Current Events in July 2017

Teachers and school faculty work day in and day out to ensure that their students are successful, but one measure that some educators often fall short on in evaluations is their ability to develop young people’s emotional intelligence – their ability to identify and manage their own emotions and the emotions of others.

While some experts agree that fostering emotional intelligence should be a primary focus for educators, a report asserts that their ability to do so should not be factored into their performance records. The findings come from a systemic review of the issue by researchers from RTI International and the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY).

“Recent research has found benefits of social and emotional skills,” said lead author and senior research education analyst Elizabeth Glennie. “However, we need to learn more about the role of educators in building these skills.”

Can’t control for all factors

For the report, a series of focus groups comprised of three panels of NNSTOY teachers investigated how emotional intelligence could be nurtured and what role teachers could play in developing them. They concluded that while educators have the ability to help students grow socially and emotionally, they should not be evaluated on their ability to do so.

The groups argue that there are many factors that go into developing students’ social and emotional intelligence that are beyond any school’s control, and that teachers cannot possibly be expected to account for all these influences.

Further, the groups say that it isn’t yet clear which interventions have the greatest impact on forming students’ social and emotional intelligence, and that many supports need to be specifically tailored to meet student needs.

Supporting students

While the groups say that teachers shouldn’t be graded on developing social and emotional skills in their students, they do admit that it should be a primary focus for all educators since it is a crucial life skill. They recommend that schools provide teachers with the support and resources they need to learn how to allocate time for helping students and what steps they can take to be successful.

“Data about social emotional learning can help teachers support their students,” said Glennie. “However, such data should [be] used in a way that ensures that schools and teachers get the resources they need to do that.

The full report can be found here.

Visa would like for everyone to stop using cash and is putting its money where its mouth is. The credit card company is offering thousands of dollars to small merchants if they agree to stop taking cash.

It's not as outlandish as it sounds. Obviously, Visa comes out ahead if more people use credit cards, but many small businesspeople would be better off too. Most obviously, eliminating cash pretty much does away with the problem of hold-ups. It also stops employees from pilfering a few dollars here and there and reduces bookkeeping chores. (It makes life easier for the tax collector too, but maybe we'd better not mention that). 

So why haven't merchants already gone cashless? One problem is the expense. It requires upgraded point-of-sale and backroom equipment to go completely cash-free, which is why Visa is offering to pay $10,000 each to as many as 50 restaurants and food vendors.

The "journey to cashless," as Visa is calling it, wouldn't restrict all sales to credit and debit cards. "No-contact" payment forms like Apple Pay would also qualify for the program.

“At Visa, we believe you can be everywhere you want to be, and that it should be easy to pay and be paid in more ways than ever – whether it’s a phone, card, wearable or other device,” said Jack Forestell, Visa's head of global merchant solutions.

Visa says that if the experiment with the first 50 works out, it may extend the program. Merchants will be able to apply starting later this month.

You might remember the days when the operator would instruct you to deposit more coins if you wanted to continue your pay phone call. A New Mexico company, Dialing Service, has been instructed to deposit $2.88 million for calls it already made.

The problem is that the calls in question were robocalls and they were made to wireless phones without consumers' consent, thereby raising the hackles of the Federal Communications Commission.

In 2013, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau formally warned Dialing Services that it could be held liable for robocalls its customers were making in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The TCPA prohibits autodialed phone calls, robocalls, or texts to wireless phones in most instances unless the caller has the prior express consent of the called party. 

Following the citation, the Bureau investigated and determined that Dialing Services’ platform was still being used to make unlawful robocalls.  The fine reflects the Commission’s determination that Dialing Services was involved in making 180 unlawful robocalls after being warned to stop. 

The Commission has made clear that a third party, such as a platform provider, may be liable under the TCPA if the platform provider is so involved in the placement of a call that it essentially made the call. 

The Commission determined that Dialing Services played a significant role in the illegal robocalls, and thus should be held liable for violating the TCPA.  For example, Dialing Services’ platform automatically blocks the originating telephone number and enables caller ID spoofing. 

Back in 2014, Target decided to launch a pilot program in conjunction with a California-based start-up company called Curbside to – what else – provide curbside pick-up to its customers. The program ended up expanding to several markets, but in 2016 the company shut it down.

But in the wake of announcements by competitors Amazon and Walmart to expand curbside pick-up and fast-delivery options, Target has decided to try its hand at it again. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the company is trying out the service at a handful of stores in the Twin Cities, this time relying on its own app and website to do the job.

While the program is only currently available to Target employees, company officials say it’s possible that it will roll out to consumers sometime in the near future.

