Culture | Science Codex

Review of literature on psychopathy and criminal behavior

University of Huddersfield researcher, Dr Daniel Boduszek, has co-authored a an article in the Journal of Criminal Psychology that analyzes the relationship between psychopathy and criminal behavior.

The paper is review of psychopathy literature, with a particular focus on recent research examining the relationship between psychopathy and various forms of criminal behavior.

The results indicate that substantial empirical research exists to suggest that psychopathy is a robust predictor of criminal behavior and recidivism.

Stone Age innovation accelerated by climate change

According to a study by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the University of Cardiff and the Natural History Museum in London, technological innovation during the Stone Age occurred in fits and starts and was climate-driven. Abrupt changes in rainfall in South Africa 40,000 to 80,000 years ago triggered the development of technologies for finding refuge and the behaviour of modern humans. This study was recently published in Nature Communications.

Can new FDA graphic warning labels for tobacco pass a first amendment legal challenge?

WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) imposes new graphic warning labels for tobacco products, they can survive a First Amendment challenge if they depict health consequences and their effectiveness is supported by adequate scientific evidence, says a Georgetown University Medical Center public health expert and attorney.

Graphic tobacco warning labels—which combine images with health warnings—are a widely used tool for reducing tobacco use in other countries, but the tobacco industry argues they are unconstitutional in the United States.

Study examines Hispanic youth exposure to food, beverage TV ads

Hispanic preschoolers, children and adolescents viewed, on average about 12 foods ads per day on television in 2010, with the majority of these ads appearing on English-language TV, whereas fast-food represented a higher proportion of the food ads on Spanish-language television, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

Study finds the sweet spot -- and the screw-ups -- that make or break environmental collective actions

Sustainability programs are a Goldilocks proposition – some groups are too big, some are too small, and the environment benefits when the size of a group of people working to save it is just right.

It has long been debated how many people working together can change the world. Whether it's joining forces to conserve gas, save a forest or stave off climate change, arguments have been made for the power of a dedicated few or the strength of numbers. It also has been a mystery what tips a group dynamic from powerful to unproductive.

Variants in the SIM1 gene are associated with severe obesity

Although body weight is largely determined by lifestyle factors, increasingly research is revealing that genetics also play an important role in determining an individual's susceptibility to obesity. Identifying the mutations that underlie the fraction of obese patients with monogenic obesity can help us to understand complex processes like metabolic rate, eating behavior, growth, and fat storage. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, two groups identified obesity-linked mutations in the gene SIM1.

People attribute minds to robots, corpses that are targets of harm

As Descartes famously noted, there's no way to really know that another person has a mind — every mind we observe is, in a sense, a mind we create. Now, new research suggests that victimization may be one condition that leads us to perceive minds in others, even in entities we don't normally think of as having minds.

This research, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, shows that people attribute minds to entities they perceive as being targets of harm, even when the entity in question is a robot or a corpse.

Teaching and safety-net hospitals show variations in quality and outcomes of care

Philadelphia, Pa. (June 17, 2013) – Teaching hospitals with a higher intensity of physician-training activity achieve lower mortality rates, but higher hospitalization readmission rates for key medical diagnoses, reports a study in the July issue of Medical Care, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Animal thyroid extract as effective as T4 in treating hypothyroidism

San Francisco, CA— Desiccated thyroid extract (DTE), derived from crushed preparations of animal thyroid glands, is a safe and effective alternative to standard T4 therapy in hypothyroid patients, a new study finds. The results will be presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Weight loss drug added to diet and exercise improves blood sugar control

SAN FRANCISCO-- The new weight loss drug lorcaserin (Belviq) appears to improve blood sugar control in nondiabetic, overweight individuals, independent of the amount of weight they lose, a new study finds. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Excessive salt consumption appears to be bad for your bones

SAN FRANCISCO-- A high-salt diet raises a woman's risk of breaking a bone after menopause, no matter what her bone density is, according to a new study that will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Skipping breakfast may make obese women insulin resistant

SAN FRANCISCO—- Overweight women who skip breakfast experience acute, or rapid-onset, insulin resistance, a condition that, when chronic, is a risk factor for diabetes, a new study finds. The results, which were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, suggest that regularly skipping breakfast over time may lead to chronic insulin resistance and thus could increase an individual's risk for type 2 diabetes.

Medications to prevent clots not reaching some patients

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that hospitalized patients do not receive more than one in 10 doses of doctor-ordered blood thinners prescribed to prevent potentially lethal or disabling blood clots, a decision they say may be fueled by misguided concern by patients and their caregivers.

Calling the rate of missed doses "unacceptably high," the researchers add that hospitalized patients are at a significantly greater risk of developing venous thromboembolism, or VTE, and that preventive blood thinners can prevent it a majority of the time.

Study: Blacks, Hispanics say Zimmerman arrested earlier if victim White

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to believe that George Zimmerman would have been arrested immediately had he shot a white person, according to a newly published study.

Blacks are more likely than both Hispanics and whites to believe race was a factor in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager. And blacks also are more likely than whites to follow the court case closely. Hispanics are less likely than all groups to follow the case closely.

Older patients will make lifestyle changes to avoid fractures, study finds

TORONTO, June 14, 2013—Older patients who know they are at risk of fractures will make positive lifestyle changes to avoid them, such as exercising, wearing proper footwear and taking supplements, a new study has found.

The findings are important because much previous research in bone health has focused on medications or found that people make negative lifestyle changes such as reducing housework or leisure activities because they are afraid of falling, said

Dr. Joanna Sale, a researcher at St. Michael's Hospital and lead author of the study.