U. S. Counties with thriving small businesses have healthier residents

ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2012) ? Counties and parishes with a greater concentration of small, locally-owned businesses have healthier populations -- with lower rates of mortality, obesity and diabetes -- than do those that rely on large companies with "absentee" owners, according to a national study by sociologists at LSU and Baylor University.

"What stands out about this research is that we often think of the economic benefits and job growth that small business generates, but we don't think of the social benefits to small communities," said Troy C. Blanchard, Ph.D., lead author and associate professor of sociology at LSU. "This study highlights not only the economic benefits of small business, but its contributions to health and well-being."

The study of 3,060 counties and parishes in the contiguous United States, published online in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society and forthcoming in its March print issue, brings new evidence to a body of research literature and a debate among sociologists, who traditionally have advanced two competing hypotheses about how small business impacts public health.

Some sociologists argue that small businesses -- unlike chain retail "big box" stores and large manufacturing plants -- have a greater investment in the community and thus have more at stake when it comes to the well-being of employees, customers and other local citizens. The LSU and Baylor researchers, who analyzed national population, health, business and housing data, found that the greater the proportion of small businesses, the healthier the population.

"Some communities appear to have thriving small business sectors that feature entrepreneurial cultures that promote public health. A place like this has a can-do climate, a practical problem-solving approach in which a community takes control of its own destiny," said co-author Charles M. Tolbert, Ph.D., chair of the sociology department at Baylor. "The alternative is the attitude that 'Things are out of our control.'" Communities may become dependent on outside investment to solve problems, the researchers wrote.

Their findings are a departure from the traditional conclusion that "bigger is better." Beginning in the 1970s, communities courted large employers from the outside, with a goal of providing high-paying jobs with benefits. In contrast, small local employers offered lower pay, few -- if any -- benefits, little chance for advancement, vulnerability to competition and sometimes, nepotism, the researchers wrote.

"The old way of thinking was that you wanted to work for a big company because of pension plans, health insurance, dental insurance," said co-author Carson Mencken, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Baylor University. "But many of them have moved overseas to cheaper labor markets. So what we see are larger retailers, usually next to interstates, that pay low wages and may not even offer full-time jobs with benefits, but instead hire people to work 30 hours a week. There's a high turnover."

Larger companies showed a large drop in wages -- 33 percent in real dollars -- and access to health insurance between 1988 and 2003, previous research has shown. Amid restructuring and globalization, some large businesses are giving employees furloughs from full-time jobs, then rehiring them as short-time contract workers with no benefits.

While locally owned businesses are not adding greater compensation or benefits, the pay gap is shrinking.

"It's in their financial interest to take a stake in the community, to make it a place where people want to live and work," Mencken said.

Said Tolbert: "When someone creates a 'mom and pop' business, it's a huge step to bring that first employee on board. If it's a relative or neighbor, they'll bend over backward to hire and retain them. They're going to bring on board somebody they trust, and they'll pull every hair and every tooth in their head before they lay off someone who's their neighbor." For some workers, self-employment is a way to escape the "roller coaster" cycle of furloughs and call-backs. Given that health insurance and access to medical care will be limited, poorer health might be expected of those workers.

But small businesses are more likely to support bond issues for health infrastructures, recruit physicians, push for local anti-smoking legislation, promote community health programs and activities and support local farmers' markets, researchers said.

They found that counties with a greater proportion of small businesses have a healthier population. They analyzed the number of small businesses per 100,000 people, categorizing small business as those with four or fewer employees; large manufacturing establishments as those with 500 or more employees; and large retailers as those with 100 or more employees.

"Our findings suggest that the rewards of a vibrant small business sector are multi-dimensional," Blanchard said. "In addition to job creation, small businesses yield important non-economic rewards to communities that may improve the health of local residents. "

LSU and Baylor researchers analyzed data from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, the 2007 Centers for Disease Control Obesity and Diabetes Estimates, the National Center for Health Statistics Compressed Mortality records from 1994 to 2006, the 2002 County Business Patterns and the 2002 Nonemployer Statistics.

The research paper is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Research Initiative, the Social and Economic Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Baylor University, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

1. T. C. Blanchard, C. Tolbert, C. Mencken. The health and wealth of US counties: how the small business environment impacts alternative measures of development. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2011; DOI: 10.1093/cjres/rsr034

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/~3/iFbjhp46CpM/120202201511.htm

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High Quality Large Bird Cages for Your Pet Bird's Convenience ...

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Source: http://look.4some.info/computer-2/high-quality-large-bird-cages-for-your-pet-birds-convenience-2/

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The big list of links from a conversation over at Too Conservative ...

