Culture | Page 2083 | Science Codex

Do cultural differences determine outcome of our activities?

Jerusalem, January 14, 2014 -- A generally held assumption in various academic disciplines is that the way people perform various everyday activities – walking, swimming, carrying loads, etc. – is culturally determined. But, the question remains: do these cultural characteristics, when they affect various motor skills, also determine the results of people's efforts?

A study involving an original collaboration between archaeology, ethnology and human movement sciences indicates that different cultural approaches to various tasks do not necessarily produce different results.

A brief visit to a neighborhood induces the social attitudes of that neighborhood

Spending as little as 45 minutes in a high-crime, deprived neighbourhood can have measurable effects on people's trust in others and their feelings of paranoia. In a new study, students who visited high crime neighbourhoods quickly developed a level of trust and paranoia comparable to the residents of that neighbourhood, and significantly different from that in more low-crime neighbourhoods. As a result, urban planners should carefully consider the psychological effects of the environment.

New report looks at how states' restrictions on ACA implementation are affecting access

WASHINGTON and NEW YORK (January 14, 2014)—The first study to gauge the impact of state restrictions on the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) indicates that community health centers across the country are engaged in an intensive effort to find and enroll eligible and uninsured patients and community residents.

First farmers and stockbreeders painted with the same pigments that their hunters ancestors

The first of the analyzed figures, depicting a bovid, belongs to the Levantine art practiced by the nomadic hunters-gatherers who inhabited the Iberian Peninsula about 10,000 years ago. On the other hand, the second figure, depicting a quadruped, has a schematic style, developed by the first producers, farmers and stockbreeders who lived in the area between 6,500 and 3,500 years ago. The first style is characterized by the naturalism of its shapes and scenes, while the second outlines its reasons, sometimes even reaching abstraction.

Panel at odds over new blood pressure guidelines

1. Panel at odds over newly released blood pressure guidelines

Panel members explain why they voted against raising systolic blood pressure targets

Study demonstrates need to change scoring system for heart disease

A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that one of the most widely used systems for predicting risk of adverse heart events should be re-evaluated. A surprise finding was that coronary artery calcium (CAC) density may be protective against cardiovascular events. The study of CAC will be published in the January 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Study: Kidney cancer patients preserve kidney function with robot-assisted partial nephrectomy

DETROIT – Patients with chronic kidney disease who received robot-assisted partial nephrectomy to treat kidney cancer have minimal loss of kidney function -- a smaller amount even than patients with normal kidney function, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital's Vattikuti Urology Institute.

The study, which includes patient data from five U.S. medical centers, is the largest of its kind.

The study is published online ahead of print in European Urology, the journal of the European Association of Urology.

Heart attack survivors paint a complex picture of adhering to medicine

Heart attack survivors of different races and genders are about equally likely to be on medications that reduce the risk of another heart attack and other potentially life-threatening cardiovascular problems. But according to a new study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, that's not the case a year later. The odds that an patient is still taking the medications as prescribed within a year vary significantly depending on race and gender, and black and Hispanic women are the least likely to adhere to their regimens.

BU study: 1 question may gauge the severity of unhealthy drug and alcohol use

Primary care physicians seeking to determine whether a patient's drug or alcohol use is problematic often have to rely on lengthy questionnaires containing dozens of items with multiple response options.

But a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health [BUSPH] researcher suggests that a single screening question may not only identify unhealthy use, but can help to determine the level of alcohol and drug dependence just as well -- and sometimes better -- than longer screening tools.

Postpartum depression improves with time -- but for many women, depressive symptoms linger

Philadelphia, Pa. (January 13, 2014) – Research evidence shows that symptoms of postpartum depression decrease over time—but depression remains a long-term problem for 30 to 50 percent of affected women, according to a report in the January Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

New hope for migraine sufferers

Candesartan is just as effective as more the commonly prescribed propranolol when it comes to preventing migraine attacks, according to a new study from St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

The researchers have also found that candesartan may work for patients who get no relief from propranolol.

"This gives doctors more possibilities and we can help more people," says Professor Lars Jacob Stovner, leader of Norwegian National Headache Centre, who also led the study.

Study finds MTV's '16 & Pregnant' and 'Teen Mom' contributed to record decline in US teen childbearing

WELLESLEY, Mass.— Despite concerns that turning teen moms into reality TV stars has glamorized teen pregnancy, a new study shows that MTV's 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have had a more powerful impact in the opposite direction: the series has significantly reduced births to teens.

Need relief from asthma? Communicating with your allergist is key

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (January 13, 2014) – Can't find relief from your asthma symptoms? The way you communicate with your allergist can be the root of your problems. According to two papers published in the January issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, in order for treatment to be effective, asthma sufferers need to ask questions and feel as if they have open communication with their allergist.

Study Finds MTV's 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom contributed to record decline in US teen childbearing

WELLESLEY, Mass.— Despite concerns that turning teen moms into reality TV stars has glamorized teen pregnancy, a new study shows that MTV's 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have had a more powerful impact in the opposite direction: the series has significantly reduced births to teens.

Minorities less likely to use proper car seats

A short while ago, California once again raised the age when children had to be in a car seat.

To most, it looked like a government subsidy for car seat manufacturers, who now had a much larger market and a government mandate forcing people to pay. 130,000 children younger than 13 are treated in U.S. emergency departments after motor-vehicle collision-related injuries and higher car seat ages haven't impacted that.