ScienceDaily: Living Well News

---

• Feeding by tourists compromises health of already-endangered iguanas, study finds
• US stroke deaths declining due to improved prevention, treatment
• Researchers create brand associations by mining millions of images from social media
• Coffee or beer? The choice could affect your genome
• How mosquitoes are drawn to human skin and breath
• Love connection: Advice for online daters
• New guidelines rule out same-day return to play for athletes with concussion
• New vaccination guideline for immunocompromised patients
• Recurring memory traces boost long-lasting memories
• Brain shape affects children's learning capacities
• Not in the mood but want to be? New studies bring women hope
• Telemedicine brings Parkinson's care to 'anyone, anywhere'
• Youthful suicide attempts a marker for lifelong troubles
• High quality preschool narrows gap between high-risk kids, higher achievers, study finds
• Study gives new meaning to 'let your fingers do the walking'
• Shining light on damage from daily sun exposure: Better sunscreens needed
• Stomach 'clock' tells us how much to eat
• New program helps curb phone use while driving
• Death of adult son increases depressive symptoms in mothers, but not fathers
• Tripped tongues teach speech secrets
• 'Valley girl speak' extending to males
• Women find sexually explicit ads unappealing -- unless price is right

Feeding by tourists compromises health of already-endangered iguanas, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2013 07:01 PM PST Feeding wildlife is an increasingly common tourist activity, but a new study shows that already-imperilled iguanas are suffering further physiological problems as a result of being fed by tourists.

US stroke deaths declining due to improved prevention, treatment Posted: 05 Dec 2013 02:17 PM PST Better blood pressure control, stop-smoking programs and faster treatment are a few of the reasons for a dramatic decline in US stroke deaths in recent decades.

Researchers create brand associations by mining millions of images from social media Posted: 05 Dec 2013 11:21 AM PST The images people share on social media -- photos of favorite products and places, or of themselves at bars, sporting events and weddings -- could be valuable to marketers assessing their customers' "top-of-mind" attitudes toward a brand. Researchers have taken a first step toward this capability in a new study in which they analyzed five million such images.

Coffee or beer? The choice could affect your genome Posted: 05 Dec 2013 11:21 AM PST Coffee and beer are polar opposites in the beverage world -- coffee picks you up, and beer winds you down. Now researchers have discovered that the beverages may also have opposite effects on your genome. Working with a kind of yeast that shares many important genetic similarities with humans, the researchers found that caffeine shortens and alcohol lengthens telomeres -- the end points of chromosomal DNA, implicated in aging and cancer.

How mosquitoes are drawn to human skin and breath Posted: 05 Dec 2013 11:18 AM PST Scientists have found that the very receptors in the mosquito's maxillary palp that detect carbon dioxide are ones that detect skin odors as well, thus explaining why mosquitoes are attracted to skin odor -- smelly socks, worn clothes, bedding -- even in the absence of carbon dioxide. Using a chemical computational method they developed, the researchers identified affordable, safe and pleasant-smelling compounds that could find use in mosquito control.

Love connection: Advice for online daters Posted: 05 Dec 2013 07:21 AM PST Most online dating users don't choose a potential mate the same way they choose a movie to watch, but new research suggests they'd be more amorously successful if that's how their dating service operated.

New guidelines rule out same-day return to play for athletes with concussion Posted: 05 Dec 2013 07:21 AM PST Any athlete with concussion symptoms should not be allowed to return to play on the same day, according to the latest consensus statement on sports-related concussion.

New vaccination guideline for immunocompromised patients Posted: 05 Dec 2013 06:29 AM PST A new guideline notes that most people with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to illness and should receive the flu shot and other vaccinations.

Recurring memory traces boost long-lasting memories Posted: 05 Dec 2013 06:27 AM PST While the human brain is in a resting state, patterns of neuronal activity which are associated to specific memories may spontaneously reappear. Scientists performed a memory test on a series of persons while monitoring their brain activity by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The experimental setup comprised several resting states including a nap inside a neuroimaging scanner. The study indicates that resting periods can generally promote memory performance.

