Despite an unprecedented rate of economic growth, Chinese people are less happy overall than they were two decades ago, reveals timely new research from economist Richard Easterlin, one of the founders of the field of "happiness economics" and namesake of the Easterlin Paradox. In 1990, at the beginning of China's economic transformation, a large majority of Chinese people across age, education, income levels, and regions reported high levels of life satisfaction. Sixty-eight percent of those in the wealthiest income bracket and 65 percent of those in the poorest income ...

Anthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research, reported in the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans. The research team, comprised of more than a dozen scientists from American and European universities and research institutions, has been excavating at the site ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study led by Brown University researchers reports that percutaneous endoscopic gastric (PEG) feeding tubes, long assumed to help bedridden dementia patients stave off or overcome pressure ulcers, may instead make the horrible sores more likely to develop or not improve. The analysis of thousands of nursing home patients with advanced dementia appears in the May 14 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "This study provides new information about the risks of feeding tube insertion in people with advanced cognitive impairment," ...

What is the connection, if any, between sudden cardiac death and people with HIV/AIDS? And can that knowledge help prolong their lives? In a comprehensive, 10-year UCSF study, researchers found patients with HIV/AIDS suffered sudden cardiac death at a rate four times higher than the general population. "As part of my ongoing research in 2010, we were looking at every instance of sudden death in San Francisco," said first author Zian H. Tseng, MD, an electrophysiologist and an associate professor of medicine in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. "I noticed that many of ...

A new study describes a compound that selectively kills cancer cells by restoring the structure and function of one of the most commonly mutated proteins in human cancer, the "tumor suppressor" p53. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 15th issue of the journal Cancer Cell, uses a novel, computer based strategy to identify potential anti-cancer drugs, including one that targets the third most common p53 mutation in human cancer, p53-R175H. The number of new cancer patients harboring this mutation in the United States who would potentially benefit from this ...

Asymptomatic patients who undergo treadmill exercise echocardiography (ExE) after coronary revascularization may be identified as being at high risk but those patients do not appear to have more favorable outcomes with repeated revascularization, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The article is part of the journal's Less is More series. Cardiac events and recurrent ischemia (a temporary shortage of oxygen caused by impaired blood flow; identified in the study as new or worsening cardiac wall motion ...

According to a small clinical trial reported by investigators from Japan, acupuncture appears to be associated with improvement of dyspnea (labored breathing) on exertion, in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The management of dyspnea is an important target in the treatment of COPD, a common respiratory disease characterized by irreversible airflow limitation. COPD is predicted to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020, according ...

Among African Americans with type 1 diabetes mellitus, narrower central retinal arteriolar equivalent (average diameter of the small arteries in the retina) is associated with an increased risk of six-year incidence of any cardiovascular disease and lower extremity arterial disease, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication. "Retinal arteriolar narrowing has long been described as one of the characteristic changes associated with hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD)," the authors write as background information ...

PITTSBURGH, May 14 - A small, external bioreactor holding human cells pumped out an anti-inflammatory protein to prevent organ damage and other complications in a rat with acute inflammation caused by bacterial products in a model of sepsis, according to a report from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The findings were published today in the inaugural issue of Disruptive Science and Technology. Inflammation is a necessary biological response that brings cells and proteins to the site of ...

Major depressive episodes can be prevented, and to help ensure that they are, the health care system should provide routine access to depression-prevention interventions, just as patients receive standard vaccines, according to a new article co-authored by UCSF researcher Ricardo F. Muñoz, PhD. The article builds on a 2009 Institute of Medicine report on prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, which provided presented evidence that mental disorders can be prevented. The article, "Major Depression Can Be Prevented," will appear in a special section ...

DETROIT – Henry Ford Hospital researchers have found that the presence of excess protein in a common urine test is an effective prognostic marker of acute renal failure in patients with severe sepsis. Researchers analyzed data from 328 sepsis patients with no previous history of protein in the urine and found the urine dipstick test predicted the presence of renal failure in 55 percent of these patients. A urine dipstick test is routinely done as part of a urinalysis to help diagnose urinary tract infections, kidney disease, diabetes and sepsis, the deadly bloodstream ...

Researchers at the University of Leeds have found a previously unknown mechanism through which pain is signalled by nerve cells – a discovery that could explain the current failings in the drug development process for painkillers and which may offer opportunities for a new approach. The team, led by Dr Nikita Gamper of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences, is investigating the difference between persistent pain, such as toothache, and pain that results from the increased sensitivity of nerves in injured or diseased tissue (for example when we touch inflamed ...

Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), in collaboration with doctors and scientists in Jordan, Turkey, Switzerland and USA, have identified the genetic cause of a birth defect known as Hamamy syndrome . Their groundbreaking findings were published on May 13th in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics. The work lends new insights into common ailments such as heart disease, osteoporosis, blood disorders and possibly sterility. Hamamy syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which is marked by abnormal facial features and defects in the heart, bone, blood ...

