Current Events in May 2019

Apple announced Tuesday that it has improved the design of the “butterfly” keyboards on its MacBook Pro laptops, which have been a major source of consumer issues in recent years.

MacBook users have reported that the keys on the computers are prone to sticking and becoming unresponsive. Apple finally acknowledged the problem at the end of March, following the publication of a Wall Street Journal article which let readers choose whether to view the story with or without e’s and/or r’s in order to see the impact of a keyboard that isn’t working properly.

“We are aware that a small number of users are having issues with their third generation butterfly keyboard and for that we are sorry,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the “vast majority” of users are experiencing no problems with the keyboard.

Last month, Apple announced that it would repair faulty keyboards in-store and advised employees to aim for next-day turnaround.

Using new materials

Now, Apple says it has taken steps to correct the issue once and for all. The tech giant says it has started using “new materials” in the keyboards’ switch mechanism that should fix the problem. The changes have been implemented on the new MacBook Pro 15-inch and the recently announced MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar.

In addition to updating its problematic keyboards, Apple announced that it has expanded its keyboard repair program to cover third-generation keyboards.

This isn’t the first time Apple has revised the design of its butterfly keyboards. In 2018, the company updated the keyboards to include a new part inside each key designed to keep dust and other particles out.

Since the keyboards were introduced in 2015, over 35,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking for Apple to recall the flawed keyboards.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has signed a contract for a two-week pilot with self-driving truck company TuSimple.

Throughout the course of the pilot, TuSimple’s autonomous trucks will haul USPS trailers to and from the postal service’s Phoenix and Dallas distribution centers a total of five times. During the initial trial, a safety engineer will be present in each truck and will have the ability to take control of the truck if necessary.

The postal service believes there are several key benefits to using self-driving vehicles to deliver mail. If this month’s pilot is deemed to be a success, the USPS says autonomous mail delivery could reduce fuel costs, improve service, and boost efficiency within the company.

“We are conducting research and testing as part of our efforts to operate a future class of vehicles which will incorporate new technology to accommodate a diverse mail mix, enhance safety, improve service, reduce emissions, and produce operational savings,” said Postal Service spokeswoman Kim Frum.

Driverless deliveries

The USPS isn’t the only mail delivery service that is exploring the feasibility of driverless deliveries.

In January, Amazon unveiled Scout, a self-driving package delivery robot. The following month, FedEx announced the development of a similar last-mile delivery robot called the “FedEx SameDay Bot.”

"It is exciting to think that before many people will ride in a robo-taxi, their mail and packages may be carried in a self-driving truck,” Dr. Xiaodi Hou, president of TuSimple, said in a statement. “Performing for the USPS on this pilot in this particular commercial corridor gives us specific use cases to help us validate our system, and expedite the technological development and commercialization progress."

Dressbarn is the latest retail victim, announcing that it is closing all 650 of its women’s apparel stores.

Ascena Retail Group, which owns the chain, referred to the move as a “wind-down” of the brand’s retail operations with no firm date for the stores to close their doors. Steven Taylor, chief financial officer at Dressbarn, said the decision to close up shop was “difficult but necessary,” since the chain has not achieved the required level of profitability.

“During the wind down process, we will continue to provide our customers with the same great experience both in-store and online, offering them even better deals and value,” Taylor said. “We will work to assist our associates through the transition and maintain existing relationships with our vendors, suppliers, and other key stakeholders through this process.”

Ascena Retail Group also owns the Lane Bryant, Ann Taylor, and Loft brands, which are not affected by the move.

Dressbarn was far ahead of a trend when it opened its first store in 1962, offering affordable  clothing for women to wear to work. Women were entering the workforce in greater numbers at the time, but the surge in women in the workplace was still a decade away.

Accelerating trend

The demise of Dressbarn appears to be part of an accelerating trend in retail. Already this year, more than 6,000 U.S. store locations have closed their doors or announced closings. That’s more than the number of closings for all of 2018, a year that saw dozens of Sears stores close.

In February, Payless revealed plans to close all 2,300 of its stores in North America and file for bankruptcy. It joined Toys “R” Us, Sears, Gymboree, Things Remembered, and other once-popular retailers that have all been forced to close their doors as a result of declining sales and changing consumer preferences.

With the trend showing no sign of stopping, some retailers have changed their business plan in an attempt to stimulate growth. For example, Sears -- purchased earlier this year by its former CEO Eddie Lampert -- will operate smaller brick and mortar locations while beefing up its e-commerce channel.

More closings predicted

Last month, analysts at UBS predicted that as many as 75,000 U.S. retail stores would close over the next seven years, mainly because more sales are moving to established online retailers and small niche newcomers who can survive on a small slice of the pie.

The UBS analysts acknowledge that brick and mortar retailers upped their game last year, but they said the pace of productivity will be hard to sustain throughout 2019.

“This will likely lead to an acceleration in physical store closures in the upcoming year,” the analysts wrote.

Many consumers, regardless of age, are striving to lead healthy lifestyles, but a new study might have older consumers putting a pin in their weight loss plans.

According to the study, older consumers who experience a fluctuation in weight -- either gaining or losing -- could increase their risk of developing dementia.

“Both weight gain and weight loss may be significant risk factors associated with dementia,” the researchers wrote. “This study revealed that severe weight gain, uncontrolled diabetes, smoking and less physical activity in late-life had a detrimental effect on dementia development.”

Staying healthy later in life

To see how weight loss or weight gain affected consumers’ likelihood of developing dementia, the researchers had over 67,000 participants from the National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort record their body mass index (BMI) from 2002-2003 and again from 2004-2005.

Following the second two years of BMI monitoring, the researchers then evaluated the participants from 2008 through 2013 to gauge their risk of developing dementia. By the end of the study, approximately 12,000 participants were diagnosed with dementia, and the researchers saw a correlation between weight fluctuations and their diagnoses.

While having a high or low BMI at the onset of the study was not an indicator of a later dementia diagnosis, the researchers did find that participants whose BMI increased or decreased by 10 percent during a two-year period were more likely to later develop dementia.

During the BMI monitoring period, the researchers also took note of any cardiometabolic risk factors -- such as fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure, diabetes, or congestive heart failure -- and found that fasting blood sugar was another risk factor of a later dementia diagnosis. Participants who followed typically unhealthy lifestyles, such as excessive drinking, a lack of physical activity, and smoking, were also more likely to later develop dementia.

Based on these findings, consistency is key for consumers to help decrease their risk of developing dementia. While rapid weight loss or weight gain can be detrimental, putting in a daily effort to live a healthy lifestyle can be beneficial down the road.

“Our results suggest that continuous weight control, disease management, and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle are beneficial in the prevention of dementia, even in later life,” the researchers wrote.

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling 410,351 model year 2015-2017 Ram 1500, 2500 & 3500 pickup trucks equipped with an 8 foot truck bed and a power locking tailgate.

In addition, all model year 2018 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks built before April 1, 2018, equipped with a power locking tailgate are being recalled.

The tailgate actuator limiter tab may fracture and cause the tailgate to unlatch and open while the vehicle is being driven.

If the tailgate opens while the vehicle is being driven, cargo may fall out the vehicle and create a road hazard, increasing the risk of crash.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will repair the tailgate latch, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin June 28, 2019.

Owners may contact FCA US customer service at (800) 853-1403. FCA US's number for this recall is V44.

Vienna Beef of Chicago, Ill., is recalling approximately 2,030 pounds of beef frank links.

The products may be contaminated with extraneous materials -- specifically metal.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products

The following items, produced on May 2, 2019, are being recalled:

• 10-lb. cases containing “SKINLESS BEEF FRANKFURTERS 6” 8’s 10#” with case code 013180 and package code 9122 represented on the label.
• 10-lb. cases containing “SKINLESS BEEF FRANKFURTERS 6” 11’s 10#” with case code 013312 and package code 9122 or 9123 represented on the label.
• 10-lb. cases containing “SKINLESS BEEF FRANKFURTERS 7” 9’s 10#” with case code 013490 and package code 9122 or 9123 represented on the label.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST. 1” inside the USDA mark of inspection. Were were shipped to food service locations in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

What to do

Food service institutions that purchased the recalled should not consume them, but discard or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Tom McGlade at (773) 435-2204.

