Culture

Tallahassee, FL-- The most comprehensive study of 20th century children's books ever undertaken in the United States has found a bias towards tales that feature men and boys as lead characters. Surprisingly, researchers found that even when the characters are animals, they tend to be male.

Boston- Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center have found that by adding one family physician per 1,000, or 100 per 100,000, could reduce hospital readmission costs by $579 million per year, or 83 percent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) target. These findings currently appear on the website of the "Robert Graham Center," a primary care think tank.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A new study from Rhode Island Hospital has found that more than one in 10 catheter-related bloodstream infections due to Staph aureus in hospitalized adults are caused by infected peripheral venous catheters (PVC). The study points out the substantial medical burden that arises from complications from these infections due to the large number of such catheters used in hospitalized patients. The study is published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and is now available online in advance of print.

WESTERVILLE, OH – Imagine a battlefield medic or emergency medical technician providing first aid with a special wad of cottony glass fibers that simultaneously slows bleeding, fights bacteria (and other sources of infection), stimulates the body's natural healing mechanisms, resists scarring, and—because it is quickly absorbed by surrounding tissue — may never have to be removed in follow-up care.

Or, imagine diabetics with hard-to-heal wounds finding a source of relief from the battle against infections and limb amputation.

CINCINNATI—Hepatitis B virus (HBV) continues to be a major health issue in the United States despite prevention strategies.

Now, research at the University of Cincinnati (UC) provides evidence that current prevention and screening standards are worth the cost and may even need expansion to include more of the population, further helping prevent the spread of this life-threatening disease.

The findings are published in the May 3, 2011 advance online edition of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

A new approach to evaluating research papers exploits social bookmarking tools to extract relevance. Details are reported in the latest issue of the International Journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions.

A recent study shows that pelvic imaging using computed tomography (CT) examinations are not necessary for diagnosing patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) and eliminating this exam can significantly reduce a patient's exposure to excessive radiation dose.

CT venography of the pelvis during CT pulmonary angiography does not improve the detection of VTE, says Dr. Charbel Ishak, lead author for this study. He asserts, "Using CT venography in the lower extremities without including the pelvis can decrease the population's radiation dose generated by CT usage."

A recent study shows how one medical center implemented strict protocols for administering gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) before imaging and eliminated new cases for nephrogenic system fibrosis (NSF).

The best teacher for a young mother is her baby, contend experts who train social workers to interact with first-time moms.

"We like to think of babies as 'ordinary miracles,'" said Victor Bernstein, a research associate at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. But adjusting to a baby can take work, and the task of social workers often is to help young mothers learn to focus on an infant's needs, say Bernstein and other SSA experts. "Mothers are not only important to their kids, but kids are really important to their mothers," Bernstein said.

BOSTON—A joint study by academics in Switzerland, Germany and at Boston University sheds new light on the formation of financial bubbles and crashes. Wild fluctuations in stock prices caused by bubbles bursting have had a dramatic impact on the world economy and the personal fortunes of millions of us in the last few years.

DENVER – New research is shedding light on why young black males who have sex with males have among the highest rates of HIV infection in the United States, even though their reported use of condoms is similar to males of other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

A key factor may be black men's cultural beliefs about masculinity, which may influence how they choose their sex partners, make judgments about HIV risk and make decisions about condom use, according to a study to be presented Monday, May 2, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.

DENVER – Parents shouldn't let up when it comes to discouraging their kids from smoking.

That's the message of a study to be presented Monday, May 2, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.

DENVER – The high cost of health care is deterring parents from taking their children to the doctor or buying prescription medication, regardless of how much money they make or whether they have health insurance, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 2, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.

DENVER – Most injured children are not being treated at pediatric trauma centers, arguably the most appropriate location of care for young patients, according to a study to be presented Monday, May 2, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (5/2/2011) – Multitaskers who think they can successfully divide their attention between the program on their television set and the information on their computer screen proved to be driven to distraction by the two devices, according to a new study of media multitasking by Boston College researchers.