Teen obesity tied to poor mom-child relationship

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - Toddlers who have poor relationships with their moms are more likely to pack on extra pounds as they grow up, a new U.S. study shows.

Tracking nearly 1,000 kids into their teens, researchers found more than a quarter of those who scored lowest on mother-child relationship tests as toddlers went on to become obese at age 15.

By contrast, only 13 percent of the children who had a good relationship with their mother became obese.

While that doesn't prove cause and effect, researchers say other work has shown links between children's emotional and intellectual development and how they interact with their mother at a young age.

According to Sarah E. Anderson, who worked on the new study, it's possible that a stressful childhood could make a lasting impression on kids' brains.

"There is an overlap in the brain between the areas that govern stress and energy balance," said Anderson, of the Ohio State University College of Public Health in Columbus. "This stress response could be related to obesity through appetite regulation."

Dr. David Gozal, a pediatrician not involved in the new work, agreed. But he said unhealthy food and a lack of physical activity and sleep are likely to play a bigger role.

Still, he said, early childhood stress is known to take a toll later in life -- both via genetic reprogramming and behavioral changes -- and a poor mother-child relationship could be part of the equation.

"What you see in adulthood is obviously the cumulative effect of what has happened earlier in life," Gozal, physician-in-chief at the Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago, told Reuters Health.

Anderson's findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, are based on 977 kids who were videotaped while playing with their mother at about one, two and three years of age.

Researchers then assessed the toddler's relationship to their moms based on the mother's ability to recognize her child's emotional state and respond with warmth as well as the child's tendency to freely explore its environment, a measure of "attachment security."

A quarter of the toddlers had a "poor-quality" relationship to their mothers, whereas 22 percent scored perfect at each session. At 15 years, 26 percent of the kids with relationship trouble were obese -- twice as many as those without such problems.

However, the gap narrowed as more factors were taken into account, including maternal education and household income.

Today, 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even if the epidemic is fueled by poor relationships at home, there is no point in chiding mothers, Anderson said.

"Blaming parents is not likely to solve anything," she told Reuters Health. "It's important to recognize that there are many competing demands on parents."

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For happiness, sleep on your bed's left side

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - Ever thought the side of the bed one slept in could actually be determining happiness in your life? A new research has found that individuals sleeping on the left side of their bed led a happy and less stressful life.

Those who snuggle up for the night on the left are generally more cheerful and positive, the Daily Express reported, as in a survey, a quarter of people revealed having a bright outlook on life, compared to just 18 percent of the people who said they slept on the right side of the bed. Such people were also found to be better at handling heavy workloads and stress.

Two-thirds of the people sleeping on the left side said they were calmer than their partner in a crisis.

Those sleeping on the bed's right side more often tend to wake up in a bad mood, the survey found, adding that people who prefer the left side of the bed tend to have more confidence and are more likely to be in permanent employment than those preferring the right side.

However, while right-hand siders tend to earn more, those sleeping on the left are happiest at work.

In the survey commissioned by hotel group Premier Inn, a third said they loved their jobs, compared to just 18 percent of their right equivalents. One in 10 people who took to the right of the bed said they hated their work.

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Quit-smoking program for teens uses tech tools

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - Many smokers will resolve to quit on New Year's Day— and if some health educators have their way, increasing numbers of quitters will be teenagers, on Jan. 1 and throughout the year.

The National Cancer Institute is rolling out a new quitting program aimed at teens. It now includes a website (teen.smokefree.gov) and texting support, and in January it will add a smartphone application, says Erik Auguston, a behavioral scientist at the institute.

The program joins others with the same aim: Helping teen smokers quit before they become chronic adult smokers. It comes on the heels of new data showing teen smoking rates are dropping again after stagnating for a while.

But it's hardly good news that 19% of teens smoke by 12th grade, says Lloyd Johnston, a researcher at the University of Michigan who leads an annual study tracking teen smoking, drinking and drug use. Previous research suggests most of those teens will keep smoking and some light smokers will become heavy smokers, he says.

"From a health viewpoint, (tobacco) is probably the most important of all the drugs," Johnston says. "There's no other product, legal or illegal, that kills as many people."

