When President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney square off in their first debate Wednesday, college students across the country will pilot test a new smartphone application that promises to make live polling possible for the first time on a large scale. So far more than 175 political science professors nationwide have registered some 12,000 students to field test the real-time polling app, developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis, the University of Maryland, and the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. "Most polling is done after a ...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Asian Americans — who account for 10 percent of registered voters in California — support a tax measure proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, are closely divided on the death penalty ballot measure, overwhelmingly support affirmative action, and support tax increases on high earners to close the federal budget deficit, according to two new reports from the National Asian American Survey. The reports — "The 2012 General Election: Public Opinion of Asian Americans in California" and "The Policy Priorities and Issue Preferences of Asian Americans in California" ...

Sydney, Australia - For the first time, a team of Australian engineers has modelled the microscopic mechanics of a sea urchin's spine, gaining insight into how these unusual creatures withstand impacts in their aquatic environment. The skeleton of the purple-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii), found in tidal waters along the coast of New South Wales, has many long spines extending from its core. These spiky features are used for walking, sensing their environment, and for protection against predators and rough surf. The long hollow spines are made from a ...

CHICAGO—Colon cancer patients living in rural areas are less likely to receive an early diagnosis, chemotherapy, or thorough surgical treatment when compared with patients living in urban areas. Rural residents are also more likely to die from their colon cancer than urban patients, according to new research findings from surgeons at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The study was presented earlier today at the American College of Surgeons 2012 Annual Clinical Congress. Colorectal cancer is the third-leading ...

VIDEO: This shows the making of the Heterodontosaurus flesh model. Muscles, skin, scales and quills are added to a skull cast of Heterodontosaurus. Click here for more information. The single specimen of the new species was originally chipped out of red rock in southern Africa in the 1960's and discovered in a collection of fossils at Harvard University by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno, paleontologist and professor at the University of Chicago. Details ...

OTTAWA, October 3, 2012 – A new ground-breaking technology was recently used at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) where two cardiologists, Dr. David Birnie and Dr. Pablo Nery, implanted a new innovative leadless defibrillator, the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD), to a 18 year-old patient. Under Health Canada's special access program, this was only the third time this new type of ICD had been implanted in Canada. Conventional defibrillators, known as transvenous defibrillators, are implanted with wires, called the leads, that snake ...

Engineers and city planners study surface geology in order to construct buildings that can respond safely to earthquakes. Soft soil amplifies seismic waves, resulting in stronger ground motion than for sites built over bedrock. This study examines the local site response for the city of Ottawa, and the results indicate seismic waves may amplify ground motion greater than expected or referenced in the National Building Code of Canada. Current knowledge of the earthquake activity in Ottawa area is based on less than 200 years of reported felt events and approximately ...

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have developed a new technique which has the potential to kill off hospital superbugs like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, C. difficile and MRSA. As revealed in the most recent edition of leading journal PloS One, the novel method uses a cold plasma jet to rapidly penetrate dense bacterial structures known as biofilms which bind bacteria together and make them resistant to conventional chemical approaches. The new approach developed by scientists in the School of Mathematics and Physics and the School of Pharmacy at Queen's passes electrical ...

St. Louis, MO, October 3, 2012 -- Historical impact and modern media stereotypes of nurses offer a fascinating contrast in the September/October issue of Nursing Outlook, published by Elsevier, the leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Nursing Outlook celebrates 60 years of leading the nursing field in 2012 with two special issues. "Supplement Issue: Nursing and the Media" Millions of viewers watch nurses being portrayed on TV shows, news and movies. Yet, many of these portrayals display an outdated and incorrect image ...

New York, October 3, 2012 – In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that numbers of women in the science, technology and innovation fields are alarmingly low in the world's leading economies, and are actually on the decline in others, including the United States. The study maps the opportunities and obstacles faced by women in science across the US, EU, Brazil, South Africa, India, Korea and Indonesia. It was conducted by experts in international gender, science and technology issues from Women in Global Science & Technology and the Organization for Women ...

Mexiletine, a decades-old drug previously used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, has been used to alleviate the symptoms of patients with nondystrophic myotonias (NDMs), rare diseases that affect the skeletal muscle and cause functionally limiting stiffness and pain. The preliminary research, published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that taking mexiletine can improve patient-reported stiffness. NDMs are estimated to affect about 1 in every 100,000 people. They are not life-threatening, but can be debilitating, as patients' muscles contract ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- No kidding: The history of the first anchorman may have more to do with Will Ferrell than people might think, according to new research by a journalism historian at Indiana University. While Ferrell is best known for playing Ron Burgundy in the 2004 comedy "Anchorman," he also famously parodied "Jeopardy" game show host Alex Trebek. Research by Mike Conway, an associate professor of journalism at IU, has found that the first "anchor man" was John Cameron Swayze, then a regular on the 1948 quiz show, "Who Said That?" Some today may remember Swayze, ...

