November 7, 2006, 10:11 PM CT

Happy People Are Healthier

Happiness and other positive emotions play an even more important role in health than previously thought, according to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine by Carnegie Mellon University Psychology Professor Sheldon Cohen. The paper will be available online at www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/.

This recent study confirms the results of a landmark 2004 paper in which Cohen and his colleagues found that people who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to become ill when they are exposed to a cold virus than those who report few of these emotions. In that study, Cohen found that when they do come down with a cold, happy people report fewer symptoms than would be expected from objective measures of their illness. In contrast, reporting more negative emotions such as depression, anxiety and anger was not associated with catching colds. That study, however, left open the possibility that the greater resistance to infectious illness among happier people may not have been due to happiness, but rather to other characteristics that are often associated with reporting positive emotions such as optimism, extraversion, feelings of purpose in life and self-esteem.

Cohen's recent study controls for those variables, with the same result: The people who report positive emotions are less likely to catch colds and also less likely to report symptoms when they do get sick. This held true regardless of their levels of optimism, extraversion, purpose and self-esteem, and of their age, race, gender, education, body mass or prestudy immunity to the virus.........

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November 7, 2006, 7:51 PM CT

One Millisecond After Head Hits Car Windshield

Research by a Sandia National Laboratories engineer and a University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center neurologist shows that brain injury may occur within one millisecond after a human head is thrust into a windshield as a result of a car accident.

This happens previous to any overall motion of the head following impact with the windshield and is a new concept to consider for doctors interested in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Paul Taylor of Sandia's Multiscale Computational Materials Methods Department and Corey Ford, neurologist at UNM's Department of Neurology and MIND Imaging Center, made the discovery after modeling early-time wave interactions in the human head following impact with a windshield, one scenario leading to the onset of TBI.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

TBI is linked to loss of functional capability of the brain to perform cognitive and memory tasks, process information, and perform a variety of motor and coordination functions. More than five million people in the U.S. live with disabilities linked to TBI.

"In the past not a lot of attention was paid to modeling early-time events during TBI," Taylor says. "People would - for example - be in a car accident where they hit their head on a windshield, feel rattled, go to an emergency room, and then be released. We were interested in why people with head injuries of similar severity often have very different outcomes in memory function or returning to work".........

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November 7, 2006, 7:40 PM CT

How about 'Die Another Day'?

A fascinating new study from the recent issue of the Journal of Consumer Research is the first to conceptualize sequels as the movie equivalent of brand extensions. As per traditional branding research, extension evaluations improve when the extension is perceived to be similar to the parent brand. However, Sanjay Sood (UCLA) and Xavier Drze (University of Pennsylvania) find that the effect of similarity reverses when it comes to movies. In comparison to numbered movie sequels, the scientists observed that named sequels performed better at the box office and had a longer shelf life.

"With intangible experiential goods, similarity is not valued because people tend to satiate on experiences," explain the authors. "In other words, consumers prefer sequels that are markedly different from the original movie because they do not want to see the same movie twice".

Each movie released by a Hollywood studio is a brand that has to be packaged and promoted effectively to consumers. Launching these brands is an expensive activity. In 2004, the average cost of bringing a movie to market was almost $100 million. With financial stakes so high, the studios have turned to sequels as a way to capitalize on the success of hit movies.

Two experiments demonstrate that the name of the sequel is an important indicator to potential moviegoers about the similarity between original and sequel. The scientists compared sequel evaluations for a numbered title (e.g., Daredevil 2) versus a named title (e.g., Daredevil: Taking it to the Streets). Evaluations improved with named sequels because numbered sequels were perceived to be too close to the original movie. In fact, for numbered sequels, consumers were not only quicker to judge the sequel but also less able to recall details about the sequel's storyline.........

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November 7, 2006, 7:19 PM CT

Why We End Up Spending More

Ever go to a store intending to buy one item, only to leave with a cartful? Or walked out of a store after feeling you had been overcharged for something you needed? A groundbreaking new paper in the recent issue of the Journal of Consumer Research is the first to comprehensively outline "spillover effect" that is, the tendency for consumers to spend more on a shopping trip when something they were planning to buy is deeply discounted. Similarly, an unanticipated price increase, or a decrease in quality, on a planned purchase causes overall spending to go down.

"Results from two laboratory studies show that spillover effects can occur in response to both positive and negative changes in either the price or quality of a product," write Narayan Janakiraman (University of Arizona), Robert J. Meyer (University of Pennsylvania), and Andrea C. Morales (Arizona State University). "Positive changes increase total spending on other items and negative changes reduce it".

Positive surprises, like a sale on something you were planning to buy anyway, inflated overall purchasing. But both unexpected price increases and decreases in quality caused people to buy fewer discretionary items and to pass up other goods offered at attractive, discounted prices.

This challenges previous research on the effect that suggests that we mentally budget and react to feelings of diminished or increased wealth by shopping accordingly. Instead, based on their findings, the scientists argue that a more consistent root of "spillover effect" is attribution theory and our desire to reward or punish the retailer for shopping surprises.........

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November 7, 2006, 5:00 AM CT

Why Do We Stick To Our Bad Habits?

Why do we ignore public warnings and advertisements about the dangers of smoking, drinking alcohol, overeating, stressing out and otherwise persist in habits and behaviours that we know aren't good for us?