But teens are not very receptive to messages about diseases they won't develop for decades or to programs aimed at adults, Auguston says: "Traditionally, teens and young adults have not actively engaged in quitting smoking. They are more in the uptake process." And when they do try to quit, Auguston says, they often go it alone and fail.

The Smokefree Teen program relies upon:

•Messages that emphasize teens are in charge. One slogan on the site about teens and their health decisions: "We're NOT going to tell you what to do."

•Materials that focus on teen-specific triggers. Those include mood, social life, test anxiety and peer pressure.

•Technologies teens use. Teens who want to quit can text QUIT to iQUIT (47848) to start getting helpful messages or go to the website to connect with counselors via instant messaging or phone. They also can join support networks on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

The program "is a gigantic step in the right direction," says Alexander Prokhorov, a behavioral scientist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston who has developed anti-smoking programs for teens, including Aspire, a website.

Teen smokers are receptive to messages about staining their teeth, smelling bad, wasting money, harming the environment — and even the fact that their smoke can hurt their siblings and pets, he says. That kind of information, he says, is "eye-popping to many of them."

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LG Windows Phone 7.5 captured in the wild

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - When it comes to the operating software associated with LG, the only one that comes to mind is Google’s Android. However, in the past, we had reported that an image had been previewed of an LG Optimus Black running WP7. But this OS has not been made available to the masses, yet and there is a highly unlikely possibility that the Optimus Black would receive it. In an interesting development, a member of XDA forums claims to have the latest build of Windows Phone 7 running on an LG handset.

As for the specifications of this upcoming handset nothing is quite certain at the time, except for a couple of leaked images. The name or codename for this upcoming smartphone is LG Fantasy and it features a large 4-inch IPS display. The Romanian tester who is in possession of the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango LG Fantasy states that the handset is expected to launch by the first quarter of 2012.

LG has already previewed a line-up of IPS monitors that are set to be unveiled at CES in January 2012. There could be a possibility that the brand may launch the handset during the event. Let us know your reactions on LG running a WP 7.5 Mango handset in the comments section below.

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Stratfor Hacking Victims Targeted Again After Speaking Out

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - NEW YORK – Victims of a data breach at the security analysis firm Stratfor apparently are being targeted a second time after speaking out about the hacking.

Stratfor said on its Facebook page that some individuals who offered public support for the company after it revealed it was hacked "may be being targeted for doing so."

The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday through Twitter that it had stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to the company's clients. Anonymous members posted links to some of the information Sunday and more on Monday.

tratfor, based in Austin, Texas, said its affected clients and its supporters "are at risk of having sensitive information repeatedly published on other websites." The company has resorted to communicating through Facebook while its website remains down and its email suspended.

A message posted online Monday by a group asserting it spoke for Anonymous mocked victims who spoke to The Associated Press about the experience of learning that their credit card information was stolen and used to make unauthorized charitable donations. The message also ridiculed someone who criticized the hacking on Facebook, saying "we went ahead and ran up your card a bit."

A Stratfor spokesman would not say whether the information was encrypted in its database or what the company has learned since the incident began.

Anonymous has said the data was not encrypted. If true, that would be a major embarrassment for a security-related company.

The spokesman, Kyle Rhodes, said the company could not discuss any details because several law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.

The data was posted in a series of releases in links embedded in online messages that, in turn, were linked to from Twitter.

Some of the files appear to be alphabetical listings of Stratfor clients with related credit card information. The amount posted suggests that information about more than 100,000 individuals and thousands of companies was exposed. The posts also contain files of emails within Stratfor's information technology department, and what appears to be a list of passwords for Stratfor IT staff.

The posted data identifies thousands of major financial, defense and technology firms, media companies, government agencies and multiple units of the United Nations as Stratfor clients. The hackers said this was evidence that they had breached Straftor's "private clients," a claim the company denied.

"Contrary to this assertion, the disclosure was merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor beyond their purchase of our subscription-based publications," Stratfor said in an email and on Facebook.

Stratfor clients around the world were trying to assess whether they were impacted by the hacking.

