According to the Centers for Disease Control, temperatures inside a parked car can rise almost 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes, even with a window cracked open. In just 20 minutes, with an outside temperature of balmy 80 degrees, the heat in your car can rise to a sweltering 118 degrees, making your steering wheel, seat belts and gear shift too hot to handle.
If you've been burned by a hot car one too many times, Jeff Rossen, NBC News National Investigative Correspondent and host of Rossen Reports, saves the day with simple techniques to keep your hands (and the rest of your body) safer and cooler.
DO THIS WHEN YOU'RE READY TO PARK
Find a shady spot. This one's a no-brainer: The more shade, the lower the temperature in the car. You can also use a sunshade inside the front window to block the direct sun. You can find these at auto parts stores, big box stores and many gas stations.
Re-position the steering wheel. Take the wheel and turn it 180 degrees. It won't be exposed to the sun and will be easier to handle when you get back into the car.
Cover the gearshift. Take a drink cooler — yes, the kind that you'd use on a beer can or bottle — and put it over the gearshift. It won't be exposed to the sun and it won't burn your hand when you try to shift into drive.
Cover the seats. Keep a few towels in the trunk and use them to cover seats, infant and child car seats and belt buckles to keep them cooler and to avoid burns.
DO THIS WHEN YOU'RE READY TO DRIVE OFF
Stash a spray bottle of water in the car. Yep, it's going to be warm, but it doesn't matter. Simply spritz the water on the hot dashboard, console, steering wheel, belt buckles, etc. to make those hot surfaces cooler.
Open the windows and blast the AC. Leave the windows open for a few minutes, even after you drive off, to force out the hot air.
Get into the habit of using these simple strategies and you'll be back on the road faster (and pain-free!) all summer long.
As a working professional, your personal wellness is in your best interest — for reasons beyond the obvious. Healthy employees are happier, more motivated and less costly (due to decreased health insurance costs and less absenteeism — in fact, workplace illnesses and injuries cost US businesses more than $225 billion every year).
Many businesses opt to institute a formal employee wellness program to bring those costs down and improve worker health, but if your employer doesn’t have the time, money, or interest in creating a program, you might have to take some measures on your own to improve employee wellness in the office.
Thankfully, there are some easy ways you can improve your own wellness (and the wellness of others), even without a program in place.
6 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MAKE YOUR WORKPLACE BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH (AND EVERYONE ELSE'S)
These are some of the most important steps you can take, whether you’re an employee or a supervisor:
Use free information widely available on the Web. Collate and print out informational booklets to distribute to your coworkers. These could include tips on how to eat healthier and live a more active lifestyle, such as describing the nutritional value of different food groups and recommending specific workout plans. You could also include information on healthcare costs, and the value of preventative strategies. Or, you could post a healthy tip of the day on shared bulletin board to inspire your co-workers to eat better, get up and stretch or make time for the gym.
Focus on improving posture. Bad posture is an easy habit to slip into, but over time, it can lead to the development of chronic back pain and other issues. Giving yourself regular reminders to correct your posture, or forcing yourself to correct it with orthopedic furniture or standing desks, can dramatically improve your health and feelings of wellness and may inspire your co-workers to do the same.
Make it easier to join a gym. If you have a local gym where all or most of your coworkers can easily travel, consider negotiating a group rate. Most gyms will be more than willing to cut the monthly cost of a membership if, say, you have 30 people ready to join immediately. If your company is willing to invest some extra money here, you can subsidize portions of your employees’ memberships. Having a gym membership isn’t a guarantee that you and your coworkers will exercise more frequently, but it’s a good start.
Start bike or walk days. Biking to work is highly beneficial for a number of reasons, allowing for exercise, better perspectives on the city, reduced carbon emissions, reduced fuel costs, and sometimes even cutting the time it takes to get to work (depending on where you live). However, some people won’t be willing to bike (or walk) to work unless there’s an extra push to get started. For you and your team, that could mean leading the charge on “bike days” where you encourage everyone to bike to work on a specific day of the week, or collecting like-minded people together to commute in carpool-style bike packs.
