The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" — was signed into law in 2010 and promised the largest overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system since the 1960s. Designed to provide medical care to uninsured Americans, it has been widely decried as an unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of private businesses and individuals. However, an independent comparative study of healthcare systems in six Western countries, published last month in Social Science and Medicine, supports a move away from privatized medicine toward state-sponsored healthcare systems. In her research, Dina Maskileyson ...

Alexandria, Va. — "Virtual water" was coined in 1993 to help explain why long-predicted water wars driven by water and food security had not occurred among the arid nations of the Middle East and North Africa. The virtual water notion refers basically to the total amount of freshwater, either from rainfall or irrigation, used in the production of food commodities, including crops and fodder-fed livestock, or other goods and services — agricultural, industrial or otherwise. Taking root in the late 1990s across a range of disciplines, the concept has since expanded and evolved. Today, ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Racially and economically mixed cities are more likely to stay integrated if the density of households stays low, finds a new analysis of a now-famous model of segregation. By simulating the movement of families between neighborhoods in a virtual "city," Duke University mathematician Rick Durrett and graduate student Yuan Zhang find that cities are more likely to become segregated along racial, ethnic or other lines when the proportion of occupied sites rises above a certain critical threshold -- as low as 25 percent, regardless of the identity of the ...

WASHINGTON, DC -- Gender-based violence affects the physical and mental health of girls and boys, men and women worldwide. A recent study by researchers from the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University addresses the challenge of developing effective strategies to change inequitable and harmful social norms that result in gender-based violence. Inequitable gender norms are not only related to domestic violence, but also to other behaviors such as multiple sexual partners, smoking and alcohol abuse which lead to poor health outcomes. The findings ...

This news release is available in Spanish. The Journal of Optics has devoted the front page of its special edition on Mid-infrared and THz Photonics to the work produced by the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre researchers Víctor Pacheco-Peña, Víctor Torres, Miguel Beruete and Miguel Navarro-Cía (former student currently working at Imperial College London), together with Nader Engheta (University of Pennsylvania), one of the world's leading experts in metamaterials. In their research they have proposed various devices capable of redirecting electromagnetic waves ...

Nearly one out of four dogs will develop cancer in their lifetime and 20 per cent of those will be lymphoma cases. A team of researchers from the University of Leicester has helped Avacta Animal Health Ltd to develop a new user-friendly electronic system for diagnosing lymphoma in dogs in the early stages, and for remission monitoring. Marketed as cLBT (canine lymphoma blood test), this is the first test of its kind to track the remission monitoring status of a dog after undergoing chemotherapy. Led by Professor Alexander Gorban from the University's Department ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Contrary to what is often assumed about single parents, particularly single parents of young children, a new study from The Kinsey Institute has found that single parents of children younger than 5 date and are sexually active as often as singles without children -- and more so than single parents of older children. The study, "Dating and Sexual Behavior Among Single Parents of Young Children in the United States," was published online in the Journal of Sex Research prior to appearing in print. Co-authors are lead author Peter B. Gray, University ...

Arguments about whose turn it is to do the washing up, negotiating rights to the TV remote control and disputes over noise — as many students returning to university for the new academic year are about to learn the hard way, sharing a house can be a tricky business. And now research from academics at The University of Nottingham has revealed that new technology to allow people to monitor their energy usage in the home could be about to ratchet up the tension. The study by a team of technology experts and psychologists found that meters which allowed residents to look ...

EORTC investigators will present the results of their cancer research at ESMO 2014 Congress, 26-30 September 2014 in Madrid. Joint Symposium: ESMO-ASCO: The Evolution of the clinical trial landscape Monday, September 29, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM, Room: Granada Abstract 121IN: Denis Lacombe. Can Collaborative Molecular Screening Platforms support new forms of cancer clinical research? The example of the EORTC SPECTA program. Proffered Paper session: Melanoma and other skin tumors Saturday, September 27, 2:00 PM - 3:45 PM, Room: Barcelona Eggermont AM, Chiarion-Sileni ...

New Rochelle, NY, September 23, 2014—New technology and better screening strategies can lower the rate of false-positive results, which impose a substantial financial and psychological burden on women. The many misperceptions about breast cancer screening options and risks, the benefits and costs of screening, and the need for new approaches and better education are discussed in a series of articles in a supplement to Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The supplement is available free on the Journal of Women's ...

Arctic sea ice coverage continued its below-average trend this year as the ice declined to its annual minimum on Sept. 17, according to the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Over the 2014 summer, Arctic sea ice melted back from its maximum extent reached in March to a coverage area of 1.94 million square miles (5.02 million square kilometers), according to analysis from NASA and NSIDC scientists. This year's minimum extent is similar to last year's and below the 1981-2010 average of 2.40 million square miles ...

MADISON, Wis. — The number of extremely hot days in Eastern and Midwestern U.S. cities is projected to triple by mid-century, according to a new study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Milwaukee and New York City could experience three times as many 90-degree days by 2046; Dallas could see twice as many days topping 100 degrees. The new analysis offers climate data through the lens of public health, in a study that represents a synthesis of the latest science at the intersection of ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine have produced a significant output of fusion neutrons, using a method fully functioning for only little more than a year. The experimental work is described in a paper to be published in the Sept. 24 Physical Review Letters online. A theoretical PRL paper to be published on the same date helps explain why the experimental method worked. The combined work demonstrates the viability of the novel approach. "We are committed to shaking this [fusion] tree until either we get some good apples or a ...

