The psychological impact of natural disasters such as the Japan earthquake can be revealed in the way people inherently respond to unpredictable situations, according to a psychology expert at Queen Mary, University of London. Dr Magda Osman, Psychology Lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London, and author of Controlling Uncertainty: Decision-making and Learning in Complex Worlds, said the disaster had a devastating immediate effect on tens of thousands of people in Japan but the true psychological impact will be felt "for some time to come". "A disaster like the ...

A new plant species is providing an insight into how evolution works and could help improve crop plants, scientists have revealed. The new plant species, Tragopogon miscellus, appeared in the United States 80 years ago. It came about when two species in the daisy family, introduced from Europe, mated to produce a hybrid offspring. The species had mated before in Europe, but the hybrids were never successful. However in America something new happened. The number of chromosomes in the hybrid spontaneously doubled, and at once it became larger than its parents and quickly ...

eMaint Enterprises, headquartered in Marlton, New Jersey has provided maintenance management software solutions since 1986. Dedicated to successful CMMS implementation, eMaint is pleased to be a contributing sponsor of the CMMS-2011 Computerized Maintenance Management Summit, a learning and networking event designed for those seeking to implement a new CMMS/EAM or reimplement an existing CMMS/EAM for more effective maintenance management and decision support. The Summit will take place at the Reliability Performance Institute in Fort Myers, Florida on April 11 - 13, 2011. eMaint's ...

A study by the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), analysing the impact of the labour reforms introduced over the past 30 years and the living conditions of new generations, asserts that these reforms have been the origin and cause of the current development model based on the exploitation of young people. "The study indicates that the Spanish economic development model over the past three decades – with high rates of economic growth and job creation – is based on the 'over-exploitation of the youngest generations of workers'", Pablo López Calle, author of the paper, ...

The tendency to perceive others as "us versus them" isn't exclusively human but appears to be shared by our primate cousins, a new study led by Yale researchers has found. In a series of ingenious experiments, Yale researchers led by psychologist Laurie Santos showed that monkeys treat individuals from outside their groups with the same suspicion and dislike as their human cousins tend to treat outsiders, suggesting that the roots of human intergroup conflict may be evolutionarily quite ancient. The findings are reported in the March issue of the Journal of Personality ...

Carbon nanofibers hold promise for technologies ranging from medical imaging devices to precise scientific measurement tools, but the time and expense associated with uniformly creating nanofibers of the correct size has been an obstacle – until now. A new study from North Carolina State University demonstrates an improved method for creating carbon nanofibers of specific sizes, as well as explaining the science behind the method. "Carbon nanofibers have a host of potential applications, but their utility is affected by their diameter – and controlling the diameter of ...

Badbeat.com, the original and leading online poker staking business, will be donating 10% of ALL affiliate revenue generated by the Badbeat players on Friday 18th March to Comic Relief in support of Red Nose Day. The Badbeat management has urged their players to help change lives both in the UK and across Africa, challenging them to raise as much money as possible playing poker day and night! "Red Nose Day is a day like no other; when the whole country gets together to help change countless lives," said Badbeat Managing Director, John Conroy. "We're incredibly happy ...

MIAMI – March 17, 2010 -- University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science scientist Chris Langdon and colleagues developed a new tool to monitor coral reef vital signs. By accurately measuring their biological pulse, scientists can better assess how climate change and other ecological threats impact coral reef health worldwide. During a March 2009 experiment at Cayo Enrique Reef in Puerto Rico, the team tested two new methods to monitor biological productivity. They compared a technique that measures changes in dissolved oxygen within ...

Using skin cells from adult siblings with schizophrenia and a genetic mutation linked to major mental illnesses, Johns Hopkins researchers have created induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) using a new and improved "clean" technique. Reporting online February 22 in Molecular Psychiatry, the team confirms the establishment of two new lines of iPS cells with mutations in the gene named Disrupted In Schizophrenia 1, or DISC1. They made the cells using a nonviral "epiosomal vector" that jumpstarts the reprogramming machinery of cells without modifying their original ...

Researchers at the University of Granada have proved that neuropsychological rehabilitation helps in significantly reducing cognitive, emotional and behavioural after-effects in patients with acquired brain injury, generaly due to traumatic brain injury and ictus. These patients should not wait to be treated later by the social services, since early intervention (within six months after the traumatism) reduces further after-effects. Despite the prevention campaigns launched for reducing traffic accidents and improving heart-friendly habits, traumatic brain injury and ...

A pilot study in healthy children and adolescents shows that it is feasible to screen for undiagnosed heart conditions that increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Adding a 10-minute electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) to a history and physical examination identified unsuspected cases of potentially serious heart conditions. Although more research is needed, the preliminary results suggest that a relatively low-cost screening might help identify children who are at risk for sudden cardiac arrest, possibly preventing childhood death. "In the United States, the ...

Halifax Savings research has shown that children in Wales have the highest ownership levels of games consoles and mobile phones across the nation and also spend the most amount of money on computer games and equipment. They also do extremely well when it comes to owning an iPod or MP3 player and only fall down slightly on music downloads and mobile phone expenditure. A full house for Welsh gamers 100% of the children surveyed in Wales owned a games console, well above the national average of 91%. Children in Wales also spent the highest amount of money on computer ...

