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Study finds that Japanese children walk differently from those in other countries

The study, which was recently published in the journal “Scientific Reports,” found that gait patterns among Japanese children aged 6 to 12 vary from those in other developed countries. Age related variations in lower limb movements while walking were studied by scientists from Nagoya University in Japan. For Japanese children in the 11-12 year age group, the number of steps performed each minute was higher than those in the 6-8 year age group.

news.yahoo.com

Houston’s major health institutions forming study to determine how to prevent children from having ongoing seizures

To study the best way to administer the seizure medication, midazolam, so that fewer children arrive at emergency departments with an ongoing seizure: Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, the Houston Fire Department Emergency Services, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, and UT Health are forming a study called PediDOSE to determine the best way to stop them.

Fauci’s office flooded with attacks over beagle experiments

The study that NIAID did fund by those researchers, also in Tunisia, involved evaluating a vaccine for leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by sand flies that infects both humans and dogs. Twelve dogs were given the vaccine and then put in a fenced-in open space outside during high sand fly season, NIAID said, to see if the dogs still became infected. That study is ongoing, though NIAID’s funding has ended. None of the dogs have been euthanized, NIAID said.

washingtonpost.com

Texas is one of the worst states for women, survey finds

The flag of the state of Texas flaps in the wind in Rosenberg, Texas, in this undated file image. HOUSTON – A recent survey ranks Texas as one of the worst states for women in terms of economy and well-being. The report from WalletHub, surveyed 50 states, including D.C., across 25 key metrics, including median earnings by state, education and homicide rates. Texas was ranked lowest in women who voted in the 2016 Presidential Election, preventative health care such as contraception and have the most uninsured women in the country. Minnesota, Maine and Vermont rounded up the top 3 best states for women, while Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi finished at the bottom of the list.

Rethinking your work-from-home wardrobe

(NBC NEWS) – For many of us, working at home during the pandemic has meant lots of norms have gone straight out the window. People like journalist Anabel Maldonado, who works in fashion, have found clothes can improve mood, and in turn, job performance. A 2012 Northwestern University study found subjects were more focused on a task when wearing certain clothes. “It’s not only what you’re wearing, but the associations we have around it can really affect our performance,” Maldonado says. The researcher behind that 2012 study on clothes and productivity is now conducting another study, trying to figure out exactly how our work-from-home outfits are affecting our job performances.

CDC supports in-person instruction, according to new research

HOUSTON – School districts operating in-person instruction have seen relatively low transmissions of COVID-19, according to new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, area doctors and medical experts agree in-person learning is the best approach; however, in order to return fully to in-person learning, school districts and communities as a whole have to follow tight specific protocols. Few would disagree with Zabaneh’s point about the importance of returning to in-person learning. Capo said Texas has not controlled spread and isn’t ready for a full-time return to in-person learning. “We have to control the community spread before it is safe enough to fully return in-person,” Capo stressed.

New study estimates $7 billion economic impact of COVID-19 health disparities in Texas

HOUSTON – Texas’ failure to address race-based inequities in health and health care access is costing the state billions of dollars, according to a new study. Funded by the Episcopal Health Foundation, a Houston-based non-profit and reported by Altarum, a non-profit research and consulting organization, the study examined the impact of disparities highlighted by COVID-19. According to researchers, differences in health status, disease prevalence and life expectancy by race and ethnicity cost the state of Texas $2.7 billion in excess medical care spending and $5 billion in lost productivity. Researchers hope the study will motivate policymakers to fund programs they say are necessary to address health disparities in the state. “We want them to know the real cost is the cost of inaction,” said Dr. Darrell Gaskin, who co-authored the report and is a professor of health policy and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions.

Texas ranked 4th worst state in unemployment rate recovery, study finds

HOUSTON – Texas ranked as the fourth worst state in unemployment recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study by WalletHub. Data showed the state’s unemployment was 8% in November 2020. According to the study, the unemployment rate in Texas increased by 135.2% from November 2020 to November 2019. The study also found that “adjusted continued claims” also increased by 283.2% year-over-year. In comparison, the national unemployment was 6.7% in November and hit a historic high of 14.7% at the peak during the coronavirus pandemic.

Barbers Hill ISD says study shows ‘significant correlation’ between academic success, schools with dress codes

Poole wrote that the study showed “statistically significant correlations” between higher academic success and safer schools, which had more stringent dress codes. “(Barbers Hill) Board asked for a study of all (Texas) HS’s & HS’s with a hair code like ours are safer & stronger academically. BH is the fastest growing in Houston & high standards in ALL areas are the reason,” Poole wrote. He continued: “The BH Board sanctioned study showed statistically significant correlations of higher academic success & safer schools of HS’s which had more stringent dress codes. BH is the fastest growing in Houston & high standards in ALL areas are the reason.

New study claims link between birth order, career overestimated in previous research

Are you anticipating your intellectual, ambitious firstborn child will become a doctor or your youngest will pursue an artistic occupation? These common expectations of people’s career choice being influenced by their birth order may have been overestimated in previous research, according to a new study by a University of Houston researcher. According to two dominant models, the links between birth order and careers are explained differently. The niche-finding model proposes personality traits should explain such links whereas the confluence model points to intelligence. “Our findings suggest that the role of birth order on career types, occupational creativity and status attainment might have been overestimated in previous research, and the only finding that replicated previous research was a small effect of birth order on educational attainment,” Damian said.

Cough droplets can travel farther than 6 feet, according to new simulation study

A new simulation study suggests that a person coughing can traject droplets beyond six feet, CNN reports. According to CNN, the new study, published on Tuesday in the journal Physics of Fluids found this puts people shorter than the person coughing – such as children – at greater risk of being exposed to cough droplets. “Young children may be at greater risk compared to adults based on the typical downward cough trajectory. Teenagers and short adults are advised to maintain a social distance greater than 2 m from taller persons,” the study says according to CNN. According to CNN, the results of the study are based on simulation models and not real-life experiments.

Houston named among Top 20 rattiest cities in the nation, according to new study

HOUSTON – Rats are notorious in major cities like Chicago and New York. But Houston still made the Top 20 rattiest cities, according to a 2020 list released by pest control company Orkin. While Washington D.C. and San Francisco closed out the Top 5. The list of rodent-infested cities ranks metros by the number of new rodent treatments performed from Sept. 1, 2019 to Aug. 31, 2020. Miami (-1)To view the complete list of 50 U.S. cities, visit here.

Vaping is hurting your teens chances of fighting coronavirus

Just logic will tell you theres no way that doesnt put you at increase risk for more severe disease, Dr. McGee said. She said one explanation on why these teens are catching the virus more frequently is because of the aerosol expelled when vaping. Just being around someone who is vaping, if they have coronavirus, could increase their risks, McGee said. Dr. McGee said, socially the early 20-somethings tend to act the same as pediatric patients and therefore have the same risks. Some risk factors for teens vaping includes:- Having parents who smoke or vape- Misconception that its better than smokingEven though the fear of the coronavirus may not interest them, Dr. Mcgee said to have a conversation about how vaping can hurt them.

Half of the world’s beaches could disappear by the end of the century, study finds

Climate change poses an existential threat to the world's sandy beaches, and that as many as half of them could disappear by the end of the century, a new study has found. The study found that sea level rise is expected to outweigh these other variables, and that the more heat-trapping gases humans put into the atmosphere, the worse the impacts on the world's beaches are likely to be. It's hard to overstate just how important the world's beaches are. The new study found that as sea levels continue to rise, more and more beaches will face erosion problems. The researchers did find that humans have some control over what happens to the world's beaches.