Researchers at the University of Chicago have shown that after a long stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) only a handful of pathogenic microbe species remain behind in patients' intestines. The team tested these remaining pathogens and discovered that some can become deadly when provoked by conditions that mimic the body's stress response to illness. The findings, published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, may lead to better monitoring and treatment of ICU patients who can develop a life-threatening systemic infection ...

Where people look when watching video evidence varies wildly and has profound consequences for bias in legal punishment decisions, a team of researchers at New York University and Yale Law School has found. This study raises questions about why people fail to be objective when confronted with video evidence. In a series of three experiments, participants who viewed videotaped altercations formed biased punishment decisions about a defendant the more they looked at him. Participants punished a defendant more severely if they did not identify with his social group and punished ...

Washington, DC, September 23, 2014 —The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is calling upon healthcare providers and pregnant women to avoid induction of labor at any time during pregnancy unless it is medically necessary. Approximately one-in-four U.S. births are induced, a number that has more than doubled since 1990. While there are limited data to distinguish how many of these inductions are for medical and non-medical reasons, there is no data to suggest that the significant increase in the induction rate is attributable to a similar ...

September 23, 2014 – The "area under the curve of oxygen desaturation" (AUCDesat) may provide a more sophisticated approach to monitoring blood oxygen levels during procedures using sedation, according to a study published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. The AUCDesat provides information not only whether blood oxygenation has dropped too low—but also on the depth, duration, and rate of episodes of oxygen desaturation. The new study by Paul Niklewski, PhD, of University of Cincinnati and colleagues reports on the development of the AUCDesat as a potentially useful new approach ...

Achieving complete breakdown of plant biomass for energy conversion in industrialized bioreactors remains a complex challenge, but new research shows that termite fungus farmers solved this problem more than 30 million years ago. The new insight reveals that the great success of termite farmers as plant decomposers is due to division of labor between a fungus breaking down complex plant components and gut bacteria contributing enzymes for final digestion. Sophisticated Management in Termite Fungus Farms Fungus-farming termites are dominant plant decomposers in (sub)tropical ...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2014 — Antibiotics revolutionized health care in the early 20th century, helping kill bacteria that once killed thousands of people. But bacteria are also constantly outsmarting science, and new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are popping up more frequently. This week's Speaking of Chemistry focuses on the current shortage of new antibiotics and discusses the prospects for new drugs. The episode also answers the question: Why should you finish your pills if you feel better? Check it out at: http://youtu.be/MAoDuSxXIUQ. Antibiotics are just ...

Brain activity can be used to tell whether someone recognizes details they encountered in normal, daily life, which may have implications for criminal investigations and use in courtrooms, new research shows. The findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggest that a particular brain wave, known as P300, could serve as a marker that identifies places, objects, or other details that a person has seen and recognizes from everyday life. Research using EEG recordings of brain activity has shown that the P300 ...

Researchers working in the UK and The Gambia, have developed a new approach to the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) that relies on direct sequencing of DNA extracted from sputum (a technique called metagenomics) to detect and characterize the bacteria that cause TB without the need for time-consuming culture of bacteria in the laboratory. The research, reported today in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ, was directed by Professor Mark Pallen, Professor of Microbial Genomics at Warwick Medical School and Dr Martin Antonio, head of the TB diagnostics laboratory at UK Medical ...

Although the immediate welfare consequences of removing infant chimpanzees from their mothers are well documented, little is known about the long-term impacts of this type of early life experience. In a year-long study, scientists from Lincoln Park Zoon observed 60 chimpanzees and concluded that those who were removed from their mothers early in life and raised by humans as pets or performers are likely to show behavioral and social deficiencies as adults. The multi-institutional research project, published today in the open-access journal PeerJ, was led by Steve Ross, ...

Los Angeles, CA (September 23, 2014) While many believe that guardian angels watch over to keep them safe in a dangerous world, a new study finds that those who believe are actually less inclined to take risks despite this believed protection. This study was published today in the open access journal SAGE Open. Researchers David Etkin, Jelena Ivanova, Susan MacGregor, and Alalia Spektor surveyed 198 individuals and found that of those who believe in guardian angels, 68% said that this belief affects how they take risks. While some expressed that the belief in guardian ...

Most organisms, including humans, have parasitic DNA fragments called "jumping genes" that insert themselves into DNA molecules, disrupting genetic instructions in the process. And that phenomenon can result in age-related diseases such as cancer. But researchers at the University of Rochester now report that the "jumping genes" in mice become active as the mice age when a multi-function protein stops keeping them in check in order to take on another role. In a study published today in Nature Communications, Professor of Biology Vera Gorbunova and Assistant Professor ...

Charlottesville, VA (September 23, 2014). Researchers from the University of Toronto, directed by Drs. Gelareh Zadeh and Boris Krischek, investigated gene expression in normal vestibular nerves and vestibular schwannomas (VSs). Two important discoveries were made: 1) there is negligible difference between VSs that sporadically occur and those commonly associated with neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), a genetic disorder; and 2) the overexpressed PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in these tumors may be an excellent therapeutic target. Detailed findings of this study are reported ...