Stretch and exercise midday. Every so often, get up from your desk, stretch and walk around to get some exercise. If you encourage other people to do this, maybe once an hour, you’ll collectively become more active and avoid the health consequences of simply sitting all day. If you know a yoga practitioner in your office, ask them to lead a quick session of "desk yoga." You don’t need to be in particularly good shape to do this, nor do you need much time. All you need is a bit of collective awareness.
Provide healthier options in the break room. How often do you see donuts, cake or other pastries in the breakroom? It’s hard to avoid these sweet indulgences when they’re right in front of you. Putting a spin on your corporate culture and changing the types of food you bring in could help people make healthier decisions throughout the day. For example, buying a vegetable tray for the group, rather than a box of cupcakes, may not be met with the same enthusiasm, but it will serve a similar purpose and help people stay on the right track with their health and fitness regimens. Keep some healthy snacks stocked so people aren’t tempted to hit up the vending machines or get fast food.
Days before Kenya holds a high-stakes general election, its capital city has become a ghost town as residents head to their ancestral rural areas to vote or to avoid any potential violence. The city’s traditionally clogged streets are quiet. Grocery store aisles sit empty, their stocks cleared out by families stocking up in case instability renders them homebound.
Some foreigners have left the country for a while—the United States has issued travel warnings for Kenya for the election period and other countries have cautioned their citizens to take extra care during the election.
“It is only prudent to get out,” says Asad Hussein, a Somali refugee who was born in Kenya and studies at a local private university in Nairobi. He is going back to stay with his family in the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya.
The Aug. 8 polls, the country’s most expensive presidential election in history, comes a decade after disputed results of an election in 2007 pitched the country into chaos. At least 1,100 people were killed and about 600,000 displaced, plunging the East African economic powerhouse into uncertainty. The country’s last election in 2013 was peaceful, but locals and observers worry this time won’t be the same.
Local media and officials are not as focused as they were in 2013 on promoting peace. Observers also say that public confidence in Kenya’s electoral commission and the judiciary, which would mediate any dispute, are both low. Most significantly, the race is close. As recently as May, incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta was expected to win a second, five-year term handily. Now different polls show him and his rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga, closing in on each other with the possibility of a run-off.
Swing counties in Kenya’s 2017 presidential election. (Maplecroft Risk)
Almost every step of this campaign season has been fraught. Protests have been volatile and even fatal. On July 31, just eight days before polling starts, Chris Msando, the senior electoral official in charge of managing the IT systems of the voting technology, was found dead in Kikuyu town outside of Nairobi with one of his arms cut off. A man armed with a machete also attacked the home of deputy president William Ruto. Fake news has also become a mainstay of the election, with Facebook and WhatsApp driving the spread of attack ads, propaganda stories, and misinformation.
“The potential for a contested outcome to the presidential election in 2017 resulting in inter-communal conflict or violent street protests remains high,” says Murithi Mutiga, senior Horn of Africa analyst for International Crisis Group.
It’s not just the presidential election that is cause for concern. On Tuesday, Kenya’s 19.6 million registered voters (pdf) will also vote for the over 14,000 aspirants vying for legislative, gubernatorial, and regional county representatives. Kenya adopted a new constitution in 2010, devolving more power to governors and county assemblies, making those elections as hotly contested as the presidential race.
Passengers gather to use public bus transport as they travel to the countryside ahead of next week’s general election in Nairobi, Kenya August 3, 2017. (Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)
Tough times
President Kenyatta is pinning his re-election hopes on promising to create 1.3 million jobs yearly, rolling out free secondary school education from January 2018, providing free medical care to anyone aged over 70 years, expanding the country’s infrastructure, and enhancing agricultural production.
