Random links
- In ‘Obesity Paradox,’ Thinner May Mean Sicker
- "Diabetes patients of normal weight are twice as likely to die as those who are overweight or obese. That finding makes diabetes the latest example of a medical phenomenon that mystifies scientists. They call it the obesity paradox." A Canadian example: "In 2007, a study of 11,000 Canadians over more than a decade found that those who were overweight had the lowest chance of dying from any cause." The article seems to suggest fitness is a more important factor than something like BMI.
- Cost of repatriating Luka Magnotta on a military plane: $375,000
- Apparently the airlines wouldn't let him onboard even with a police escort. I'm still a little surprise that they couldn't charter a smaller business-jet at lower cost - the jet they sent over had a max capacity of 240 passengers in 2-class configuration as an airliner and actually used to belong to Canadian Airlines. What does it cost to operate a plane like that? "The flights, from an Alberta military base to Germany and back to Canada, spanned 23.9 hours at an estimated rate of $15,505 per hour — for a total cost of $370,570. The rate is an estimate that includes maintenance, hangar fees, crew salaries and fuel, which makes up $6,420 of the hourly cost, according to the Department of National Defence." I'm not sure how much an airline might save due to the efficiencies of having a larger number of aircraft.
- Lessons From Zurich's Parking Revolution
- "Since the late 1980s, Zurich has developed an alternative that's worth studying because it breaks all the rules of conventional transportation planning, and yet has been vitally important to the success of that city. ... The essence of Zurich's historic compromise of 1996 was that parking in the core of the city would be capped at the 1990 level, and that any new parking to be built would, on a one-to-one basis, replace the surface parking that blighted most squares in the city at the time. Today, almost all these squares are free of parking and have been converted to tranquil or convivial places for people to enjoy." This after the city in 1989 brought in a maximum ratio of parking per unit area restriction.
- Number of children associated with obesity in middle-aged women and men: results from the health and retirement study.
- "Among women, a 7% increase in risk of obesity was noted for each additional child, adjusting for age, race, household income, work status, physical activity, tobacco use, and alcohol use. Among men, a 4% increase in risk of obesity was noted for each additional child, adjusting for the same covariates."