The press release
archive.

Medicine30 Nov 2010

Despite economic slump, donors give generously to global health, though at a slower rate

SEATTLE – The worst global economic crisis in decades has not stopped public and private donors from giving record amounts of money to health assistance for developing countries, according to a new report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The research shows that development assistance for health has grown 375% from $5.66 billion in 1990 to $26.87 billion in 2010. However, IHME's preliminary estimates show that the growth rate is slowing. Between 2004 and 2008, the period of the most dramatic increases in health funding, ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Genomic fault zones come and go

The fragile regions in mammalian genomes that are thought to play a key role in evolution go through a "birth and death" process, according to new bioinformatics research performed at the University of California, San Diego. The new work, published in the journal Genome Biology on November 30, could help researchers identify the current fragile regions in the human genome – information that may reveal how the human genome will evolve in the future. "The genomic architecture of every species on Earth changes on the evolutionary time scale and humans are not an exception. ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

The couch potato effect

VIDEO: Dr. Daniel Kelly describes how mice without the protein PGC-1 lose the ability to exercise. Click here for more information. ORLANDO, Fla., November 30, 2010 – Daniel Kelly, M.D., and his colleagues at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) at Lake Nona have unveiled a surprising new model for studying muscle function: the couch potato mouse. While these mice maintain normal activity and body weight, they do not have the energy to exercise. In the ...

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Social Science30 Nov 2010

Are good-looking people more employable? New Ben-Gurion University study

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, November 30, 2010 -- "Good looks" are only sometimes a positive factor in consideration for a job, according to new research from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). In the new working paper, "Are Good-Looking People More Employable?" two economics researchers from BGU prove that a double standard exists between good looks as a positive factor in men and women. The research involved sending 5,312 CVs (resumes) in pairs to 2,656 advertised job openings in Israel. In each pair, one CV was without a picture while the second, otherwise almost identical ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Mystery dissolves with calcium pump discovery

Geo-microbiologists from Arizona State University have solved a long-standing conundrum about how some photosynthetic microorganisms, endolithic cyanobacteria, bore their way into limestone, sand grains, mussel shells, coral skeletons and other substrates composed of carbonate. According to the lead investigator, ASU professor Ferran Garcia-Pichel, the answer to the mystery of what is "at the heart of an erosive force of global proportions" is a calcium-driven pump, similar to that which we use to power our muscles. The results of Garcia-Pichel's study "Microbial excavation ...

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Social Science30 Nov 2010

Hebrew University researchers reveal way in which possible earthquakes can be predicted

Jerusalem, November 30, 2010 – Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who have been examining what happens in a "model earthquake" in their laboratory have discovered that basic assumptions about friction that have been accepted for hundreds of years are just wrong. Their findings provide a new means for replicating how earth ruptures develop and possibly enabling prediction of coming severe earthquakes. "The findings have a wide variety of implications for materials science and engineering and could help researchers understand how earthquakes occur and how ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

People with chronic pain face complex dilemmas and life-changing decisions

Coping with chronic pain can affect every aspect of a person's life and cause conflict between what their mind wants to achieve and what their body allows them to do, according to research in the December issue of the Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness. Swedish researchers carried out in-depth interviews with ten people who had experienced chronic pain for between four and 32 years and were taking part in an outpatient rehabilitation programme. Nine of the patients, who ranged from 22 to 50 with an average age of 38, were unable to work because of their ...

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Physics30 Nov 2010

Manufacturing 'made to measure' atomic-scale electrodes

Thanks to collaborative work between scientists in Donostia-San Sebastian and the University of Kiel (Germany) it has been shown that it is possible to determine and control the number of atoms in contact between a molecule and a metal electrode of copper, at the same time as the electric current passing through the union being recorded. These results were published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal. One of the key problems in nanotechnology is the formation of electrical contacts at an atomic scale. This demands the detailed characterisation of the current flowing ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Motorcycle simulator gives new clues to road safety

New research using a world leading motorcycle simulator to analyse rider behaviour has proved that safer doesn't necessarily mean slower and that formal advanced training for bikers can demonstrate improved safety on our roads. The study was carried out by researchers at The University of Nottingham's Centre for Motorcycle Ergonomics & Rider Human Factors. The preliminary results of the research are published today by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) which funded the research. Motorcyclists are badly over-represented in accident statistics. As of June 2010 ...

