Study … People With Potty Mouths The Most Honest

Temperate language has traditionally been considered a social virtue, but new research suggests that people who refrain from swearing are often the most devious and dishonest.Those fond of effing and blinding, by contrast, are likely to be the most honest in any given group, according to academics at the University of Cambridge.The study describes how 276 participants were asked to list their favorite swear words in order to gauge how fond they were of turning the air blue. They were then given a survey asking them to agree or disagree with statements such as “I never lie” and “all my habits are good” to assess their propensity for dishonesty.The researchers found that the most honest in the group were also the biggest swearers. 

Dr David Still well, one of the study’s authors, said the correlation may stem from the constraints imposed by social convention.“If you’re trying to follow the social norms rather than saying what you think, you are saying what people want to hear,” he said.“In that respect you are not being very honest.“We did not look at extreme dishonesty such as fraud, so from that experiment it’s an open question as to whether there would be a link.”However, he said the findings corroborate research in the US which links states with a high level of swearing to low levels of honesty-related crime.States such as New Jersey, where a lot of people use bad language, were found to rank highly on the State Integrity Index, whereas Utah and other places where bad language is a relative rarity saw higher levels of fraud or similar offences.

“At least people who swear are telling you what they really think,” said Dr Stillwell.“Although if people said what they think all the time, would that really be a good thing?”The researchers also examined the Facebook postings of 75,000 people, where a similar correlation was observed.People who regularly posted short, simple messages were the least likely to swear.Dr Sillwell said simple statements are already known to be associated with dishonesty, because liars find it hard to make up complicated sentences.However, more nuanced language, evidenced by words such as “but” and “however”, as well as use of pronouns which associate the speaker with his or her statement, are commonly agreed to indicate honesty.In the Facebook analysis, people who spoke in this style were also more likely to swear.

SOURCE…www.telegraph.co.uk

Study Uncovers Hidden Epidemic Of Eating Disorders In Middle-Aged Women

Tens of thousands of middle aged women are suffering from eating disorders in a hidden crisis brought on by divorce, financial problems and bereavement in mid-life, new figures suggest.  It was traditionally thought that eating disorders were most common among the young, but new research from University College London suggests around three per cent of women in their 40s and 50s have a recent eating problem.In contrast, around one in 100 women between 15 and 30 have been diagnosed with an eating condition, such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating, although many more may be suffering in silence.

The new study, which questioned 5,300 women in Britain in their 40s and 50s, found that 15 per cent had suffered an eating disorder at some point in their life, and three per cent within the past year. It is the first time that prevalence has been investigated in a population of women in the fifth and sixth decade of life.”Our study shows that eating disorders are not just confined to earlier decades of life, and that both chronic and new onset disorders are apparent in mid-life,” said lead author Dr Nadia Micali, from UCL and the Department of Psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

“Many of the women who took part in this study told us this was the first time they had ever spoken about their eating difficulties, so we need to understand why many women did not seek help.“It may be that there are some barriers women perceive in healthcare access or a lack of awareness among healthcare professionals.”

The researchers also assessed factors that may be associated with the onset of an eating disorder including childhood happiness; parental divorce or separation; life events; relationship with parents; and sexual abuse.A woman’s risk of suffering from anorexia or bulimia, two of the most common eating disorders in the UK, was increased by 4-10 per cent per unit score of ‘unhappiness’ if they reported being unhappy during childhood.

A good mother-daughter relationship was associated with a 20 per cent reduced chance of developing bulimia. Experts said that GPs should be made aware of the findings to help them diagnose problems in middle-aged women who might be reluctant to reveal an eating disorder.Christopher Fairburn, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, said: “These are really high figures and are important – there really aren’t any other studies of this quality and size looking at this age span, which is why we haven’t seen this before.

“We also see from this study that very few of these women have had treatment. We knew this for teenagers but this is the first data we’ve seen across this wide age group.“GPs should be on the lookout and women should be told about this so that they can choose to seek help and know that there are treatments that can help them.”Eating disorder charity Beat  said that the current thinking that people grow out of eating disorders needed to be challenged.

“Stereo typically, the world sees people with eating disorders as young,” said Tom Quinn, Director of External Affairs at Beat.“When we reinforce stereotypes we also add to the stigma of these serious mental health illnesses and this stigma can prevent individuals coming forward to seek help – a dangerous path to take when the chance of full and fast recovery is vastly improved when treatment is found quickly.

