illness

Can social-media activity be used as a tool in psychological diagnosis? The jury's still out, but a study from researchers at the University of Missouri found a link between social anhedonia and a decrease in Facebook activity, which suggests that therapists can use patients' Facebook profiles to better understand their mental illnesses.

The study, "Social networking profile correlates of schizotypy," looked at the Facebook profiles and activities of 211 college students who were scored on their social anhedonia, perceptual aberration, and magical ideation, extraversion, and paranoia tendencies. Social anhedonia is the diminished experience of positive emotion for … Read more

Pneumonia, which claims the lives of more than 1.2 million children under the age of 5 every year, is the leading cause of death in children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. And in certain regions, such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, pneumonia alone accounts for 85 percent of pediatric deaths.

So it comes as little surprise that Microsoft, through its Imagine Cup Grants program, has awarded its second-place prize of $75,000 to a team out of Australia that is developing a tool to diagnose the infection quickly and affordably. (The first-place prize went to a … Read more

After a several month hiatus, Google's CEO Larry Page made his first public appearance today at his company's annual Zeitgeist conference in Arizona, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Page spoke to an audience of hundreds of people about the company's recent affairs, such as its battle with Apple over maps, its dealings with antitrust regulators, and Google's specialized services.

Last June, the 39-year-old Page was noticeably absent from Google's annual shareholders' meeting, he also didn't attend Google I/O or the second-quarter earnings call in July. At the time, Chairman Eric Schmidt said … Read more

Google co-founder Larry Page is recovering from an unspecified illness that sidelined him for several weeks and caused him to lose his voice, but he has returned to the office, Chairman Eric Schmidt said today, according to a report.

Page, who has missed several public company events in the past couple of weeks, has been taking meetings today at the Web giant's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, Schmidt told reporters at the annual Allen & Co conference in Sun Valley, according to a Reuters account.

"He's still recovering. Larry is doing much better. He was in the office … Read more

Michael Moritz, the Welsh-born American who helped turn Sequoia Capital into one of tech's juggernaut venture capital companies, is "stepping back" from day-to-day operations because of a medical condition.

Moritz will become Sequoia's chairman and will continue to take on new companies, Andrew Kovacs, a Sequoia spokesman told CNET today. Moritz said in an e-mail he sent early in the day to friends and colleagues that he feels "fitter than ever."

But Moritz, 57, also said in the note that he has been diagnosed with a rare medical condition that he described as "… Read more

You know what they say about parenting: It's the hardest job you'll ever love. Of course, you might love it a little more if it weren't so flippin' hard all the time. So let's hear it for all the iPhone apps designed to make parents' lives a little easier.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such apps in the Store, but I've rounded up five that I consider essential--starting with one that can make injuries and illnesses a little less scary (for you, anyway):

1. Kid Care Your toddler is running a fever of 103. Should you call your pediatrician? Head for the hospital? Wait it out? Kid Care offers medical advice for dozens of common symptoms--everything from bee stings to headaches to wheezing. Based on proven clinical protocols, the app provides symptom definitions and images, care advice, medicine dosage information, and helpful reading material such as "Fever--Myth Vs. Facts." There's also a handy dial-your-doctor button and a location-aware emergency-services finder. My only wish is that I'd had this incredible app at my fingertips when my kids were younger. Amazingly, it's free.

2. Tales2Go A new favorite in our house--make that our car--Tales2Go streams on-demand audiobooks for kids. The collection now exceeds 1,000 titles, including such well-known series as "American Girl," "The Boxcar Children," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and "Junie B. Jones." The app is free, as is a 30-day trial of the service. After that, you pay $24.99 for a year of unlimited listening. As someone who's spent that much on a single audiobook CD, I consider that the bargain of the century.… Read more

Sun Microsystems has bragged for 13 years now that Java security features keep the programming technology virus-free. Apparently, the same doesn't hold for the JavaOne trade show.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health put out a release Thursday with an alert that "several" people had become ill after attending or working at conferences at the city's Moscone Convention Center between April 30 and Thursday. That includes the time when the JavaOne confab took over the space. JavaOne opened its doors on Sunday and ends Friday.

The culprit specified in the alert was the norovirus.

To … Read more