“We certainly see the potential in a broader rollout,” said Target spokesperson Eddie Baeb. “In the coming months, we hope to make it guest facing.”

Saving time and adding convenience

Target hopes that its previous foray into curbside pick-up will help make the current program a success. Baeb says that learning from its past experiences and taking complete ownership of the program should help.

“We saw and believe there’s a good opportunity in building our own end-to-end experience that is wholly dedicated to Target. In having Target run it, we’re getting to control and operate the entire experience,” he said.

Though technically only an extension of its own in-store pick-up service, Target says that curbside pick-up will help customers save time and offer added convenience to the shopping experience. The company says that only certain stock items will be available for curbside pick-up for now, which is a bit of a departure from Walmart’s program that focuses on groceries and fresh items.

However, the Tribune notes that the retailer is currently trying out a next-day home delivery service and a same-day delivery service that could provide service for a broader array of items.

You might have some idea of why we get sick, but what is it that makes our bodies shut down in the face of a pathogen or virus? Researchers from RMIT University in Australia believe they just might have the answer.

Senior authors Dr. Stavros Selemidis and Dr. Eunice To, along with colleagues from several other colleges and universities, have found what they believe to be a 1.5 billion-year-old biological process in plants, fungi, and mammals that might explain why viruses cause disease in humans.

They say that viruses cause a protein in our bodies, called Nox2 oxidase, to compromise our bodies’ ability to fight and clear infection. To counteract the problem, the researchers have customized a drug that neutralizes Nox2 oxidase to help the body fight more effectively.

“Current treatment strategies are limited as they specifically target circulating viruses and have either unknown or very little effect against new viruses that enter the human population,” explains Selemidis. “We have identified a protein of the immune system that contributes to the disease caused by flu viruses irrespective of their strain…We also developed a novel drug delivery system to target this protein, which drastically alleviated the burden of viral disease."

Trials show great potential

The findings of the study show that once Nox2 oxidase is activated by a virus, it sends out signals that suppress the body’s antiviral reaction, effectively hampering any biological defensive efforts. The drug that they developed to fight this process works by inhibiting Nox2 oxidase so it can’t send these signals.

Trials of the drug showed that it was very effective at suppressing disease caused by influenza infection, and the researchers say it could eventually provide an answer to treating some of the world’s most dangerous and invasive viruses.

“This work identifies a treatment strategy that has the potential to alleviate the symptoms caused by some of the most devastating viruses worldwide, including the flu,” said To. The researchers are currently working on furthering trials with other novel drugs to test their effectiveness.

The full study has been published in Nature Communications.

United Airlines has taken a beating lately as it tried to take back seats it had already assigned to paying passengers. So now the beleagured carrier has a new idea -- luring passengers out of their assigned seats before they even leave for the airport.

It's called the Flex-Schedule Program and it's intended to free up seats that are in hot demand, reducing the need for the involuntary bumping that has blackened United's eyes more than once lately.

Instead of dragging people off the airplane, United will be offering buyouts up to five days before the flight leaves, allowing it to resell your ticket at a higher price.

The program is being conducted in partnership with Volantio, a technology start-up in Atlanta that is offering its services to other carriers as well. Volantio calls the program "YieldBoost" and says it offers airlines the chance to "dynamically rebalance flights by reacquiring low-yielding inventory and reselling it at a higher price."

High-demand flights

As explained in a Bloomberg report, travelers on a flight that is in high demand may get an email inviting them to rebook at a different time and offering travel vouchers worth $250 and possibly other goodies as the program develops.

United says travelers will not be asked to change the date of their journey, only the time. 

The offers will only be made to consumers who book directly on United.com and agree to receive marketing messages.  

United says the program is not so much a solution for overbooking but rather is a chance to improve its profit margins by getting higher fares for in-demand seats that would otherwise be occupied by travelers paying a highly discounted fare.

Qantas and Alaska Air are also planning to adopt Volantio's program, Bloomberg said.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has reached a settlement with Avis Budget Car Rental System (ABCR) in a case involving toll fees.

The agreement resolves an investigation by Bondi’s Office regarding Avis, Budget and Payless’ practices involving add-on fees for cashless tolls and other related add-on charges.

In the settlement, the company denied that it has engaged in any deceptive or unfair trade practice. Specifically, it denied that its current and former practices are deceptive, unfair, or violate Florida law.

Bondi's office investigated complaints that the rental car companies did not adequately disclose to customers they would have to pay a daily fee for the companies' e-Toll service, that allows cars to pass through toll plazas without stopping to pay.