The past few days, there?s been a really excellent conversation about abortion over at Too Conservative. Some good thoughtful commentary on both sides (and some truly fantastic examples of what happens when you counter prejudice with facts). I particularly liked Ed Myers?s question:

Funny how pro-life means different things when the issue is trespass. A fetus trespassing on a woman must be saved even at the risk of the mother?s life. A trespasser in your home can be killed with the stand-you-ground castle doctrine.

Why is self defense bad for pregnant women but good for gun owners?

At any rate, my comments there contained copious links to studies on abortion rates around the world, women?s mental health after abortion, women?s mental health after giving up children for adoption,? and stories of judicial and medical over-reach in ignoring the health and safety of pregnant women (and/or their existing children) in favor of the putative health and safety of what could someday be called in-utero Americans.

In the interests of saving my time and patience the next time I get into one of these on-line discussions, and for the convenience of anyone else who gets into one of these on-line discussions, here?s a big list of all the links I used over there.

• Women are 14 times more likely to die in child-birth than from an abortion.
• 2006?2008, 99% of women who had ever had sexual intercourse had used at least one method of birth control.
• What the vaginal transducer, also known as the ?dildo cam?, looks like.
• Court-ordered bed rest
• Court-ordered cesarean sections
• A discussion of Carhart and what it may mean for pregnant women?s right to refuse medical treatment.
• Abortion does NOT increase cancer risk
• As long as a woman?s still got her ovaries, eggs can be fertilized. (Wow, personhood amendments probably mean that all hysterectomies will need to also remove the ovaries, which has much bigger side-effects)
• Effect of criminalization on abortion rates from The Lancet (free, but registration required to view)
• Mental health in adoptees: Short answer, they?re as mentally healthy as their non-adopted cohort but act out more, and are more likely to have been seen by a mental health professional.
• Mental health in birth mothers: I am citing a government fact sheet which, in turn, cites several studies. These studies are not comparisons to women who have had abortions.
• Mental health in women who have had abortions: This is from the American Psychological Association:

?The best scientific evidence published indicates that among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective first-trimester abortion than if they deliver that pregnancy. The evidence regarding the relative mental health risks associated with multiple abortions is more equivocal. Positive associations observed between multiple abortions and poorer mental health may be linked to co-occurring risks that predispose a woman to both multiple unwanted pregnancies and mental health problems.

?The few published studies that examined women?s responses following an induced abortion due to fetal abnormality suggest that terminating a wanted pregnancy late in pregnancy due to fetal abnormality appears to be associated with negative psychological reactions equivalent to those experienced by women who miscarry a wanted pregnancy or who experience a stillbirth or death of a newborn, but less than those who deliver a child with life-threatening abnormalities.?

And finally,

The Flying Karamazov Brothers explain logic:

Source: http://doorbellqueen.com/?p=6001

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Letterman celebrates 30 years in late-night TV (AP)

NEW YORK ? As David Letterman and Howard Stern can attest, a 30-year anniversary celebration is a ripe opportunity to cringe at geeky haircuts.

Letterman marked three decades in late-night TV on Wednesday on CBS by bringing Stern, one of his favorite guests, onto his "Late Show." They congratulated each other on age improving their looks.

Then Letterman proved it, displaying a picture of them from when Stern first appeared on the then-NBC show in May 1984. Letterman had a bushy head of hair. Stern had a mustache.

Letterman said about Stern's old picture: "It looks like a guy who was on to talk about a career of writing bad checks."

Stern advised burning the picture but recalled how grateful he had been for the invite.

"Back then, the fact that you asked me to be on a national television show was mind-blowing to me," he said.

Letterman also brought some of his long-time employees onstage to present the "Top Ten Things Staffers Would Like to Say to Dave on his 30th Anniversary in Late Night."

One of the cleanest, and most succinct, entries came from veteran executive producer Rob Burnett: "You're incompetent."

The "Late Show with David Letterman" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120202/ap_en_ot/us_tv_letterman_s30th

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Researchers identify key peptides that could lead to a universal vaccine for influenza

Researchers identify key peptides that could lead to a universal vaccine for influenza

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Researchers at the University of Southampton, University of Oxford and Retroscreeen Virology Ltd have discovered a series of peptides, found on the internal structures of influenza viruses that could lead to the development of a universal vaccine for influenza, one that gives people immunity against all strains of the disease, including seasonal, avian, and swine flu.

Influenza, an acute viral infection, affects hundreds of thousands of people a year and puts an enormous strain on healthcare providers globally. The last pandemic flu outbreak in the UK ? swine flu ? was in 2009 when it claimed 457 lives. While previous pandemics have been more serious, there is a heightened risk of more severe pandemics in the future.

The scientific collaboration used a research method known as "Human Viral Challenge Studies", where healthy volunteers are infected with influenza virus, and their immune responses closely monitored in an isolation unit.

