All posts tagged: reduce

How we’ll support AI to reduce workload and improve outcomes

How we’ll support AI to reduce workload and improve outcomes

Published by skeptic

Ensuring AI delivers its educational potential safely is central to improving teachers’ lives and spreading opportunity Ensuring AI delivers its educational potential safely is central to improving teachers’ lives and spreading opportunity Stephen Morgan MP Minister for early education 29 Aug 2024, 12:57 More from this theme Recent articles I have just come back from an exciting trip to that technological powerhouse, the Republic of Korea. The country has been blazing a trail in innovation, where developers, designers and engineers all work together to push the boundaries of what is possible. Digital technology is transforming the way we live at lightning speed. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised medicine and farming for instance, but here in the UK we still haven’t seen it live up to its huge potential in education. I believe that we must act now to take advantage of what AI can offer the education sector if we are to give children the best start in life, a start that is already taken for granted in the Republic of Korea. We look to …

California Will Add a Fixed Charge to Electric Bills and Reduce Rates

California Will Add a Fixed Charge to Electric Bills and Reduce Rates

Published by skeptic

Utility regulators in California on Thursday changed how most residents will pay for energy by adding a new fixed monthly charge and lowering the rates that apply to energy use. Officials said the shift would reduce monthly bills for millions of residents and support the use of electric vehicles and appliances that run on electricity, rather than fossil fuels. The decision by the California Public Utilities Commission will apply to the rates charged by investor-owned utilities, which provide power to about 70 percent of the state. Starting next year, most customers of those companies will be required to pay a $24.15 monthly charge. Low-income customers will pay $6 to $12 a month. Regulators said the revenue from the fixed charge would be paired with a roughly 20 percent reduction in rates assessed by how many kilowatts of energy were used per hour by a home or business. (The average American home uses around 1,000 kilowatt-hours in a month.) California’s residential electric rates, which averaged 31.2 cents per kilowatt-hour in February, are the highest in the …

Eating dark chocolate could reduce your blood pressure, study finds

Eating dark chocolate could reduce your blood pressure, study finds

Published by skeptic

Study investigates the potential of dark chocolate in lowering the risk of essential hypertension, shedding light on its promising health benefits. (CREDIT: Creative Commons) High blood pressure, or hypertension, poses significant risks to cardiovascular health. While lifestyle changes and medications are commonly used to manage it, researchers are continually seeking novel approaches to prevention. A recent study published in Nature Scientific Reports investigates the potential of dark chocolate in lowering the risk of essential hypertension, shedding light on its promising health benefits. Essential hypertension, characterized by elevated blood pressure without an apparent cause, is a prevalent condition globally. Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, a board certified cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, underscores its significance, stating, “Essential hypertension stands out as the predominant contributor to cardiovascular diseases.” Lifestyle modifications, including diet, play a crucial role in hypertension prevention, prompting researchers to explore the potential of specific foods. Dark chocolate, containing high cocoa solids, emerges as a subject of interest due to its rich flavanols content. Karen Z. Berg, a …

Higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids could reduce the risk of bipolar disorder, new study finds

Higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids could reduce the risk of bipolar disorder, new study finds

Published by skeptic

A world-first study from the University of South Australia recently discovered a link between omega-6 fatty acids and bipolar disorder. Researchers found that higher levels of arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid obtained from foods like poultry, seafood and eggs, led to a lower risk of bipolar disorder. Conversely, lower levels of arachidonic acid led to a higher risk of bipolar disorder.     The study tested a total of 913 metabolites across 14,296 European patients using a mass spectrometry-based platform. Thirty-three metabolites were identified and associated with the risk of bipolar disorder. Most of them were lipids, including arachidonic acid and other complex lipids containing either an arachidonic or a linoleic fatty acid side chain, the study specified. The causal associations only concerned bipolar disorder, the study added, and didn’t account for other closely related psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia or depression. “There’s growing evidence to suggest that metabolites play a key role in bipolar and other psychiatric disorders,” said chief investigator Dr. David Stacey, per the university’s official website. “This is extremely encouraging, because if …

The Power of Perception to Reduce Anxiety and Depression

The Power of Perception to Reduce Anxiety and Depression

Published by skeptic

Source: gpointstudio/Shutterstock Why do we so easily upset ourselves? We wake up in the middle of the night and start worrying about the future, regretting the past, and asking, “What if…?” until we have made ourselves miserable. Understanding the mind and how it works starts with knowing what the mind wants to accomplish. The mind has three primary tasks. First, it attempts to make sense of all the information it receives by creating a reasonable explanation for our experience. Second, the mind is a problem-solving machine—it wants to determine how to meet our needs and overcome any barrier to making that happen. Finally, the mind needs to protect us from harm. It lets us know when there is a potential threat by creating negative emotions, adverse sensations, and physical symptoms that get our attention. Explaining, problem-solving, and protecting are three skills we excel at beyond any other creature on Earth. This means we can survive in the cold, heat, desert, mountains, and jungles in the worst circumstances, including drought, floods, famines, and blizzards. The Normal …