BMW of North America is recalling 106,182 model year 2016-2019 X1 sDrive28i and X1 xDrive28i vehicles.

In the event of a crash where the occupants head contacts the B-pillar, the pillar may not absorb an adequate amount of the impact. I

Insufficient impact absorption can increase the risk of injury.

What to do

The remedy for this recall is still under development.

The recall is expected to begin July 2, 2019.

Owners may contact BMW customer service at (800) 525-7417.

Only a couple of months ago, ConsumerAffairs wrote that big changes were on the way in the online travel business. Now, that next proverbial shoe has officially dropped.

Google has finished putting all the major pieces of its one-stop travel shopping together. The company calls the offering Google Travel, and it has the system in place for consumers to try out.

Why now? For one thing, there’s billions that pass through online travel aggregators like Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, and others. For the consumer, sifting through the jumble of departure times, dates, and airports trying to angle the best airfare is making travel plans one big fat mess.

Google picked up on the traveler’s angst and decided to make everything as simple and straightforward as possible. While the tech giant had individual travel components in place with Google Flights and Google Hotels, Google Travel covers both.

Goodbye to endless note-taking

In ConsumerAffairs glimpse at Google Travel, we were impressed by how well things were consolidated. One thing, in particular, was the site’s transparency of any additional fees the traveler would be paying. On other travel sites, it could take click after click after click to see what the final price would be.

“As you plan a trip, your research and reservations will be organized for you in Trips,” Google wrote in a post about the new service. “As we continue to evolve Google Trips, we’re making this information more accessible at Google Travel, and in Google Search and Google Maps. We’re also adding a few new features to make planning and organizing your trips easier.”

As part of that organization enhancement, consumers will have the ability to make edits directly to their trips timeline, and (in the coming weeks) manually add new reservations, as well. Another new feature is weather updates for any upcoming or potential trips, so travelers can plan accordingly come rain or shine.

Travel watchers also like what they see

Pundits in the travel industry are expressing positive views about Google Travel thus far.

“Why go to Expedia.com to make your travel plans, for example, when travelers can do it all in the Google search engine, along with everything else they use Google for all day long,” Skift’s Dennis Schaal asked.

And, yes, a meticulous review of Google Travel will turn up missing pieces like car rentals and cruises. Schall says Google’s not being hasty, rather taking things one day at a time.

“Google Travel is, of course, very much a work in progress. But that’s the Google way — test, learn, iterate, solve big consumer problems, expand it around the world, and then monetize the heck out of it,” Schaal said.

Is Google out to kill off its competition?

Does Google have designs on being the omnipotent travel agency? Well, that’s hard to say. Google does have access to an enviable pool of user data that gives it a decided leg up.

For one, Expedia saw this coming. At the company’s Explore ’18 conference, Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom noted that while Expedia spends billions of dollars marketing through Google every year, he considers Google a great partner. Still, Okerstrom said, “we have to be very watchful about what they are doing.”

To make things as much of a win-win as possible, Google Travel also includes sponsored links to Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Bookings.com, and other sites where travelers can also make purchases. However, Schaal says that courtesy comes with a hefty caveat.

“Yes, Google is letting its travel advertising partners, from airlines to hotels and online travel agencies, keep doing most of the booking, but it is a challenge to them, as well,” he noted.

Over the last two decades, inflation -- at least the official inflation rate -- has remained tame, and it even went down during the Great Recession.

But it hasn’t been so tame for Americans living on Social Security. A new report by The Senior Citizens League found that Social Security benefits lost 33 percent of their purchasing power since 2000.

“One would think that a higher cost-of-living adjustment in 2019, combined with relatively low inflation, would lead to an improvement of buying power in Social Security benefits,” said Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for the League.  “But any improvement was offset by spiking costs of essentials, including out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs.”

