Culture

The Tobacco Atlas, Third Edition, published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation, estimates that tobacco use kills some six million people each year -- more than a third of whom will die from cancer -- and drains $500 billion annually from global economies. Unveiled at the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit, the Atlas graphically displays how tobacco is devastating both global health and economies, especially in middle and low-resource countries.

SEATTLE—August 25, 2009—Researchers working with Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have found that post-traumatic stress disorder, the current most common mental disorder among veterans returning from service in the Middle East, is associated with an increased risk for thoughts of suicide.

A multicenter study, which appeared in the journal Stroke, found that higher rates of poor surgical outcomes for carotid endartectomy (CEA) –– a procedure performed to prevent strokes –– appeared to be due not only to elevated patient clinical risk in African-American and Hispanics, but also to the individual skill and experience of the doctor performing the operation.

Based on current reduction targets, the world's largest companies are on track to reach the scientifically-recommended level of greenhouse gas cuts by 2089 – 39 years too late to avoid dangerous climate change, reveals a research report – The Carbon Chasm – released today by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Women hedge, issue disclaimers and ask questions when they communicate, language features that can suggest uncertainty, lack of confidence and low status. But men do the same, according to new research from the University of California, Davis.

"It's a stereotype that men are direct while women are tentative. I debunk that stereotype," said Nicholas Palomares, assistant professor of communication at UC Davis.

Communication in healthcare: how can clinicians help patients make decisions consistent with their values?

An analysis published August 25 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases sheds new light on the toll that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) take on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with an estimated 500 million people suffering from these debilitating and sometimes deadly diseases. Helminth infections account for approximately 85% of the NTD burden. Overall, the NTD burden may be equivalent to more than double that caused by tuberculosis and up to one-half of SSA's malaria disease burden.

Based on current reduction targets, the world's largest companies are on track to reach the scientifically-recommended level of greenhouse gas cuts by 2089 – 39 years too late to avoid dangerous climate change, reveals a research report – The Carbon Chasm – released by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says dieters are attracted to Weight Watchers because of its combination of spirituality and therapy.

Authors Risto Moisio (California State University, Long Beach) and Mariam Beruchashvili (California State University, Northridge) undertook observations of weekly Weight Watchers meetings and conducted interviews with female members and group leaders. They conclude that Weight Watchers provides a powerful service to its clientele.

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research unravels the complexities of sharing and examines how changes in our culture affect sharing.

"Sharing is a fundamental consumer behavior that we have either tended to overlook or to confuse with commodity exchange and gift giving," writes author Russell Belk (York University, Toronto). In his study, Belk explores differences between sharing, gift giving, and exchanging marketplace commodities.

According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers are able to find authenticity in unlikely places. "Consumers identity goals (or their idealized images of themselves) underpin assessments of whether a brand is authentic (genuine, real, and true) or not," write authors Michael B. Beverland (RMIT University, Melbourne) and Francis J. Farrelly (Monash University).

Researchers have reported the discovery of a surprising but reliable marker of colony collapse disorder. Colony collapse disorder was a baffling malady that in 2007-2008 killed off more than a third of commercial honey bees in the U.S.

Their study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identifies a single, objective molecular marker of the disorder, and to propose a data-driven hypothesis to explain the mysterious disappearance of American honey bees. The team included researchers from the University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

New research by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the University of Chicago's Department of Comparative Human Development explores how the hormone testosterone plays an important role in gender differences in financial risk aversion and career choice.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- More than a half billion people use online social networks, posting vast amounts of information about themselves to share with online friends and colleagues. A new study co-authored by a researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has found that the practices of many popular social networking sites typically make that personal information available to companies that track Web users' browsing habits and allow them to link anonymous browsing habits to specific people.

Apologizing for negative outcomes—a practice common even with children—may lead to more favorable verdicts for auditors in court, according to researchers at George Mason University and Oklahoma State University. The results of the study will be available in a forthcoming issue of Contemporary Accounting Research, published by the Canadian Academic Accounting Association.