Culture

Tapping out a beat may help children learn difficult fraction concepts, according to new findings due to be published in the journal Educational Studies in Mathematics. An innovative curriculum uses rhythm to teach fractions at a California school where students in a music-based program scored significantly higher on math tests than their peers who received regular instruction.

March 22, 2012, New York, NY—As the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act approaches, a new Commonwealth Fund report finds that 49 states and the District of Columbia have already taken action supporting the law's implementation, such as passing legislation, issuing regulations or other guidance, or actively reviewing insurer filings. Early insurance market reforms in the law include new rules for insurers such as bans on lifetime limits on benefits and dependent coverage for young adults up to age 26.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A new study suggests that older people may have an increased risk of problems with memory and thinking abilities after being in the hospital, according to research published in the March 21, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

COLLEGE STATION, March 21, 2012 – Unlike their colorful wings, the future of Monarch butterflies may not be too bright and their numbers are expected to be alarmingly down again this year, says a Texas A&M University researcher.

(Boston) - A recent study done by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that tomosynthesis may be more beneficial in diagnosing knee osteoarthritis than X-ray imaging. In the study, which is published online in the journal Radiology, tomosynthesis detected more osteophytes (abnormal bony spurs) and subchondral cysts (small collection of fluid within the bone) in the knee joint than conventional X-ray imaging.

SAN DIEGO (Embargoed until 2 pm (ET), March 21, 2012) – New findings from a landmark research study led by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) – a collaborative program between Scripps Health and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) – shows a promising new blood test may be useful in helping doctors predict who is at risk for an imminent heart attack.

The Defense Department, faced with cuts of what Secretary Leon Panetta said could be $487 billion over the next ten years, can find tens of billions of dollars in cost reductions by better aligning the Pentagon supply chain rather than imposing precipitous reductions to the uniformed forces, according to a former Army colonel who is speaking at a conference hosted by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®), the premier organization for advanced analytics professionals.

Physicists who have studied the mixing between two incompatible fluids have found that it is possible to control the undercurrents of one circulating fluid to optimise its exposure to the other. This work, which is about to be published in EPJ E¹, was performed by Jorge Peixinho from CNRS at Le Havre University, France, and his colleagues from the Benjamin Levich Institute, City University of New York, USA.

(Boston) - Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have conducted a study on a modified version of the Short Inventory of Problems (SIP) to help promote early intervention and treatment for patients with drug use in primary care. The findings, which validate this modified version of the SIP in a primary care setting, will appear online in the American Journal on Addictions in the March issue.

CINCINNATI—Health care practitioners have long understood the importance of "door to balloon" time for heart attack patients—the faster they can get the patient from the door of the hospital to a catheterization lab to open a clogged artery, the better the patient will do.

But a University of Cincinnati (UC) emergency medicine researcher says it's also important to study the "medical contact to balloon" time, acknowledging the role that emergency medical services (EMS) responders play in speeding patient care.

In workplaces with a high percentage of women in a management position more individualized employee feedback is carried out, more democratic decisions are adopted and more interpersonal channels of communications are established, according to a study by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Researchers at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) are working on a project to design and manufacture composite PVC materials based on nanofillings and intended for multi-sectoral applications. The ultimate aim of the Vinilclay project is to control and optimize the properties of the plastic material; specifically, its photostability, thermal resistance and gas permeation.

(March 21, 2012 - Chicago, IL) Large-scale microfinance programs are widely used as a tool to fight poverty in developing countries, but a recent study from the Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty suggests that they can have varying results for participants and may be the most cost-effective use of funds only in limited situations.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, a consortium of investigators from 13 countries led the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in the U.S. and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in Europe, found that nurses who reported better working conditions in hospitals and less likelihood of leaving also had patients who were more satisfied with their hospital stay and rated their hospitals more highly. The study was released today in the current issue of the prestigious British Medical Journal.

Use of anesthesia providers to monitor sedation during screening colonoscopies and other outpatient gastroenterology procedures more than doubled from 2003 to 2009 in the United States, with most of the increase among low-risk patients who may not need this service, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The findings suggest that as much as $1.1 billion spent annually on anesthesia services for GI-related procedures may not be medically necessary, according to the study published in the March 21 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.