Asbestos is a natural mineral known to cause a variety of life-threatening health concerns and illness. However, as dangerous as exposure to asbestos can be, asbestos remains a commonly unknown substance to many, as it does not receive the precautionary attention it deserves. Today asbestos use is not yet banned in the United States and remains in use in the production of many products and is housed in buildings and homes built prior to 1980.
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In these recent sweltering days of summer, air conditioning might seem like your best friend. But those refreshingly cold gusts of air could also be delivering microbes around your house or office – and possibly making you sick. (more…)
Things went not so well for Laila, a divorced 28-year-old mother of one who is now a garment worker in a factory located in Savar area, the apparel industry hub of Bangladesh and not far away from the Dhaka city’s fringe. She was happily married to a man who was a masonry worker but since his income was never stable and sufficient enough for the family, it all started to go very erratic. (more…)
Scientists from UCLA, UC San Francisco, Costa Rica and Colombia take steps to identify genetic component to mental illness
Scientists know there is a strong genetic component to bipolar disorder, but they have had an extremely difficult time identifying the genes that cause it. So, in an effort to better understand the illness’s genetic causes, researchers at UCLA tried a new approach. (more…)
The first 30 seconds of a social encounter is crucial for people with symptoms of schizophrenia for establishing contact with people, according to new research carried out at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Exeter Medical School.
Using motion capture technology more commonly found in the film industry, the researchers studied social interactions of patients in a group and analysed the patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than 80 percent of pigs that tested positive for influenza A virus at Ohio county fairs between 2009 and 2011 showed no signs of illness, according to a new study.
Ohio State University researchers tested 20 pigs each at 53 fair events over those three summers and found at least one flu-positive pig at 12 fairs – almost a quarter of fairs tested. (more…)
The concept of responsibility is being used by politicians as a distraction from the real problems in society, which have to do with inequality according to research from the University of Exeter.
In the wake of the financial crisis there has been a renewed interest in issues of fairness and responsibility. The political debate about equality of opportunity, holding people responsible for their choices and helping people out when they suffer from undeserved bad luck has formed the focus of a four-year research project led by the University of Exeter.
Perceptions of fairness have a strong influence on the current debate about what sort of society we should be trying to build, according to the Arts and Humanities and Research Council (AHRC) funded research. The researchers found that over the past few decades the prevalent view is that if someone is disadvantaged by their own bad choices, then society has less of an obligation to help them out than if someone is disadvantaged by bad luck. On the other hand, if someone is advantaged by their own efforts, then they owe less back to society than someone who is advantaged through unearned good fortune. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— In these lean times, smart consumers refuse to pay a lot for throwaway items, but will shell out a little more for products that can be used again and again. The same is true of bacteria and other microbes, researchers at the University of Michigan have learned.
