Culture | Science Codex

Religious groups can aid response to HIV in Central America - study

Faith-based organizations such as churches and religious-relief-and-development groups can play an important role in the response to HIV and AIDS in Central America, according to a new RAND Corporation report.

Detractors say the role of religious groups is limited if they do not support birth control and prevention measures such as condoms, but the RAND researchers say building on the traditional role of faith-based groups provides an important opportunity to improve a range of services and support.

Race for new hips - disparities in color among joint replacement patients

A recent study by researchers at the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suggests that patient treatment preferences play an important role in racial disparities in total joint replacement utilization observed in the US. Different attitudes toward total joint replacement procedures held by African American and white patients explained racial disparities in whether orthopedic surgeons recommended the procedure to patients. These findings¹ by Dr.

ADHD linked to low maternal education, lone parents and welfare benefits

A major study of more than a million children has found strong links between receiving medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and limited maternal education, single parent families and welfare benefits, according to the June issue of Acta Paediatrica

Swedish experts teamed up to carry out what they believe is the first study of risk factors for ADHD in a national cohort of school children, based on 1.16 million children on the country's Prescribed Drug Register.

New answers on rare childhood disease

New answers on rare childhood disease

A quick fix for queues

Queuing, standing in line...it's what we do well, but complain about the most. Thankfully, science is coming to the rescue as researchers in Taiwan have devised a formula that could revolutionize restaurants, post offices, customer service desks, and theater ticket sales everywhere.

Binge drinkers report suboptimal health status more often than nonbinge drinkers

Binge drinking accounts for more than half of 79,000 excessive-drinking deaths annually in the United States.
A new study has looked at heavy and binge drinking in relation to drinkers' own perceptions of their overall health status.
Results show binge drinkers have a 13 to 23 percent greater likelihood of self-reporting fair to poor health status.

Binge drinkers report sub-optimal health status more often than non-binge drinkers

Binge drinking accounts for more than half of 79,000 excessive-drinking deaths annually in the United States.
A new study has looked at heavy and binge drinking in relation to drinkers' own perceptions of their overall health status.
Results show binge drinkers have a 13 to 23 percent greater likelihood of self-reporting fair to poor health status.

TV food advertisements promote imbalanced diets

St. Louis, MO, June 1, 2010 – Making food choices based on television advertising results in a very imbalanced diet according to a new study comparing the nutritional content of food choices influenced by television to nutritional guidelines published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Pivotal data for the investigational treatment PSD502 for primary premature ejaculation

SAN FRANCISCO, CA/ATLANTA, GA, June 1, 2010 - Shionogi Pharma, Inc., a U.S.-based group company of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., today presented data summarizing the results of two pivotal studies of the investigational new drug PSD502, a topical metered dose spray being developed for the treatment of primary premature ejaculation (PE). These data were presented at the 2010 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Alcohol consumption in Portugal: The burden of disease

Portugal is currently ranked eighth in the world in alcohol consumption.
A new study has examined the costs that alcohol consumption has on Portugal's health system.
Findings show that roughly 3.8 percent of deaths are attributable to alcohol.

Newly discovered kinase regulates cytoskeleton, and perhaps holds key to how cancer cells spread

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have identified a previously unknown kinase that regulates cell proliferation, shape and migration, and may play a major role in the progression or metastasis of cancer cells.

The research will be published in the May 31 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists decipher structure of nature's 'light switch'

UPTON, NY — When the first warm rays of springtime sunshine trigger a burst of new plant growth, it's almost as if someone flicked a switch to turn on the greenery and unleash a floral profusion of color. Opening a window into this process, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have deciphered the structure of a molecular "switch" much like the one plants use to sense light.

Perceptions of forestry students change through years of study

MADISON, WI, May 31, 2010 – A study of undergraduates in a five-year Brazilian forestry program finds that what students perceive as important change as they progress through program. These differences suggest ways to improve forestry curriculum and create more attractive forestry programs to reverse the global decline in forestry student enrollment.

Educational researcher devotes May issue to 'Report of the National Early Literacy Panel'

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 31, 2010—The May 2010 issue of Educational Researcher (ER) provides a significant scholarly review of Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP). Educational Researcher is one of six journals published by the American Educational Research Association. In the special issue, NELP Panel members Timothy Shanahan and Christopher J.

Consent forms for research: Have they improved in 25 years?

The consent forms that people sign before participating in research are widely considered difficult to understand and sometimes inaccurate. The lack of clarity was implicated in a high-profile legal settlement in April between Arizona State University and a Native American tribe, which claimed that blood samples that its members provided for genetic research were used for purposes not stated in the consent form. Efforts have been made to improve the forms, but how effective are they?