a year, because most washer electricity goes toward heating the water. Choose maximum spin speed on your front-load washer and your clothes won’t come out as wet, requiring less drying time and energy. If you’re only doing one load and not in a hurry, pick dryer settings like Eco mode or energy saver — they typically save energy by using lower temperatures but take a little longer. With a large load of different fabrics, pop open the door about two-thirds through the cycle and pull out dry items: Thinner fabrics won’t get wrinkled, and more warm air circulates around the heavier ones. Also don’t forget to clean the lint off the screen before each load so your dryer can run more efficiently.

These easy steps, can turn your whole house into a year-round celebration of Earth Day. And if everyone else takes them, too, these small changes could add up to big financial, energy and pollution savings for our planet.

Source: livescience

The Shocking Number of New STD Cases Each Year

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Still consider STDs are something that can’t start to someone like you? Here’s a intolerable existence check: Nearly 20 million new cases of intimately transmitted diseases start each year in a U.S.  That’s over 54,000 new cases per day!

And unfortunately, that series has been augmenting in new years, according to Lynn Barclay, President and CEO of a American Sexual Health Association (ASHA). It could be rising for a series of reasons, including augmenting population, improved contrast methods, and an increasing importance on removing tested. Yet this frightful stat could also meant that we’re not doing adequate to stay informed, protected, and treated.

Here, 3 things we need to do right divided to strengthen your passionate health:

Know What You Should Be Tested For
Unfortunately, there are no customary discipline for how mostly we should be tested for STDs. That’s since your contrast needs count on several factors—like your age, passionate activity, lifestyle choices, attribute status, and story of STDs, says Barclay. That’s because it’s essential to do your investigate and find out what we need to be tested for before we conduct to your doctor’s office.

In a many simple sense, we should be tested for STDs any time you’ve had defenceless sex, before we have sex with a new partner, or if you’re experiencing any symptoms, says Barclay. However, when we get tested and for what infections will change from chairman to person. For instance, if you’ve recently had defenceless sex or mixed passionate partners, we competence need to be tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV. If we are experiencing any strange symptoms, ask your provider if we should be tested for genital herpes, trichomoniasis, and HPV (genital warts). The fact is that your alloy is bustling and chances are she doesn’t know a sum of your sex life, so it’s your shortcoming to know when to be tested for STDs and that infections we should exam for.

Ask Your Doctor for a Right Tests
You competence wish to lay down for this one: When we ask your provider to “test we for everything,” chances are, you’re not removing tested for everything. Most providers usually exam for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and infrequently syphilis and HIV during a slight test, according to Edward Hook III, M.D., executive of a Division of Infectious Diseases during University of Alabama. Most people aren’t tested for herpes or trichomoniasis unless they ask for it or they benefaction with symptoms, says Barclay. And you’ll typically usually accept an HPV exam if we have an aberrant Pap allegation (find out how this routine competence change formed on new Pap allegation guidelines)

Don’t assume that you’re being tested for all underneath a object when we conduct to a gyno for a Pap smear—even if we ask for “everything.” Your alloy competence know you’re intimately active and sequence a few tests, though they don’t know that we had defenceless sex once or twice in a final year, that a condom pennyless final month, or that we had a uncanny unreasonable a while ago that eventually went away. Make certain to ask your alloy that tests you’re receiving and ask additional ones if we trust you’re during risk, says Barclay.

Use Protection Consistently and Correctly
Here’s a thing about condoms: They are a second best invulnerability opposite STDs after abstinence. Still, many people don’t use them as most as they should. “We have a genuine problem as a republic in that we go into a new attribute regulating condoms and afterwards pause use,” says Barclay. In fact, one new investigate found that many women who start regulating hormonal contraception stop regulating condoms, and even when they get off a pill, some women don’t lapse to unchanging condom use.

Even if you’re in a committed, monogamous relationship, Barclay suggests regulating condoms consistently for a initial 6 months, afterwards both removing retested, as some diseases don’t uncover adult right away. That said, you’ll also have to trust that your partner is being totally monogamous and honest about their passionate health. For some-more information, check out a new website, Condomology, from ASHA and Trojan.

