iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Mini-movies of growing embryos could help boost the success of in vitro fertilization, a new study found. But the number of women who could benefit from the time-lapse technology is unclear.

For the study, British researchers used time-lapse photography to track the earliest stage of embryonic development – a process that unfolds in womb-mimicking incubators for couples using IVF. The researchers then used an algorithm to spot the embryos most likely to grow into babies.

"Embryo selection based predominantly on specific time-lapse derived algorithms could rapidly become routine in IVF treatment," the study authors wrote in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online, describing how the healthiest-looking embryos had a 72.7 percent chance of leading to a pregnancy and a 61.1 percent chance of resulting in a live birth.

Embryos deemed to look less healthy by the time-lapse technique had a 25.5 percent chance of leading to a pregnancy and 19.2 percent of resulting in a live birth, according to the study.

But the study was small, with only 69 couples, and some experts say many women lack the luxury of choice when it comes to embryo implantation.

"A lot of the time, we don't have that many embryos to choose from," said Dr. James Goldfarb, director of the University Hospitals Fertility Center in Cleveland and past president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, who was not involved in the study.

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An IVF cycle starts with a woman taking drugs to stimulate the production of multiple eggs. After about two weeks, the eggs are collected and fertilized. Then, the resulting embryos are grown in a lab for up to five days, depending on how many there are and how healthy they look.

The more healthy embryos there are, the more likely an embryologist will watch them for five days to let the weakest die off, leaving the strongest behind. The pregnancy rate for women under 35 with day 5 embryo transfers is 69 percent, compared to 57 percent for women with day 3 transfers, according to data from the Cleveland Clinic's IVF Laboratory.

"For some patients, you might get 15 eggs, and maybe 13 will fertilize and you have enough embryos that look good on day 3 to go out to day 5 without a problem," said Goldfarb. "But at the other end of spectrum, you might have a patient with only six or seven eggs, only three or four get fertilized, and by day 3, you only have two that look reasonable."

In that case, Goldfarb added, "it's better to transfer them on day 3."

The number of embryos transferred depends on the woman's age. But for women 35 and under, it's typically one or two, according to Goldfarb. So if only one or two embryos are thriving on implantation day, there's not much of a choice.

But the new study raises an interesting possibility for women with multiple embryos to choose from. Based on time-lapse imaging, the researchers were able to weed out embryos with an abnormal number of chromosomes – embryos that would likely fail to implant in the womb or result in a miscarriage. None of the embryos deemed the least healthy by the time-lapse technique resulted in a pregnancy or a live birth, according to the study.

"In some ways, it's more of a negative to get pregnant and miscarry," said Goldfarb. "That rollercoaster can be much more traumatic than not getting pregnant at all."

But the study does not break down the couples' ages and explain how that might have impacted their IVF success rate, noting only that they ranged in age from 25 to 47 with an average age of 36. Nor does it detail how long the embryos were observed in culture before being transferred into the womb, instead indicating that they were "cultured until 5 or 6 days" after fertilization. And while the study does suggest that technology can help in the embryo selection process, experts say the decision to undergo IVF and the odds of being successful vary from couple to couple.

"Obviously, the goal is to pick out the best embryos, and this study is certainly not the first to look at this technique," said Goldfarb, explaining how similar studies have found mixed results. "It's something still in play, and we'll how this sorts out in long run."

"But I think the one thing patients want to hear is your best assessment of their individual chance of getting pregnant," he added. "And you can get a pretty good estimate of that based on their age and some other characteristics."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- How much sleep you get might be at least partially determined by the color of your bedroom.

According to a recent survey, bedrooms decorated with more calm colors, like blue, yellow and green, often offer more sleep than those adorned with more stimulating colors. According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the survey showed that people whose bedrooms are blue get the most sleep, nearly eight hours on average. Comparatively, those with purple bedrooms get an average of under six hours of sleep.