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Medicine30 Nov 2010

Perceived bad boys receive less pain medications

If you should find yourself running from the police, watch your step. If you fall and break an ankle, chances are you'll receive less pain medication when they take you to the ER for treatment. That's one of the findings from a study by Case Western Reserve University sociologist Susan Hinze, and Joshua Tamayo-Sarver, who collected the data and is an emergency department doctor in California. The researchers examined the prescription patterns of 398 randomly selected emergency department doctors from the American College of Emergency Physicians who responded to a ...

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Environment30 Nov 2010

Pioneering study reveals UK biodiversity hotspot

Scientists are calling for radical new approaches to conservation following the first biodiversity audit of its kind. Led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), with partners Natural England, the Forestry Commission, Norfolk and Suffolk Biodiversity Partnerships and County Councils, the Brecks Partnership, and Plantlife, the painstaking study pooled information on every plant and animal species recorded in Breckland – a special landscape of heathland, forest and farmland stretching across the Norfolk and Suffolk border. In an unprecedented effort, the UEA team collated ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Snakes on a rope: Researchers take a unique look at the climbing abilities of boa constrictors

In a unique study involving young boa constrictors, University of Cincinnati researchers put snakes to work on varying diameters and flexibility of vertical rope to examine how they might move around on branches and vines to gather food and escape enemies in their natural habitat. The findings by Greg Byrnes, a University of Cincinnati postdoctoral fellow in the department of biological sciences, and Bruce C. Jayne, a UC professor of biology, are published in the December issue of The Journal of Experimental Biology. For many Americans, it was the most dreaded moment ...

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Medicine30 Nov 2010

Surgeon-physician marriages can place stress on careers, emotional health

CHICAGO (November 30, 2010) – Surgeons married to physicians face more challenges in balancing their personal and professional lives than do surgeons whose partners work in a non-physician field or stay at home, according to new research findings focused on surgeon marriages published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. As part of the significant influx of women into the workforce over the last 50 years, more women are now surgeons and physicians than ever before. This trend has produced many more dual- career marriages, including ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

World's fastest camera takes a new look at biosensing

A European consortium comprising the National Physical Laboratory, ST Microelectronics, the University of Edinburgh, and TU Delft has been involved in the development and application of the Megaframe Imager - an ultrafast camera capable of recording images at the incredible rate of one million frames Since the introduction of solid-state optical sensors, like those found in digital cameras, the main trend has been towards increasing the resolution (i.e. number of pixels) while miniaturising the chip. However, the other factor is the number of frames the chip is capable ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Society appreciates powerful individuals' effort -- even although they fail

Society appreciates powerful individuals' efforts, regardless of them having success or failing. Conversely, when someone without such power fails, their failure is attributed to their "unability to carry out their tasks", and their efforts are not appreciated. In other words: individuals' personal power clearly affects how others perceive their success or failures. That is the conclusion drawn from a research conducted by professors Rocío Martínez Gutiérrez, Rosa Rodríguez Bailón and Miguel Moya, of the Department of Social Psychology of the University of Granada, recently ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Organizing R & D in teams is useful for retaining talent

For companies carrying out R+D activities, having researchers leave for competitor companies poses an important challenge. Even if a company's innovations are patented, their employees leaving can lead to information and knowledge leaks to their rivals. Which researchers in an R+D firm are most likely to leave to work for the competition? This research, carried out by by Neus Palomeras and Eduardo Melero from the UC3M Department of Business Economics, attempts to answer this question. The most noteworthy conclusion of this study, published in the journal, Management ...

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Social Science30 Nov 2010

Social support is most effective when provided invisibly

New research by University of Minnesota psychologists shows how social support benefits are maximized when provided "invisibly"—that is without the support recipient being aware that they are receiving it. The study, "Getting in Under the Radar: A Dyadic View of Invisible Support," is published in the December issue of the journal Psychological Science. In the study, graduate student Maryhope Howland and professor Jeffry Simpson suggest there may be something unique about the emotional support behaviors that result in recipients being less aware of receiving support. ...