In New Zealand, the lead government agency, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, is checking whether it has suffered any problems from the hacking. The department, New Zealand's police and fire services and national carrier Air New Zealand are among New Zealand agencies and companies using Stratfor for security purposes.

Department spokesman Ron Mackey said checks were under way to determine "whether its systems have been compromised," Radio New Zealand reported Tuesday.

Earlier, New Zealand technology commentator Colin Jackson said the hacking must be "really, really embarrassing for Stratfor."

"The government departments and (New Zealand) companies ... are going to have to go around and get those credit cards stopped, and decide whether to continue dealing with this outfit Stratfor," he said.

Stratfor "has made a press statement saying 'oh, this kind of thing happens to everybody and it's pretty hard to keep these guys out.' Yeah, right, well, you are supposed to be security experts," Jackson told Radio New Zealand.

The hackers initially claimed their goal was to use stolen the credit information to donate to charities at Christmas, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions were made from their credit accounts in recent days. The messages also said the hackers are targeting companies "that play fast and loose with their customers' private and sensitive information."

Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce cyber security risks, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos.

The company's home page carried a banner Monday that said its "website is currently undergoing maintenance."

Anonymous warned it plans more attacks this week. The movement has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on credit card processors Visa and MasterCard, eBay's PayPal, as well as banks, groups in the music industry and the Church of Scientology.

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a watchdog that tracks data breaches, made the Stratfor hacking its 121st such incident of the year targeting credit cards.

Anonymous, reported to be a loose-knit group of hackers, became famous for attacking the companies and institutions that oppose anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. The message Monday said the attacks could be averted. "Have you given our comrade Bradley Manning his holiday feast yet, at a fancy restaurant of his choosing?" Manning is the Army private facing court martial for allegedly sending hundreds of thousands of diplomatic documents and Iraq and Afghanistan war zone field reports to WikiLeaks. A seven-day hearing into the biggest national security leak in U.S. history ended Thursday.

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Nokia Lumia 800 hits FCC, CES bound?

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - With just two weeks until CES, most of the wireless industry is busy making final plans.

We've already told you what we think will happen with tablets and smartphones in Las Vegas, and if carriers and manufacturers have their way, we won't know anything official until the show begins.

Forgive me, but patience is not a virtue in this case. So to get a peek at what might come at CES, I dug through the last couple weeks of filings with the Federal Communications Commission for any clues about new devices. And as it turns out, there was plenty to peruse.

Nokia's Lumia 800 got the official nod, which may be good news for Windows Phone 7 fans not satisfied by T-Mobile's Nokia Lumia 710. Though the filing didn't tell if it will end up at a U.S carrier, we do expect Nokia to make such an announcement at CES. Other interesting phones to pass through the FCC's hands include the dual mode (CDMA/EV-DO) LG FLN-272 for Sprint, the Samsung SCH-R920 with MetroPCS LTE, and the Samsung CDMA SCI11. Though just a codename, a CDMA carrier is an obvious destination.

On the tablet front, Huawei's MediaPad made an appearance. Perhaps Huawei will use its CES press conference to announce it along with the Ice Cream Sandwich-equipped Honor smartphone. Samsung also won certification for two LTE versions of the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and a Galaxy Tab 7.7 for Verizon's 4G network.

So here's the list of the last two weeks at the FCC. Click through to read the full report.

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Bharti Airtel customers face network outage in Mumbai

http://nowdailynews.blogspot.com - Customers of Bharti Airtel in the western part of Maharashtra are experiencing a service outage due to a technical glitch in the service provider's systems that cropped up today. "A technical outage has affected our network in the western region, resulting in disruption of some services. We are working toward rectifying the outage at the earliest. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to our customers," an Airtel spokesperson told PTI.

Services are also affected in adjoining areas, including Pune, according to people close to the development. Customers are sharing their grievances on the official Twitter account of Bharti Airtel.

According to people close to the development, it has resulted in a network problem and badly hit BlackBerry and data services provided by the company.

According to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the country's largest private operator, Bharti Airtel, had a user base of 173.73 million at the end of October, 2011.

Bharti Airtel is a leading global telecommunication company, with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. The company offers mobile voice and data services, fixed line, high speed broadband and national and international long distance services.

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