Despite some successes, his administration has been stained by industrial strikes and widespread corruption. Equally, his government went on a borrowing spree to ramp-up electricity production, build ports, roads, bridges and the new Chinese-built railway from Mombasa to Nairobi. The massive investment in infrastructure has supported an economic growth of over 5% since 2013, but the benefits haven’t trickled down to the ordinary folk.
“The man on the street has found themselves worse off rather than better off. This is a conundrum the incumbent party is rowing against,” says Aly Khan Satchu, a Nairobi-based financial analyst.
Odinga, on the other hand, is promising to fight endemic graft, ensure a food secure nation, uphold the rule of law and press freedom, provide universal healthcare, eradicate poverty, and rein in growing public debtcurrently at over $41 billion (53% of GDP). In June 2013, the country’s gross public debt stood at $18.9 billion.
Supporters of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta cheer during a Jubilee Party campaign rally at Uhuru park in Nairobi, Kenya.(Reuters/Baz Ratner)
In recent months, the country has faced a drought that pushed up food prices and further escalating criticisms against the government. Like elsewhere in Africa, high levels of youth unemployment amid a growing population is a ticking time-bomb in Kenya. Kenyatta’s administration, for instance, promised to create one million jobs annually since 2013, but this hasn’t been the case. This hallmark pledge of job creation got millions of young people streaming into polling stations in March 2013 to vote. But, as it turns out, thousands of employees have lost their jobsat multiple companies, citing a difficult operating environment.
At major bus stations in Nairobi, Quartz spotted throngs of people boarding buses heading to western Kenya. Many of the travelers could not be deterred by the fact that fares had doubled on the routes they were traveling as long as they reached their rural homes safely. Flora Sindoli, a micro-business owner, says she was traveling to her hometown of Vihiga county in western Kenya because that was where she felt safe.
“In case the election is contested or is not free and fair, it could turn out like 2007 and I don’t want to be caught off guard,” she said.
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga delivers a speech during an election rally in Suswa, Kenya.(Reuters/Baz Ratner)
Uncertain outcome
Despite what happens, the government says it has marshaled 180,000 personnel from various security agencies to man the elections and to forestall any related violence. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission has also said it is monitoring hate speech on social media outlets. Kenyan crowd-mapping start-up Ushahidi, which started in the aftermath of the 2007 election, has opened a platform for trackingincidents of violence or electoral violations.
But a seamless enforcement of law and order might be easier said than done. On Thursday (Aug. 3), Odinga told Reuters that the only way the ruling party can win the election was by rigging the results. And it’s rhetoric like Odinga’s that is making many people brace for an uncertain outcome.
“It’s like preparing for the big unknown: you just don’t know what is going to happen,” says Henk Hoff, an information management coordinator with an international NGO in Nairobi. Hoff says that he has planned to be out of the country during the time the results will be announced. “We all hope for peaceful elections.”
With the expectation that one in four young African students—or 66 million—will be enrolled in a private school by 2021, the potential for investment and impact in the sector has “rarely been greater,” a new report declares.
The report, from the investment and advisory firm Caerus Capital, notes that the huge demographic shift in the continent, rapid urbanization, the increased use of technology, and the emergence of a middle class has amplified the role of private education throughout the continent. African governments should formulate policy frameworks and public-private partnerships that would expand access to and improve quality at these institutions, the firm suggests.
Across Africa, the researchers found, 21% of children and young people currently in school are enrolled in a private educational entity. These include for-profit, charitable, non-governmental, faith-based, and community-managed institutions, providing services including primary and secondary education; technical and vocational training; and supplementary after-school or language tutoring.
Private enrollment grew faster than public enrollment between 2005 and 2013, at every level other than the pre-primary (kindergarten) level. Still, it’s worth noting that the vast majority of young African students—158 million—are in public education, with only an estimated 41 million in private education.
In a time of rapid population growth, tight fiscal budgets, and widespread corruption, African governments continue to have a hard time expanding free public education or hiring more qualified teachers.