Yellow, green, silver and orange bedrooms also offered more than seven hours sleep, which contributes to how a person might feel during the day.

According to the Daily Mail, the data relates to the way the human eye reacts to specific colors. Certain cells in the retina feed information the brain controlling body rhythms. Those cells happen to be most sensitive to the color blue.

Alternatively, purple is considered a stimulating color that drives creativity. With the color of their bedroom prompting the mind to keep working, even at night, people can be depriving themselves of important sleep.

Bedroom decoration can also affect people beyond sleeping patterns, says the Daily Mail. Couples who sleep in a caramel colored have sex three times per week on average, while those in red-colored bedrooms were intimate just once each week.

Similarly, couples with grey bedrooms spend the most time online shopping in bed, while silver bedrooms were often linked with more frequent exercise.

"Room color does influence your mood and set the tone for your living environment," Frances Whitley, in-house interior designer for Travelodge, told the Daily Mail.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

The Copeland Family(NEW YORK) -- Aimee Copeland, the 25-year-old who lost her hands, both feet and her entire right leg to flesh-eating bacteria a year ago, has received two new bionic hands.

Copeland spent the week in Ohio at Touch Bionics, where she received two bionic hands free of charge. The hands cost $100,000 a piece, on average, a company spokesperson told ABC News.

Copeland spent the week getting fitted for the limbs and learning how to use them. The prosthetics respond to muscle signals in Copeland’s residual limbs and are capable of 24 different kinds of movements.

She will leave Touch Bionics to return to her Snellville, Ga., home Friday. Touch Bionics offered to donate the prosthetic hands because Copeland had run out of health insurance to pay for them herself, a company spokesperson said.

Copeland cut open her right leg falling from a zip line near the Tallapoosa River in Georgia in April 2012, allowing a deadly bacterium to enter her body. She said she sensed something wasn’t quite right days after receiving 22 stitches to close the wound on her calf because it hurt up to her thigh.

The bacteria advanced undetected until her leg turned “a dark purple color,” Copeland said on the set of ABC’s Katie talk show in September.

“I wasn’t able to walk,” she told show host Katie Couric. “I wasn’t able to speak. The only thing I was able to babble was, ‘I think I’m dying.’”

After being in and out of the emergency room with the painful wound that wouldn’t heal, doctors realized Copeland had necrotizing fasciitis and amputated her leg from the hip. Later, when her hands turned black, doctors amputated them, too.

Copeland spent two months in a hospital and another two months in rehabilitation before returning to her renovated home in late August 2012.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Goodshoot/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- H&M made headlines last month when it featured plus-size model Jennie Runk in its new swimwear ad campaign.

In an industry where swimwear is traditionally modeled by willowy or waifish models, Runk’s appearance in the retailer’s general -- not plus-size -- swimsuit campaign sent a strong message.

Runk, 24, is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and wears size 12 or 14.

In an open letter this week posted on her Facebook page, and reprinted by the U.K.’s BBC News, Runk railed against the general obsession with size.

“People assume plus equates to fat, which in turn equates to ugly.  This is completely absurd because many women who are considered plus-sized are actually in line with the American average,” she wrote.

Runk, who was discovered when she was 13 years old, had a choice to lose weight and remain a size 4 or gain weight and kick-start her career as a plus-size model.

“I knew I was going to end up gaining weight anyway,” she said in an interview with ABC News’ Bianna Golodryga that aired Friday on Good Morning America.  “I was getting hips, I was growing into a woman, so I figured it was easier.”

That kind of confidence has served her well in an industry where some retailers -- most recently Abercrombie & Fitch -- don’t even offer clothing in her size.

Asked how she avoided negative thoughts about her body, Runk said, “I am the only one who can judge me.  My opinion is the only one that matters when it comes to me.”

Runk credits her success to the many other so-called plus-size models who blazed the trial before her, including Robyn Lawley, designer Ralph Lauren’s first plus-size model.

