Dartmouth researchers writing in the journal Pediatrics have documented what they say are alarming numbers of young adolescents (age 10-14) who are exposed to graphic violence in movies rated R for violence. They found that these extremely violent movies were seen by an average of 12.5 percent of an estimated 22 million children age 10-14. One example, the R-rated "Scary Movie", was seen by an estimated 10 million children, or about 48 percent of 10-14 year olds.

Some scientific studies have established a connection between exposure to media violence and aggression and violence in children, including video games which some studies have said can lead to changes in attitudes and behavior as well as desensitization to actual violence.

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that approximately one in ten U.S. children uses one or more cough and cold medications during a given week. These findings appear in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Pediatric cough and cold medications are widely marketed in the U.S. but surprisingly little is known about just how often they are used in children. This information is especially important in light of recent revelations that cough and cold medications are responsible for serious adverse events and even deaths among children.

PASADENA, California, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Premium SMS Company powers earliest, most accurate national lottery results

NearU Search (http://www.nearusearch.com) has inked a deal with Ann Arbor, MI based lottery results provider LotteryUSA (http://www.lotteryusa.com) to offer the most recent draw information to members via text message. The LottoWatch premium subscription will be available in June across all 50 states.

"This is the promise of mobile convenience. The Internet is great when you have time. But time is so scarce. People are looking for ways to make information come to them. That's where we come in," said Heather Mlodinow, NearU Search CEO. "Lottery USA users will be able to sign up for winning number text alerts on the LotteryUSA site."

Growing interest in publicly funded programs for young children has drawn attention to whether and how Head Start and other early childhood programs should be asked to prove their worth.

Congress asked the National Research Council for guidance on how to identify important outcomes for children from birth to age 5 and how best to assess them in preschools, child care, and other early childhood programs.

The Research Council's new report concludes that well-planned assessments can inform teaching and efforts to improve programs and can contribute to better outcomes for children, but poor assessments or misuse of the results can harm both children and programs. The report offers principles to guide the design, implementation, and use of assessments in early childhood settings.

Shark researchers from the University of New South Wales, Newcastle University, NSW Department of Primary Industries Fisheries (Australia) and University of California (USA) reveal unprecedented information about the feeding habits of the great white shark by analysing anatomical and biomechanical data from their skull and muscle tissues.

They generated 3-Dimensional models the skull of a 2.4-metre male great white shark on the basis of multiple x-ray images generated by a computerized tomography (CT) scanner.

Using novel imaging and finite element analysis (FEA), the team reconstructed the great white's skull, jaws and muscles, remodelling them as hundreds of thousands of tiny discrete, but connected parts.

COLD-fX, a patented extract of North American ginseng, discovered by a team of 25 University of Alberta scientists, is Canada's top selling cold and flu remedy for adults. It has been approved by Health Canada for use by adults and the FDA has cleared its sale as a new dietary ingredient (NDI) for adults in the U. S.

Positive findings of a safety study involving children and COLD-fX show promise for its future development for kids as a Canadian cold and flu remedy. The results appear in the August, 2008 issue of Pediatrics.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled Canadian trial which was conducted in collaboration with the University of Alberta in Canada was designed to measure the safety and tolerability of COLD-fX for treatment of cold and flu in children.

It's a Catch-22 of the highest order. People with alcohol problems often use alcohol to get to sleep -- but it actually keeps them from getting good-quality sleep all night long.

At the same time, they're highly likely to suffer from full-blown chronic insomnia that keeps them from getting enough sleep night after night – and that condition has been shown to cut their chances of getting sober again.

Meanwhile, their doctors aren't likely to prescribe them insomnia medications, because most sleeping pills can be habit-forming or have adverse effects due to an alcohol-damaged liver.

LONDON, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Brightcove's New Subsidiary in Japan Adds General Manager, Announces First Customer, and Closes $4.9 Million Financing; gorin.jp to Publish Beijing Olympic Video With Brightcove

Brightcove Inc., the leading global Internet video platform, today announced that it has appointed technology industry leader and entrepreneur Hisashige Hashimoto as general manager of Brightcove KK, Brightcove's Japan-based subsidiary. It was also announced that Web TV distribution giant, PRESENTCAST, has selected the Brightcove Internet video platform for gorin.jp, the exclusive online video portal in Japan for coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. gorin.jp is backed by all of Japan's commercial television broadcasters.

TOKYO, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Industry's first 500,000-write performance and 50-year data retention at 125 degrees C

Seiko Instruments (SII) announced availability of the S-25A series of SPI Serial EEPROMs, specifically designed for use in the highly demanding automotive market. The ground-breaking S-25A EEPROMs set industry performance records by achieving 500,000 writes at 125 degrees C, and up to 50-year data retention.

The economy has clearly become the primary subject today in America. It has become so not only because of all the issues discussed in the prior column, but also because it has also become the number one issue for voters in this significant election year.

In the “Forecast for 2008” column on January 9^th of this year I wrote: