Culture | Page 2679 | Science Codex

Young Britons see significantly more smoking in movies than US peers

Young Britons see significantly more on-screen smoking in movies than their US peers, finds research published ahead of print in the journal Tobacco Control.

The UK film classification system, which rates more films as suitable for young people than its US counterpart, is to blame, say the authors.

The research team assessed the number of on-screen smoking/tobacco occurrences in 572 top grossing films in the UK, which included 546 screened in the US plus 26 high earning films released only in the UK.

Trauma of war doubles asthma risk among civilians

Living through the trauma of war seems to increase the risk of developing asthma, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Those who are most traumatised are twice as likely to develop the condition as those who are least traumatised by their experiences of war, the research suggests.

The authors base their findings on a random sample of just over 2000 Kuwaiti civilians who endured the Iraqi invasion and seven month occupation of their country in 1990, and were aged between 50 and 69 at the time.

Simple, low-cost steps enhance adolescents' health

Simple, low-cost measures such as wearing a pedometer to inspire walking and spending a few minutes a day meditating can put adolescents on the track toward better health, researchers report.

These types of side-effect-free steps can quickly help lower important numbers like blood pressure, heart rate and even weight, counteracting today's unhealthy, upward trends among young people, said Dr. Vernon Barnes, physiologist at the Medical College of Georgia's Georgia Prevention Institute.

Studies reveal substantial increases in nonmelanoma skin cancers

Both new diagnoses and a history of non-melanoma skin cancer appear to have become increasingly common, and the disease affects more individuals than all other cancers combined, according to two reports in the March issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Late-stage melanoma results in economic burden

In an article published in the March 2010 Archives of Dermatology, researchers report that in the United States, melanoma treatment in late stages of the disease is of significant cost in the population 65 years and older.

3-D cell culture: Making cells feel right at home

HOUSTON -- (March 15, 2010) -- The film "Avatar" isn't the only 3-D blockbuster making a splash this winter. A team of scientists from Houston's Texas Medical Center this week unveiled a new technique for growing 3-D cell cultures, a technological leap from the flat petri dish that could save millions of dollars in drug-testing costs. The research is reported in Nature Nanotechnology.

3-D cell culture: Making cells feel right at home

HOUSTON - The film "Avatar" isn't the only 3-D blockbuster making a splash this winter. A team of Houston scientists this week unveiled a new technique for growing 3-D cell cultures, a technological leap from the flat petri dish that could save millions of dollars in drug-testing costs. The research is reported in Nature Nanotechnology.

A new system makes household communication networks more versatile

The attacks in Europe did not affect the stability of the market in the USA

Researchers at the University of Valencia (UV) and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) state that the terrorist attack which happened in New York on 11 September 2001 had an effect on the volatility of the stock market in the Eurozone. However, the attacks in Madrid and London -on 11 March 2004 and 7 July 2005 respectively- did not have any effect on the volatility of the market in the USA.

Wine vine: Microscopic photography reveals bacteria destroying grape plant cell wall

15 years after ACL knee reconstruction, 84 percent of male patients still highly active, study says

Eighty-four percent of males who had ACL knee (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction with a patellar tendon (the tendon that attaches the knee to the front of the tibia or shin bone) graft continue at a high level of activity 15 years later, according to a study presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in New Orleans, Louisiana (March 13). Additionally, these patients have not developed severe osteoarthritis and their knees remain stable.

Mathematical model can help communities better evaluate sex offender policies

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new mathematical model developed by Indiana University Bloomington and Arizona State University geographers could help communities that are in the midst of passing or reforming sex offender laws. The researchers describe the model and report its first test in an Early View edition of Papers in Regional Science.

By forcing users to quantify risk and issues of special concern, the model can help the policymakers of concerned communities to focus on the spatial management of sex offenders and not mere punitive measures.

Look at Mie!

HOUSTON – (March 12, 2010) – Calculations are fine, but seeing is believing. That's the thought behind a new paper by Rice University students who decided to put to the test calculations made more than a century ago.

In 1908, the German physicist Gustav Mie came up with an elegant set of equations to describe the interaction of electromagnetic waves with a spherical metal particle. The theory has been a touchstone ever since for researchers seeking to quantify how nanoscale plasmonic particles scatter radiation.

'Microtentacles' on tumor cells appear to play role in how breast cancer spreads

The video shows two breast tumor cells attaching to each other. The red color shows the surface of both tumor cells, while the green color shows how the microtentacles from one cell encircle the neighboring cell.

(Photo Credit: (c) University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center)

Vitamin D and calcium interplay explored

Increasing calcium intake is a common--yet not always successful--strategy for reducing bone fractures. But a study supported in part by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) underscores the importance of vitamin D and its ability to help the body utilize calcium. The study also may explain why increasing calcium alone isn't always successful in dealing with this problem.