“I met a lot of them and they taught me a lot of what I know now,” Runk said.

Runk hopes she has helped start a conversation that may change attitudes about beauty and the so-called “mean girl” culture that sometimes comes along with  it.

“Our bodies are built to be naturally different sizes,” she said.  “To denote any of these body types negatively is only hurting all of us, because that’s where you get girls of one body type slamming another to make themselves feel better.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The changing climate could prove to be very troublesome for allergy sufferers.  Here are some of the possible effects:

Attack of Potent Pollen

In the past 53 years, carbon dioxide levels have risen globally, approximately 22 percent.  Much has been written about how the rise in greenhouse gases and that it's bad for the environment, but less has been said about how these gases can help some plants flourish.

Unfortunately for humans, these plants -- like poison ivy and ragweed -- tend to be irritating or even harmful to our health.  A 2005 study found that when ragweed plants, a prime cause of hay fever symptoms in late summer and fall, were exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels they not only produced more pollen, but the grains of pollen were covered with increased numbers of nose-irritating proteins, supercharging the pollen's allergic properties.

The study subjected ragweed plants in a lab setting to different carbon dioxide levels from three eras -- the preindustrial age, the present day and even the end of the 21st century.  The study found that the allergen concentrations increased 20 percent from the preindustrial age to today.  But they were projected to rise a startling 60 percent by the end of the century.

So the plants might be flourishing in 90 years, but anyone with a ragweed allergy will be miserable.

"They're growing faster, they're producing more flowers," said Dr. Lewis Ziska, a research plant physiologist at the United States Department of Agriculture and one of the study's authors.  "It's a two-edged sword...the [plants] that are responding have implications for public health."

Double Whammy Allergy Season

Traditionally, allergists break up the year into three distinct seasons.  In spring, it's the trees that cause the most problems; summer brings flowering grasses that induce sneezing; and in fall, ragweed pollen afflicts allergy sufferers with itchy, watery eyes.  

But as temperatures more common for July start showing up in April and May in certain areas of the country, plants react to the weather and not the calendar date.  

Increased overlap between allergy seasons means more pollen in the air and little relief for people hoping for a break between seasons.  However, even when there are multiple allergy seasons happening at once, allergists say there are things people can do to stave off the worst symptoms.

To keep pollen out of the home, experts recommend washing your face and changing your clothes after you arrive home and using a neti pot daily to help flush out irritating pollen grains.

A Milder Winter Might Mean a Miserable Spring

When the weather is warmer and seasons are milder, some plants will be releasing allergy-inducing pollen for longer periods of time.

A 2011 study looked at the length of the ragweed seasons in cities along different latitudes from Georgetown, Texas, to Saskatoon, Canada, over a 14-year period.  During that time, nearly all the cities experienced fewer days with frost and longer ragweed seasons.

Cities further north also had statistically larger increases to their ragweed allergy seasons.  The population of Saskatoon had to contend with a ragweed season 27 days longer in 2009 than in 1995.

Marooned on an 'Urban Heat Island' Means More Sneezing

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 80 percent of Americans currently reside in urban areas.

While cities that lack greenery may seem like a safe place for people with pollen allergies, experts say they won't offer much sanctuary during allergy season.  That is partly because cities often become what scientists call "urban heat islands," where concrete and pavement soak up heat, resulting in consistently higher temperatures compared with surrounding rural areas.

With warmer temperatures and higher levels of carbon dioxide, some allergen-inducing plants can produce more pollen than the same plants located in rural areas.  

A 2003 study on allergen levels in Baltimore found more than three times the amount of ragweed pollen in the city compared with the surrounding rural areas.

Also, densely packed urban areas have higher levels of diesel and car exhaust, which can irritate the nose and throat, making allergy symptoms worse.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) -- Are able-bodied people gaming a system set up for people with limited mobility, and thus taking resources away from those in need?