Research shows that street furniture, barriers, parks, public spaces and neighbourhood architecture can stir up powerful emotions in local residents. This should be taken into account in programmes designed to reduce tensions and foster community cohesion. Four cities - Amsterdam, Beirut, Belfast and Berlin were chosen as the location of the research as each has a different social history and underlying tensions. The project was undertaken by Dr Ralf Brand of the University of Manchester and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Dr Brand found ...

This is one of the principle conclusions of a study that has been published in the scientific journal Current Biology. Participants in the study included Evan Balaban (McGill University, Montreal), Manuel Desco (Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital of Madrid and UC3M) and Juan José Vaquero (UC3M). The researchers managed to arouse a chicken embryo by exposing it to a sound that would have meaning after its birth (for example, the sound of a chicken warning others of danger). However, their study has demonstrated that the animal does not have the same reaction when ...

Banning and criminalising the Muslim face veil tests the very foundations of modern liberal society, warn researchers from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Sussex. The paper 'Reasons to Ban? The Anti-Burqa Movement in Western Europe' examines the move to legislate against, and to criminalise face-veiling which has swept across the EU recently. The European movement against face-veiling is now widespread, with calls to implement a ban, or a ban being in place, in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Germany. This move ...

Hospitals in large cities act as breeding grounds for the superbug MRSA prior to it spreading to smaller hospitals, a study suggests. Researchers found evidence that shows for the first time how the superbug spreads between different hospitals throughout the country. The University of Edinburgh study involved looking at the genetic make-up of more than 80 variants of a major clone of MRSA found in hospitals. Scientists were able to determine the entire genetic code of MRSA bacteria taken from infected patients. They then identified mutations in the bug which led ...

About 45 real-world senior engineering projects from the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and will go on display from noon-3 p.m., on Wednesday, May 16, in UC's Tangeman University Center. The projects represent work by seniors in electrical engineering, electrical engineering technology, computer engineering, computer engineering technology and computer science. Below is a sampling of the projects you will see TWIPOLITICO Seniors Jorge Moscat Pardos, Chris Nixon and Opeyemi Oyediran created a site and application, titled "Twipolitico," that analyzes ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In an era of tight funding, school districts across the country are cutting their athletic budgets. Many schools are implementing athletic participation fees to cover the cost of school sports. But those fees have forced kids in lower-income families to the sidelines, according to a new poll that found nearly one in five lower-income parents report their children are participating less in school sports. The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health recently asked parents of middle- and high-school-age children ...

A number of studies have shown that it is possible to lengthen the average life of individuals of many species, including mammals, by acting on specific genes. To date, however, this has meant altering the animals' genes permanently from the embryonic stage – an approach impracticable in humans. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by its director María Blasco, have proved that mouse lifespan can be extended by the application in adult life of a single treatment acting directly on the animal's genes. And they have done so using gene therapy, ...

Research from North Carolina State University will allow the development of energy-efficient LED devices that use ultraviolet (UV) light to kill pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. The technology has a wide array of applications ranging from drinking-water treatment to sterilizing surgical tools. "UV treatment utilizing LEDs would be more cost-effective, energy efficient and longer lasting," says Dr. Ramón Collazo, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the research. "Our work would also allow ...

Functional sportswear is taken for granted nowadays. It is quite unexceptional for a sports jacket, for instance, to be both waterproof and breathable. In the case of working clothes, the functionality is mostly restricted to personal protection against fire, sharp objects, chemicals and so on, with wearer comfort (mostly) not being significance top priority. Bullet-proof vests made of Kevlar, as their name suggests, hold off bullets but they are also impenetrable for water vapor. Thus police personnel who must wear such gear under their uniforms sweat profusely when the ...

A curious twist in a family of plant proteins called chalcone-isomerase recently was discovered by Salk Institute for Biological Studies scientist Joseph Noel and colleagues at Iowa State University led by Eve Wurtele. Pursuing basic scientific discovery, they found three similar proteins that could soon translate into positive results for bio-renewable fuels, commodity chemicals like plastics, food security and nutrition and biomedicine. The findings, reported May 13 in advance online publication of the journal Nature, may lead to higher-yield crops and quantities of ...

Philadelphia, PA, May 14, 2012 – Health professionals commonly say, "Don't look and it won't hurt" before administering an injection, but is there any scientific basis for the advice? A group of German investigators has found that, in fact, your past experience with needle pricks, along with information you receive before an injection, shape your pain experience. Their research is published in the May issue of Pain®. "Throughout our lives, we repeatedly experience that needles cause pain when pricking our skin, but situational expectations, like information given by ...

INDIANAPOLIS — A new study from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University has found that, at time of death, individuals with dementia are more likely to be living at home than in a nursing home. This contradicts the commonly held view that most individuals with dementia in the United States eventually move to nursing homes and die there. "Transitions in Care for Older Adults With and Without Dementia" appears online in advance of publication in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Most individuals with dementia, even advanced ...