Childhood Autism Eases?

Autism spectrum disorders appear to have stabilized among U.S. kids and teens

Researchers have a new reason to believe that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in the U.S. has reached a plateau. It comes from the National Health Interview Survey, which shows that 2.41% of U.S. kids and teens had a form of autism between 2014 and 2016.

From article, (Researchers have a new reason to believe that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in the U.S. has reached a plateau.

The evidence comes from the National Health Interview Survey, which polls American households about a variety of conditions. When a participating family includes children, one of those kids is selected at random to be included in the interview.

A new question was added to the survey in 2014: “Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that [the child] had autism, Asperger’s disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, or autism spectrum disorder?”

Between 2014 and 2016, this question was answered for 30,502 children ages 3 to 17. In 711 cases, the answer was “yes.”

Researchers from the University of Iowa weighted those responses to account for the fact that not all American households were equally likely to be selected for the survey — and that among those that were, not all were equally likely to provide an answer to that particular question.

But the differences between the two surveys may not be as significant as the fact that both suggest the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders has stabilized.

The Iowa researchers said more work will be needed to determine whether changes in environmental risks, diagnostic criteria, public awareness or other factors are behind the apparent end to a decade-long increase.)

Amazonian Target?

Amazon might buy Target, but could Trump stand in the way?

2017 was a banner year for Amazon, with the company expanding its lead in cloud computing, adding brick and mortar retail stores, shipping more than 5 billion items from Prime and completing its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods. But according to some analysts, 2018 may be its biggest year yet, since it could be the year it acquires Target.

From article, (2017 was a banner year for Amazon, with the company expanding its lead in cloud computing, adding brick and mortar retail stores, shipping more than 5 billion items from Prime and completing its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods.

But according to some analysts, 2018 may be its biggest year yet, since it could be the year it acquires Target.

Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster has put out a list of his top tech predictions for 2018 and chief among them is Amazon acquiring the Minneapolis-based Target, calling it an "ideal offline partner for Amazon."

Munster, a former Wall Street analyst known for his bold calls on Apple, said a potential acquisition of Target by Amazon is his "boldest 2018 prediction," but noted that the two have more in common than some think.

"Amazon believes the future of retail is a mix of mostly online and some offline," Munster wrote on Loup Ventures' website. "Target is the ideal offline partner for Amazon for two reasons, shared demographic, and manageable but comprehensive store count. As for the demographic, Target’s focus on moms is central to Amazon’s approach to win wallet share."

Munster added that by potentially bringing Target into its folds, Amazon's store count would be approximately 2,300, less than 20 percent of Walmart's global store count, which stands at 11,695.

A potential acquisition of Target could cost Amazon $41 billion, more than three times the amount it paid for Whole Foods.

One possible snag in any forthcoming acquisition is a potential anti-trust issue given the rocky nature of the relationship between Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos and President Donald Trump. However, Munster doesn't see this as an issue.

"As for anti-trust, the Trump administration won’t do any favors for Jeff Bezos, but the market share numbers suggest the deal will be approved," Munster wrote. He added that Walmart is expected to have around $315 billion in U.S.-based sales in 2017, while Amazon and Target may have $105 billion and $71 billion, respectively. Per his calculations, Walmart has approximately 23 percent of the retail market in the U.S., while a combined Amazon and Target would have 13 percent.)