An increasing number of air travelers are requesting wheelchairs at Houston-area airports, ABC Houston affiliate KTRK reports. An airport manager was quoted as telling the station, "We've handled maybe a hundred wheelchairs a year. Now there are some certain times we can handle a hundred wheelchairs in a day."

American Airlines told ABC News that while they haven't seen a noticeable uptick in wheelchair requests in Houston, the number of requests at New York's John F. Kennedy airport -- now about 600 per day -- has increased recently.

Anecdotal evidence from frequent fliers and advocates for people with disabilities suggests, however, that more people are taking advantage of the system. CEO of FareCompare.com and frequent flier Rick Seaney said he's seen an increase in the number of wheelchairs at the airport.

"I would put it on par with a variety of issues like abusing handicap status for parking, disability," he said. "There are always going to be a few that game the system potentially ruining it for the truly needy."

And that's really the heart of the matter: Not whether an able-bodied person has to wait a little longer in a security line at the airport for a person with a wheelchair to go ahead of them, but the fact that people who abuse the system limit resources for people who actually need them. What's worse, there's the potential that abuse of the system could become so rampant that lawmakers may actually dial back accommodations overall, hurting the people who actually need them.

"We've tried to be very careful about disability policy rights with lawmakers and have tried to find a balance," said Curt Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network. "There should be reasonable service provided to people with disabilities so they can participate in society, but those services shouldn't be a burden to the rest of the community.

"When the system is exploited it raises questions about how services should be restricted [for people who truly need them]."

Travelers request wheelchair services and other special accommodations directly from the airline. For example, the American Airlines website has several pages dedicated to assisting travelers who need special accommodation. But there's no one-size-fits-all policy, which leaves room for people inclined to take advantage to do just that.

"Every person with a challenge or disability is different, and you are the best judge of the service you require," the website reads.

Decker said the airlines don't want to get too deep into their customer's personal lives, which may prevent them from asking probing questions regarding the person's claims about a disability. Plus, "there are a lot of hidden disabilities, sometimes you just don't know."

In other words, don't assume the person in the wheelchair cutting the security line doesn't truly need the assistance, even if they look perfectly capable to stand in line like everyone else.

But if you're tempted to game the system, keep in mind it's not a victimless crime. "If people who don't need the services use them, they take up resources and people who actually do need them won't have them available," said Decker.

"Whenever I'm at the airport I see airline personnel scrambling to find wheelchairs for all the people who need them. Especially on the flights to Florida."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Locks of Love, a charity that makes wigs for children with alopecia and cancer, has become entangled in a dispute with a self-appointed watchdog that claims the charity is wasting millions of dollars worth of donated hair.

Nonprofit Investor claims it has tried to comb through the records of Locks of Love, but has found few documents.

It therefore estimated that the charity accepts 104,000 hair donations per year, enough for more than 2,000 hairpieces, but made only 317 custom wigs in 2011. Nonprofit Investor calculated that a hair-raising $6 million worth of donations were wasted or not being used.

"I have no idea where that number came from," Locks founder Madonna Coffman said referring to the estimate that she receives 104,000 hair donations a year. "We never in 15 years have counted hair donations, and I explained that to him."

"When hair donations come in, they're opened and put in color bins, and we don't count them," said Coffman, who founded the group in 1997 after her daughter lost her hair to alopecia. "I don't have the staff for that. I don't know what the purpose would be to count hair donations."

"We made 317 that year because we had 317 requests," Coffman said. Some of the donated hair is sold to finance the making of its custom wigs. It sold $500,000 worth in 2011, Coffman said. The unused hair stays in inventory until a request comes in, she said.

Nonprofit Investor used a line from a 2004 USA Today article that said Locks of Love received "2,000-3,000 donations a week." Nonprofit Investor used the lower of the two numbers -- 2,000 -- and multiplied it by 52 weeks in a year to conclude that Locks of Love receives 104,000 hair donations a year.

