【推荐1】It is generally acknowledged that a time-out, a method of checking misbehavior by removing the child from his or her current situation for a few minutes of quiet time, is bad for children’s emotional and behavioral health. However, a new study suggests that despite always getting criticized, the common disciplinary (纪律的) strategy isn’t linked to harmful effects on children.

Researchers compared emotional and behavioral health between kids whose parents reported using time-outs and those who didn’t over a roughly eight-year period. The result: no difference. There was no association between reported use of time-outs and negative symptoms in later childhood, including anxiety, depression, internalizing or externalizing problems, aggression, rule-breaking behavior, or self-control, according to the findings in Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (儿科学).

“Parents are constantly questioning whether they are doing the right thing for their children. Unfortunately the first place many parents go for advice is the Internet — not a medical provider. There is a lot of conflicting information on the Web that isn’t accurate,” says lead author Rachel Knight, PhD, pediatric psychologist at University of Michigan C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital. “In fact, they may not be aware that time-out is one of the child discipline strategies currently recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics.”

Further studies are needed to continue evaluating specific claims made against time-outs and both their short-term and long-term effects across different populations and ages. Experts also need to find more effective ways to communicate evidence-based information to parents.

“As we further our understanding about how different parenting strategies affect children, we need to present findings in an easily digestible and accessible way for the public,” she also says, “Our goal is to clear up misconceptions and promote the use of the highly effective, evidence-based strategies that will best guide parents and families.”

【推荐2】Rising global meat consumption is likely to have a destructive environmental effect, increasing carbon emissions(排放)and reducing biodiversitiy (生物多样性), scientists have warned.

A new analysis suggests that meat consumption is set to climb sharply as the world population increases along with average individual incomes.

“What's happening is a big concern.” said Tim Key from the University of Oxford. “On a broad level you can say it is bad for the environment.”

The review,published in the journal Science, found that high levels of meat consumption also have negative health consequences, leading to an increased risk of cancer and other diseases.

The average amount of meat consumed per person globally has nearly doubled in the past 50 years, which means total meat production has been growing much faster than the rate of population growth, having increased four-or five-fold(五倍)since 1961.

There are recent indications that some countries,including the U.K.,may have reached "peak meat". The U.K's 2017 National Food Survey found meat consumption have fallen by 4.2% and that of meat products by nearly 7% since 2012. However, middle-income countries, particularly China and others in East Asia, are still seeing a rise. A recent review by the UN outlines how meat production-particularly livestock(家畜)-is linked to far higher carbon emissions than vegetables, fruit and grain.

Livestock farming is also a major contribution to biodiversity loss, as forests and wild land are given over to agricultural land to grow animal feed.

Processed meat has been ranked by the WHO alongside alcohol and tobacco as cancer causes. According to research of cancer, if no one ate processed or red meat in Britain, there would be 8,800 fewer cases of cancer a year.

【推荐1】Like so many other good things in life, sleep is best at a right length. A multi-year study of older adults found that both short and long sleepers experienced greater cognitive (认知的) decline than people who slept a proper amount, even when the effects of early Alzheimer's disease were taken into account.

“Our study suggests that there is a middle range, or ‘sweet spot’, for total sleep time where cognitive performance is stable over time. Short and long sleep time is associated with worse cognitive performance,” said first author Brendan Lucey, an associate professor of the Washington University Sleep Medicine Center. “An unanswered question is if we can intervene to improve sleep, would that have a positive effect on their cognitive performance so they no longer decline? We need more further data to answer this question.”

Lucey and colleagues turned to volunteers who participate in Alzheimer's studies through the university's Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center. Such volunteers experienced annual clinical and cognitive assessments, and provided a blood sample to be tested. For this study, each participant slept with a tiny EEG monitor attached to their heads for four to six nights to measure their brain activities during sleep.

The researchers found a U-shaped relationship between sleep and cognitive decline. Overall, cognitive scores declined for the groups that slept less than 4.5 or more than 6.5 hours per night while scores stayed stable for those in the middle of the range.

The U-shaped relationship held true for measures of specific sleep phases, including rapid-eye movement (REM), or dreaming sleep and non-REM sleep. Moreover, the same is true even after adjusting for factors that can affect both sleep and cognition, such as age, sex, levels of Alzheimer's proteins. “It was particularly interesting to see that not only those with short amounts of sleep but also those with long amounts of sleep had more cognitive decline,” said Professor Beau M. Ances.

“Each person's sleep needs are unique, and people who wake up feeling rested on short or long sleep schedules should not feel forced to change their habits,” said co-senior author David Holtzman, MD. “But those who are not sleeping well should be aware that sleep problems often can be treated.”

【推荐2】Gardeners are often puzzled by the sudden appearance of an unusual orchid(兰花) or sometimes are disappointed that their annuals have vanished. Scientists have discovered that some British flowers can lie dormant (休眠的) under the ground for up to 20 years, coming out to bloom only when the conditions are just right. Orchids seem particularly good at being dormant for years at a time, the scientists discovered.

Michael Hutchings, Professor of Ecology at the University of Suss, said: “Being underground means they cannot receive sunshine, neither flower nor reproduce. And yet this study has shown that many plants in a large number of species frequently go through dormancy (休眠). Many of these species have found ways to overcome the loss of sunshine during dormancy, especially by gradually developing their ability to get what they need from soil. This allows them to survive and even grow well during dormant periods.”

The research found that dormancy occurs when the weather is poor, or there is a new threat from animals or competing plants. Sometimes winters are so mild that the plant does not realize that spring has begun. Dormancy in seeds has been widely known about and studied for years, but the dormancy in adult plants is far less well-known and understood.

The study, led by Professor Richard Shefferson in University of Tokyo, is the first detailed analysis of the causes. Dormancy appears to be more common near the equator (赤道), where threats from factors such as disease, competition, animals and fire are more severe. Co-author Dr. Eric Menges said:“ In those areas, it is most suitable for plants to remain dormant and then to grow when favourable conditions exist for growth and flowering. ”