WASHINGTON - Trusting a stranger may have more to do with feeling morally obligated to show respect for someone else's character than actually believing the person is trustworthy, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. "Trust is crucial not just for established relationships, it's also especially vital between strangers within social groups who have no responsibility toward each other outside of a single, transitory interaction. eBay or farmers' markets couldn't exist without trust among strangers," said lead author David Dunning, ...

Exploding supernovae are a phenomenon that is still not fully understood. The trouble is that the state of nuclear matter in stars cannot be reproduced on Earth. In a recent paper published in EPJ E, Yves Pomeau from the University of Arizona, USA, and his French colleagues from the CNRS provide a new model of supernovae represented as dynamical systems subject to a loss of stability, just before they explode. Because similar stability losses also occur in dynamical systems in nature, this model could be used to predict natural catastrophes before they happen. Previous ...

An international study, led by the University of Southampton, has led to the creation of the world's first global database of jellyfish records to map jellyfish populations in the oceans. Scientific and media debate regarding future trends, and subsequent ecological, biogeochemical and societal impacts, of jellyfish and jellyfish blooms in a changing ocean is hampered by a lack of information about jellyfish biomass and distribution from which to compare. To address this knowledge gap, scientists used the Jellyfish Database Initiative, or JeDI, to map jellyfish biomass ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2014 ─ "Mischievous responders" play the game of intentionally providing inaccurate answers on anonymous surveys, a widespread problem that can mislead research findings. However, new data analysis procedures may help minimize the impact of these "jokester youths," according to research published online today in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). VIDEO: Author Joseph P. Robinson-Cimpian discusses key findings: http://youtu.be/WFFaA74sygI. "Inaccurate Estimation of ...

Good news for Dads: Harvard researchers say the key to being a better parent is – literally – all in your head. In a study in mice, Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Howard Hughes Investigator Catherine Dulac have pinpointed galanin neurons in the brain's medial preoptic area (MPOA), that appear to regulate parental behavior. If similar neurons are at work in humans, it could offer clues to the treatment of conditions like post-partum depression. The study is described in a May 15 paper published in Nature. "If you look across different animal ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — First things first. If cancer patients are having trouble tolerating chemotherapy after chemoradiation and surgery, then try administering it beforehand. Reordering the regimen that way enabled all but six of 39 patients to undergo a full course of standard treatment for rectal cancer, according to research to be presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. Studies have shown that only about 60 percent of rectal cancer patients comply with postoperative chemotherapy, said lead researcher Dr. Kimberly ...

The scientists - Boris Kuzin, Ekaterina Nikitina, Roman Cherezov, Julia Vorontsova, Mikhail Slezinger, Olga Zatsepina, Olga Simonova, Grigori Enikolopov and Elena Savvateeva-Popova - studied Drosophila flies, in whose genome weak mutations of two different genes were combined. The paper is published in the PLoS One. They concluded that these mutations synergistically strengthen their mutual phenotypic expression. In other words, the aggregate effect of these mutations is much greater than that which can be produced by one of them individually. The mutant flies bred by ...

The scientists – Alexander Zhavoronkov, Anton Buzdin, Andrey Garazha, Nickolay Borisov and Alexey Moskalev– have based the new research on their previously-developed methods in the study of cancer cells. Each cell uses particular schemes of molecular interaction, which physiologists call intercellular signaling pathways. A signaling pathway is a chain of sequential events of interaction between certain molecules which make the cell respond to stimulation. For example, hormone molecules first interact with the cell's membrane receptors, then the receptors engage with the ...

(TORONTO, Canada – May, 15, 2014) -- The overall quality of death of cancer patients who die in an urban Canadian setting with ready access to palliative care was found to be good to excellent in the large majority of cases, helping to dispel the myth that marked suffering at the end of life is inevitable. "Fear of dying is something almost every patient with advanced cancer or other life-threatening illness faces, and helping them, to achieve a "good death" is an important goal of palliative care," says Dr. Sarah Hales, Coordinator of Psychiatry Services, Psychosocial ...

Lincoln, Neb., May 15, 2014 -- In many rural communities hard hit by decades of population declines, young men increasingly outnumber young women, a new study of Kansas and Nebraska census data shows. In places with 800 or fewer residents, the proportion of young men increased by an average of nearly 40 percent as people went from their teens to their 20s. Those findings suggest leaders should consider the needs of young women in their economic and community development plans, said Robert Shepard, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln doctoral candidate ...

A new University of British Columbia study identifies when the clock runs out on an NHL player's peak performance, giving team executives insight into how best to build a roster. The study by Sauder School of Business professor James Brander found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defencemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age. The forthcoming study to be published in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports also reveals that players performed close to their peak levels for a ...

This news release is available in German. Custom-tailored antibodies are regarded as promising weapons against a multitude of serious illnesses. Since they can accurately recognize specific structures on the surface of viruses, bacteria or cancer cells, they are already being deployed successfully in cancer diagnostics and therapy, as well as against numerous other diseases. The stability of the sensitive antibodies is a decisive factor in every step, from production and storage to therapeutic application. A team of researchers headed by Dr. Matthias J. Feige and ...