Nonprofit Investor is a 2-year-old group attempting to find its niche among nonprofit evaluators like Guidestar and Charity Navigator. Nonprofit Investor has evaluated about 60 nonprofits under founder Kent Chao, who graduated from the University of Texas in 2006. This is the organization's first negative evaluation.

Chao said he was comfortable relying on the 2004 USA Today article, and called the fact that Locks of Love doesn't count its hair donations "troubling."

Coffman also said that Nonprofit Investor disregarded her explanation.

Coffman said she didn't hear from Chao's organization until February when it emailed an early copy of the report to info@locksoflove.org, a mailbox Coffman said is so full that it's lucky anyone saw it. She offered to answer questions, but said Chao only asked her two: how much hair Locks of Love receives and how many wigs it made in each year from 2004 forward.

"The information I gave him was truthful and accurate, but it did not support the report he hoped to release so he elected to ignore it," she said.

Chao, however, said he reached out to Locks of Love many times, but never heard from anyone from the organization until a lawyer threatened to sue if they published their report.

Fraud investigator Gerald Zach reviewed Locks of Love IRS 990 Form and told ABC News that the rules for gifts like hair "aren't as clear as they could be."

Zack said he doubts the organization has $6 million worth of unaccounted hair, but said its IRS Form 990 was "a bit messy."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A new study, which found DNA fragments from the fecal germ E. coli in 58 percent of public pools, might have you thinking twice about taking a dip this summer.

But experts say there’s no cause for alarm.

“The study did not test for living bacteria,” said ABC News’ chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser. “It’s possible and likely that many of these germs were dead. That’s why we put disinfectants in swimming pools in the first place. Our bodies are covered with bacteria, some harmful and some not.”

For the study, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention performed genetic testing on samples scraped from the filters of 161 Atlanta-area public pools. Ninety-three of the samples came back positive for E. coli DNA, which could have come from living germs or germs killed off by chlorine and other disinfecting chemicals.

Either way, the DNA came from bacteria that probably came from human poop -- a fact that might be unsettling for some. Nevertheless, Michele Hlavsa, chief of CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program, stressed that swimming is still a great way to get exercise and stay healthy.

“However, pool users should be aware of how to prevent infections while swimming,” she said in a statement. “That’s why it’s important for swimmers to protect themselves by not swallowing the water they swim in and to protect others by keeping feces and germs out of the pool by taking a pre-swim shower and not swimming when ill with diarrhea.”

E. coli wasn’t the only germ floating around in the tested pools. Ninety-five of the pools tested contained DNA belonging to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bug that can cause skin rashes and ear infections. Sixty-seven of the pools contained DNA from both bacteria, according to the study, but none of the pools were the source of a disease outbreak.

“Although this sounds alarming, we need to be careful here,” said Besser, explaining how the findings should come as no surprise considering that the average swimmer, according to the CDC, has 0.14 grams of fecal material on his or her body that could rinse off into the water. “The only way to remove this is with a vigorous shower using soap and water. And most public pools only provide outdoor showers that let people rinse off while keeping their bathing suits on.”

To make a splash safely this summer, the CDC offers the following tips:

• Shower with soap before you jump in
• Take bathroom breaks every 60 minutes
• Wash your hands with soap after using the toilet
• Check diapers every 30-60 minutes
• Wash your hands with soap after changing diapers in a dedicated changing area
• Take a rinse shower before you get back in the pool
• Do not swim if you have diarrhea
• Don’t swallow pool water

Swimmers can also check the chlorine and pH levels before getting into the water. Chlorine levels should be in the range of 1 to 3 milligrams per liter or parts per million, and the pH of the water should be between 7.2 and 7.8 to maximize germ-killing power, according to the CDC.

“The rules for safely using swimming pools that the CDC lays out make a lot of sense, but it is no surprise that this study found evidence of bacteria,” said Besser. “After all," he added, “our bodies contain more bacteria than human cells.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio