SEATTLE, WA, AUGUST 13, 2015 - Advances in the field of statistics are helping to unlock the mysteries of the human microbiome--the vast collection of microorganisms living in and on the bodies of humans, said Katherine Pollard, a statistician and biome expert, during a session today at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) in Seattle. Pollard, senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, delivered a presentation titled "Estimating Taxonomic and Functional Diversity ...

SEATTLE, WA, AUGUST 13, 2015 - The results of the first population survey of Mogadishu, Somalia, conducted in a quarter century were presented today at a session of the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) in Seattle. Jesse Driscoll, assistant professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, presented the results in an invited presentation titled "Representative Surveys in Insecure Environments: A Case Study of Mogadishu, Somalia." The representative survey, conducted in March 2012, combined the use of smartphone technology and remote-sensing ...

12.08.2015: When the western part of the super-continent Gondwana broke up around 130 Million years ago, today's Africa and South-America started to separate and the South Atlantic was born. It is commonly assumed that enormous masses of magma ascended from the deep mantle up to higher levels, and that this hot mantle plume (the Tristan mantle plume) weakened the continental lithosphere, eventually causing the break-up of the continental plate of Gondwana. A group of German scientists are now questioning this theory. On the basis of seismic measurements published in ...

This news release is available in German. Kalmar/Halle(Saale). Why some species of plants and animals vary more in number than others is a central issue in ecology. Now researchers at Linnaeus University in Sweden and from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have found an important finding to answer this question: Individual differences have a positive and stabilizing effect on the number of moths. Species with varying colour drawing are generally more numerous and fluctuate less in number from year to year. The results were recently published ...

Stillbirths have dropped by almost eight per cent in England since the smoking ban was introduced, research shows. The number of babies dying shortly after birth has also dropped by almost eight per cent, the study estimates. The findings add to growing evidence that anti-smoking laws have had significant benefits for infant and child health. Researchers led by the University of Edinburgh looked at information on more than ten million births in England between 1995 and 2011. Their findings suggest that almost 1500 stillbirths and newborn deaths were averted in ...

The team of Prof. Carsten Schmidt-Weber and Prof. Jan Gutermuth of the Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) at Helmholtz Zentrum München and TU München investigated the influence of pollen extract of common ragweed, also known as Ambrosia artemisiifolia*, on B cells. These cells can produce immunoglobulin E (IgE**), the key trigger and an important diagnostic marker of allergic reactions. "We were able to show that pollen extract enhances the secretion of allergy driving IgE antibodies in vitro and in vivo", explains Dr. Sebastian Öder who is leading author ...

At home on the sofa, in a hospital bed, or in a care home: where a death takes place is always recorded on the death certificate. Until now, however, this information has never been collated and evaluated. In an Original Article in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztbl Int 112:496-504), Burkhard Dasch and his co-authors analyze for the first time the place of death records for Germany. What they found was that every second person died in a hospital; only one in four died at home. The study evaluated more than 24 000 death certificates ...

More and more mothers facing childbirth are asking for a cesarean. There are many reasons for this, ranging from the social and cultural to the personal, such as fear about the birth. A review article in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztbl 112: 489-95) by two Munich gynecologists, Ioannis Mylonas and Klaus Friese, considers the risks and benefits of cesarean delivery on maternal request. Delivery by cesarean section is much more popular than it used to be. In 1991 a little over one delivery in six was by cesarean; now it is almost ...

Between one-third and one-half of individuals in the United States who were infected with HIV around the time of birth may not have sufficient immunity to ward off measles, mumps, and rubella--even though they may have been vaccinated against these diseases. This estimate, from a National Institutes of Health research network, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is based on a study of more than 600 children and youth exposed to HIV in the womb. "Having a high level of immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella is important not only for ...

Researchers from the University of Exeter highlight the risk that engineered nanoparticles released from masonry paint on exterior facades, and consumer products such as zinc oxide cream, could have on aquatic creatures. Textiles, paint, sunscreen, cosmetics and food additives are all increasingly containing metal-based nanoparticles that are engineered, rather than found naturally. The review, published today in the journal Environmental Chemistry, highlights the risks posed to aquatic organisms when nanoparticles 'transform' on contact with water and as they pass ...

Since the chickenpox vaccine became available in the U.S. in 1995, there has been a large reduction in chickenpox cases. Hospitalizations and outpatient visits for chickenpox have continued their decline after a second dose of the vaccine was recommended to improve protection against the disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The findings also suggest that increasing vaccination coverage against the once common childhood illness helps protect those who are not immunized themselves. Chickenpox, also known ...

Boston, MA-- A marker commonly used to determine if a patient is having a heart attack can also be used to identify stable patients at high risk for deadly cardiac events, according to a new study led by investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). Using a test that is more sensitive than what is currently used in U.S. hospitals and clinics, the research team found that nearly 40 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes and stable heart disease had abnormal blood levels of the protein troponin. Patients with elevated levels of troponin were twice as likely as ...