Low-cost private schools have dramatically grown across the continent to fill this gap. Middle-class parents with better financial resources have turned to private schools to give their children better educations, with more innovative and developed programs.
Despite gains in school enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa, 30 million primary school-age children still have no access to any sort of formal education, and Africa has the unenviable distinction of being the continent with the world’s largest out-of-school population. The situation is so dismal that African nations are expected to achieve universal primary education more than a century after high-income nations. Under current educational models, half of all primary school children will reach adolescence without the basic skills they need to lead productive lives. And while public spending on education has increased over the last decade, the public sector still lacks sufficient capital or capacity to fill the rising demand for educational opportunity.
Private schools have been controversial in Africa. In Kenya, privately-owned schools in slums have been accused of deepening the country’s inequality. In Uganda, the Mark Zuckerberg- and Bill Gates-funded Bridge International Academies were closed by authorities after they were accused of a lack of proper licensing, using unsanitary spaces for instruction, and “teaching pornography” as part of a sex education program. In Liberia, the Partnerships for Schools program was criticized for privatizing public education—even as the government defended the program as a bold move to transform educational systems.
But with improved policy regulations, the right financing, and public-private partnerships, the continent can develop a hybrid educational infrastructure that could educate its youngsters, Caerus Capital argues. The firm estimates that $16 to $18 billion in investment is required to grow the private education sector over the next five years. These investments could come from both commercial and strategic investors, and from donor nations who are already investing in the region.
It may be possible to stop the progression of Parkinson's disease with a drug normally used in type 2 diabetes, a clinical trial suggests.
Current drugs help manage the symptoms, but do not prevent brain cells dying.
The trial on 62 patients, published in the Lancet, hints the medicine halted the progression of the disease.
The University College London (UCL) team is "excited", but it urges caution as any long-term benefit is uncertain and the drug needs more testing.
"There's absolutely no doubt the most important unmet need in Parkinson's is a drug to slow down disease progression, it's unarguable," Prof Tom Foltynie, one of the researchers, told the BBC.
In Parkinson's, the brain is progressively damaged and the cells that produce the hormone dopamine are lost.
It leads to a tremor, difficulty moving and eventually memory problems.
Therapies help manage symptoms by boosting dopamine levels, but the death of the brain continues and the disease gets worse.
No drug stops that happening.
'First'
In the trial, half of patients were given the diabetes drug exenatide and the rest were given a placebo (dummy treatment). All the patients stayed on their usual medication.
As expected, those on just their usual medication declined over 48 weeks of treatment. But those given exenatide were stable.
And three months after the experimental treatment stopped, those who had been taking exenatide were still better off.
Prof Foltynie told the BBC News website: "This is the first clinical trial in actual patients with Parkinson's where there has been anything like this size of effect.
"It gives us confidence exenatide is not just masking symptoms, it's doing something to the underlying disease.
"We have to be excited and encouraged, but also cautious as we need to replicate these findings."
They also need to trial the drug for much longer periods of time.
An effective drug would need to hold back the disease for years in order to make a significant difference to patients.
Parkinson's progresses slowly and the difference in this 60-week trial was definitely there, but was "trivial" in terms of the impact on day-to-day life, say the researchers.
The drug helps control blood sugar levels in diabetes by acting on a hormone sensor called GLP-1.
Those sensors are found in brain cells too. It is thought the drug makes those cells work more efficiently or helps them to survive.
It is why the drug is being tested in other neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's.
David Dexter, the deputy director of research at Parkinson's UK, said: "The findings offer hope that drugs like exenatide can slow the course of Parkinson's - something no current treatment can do.
"Because Parkinson's can progress quite gradually, this study was probably too small and short to tell us whether exenatide can halt the progression of the condition, but it's certainly encouraging and warrants further investigation."
Dr Brian Fiske, from the The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, said: "The results from the exenatide studies justify continued testing, but clinicians and patients are urged not to add exenatide to their regimens until more is known about their safety and impact on Parkinson's."