Bondi says the rental car companies assessed this charge for each day of the rental, whether the customer passed through a toll plaza or not. She said many customers were unaware of the charge and would often receive bills from the rental car companies four to six weeks after concluding the rental.

Full disclosure

Under the terms of the settlement, Avis, Budget and Payless have agreed to "clearly and conspicuously" disclose its $3.95 per day charge to consumers when they rent a vehicle.

Additionally, the companies agreed to clearly disclose on their websites and other consumer communications the existence of the $3.95 per day charge, and tell consumers how they can avoid it.

So far, Bondi says the companies have made about $1 million in refunds to consumers who rented vehicles in the past. The settlement also requires the companies to make refunds to consumers charged for e-Toll without sufficient disclosures.

The settlement also contains a provision requiring the companies to instruct employees to provide complete disclosure to customers about toll-paying options. The companies also agreed that employees will provide complete disclosure about damage waiver options and will not impose a damage waiver fee when a customer has declined the coverage.

Consumers who rented a vehicle from the companies in Florida between Jan. 1, 2010 through July 10, 2017, may be eligible for a refund. All claims must be filed by Jan. 7, 2018. Click here to file a claim.

The redesigned Mazda CX-5 is the latest vehicle to win the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) highest safety award -- TOP SAFETY PICK+.

The 2017 model, like its 2016 predecessor, has good ratings in all five of the Institute's crashworthiness tests: small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints.

The small SUV's standard front crash prevention earned an advanced rating, while an optional, higher-speed system was rated superior. Both avoided a collision in the 12 mph IIHS track test, and the optional system avoided a collision at 25 mph.

The CX-5's Grand Touring and Sport trim lines have headlights that earned an acceptable rating. The former trim includes high beam assist, a feature that automatically switches between high beams and low beams, depending on the presence of other vehicles.

To qualify for the 2017 TOP SAFETY PICK award, a vehicle must have good crashworthiness ratings across the board and an available front crash prevention rating that earns an advanced or superior rating.

The "plus" is awarded to vehicles that also have good or acceptable headlights.

Gymboree, the bankrupt children's clothing retailer, has announced it will close 350 stores following what it calls "a comprehensive evaluation of its retail footprint."

The review was called for under its court-supervised financial restructuring. Company officials say maintaining a smaller number of stores, in the most profitable locations, will enable the retailer to get back on its feet. Gymboree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June.

'Right-sizing the footprint'

“Right-sizing our store footprint is a central part of our efforts to ensure Gymboree emerges from this restructuring process as a stronger and more competitive organization, with greater financial flexibility to invest in our future," company CEO Daniel Griesemer said in a statement.

Griesemer said the company will continue to operate a majority of its stores, which carry the Gymboree, Janie and Jack, and Crazy 8 brands.

"This was a difficult decision to make, but we are confident that it is in the best long-term interest of our Company, our customers and our broader employee base," he said.

The 350 Gymboree and Crazy 8 stores to be closed are scattered around the country. The company said it has retained the services of Great American Group and Tiger Group to help manage the closing sales. Those sales are scheduled to begin July 18.

Two trends

Gymboree is a victim of two related trends. It has lost business to online, discount retailers but it has also suffered from a decline in shopping mall traffic. Most of its stores are located in malls.

Gymboree launched in 1986, during a time when the Baby Boom generation was in its peak child-rearing years. It offers coordinated children's clothing from newborn to size 10.

USA Today has assembled a list of the Gymboree stores targeted for closing. You can find it here.

Some people avoid it and some people can’t get through a morning without it, but a new study shows that drinking coffee helps consumers live longer and healthier lives.

Researchers from the University of Southern California’s (USC) Keck School of Medicine have found that those who drink just one cup of coffee per day lower their risk of death due to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory and kidney disease by 12%. Those who drink 2-3 cups per day reap even greater benefits, with an 18% reduced risk of death.

While the researchers admit that their study does not prove causation (i.e. that drinking coffee is the thing that reduces risk of death) they say that there is a definite association.

“If you like to drink coffee, drink up! If you’re not a coffee drinker, then you need to consider if you should start,” said lead author Veronica W. Setiawan.

Lower mortality rates

The researchers analyzed data on nearly 186,000 people across multiple ethnicities to come to their conclusions. Participants were asked to answer questionnaires about their diet, lifestyle, family and personal medical history, and their coffee drinking habits.

Respondents were asked to check one of nine boxes describing how much coffee they consumed, ranging from “never or hardly ever” to “4 or more cups daily.” They also denoted if the coffee they drank was caffeinated or decaffeinated.