Source: health medicine

Laughter may protect the brains of older individuals, study finds

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It’s a common saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.” And now, science may prove it to be true.

A new small study from Loma Linda University in Southern California found a relationship between humor and memory in older individuals. For their research, the scientists analyzed 20 generally healthy seniors as they watched a comedic video for 20 minutes. For comparison, a control group of 20 seniors didn’t watch anything for the same period of time.

The participants in each group were then given memory tests and provided saliva samples in order for the researchers to test their hormone levels. Those who watched the funny video scored much higher on the memory tests than the control group, and the laughter group had lower levels of the hormone cortisol, which is typically associated with stress.

Study author Dr. Gurinder Bains explained that laughter causes the body to release endorphins and send dopamine to the brain – improving overall activity and function.

“Learning ability and delayed recall become more challenging as we age,” Bains, a Ph.D. candidate in rehabilitation sciences at Loma Linda. “Laughing with friends or even watching 20 minutes of humor on TV, as I do daily, helps me cope with my daily stressors.”

Source: Pick news

Researchers find thousands of bacteria living on cash

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The cash in your pocket may be contaminated with so much bacteria that it could make you sick.

Researchers from the Wright Patterson Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, asked people standing in line at a grocery store checkout and at a high school concession stand to trade a $1 bill from their pocket for a new one. Then the doctors analyzed 68 of those old, worn bills.

Five of the bills contained bacteria that can cause an infection in perfectly healthy people, and 59 of them (that’s 87 percent) were contaminated with bacteria that could cause an infection in anyone with a compromised immune system, such as people with HIV or cancer.

Only four of the bills were relatively clean.

“One-dollar bills are widely used and each is exchanged many times,” said Dr. Peter Ender, one of the study’s authors. “If some are contaminated with bacteria, there is potential to spread these organisms from person to person.”

More Study Needed

So when you hand over the cash, are you giving more of yourself than you intend to? Not necessarily. The study only addresses how much and what kinds of bacteria live on paper money. Another study would be needed to determine whether the money can actually spread the bacteria.

Plus, since the authors only tested 68 bills — there are billions in circulation around the country — the study doesn’t go far enough to prove that as money moves across the country, so do diseases.

Ender says, though, the study does show that paper money is usually full of bacteria, and that a dollar bill could, theoretically, be the magic carpet it rides from one host to another.

But if, in fact, the bacteria can spread on paper money, there’s nothing you can really do about it. You can try to keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth — where the bacteria would get into your body — and try to wash your hands often.

Source: abc news

Baby boy born unable to open his mouth

Baby Wyatt

Nine months ago, a Canadian baby was born normal in every way but one: Wyatt Scott has a disorder that keeps him from opening his jaw, . The condition, called congenital trismus, is so rare that his Ottawa doctors still aren’t sure how to help him.

“Nobody can tell us if Wyatt is going to be better in two years, five years, 10 years, or if he will be eating from a tube the rest of his life,” said his mother, Amy Miville. He’s already had one horrifying episode, in which he started vomiting but couldn’t open his mouth to get it out. He was rushed to the hospital, crying and choking, and lost consciousness-but luckily suffered no brain damage, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

The condition comes with other problems, too, like an inability to blink, use facial muscles, or swallow, so he drools more than most other young babies. Doctors think he might have a muscle problem-CT and MRI scans have shown no signs of a fused joint or extra tissue-but anesthesiologists won’t put him under so doctors can carry out a necessary muscle biopsy because Wyatt’s closed mouth blocks his airways, ABC News reports. Now his parents have created a website to solicit advice from around the world, and nurses have emailed dozens of tips for raising a baby that’s fed through tubes-but still, no grand solution.

source: Yahoo shine

Teen stowaway: Is it possible to survive a 5 hour flight in a plane’s wheel well

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A 16-year-old California boy miraculously survived after reportedly stowing away in a plane’s wheel well during a 5 and a 1/2 hour flight from San Jose to Honolulu on Sunday.

So how do you survive being a stowaway in a jumbo jet?

Well, you have to be pretty lucky. For a stowaway travelling in a plane’s wheel well, the overwhelming odds are that he or she will die. But, there are several factors that can increase a person’s odds for survival after being placed in this kind of danger.

