Last Friday at a great Alex Cuba concert, I was particularly moved by his song ‘Dividido’ or ‘Divided’ (though for sure not being able to understand all the lyrics). In it he laments divisions in the world, a topic not far from my mind on an on-going basis. Why I ask, is my head so full of it? It’s because when we’re so divided we can’t unite to solve the major issues and problems of the day and get done what is needed; the major one being the climate crisis and its associated loss of biodiversity but also even Covid-19 which is maintaining its ugly head above water. Needless to say, we ourselves, as a society, foster these crises by our wonton destruction and disrespect of nature, addiction to fossil fuels and lack of action against them, excessive population growth and ignoring it, incredible waste and pollution of all sorts and our consumer society, complacency with conspiracy theories (including the antivax movement and greenwashing), lack of foresight, and not implementing what we know we should, despite frequent and dire warnings. As a society we can’t seem to agree on much of anything these days, continually being suspicious of public pronouncements, our leadership, what’s on our radios, TVs and social media, and then there’s still the murderous Russian tirade in Ukraine, now approaching its sixth disgusting month.
And then, as heat waves continue around the planet, forests burn out of control causing local destruction and spreading their harmful smoke thousands of kilometres, more 1000 year floods occurring, and along with hugely growing poverty and hunger, more people are continually being forced from their homes and towns and, ultimately, show up in someone else’s needing compassion, which is not abundant at all these days.
How to stop the division in beliefs and opinions, then? Should we even, maybe division can be good? Is it possible to compromise with those who don’t accept our ever increasing release into the atmosphere of CO2, methane and nitrous oxides as the cause of climate heating and our exploding climate crisis? How to compromise and end the division with those not believing in the benefits and need for vaccines (especially now with monkeypox, measles and polio on the rise and covid going nowhere)? How to compromise with those believing Putin?
Many commentators answer these questions by suggesting more education. But, who are the teachers? Who will and should people listen to? Believers in conspiracies and mis-information about health and climate only listen to their peers, not those who’ve spent decades in study, learning and practice. And then there is the great 'teacher', the last losing 'genius' president of the USA who changes his lies several times a day, the latest contradicting the former, but never losing his followers. How do we maintain hope for the future?
I feel badly being so gloomy, seemingly week after week, but it’s what’s on the top of my mind when finding and reporting stories for this newsletter. Week after week there is never a shortage of dire news and the divisions that cause it. A great singer wouldn’t let me forget about it even on a Friday night.
See more news and other top of mind things in this week’s Planetary Health Weekly (#33 of the year):
CLIMATE & BIODIVERSITY CRISES UPDATES:
Climate change is making over 200 diseases worse and our immune systems weaker,
58% of human infectious diseases can be worsened by climate change – we scoured 77,000 studies to map the pathways,
Nuclear power plants are struggling to stay cool,
Europe’s drought could be the worst in 500 years,
More than 100 French towns without drinking water amid ‘historic drought’,
Volta Greentech’s (land-based produced) seaweed reduces methane from cows by over 80% commercial pilot shows,
The world’s first ‘methane-reduced’ beef is now at grocery stores (in Sweden),
Environmental groups call on feds to review proposed LNG facility in Nova Scotia,
Review: Key findings from the latest UN scientific report on climate change,
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:
Most Covid-related smell & taste disfunction resolved at 2 years,
Health authorities confirm first vaccine-related death in South Africa (out of 9 million J&J shots given),
Covid-19 vaccines have not killed twice as many people as the virus,
Vaccinated people are not more likely to die of Covid-19,
Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccine status, THEN
Bezruchka’s Blog #8: Inequality & The Environment,
The Chinese government apparently changed the weather,
Polio is back on the radar of Canadian health officials – here’s why,
Drivers of international migration of doctors to and from the United Kingdom,
Pfizer launches Lyme disease vaccine trial with French partner Valneva,
Could this water-skimming electric ‘seaglider’ be a carbon-free alternative to ferries?