In other words, the cost of the things seniors buy most hasn’t remained low, even though the official inflation rate has been below 2 percent for most of the last two decades. In fact, the low official inflation rate likely hurt retirees since cost-of-living (COLA) increases are based on the inflation rate. Beneficiaries received a 2.8 percent annual COLA for 2019, the largest during the study period.

Essentials increased twice as fast

In its analysis of retirees’ benefits and expenses, the study found that the Social Security COLA increased by 50 percent over the 19-year period, but the cost of things the typical retiree pays for rose more than twice as fast. Prescription drugs are at the top of the list, followed by other medical costs and food.

The study found that the 2.8 percent COLA that beneficiaries started receiving in January raised the average Social Security benefit of $1,400 by about $39 per month. At the same time, more than 78 percent of survey participants told researchers that their monthly spending rose by more than that in 2018.  

“When costs climb more rapidly than benefits, retirees must spend down retirement savings more quickly than expected, and those without savings or other retirement income are either going into debt or going without,” Johnson said.

No savings

Independent research has shown that a growing number of seniors are living mostly on Social Security because they have no retirement savings or investments. Even if they carefully manage their money, the editors at Motley Fool report they could be one big medical bill away from financial disaster.

“Seniors account for 34 percent of all healthcare spending, and a 2012 analysis estimated senior spending on healthcare at nearly $19,000 per person,” the editors write. “The government pays for around 65 percent of medical expenses for the elderly, and seniors are left to pay for Medigap or Medicare Advantage policies to cover additional costs.”

Even retirees with money in the bank may not have enough. Earlier this year, Merrill Lynch reported that most Americans under-save for retirement by about 20 percent.

U.S. trade relations with China may be off the rails, but America is moving toward approval of new agreements with its North American trading partners, Canada and Mexico.

The progress was made possible by the U.S. decision to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum from both nations. The tariffs had been a major sticking point toward approval of a major rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), passed in the early 1990s.

Over the weekend, Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada will move quickly to ratify the new North American trade pact. The tariffs had been in place for a little over a year, imposing a 25 percent duty on steel and raising aluminum prices by 10 percent.

President Trump placed the tariffs on imported metals in March 2018, citing a national security provision of a Cold War-era trade law. Trump said the move was aimed at ensuring the survival of the U.S. metals industries, saying they are a vital part of national security.

Canada and Mexico drop tariffs

While Canadian and Mexico metals producers will be able to export their products to the U.S. without having to pay a tariff, U.S. producers will have tariff-free access to Canadian and Mexican markets. When the U.S. imposed its tariffs, both countries slapped tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum. On Friday, Trump called it a win for U.S. producers.

“We’ll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs,” the president said.

Getting the new trade agreement approved by all three countries may not be as easy as removing the tariffs. Freeland said she hoped the Canadian parliament would support the deal but she didn’t say when lawmakers might take it up. It could get mired in election-year politics, as Canada votes in October.

Washington politics

Politics could also make the approval process interesting in Washington. Democrats now control the House of Representatives, which must approve the new trade agreement. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said Democrats have concerns about several side issues, including labor and the environment.

“The steel and aluminum tariffs that the President is lifting for Canada and Mexico did little to address the global steel and aluminum overcapacity problem,” Neal said. “In fact, based on developments of the past week, we seem farther than we have ever been from constructively addressing longstanding, serious trade problems with China, including the massive overcapacity that China has built up in steel and aluminum production.”

Neal charges placing tariffs on Canada and Mexico needlessly complicated the North American trade negotiations.

Whole Foods has announced that it will stop offering plastic straws at all of its locations in the U.S., as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The Amazon-owned retailer joins a growing list of restaurants that have begun phasing out plastic straws, but Whole Foods says it’s the first grocery chain to make the move.

Plastic straws will be removed from the company’s juice and coffee bars and cafes. In their place, consumers will be offered paper straws starting in July. Whole Foods says it will still provide plastic straws to customers with disabilities who request one.