Mental health workers are more likely to be depressed or anxious when they experience discrimination from their managers than when it comes from patients, a study has found. Discrimination from the patients' visitors also causes more distress than discrimination from the patients. A research team led by Professor Stephen Wood at the University of Leicester's School of Management looked at the effects of prejudice, including sex, racial and age discrimination, from different groups of people on mental health workers. The study, funded by the Department of Health ...

The second highest cause of automobile crashes is rear-end collisions – 17 percent. Thousands of people die. The solution? "It is simple," said Clay Gabler, a professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech. "Slow the striking vehicle." The concept is simple. Execution is complex and expensive. But in a life-and-death scenario, it is worth the investment, agree Gabler and Kristofer Kusano of Herndon, Va., a doctoral student in mechanical engineering. In affiliation with the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest Center for Injury Biomechanics and the Virginia Tech Transportation ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A new Indiana University study is the first of its kind to show it may be possible to improve memory and thought process speed among breast cancer survivors. Diane M. Von Ah, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor at the IU School of Nursing and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, and colleagues studied two different treatment options for breast cancer survivors because they often report problems with memory or feelings of mental slowness, which can lead to depression, anxiety, fatigue and an overall poorer quality of life. ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A new study in the journal Geology is shedding light on the brief but violent lives of maar-diatreme volcanoes, which erupt when magma and water meet in an explosive marriage below the surface of the earth. Maar-diatremes belong to a family of volcanoes known as monogenetic volcanoes. These erupt just once before dying, though some eruptions last for years. Though not particularly famous, monogenetic volcanoes are actually the most common form of land-based volcano on the planet. Despite their number, monogenetic volcanoes are poorly understood, said ...

Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PancCa) is a deadly disease, with essentially 100% mortality. Screening for the early detection of such cancer has not been shown to be feasible, and is currently not advised for asymptomatic people. Except for a genetic link for a small percentage of patients who have familial disease, the causes of PancCa are not known. Among environmental factors that have been implicated in some studies are smoking, heavy alcohol use, high-fat diet, excessive intake of carbonated soft drinks, obesity, chronic pancreatitis, and diabetes. Previous ...

Providence, RI - A much anticipated addition to the revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5) is questionable according to research findings. The newly revised DSM-5, the first alterations since it was last revised in 1994, includes attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS), a new diagnosis that would identify those impaired by preliminary psychotic symptoms that do not meet the threshold for an existing diagnosis as having a psychotic disorder. In an effort to understand the impact this new diagnosis would have in a real clinical setting, ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Mothers who experience economic and psychological abuse during the first year of a relationship with their child's father are more likely to become depressed and spank the child in year five, researchers from the Rutgers School of Social Work have found. The Rutgers team, which studied the impact of intimate partner violence – known as IPV – and the effects of such violence over time on women, also determined psychological abuse experiences during the first year of the relationship had a significant effect on the level of mothers' engagement with ...

Montreal, October 3, 2012 – With immigration on the rise, the use of English as a second language is sweeping the world. People who have grown up speaking French, Italian, Mandarin or any other language are now expected to be able to communicate effectively using this new lingua franca. How understandable are they in this second language? Instead of assuming that someone who sounds different is not communicating effectively, we need to listen beyond the accent, says Concordia University applied linguist Pavel Trofimovich and his University of Bristol colleague, Talia ...

October 3, 2012 -- Survey results released today reveal that an overwhelming majority of clinicians believe that the electronic exchange of health information will have a positive impact on improving the quality of patient care, coordinating care, meeting the demands of new care models, and participating in third-party reporting and incentive programs. The American College of Physicians (ACP), the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Doctors Helping Doctors Transform Health Care developed the survey and analyzed 527 responses in the report Clinician Perspectives on Electronic ...

For immediate release - Oct., 3 (Toronto) - The risk of death resulting from heart attack is higher in people with schizophrenia than in the general public, according to scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). On average, people with schizophrenia have a lifespan 20 years shorter than the general population. This is partly due to factors such as smoking, increased rates of diabetes, and metabolic problems brought on by the use of some antipsychotic medications. These factors often worsen ...

An older medication originally approved to treat heart problems eases the symptoms of a very rare muscle disease that often leaves its sufferers stiff and in a good deal of pain, physicians and researchers report in the Oct. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings are good news not only for the relatively small number of people around the world estimated to have nondystrophic myotonia, but also for many other patients who have one of the thousands of diseases that are very rare, according to neurologists at the University of Rochester ...

Fertility treatment has a strong emotional impact on women who want to have children. A study of European countries with the highest number of assisted reproduction cycles identifies which aspects of reproduction treatment contribute to psychological stress. Inability to conceive is extremely stressful for women who want to have a family. This notion is shown by a study published in the 'Human Reproduction' journal on patients in four countries with the highest number of cases of assisted reproduction cycles in Europe: France, Germany, Italy and Spain. "Infertility ...

(WASHINGTON, October 3, 2012) – New research appearing online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), suggests that long-term survivors of hematopoietic cell transplants (HCT) are at an increased risk of developing heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol when compared to the general population. These risk factors, combined with exposure to pre-HCT therapy, contribute to a noticeably increased risk of heart disease over time. HCT, the transplantation of blood-forming stem cells from the bone ...