“Last year, 15 per cent of calls to our helpline were about someone over the age of 40 and this research from Dr Micali only goes to further support the importance of providing an appropriate treatment pathway for individuals with eating disorders at all ages.”Dr Agnes Ayton, Vice Chair of the Faculty of Eating Disorders, Royal College of Psychiatrists, added: “The numbers are surprising, as mdost of the research has focused on adolescents and younger adults.“However, they are not entirely unpredictable, as previous population-based studies have also shown that a large proportion of patients with eating disorders don’t seek help.”The study used data from the Women from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort and was published in the journal BMC Medicine.

China to develop prototype super, super computer in 2017 – Yahoo Singapore Finance

China plans to develop a prototype exascale computer by the end of the year, state media said Tuesday, as it seeks to win a global race to be the first to build a machine capable of a billion, billion calculations per second. If successful, the achievement would cement its place as a leading power in the world of super computing. The Asian giant built the world’s fastest supercomputer, the Sunway Taihu Light machine, in June last year, which was twice as fast as the previous number one.It used only locally made microchips, making it the first time a country has taken the top spot without using US technology.

Exascale computers are even more powerful, and can execute at least one Quintilian (a billion billion) calculations per second.Though a prototype was in the pipeline, a complete version of such a machine would take a few more years to complete, Xinhua news agency cited Zhang Ting, application engineer at the National Supercomputer Center in the port city of Tianjin, as saying.

“A complete computing system of the exascale supercomputer and its applications can only be expected in 2020, and will be 200 times more powerful than the country’s first petaflop computer Tianhe-1, recognised as the world’s fastest in 2010,” said Zhang.The exascale computer could have applications in big data and cloud computing work, he added, noting that its prototype would lead the world in data transmission efficiency as well as calculation speed.

As of last June, China for the first time had more top-ranked supercomputers than the US, with 167 compared to 165, according to a survey by supercomputer tracking website Top500.org. Of the top 10 fastest computers, two are in China and five in the US as of November, the ranking said. Others are in Japan and Switzerland.China has poured money into big-ticket science and technology projects as it seeks to become a high-tech leader.But despite some gains the country’s scientific output still lags behind, and its universities generally fare poorly in global rankings.

SOURCE…sg.finance.yahoo.com

Fitness Boogie…. Gyms Are The New Weekend Nightclubs

Although Alex Ifill works out at least five times a week, his favorite class is Noho Nights, Barry’s Bootcamp’s Friday night session that combines cardio, high-intensity interval training and a DJ during the class for a heart-pumping happy hour.During the session, Ifill and other clients do jumping jacks and squats to EDM hits. A bulky man in the corner grunts in pain while doing a 90-second set of bicycle kicks. The lights are blood red, and 30 minutes into the session, the studio’s mirrors fog up from the increased body heat.“We call it ‘church,’ ” says Ifill, a 34-year-old lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen who frequently attends class with his colleague Robert Garcia, 29. “It’s where we go to pray for the sins we’re about to commit during the weekend.”

In the past year, there’s been a rise in Friday night classes catering to health-conscious yuppies looking to blow off steam. Boutique studios such as Overthrow Boxing Club and SoulCycle now offer popular themed classes that foster camaraderie and sometimes even mix in booze.Kirk Campbell, a sports medicine physician at NYU Langone Medical Center, says Friday night classes are a great alternative to hitting the bars for happy hour.“I’ve seen a lot of my patients start working out more on Friday nights,” Campbell tells The Post. “They get to release all the stress from the work week.”

Plus, Campbell says, research shows that working out at night has health benefits. A study from the University of North Texas found that people who pumped iron in the evening had bigger muscle gains than those who worked out in the morning.“Your testosterone levels are higher in the evening than in the morning, so you have higher strength gains and you’ll be able to work out a little bit more intensely at night,” Campbell says, referring to both men and women.

For Garcia, the Friday night class is also a great way to switch up his workout routine.“If it wasn’t for this class, I would probably go home and change and just go to dinner,” says Garcia, a lawyer based in Lincoln Square. “It’s just a refreshing change of pace.” He and Garcia usually go to the dance clubs in Hell’s Kitchen after their workouts, but attendees sometimes head out for drinks nearby in Noho.

