People seek high-calorie foods in tough times

Jan. 22, 2013 ? Bad news about the economy could cause you to pack on the pounds, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The study shows that when there is a perception of tough times, people tend to seek higher-calorie foods that will keep them satisfied longer. When subconsciously primed with such messages, a "live for today" impulse is triggered causing people to consume nearly 40 percent more food than when compared to a control group primed with neutral words.

"The findings of this study come at a time when our country is slowly recovering from the onslaught of negative presidential campaign ads chalked with topics such as the weak economy, gun violence, war, deep political divides, just to name a few problem areas," said Juliano Laran, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Miami School of Business Administration, who conducted the research with doctoral student Anthony Salerno. "Now that we know this sort of messaging causes people to seek out more calories out of a survival instinct, it would be wise for those looking to kick off a healthier new year to tune out news for a while."

Further, when the same group primed with "tough times" messages was then told the food they were sampling was low-calorie, they consumed roughly 25 percent less of the food. According to the researchers this is because if people perceive that food resources are scarce, they place a higher value on food with more calories.

Several studies were conducted as part of the research. In the first one, the researchers invited study subjects to join in a taste test for a new kind of M&M. Half the participants were given a bowl of the new candy and were told that the secret ingredient was a new, high-calorie chocolate. The other half of the participants also received a bowl of M&Ms but were told the new chocolate was low-calorie. All of the participants were told that they could sample the product in order to complete a taste test evaluation form.

In reality, there was no difference in the M&Ms that the two groups were given to taste. The researchers were actually measuring how much participants consumed after they were exposed to posters containing either neutral sentences or sentences related to struggle and adversity. Those who were subconsciously primed to think about struggle and adversity ate closer to 70 percent more of the "higher-calorie" candy vs. the "lower-calorie" option, while those primed with neutral words did not significantly differ in the amount of M&M's consumed.

"It is clear from the studies that taste was not what caused the reactions, it was a longing for calories," continued Laran. "These findings could have positive implications for individuals in the health care field, government campaigns on nutrition, and companies promoting wellness. And, certainly beware of savvy food marketers bearing bad news."

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Life-History Strategy, Food Choice, and Caloric Consumption

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. Laran, A. Salerno. Life-History Strategy, Food Choice, and Caloric Consumption. Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/0956797612450033

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/nwFXB2nS0W0/130122143226.htm

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Whale-watchers delight in seeing pod of 23 off Rancho Palos Verdes

The whale-watching boat was about to go back to the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes when the captain suddenly began heading the vessel farther out to sea.

As the boat inched closer and closer to a pod of whales, passengers on board gathered to look on in amazement.

This was not your ordinary whale-watching trip.

Typically, gray whales travel by themselves. Sometimes, they will travel in groups of three. But on Sunday afternoon, researchers counted 23 ? give or take a whale ? in a single pod.

The group was the largest that volunteers with the American Cetacean Society/Los Angeles Chapter Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project have seen in 30 years, said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, the director and coordinator of the group.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have that many whales there," she said.

Schulman-Janiger said the largest pod she had seen before was 11 to 16 whales on Christmas Day in 1985. She thought she was lucky then.

When Schulman-Janiger heard about the group of whales Sunday, she dropped everything to get on a boat and get out to sea.

The setting sun created an ideal backdrop to the sighting, she said. The mist shooting up in the air as the whales inhaled and exhaled was tinted a bright pink from the sunset, almost like "cotton candy-colored popcorn," she said.

Gray whales begin their southbound migration from Alaska in the late fall, she said. Observers start seeing the whales generally around November, but volunteers for the Gray Whale Census begin watching and tracking the cetaceans from sunrise to sunset from Dec. 1 to mid-May each year.

This year, 460 southbound gray whales have been counted, compared with 455 last year.

Last year's and this year's numbers are some of the largest southbound counts that the group has seen in about 15 years, Schulman-Janiger said.

In the next week, the southbound migration will probably peak, making it an ideal time for people to go on whale-watching trips, Schulman-Janiger said. She added that the cetacean society is always looking for volunteers.

Cinzia Quevedo, who was on a paid tour with her husband and 7-year-old daughter Sunday, said watching the whales was like seeing "dancing water."

The experience inspired her daughter, Chloe, to learn more about the ocean. "She realized how incredible this beauty is," Quevedo, of Manhattan Beach, said. "It was special, it was very special."