When it comes to reproduction, not every individual equally pulls his or her weight. Dana Herman and Mark Colwell of Humboldt State University spent 13 years tracking the successes and failures of almost 200 individual Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) nesting at a variety of sites in Humboldt County, California, to identify the factors that could be influencing reproductive success for birds in this threatened population. Their results, published this week in The Condor: Ornithological Applications, show that more than human activity, predator presence, exclosures to ...

Working in groups is advantageous because different individuals can be responsible for different information, allowing each individual to develop more in-depth expertise. For instance, a plumber, electrician, and carpenter work together to build a house, but each is responsible for unique aspects of the project. This is an example of a transactive memory system: information is distributed across the group, and each group member is aware of what he or she knows, as well as who knows what. Because the Internet surpasses any person in accessibility, speed, and breadth of ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2015) Approximately 60 percent of young people habitually skip breakfast up to four times a week, previous research has shown. Although health experts recommend breakfast as a strategy to reduce an individual's chance of obesity, little research has examined if the actual type of breakfast consumed plays a significant role in one's health and weight management. University of Missouri researchers compared the benefits of consuming a normal-protein breakfast to a high-protein breakfast and found the high-protein breakfast - which contained 35 grams ...

All freshwater streams and rivers actually release carbon dioxide, but the source of those emissions has for years been unclear to scientists. Now, researchers have shown that the greenhouse gas appears in streams by way of two different sources -- either as a direct pipeline for groundwater and carbon-rich soils, or from aquatic organisms releasing the gas through respiration and natural decay. CO2's origins -- land or life -- depend largely on the size of the stream or river, according to a paper published Aug. 10 in Nature Geosciences. These findings shed light ...

For any computer, being able to manipulate information is essential, but for quantum computing, singling out one data location without influencing any of the surrounding locations is difficult. Now, a team of Penn State physicists has a method for addressing individual neutral atoms without changing surrounding atoms. "There are a set of things that we have to have to do quantum computing," said David S. Weiss, professor of physics. "We are trying to step down that list and meet the various criteria. Addressability is one step." Quantum computers are constructed and ...

Simply put, cancer is caused by mutations to genes within a cell that lead to abnormal cell growth. Finding out what causes that genetic mutation has been the holy grail of medical science for decades. Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology believe they may have found one of the reasons why these genes mutate and it all has to do with how stem cells talk to each other. The landmark studies by Texas A&M researchers Fen Wang, Ph.D., and Wallace McKeehan, Ph.D., appear in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and are available ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Chemists working in a variety of industries and fields typically go through a laborious process to measure and mix reagents for each reaction they perform. And many of the common reagents they use sit for months or years on shelves in laboratories, where they can react with oxygen and water in the atmosphere, rendering them useless. In a paper published this week in Nature, researchers at MIT describe a technique that could help avoid this costly waste, and greatly reduce the number of steps a chemist must perform to prepare common compounds for use in ...

Male elephant seals compete fiercely for access to females during the breeding season, and their violent, bloody fights take a toll on both winners and losers. These battles are relatively rare, however, and a new study shows that the males avoid costly fights by learning the distinctive vocal calls of their rivals. When they recognize the call of another male, they know whether to attack or flee depending on the challenger's status in the dominance hierarchy. Researchers from UC Santa Cruz have been studying the behavior of northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo ...

BOSTON - Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) are homing in on the potential benefits of allowing patients access to the notes their clinicians write after a visit. An article published in the August edition of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety suggests that this kind of patient engagement has the power to improve safety and quality of care. The practice of sharing visit notes more readily began with the OpenNotes study in 2010. More than 100 primary care doctors at three hospitals invited 20,000 of their patients to ...

In debt and don't know what to do? Conventional economic wisdom says to pay off high-interest loans first. Yet according to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research, paying off your smallest debts first can provide the motivation you need to successfully pay off even the most burdensome debts. "Winning what are known as 'small victories' by paying off small debts first can give consumers a real boost in eventually paying off all their debts," write the authors of the study, Alexander L. Brown (Texas A&M University) and Joanna N. Lahey (Texas A&M University). "The ...

Legos, the popular toy bricks, may be great for stimulating creativity in little kids. But when it comes to adults, things might be a little different. According to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research, when adults are given a set of Legos to solve a well-defined problem, their creativity may suffer when tackling subsequent tasks. "There are a lot of studies that explore what enhances creativity. Ours is one of the few that considers ways in which creativity may be undermined," write the authors of the study, C. Page Moreau (University of Wisconsin) and Marit ...

Attention all you would-be forecasters out there. Do you want people to think you know the future? Then predict with a high degree of certainty that something will happen. According to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research, people trust a forecaster more when she predicts that something is more likely to occur. "When a forecaster predicts that something has a high likelihood of happening, consumers infer that the forecaster is more confident in her prediction, that she is basing the prediction on more in-depth analysis, and that she is more trustworthy," write ...

New companies are often successful because they are innovative. In search of new capital, these companies often go public. But does going public affect a company's ability to remain creative and at the cutting edge--the very qualities that allowed it be successful in the first place? A new study in the Journal of Marketing Research says yes. According to the study, when companies go public, they actually innovate more--but their innovations are far more conservative and less groundbreaking than before. "Going public is a mixed bag for firms when it comes to innovation. ...