These factors include:

1) Age

2) Current medical condition

3) The length of the flight.

Let’s break these factors down one at a time.

The wheel well of a plane is not pressurized and of course has no temperature control. Typically, jumbo jets cruise at an altitude of about 35,000 to 38,000 fee – altitudes at which oxygen is incredibly scarce and temperatures can reach 80 degrees below zero. Needless to say, the most common causes of death for stowaways, aside from falling from the plane, are hypothermia and lack of oxygen.

This is where age and medical condition come into play: The younger and healthier the individual, the better chance he or she has of surviving these harsh conditions. If you happen to be in my kind of shape, there’s no chance you would make it.

The duration of the flight is also a factor in a stowaway’s odds for survival. Most individuals who have survived this kind of stunt have been on flights ranging between one to three hours in length. In 2004, the Associated Press reported that a man from the Dominican Republic survived a flight from Santo Domingo to Miami, after stowing away in a plane’s wheel well. But typically, that’s only a one hour flight.

In this particular case, this was a flight that lasted around five hours. Many who have attempted to stow away during a flight of this duration or longer have died.

For those that survive, some may have entered a state of suspended animation, meaning they simultaneously go into a state of hypothermia and lose consciousness. This combination minimizes a person’s need for oxygen, enabling them to potentially survive for several hours. A similar effect is sometimes seen in patients who drown in cold waters; they are often more likely to survive than patients drowning in warm waters due to their hypothermic state, which helps protect their organs from damage.

According to an FBI spokesperson, the boy was “was unconscious for the lion’s share of the flight,” indicating that suspended animation is likely the reason this boy survived with minimal harm. His system shut down for several hours, his oxygen consumption was decreased, and he was lucky enough to land in time for his body to recuperate and come out of a state of hypothermic shock with minimal side effects.

Source: Fox news

‘Chaperone’ compounds could help treat Alzheimer’s

health-genetics-alzheimers-369588Researchers have devised a wholly new approach to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease involving the so-called retromer protein complex.

Retromer plays a vital role in neurons, steering amyloid precursor protein (APP) away from a region of the cell where APP is cleaved, creating the potentially toxic byproduct amyloid-beta, which is thought to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s.

Using computer-based virtual screening, the researchers identified a new class of compounds, called pharmacologic chaperones that can significantly increase retromer levels and decrease amyloid-beta levels in cultured hippocampal neurons, without apparent cell toxicity.

Dagmar Ringe, PhD, Harold and Bernice Davis Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry, said their challenge was to find small molecules-or pharmacologic chaperones-that could bind to retromer’s weak point and stabilize the whole protein complex.

This was accomplished through computerized virtual, or in silico, screening of known chemical compounds, simulating how the compounds might dock with the retromer protein complex. (In conventional screening, compounds are physically tested to see whether they interact with the intended target, a costlier and lengthier process.)

The screening identified 100 potential retromer-stabilizing candidates, 24 of which showed particular promise. Of those, one compound, called R55, was found to significantly increase the stability of retromer when the complex was subjected to heat stress.

The researchers then looked at how R55 affected neurons of the hippocampus, a key brain structure involved in learning and memory.

More important, a subsequent experiment showed that the compound significantly increased retromer levels and decreased amyloid-beta levels in cultured neurons taken from healthy mice and from a mouse model of Alzheimer’s. The researchers are currently testing the clinical effects of R55 in the actual mouse model.

The study has been published online in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

Source: zee news

9 Ways to Prevent Skin Cancer

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1. Reduce Sun Exposure

Especially between 11 am and 4 pm, when the sun’s UV rays are the strongest or when UV index is 3 or more.

2. Shade your Skin

  • Seek shade under trees, or create your own shade with a hat, shirt, or umbrella.
  • Wear clothing to cover your arms and legs. Make sure the fabric has a tight weave. Fabric that is wet or has a loose weave will allow more light to penetrate through to the skin.
  • Wear a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses with UV protection.

3. Beware of clouds

Up to 80% of the sun’s rays can penetrate light clouds, mist and fog. You can still get a sunburn on a cloudy day.

4. Remember about Reflection

Water, sand, snow and concrete can reflect up to 80% of the sun’s damaging rays.