Countries consider pact to reduce plastic production by 40% in 15 years | Plastics

Countries consider pact to reduce plastic production by 40% in 15 years | Plastics

Published by skeptic

Countries are for the first time considering restrictions on the global production of plastic – to reduce it by 40% in 15 years – in an attempt to protect human health and the environment. As the world attempts to make a treaty to cut plastic waste at UN talks in Ottawa, Canada, two countries have put forward the first concrete proposal to limit production to reduce its harmful effects including the huge carbon emissions from producing it. The motion submitted by Rwanda and Peru sets out a global reduction target, ambitiously termed a “north star”, to cut the production of primary plastic polymers across the world by 40% by 2040, from a 2025 baseline. It says: “The effectiveness of both supply and demand-side measures will be assessed, in whole or in part, on their success in reducing the production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.” The proposal calls for the consideration of mandatory reporting by countries of statistical data on production, imports and exports of primary plastic polymers. A global plastic reduction target would …

These 5 Very Simple Techniques Will Help You To Reduce Food Waste

These 5 Very Simple Techniques Will Help You To Reduce Food Waste

Published by skeptic

According to Waste Managed, the UK wastes approximately 9.5 million tonnes of food each year, with an estimated value of £14 billion. This can happen within our homes for a variety of reasons, from busy lifestyles to depression making preparing food impossible. In restaurants and fast food places, there are now apps like TooGoodToGo but clearly, the UK still has a long way to go in tackling food waste. However, while it may sound mammoth, there are small changes you can make to your routine that will prevent food waste and the guilt that comes with it. How to tackle food waste at home Use your leftover ingredients to create a new recipe It can be hard to put together a recipe from the leftover ingredients of your last meal but thankfully, websites like SuperCook do the hard work for you. Simply type in three ingredients you’d like to reuse and the website will generate a brand-new recipe for you. Use stale bread to make delicious new foods As long as the bread isn’t mouldy, …

How can we reduce global food insecurity? | Hunger

How can we reduce global food insecurity? | Hunger

Published by Sam

New report warns that 282 million people faced acute hunger last year. Hunger around the world has reached alarming levels, according to a new multi-agency report on global food insecurity. For the fifth year, acute food insecurity has increased, impacting hundreds of millions of people. The issue is posing a major challenge to the United Nations goal of ending hunger by 2030. Conflict – rather than climate change – is the biggest cause. Has enough been done to address the crisis? Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom Guests: Alex de Waal – Executive director of World Peace Foundation at Tufts University in the US Mamadou Goita – Member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, a Brussels-based think-tank Jemilah Mahmood – Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Malaysia Source link

Drinking milk could reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes

Drinking milk could reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes

Published by skeptic

Researchers have shed light on the connection between genetics, milk consumption, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. (CREDIT: Creative Commons) A recent study conducted by a team of medical researchers from various institutions in the United States and China has shed light on the connection between genetics, milk consumption, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Published in the journal Nature Metabolism, the study employed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to explore the relationship between milk intake and the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. A summary of key findings on the altered gut microbiota species, circulating metabolites, and metabolic traits associated with milk intake in lactase non-persistent individuals (LNP: LCT GG group). (CREDIT: Nature Metabolism (2024)) Previous research on the link between consuming cow’s milk and the risk of type 2 diabetes has yielded conflicting results, with some studies showing an association while others found little or no connection. Recognizing this disparity, the research team hypothesized that genetic factors might contribute to the variability in these findings. To investigate this hypothesis, …

Bass budget would reduce homelessness spending, cut vacant jobs

Bass budget would reduce homelessness spending, cut vacant jobs

Published by skeptic

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass proposed a $12.8 billion budget on Monday that would reduce spending on homelessness initiatives, scale back an effort to hire more police officers and eliminate more than 2,100 vacant positions. The mayor’s team said her proposed budget for 2024-25 would provide about $950 million to address homelessness, down from the nearly $1.3 billion approved for the current fiscal year. Her spending plan includes $185 million for Inside Safe, Bass’ signature program to move unhoused Angelenos into hotels, motels and permanent housing, down from the $250 million approved for this year. Bass has made reducing homelessness her top issue, declaring a state of emergency upon taking office in December 2022. Budget analysts attributed much of the decrease in homelessness spending to the coming end of Proposition HHH, a 10-year program to finance construction of thousands of apartments for homeless residents in L.A. Even though that money will soon run out, a number of affordable housing projects that received HHH funding will open during the upcoming budget year, they said. The mayor’s …