Covid-19 has wreaked havoc with social justice – but we can and must effect change through bold policymaking,
Factors shaping the global political priority of addressing elder abuse: a qualitative policy analysis,
Here’s how a young First Nations clean water activist is captivating global audiences,
Quote by Australian federal judge on the injustice of climate change,
New events listed:
Transforming Education Summit (Sept. 19);
People's Health Movement (PHM) course on the Struggle for Health (Oct. 6-11); and
Submissions open for CUGH’s 2023 conference – Global Health at a Crossroads (April 14-16/23),
Saving lives through effective communication,
Visualizing 10 years of global EV sales by country,
How home gardeners can help the monarch butterfly survive,
Tight budgeters beware: skip the coffee before shopping,
New free book download “How Technology Shapes Patient Experiences”,
Social and emotional skills tops demand, digital learning the most preferred format – reveals McKinsey report, and lastly
ENDSHOTS with a difference this week (only): 11 charts showing humanity's domination of the Earth.
I hope you’ll keep reading. Happy Days. Best, david
David Zakus, Editor and Publisher
Maintaining Hope Trying to See the Light Through the Dark
Seguin, Ontario - August 17, 2022
ALWAYS WITH UKRAINE SEEKING PEACE, SOLIDARITY AND VICTORY
More than 58% of human diseases have gotten worse because of climate change, according to a new study.
The groundbreaking research, just published in Nature Climate Change, was conducted by researchers at Mamoa’s University of Hawaii, who carried out a systematic search for real-life examples of the impact of ten climatic hazards worsened by greenhouse gas emissions on human diseases.
These included warming, drought, heatwaves, wildfires, extreme precipitation, floods, storms, sea level rise, biogeochemical change, and land cover change.
Analyszing over 70,000 scientific papers for examples of direct links between known diseases and climate change, the scientists discovered that all of the extreme climatic events made more common and more severe by global warming had an influence on diseases triggered by viruses, bacteria, animals, fungi and plants.
Of 375 diseases analyzed, 218 proved to be affected by climate change. Read more at EuroNews
Mark L. Goldberg [00:10:00] OK, so what were some of the key takeaways from this (IPCC) working group three report? Now I take it what distinguished this report, as you said earlier, is that it focused on opportunities for mitigation. That is, what can we do to prevent a climate apocalyptic scenario?
Ryan Hobert [00:10:24] Yeah, that’s right, so we’d already gone through what’s the basic science then what are the impacts and how are we going to adapt. And so, this third part is about what are the solutions, how do we mitigate? And then what do we need to do in order to stick to the goals that we’ve set ourselves? So essentially, what it said, the big headline is, we’re not on track. The Paris Agreement in 2015 set goals of staying below two degrees of warming compared to pre-industrial levels, aiming, if possible, at keeping temperatures from rising no more than 1.5C degrees. That’s Paris’s stretch goal. And essentially, what this report says is we’re not on track. We’re not on a trajectory to get us there with even with the commitments that have been made since Paris - we’re probably more on a three-degree course so, you know, double that 1.5 goal. That said, they clearly said that it’s within reach to be at 1.5.
But that means really, really drastic emissions reductions in a very short amount of time. So, they essentially said that emissions have to peak and start to very quickly go down by 2025, so in the next three years. And that we would have to reduce our emissions globally by something like 40% by 2030. So, a really big task. But they also said that we have the technologies we need to get this done, at least to get well on the way of reducing emissions over the next few years. And I think for the first time, compared to previous reports, that these technologies are now cheaper and in many, many cases, even in the developing world, they’re the preferable option. So, they said that solar and wind costs fell by 85% and 55%, respectively, over the last ten years, again making them cheaper than fossil fuel powered electricity generation in most places. So, their point was really that the obstacles at this point are political rather than technological.
Globally, nationally and locally, the pandemic continues in many countries, though many erroneously feel it's over, whereas it just continues at a lower but persistent level (as compared to previous waves), and with new founded worries about LC (long covid), all thanks particularly to the lack of collective action and leadership.
Over the last week, cases continue at about 900,000/day (up very slightly from last week); deaths were up about 10% to 2700/day; and vaccinations are down to about 9 million/day (from 11m last week).
