Culture | Page 2182 | Science Codex

Suicide risk factors mapped

A landmark study of the Swedish population has given a clearer picture of important risk factors for suicide.

The study, a collaboration between Lund University in Sweden and Stanford University, showed that the rate of suicide among men is almost three times that of women. Being young, single and having a low level of education were stronger risk factors for suicide among men, while mental illness was a stronger risk factor among women. Unemployment was the strongest social risk factor among women, whereas being single was the strongest among men.

Transcendental Meditation positively impacts student graduation rates, new research shows

A new study published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Education (Vol. 133, No. 4)* shows practice of the Transcendental Meditation® technique was associated with higher graduation rates, compared to controls.

Higher graduation rates affect not only the academic and personal life of the individual students, but also society as a whole. Graduation (versus dropping out) from high school translates into higher earning potential, less crime and incarceration, and less dependence on government assistance programs.

Designated drivers don't always abstain, UF study finds

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Maybe better call that cab, after all: A new University of Florida study found that 35 percent of designated drivers had quaffed alcohol and most had blood-alcohol levels high enough to impair their driving.

Conflict-of-interest restrictions needed to ensure strong FDA review

WASHINGTON, DC—A 2012 law that loosened conflict-of-interest restrictions for FDA advisory panels could weaken the agency's review system and could allow more drugs with safety problems to gain market approval, says a new analysis published June 7 in Science by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS).

Facebook: A confidence boost for first-gen college students

ANN ARBOR—Facebook connections can help first-generation college applicants believe in their abilities to both apply to school and excel once they've enrolled, according to a new study from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Steroid injection therapy may increase risk of spinal fracture

Rosemont, Ill. –Most aging adults will experience back pain or a spinal disorder at some time in their life. In fact, about 25.8 million visits were made to physicians' offices due to primary back problems. Treatment focuses on pain relief and is available in both non-surgical (medication or physical therapy) and surgical forms.

Researcher recommends stronger antithrombotic drugs in high-risk heart attack patients

The Cardiovascular Research Laboratory of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) led by the cardiologist of the Bellvitge University Hospital José Luis Ferreiro has conducted a study on the effect of antiplatelet drugs given to high risk patients suffering from acute myocardial infaction (heart attack) in the context of the Infarction Code.

Access to health care among Thailand's poor reduces infant mortality

(June 6, 2013 – Chicago, IL) When health care reform in Thailand increased payments to public hospitals for indigent care, more poor people sought medical treatment and infant mortality was reduced, even though the cost of medical care remained free for the poor, a new study shows.

Liberals less likely to identify mixed-race individuals as Black, unless they're Canadian

Conservative students are more likely than liberals to identify mixed-race individuals as Black, according to a series of studies psychologists.

Superb lyrebirds move to the music

The lyrebirds' dance movements are a voluntary embellishment to their singing; in other words, they can and do sing without dancing. Sometimes they also make mistakes in their dancing, an observation that suggests to Dalziell and her colleagues that dancing is challenging for the birds, just as it is for us humans (some more than others).

Research reveals Europe winning war on undeclared work

Research from the University of Sheffield has found that the wider range of policy approaches and measures which have been introduced in all EU Member States over the past five years have had a significant impact on preventing businesses and people from engaging in undeclared work.

Study finds one in four patients with newly-diagnosed erectile dysfunction is a young man

In a recent analysis of one outpatient clinic, one in four men seeking medical help for newly-developed erectile dysfunction (ED) was younger than 40 years, and nearly half of young men with the condition had severe ED. While larger population-based studies are needed, the findings, which were published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggest that erectile dysfunction in young men may be more prevalent and more serious than previously thought.

UGA study shows current laws don't prevent Sub-Saharan 'land grabbing'

Athens, Ga. – Sub-Saharan Africa has foreign investors flocking to buy its fertile land. Sometimes referred to as "land grabbing," the large-scale buying or leasing of large tracts of land in developing countries shifts indigenous, or customary, land rights from chiefs and local communities to investors or national governments, often stripping native people of a source of income.

The laws, its practices and eventual outcomes for the countries and people involved are the topic of one recent study led by University of Georgia anthropologist Laura German.

Surgeons at Duke University Hospital implant bioengineered vein

DURHAM, N.C. – In a first-of-its-kind operation in the United States, a team of doctors at Duke University Hospital helped create a bioengineered blood vessel and implanted it into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease.

The procedure, the first U.S. clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of the bioengineered blood vessel, is a milestone in the field of tissue engineering. The new vein is an off-the-shelf, human cell-based product with no biological properties that would cause organ rejection.

Added benefit of dapagliflozin is not proven

Dapagliflozin (trade name: Forxiga) has been approved in Germany since November 2012 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the current standard therapy.