Washington, D.C. (March 17, 2011) -- A team of researchers has integrated tiny detectors capable of counting individual photons on computer chips. These detectors, called "single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD)," act like mini Geiger counters, producing a "tick" each time a photon is detected. The researchers present their findings in Applied Physics Letters, a journal published by the American Institute of Physics. "In the past, making these detectors required specialized processes, but recently there has been tremendous progress in making these devices in 'standard' ...

Researchers working in a research project within the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Substance Use and Addictions have been developing a targeted drug that could aid in smoking reduction therapy. The new drug slows down the metabolism of nicotine, which would help smokers to cut down their smoking. Nicotine is absorbed rapidly through the lining of the mouth but most readily through the lungs, from where it quickly passes through the body and into the brain. Once the nicotine reaches the liver, it is metabolised by an enzyme called CYP2A6. Preliminary studies ...

Radioactive waste decaying down at the dump needs millions of years to stabilize. The element Neptunium, a waste product from uranium reactors, could pose an especially serious health risk should it ever seep its way into groundwater – even 5 million years after its deposition. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have shown the hazardous waste can be captured and contained. The means? A particular kind of green goop that occurs naturally in oxygen-poor water. Bo C. Christiansen is a geochemist at the University of Copenhagen who specializes in "green rust". ...

With the cost savings of giving something up for Lent likely to reach GBP57.37 by Easter Sunday, Lloyds TSB Savings believes that people may consider prolonged or permanent periods of abstinence to enable them to meet long-term financial goals. Of the 66% making a lifestyle change, a third (30%) would like to sell unwanted possessions on eBay, rising to almost half (48%) of 18 to 24 year olds, but decreasing to as few as one in five (19%) in Scotland. One quarter (25%) would like to shop less, 22% to start cycling or walking to work and cutting back on going out for ...

TORONTO, Ont., March 17, 2011 — Major clinical studies that evaluate prevention strategies for heart disease and stroke fail to consider a participant's ethnicity, a factor that can more than double the rate of death in some groups, according to research led by St. Michael's Dr. Joel Ray. The study, published online in the Quarterly Journal of Medicine, reviewed 45 major clinical trials on prevention strategies. Researchers found that only 1 in 4 studies reported on the ethnicity of participants. None included information about whether a participant was an immigrant. ...

(Boston) – Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, have identified a potential new biomarker and therapeutic target for melanoma. The novel cell screening method used in the study also clarifies the process behind tumor metastasis and may allow the identification of biomarkers for other aggressive cancers. The findings now appear online in Cancer Research. According to the American Cancer Society melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer and one in 55 people will be diagnosed with it during their ...

Grand Rapids, Mich. (March 17, 2011) – In a recently-published study mapping the structure and function of the so-called "orphan" nuclear receptor TR4, Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) investigators suggest that Vitamin A may play a more direct role than was previously known in certain physiological functions including sperm cell formation and the development of the central nervous system. Scientists had previously determined that Vitamin A derivatives such as retinal and the retinoic acids are involved in physiological functions in the human body. But there has ...

New Rochelle, NY, March 17, 2011—At-home, daily application of light therapy via light-emitting diodes (LEDs) placed on the forehead and scalp led to improvements in cognitive function and post-traumatic stress disorder in patients with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a groundbreaking study published in Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/pho Margaret Naeser, PhD, LAc, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues ...

If you ask people how much they plan to exercise, they'll exercise more—but only if that's a personal goal, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "When people have set for themselves targets about how much they should engage in a behavior (say, if the behavior is how much to exercise per week), asking them to predict whether they will exercise in the next week makes them think about what they think they should do," write authors Pierre Chandon (INSEAD), Ronn J. Smith (University of Arkansas), Vicki G. Morwitz (New York University), Eric R. Spangenberg, ...

People who make an effort to exert self-control are attracted to aggressive art and public policy appeals, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. They also don't appreciate messages that nag them to control their behavior. "We set out to examine whether exerting self-control can indeed lead to a wide range of angry behaviors and preferences subsequently, even in situations where such behaviors are quite subtle," write authors David Gal (Northwestern University) and Wendy Liu (University of California San Diego). "Research has shown that exerting ...

San Diego, Calif., USA – Today, during the 89th General Session & Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research and the 35th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, lead researcher Z. Zhang will hold an oral presentation on a study titled "Fuz is Essential for Craniofacial and Tooth Development." Fuz has been identified as a planar cell polarity effector gene and shown to be involved in ciliogenesis. The objective of this study was ...

New Rochelle, NY, March 17, 2011—Simulated interactions in which adults with autism converse with a virtual partner may help them develop better social interaction skills, according to a novel study presented in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online at http://www.liebertpub.com/cyber More than half of individuals diagnosed with autism have normal intellectual capabilities yet struggle in social and work environments because of their severely ...

Even if you have a grasp on your own abilities, you might have trouble estimating the abilities of others, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. These false impressions affect people's product choices. "We've known that people overestimate their relative ability for seemingly easy tasks, like driving, and underestimate for difficult tasks," write authors Andrew D. Gershoff (University of Texas at Austin) and Katherine A. Burson (University of Michigan). The researchers found that people tend to think others are fairly evenly spread out in their ...