Vaccination, despite ongoing concerns about its effectiveness, along with other proven public health measures, remain the best way to keep yourself and others safe from serious consequences, including hospitalization and long Covid which is becoming more understood (more on that next week). Get all the shots/boosters you can, asap, and practise the other public health measures especially indoors with crowds.
See below for a few global stats and current hotspots:
Most patients with smell or taste dysfunction related to COVID-19 reported complete recovery of their senses at 2 years, according to a cross-sectional survey conducted in Italy.
Among 119 patients with smell or taste dysfunction within 4 weeks of COVID onset, 88.2% reported complete resolution at 2 years, 9.2% reported a decline in symptom severity, and 2.5% reported unchanged or worsening symptoms, said Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo, MD, of the University of Trieste, and colleagues. Read more at Med Page Today
BEZRUCHKA’S BLOG #8: Inequality Kills, Even The Environment
With all this talk about the bad things inequality does, such as harming and killing us, I am occasionally asked what inequality is good for since we have so much of it. Is there some good in having a few people being so incredibly wealthy and the rest of us making do with the droppings that trickle down? It used to be said that it was good for economic growth. But even that shibboleth, mostly voiced by those rich, has been shown to not be true. The International Monetary Fund and other experts no longer give this explanation as a reason to have such a huge hierarchy.
Economic inequality does nothing good for the planet? Wilkinson and Pickett in their book The Spirit Level document many environmental impacts of inequality. Much research points out that markers of planetary health such as CO2 and other greenhouse gases concentrations, municipal waste, recycling, fish and meat consumption are worse in more unequal nations. Business leaders in more equal countries are more likely to comply with international environmental agreements, and more equal countries are more likely to recycle waste materials. A study from India and China relates income inequality to CO2 emissions.
An important study in the United States looked at political power distribution, the environment and public health among the 50 States. Their conceptual model for power distribution included income distribution, income per capita, race and ethnicity. Power distribution was measured by voter participation in the 1992 presidential election, tax fairness (how much the poorest fifth of a state spend on sales & excise taxes as well as the tax burden of the top 1% to the bottom 60%, and state personal and corporate tax policies. Also included for power distribution were measures of access to Medicaid (state healthcare program for the poor) and educational attainment. Manufacturing, urbanization and population density affected environmental policy and environmental stress. Environmental stress was measured by air and water pollution, energy use and production, toxic chemical release, hazardous and solid waste production, workplace conditions, agricultural production, as well as forestry and fishery resources.
Outcomes were infant mortality, premature death (under age 65) and a composite public health index. At the state level, a measure of income distribution, low per-capita income, and race/ethnicity were significantly associated with worse health outcomes. The concept of federalism in the U.S. means that any powers not directly in the Federal Government (Executive branch, Congress and Supreme Court) go to the state. Thus U.S. states have considerable latitude in their various policies that impact human welfare and the environment. State policies and policy domains range from liberal to conservative with liberal ones more likely to have favorable environmental policies.
Capitalist societies are focused on economic growth, namely increasing the total of goods and services, typically measured by GNP (gross national product). One way to grow the economy is to use more fossil fuels as energy sources and emit more carbon. Missing from market price calculations (that is what we pay for a good or service) are what are termed externalities. If you buy a gallon or liter of gasoline for your car, you are not charged for the environmental pollution or depletion of fossil fuels use that fuel causes. These are externalities and are not factored into the price you pay. Fossil fuel producers (and the consumers) thus receive huge subsidies by not having these costs factored into prices. Even today with concern for the global climate crisis, regulation of fossil fuel production in the United States has not been successful. A recent Supreme Court decision limits environmental protection.
Simon Kuznets was an influential American economist who considered that with more economic growth income inequality would increase until it reached a peak. Then it would decline with further growth. This hasn't happened. This is the so-called inverted U Kuznet's curve. Similarly an environmental Kuznet's curve has been postulated, namely that initially the environment would deteriorate with increasing economic growth but eventually it would reach a turning point so further growth leads to a better environment. In the early 1970s I came across Kenneth Boulding's work on economic growth. I remember his words today: "anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist." Or as Edward Abbey quipped back then: "growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell." So-called green growth is another pacifier we are told to stick in our mouths. Given the huge rise of income and wealth inequality in the last years coupled with the lack of much economic growth, it is abundantly clear that inequality is not good for growth.
