Culture

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) and the University of Jaén (UJA) are creating a statistical model to calculate the probability of university students dropping out and to help in the drawing up of strategic plans to reduce the number of students who give up their studies.

According to the CYD 2008 report, the high university drop-out rate ranges from 30% to 50% and is regarded as one of the greatest problems currently hanging over Spanish universities.

Scientists look for clues about therapies and cures for life-threatening childhood illnesses in children's DNA -- it seems only logical to do so. But the decision as to who should have access to DNA samples from children provides a unique ethical conundrum, says a Tel Aviv University researcher in a recent publication for the esteemed journal Science, co-authored by colleagues from The Netherlands and Canada. The recommendations, which call for new policies on access to biobanked children's DNA, could shape America's legislation on the issue in the coming years.

The current recession has focused top information technology executives on cost-cutting, but they are not slashing jobs the way they did in previous economic downturns, according to a benchmark report commissioned by the Society for Information Management.

"While IT organizations have slashed spending on infrastructure, they don't seem to be laying off IT people. In fact, the most successful IT organizations are not being asked to cut their own expenses, but to help the overall business reduce their costs.

The dangers of secondhand smoke have led some organizations and communities to establish smoking bans in offices, restaurants, and other public venues. The effectiveness of such bans in protecting people from health risks associated with breathing environmental tobacco smoke has been a matter of continuing debate.

University of Connecticut theoretical biologist Peter Turchin and Stanford University ancient historian Walter Scheidel recently developed a new method to estimate population trends in ancient Rome and waded into an intense, ongoing debate about whether the state's population increased or declined after the first century B.C.

BETHESDA, Md. (October 6, 2009) — In the early years of the "space race" (1957-1975) two men sought to test a scientifically simple yet culturally complicated theory: that women might be innately better suited for space travel than men. In 1960 the thought of a woman in space was a radical one, and justifiably so. On the ground 75% of American women did not work outside the home and females were banned from military flight service altogether.

Restrictions on fast-food chain restaurants in South Los Angeles are not addressing the main differences between neighborhood food environments and are unlikely to improve the diet of residents or reduce obesity, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Researchers from RAND Health found that the South Los Angeles region has no more fast-food chain establishments on a per capita basis than other parts of the city, but rather many more small food stores and other food outlets.

HIV prevalence among African Americans is ten times greater than the prevalence among whites. This racial disparity in HIV prevalence has persisted in the face of both governmental and private actions, involving many billions of dollars, to combat HIV. In the November 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examine factors responsible for the stark racial disparities in HIV infection in the U.S. and the now concentrated epidemic among African Americans.

Over 90% of people with mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders in low and middle income countries go untreated, an inequity known as the mental health "treatment gap." This week PLoS Medicine kicks off a major new series aimed at helping to close the gap.

The series coincides with the October 9th 2009 launch of the Centre for Global Mental Health, a collaborative initiative of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.

Three quarters of European people surveyed between the 30th April and 6th May 2009 said they were either not at all concerned or only a little concerned about swine flu. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases surveyed people in Europe and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, about their responses to initial reports about the outbreak.

The Race to the Top initiative is a $4.35 billion grant program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to encourage states to implement education reforms. The U.S. Department of Education recently issued draft guidelines explaining how the grants will be awarded.

A new report from the National Research Council comments on the guidelines and offers recommendations for how reforms funded by Race to the Top should be evaluated. The report will be released on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

Adolescents with psychiatric symptoms such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social phobia, hostility and depression may be more likely to develop an Internet addiction, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Results: MIT engineers have boosted stem cells' ability to regenerate vascular tissue (such as blood vessels) by equipping them with genes that produce extra growth factors (naturally occurring compounds that stimulate tissue growth). In a study in mice, the researchers found that the stem cells successfully generated blood vessels near the site of an injury, allowing damaged tissue to survive.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The costs of drinking and driving are all too apparent, with alcohol involved in 41 percent of all motor vehicle crash fatalities in 2006. In addition to the mortality and morbidity associated with drinking and driving, the economic impact of alcohol impaired driving is considerable, estimated at $51 billion, with medical costs accounting for 15 percent of that figure.