It's common knowledge that all organisms inherit their mitochondria – the cell's "power plants" – from their mothers. But what happens to all the father's mitochondria? Surprisingly, how – and why – paternal mitochondria are prevented from getting passed on to their offspring after fertilization is still shrouded in mystery; the only thing that's certain is that there must be a compelling reason, seeing as this phenomenon has been conserved throughout evolution. Now, Dr. Eli Arama and a team in the Weizmann Institute's Molecular Genetics Department have discovered special ...

Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have uncovered evidence that sugar has a direct effect on risk factors for heart disease, and is likely to impact on blood pressure, independent of weight gain. Research Fellow with Otago's Department of Human Nutrition Dr Lisa Te Morenga, Professor Jim Mann and colleagues have conducted a review and meta-analysis of all international studies that compared the effects of higher versus lower added sugar consumption on blood pressure and lipids (blood fats or cholesterol) – both of which are important cardiovascular risk-factors. They ...

Mindfulness. Zen. Acem. Meditation drumming. Chakra. Buddhist and transcendental meditation. There are countless ways of meditating, but the purpose behind them all remains basically the same: more peace, less stress, better concentration, greater self-awareness and better processing of thoughts and feelings. But which of these techniques should a poor stressed-out wretch choose? What does the research say? Very little – at least until now. A team of researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the University of Oslo and the University ...

Roughly 25 million Africans live with HIV, many of who now have access to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). Among their side effects, ARVs can cause patients to put on weight. Subsequently, attention paid to malnutrition among African HIV patients has waned. However, widespread malnutrition has been identified as a reason that up to a quarter of HIV patients in a number of African countries die just months after beginning medical treatment. A collaborative project between the University of Copenhagen and Jimma University, Ethiopia has demonstrated that daily nutritional supplementation ...

Using modern weather satellites to monitor rainfall has become a robust, widely practiced technique. However, establishing a reliable context for relating space-based rainfall observations to current and historical ground-based rainfall data has been difficult. A new dataset developed in partnership between UC Santa Barbara and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) can be used for environmental monitoring and drought early warning. The Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS), a collaboration between UCSB's Climate Hazards Group and USGS's Earth ...

Berkeley — A new study of preschools and day care centers finds that flame retardants are prevalent indoors, potentially exposing young children to chemicals known to be hazardous. The study, to appear online Thursday, May 15, in the journal Chemosphere, was led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and funded by the California Air Resources Board. Although many infants and young children spend up to 50 hours per week in day care, the study authors noted that this paper represents the first systematic review of flame retardants in early child care ...

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds enough water to raise global seas by several feet, is thinning. Scientists have been warning of its collapse, based on theories, but with few firm predictions or timelines. University of Washington researchers used detailed topography maps and computer modeling to show that the collapse appears to have already begun. The fast-moving Thwaites Glacier will likely disappear in a matter of centuries, researchers say, raising sea level by nearly 2 feet. That glacier also acts as a linchpin on the rest of the ice sheet, which contains ...

NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2014 — A novel targeted drug shows promise in treating patients with advanced pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS), a rare neoplastic joint disorder, according to new phase I data from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and other institutions highlighted to media today in advance of the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which will take place from May 30 to June 3 in Chicago. At the time of interim analysis, 11 of 14 evaluable patients (79 percent) had a partial response to the drug and three patients ...

Hospital transfers happened more often after surgery at critical access hospitals (CAHs) but the proportion of patients using post-acute care was equal to or less than that of patients treated at non-CAHs. The CAH designation was created to provide financial support to rural hospitals. As such, they are exempt from Medicare's Prospective Payment System and instead are paid cost-based reimbursement. The proliferation of CAHs after the payment policy change has increased interest in the quality and cost of care these facilities provide. The authors used data from ...

Individuals prenatally exposed to tobacco smoke exhibited weaker response in some regions of the brain while processing a task that measures inhibition control (the ability to control inappropriate responses). Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure is a risk factor for adverse physical and mental outcomes in children. Growing evidence suggests that smoking during pregnancy may increase the risk of psychopathology such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Research on ADHD has suggested that individuals with the disorder may exhibit poor inhibitory control. Functional ...

Reduction in brain volume in the hippocampus (a region related to memory) was seen in patients with the psychotic disorders schizophrenia (SZ), schizoaffective disorder (SZA) and psychotic bipolar disorder (BPP). The pathophysiology of psychotic disorders remains unclear, especially SZ. Changes in volume in the hippocampus are a hallmark of SZ. Advances in image processing allow for the precise parceling of specific hippocampal areas. The authors conducted a neuroimaging study in patients with psychotic disorders and healthy volunteers as part of the multisite ...

This past November, NASA launched the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission in the hope of understanding how and why the planet has been losing its atmosphere over billions of years. One instrument aboard the spacecraft will study a special component of the Martian atmosphere to help solve this mystery. By studying ions, or small electrically charged particles, in and above the Red Planet's tenuous atmosphere, the Solar Wind Ion Analyzer will help answer why Mars has gradually lost much of its atmosphere, developing into a frozen, barren planet. Once ...

Even if treated, hypertension and high cholesterol are increasingly common for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to a new study from researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt hospitals in New York and the University of California, Davis. The finding – published online in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes – leads the study authors to recommend greater emphasis on cardiology in HIV treatment and research. The study authors examined medical records for a diverse group of 4,278 outpatients in New York City ...