There are now many more arguments made for the harms arising from increasing inequality. The number of threatened species on the planet, at the country level, increase with increasing inequality.
Inequality is about political power and how it is distributed. Consider power as the capacity to cause pain or pleasure in others at relatively little cost to oneself. There can be direct power such as wielded by the US President who has been at liberty to invade other nations and kill several million people as in Afghanistan and Iraq. Another form is agenda setting power, the ability to keep discussion on or off the table, as with the various types of media. Consider that most Americans would like to see inequality decrease or to have a single-payer health care system. Not on the table. Another is framing power, the capacity to make the outlandish seem reasonable and the unappealing seem desirable. Tax cuts for the rich are an example. They are presented as good for us. I'm reminded of a cartoon in which a banker and a worker dude are in a bar. The worker says to the banker: "I'm all for tax cuts for the wealthy as I might win the lottery someday."
Power has been called the ultimate aphrodisiac. Power is most effective when least observable. Those with great power prefer to see their power as conferred by the market or ordained by God. And those of us with less or no power prefer to not see ourselves as subject to forces beyond our control.
Big corporations have the most power in the U.S. and increasingly around the world. Corporate CEO pay has skyrocketed (now over 600X the least paid) and there is no serious intent to lower it. Instead there is discussion of increasing the minimum wage. This won't do much for the maximum wage which will continue to balloon. Consider inequality or power as a highly toxic odourless, colourless, invisible gas that kills us through various diseases or trauma that we are almost entirely unaware of. Corporations are getting away with murder.
One recourse for poorer white Americans is to acquire various weapons. This gives them a sense of power. The recent spate of mass shootings in the U.S. is related to income inequality. Counties with more inequality as well as high incomes have more such events. More inequality may foster anger and resentment leading to these shootings. It is also a weapons issue as there are more assault weapons in the hands of civilians than in the U.S. army. And more guns than people. The recent atmospheric rises in inequality leads to the purchase of more weapons, a huge business. It is unlikely much will be done to control guns in the U.S.
If we agree that inequality is bad for us, then what will we do with the resources recovered when we decrease inequality? Next month we will look at early life as the part of the lifespan that needs help.
Inequality is good for the growth of CEO income. And if inequality is not good for growth, then it is also not good for the environment.
We already know that humans are at least indirectly responsible for affecting the weather, pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and warming the planet. But China has taken it even further. According to a study conducted by scientists at Tsinghua University in Beijing, the Chinese government successfully managed to temporarily eliminate air pollution to create blue skies on the day that the Chinese Communist party celebrated its 100th anniversary.
On July 1, an estimated 70,000 people attended a ceremony in Tiananmen Square that was headlined by an airshow that showed off some of China’s latest military technology, including jets and helicopters flying in a “100” formation to celebrate the event. The government was allegedly concerned that air pollution and overcast skies would distract from the spectacle. To clear the skies, the government reportedly launched a cloud-seeding operation, a controversial and barely studied technology that can modify the weather.
Cloud-seeding is the process of adding chemicals to the air in order to artificially increase the odds of precipitation. Releasing particles of silver iodide in the sky causes water droplets to cluster together around the chemical, forming clouds that can result in rain or snowfall depending on the conditions.
While China has not admitted to launching a cloud-seeding campaign, there’s a fair amount of evidence to suggest that they went for it. The government was absolutely worried about air pollution in the lead-up to the event, forcing factories and other pollution-producing operations in Beijing to temporarily shut down operations in order to cut back on the clouded air quality, according to The Guardian. Some residents in the mountain regions near the city reportedly saw rockets launched in the hours before the political celebration, which researchers believe contained silver iodide. Read more at MIC
Polio, an infectious disease that was eradicated in Canada nearly three decades ago, has re-emerged in some Western nations despite widely available and effective vaccines against the illness.
