New Rochelle, NY, October 6, 2014—While poker is a game of chance, there is skill and decision-making involved, and the quality of those decisions depends on both knowledge of the game and the ability to control one's emotions. The results of a new study that evaluates emotionality, experience level, and success among online poker players are presented in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Majorities of media researchers, parents and pediatricians agree that exposure to violent media can increase aggression in children, according to a new national study. The study found that 66 percent of researchers, 67 percent of parents and 90 percent of pediatricians agree or strongly agree that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children. Majorities of these groups also believed that children's aggressive behavior can be fueled by viewing violent video games, movies, TV programs, and Internet sites. However, fewer than ...

Imagine being able to tune the properties of a solid material just by flashing pulses of light on it, for example turning an insulator into a superconductor. That is just one potential payoff down-the-road from the physical phenomenon of electrons and atoms interacting with ultrashort pulses of light. The technology of ultrafast spectroscopy is a key to understanding this phenomenon and now a new wrinkle to that technology has been introduced by Berkeley Lab researchers. In a study led by Alessandra Lanzara of Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division, time- and angle-resolved ...

Rabies causes acute inflammation of the brain, producing psychosis and violent aggression. The virus, which paralyzes the body's internal organs, is always deadly for those unable to obtain vaccines in time. Some 55,000 people die from rabies every year. For the first time, Tel Aviv University scientists have discovered the exact mechanism this killer virus uses to efficiently enter the central nervous system, where it erupts in a toxic explosion of symptoms. The study, published in PLOS Pathogens, was conducted by Dr. Eran Perlson and Shani Gluska of TAU's Sackler Faculty ...

Obesity is a risk factor for many health problems, but a new Penn Medicine study published this month in the journal Sleep suggests having a larger tongue with increased levels of fat may be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in obese adults. The researchers examined tongue fat in 31 obese adults who had OSA and 90 obese adults without the condition. All subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging and the size and distribution of upper airway fat deposits in their tongue and upper airway muscles measured. "Previous studies showed that the human tongue has a high ...

A University of Texas at Arlington team exploring how neuron growth can be controlled in the lab and, possibly, in the human body has published a new paper in Nature Scientific Reports on how fluid flow could play a significant role. In a new study co-authored by Samarendra Mohanty, leader of the Biophysics and Physiology Lab in the College of Science, the researchers were able to use microfluidic stimulations to change the path of an axon at an angle of up to 90 degrees. Axons are the shafts of neurons, on the tips of which connections are made with other neurons or cells. ...

URBANA, Ill. – Hardly a day passes without pundits crying for leadership in the NFL commissioner and team owners, among high-ranking government officials, and in other public figures. If University of Illinois experts didn't have evidence that this valuable trait can be taught, they might join the collective swoon that's engulfing much of the country. But a new U of I study supports the idea that leaders are made, not born, and that leadership development follows a specific progression. Past research suggests that leadership is 30 percent genetic and 70 percent a result ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue researchers have identified a set of genes that can be used to naturally boost the provitamin A content of corn kernels, a finding that could help combat vitamin A deficiency in developing countries and macular degeneration in the elderly. Professor of agronomy Torbert Rocheford and fellow researchers found gene variations that can be selected to change nutritionally poor white corn into biofortified orange corn with high levels of provitamin A carotenoids - substances that the human body can convert into vitamin A. Vitamin A plays key roles ...

NEW YORK (October 6, 2014) – Investigators at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University will present their latest research on neonatal lung disease, reducing wrong-patient errors in the NICU, hormonal contraception and more at the AAP Experience, the National Conference & Exhibition of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP Experience will take place October 11-14 in San Diego, California. Judy Aschner, M.D., F.A.A.P., physician-in-chief, CHAM, professor of pediatrics and Michael I. Cohen, M.D., University ...

Hamilton, ON (October 6, 2014) – A research study out of McMaster University has found that only 40 per cent of Canadians exercise to cope with stress. The researchers analyzed data from Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians 15 and older. Of 13 coping behaviours or strategies polled, exercise was ranked eighth, meaning people were more likely to cope with stress by problem-solving; looking on the bright side, trying to relax, talking to others, blaming oneself, ignoring stress or praying, rather than being active. "We know ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The initial motivation was to estimate the age structure of a fruit fly population, the result a fundamental theorem that can help determine the age distribution of essentially any group. This emerging theorem on stationary populations shows that you can determine the age distribution of a population by looking at how long they still have to live. The mathematical discovery can help produce data with a wide range of implications, from predicting rates of infectious diseases, such as West Nile virus spread by mosquitoes, to anticipating the health care ...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2014— Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer type in the United States, and it's also the deadliest form of skin cancer, causing more than 75 percent of skin-cancer deaths. If caught early enough though, it is almost always curable. Now a camera, capable of taking snapshots of the entire human body and rendering high-resolution images of a patient's skin may help doctors spot cancer early and save lives. Developed by a team of researchers at Duke University in North Carolina, USA, the "gigapixel whole-body photographic camera" is essentially three ...

Many US patients with liver cancer—even those with early stage disease that can often be cured—do not receive treatment for their disease, according to an analysis of studies published between 1989 and 2013. Less than one fourth of patients undergo curative treatment, and nearly 50% do not receive any treatment. Elderly, non-Caucasians and patients of low socioeconomic status had lower treatment rates than their counterparts. "We found the low treatment rates among patients with early stage tumors particularly concerning. Many of these patients currently fail to receive ...