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/U1XLpLemrwI/la-me-0123-whale-watching-20130123,0,489707.story

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Education & Reference 2020: The K-12 Implosion (Encounter

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Source: http://manorama-news-paper.blogspot.com/2013/01/education-reference-2020-k-12-implosion.html

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Press Release ? Offerchat Online Help Chat Imparts Innovative ...

Orlando, FL ? January 21, 2013 ? In an effort to ensure client business websites increase their online conversions and sales, Offerchat, an?online help chat?tool utilized by businesses for real time customer service on their websites, imparted innovative business branding ideas that will help clients rethink their brand building strategies this year.

In a?series?of substantial articles in the company?s official blog, Offerchat focused on?forecasted?brand building trends this year and how small businesses can adjust and improve branding efforts and gear them towards greater consumer impact through differentiation and personalisation? READ FULL RELEASE

Source: http://blog.offerchat.com/press-release-offerchat-online-help-chat-imparts-innovative-business-branding-knowledge-to-live-chat-customer-service-clients/

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Confident Obama lays out battle plan as he launches second term

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A confident President Barack Obama kicked off his second term on Monday with an impassioned call for a more inclusive America that rejects partisan rancor and embraces immigration reform, gay rights and the fight against climate change.

Obama's ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol was filled with traditional pomp and pageantry, but it was a scaled-back inauguration compared to the historic start of his presidency in 2009 when he swept into office on a mantle of hope and change as America's first black president.

Despite expectations tempered by lingering economic weakness and a divided Washington, Obama delivered a preview of the priorities he intends to pursue - essentially, a reaffirmation of core liberal Democratic causes - declaring Americans "are made for this moment" and must "seize it together."

His hair visibly gray after four years in office, Obama called for an end to the political partisanship that marked much of his first term in the White House in bitter fights over the economy with Republicans.

"We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said from atop the Capitol steps overlooking the National Mall.

Looking out on a sea of flags, Obama addressed a crowd estimated to be up to 700,000 people - less than half the record 1.8 million who assembled four years ago.

Speaking in more specific terms than is customary in an inaugural address, he promised "hard choices" to reduce the federal deficit without shredding the social safety net and called for a revamping of the tax code and a remaking of government.

The Democrat arrived at his second inauguration on solid footing, with his poll numbers up, Republicans on the defensive and his first-term record boasting accomplishments such as a U.S. healthcare overhaul, ending the war in Iraq and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

But fights are looming over budgets, gun control and immigration. Obama, however, is sounding more emboldened because he never again needs to run for election.

SECOND TIME TAKING OATH

When Obama raised his right hand and was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, it was his second time taking the oath in 24 hours - but this time with tens of millions of people watching on television.

The president beamed as chants of "Obama, Obama!" rang out from the crowd.

Obama had a formal swearing-in on Sunday at the White House because of a constitutional requirement that the president take the oath on January 20. Rather than stage the full inauguration on a Sunday, the main public events were put off until Monday.

It was another political milestone for Obama, the Hawaiian-born son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas.

During a triumphant parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, the president and first lady Michelle Obama thrilled wildly cheering onlookers by twice getting out of their heavily armored limousine and walking part of the way on foot, as they had done four years ago. Secret Service agents kept close watch.

In a speech of under 20 minutes, Obama, 51, sought to reassure Americans at the mid-point of his presidency and encourage them to help him take care of unfinished business. "Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action," he said.

Enthusiastic crowds still turned out on the National Mall but the euphoria of 2009 was gone.

"Four years ago it was the first black president," said local resident Greg Pearson, 42. "It doesn't have the same energy. It's more subdued. It's not quite the party it was four years ago. Our expectations are pretty low (this time): let's not default on the national debt, keep the government running."

Touching on volatile issues, Obama ticked off a series of liberal policies he plans to push in this second term.

Most surprising was a relatively long reference to the need to address climate change, which he mostly failed to do in his first four years.

"We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations," the president said.

On gay rights, Obama insisted: "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law."

And in a nod to America's fast-growing Hispanic population that helped catapult him to re-election in November, he said there was a need to "find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity."