5. Slop on the Sunscreen

Use sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or more that contain both UVA and UVB protection.

Apply sunscreen 15-30 minutes before going outside, and reapply every 2 hours (more often when working, playing, or swimming).

6. Avoid tanning salons and sunlamps

These lights emit mostly UVA radiation – up to 2 – 5 times as much as natural sunlight. UVA radiation causes sunburn, premature aging of the skin and skin cancer.

The UVB radiation from tanning lights is the main cause of sunburn and skin cancer and also contributes to premature skin aging.

For more information see youth tanning (link to being modified by the school team)

7. Protect Children

The most harmful effects of sun exposure occur during early childhood. Keep babies under 1 year out of direct sunlight. Once infants turn 6 months of age, begin using a sunscreen for added protection. It’s important to protect your child’s eyes by using plastic lens sunglasses that protect against UVA and UVB rays.

  • Children should have arms and legs covered when out in the sun.
  • Instead of wearing baseball caps, they should wear hats with a wide brim, which provides more sun protection.
  • When children are playing in the water, make sure to use waterproof sunscreen.

8. Protect your Eyes

Radiation from the sun can damage cells in the structures of your eyes. UV radiation from the sun may increase the risk of developing cataracts later in life. UV radiation can also contribute to the development of skin cancer on the eyelid or on the surface of the eye. This damage can be prevented by protecting your eyes with sunglasses that protect against 100% UVA and UVB rays. Wearing a hat with a wide brim all the way around when out in the sun. Legionnaire style caps (caps with a flap a back flap) are also recommended to help protect the neck, ears and face.

9. Spot Check Your Moles

  • Examine your moles and freckles every month to check for any changes. See your health care provider immediately if you notice:
  • a mole or discolouration that appears suddenly or begins to change
  • a sore that does not heal
  • areas of skin that are red and bumpy, bleed or are itchy

Source: health unit

Water exercise leads to fitter frame: Expert

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Cristiana Pipoli, aqua aerobics trainer at Jaypee Vasant Continental, feels that aqua aerobics can work wonders for those who do not believe in “working out” in the conventional way.

“This water workout reduces the weight of a person by up to 90 percent, thus reducing the stress burden on your body’s joints. The water also provides a natural resistance to your movements, making your aerobatics workout intense without you realising it. Aqua Aerobics also provides you with cardiovascular and strength training,” Pipoli said in a statement.

“Another great advantage of Aqua Aerobics is that water makes you less prone to the exercise injuries. It does not matter what age you are, or at what level of fitness you are, it is suitable for all and is an enjoyable method of exercise, that can be altered to your specific needs and or fitness levels to ensure a safe and effective workout,” Pipoli said in a statement.

Some of the water exercises suggested by the expert:

* Cross Country Sky – excellent for lifting the heart rate. Movement of both arms and legs.
* Back Curl – great exercise for glute.
* Straight Leg Lift Forward – Excellent to raise heart beat.
* Side Leg Left – for legs and inner thighs
* Frog Lift – inner thighs one can do this thing only in water
* Knees to Elbow Twist – for waist and for strong core.

Source: Post

Blame your genes for low tolerance of pain

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Researchers may have identified key genes linked to why some people have a higher tolerance for pain than others. Study author Tobore Onojjighofia and colleagues evaluated 2,721 people diagnosed with chronic pain for certain genes. Participants were taking prescription opioid pain medications.

The genes involved were COMT, DRD2, DRD1 and OPRK1. The participants also rated their perception of pain on a scale from zero to 10. People who rated their pain as zero were not included in the study. Low pain perception was defined as a score of one, two or three; moderate pain perception was a score of four, five or six; and high pain perception was a score of seven, eight, nine or 10.

Nine per cent of the participants had low pain perception, 46 per cent had moderate pain perception and 45 per cent had high pain perception.

The researchers found that the DRD1 gene variant was 33 per cent more prevalent in the low pain group than in the high pain group. Among people with a moderate pain perception, the COMT and OPRK variants were 25 per cent and 19 per cent more often found than in those with a high pain perception.

The DRD2 variant was 25 per cent more common among those with a high pain perception compared to people with moderate pain.

Source: Pune Mirror