Playing natural sounds such as flowing water in offices could boosts worker moods and improve cognitive abilities in addition to providing speech privacy, according to a new study.

An increasing number of modern open-plan offices employ sound masking systems that raise the background sound of a room so that speech is rendered unintelligible beyond a certain distance and distractions are less annoying. Sound masking systems are custom designed for each office space by consultants and are typically installed as speaker arrays discretely tucked away in the ceiling. For the past 40 years, the standard masking signal employed is random, steady-state electronic noise -- also known as "white noise."

Enrollment of the first patients into STEADFAST (Single Trial Evaluating Alzheimer's Disease Following Addition to Symptomatic Therapy), vTv's Phase 3 placebo controlled trial of azeliragon, an oral antagonist of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts (RAGE) for treatment of mild Alzheimer's disease has begun. Phase 3 begins following a Phase 2 trial that demonstrated positive results in slowing cognitive decline with 5 mg/day of azeliragon in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease.

Phase 2b clinical trial results that demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in IBS-C symptoms for tenapanor-treated patients compared to patients receiving placebo.

As previously reported, at the 50 mg dose of tenapanor, the study met its primary efficacy endpoint of an increase in the complete spontaneous bowel movement (CSBM) responder rate. Most secondary endpoints, including abdominal pain and other abdominal and IBS-C symptoms, demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements.

Tenapanor was well-tolerated, and the safety results were consistent with those observed in previous tenapanor trials.

Children born since the 1980s are two to three times more likely than older generations to be overweight or obese by the age of 10, according to new research published in PLOS Medicine. The study, conducted by researchers from CLOSER, a consortium of UK longitudinal studies, characterized population shifts in body mass index (BMI) using data from more than 56,000 people born in Britain from 1946 to 2001.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise and they pose a global threat to public health. Common antibiotics are often ineffective in treating infectious diseases because pathogens acquire resistance genes. These antimicrobial resistance genes are obtained in different ways.

There are different explanations for how resistances are transferred and a now study found phages -
viruses that exclusively infect bacteria
- in chicken meat that are able to transfer antimicrobial resistance to bacteria.  Phages do not directly pose a risk to humans because they can only infect bacteria. No other cells or organisms can be infected.

A new survey finds that 87 percent of Americans look at the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged foods and beverages and 56 percent actively seek out nutritional information and guidelines.

67 percent favor groceries with fewer and simpler ingredients, while roughly the same percentage take nutritional content statements, ingredient-free statements, and statements about health benefits into consideration when buying packaged foods and beverages.

As is well known, food consumers who are buying for those reasons are vocal on social media, focus groups, consumer surveys, and even petitions. They say they want more transparency from the food and beverage industry and shunning artificial ingredients.