Over a period of 16 years, with updates being recorded every five years, approximately 31% of the participants in the study passed away, but the researchers found that those who drank more coffee had lower mortality rates than their peers.

Americans drinking up

But what is it about coffee that leads to this longevity? The researchers found that whether or not the coffee was caffeinated didn’t really matter, but they theorize that other ingredients play an important role.

“Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play an important role in cancer prevention,” said Setiawan. “Although this study does not show causation or point to what chemicals in coffee may have this ‘elixir effect,’ it is clear that coffee can be incorporated into a healthy diet and lifestyle.”

Luckily, it may not take much to convince consumers to start drinking coffee. Data from the National Coffee Association shows that 62% of Americans regularly drink coffee, a 5% increase from last year’s numbers.

Two articles [1, 2] covering the ongoing cohort study have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. 

There's no end in sight to the ever-growing Takata airbag recall. Federal regulators today added 2.7 million more airbags to the recall list, based on recent testing that found problems in airbags installed in newer model cars made by Ford, Nissan, and Mazda.

More than 65 percent of the 46 million airbags previously recalled are still in service, as Takata, automakers, and dealers have struggled to manufacture enough replacements and get them in the hands of dealers so they can be installed in customers' vehicles. More than 100 million are expected to be recalled eventually. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said that it is working to replace the highest-risk airbags first and that the campaign is on track for eventual completion. 

"Could become mind-boggling"

But Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida), a frequent critic of Takata and NHTSA, said today's announcement further deflates his confidence in the process.

"Takata has told the public that their line of airbag inflators with moisture absorbent was safe. This recall now raises serious questions about the threat posed by all of Takata’s ammonium nitrate-based airbags," Nelson said in a statement. "If even more are found to be defective, it will take us from the biggest recall ever to something that could become mind-boggling." 

Nelson has been pressing NHTSA and Takata, which recently declared bankruptcy, to move faster. Heat and humidity are believed to make the defective airbag inflators more volatile and Nelson's state is more hot and humid than most.

At least 17 deaths worldwide, including 11 in the U.S., have been linked to the airbags, as have 180 injuries. 

The latest recalls will affect:

• 627,000 Nissan Versas from the 2007-2012 model years;
• 2.2 million Fords, models and years so far unknown; and 
• 6,000 B-series Mazda trucks.

Each automaker will issue official recalls once it has identified the vehicles equipped with the affected airbag inflators.

For the last century or so, "branding" has been the name of the game in marketing. Soup, peanut butter, and toothpaste were sold under such iconic name as Heinz, Jif, and Colgate. 

They may have been virtually identical to other brands, but each had its own "personality" as expressed in colorful packing and distinctive logos backed by hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advertising. 

Branding started to wobble back in the 1960s or so when supermarkets began featuring sections filled with "generic" and bulk products. That grew into private labels -- so-called "store brands" -- that usually undercut the national brands by a few pennies while benefiting from customers' loyalty to Kroger or Safeway.

The next development was Trader Joe's and similar stores that sold almost entirely store brands. If you go to Trader Joe's or Aldi, you don't find a row of 30 different kinds of peanut butter. You find Trader Joe's or Aldi's peanut butter, creamy or crunchy.

Everything's $3

In the latest creak of the evolutionary wheel, a new online retailer called Brandless is selling common household goods with no brand at all. Everything is priced at $3, an update on the 99-cent store model or maybe the Dollar Shave Club.

Besides the usual complement of products, Brandless groups stuff by such categories as Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, and Certified Organic, thus appealing to those who are not only thrifty but perhaps a bit particular.

“It’s an inefficient process,” Brandless co-founder Ido Leffler said of the traditional system of packaged-goods companies selling their products through brick-and-mortar retailers, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. “We are re-appropriating those dollars back to the consumers.”

The115 products that Brandless will be selling initially are generally a bit more expensive than their big-name rivals, according to the Journal's analysis, although many items are a few cents cheaper than big-name products boasting of "natural" or "healthful" properties. 

Marketing researchers say Millennials are less brand-loyal than earlier generations and may react well to the Brandless approach, though others noted that most American shoppers are price-conscious when it comes to the staples they buy regularly and are not eager to experiment, as many struggling grocery-delivery services will agree. 

Illinois and New Jersey have been in the news lately as they struggle to regain fiscal solvency. But they aren't alone. A number of states are struggling to stem the flow of red ink.

As a resident, it's something you need to know since taxes may be raised, services reduced, or a combination of the two. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has checked the books and put together a ranking of states that are flush and those that are not.

It turns out some states are doing very well with their finances while others face budget problems. When it comes to a lack of cash, New Jersey and Illinois are one and two. They're followed by Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Maryland.

On the other end of the scale, George Mason ranks Florida number one in fiscal health. It's followed by North Dakota and South Dakota, which are reaping the benefits of the shale revolution, then Utah and Wyoming. You can find where your state ranks here.

The rankings

The George Mason researchers ranked the states by consulting a state’s comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).

The things the researchers look for include a state’s ability to attract new businesses and how much it taxes both businesses and citizens. The researchers also look for state services and how well a state keeps its promises to public-sector employees. They also look for solvency in a number of areas, including cash, budget, services, and trust funds.

States with large populations tend to be ranked lower and states with small populations tend to be ranked higher, although there are exceptions in both groups. Kentucky has a relatively small population but finds itself among the five states with the worst finances. Florida is a large state but comes out on top in the rankings.

Fiscal discipline

The researchers say the top five states show fiscal discipline, helped by low debt and a strong cash position. The bottom five states all suffer from similar problems, mainly a lack of cash and rising debt. New York moved out of the bottom five year year, thanks to improvements in budget solvency.

Other large states to keep an eye on are Pennsylvania, at number 45 on the list; California, at 43; Connecticut at 36; and Michigan at 37.

"The lessons from this year’s study demonstrate that policymakers should take stock of both their short and long term fiscal health before making public policy decisions," the researchers conclude.

Consumers are increasingly being exposed to potential serious injury when they take the wrong medication, in the wrong combinations, and in the wrong amount.

Researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center studied 13 years worth of incident reports at poison control centers around the U.S.

They found serious medication errors per 100,000 residents surged 100% from 2000 to 2012. Rates increased for all age groups, with the exception of children younger than six years-old, a decrease likely attributable to a decline in the use of cough and cold medicines.

The study found that the areas where medication errors were most likely to occur were in the administering of cardiovascular drugs, analgesics, and hormones.

Not surprisingly, medical errors involving analgesics overwhelmingly involved acetaminophen and opioids. Cardiovascular and analgesic medications together accounted for the majority of all fatalities in the study.

“Drug manufacturers and pharmacists have a role to play when it comes to reducing medication errors,” said Henry Spiller, a co-author of the study.

Room for improvement

Spiller says there is room for improvement in product packaging and labeling. He says dosing instructions could be clearer, "especially for patients and caregivers with limited literacy or numeracy.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working to reduce the number of medication errors in the U.S. Its Division of Medication Error Prevention and Analysis reviews medication error reports sent to MedWatch, evaluates causality, and analyzes the data to come up with solutions.

It also reviews proprietary names, labeling, packaging, and product design prior to drug approval to help prevent medication errors.

The Center for Injury Research and Policy study found that overall, medication errors typically involved taking or giving the wrong medication or incorrect dosage, or accidentally taking the same medication twice.

Among children, dosing errors were common, as was inadvertently taking or giving somoneone else’s medication.

To reduce errors, the researchers suggest writing down dosing instructions, including when and how much medication should be taken. They also urge patients to ask questions of doctors and pharmacists and to always use child-resistant packaging for medication.

Numerous studies have confirmed that drinking while pregnant can lead to dangerous complications for an unborn child, but a new study shows that the harm doesn’t stop there.

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have found that women who drink during pregnancy not only negatively affect their own children, but their potential grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well.

“Traditionally, prenatal ethanol exposure (PrEE) from maternal consumption of alcohol, was thought to solely impact directly exposed offspring, the embryo or fetus in the womb,” explains lead researcher Kelly Huffman.

“However, we now have evidence that the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure could persist transgenerationally and negatively impact the next-generations of offspring who were never exposed to alcohol.”

Harm across generations

Previously, researchers working at UCR had found that PrEE negatively impacts the neocortex – the region of the brain responsible for cognition and complex behavior. These brain changes can lead to a variety of symptoms for infants who were exposed to alcohol in the womb, including abnormal motor behavior and increased anxiety.

In the latest study using mice, Huffman and her colleagues also found strong evidence that PrEE exposure also generates similar neurobiological and behavioral effects in subsequent generations.

“We found that body weight and brain size were significantly reduced in all generations of PrEE animals when compared to controls; all generations of PrEE mice showed increased anxiety-like, depressive-like behaviors and sensory-motor deficits,” Huffman said.

Huffman believes that the findings indicate that drinking alcohol while pregnant can lead to a domino effect of neurological changes that can be inherited transgenerationally. The researchers hope that they can eventually begin to create therapies for this problem by understanding how these processes work.

The full study has been published in Cerebral Cortex.