Culture | Page 2149 | Science Codex

For disappointed sports fans, defeats increase consumption of fat and sugar

On the Monday following a big football game, fans of the losing team seem to load up on saturated fats and sugars, whereas supporters of the winning team opt for healthier foods, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"Although prior studies had shown that sport outcomes influence reckless driving, heart attacks, and even domestic violence, no one had examined how they influence eating," says Yann Cornil, researcher at INSEAD Business School and lead author of the study.

Higher urinary albumin excretion linked with increased risk of CHD among black adults

In a large national study, higher levels of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio was associated with greater risk of incident but not recurrent coronary heart disease in black individuals when compared with white individuals, according to a study in the August 21 issue of JAMA.

A simple joystick task could reduce social stress

People who are socially anxious show a strange contradictory reaction to smiling faces: they say that these faces are pleasant, yet automatically avoid them.

In a study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, researchers report that this avoidance of smiling faces is one of the reasons for the social fear that socially anxious individuals feel.

In the experiment, 32 socially anxious participants performed a simple, short joystick task 240 times. By pulling or pushing the joystick, they pulled images on the computer screen closer to themselves or pushed them away.

Redesign for sudden autopilot disconnection needed, say flight safety experts

Flight safety experts studying recent high-profile plane crashes found sudden autopilot disconnection to be a design flaw that creates unnecessary emergencies by surprising pilots during critical, high-workload episodes.

Neurologists report unique form of musical hallucinations

MAYWOOD, Ill. – One night when she was trying to fall asleep, a 60-year-old woman suddenly began hearing music, as if a radio were playing at the back of her head.

The songs were popular tunes her husband recognized when she sang or hummed them. But she herself could not identify them.

Complications associated with continuous CSF drainage in patients with SAH

Charlottesville, VA (August 20, 2013). Researchers at Duke University conducted a randomized clinical trial in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). In this study, the researchers compared two approaches to intracranial pressure management—continuous and intermittent drainage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)—and outcomes associated with those methods, focusing specifically on the incidence of cerebral vasospasm. The study had to be closed approximately midway due to a high rate of complications (52.9%) in the group of patients in whom CSF was drained continuously.

The Vikings were not the first colonizers of the Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands were colonised much earlier than previously believed, and it wasn't by the Vikings, according to new research.

New archaeological evidence places human colonisation in the 4th to 6th centuries AD, at least 300-500 years earlier than previously demonstrated.

The research, directed by Dr Mike J Church from Durham University and Símun V Arge from the National Museum of the Faroe Islands as part of the multidisciplinary project "Heart of the Atlantic", is published in the Quaternary Science Reviews.

Emergency rooms failing to meet seniors' needs

WATERLOO, Ont. (Tuesday, August 20, 2013) — Emergency departments are not meeting the needs of senior citizens, according to a new international study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

The study, which looked at patients over the age of 75 in emergency departments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Iceland, India and Sweden, found that seniors have very different needs than the general population— needs that are not being addressed well by current clinical practices or emergency department designs.

Target 2 forms of iron to control cystic fibrosis lung infection

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa needs iron to establish and maintain a biofilm in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, and therapies have been proposed to deprive the bacteria of this necessary element. However, these techniques may not work, according to a new study published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, because they only target one of the two types of iron that are available in the lung.

Unemployment restricts access to kidney transplants, UNH research finds

DURHAM, N.H. – People in end-stage kidney failure in need of a kidney transplant are much less likely to be placed on a waiting list for a new kidney or to actually receive a new kidney once on the list if they are unemployed or work part time, according to new collaborative research from the University of New Hampshire.

New risk score predicts 10-year dementia risk for type 2 diabetes patients

OAKLAND, Calif., August 19, 2013 — Researchers at Kaiser Permanente and the University Medical Centre Utrecht in the Netherlands have created the first risk score that predicts the 10-year individualized dementia risk for patients with type 2 diabetes, as reported in the inaugural issue of Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

US depression treatment proved effective for UK

A US model of treating depression through a network of specialists could effectively be imported into the UK, new research has revealed.

Collaborative care involves depressed people having access to a team of specialists, with advice and support often given over the phone. A trial led by Professor David Richards at the University of Exeter Medical School found that collaborative care led to improvement of depression symptoms immediately after treatment. Furthermore, 15 per cent more patients were still improved after 12 months, compared with those who saw their GP.

Too-low diastolic blood pressure can be deadly for CKD patients

1. Too-low Diastolic Blood Pressure Can be Deadly for CKD Patients

Fighting obesity with apps and websites

DURHAM, N.C. -- A pending component of health care reform would require restaurants and vending machines to list calorie information on menus to help fight obesity.

But there's little evidence to date that it's an effective way to prevent overeating.

A new Duke University study suggests a better approach might be for restaurants to expand and improve calorie listings on their websites and mobile apps, so customers can come better prepared to order a healthier menu item.

Native Californians followed the greenery

SALT LAKE CITY Aug. 19, 2013 – California's rich diversity of Native American ethnic-and-language groups took shape during the past 12,000 years as migrating tribes settled first on the lush Pacific coast and then in progressively drier, less-vegetated habitats, says a new University of Utah study.