Reducing plastic use

In addition to eliminating plastic straws, the grocery chain has reduced the size of its plastic produce bags and will begin placing rotisserie chicken in bags instead of plastic containers. The bags that will take the place of the containers contain 70 percent less plastic.

Whole Foods says it expects its new environmentally friendly initiatives will save an estimated 800,000 pounds of plastic per year.

“For almost 40 years, caring for the environment has been central to our mission and how we operate,” Whole Foods president A.C. Gallo said in a statement. “We recognize that single-use plastics are a concern for many of our customers, team members and suppliers. ... We will continue to look for additional opportunities to further reduce plastic across our stores.”

Eliminating unnecessary plastic

The retailer joins other establishments who have set out to curb their impact on the environment by reducing plastic offerings. Starbucks recently announced that it would be rolling out new cold cup lids that do not require a straw. The coffee chain said it’s aiming to eliminate single-use plastic straws at all of its locations worldwide by next year.

Disney Parks announced last year that it plans to stop offering single-use plastic straws and stirrers on its grounds, and McDonald’s has said it plans to start phasing out straws at some of its restaurants.

Last October, hundreds of organizations pledged to eliminate plastic waste from their operations by 2025 under a global initiative led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Researchers have calculated that if current trends continue, there could be more plastic than fish in the world’s seas by 2050.

​Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai announced Monday that his agency intends to formally recommend the approval of the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint on the basis that it will expedite the deployment of 5G in the U.S.

“Two of the FCC’s top priorities are closing the digital divide in rural America and advancing United States leadership in 5G, the next generation of wireless connectivity. The commitments made today by T-Mobile and Sprint would substantially advance each of these critical objectives,” Pai said in a statement.

Pai said the combined telecom company would help the agency fulfill its mission of shrinking the digital divide and bringing faster mobile broadband to consumers in rural areas.

If their union is approved, T-Mobile and Sprint have promised to deploy a 5G network that would cover 97 percent of the nation’s population within three years of the merger’s finalization, and 99 percent within six years. Additionally, 85 percent of rural Americans would be covered within three years and 90 percent covered within six years.

Pai said the two companies would suffer “serious consequences” if they fail to uphold their FCC commitments.

“These consequences, which could include total payments to the U.S. Treasury of billions of dollars, create a powerful incentive for the companies to meet their commitments on time,” he said.

The $26.5 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is still awaiting approval by the FCC and the Justice Department. In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that the two providers had been told by Justice Department officials that the merger wasn’t likely to be approved as currently structured.  

Facing opposition

Sprint and T-Mobile have argued that joining forces will lead to better 5G service, the creation of U.S. jobs, and the ability the better compete with larger rivals. However, lawmakers and labor groups have contended that the merger could lead to price increases and job losses.

“T-Mobile and Sprint have led the way in offering wireless products and service options that are more appealing to lower-income consumers, including no contract plans, prepaid and no credit check plans, and unlimited, text, voice, and data plans,” eight Democratic senators said in a statement last year.

Back in August, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) formally opposed the merger. The group argued that over 28,000 jobs would be lost if the companies are combined.

Hawaii historically has had the highest gasoline prices in the nation. In addition to high state taxes, there’s the costly issue of transporting the fuel across an ocean.

But earlier this year, California took that dubious honor from the 50th state and has extended its lead over the remaining 49 states when it comes to what motorists have to pay to fill up. The average price of regular gasoline in California is $4.04 a gallon while the national average is $2.85, according to AAA.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has launched an investigation to learn why the disparity is so large and whether any price manipulation has taken place. The agency launched a five-month study of gasoline prices within the state.

California gas prices started 2019 at an average of $3.34 a gallon, while the national average was $2.25. The national average has risen 60 cents since then, while California consumers are paying an average of 70 cents a gallon more.

Problems at refineries

The price increase has coincided with the temporary shutdown of the Valero refinery in Benicia, California, which supplies a significant portion of the state. The shutdown was ordered because of a release of petroleum coke particles, which are a byproduct of the oil-refining process.

At the same time, the Phillips 66 refinery in Southern California limited its operations due to maintenance issues. With the bottleneck in supplies to gas stations, the price at the pump surged.

