Prospective study of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) as a diagnostic biomarker for identifying alcohol use disorder (AUD) among participants at risk for steatotic liver disease – https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2026-339702
Cool.
Improve Your Child’s Academic Performance!
Phone ban impact on student academic achievement
The top estimate is the estimated average treatment effect of the phone ban on student academic achievement across the full population. The next estimates contain heterogeneous treatment effects for subgroups split by prior average academic achievement (above or below preexperiment median), years of study, and field of study.
Source: Alp Sungu et al.,Phones impede learning: Evidence from a massive phone-free classroom experiment.Science394,178-181(2026).DOI:10.1126/science.aef7249 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aef7249
I’m Taking Your Phone Away (and you didn’t do anything wrong)
Wait…I need to check my phone.
Scary Charts – 10.06.26
The delinquency rate of office mortgages that have been securitized into commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) re-spiked in recent months and in September hit 12.2%, the second highest ever, behind only January 2026 (12.3%), and 1.5 percentage point above the worst moments of the Financial Crisis, according to data by Trepp, which tracks and analyzes CMBS.
Source: Office CMBS Delinquency Rate Re-Spikes to 12.2%, Far Worse than Financial Crisis Peak. End of Extend-and-Pretend Looms https://wolfstreet.com/2026/10/05/office-cmbs-delinquency-rate-re-spikes-to-12-2-far-worse-than-financial-crisis-peak-as-end-of-extend-and-pretend-looms/
I was thinking about how bad the US economy really is behind the curtain.
I can’t believe the number of hockey stick charts I continue to find.
Improve Your Child’s Mental Health and Academic Performance!
Results This study included 5515 adolescent participants (2640 [47.9%] female; mean [SD] age 11.93 [0.65] years) using step counters. Higher step count was associated with lower total mental health problems (B [SE], −0.080 [0.015]; t = −5.497; P < .001) and greater cortical thickness in the paracentral (B [SE], 0.057 [0.016]; t = 3.621; P < .001) and rostral anterior cingulate (B[SE], 0.052 [0.016]; t = 3.319; P = .001) regions. Further analyses showed a significant dose-response association, with progressively lower mental health problems across higher step categories compared with the under 5000-step group. Mediation analyses revealed that greater paracentral thickness statistically mediated the association between higher daily step count and fewer mental health problems 1 year later.
Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, higher daily step counts were associated with structural differences in the brains of adolescents, which were in turn associated with better mental outcomes prospectively. Beneficial associations for mental health appeared to accrue continuously across the observed range, with no evidence of a threshold or plateau, highlighting that every step counts and the potential value of promoting daily steps in adolescents. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2854698
Li Q, Paluch A, Rakesh D. Physical Activity and Adolescent Brain Structure, Mental Health, and Academic Outcomes. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(10):e2636973. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.36973
Greater cortical thickness too!
WOOHOO.
Scary Charts – 09.25.26
De La Paz has $96 deducted from her paycheck every month for her employee lodging, which covers her bed in a dorm room she shares with up to two roommates, as well as Wi-Fi and utilities. Dorm living comes with a communal bathroom, laundry facilities, common areas and social events.
Source: She pays $96 a month to live in Yellowstone National Park: ‘Being here has changed my life’ – https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/19/living-in-yellowstone-for-96-dollars-a-month.html
I was thinking about how to stretch our finances in retirement.
This creative young woman sews for a living.
My extremely significant other has a sewing machine…
Scary Charts – 09.24.26
It’s as simple as this: as long-term interest rates continue moving higher, virtually every important piece of financial math gets worse, all at the same time.
The discount rate used to value stocks rises, which makes future earnings worth less today. Mortgages get more expensive. Corporate borrowing gets more expensive. Private equity deals and private credit…much of which is already FUBAR but not showing it yet…become harder to finance. Leveraged companies have to refinance debt at higher rates. Consumers pay more to borrow and the federal government pays more to service its enormous pile of debt.
Yikes.
Stuck in Oklahoma
Cost of living continues to be one of the most powerful forces shaping where Americans choose to move. In 2025, the relationship between affordability and migration was especially clear: states that offered lower everyday expenses consistently attracted more new residents on a per-capita basis. Oklahoma, Mississippi, and West Virginia rank as the three least expensive states to live in, and all three landed within the top 15 states for net migration per 10,000 residents. Their performance reinforces the idea that when housing, utilities, and daily necessities remain accessible, people are far more willing to relocate. The 2026 HireAHelper Moving Migration Report – https://www.hireahelper.com/moving-statistics/migration-report/2026/
Best Big Cities to Live in the U.S. in 2026-2027 – https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/best-large-cities
Midwest City Known as ‘Niceville USA’ Leads the Nation in Homebuilding and Affordability – https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/homebuilding-affordability-des-moines-iowa-2026-report-card/
I’m stuck here.
Scary Pictures – 09.12.26
Source:
The consumer price index rose 3.4% last month compared with a year ago, the Labor Department said Friday, the same as in July. But on a monthly basis, inflation quickened, as costs jumped 0.4% from July to August, up from an increase of just 0.1% the previous month. U.S. inflation accelerated last month as gas prices spiked, squeezing Americans’ finances – https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/u-s-inflation-accelerated-last-month-as-gas-prices-spiked-squeezing-americans-finances
Yikes.
I Hope My Perivascular Fat Attenuation Index (FAI) Score is Low
New research continues to affirm the prognostic utility of the coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-derived perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) score in assessing cardiovascular risks for patients without common risk factors such as smoking history, obesity, hypertension and diabetes. What CCTA-Based AI Detection of Coronary Inflammation May Reveal About Patients with No Traditional CV Risk Factors – https://www.diagnosticimaging.com/view/ccta-based-ai-detection-coronary-inflammation-patients-with-no-traditional-cv-risk-factors
Image Source: The Coronary Artery Inflammation Controversy – https://erictopol.substack.com/p/the-coronary-artery-inflammation
Dr. Topel has an extensive analysis of this new diagnostic tool.
But I’m pretty sure the $49.00 heart scan at https://www.okheart.com/services/heartview-ct-heart-scan/ won’t tell me my FAI score.
Scary Charts – 09.04.26
Source: It’s Mostly the Hospital Prices, Stupid
https://rickriley.substack.com/p/its-mostly-the-hospital-prices-stupid
Yikes.
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