SOURCE…www.nypost.com
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The Lonely Assassin Causing Almost One In Five Heart Deaths…Depression

According to the World Health Organisation, 350 million people across the world are affected by  depression . Lead researcher, Professor Karl-Heniz Ladwig, from the Technical University of Munich, said: “There is little doubt that depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.“The question now is, what is the relationship between depression and other risk factors like tobacco smoke, high cholesterol levels, obesity or hypertension?“How big a role does each factor play?”In order to find out, researchers led by Prof Ladwig, examined data the medical records of 3,428 male patients between the ages of 45 and 74. They looked at their health over a 10-year period. And, they compared the impact of depression on the heart, with the four major risk factors – smoking, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and obesity.

Prof Ladwig said: “Our investigation shows that the risk of a fatal cardiovascular disease due to depression is almost as great as that due to elevated cholesterol levels or obesity.”Their findings, published in the journal Atherosclerosis, show only high blood pressure and smoking are more dangerous, posing a greater risk to a man’s heart health.Looking at the population as a whole, Prof Ladwig said depression accounts for roughly 15 per cent of cardiovascular deaths.“That is comparable to the other risk factors, such as hypercholesterolemia, obesity and smoking,” he said.

These factors cause 8.4 to 21.4 per cent of all cardiovascular deaths.Prof Ladwig said he and his team invested a lot of time in their study, largely due to the fact it took a decade to gather all the results.But, it paid off, he said.“Our data shows that depression has a medium effect size within the range of major, non-congenital risk factors for cardiovascular diseases,” Prof Ladwig concluded.“In high risk patients, the diagnostic investigation of co-morbid depression should be standard.“This could be registered with simple means.”The study comes as another team of scientists at the University of Vermont found people who eat red hot chilli peppers are 13 per cent less likely to die early – particularly from heart attack or stroke.It’s thought the compound capsaicin is responsible for the protective nature of the fiery food, helping prevent obesity and ensuring good blood flow to the heart.

 SOURCE…www.thesun.co.uk

Would You Eat an Ant to Fight Fatigue and Stress?

Ask the internet, and adaptogens are sprinklings of “pretentious hippie” woo-woo that caused L.A. juice entrepreneur Amanda Chantal Bacon to be excoriated while promoting her Moon Juice Sex Dust. But the National Institutes of Health has found in trials that the supplements made of medicinal plants, herbs and mushrooms “exert an anti-fatigue effect that increases mental work capacity” when stressed. Eleven adaptogens and supplements currently popular in Hollywood:

CHAGA Pretty Little Liars‘ Shay Mitchell orders the off-menu Blue smoothie (which tastes like cereal milk; $12) loaded with this immune-boosting mushroom at Lifehouse Tonics. “With supershroom adaptogens, we see improvements in energy, focus, creativity and sleep,” says co-founder Fraser Thompson.

DRIED WHITE MULBERRIES Gisele Bundchen snacks on these purportedly longevity-boosting berries ($18; SunPotion.com).

REISHI Emma Stone’s and Amy Schumer’s facialist Georgia Louise says some of her clients are obsessed with Sun Potion’s individual adaptogen powders, which can be mixed into water, juice, tea or smoothies. Katie Holmes, Laird Hamilton and Ben Harper are devotees of the offerings, including the reishi mushroom, called the “queen healer” for its reported liver-regenerating properties ($50).

MORINGA AND MUCUNA PURIENS Sun Potions’ “miracle leaf” moringa fights aging free radicals ($20), while mucuna puriens has mood-enhancing qualities ($37).

PINE POLLEN AND POLYRHACHIS ANT Brownstone Productions’ Renate Radford claims that with a bit of Sun Potion’s Pine Pollen ($55), “you don’t feel a buzz; you’re just alert and awake.” The wild-harvested polyrhachis ant is used by Chinese healers to boost musculoskeletal and digestive systems ($55).

SCHISANDRA, RHODIOLA AND SIBERIAN GINSENG Torii Labs’ anti-anxiety Awake tonic contains stress-reducing Siberian ginseng, energizing schisandra berry and anti-anxiety rhodiola ($45 for a pack of six; ToriiLabs.com).

ASHWAGANDHA This anti-aging adaptogen that, like schisandra, is said to inhibit enzymes that break down collagen, is part of Raw Complexion’s Skin Balance No. 2. Yolanda Hadid Foster and Ireland Baldwin mix it into drinks for a beauty boost ($35; Raw-Complexions.com.au).

SOURCE…www.hollywoodreporter.com