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On Friday, home builder KB Home said that it has faced a 26% decline in net profit for the first quarter from last year. The company has reported first-quarter net income of $7.80 million or $0.08 per share, down from $10.56 million or $0.12 per share in the prior-year quarter.

The decline is considered to be due to increased tax expenses and reduced margins more than strong revenue growth. But twist came in as earnings have surpasses the expectations of analysts, which has led to the stock higher.

Jeffrey Mezger, president and chief executive officer, was of the view, "We are pleased with the robust growth in our first quarter net orders, net order value and backlog levels, which was fueled primarily by our expanded community count and healthy buyer demand".

American commercial real estate company Simon Property Group has raised its takeover bid for rival mall owner Macerich Co. to about $16.8 billion. The company has also termed it as the final offer. Indianapolis-headquartered Simon Property is the biggest mall owner in the country. On Friday, the company released a statement where it said that it offered $95.50 a share, up from $91 on March 9.

Both Simon and Macerich have a significant presence in Philadelphia. Simon has about nine areas malls, which include King of Prussia, Philadelphia Mills, and Oxford Valley. As per reports, Macerich will invest over $100 million in the redevelopment of the Gallery at Market East.

A recently conducted study showed that text reminders helped increase the breast cancer screening attendance. Researchers found that women who received a text message as a reminder about their breast cancer screening appointment were 20% more likely to attend their screening than those who were not texted.

Robert Kerrison, lead author of the study, said, "We all forget things now and then, and doctor's appointments are no exception -- in fact, forgetting is one of the most commonly cited reasons why women miss breast cancer screening appointments".

He further said that through their research they have found that cheap, simple text-message-reminder could boost the number of women attending their cancer screening.

An FDA review panel has found that an asthma treatment co-developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Theravance is safe and effective in treating adults, but not adolescents.

Breo Ellipta (fluticasone furoate/vilanterol [FF/VI]) has received FDA panel's support to be used as once-daily inhaled treatment for the asthma patients aged 18 years and older, by a 16-4 vote.

But at the same time, the panel has voted against the use of asthma drug for treating patients aged between 12 and 17 years, with the panel voting 2 in favor and 18 against.

Breo is administered with the Ellipta dry powder inhaler device. It is a fixed-dose combination of the inhaled corticosteroid FF and the long-acting beta2-agonist VI.

A new study has found that adults having high blood pressure should take generous amount of food items that are rich in folic acid. By having plenty of vitamin B may lower the chances of having a stroke, which is linked to high blood pressure.

Folate is present naturally in many foods, including green leafy vegetables, beans and citrus fruits. In the United States, folate is added to most of the grain products, like wheat flour, cornmeal, pasta and rice. These products have folic acid, which is the synthetic version of folate.

But such is not the case with many countries in the world, like China, where the current study has been carried out. The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association had more than 20,000 adults in experiment.

According to a group of biologists, the use of a gene editing technique that might alter human DNA across generations should be banned. According to researchers, there is a possibility that the technique can be used to heal genetic diseases and defects.

The new technique might also be used to improve human genetic traits that raised serious ethical concerns. The biologists fear that the technique might lead to unsafe or unethical uses. A letter has been published by Baltimore and 17 other scientists to the scientific community asking caution in using the technique.