Category Archives: News

Health Studies: Women’s Blood Vessels Age Faster Than Men’s, Increasing Heart Disease Risks

From a Cedars-Sinai.org online release:

Cedars Sinai logo“Our data showed that rates of accelerating blood pressure elevation were significantly higher in women than men, starting earlier in life,” said Cheng, the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health, who also serves as director of Cardiovascular Population Sciences at the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center. “This means that if we define the hypertension threshold the exact same way, a 30-year old woman with high blood pressure is probably at higher risk for cardiovascular disease than a man with high blood pressure at the same age.”

Women's Blood Vessels Age Faster Than Men;s Cedars-Sinai January 15 2020

(January 15, 2020) – New research from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai showed for the first time that women’s blood vessels – including both large and small arteries – age at a faster rate than men’s. The findings, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Cardiology, could help to explain why women tend to develop different types of cardiovascular disease and with different timing than men.

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Air Travel: “The Best And Worst U.S. Airlines Of 2019” (Wall Street Journal)

With more and more people taking flight each year, there’s a lot that can go wrong. WSJ’s Scott McCartney tallies the data for a definitive look at which airlines performed best and worst in 2019 in key categories like on-time departures, baggage handling and flight cancellations.

More from the Wall Street Journal: Visit WSJ.com: http://www.wsj.com

Photography: “2019 Ocean Art Photo Competition” Winners Announced

Ocean Art Photo Competition 2019January 13, 2020 – The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced its 2019 winners. The 8th annual competition attracted an extremely high caliber of photos from oceans around the world. These photos showcase the best underwater photographs of the year. 2019 was one of the most competitive years to date. Our two new categories, conservation and blackwater diving, had an overwhelming response of incredible photos and were two of the highlights of the competition.

Ocean Art 2019 Best Of Show Winner Crab-Eater Seal by Greg Lecoeur Antartica Peninsula

Ocean Art 2019 1st Place Wide Angle Nicolas More A Blur of Sweetlips

View winners

Health: Diagnosing “Essential Tremor” Movement Disorder

From a NextAvenue.org online article (01/07/20):

Essential Tremor InfographicEssential tremor is a common movement disorder — more common than tremors that come with Parkinson’s disease — and the most common neurologic condition affecting people 65 and older. It is estimated that 10 million Americans live with essential tremor, according to the International Essential Tremor Foundation.

About half of people with essential tremor inherited the condition. But the severity and affected body parts can differ from generation to generation, and researchers still haven’t pinned down the gene or genes responsible.

Tremors typically happen when people try to use their hands for a task. Activities such as shaving can be difficult’ people often need to use safety razors or electric razors to avoid cutting or nicking themselves. Also, difficulty holding a utensil makes eating a challenge for many people with essential tremor.

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Politics: January 14 Democratic Party Debate In Iowa Highlights (Video)

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Democratic presidential candidates had one last chance to contrast themselves on national TV before the Iowa caucuses. And in between slams of President Donald Trump, they delivered.

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders traded criticisms of their long records on trade, foreign policy and health care. Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar reprised their December clash about experience in the Oval Office. And Elizabeth Warren turned a question about her allegation that Sanders said a woman couldn’t beat Trump — a comment Sanders has repeatedly denied making — into a call to recognize female political power in the Democratic Party.

Read the full story here: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01…

Politics & Foreign Affairs: Joe Biden And Iranian Protests (Podcast)

The race for the Democratic nomination looks much like it did a year ago—but previous contests prove that once voting starts, momentum can reshuffle the pack. 

The Economist Intelligence PodcastIran has been roiling with protests following the accidental downing of an airliner; what should Iranians and the wider world expect now? And we examine how Bogotá’s once-adored public-transport system went so wrong.

Health: Heart Disease, Stroke Deaths Are Rising, Even In Healthy States

From a Wall Street Journal online article (01/14/20):

Americans are dying of heart disease and strokes at a rising rate in middle age, normally considered the prime years of life. An analysis of U.S. mortality statistics by The Wall Street Journal shows the problem is geographically widespread. 

Heart Disease Management by age group WSJ from National Center for Health Statistics CDCDeath rates from cardiovascular disease among people between the ages of 45 and 64 are rising in cities all across the country, including in some of the most unlikely places.

In the Journal’s analysis, three metro areas east of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains—Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Greeley—recorded some of the biggest increases. Death rates in each rose almost 25%. The three cities boast robust access to exercise and health care. There are bike trails, good heart-disease treatment-and-prevention programs and nearby skiing and hiking.

Wall Street Journal Logo Heart Disease Article January 14 2020

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Fine Art: Paris Musées Makes Public Over 100,000 Images Including Monet, Cézanne And Courbet

Paris Musées Releases over 100,000 Images of Artworks for Unrestricted Public Use

Website

Setting Sun on the Seine at Lavacourt” by Claude Monet (1880)
Setting Sun on the Seine at Lavacourt” by Claude Monet (1880)
Portrait of Ambroise Vollard by Paul Cézanne (1899)
Portrait of Ambroise Vollard by Paul Cézanne (1899)
Portrait of Juliette Courbet by Gustave Courbet (1844)
“Portrait of Juliette Courbet” by Gustave Courbet (1844)

 

Weather Science: NASA Launches “IMPACTS” Campaign To Study East Coast Winter Storms

This winter, NASA is sending a team of scientists, a host of ground instruments, and two research aircraft to study the inner workings of snow storms. The Investigation of Microphysics Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms, or IMPACTS, field campaign will be the first comprehensive study of East Coast snowstorms in 30 years.

Music credit: “Snowfall” by Andy Blythe [PRS], Marten Joustra [PRS], “Snow Blanket” by Benjamin James Parsons [PRS] from Universal Production Music

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Katie Jepson (USRA): Lead Producer, Narrator
Ellen T. Gray (ADNET): Lead Writer
Jacquelyn DeMink (USRA): Lead Animator
Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Project Support
LK Ward (USRA):Project Support
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support

This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13519