Brain shape affects children's learning capacities Posted: 05 Dec 2013 06:22 AM PST The anatomy of the brain affects cognitive control, an essential skill for learning and academic success. Scientists in this study showed that an asymmetry of the two brain hemispheres relative to a particular pattern of a cortical region could partly explain the performance of 5-year old children during a task designed to measure cognitive control. According to the research team, and depending on the characteristics of their brains, children may have different pedagogical requirements in terms of learning cognitive control.

Not in the mood but want to be? New studies bring women hope Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:22 PM PST For women, passing midlife can deal a blow to their sex drive. But two new studies just published offer hope to women who want to get their sexual mojo back.

Telemedicine brings Parkinson's care to 'anyone, anywhere' Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:18 PM PST A new study shows that a neurologist in an office thousands of miles away can deliver effective specialized care to people with Parkinson's disease. For individuals with the condition -- many of whom have never seen a specialist -- these "virtual house calls" could allow them to live independently while effectively manage the symptoms of the disease.

Youthful suicide attempts a marker for lifelong troubles Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:18 PM PST Against a backdrop of rising youth suicide attempts during the global recession, a longitudinal study has found that people who had attempted suicide before age 24 are plagued by more health and psychiatric issues and had more economic difficulties than their peers when they reach their mid-30s. Youthful suicide attempt doesn't cause these problems, but can be a clue to provide more care to these individuals.

High quality preschool narrows gap between high-risk kids, higher achievers, study finds Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:12 PM PST A new study found that children's readiness in language, math and logic improved significantly by the programs offered at 24 pilot universal prekindergarten pilot program (UPK) sites in Greater Cleveland.

Study gives new meaning to 'let your fingers do the walking' Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:12 PM PST A psychological study has found that skilled typists can't identify the positions of many of the keys on the QWERTY keyboard and probably didn't memorize them even when they first learned to type.

Shining light on damage from daily sun exposure: Better sunscreens needed Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:12 PM PST A low level of daily exposure to a common component of sunlight can cause skin damage at the molecular level after just a few days, new research shows. The findings highlight the need for better sunscreens to protect against these damaging rays.

Stomach 'clock' tells us how much to eat Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:12 PM PST Researchers have discovered the first evidence that the nerves in the stomach act as a circadian clock, limiting food intake to specific times of the day.

New program helps curb phone use while driving Posted: 04 Dec 2013 11:28 AM PST Expanding their efforts to keep citizens safe on San Diego roadways, UC San Diego's Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety program announced today that they are launching a new distracted driving education project called Just Drive - Take Action Against Distraction, a one hour class free of charge offered to businesses in San Diego.

Death of adult son increases depressive symptoms in mothers, but not fathers Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:09 AM PST Mothers -- but not fathers -- exhibited more depressive symptoms and experienced a decline in overall health after the death of an adult son, while the death of a daughter had no such effect on either parent, according to one of the first studies to examine the impacts of the death of an adult child on parents aged 65 and older.

Tripped tongues teach speech secrets Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:09 AM PST Tongue twisters are not just fun to say; it turns out that these sound-related slip-ups can also open windows into the brain's speech-planning processes.

'Valley girl speak' extending to males Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:09 AM PST The American English speech variant known as uptalk, or "Valley Girl speak" – marked by a rise in pitch at the ends of sentences – is typically associated with young southern Californian females. New research shows uptalk is expanding to other demographic groups, including males.

Women find sexually explicit ads unappealing -- unless price is right Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:16 AM PST Sexual imagery is often used in magazine and TV ads, presumably to help entice buyers to purchase a new product. But new research suggests that women tend to find ads with sexual imagery off-putting, unless the advertised item is priced high enough.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Living Well News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610