And although Canadians are largely vaccinated against the disease that can cause paralysis or death. But disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic that have led to children missing routine immunizations, or vaccine hesitancy fuelled by pandemic misinformation, could leave some vulnerable to an illness that was long thought to be in our rear-view mirror, experts say. Read more at The Star
Migration drivers and barriers have been coded into macro-level (global and national), meso-level (professional) and micro-level (personal) factors. The decision for a doctor to migrate is multi-layered and is often a complex balance of these different factors.
Reasons for overseas qualified doctors coming to work in the UK include perceived better employment opportunities and working conditions, more training and development opportunities, and a better overall quality of life.
The barriers to migration to the UK include stricter immigration policies, the complexities of the registration process, and perceiving the healthcare system as difficult to enter. Professional and personal concerns include worries about a new working environment, lack of support and language difficulties.
Despite career progression being one of the key drivers for joining the UK workforce, migrating doctors report finding it difficult to progress within the UK healthcare system. Many of the key drivers of migration to the UK, for example better working conditions, were also factors driving migration from the UK and into other countries.
Reasons for doctors leaving the UK include poor working conditions in the NHS, feeling professionally undervalued, and the desire for a better quality of life. Read more at GMC
Pfizer and a French partner are launching a large clinical trial of an experimental vaccine that would be the only to prevent Lyme disease, the companies announced Monday.
If proven safe and effective, the vaccine, currently called VLA15, could be an important tool to stop the tick-borne disease that affects nearly half a million Americans a year. Although many people clear the infection with a course of antibiotics, others suffer for years from lingering symptoms.
The first signs of a dangerous tick bite can include a bull's-eye rash, fatigue, fever, headache, muscle pain and a stiff neck. Without appropriate treatment, Lyme can cause arthritis, heart conditions and affect the nervous system.
This trial, with French company Valneva, will enroll about 6,000 volunteers, ages 5 and up at as many as 50 sites in a handful of countries where Lyme is a problem, including the United States. Read more at USA Today
An all-electric seaplane that aims to replace ferries may offer the aviation industry the first truly sustainable commercial airliner, according to its US developers.
The "seaglider" is a new class of vehicle, bridging the gap between ferries and aircraft, offering high-speed coastal transport with zero emissions.
"Seagliders are all-electric flying boats. They offer dock-to-dock, over-water transportation, regional ranges up to 180 miles (290km) with existing battery technology," Billy Thalheimer, CEO and co-founder of Regional Electric Ground Effect Nautical Transport (REGENT), told Reuters. Read more at EuroNews
The Covid-19 pandemic pushed a further 124 million people into extreme poverty globally. Almost one in three people worldwide, 2.37 billion, did not have access to adequate food in 2020. But not everything is doom and gloom. We can accelerate our way out of these crises with specific, dedicated SDG interventions. Read more at Daily Maverick
SPOTLIGHT ON POLICY
Factors Shaping The Global Political Priority Of Addressing Elder Abuse: A Qualitative Policy Analysis
Credit: National Counsel on Aging
Globally, 1 in 6 people aged 60 years and older experience elder abuse in the community annually, with potentially severe physical and mental health, financial and social consequences. Yet, elder abuse remains a low global priority. We aimed to identify the factors accounting for the low global political priority of elder abuse.
The main factors identified were related to the nature of the issue (the inherent complexity of elder abuse, pervasive ageism, insufficient awareness and doubts about prevalence estimates, and the intractability of the issue), the policy environment (the restricted ability in the field of elder abuse to capitalise on policy windows and processes), and the capabilities of the proponents of prevention of elder abuse (disagreements over the nature of the problem and solutions, challenges in individual and organisational leadership, and an absence of alliances with other issues). Read more at Lancet Commission
SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS WELLNESS
Here's How A Young First Nations Clean Water Activist Is Captivating Global Audiences
Credit: CNN
Seventeen-year-old Canadian indigenous rights activist and designated "water protector" Autumn Peltier is empowering young people to protect the environment. As the chief water commissioner for Anishinabek Nation, she has spent nearly half her life speaking about the importance of clean water to organizations including the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.