Vitamin D deficiency is linked with advanced stages of liver cancer and may be an indicator of a poor prognosis, according to a study of 200 patients with the disease who were followed for an average of 46 weeks. Blood levels of vitamin D negatively correlated with stages of the disease, and patients with severe vitamin D deficiency had more than a 2-fold increased risk of dying during the study, according to Dr. Oliver Waidmann, senior author of the Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics study. INFORMATION: ...

A new phase 1 safety trial has demonstrated that idarubicin-loaded beads are well tolerated by patients but are toxic to liver cancer cells. Idarubicin is an anthracycline that is currently used to treat leukemias. Two months into the 21-patient trial, the tumors of 28% of patients had complete responses to the drug, and the tumors of 24% of patients had a partial response. The findings are published in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. INFORMATION: ...

Eating lots of white meat (such as poultry) or fish may reduce the risk of developing liver cancer by 31% and 22%, respectively, according to a recent analysis of studies published between 1956 and 2013. Consuming red meat, processed meat, or total meat was not associated with liver cancer risk. The Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics findings suggest that dietary interventions may be a promising approach for preventing liver cancer. INFORMATION: ...

While all prescription opioids can be abused, oxycodone may be more potent in its ability to promote changes in the brain relevant to addiction. A new study in the European Journal of Neuroscience revealed greater increases of dopamine in the brain following the delivery of oxycodone compared with morphine. The release of dopamine, a chemical messenger between neurons, is consistently tied with reward and motivation. The study's investigators say that it is essential to understand how drugs differentially alter brain chemistry if we hope to understand addiction and ...

Efforts to reduce China's carbon dioxide emissions are being offset by the country's rampant economic growth, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Research published today in Nature Climate Change reveals how carbon efficiency has improved in nearly all Chinese provinces. But the country's economic boom has simultaneously led to a growth in CO2-emitting activities such as mining, metal smelting and coal-fired electricity generation – negating any gains. According to the study, China, the world's largest producer of CO2 emissions, increased ...

This issue was supported by the Qatar Foundation and World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Hamad Medical Corporation, Imperial College London, and The Commonwealth Fund. How is accountable care taking shape internationally? Mark McClellan of the Brookings Institution and coauthors seek to offer a global description of an accountable care system and a mechanism to assess related reforms. They suggest five components for a framework applicable internationally: population, outcomes, metrics and learning, payments and incentives, and coordinated delivery. They also ...

A new and potentially more revealing way of studying how animal evolution is affected by the geography of climate has been designed by researchers at The University of Nottingham and Harvard University. The research, published in the prestigious journal, The American Naturalist, uses a new approach to investigate how animals across (interspecific) and within (intraspecific) species change in size along temperature gradients, shedding light on a 150-year-old evolutionary puzzle. Bergmann's rule — the tendency for warm-blooded animal body size to increase in colder environments ...

Life on the Antarctic sea floor is under threat from crabs that could invade the area thanks to favorable conditions as a result of global warming, researchers warn. In a Journal of Biogeography editorial, experts say invasive species degrade marine ecosystems by preying on or outcompeting local species. Early signs of biological invasion are already apparent. "Biological invasion is a major worry in the Arctic," said lead author Dr. Richard Aronson, "but we should be just as concerned about the Antarctic." Assessing the extent of the problem requires long-term monitoring ...

LIVERMORE, California -- Using satellite observations and a large suite of climate models, Lawrence Livermore scientists have found that long-term ocean warming in the upper 700 meters has likely been underestimated. "This underestimation is a result of poor sampling prior to the last decade and limitations of the analysis methods that conservatively estimated temperature changes in data-sparse regions," said LLNL oceanographer Paul Durack, lead author of a paper appearing in the October 5th issue of the journal Nature Climate Change. Ocean heat storage is important ...

Among couples with marriage-like commitments, same-sex couples have a similar break-up rate as heterosexual couples, according to a recent study. The study also found that same-sex couples with a marriage-like commitment have stable unions regardless of government recognition. The findings come from a nationally representative survey of 3,009 couples (471 same-sex) who were followed between 2009 and 2013. "The marriage commitment is associated with a strong benefit in couple stability for both heterosexual couples and same-sex couples," said Dr. Michael J. Rosenfeld, ...

G-spot, vaginal, or clitoral orgasms are all incorrect terms, experts say. In a recent Clinical Anatomy review, they argue that like 'male orgasm', 'female orgasm' is the correct term. The authors note that the majority of women worldwide do not have orgasms during intercourse: as a matter of fact, female sexual dysfunctions are popular because they are based on something that does not exist, i.e. the vaginal orgasm. The key to female orgasm is the female penis—the clitoris, vestibular bulbs and pars intermedia, labia minora, and corpus spongiosum of the female urethra. ...

Familiar voices can improve spoken language processing among school-age children, according to a study by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. However, the advantage of hearing a familiar voice only helps children to process and understand words they already know well, not new words that aren't in their vocabularies. The findings, which were published online in August in the Journal of Child Language, suggest that children store information about a speaker to retrieve and harness at a later time, similar to what has been found for adult ...