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Medicine30 Nov 2010

Diabetes may clamp down on brain cholesterol

BOSTON – November 30, 2010 – The brain contains more cholesterol than any other organ in the body, has to produce its own cholesterol and won't function normally if it doesn't churn out enough. Defects in cholesterol metabolism have been linked with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that diabetes can affect how much cholesterol the brain can make. Scientists in the laboratory of C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., head of Joslin's Integrative Physiology and Metabolism research section, found that brain ...

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Environment30 Nov 2010

Study: Ecological effects of biodiversity loss underestimated

Children aren't the only youngsters who are picky eaters: More than half of all species are believed to change their diets -- sometimes more than once -- between birth and adulthood. And a new study by ecologists at Rice University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, finds this pattern has major implications for the survival of threatened species and the stability of natural ecosystems. With thousands of species facing Earth's sixth major mass extinction, there is little doubt that the planet's biodiversity is in rapid decline. But many questions remain about ...

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Medicine30 Nov 2010

Public health in the genomic era: A global issue

INDIANAPOLIS -- The major challenge for public health in the era of genomics is to generate the base of evidence necessary to demonstrate when use of genomic information in public health can improve health outcomes in a safe, effective and cost-effective manner, participants at an international meeting have concluded. In their report, "Public health in an era of genomic and personalized medicine," experts in medicine, law, bioethics, public health, and genetics have identified key issues for the future of global public health in light of rapid developments in genomic ...

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Energy30 Nov 2010

Biofuels production has unintended consequences on water quality and quantity in Mississippi

Growing corn for biofuels production is having unintended effects on water quality and quantity in northwestern Mississippi. More water is required to produce corn than to produce cotton in the Mississippi Delta requiring increased withdrawals of groundwater from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial (MRVA) aquifer for irrigation. This is contributing to already declining water levels in the aquifer. In addition, increased use of nitrogen fertilizer for corn in comparison to cotton could contribute to low dissolved oxygen conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. These are ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

Legalizing child pornography is linked to lower rates of child sex abuse

Could making child pornography legal lead to lower rates of child sex abuse? It could well do, according to a new study by Milton Diamond, from the University of Hawaii, and colleagues. Results from the Czech Republic showed, as seen everywhere else studied (Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sweden, USA), that rape and other sex crimes have not increased following the legalization and wide availability of pornography. And most significantly, the incidence of child sex abuse has fallen considerably since 1989, when child pornography became ...

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Environment30 Nov 2010

Arsenic-polluted water toxic to Bangladesh economy

The well-reported arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh – called the "largest mass poisoning of a population in history" by the World Health Organization and known to be responsible for a host of slow-developing diseases – has now been shown to have an immediate and toxic effect on the struggling nation's economy. An international team of economists is the first to identify a dramatic present-day consequence of the contaminated groundwater wells, in addition to the longer-term damages expected to occur in coming years. According to research published ...

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Science30 Nov 2010

New American Chemical Society podcast: Black rice bran may reduce inflammation

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2010 — The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning podcast series, "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions," focuses on the discovery that black rice — a little-known variety of the grain that is the staple food for one-third of the world's population — may help soothe the inflammation involved in allergies, asthma and other diseases. In the podcast, Mendel Friedman, Ph.D., and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., describe results of a study published in ...

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Medicine30 Nov 2010

Alternative therapies may leave asthmatics gasping

Montreal, November 30, 2010 – Approximately 13 percent of parents turn to alternative therapies to treat their children's asthma, according to a new study from the Université de Montréal. The findings, published recently in the Canadian Respiratory Journal, suggest that this trend is associated with a two-fold higher rate of poor asthma control in children. "Previous studies have shown that close to 60 percent of parents believe that complementary and alternative medicines are helpful," says seniour author Francine M. Ducharme, a Université de Montréal professor and pediatrician ...

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