Peltier, who grew up in Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Ontario's Manitoulin Island, first became aware of the need for water advocacy at just eight years old. When visiting a neighboring indigenous community, she discovered that they were unable to drink their tap water due to pollution. That kickstarted her career as an activist.
"I believe that no matter what race or color, (or) how rich poor we are, everybody deserves clean drinking water," she says. "You don't have to be indigenous to respect (water) or raise awareness for it." Read more and see short video at CNN
Quote Of The Week:
Credit: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Mordecai Bromberg, Australian Federal Court judge Justice Mordecai Bromberg Described the impacts of climate change as:
"the greatest intergenerational injustice ever inflicted by one generation of humans upon the next."
International Health Trends and Perspectives (a new journal based at Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson University, Toronto) is dedicating a special issue to the topic of Planetary Health to highlight research, theoretical and community based contributions of scientists, scholars and activists globally. It is inviting manuscripts that are solutions and equity-focused. See the call for papers and details here: https://bit.ly/3tDixHT
Sept. 23 All over the World - Take part in the Climate Strike #FridaysForFuture #PeopleNotProfit There’s just 5 weeks to go for Fridays For Future’s big Global Climate Strike on September 23. Be sure to support your local youth! Here is their call to action: Join in for the Global Climate Strike as we demand policymakers and world leaders to prioritize #PeopleNotProfit! We demand that our Governments listen to MAPA voices [1] and immediately work to provide Loss & Damage Finance to the communities most affected by the climate crisis. One of the best ways you can help is by amplifying youth voices - if you can’t attend a march in your area (or if there aren’t any), make sure to follow youth groups on social media and amplify their call to action. All events, big or small, add up and politicians and the media take notice. Find out more: fridaysforfuture.org/september23 Official FFF Map (shows Canada events): https://fridaysforfuture.ca/event-map/
The International People’s Health University (IPHU) of the People’s Health Movement (PHM) is organizing a short training course “The Struggle for Health” for young health activists. The course is being organized jointly with Amel Association International and Gender, Justice, and Health Thematic Group of the PHM.
The IPHU short courses enable younger health activists to make new connections, share experiences and study together. They aim to strengthen the PHM’s growing activism. PHM has trained thousands of young activists from around the world over the past few years through the IPHU and built perspectives.
November 21-23, 2022: Canadian Conference on Global HealthJoin us in Toronto for the 28th Canadian Conference on Global Health (CCGH). This year's hybrid event will explore the theme of: "Inclusive Global Health in Uncertain Times: Research and Practice".
In 2011, Dr. Michele Barry, Director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford University, established a Global Health Media Fellowship in collaboration with the chief medical correspondent at NBC News to train a generation of physicians who could provide trustworthy, factual information to the public in times of medical crisis.
Since then, two major global health challenges have underscored the vital need for effective medical communicators. In 2014, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was sensationalized by cable news anchors and social media influencers in the absence of clear and readily available information from trusted medical experts. This led to knee-jerk travel bans, a wave of xenophobia, and public panic. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people have opted not to be vaccinated, swayed by anti-vaccine misinformation and falsehoods. Many of them lost their lives as a result: the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that 163,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19 between June and November 2021 could have been prevented with vaccines.
Visualizing 10 Years Of Global EV Sales By Country
Credit: Visual Capitalist
In 2011, around 55,000 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold around the world. 10 years later in 2021, that figure had grown close to 7 million vehicles.
With many countries getting plugged into electrification, the global EV market has seen exponential growth over the last decade. Using data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), this infographic shows the explosion in global EV sales since 2011, highlighting the countries that have grown into the biggest EV markets.
How Home Gardeners Can Help The Monarch Butterfly Survive
Credit: AP Photo/Nic Coury, File
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a butterfly. My money says the fluttering insect you’re envisioning has black−veined, reddish−orange wings outlined with white specks — the iconic attributes of our beloved American monarch butterfly.