These were important to the research, published online in Nature Medicine, as they allowed the healthy volunteers to be held in "sterile" isolation conditions and ensured they had no existing infections. The volunteers were then "challenged" with influenza virus, with blood samples being taken at regular intervals to observe how their immune systems responded to the viral infection.

Researchers discovered that the immune systems produced various types of T-cells (part of the immune system that kills both viral particles, and cells infected with viral particles). Notably, the T-cells responded to peptides associated with the internal structures of the influenza viruses.

Unlike the external structures of influenza virus, that mutates very rapidly and creates a new strain of virus most years, the internal structures change very slowly over a long period of time. These internal structures are found in all strains of influenza virus - thus, a vaccine that targets such peptides may provide immunity against all strains of influenza, including seasonal (yearly), avian (bird), and swine flu, for many years.

A vaccine against these peptides would activate the T-cell immune response ? which is able to respond much more rapidly than vaccines that activate an antibody response.

Dr Tom Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton, who led the study, says: "Influenza is a virus that we know has a global impact, and the threat of further pandemics is a real one. Most influenza vaccines only protect us against known influenza strains by creating antibodies in the blood but the influenza virus has the ability to rapidly change itself and new strains can emerge which rapidly spread across the globe by escaping this immunity.

"We have found that there is an important role for T-cells that recognise the flu virus, which if harnessed could protect against most or even all strains of seasonal and pandemic flu. Through this discovery we hope to improve vaccines for future strains of influenza; and potentially protect against the next pandemic. However there is more to do to translate these findings into new approaches to treatment."

"Current flu vaccines are very good at producing antibodies against flu, but not so good at generating a lasting immunity involving T-cells,' says Professor Sir Andrew McMichael, Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford University. "The big question is: if we had a pandemic involving a much more severe virus than the swine flu we saw, what would we do in the six months it takes to develop an effective vaccine? This study suggests that vaccines stimulating a T-cell response might be an option, but there remains a lot to do to be certain of this approach."

Dr Rob Lambkin Williams, Chief Scientific Officer of Retroscreen, adds, "It is great to see the quality of data produced using the challenge study technique. Knowing that the volunteers were only infected with the viral strains that the research team had introduced, takes the guess work out of such research. The immune response observed in these volunteers was as a direct result of the virus to which they had been exposed. This quality of data will have the potential to rapidly speed up the rate that we are able to create a universal vaccine for influenza."

Retroscreen's Chief Executive Officer, Kym Denny said: "Retroscreen is delighted that our scientists and doctors have been able to work so closely with two leading universities. This work significantly expands our understanding of the immune response to influenza infection; this could be key in the fight against a future pandemic."

Finally, Professor John Oxford, President, Scientific Director and founder of Retroscreen and Professor of Virology at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry said: "Dedicated volunteers in our isolation unit have helped us to open a window into why some people get flu and others do not and even better to formulate a new vaccine."

###

University of Southampton: http://www.soton.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Southampton for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117211/Researchers_identify_key_peptides_that_could_lead_to_a_universal_vaccine_for_influenza

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BiteSMS vs Messages+ for iOS 5: which should you use?

The amazingly functional and customizable BiteSMS takes on the deeply integrated and easy to use Messages+ in a battle of the jailbreak messaging apps

Are you jailbroken on iOS 5 and wondering whether you should purchase BiteSMS or Messages+? Both applications add quick reply functionality and make messaging more functional. But which is a better choice for you?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Z_Min-wtYWk/story01.htm

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Mitt Romney breaks into song, serenading Florida voters (+video)

Mitt Romney usually recites lyrics to 'America the Beautiful' during his stump speech. But on Monday, the eve of Florida's GOP primary, he broke into song ? and the crowd joined him.

First Herman Cain, then Barack Obama. On the eve of the Florida primary, it was Mitt Romney?s turn to break out in song before a crowd of voters.

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Usually, Mr. Romney recites the words to ?America the Beautiful? in his stump speech. But on Monday night, at a rally in The Villages, a big central Florida retirement community, Romney added the tune ? and the crowd joined in. Perhaps he was feeling extra chuffed, what with the polls predicting a big victory here on Tuesday.

But if this were "American Idol," Romney might have something to worry about. And he should be grateful Mr. Cain is out of the race. Cain, the former pizza mogul, wowed his audience back in October with a rousing rendition of ?Imagine There?s no Pizza? to the tune of John Lennon?s ?Imagine.? And who can forget President Obama giving us a few enticing lines of Al Green?s ?Let?s Stay Together? a couple of weeks ago?

Romney, at least, gave it the old college try. See for yourself.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/X2Qgp2JPp8c/Mitt-Romney-breaks-into-song-serenading-Florida-voters-video

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