Because, says a University of Alberta researcher, we aren't getting at the underlying reasons of why we persist in bad habits or risky behaviour.

In two recent case studies asking people to rate the danger of various types of risks including lifestyle habits, it was clear that they understood what types of behaviour are the riskiest, but that knowledge wasn't enough to motivate them to change their ways, said Dr. Cindy Jardine, an assistant professor of rural sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

"The results showed that in fact, people have a very realistic understanding of the various risks in their lives. We as risk communicators--scientists, academics, government agencies--have to get beyond the thought of 'If they only understood the facts, they'd change.' They do understand the facts, but we need to look at other factors we haven't been looking at before".

Jardine presented her findings recently at the RiskCom 2006 Conference in Sweden.

In the first case study conducted by Jardine, 1,200 people in Alberta were surveyed in both 1994 and 2005. Lifestyle habits like cigarette smoking, stress and sun-tanning were ranked as the top three risks, being considered more dangerous to the Alberta public than technology or pollution hazards such as chemical contamination, ozone depletion and sour gas wells. Cigarette smoking was ranked as "very dangerous" by 53 per cent of those surveyed in 1994 and by 60 per cent of the respondents surveyed in 2005. Stress was ranked as "very dangerous" by 54 per cent of the people in 1994 and by 65 per cent in 2005. In contrast, sour gas wells were ranked as "very dangerous" by only 24 per cent of the people in 1994 and by 28 per cent in 2005.........

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November 7, 2006, 4:33 AM CT

Cambodia moves to protect endangered bird

In an effort to protect a large grassland bird from possible extinction, the government of Cambodia has recently moved to set aside more than one hundred square miles of habitat for the Bengal florican, a bird now classified as endangered, as per the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

The Bengal florican--a type of bustard--is restricted to tiny fragments of grassland scattered across Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal and India, which are threatened by land conversion for industrial-scale agriculture. The new network of protected areas covers more than 100 square miles near Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake, home to what is believed to be the world's largest remaining population of floricans. Protecting grasslands is also crucial for local human communities, who in turn help to maintain the quality of the habitat through traditional grazing, burning and scrub-clearance.

The decision to protect the bird's habitat was made by Nam Tum, the provincial governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province, some 80 miles from the country's capital city Phnom Penh.

"We applaud the governor for taking this action to protect one of Cambodia's endangered bird species," said WCS Country Director Joe Walston of the organization's Cambodia Program. "This population of Bengal floricans represents the best hope for the entire species, so setting aside critical habitat will give the bird a fighting chance".........

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November 6, 2006, 9:03 PM CT

Kylie's Back!

Kylie Minogue's comeback is well and truly on the road. The princess of pop touched down at Sydney airport on Sunday to kick off her Showgirl Homecoming tour with a gig on 11 November and said she was "thrilled to be back".

Kylie had to postpone her world tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, but she has beaten the disease and can't wait to get back to work. "I travelled with pretty much all the band, the dancers, so we're on tour again, whoa!" she said to reporters, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. Last week Kylie spoke of the unstinting support her boyfriend Olivier had given her during her battle and said her ordeal has made her embrace her career even more.........

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November 6, 2006, 8:51 PM CT

Recycling The Aloha Spirit

We are kicking off a week of island style shop reviews (just try to say that fast!) to brighten your chilly fall courtesy of Leigh, the island gal behind hapa | hale, a blog devoted to modern and fresh finds from Hawaii.

Muumuu heaven is the modern island girl's secret of what to wear on aloha friday. lucky for us, designer deb mascia discovered her passion for deconstructing vintage hawaiian wear and transforming more matronly muumuus into her signature flirty skirts that are being worn from hawaii to hollywood. you never have to worry about bumping into someone else wearing the same piece since everything at muumuu heaven is one-of-a-kind. and you can feel good that you are shopping consciously since the family run business participates in 1% for the planet and donates a percentage of their sales to help preserve hawaii's coral reefs.

Leight's pick: I can't get enough of the fun, asymmetrical style of muumuu heaven's lovely lei-d skirt. it's perfect for strolling to the farmer's market or dancing with your fella under the stars. lovely lei-d skirt.........

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November 6, 2006, 8:45 PM CT

Tiffany Silver Coffee Bean

The Handbag.com win a gorgeous gift every day from now up until Christmas competition continues and today you have the chance to win this fab Tiffany silver coffee bean necklace. And what better Christmas present could you wish for, a silver necklace as has been spotted around the necks of many a celeb including Linda Evangelista, Liz Hurley, Cindy Crawford and Elle Macpherson!!

Just think you could be unwrapping this great Christmas giveaway, valued at pound105!!! Click HERE for your chance to win this perfect Christmas present!........

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November 6, 2006, 8:35 PM CT

Sweater Girl Tote

With winter on its way the Sweater Girl Tote by Rafe has caught my eyes a few times at Anthropologie. I like the tassels and the metal hardware against the contrast of the grey knit and black leather.

More from Anthropologie:

Eventhough its not shown on the web site I've seen the Wise Old Tote and the Big Love Tote on the Sale racks.

Not bag related, I picked up the Spray Can Skirt recently which should keep me warm (and colorful) all winter long.........

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