MUST FACE PERSISTENT PROBLEMS

Obama, who won a second term by defeating Republican Mitt Romney after a bitter campaign, will now face many of the same problems that dogged his first four years: persistently high unemployment, crushing government debt and a deep partisan divide. The war in Afghanistan, which Obama is winding down, has dragged on for over a decade.

He won an end-of-year fiscal battle against Republicans, whose poll numbers have continued to sag, and appears to have gotten them to back down, at least temporarily, from resisting an increase in the national debt ceiling.

And Obama faces a less-dire outlook than he did when he took office in 2009 at the height of a deep U.S. recession and world economic crisis. The economy is growing again, though slowly.

But he still faces a daunting array of challenges.

Among them is a fierce gun-control debate inspired by a school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, last month, a tragedy he invoked in his speech.

He said America must not rest until "all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm."

Obama's appeals for bipartisan cooperation will remind many Americans of his own failure to meet a key promise when he came to power - to act as a transformational leader who would fix a dysfunctional Washington.

His speech was light on foreign policy, with no mention of the West's nuclear standoff with Iran, the civil war in Syria, dealings with an increasingly powerful China or confronting al Qaeda's continued threat as exemplified by the recent deadly hostage crisis in Algeria.

But Obama said: "We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully ... We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom."

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had declared in 2010 that his top goal was to deny Obama re-election, congratulated the president and expressed a willingness to work together, saying a second term "represents a fresh start."

But some Republicans responded skeptically. "It was a very, very progressive speech, to put it in the best possible light," said Republican strategist Rich Galen. "He's not running for election anymore."

Obama's ceremonial swearing-in fell on the same day as the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. - and the president embraced the symbolism. He took the oath with his hand on two Bibles - one from President Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery, and the other from King.

After watching the rest of the parade from a bullet-proof VIP viewing stand in front of the White House, the Obamas planned to head to the two inaugural balls - rather than the 10 that were held in 2009.

(Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn, Anna Yukhananov, Roberta Rampton, Alina Selyukh, Mark Felsenthal, Steve Holland, Patrick Rucker; editing by Alistair Bell and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-starts-second-term-low-key-white-house-034753050--business.html

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Cincinnati Startup ChoreMonster Makes Chores Fun And They Even Made A Beastie For Us

ChoreMonster launched an update to their app a few days ago which includes: a parents section, a redesign of the kids section, a new Monster Carnival and yes...even a new character named TeeCee exclusively for all the TechCrunch readers out there. We never asked for this, but I have to say... "Damn it feels good to be a Monster."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/N42xVasYfhA/

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New findings on mortality of individuals with schizophrenia

Jan. 21, 2013 ? A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that the average life expectancy of men and women with schizophrenia is 15 years and 12 years shorter respectively than for those who do not suffer from the disease. The study has been carried out in collaboration with Stanford University in the US.

The reasons why people with schizophrenia have a shorter life expectancy have previously been unknown, but have been much discussed in recent years. The research report that has now been published shows that individuals with schizophrenia are more likely to die of two major diseases.

The study followed over six million individuals from 2003 to 2009, of whom 8 277 had schizophrenia, by analysing the Swedish population and health registers.

The results show that people with schizophrenia had contact with the health service over twice as often as people without the condition, but they were no more likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or cancer.

"Yet we saw an opposing pattern of death from these diseases. It is clear that the health service is failing to diagnose cardiovascular disease and cancer in these patients," says Jan Sundquist, general practitioner and professor at the Centre for Primary Health Care Research at Lund University.

Women with schizophrenia were 3.3 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and men 2.2 times more likely. Women with schizophrenia were 1.7 times more likely to die of cancer while men were 1.4 times more likely, compared with those without schizophrenia. Only 26.3% of the men with schizophrenia who died of cardiovascular disease had been diagnosed before their deaths, compared with 43.7% of the men who did not have schizophrenia.

"It is unacceptable that such a vulnerable group of people, who also have extensive documented contact with the health service, should die prematurely of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer -- diseases that should be preventable," says Professor Sundquist. "A much greater degree of diagnostic and preventive measures could be put in place for this vulnerable group in our society."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lund University.

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Journal Reference:

1. Casey Crump, Marilyn A. Winkleby, Kristina Sundquist, Jan Sundquist. Comorbidities and Mortality in Persons With Schizophrenia: A Swedish National Cohort Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12050599

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/v1ZIdmp347M/130121103329.htm

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