In a memo to the governor, the CEC acknowledged that refinery issues were a factor, but it said possible market manipulation should also be explored. Consumer Watchdog said it has issued a series of reports over the last four years that show oil companies withhold gasoline and inflate prices at their branded stations to pump up prices.

"The Commission is finally looking at the way the five oil refiners that control 90 percent of the gasoline in this state withhold gasoline when refineries go down and also artificially inflate retail prices at their branded stations," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.

Role of state taxes and regulations

But in a posting on Twitter, Patrick DeHaan, petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said he believes the California government isn’t helping motorists with the investigation of prices.

“A leading recipe for rising prices is rising state gas taxes, special blends of gas, & carbon tax,” DeHaan said in the tweet. “Makes it all the more challenging to resupply if a refiner goes down.”

In late 2017, California motorists began paying an extra 12 cents a gallon for gasoline as an increase in the state gasoline tax went into effect.

But Court says large refiners have charged independent gas stations 20 to 30 cents less for the same gasoline, which she said shows they could also sell it for less.

Boeing, which recently admitted that faulty data from simulator software was a factor in the two deadly 737 MAX crashes that occurred just five months apart, has announced that it’s made corrections to the software.

"Boeing has made corrections to the 737 MAX simulator software and has provided additional information to device operators to ensure that the simulator experience is representative across different flight conditions," Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement on Saturday.

All Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have been grounded since March. Boeing said in April that it was pushing its timeline for the submission of the software patch to “ensure we take the time to get it right.”

Awaiting regulator approval

Now, Boeing says it has made changes to the software to ensure that the simulator experience adequately prepares pilots for a range of flight conditions. Moreover, the changes “will improve the simulation of force loads on the manual trim wheel," which helps airline operators manually control the plane's angle in rare instances.

“Boeing is working closely with the device manufacturers and regulators on these changes and improvements, and to ensure that customer training is not disrupted,” Johndroe said.

In addition to having developed a software update for its 737 MAX jets, Boeing said it’s also submitting a plan on pilot training to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Updated 737 MAX jets must still receive approval from regulators before they can return to service. Acting FAA administrator Daniel Elwell said that will happen "only when the FAA's analysis of the factual and technical data indicates it is safe to do so."

“We’re committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right," Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. "We’re making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 Max with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly."

Consumers spend a great deal of their time at work, and having a hostile work environment can be detrimental to both mental and physical health.

According to a new study, employees who experience the brunt of workplace bullying not only feel the effects in their physical health, but it can also negatively impact their self-esteem and own behavior in the workplace.

“Overall, our results show the need to consider not only exposure to and types of bullying, but also their associated consequences,” said researcher Dr. Roberta Fida. “In particular, the findings highlight that victimization is associated not only with health problems, but also with a greater likelihood of not behaving in line with the expected social and organizational norms.”

Understanding bullying

To see how bullying affected employees’ work performance and their overall well-being, the researchers had over 1,000 participants report on their experience with workplace bullying.

The participants shared if they dealt with workplace bullying versus personal bullying. They also reported on any negative behaviors that arose as a result of the bullying, how their health was affected, and how they were able to cope with the bullying, if at all.

Based on the responses, the researchers were able to divide the participants into five different groups:

• Frequently exposed to workplace bullying (4.4 percent)

• Occasional workplace and personal bullying (9.6 percent)

• Limited exposure to workplace bullying and no personal bullying (22.3 percent)

• No exposure to bullying, but with health-related symptoms (23.9 percent)

• No exposure to bullying, with no health-related symptoms (39.9 percent)

Participants in the first group were targeted for both work-related matters and personal issues, and they were found to act out at work and also feel the physical ramifications of bullying. The second group experienced less personal bullying, and they also exhibited better behavior with their coworkers and better physical health.

While each subsequent group showed less physical symptoms because of bullying -- with the exception of the fourth group -- many of the participants struggled with coping skills and dealing with negative emotions.

