Office ergonomics take a stand on the health hazards of sitting

Extended sitting  slows the body’s metabolism of glucose and lowers the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol in the blood.

Health studies have always concluded that people should sit less, and get up and move around more. But the accumulating research on sitting reveals something more intriguing, and disturbing: the health hazards of sitting for long stretches are significant even for people who are quite active when they’re not sitting down. Recently two studies have reiterated that point, published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine and in Diabetologia, a journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

When women are faced with sexual stereotypes they make better financial decisions

Many studies have found that women tend to be more averse to risks and losses than men.

The world of business  can be brutal and competitive. People often need to take high risks with big payoffs in order to succeed. Attitudes that are risk-taking attitudes are often seen as masculine. The language used to describe such behavior is riddled with phrases like “testosterone-charged” and “cowboys”. Women are seen as being more risk averse.  And then there are articles that have asked if the financial crisis might have unfolded differently had women been in charge.

 

 

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Google to improve its mobile search services by searching the ungoogleable

Racks of networking equipment connect servers inside a Google data center

In a new research exercise known as the Daily Information Needs Study, Google wants to improve its mobile search services by automatically delivering information you wouldn’t think to search for online.

 

 

 

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Unhappiness leads to bad financial decisions: Study

“Present bias,” a phenomenon that makes us crave immediate gratification at the expense of even greater rewards later on.

People tend to spend more money when they are blue, whether it’s treating yourself to an elegant dinner after a tough day or picking up a new outfit during a nasty breakup.  Harvard University researchers looked in the the anecdotal evidence and found that feeling down can take a serious toll on your wallet.

 

 

 

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Makeup may be the key to a woman’s success

Models with no makeup and natural, professional and glamorous makeup.

In a recent study  from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Procter & Gamble, and Boston University, they had a sampling of over 200 individuals, both men and women, participants rated women wearing makeup as more competent than women without makeup.

 

 

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Online viewers abandon video if it doesn’t play in 2 seconds: Study

Faster internet connections have made viewers more impatient.

Revenues are declining for the traditional forms of online advertising.  Emerging as a bright spot for many media companies is the video.  It offers an opportunity for long engagement and hefty ad rates — but also a challenge to make it work.

 

 

 

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The rising consumer markets in Africa

Young, urban African consumer generation on the rise.

There is tremendous potential in Africa and most investors and businesses know this by now.  Africa is the world’s second fastest growing region, second to Asia.  And it may come as a surprise to most that Africa’s single-largest business opportunity is the rising consumer market.

 

 

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51 percent of smartphone users in U.S. consult their devices for medical information

Mobile health becoming more popular among smartphone owners.

Mobile health is starting to become popular in the U.S..  In 2010, the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that just 17 percent of cell phone owners used their devices to look up health information. But the organization said that figure has climbed to 31 percent in a new study released last week.

 

 

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Brazil’s strong tobacco control policies have saved more than 400,000 lives

Brazil’s policies could result in as many as 7 million lives saved by 2050.

All a part of Brazil’s strong tobacco control policies are high cigarette prices, smoke-free air laws, marketing restrictions and other measures that are credited for a 50 percent reduction in smoking prevalence between 1989 and 2010. The reduction contributed to an estimated 420,000 lives saved during that time period. Those are the findings of a new study published in PLOS Medicine by a team of researchers from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Brazilian National Cancer Institute.

 

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Daily multivitamin does not cut risk of heart attack: Study

About a third of Americans take a daily multivitamin.

The risk of heart attack and stroke was not cut by taking a daily multivitamin in a study that followed more than 14,500 men for over a decade.  There was a small reduction in cancer risk, according to results from the study released in October.

 

 

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Cancer comes in more shades than just pink: Studies

We have even more reason to understand breast cancer as multiple diseases.

Every year we go though a full month of pink, pink and more pink, all in the name of “breast cancer awareness.” What once was a health-related cause has become the feel-virtuous-and-buy-stuff season wedged between back-to-school and holiday gift giving.

 

 

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