Culture

An analysis based on the first Spanish National Sexual Health Survey, carried out in 2009, confirms that socioeconomic factors affect sexual satisfaction. People with a lower economic status claim to be less sexually satisfied, particularly women.

Investigators at the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) have analysed the influence of various socioeconomic factors on the results of the first Spanish National Sexual Health Survey, carried out in 2009 by the Centre for Sociological Research.

WASHINGTON, DC, January 15, 2014 — What do Hollywood moguls holding their breath this week for an Oscar nomination have in common with the influence peddlers on K Street in Washington, D.C.? More than you might imagine, suggests new research by two UCLA sociologists.

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 15, 2014 – Only one-half of 1 percent of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) between 1989 and 2011 concerned the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, contributing to the perpetuation of health inequities, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health-led analysis.

Doctors commonly recommend drug holidays, or breaks, from certain osteoporosis drugs due to the risks associated with these treatments. Yet little has been known about the ideal duration of the holidays and how best to manage patients during this time.

Aerobic exercise is known to prevent type 2 diabetes, and muscle-strengthening alone or in combination with aerobic exercise improves diabetic control among those with diabetes. Although men who weight train have been found to have an associated reduced risk of developing diabetes, whether such an association exists for women has not been established.

Despite having mild hyperglycemia for approximately 50 years, patients with a mutation in the gene encoding the enzyme glucokinase had a low prevalence of clinically significant vascular complications, findings that provide insights into the risks associated with isolated mild hyperglycemia, according to a study in the January 15 issue of JAMA.

What do Hollywood moguls holding their breath this week for an Oscar nomination have in common with the influence peddlers on K Street in Washington, D.C.? More than you might imagine, suggests new research by two UCLA sociologists.

The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, an advocacy group opposed to nuclear science and famous for its Doomsday Clock always being poised near world annihilation, today called on the United States and Russia to restart negotiations on reducing their nuclear arsenals, to lower alert levels for their nuclear weapons, and to scrap their missile defense programs.

So they are against offensive weapons and defensive weapons also.

Two new studies led by UC San Francisco (UCSF) scientists shed new light on the nature of beta cells, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas that are compromised in diabetes.

The first suggests that some cases of diabetes may be caused when beta cells are deprived of oxygen, prompting them to revert to a less mature state that renders them incapable of producing insulin. The second study demonstrates that acinar cells, pancreatic cells that do not normally produce insulin, can be converted to functional beta cells, a potential new avenue for treating the disease.

URBANA, Ill. – A University of Illinois study has identified the three most significant risk factors for child obesity among preschoolers: (1) inadequate sleep, (2) a parental BMI that classifies the mom or dad as overweight or obese, and (3) parental restriction of a child's eating in order to control his weight.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Delirium in older patients in an emergency room setting can foretell other health issues. But according to a new study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, the condition is frequently overlooked because of a lack of screening tools in emergency departments.

Virtual reality, dance and fun are not the first things that come to mind when we think of treating urinary incontinence in senior women. However, these concepts were the foundations of a promising study by Dr. Chantal Dumoulin, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Urogynaecological Health and Aging, a researcher at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, and an associate professor in the Physiotherapy Program of the Rehabilitation School at Université de Montréal, and her master's student, Miss Valérie Elliott.

(Boston) --In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that in addition to the well-known burdens of caring for an older family member, a further set of complex stressors is imposed on geriatric health care professionals serving in this capacity. These findings, which appear online in Gerontologist, highlight the critical challenges facing all caregivers, even those who deal with these patients daily on a professional basis.

The latest episode of Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series questions the "green" reputation of small hydroelectric dams.

Based on a report by Andreas Maeck, Ph.D., in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, the new podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from http://www.acs.org/globalchallenges.

High concentrations of serum long-chain omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a University of Eastern Finland study published recently in Diabetes Care. The sources of these fatty acids are fish and fish oils.