“The greater the intensity of the bullying and the more exposure to the different types of bullying, the higher the likelihood of engaging in counterproductive workplace behaviour,” said Dr. Frida. “Furthermore, the results show that health-related symptoms are not always associated with experiences of bullying. Indeed, while those experiencing limited work-related bullying did not report health problems, those who were not bullied but misbehaved did.”

Overall, the researchers proved that workplace bullying affects employees in a myriad of ways, and is not something that should be taken lightly by employers. Moving forward, they hope more workplaces take these findings into consideration to provide the best work environments for their workers.

Staying positive at work

In an effort to create more supportive, encouraging workplaces, researchers have explored how different initiatives can affect employees’ morale and satisfaction at work.

For example, a recent study found that expressing gratitude at work can leave employees’ with positive health benefits, while workplaces with health and wellness programs are not only beneficial for physical health, but give consumers an outlet to take their minds off the mental stressors of work.

“Most American adults work, and many spend half or more of their waking hours at work,” said Laura Linnan. “Where we work, how long we work, the conditions of our work, who we work with -- all of these factors impact our health.”

Staying active is crucial to overall physical health, and now researchers have found that it could also be imperative from those suffering with liver disease.

According to a recent study, walking regularly or engaging in muscle strengthening exercises could help those with liver disease reduce their risk of death.

“The benefit of exercise is not a new concept, but the impact of exercise on mortality from cirrhosis and from liver cancer has not yet been explored on this scale,” said Dr. Tracey Simon. “Our findings show that both walking and strength training contribute to substantial reductions in risk of cirrhosis-related death, which is significant because we know very little about modifiable risks.”

Multiple health benefits

To see how mild exercise could affect liver disease sufferers, the researchers tracked 117,000 participants’ health records and physical activity over the course of 26 years.

Using the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the researchers were able to get over 68,000 women and over 48,000 men to participate, all of whom did not have liver disease at the onset.

The study began in 1986, at which point all of the participants documented how frequently and how intensely they exercised. They repeated this process every two years through the end of the study in 2012.

Following up every two years allowed the researchers to see if an exercise regimen was affecting participants’ risk of cirrhosis-related death. By the study’s end in 2012, the participants who were walking the most on a regular basis were nearly 75 percent less likely to die from liver disease, and those that also engaged in strength training were at an even lower risk.

The researchers were encouraged by these findings, as they note that as obesity rates continue to rise, cases of liver disease are also on the rise, and having evidence that exercise -- even light exercise -- can improve health outcomes can be beneficial to consumers.

“In the U.S., mortality due to cirrhosis is increasing dramatically, with rates expected to triple by the year 2030,” said Dr. Simon. “In the face of this alarming trend, information on modifiable risk factors that might prevent liver disease is needed. Our findings support further research to define the optimal type and intensity of physical activity to prevent adverse outcomes in patients at risk of cirrhosis.”

Power in walking

Dr. Simon noted in the study that exercise provides countless health benefits to consumers, and recent studies have found that not only can exercise lead to longer life, but it can affect more than just our physical health.

More specifically, walking, which can be an easy activity for consumers to incorporate into their daily routines, has been found to boost health in countless ways. Researchers have found that cancer patients who walk for just 30 minutes each day can improve their quality of life, while another study revealed that walking improves our overall health by increasing the blood supply to the brain.

"New data now strongly suggest that brain blood flow is very dynamic and depends directly on cyclic aortic pressures that interact with retrograde pressure pulses from foot impacts,” the researchers said. “There is a continuum of hemodynamic effects on human brain blood flow within pedaling, walking and running. Speculatively, these activities may optimize brain perfusion, function, and an overall sense of well-being during exercise.”

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling 198,731 model year 2017-2019 Pacificas equipped with engine stop/start systems.

A loose battery ground connection may result in an intermittent loss of power steering assist and/or a stall.

A loss of power steering assist or a stall can increase the risk of crash.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the battery ground surfaces, clean the contact surfaces as needed, and properly reassemble the ground connection free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin June 28, 2019.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at (800) 853-1403. FCA US' number for this recall is V53.