Unfortunately, the species, which populates many childhood memories, is in trouble.
The migrating monarch butterfly was added last week to the “red list” of threatened species and categorized as “endangered” for the first time by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. That’s two steps from extinct in the wild.
Scientists blamed the monarchs’ plummeting numbers on habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide and herbicide use.
What can home gardeners do to support the monarch?
If everyone reading this planted one milkweed plant, the benefit would be palpable. Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) is the only plant monarch caterpillars eat, and it’s where the adult butterflies lay their eggs. Without it, the species simply could not exist.
“But not all milkweed is the same,” says Dawn Rodney, chief innovation and growth officer at the National Wildlife Federation in Reston, Virginia. For instance, “there is an invasive species called tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) that we’re seeing more and more, and people are not understanding that it does more harm than good.”
Tight Budgeters Beware: Skip The Coffee Before Shopping
Credit: Jazz3311/Shutterstock
If you're trying to scale back on impulse purchases, then you may want to hold off on drinking that coffee. An international study led by the University of South Florida (USF) found that caffeine impacts what you buy and how much you spend when shopping.
The research team ran three experiments in retail stores -- an industry that's increasingly been adding coffee bars near their entrances. In their study published in the Journal of Marketing, they found that shoppers who drank a cup of complimentary caffeinated coffee prior to roaming the stores spent about 50% more money and bought nearly 30% more items than shoppers who drank decaf or water.
"Caffeine, as a powerful stimulant, releases dopamine in the brain, which excites the mind and the body. This leads to a higher energetic state, which in turn enhances impulsivity and decreases self-control," said lead author Dipayan Biswas, the Frank Harvey Endowed Professor of Marketing at USF. "As a result, caffeine intake leads to shopping impulsivity in terms of higher number of items purchased and greater spending."
At every point of contact with the health care system, patients are running into technology.
Virtual platforms are making it possible to talk with a nurse almost as soon as a person starts feeling sick. Artificial intelligence models are guiding their physicians and pathologists, helping to detect problems or point to a path forward. Their records are stored in the cloud, connected to a vast ecosystem of other data points to be mined for important insights.
These stories underscore the vast range of technologies that are shaping how patients find and receive health care, from smartphone apps to deliver therapy and bedside bots to channel medication requests to new tools to collect real-world data and wearable watches to detect heart health. They illustrate the exciting advances being made on these technologies, and highlight the challenges to their broader adoption.
Social And Emotional Skills Tops Demand, Digital Learning The Most Preferred Format - Mckinsey Report Reveals
Credit: Article
Skill building has taken the front seat in organisations (69% respondents), with social and emotional skills in demand, as per Mckinsey 2021 report on ‘Building workforce skills at scale to thrive during—and after—the Covid-19 crisis’. According to 58% respondents, their companies’ top priority remained to close skill gaps since the pandemic began, the report highlighted. It further suggested five main actions – which includes hiring (42%), contracting (36%), redeploying (46%), releasing (29%), and building skills (69%) within the current workforce to close these gaps.
The survey findings pointed out that over half of the respondents focus on to develop leadership skills followed by critical-thinking and decision-making, and project-management. It further revealed that basic digital skills are on the priority list for some companies. However, the survey findings revealed some industry differences such as in advanced industries and industrial organisations, respondents report less focus on building basic digital skills; perhaps because these skills were already present before the pandemic.
Current News on Ecological Wellness and Global Health
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Planetary Health Weekly
32 Hawkrigg Lane Seguin, Ontario P2A 2W8 Canada
Publisher and Editor: Dr. David Zakus Production: Julia Chalmers & Aisha Saleem Social Media: Mahdia Abidi, Shalini Kainth and Ishneer Mankoo Website, Index and Advisory: Eunice Anteh, Gaël Chetaille, Carlos Jimenez, Evans Oppong, Jonathan Zakus, Dr. Aimée-Angélique Bouka & Elisabeth Huang
Bloggers: Edward Milner, Dr. Stephen Bezruchka, Aisha Saleem and Dr. Jay Kravitz
