Authored by Economics writer Romesh Vaitilingam, Recovery Britain: research evidence to underpin a productive, fair and sustainable return to growth examines some of the challenges the UK faces after the longest and deepest downturn since full records began. The report provides 20 key challenge areas and a number of policy solutions. It draws on analysis of a broad range of data sources and the work of numerous researchers and research institutions, including centres and programmes, funded by the ESRC.
Culture
A new report by an Indiana University School of Dentistry department chair with researchers from six other U.S. dental schools is calling for quick and creative solutions to address the growing scarcity of full-time faculty members within the nation's dental school programs.
A new democracy barometer from the University of Zurich and the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) shows the development of the thirty best democracies in the world. Den-mark, Finland and Belgium have the highest quality of democracy, whereas Great Britain, France, Poland, South Africa and Costa Rica the lowest. Moreover, the barometer shows no evidence of a crisis of democracy.
Viewing TV coverage of terrorist events causes deterioration of psychological resources, such as commitment and a sense of success, and to feeling threatened, which in turn can also lead to loss of resources and other negative affects. This has been found in a new study at the University of Haifa. "Mass media plays a central role in reporting on terrorism and political violence. The present study shows that watching this type of coverage on television has negative effects, even for someone who was not at all involved in an event being viewed," said Prof.
Boston, MA -- Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers and colleagues from Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society have found that a reduction in secondhand smoking in American homes was associated with fewer cases of otitis media, the scientific name for middle ear infection. The study appears on January 26, 2011, as an online first article on the website of the journal Tobacco Control.
Even by invading plants' standards, the filaree, or common stork's bill, has been remarkably successful. Introduced into North America in the eighteenth century, it is now endemic in south-western states such as California, and the plant's intriguing seed dispersal mechanism seems to lie at the root of their success. Having launched as far as possible from the mother plant, the seed drills itself into the ground by repeatedly curling and unwinding a strap-like structure, known as an awn, to give it the best chance to germinate. But how do they self-drill?
Death by homicide, the victim is probably black. By cirrhosis, the decedent is likely Native American. These stereotypes have small but clear effects on the racial classifications used to calculate official vital statistics, according to a new study by sociologists at the University of Oregon and University of California, Irvine.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Highly-caffeinated energy drinks – even those containing no alcohol – may pose a significant threat to individuals and public health, say researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Bethesda, MD - Last night, in his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama presented the nation with a vision of a better future through investment in education, infrastructure, and research. Recognizing the role that innovation has played in this nation's history and the promise that it holds for addressing the many challenges we face, he stated that "maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America's success."
Hotter summers may not be as catastrophic for the Greenland ice sheet as previously feared and may actually slow down the flow of glaciers, according to new research.
A letter published in Nature on 27 January explains how increased melting in warmer years causes the internal drainage system of the ice sheet to 'adapt' and accommodate more melt-water, without speeding up the flow of ice toward the oceans. The findings have important implications for future assessments of global sea level rise.
KNOXVILLE -- Four letter words may offend you more depending on which television channel you watch, according to a recent study out of Florida State University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
DURHAM, N.H. – New research from the University of New Hampshire suggests that China should establish a unified supervisory agency, similar to what is used in Singapore, to oversee its complex financial sector.
A study published today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases finds that methods to protect pregnant women from malaria are still underutilised in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A review of national control strategies by a team of international researchers, led by the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium and funded by the Consortium and the Wellcome Trust, has concluded that despite major efforts, coverage is still inadequate in many areas and needs to be scaled up.
The government's "nudge" approach to public health may struggle to make much impression on improving population health, warn experts on bmj.com today.
An accompanying editorial argues that the notion of nudging adds nothing to existing approaches and risks wasting resources.
BOSTON, Mass. (Jan. 26, 2011)—As news outlets throughout Europe and the U.S. report on the plummeting health of Western adults and children, there is no shortage of culprits. One villain often bandied about is the "fee for service" system of incentives for physicians. Clearly, if doctors are financially rewarded for simply performing more procedures, costs will soar at the expense of patient health.