Culture | Science Codex

Patients have similar chances of survival with veteran and novice trauma surgeons

Within a structured trauma program, patients are equally likely to survive if they are treated by a novice surgeon or by the experienced trauma director, according to a report in Archives of Surgery.

"Trauma care in the United States is provided by surgeons with vastly different training and experience," the authors write. "It is assumed that after general surgery residency training, surgeons are competent to provide trauma care. Trauma fellowships exist for additional training in trauma surgery but are not a prerequisite at most medical centers."

Honey-bee aggression uncovers clues about killer bees

A new study reveals that changes in the gene expression of the honey bee are in response to an immediate threat. These changes, it turns out, have a lot in common with more long-term and even evolutionary differences in honey-bee aggression. The findings lend support to the idea that nurture (an organism's environment) may ultimately influence nature (its genetic inheritance).

Flat bacteria can go anywhere

It appears that bacteria can squeeze through practically anything. In extremely small nanoslits they take on a completely new flat shape. Even in this squashed form they continue to grow and divide at normal speeds. This has been demonstrated by research carried out at TU Delft's Kavli Institute of Nanoscience. The results will be appearing in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Water quality improves after lawn fertilizer ban, study shows

In an effort to keep lakes and streams clean, municipalities around the country are banning or restricting the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers, which can kill fish and cause smelly algae blooms and other problems when the phosphorus washes out of the soil and into waterways.

But do the ordinances really help reduce phosphorus pollution? That's been an open question until now, says John Lehman, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan.

Asian-American women more likely to attempt suicide

Although Asian-Americans as a group have lower rates of attempted suicide than the national average, U.S.-born Asian-American women seem to be particularly at risk for suicidal behavior, according to new University of Washington research.

Without water reform, Asia could face food shortages by 2050

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (18 August 2009) — A comprehensive new study of irrigation in Asia warns that, without major reforms and innovations in the way water is used for agriculture, many developing nations face the politically risky prospect of having to import more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize they will need by 2050.

Women, minorities still face discrimination in labor market, study reports

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that white men receive significantly more tips about job opportunities than women and racial minorities – particularly among people in upper management positions – highlighting racial and gender inequality in the labor market.

Children from low-income families sexually active by 12 years old

AMES, Iowa -- As a new mother herself, Brenda Lohman admits to being shocked by the results of a new study she co-authored. It found that among nearly 1,000 low-income families in three major cities, one in four children between the ages of 11 and 16 reported having sex, with their first sexual intercourse experience occurring at the average age of 12.77.

Family quarrels and no free time can promote headaches in children, study says

Family quarrels and a lack of free time can promote headaches in children. This is what Jennifer Gassmann and her coauthors concluded in their study on risk factors, which appears in the current issue of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[31-32]: 509-16).

Are women’s magazines doing infants more harm than good?

Washington, DC—More than one third of photos in women's magazines depicted babies in unsafe sleep positions, according to a new study in Pediatrics. Additionally, the study found that two-thirds of sleep environments depicted in these magazines were also unsafe.

Led by SIDS researchers Rachel Moon, MD, a pediatrician, and Brandi Joyner at Children's National Medical Center, the study analyzed pictures of sleeping infants in 24 magazines with wide circulation among 20- to 40-year-old women.

New insights into the 'smell of death' could help recover bodies in disasters and solve crimes

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2009 — In an advance toward the first portable device for detecting human bodies buried in disasters and at crime scenes, scientists today report early results from a project to establish the chemical fingerprint of death. Speaking here at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), they said a profile of the chemicals released from decomposing bodies could also lead to a valuable new addition to the forensic toolkit: An electronic device that could determine the time elapsed since death quickly, accurately and onsite.

New study: Up to 90 percent of US paper money contains traces of cocaine

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2009 — You probably have cocaine in your wallet, purse, or pocket. Sound unlikely or outrageous? Think again! In what researchers describe as the largest, most comprehensive analysis to date of cocaine contamination in banknotes, scientists are reporting that cocaine is present in up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, particularly in large cities such as Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit. The scientists found traces of cocaine in 95 percent of the banknotes analyzed from Washington, D.C., alone.

New 'biofactories' produce rare healing substances in the endangered Devil's claw plant

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2009 — Deep in Africa's Kalahari Desert lies the "Devil's claw," a plant that may hold the key to effective treatments for arthritis, tendonitis and other illnesses that affect millions each year. Unfortunately, years of drought have pushed the Devil's claw toward extinction, so scientists are scrambling to devise new ways to produce the valuable medicinal chemicals of the Devil's claw and other rare plants.

Legislation restricting Internet access

Laws aimed at tackling illegal use of wireless internet connections are restricting attempts to increase broadband access, according to research published today.

Daithí Mac Síthigh, a lecturer in IT and internet law at the University of East Anglia (UEA), says current legislation may not be the most appropriate way to regulate 'wifi' sharing – where a network is used by more than one person - and needs clarifying so it does not discourage people from using wireless and hold back provision of community wifi schemes.

Founder Effect: the peopling of the Americas and its relation to genetic diseases

At one time or another most of us wonder where we came from, where our parents or grandparents and their parents came from. Did our ancestors come from Europe or Asia? As curious as we are about our ancestors, for practical purposes, we need to think about the ancestry of our genes, according to Cecil Lewis, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. Lewis says our genetic ancestry influences the genetic traits that predispose us to risk or resistance to disease.