Culture

In combination with diet and exercise, the diabetes drug exenatide helped nondiabetic, obese individuals lose over three times more weight than those receiving a placebo, or dummy treatment, for 6 months. The results of the new study will be presented Thursday at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Copenhagen, Denmark, Thursday 11 June 2009: Nulliparous women (those who have not given birth to children) are diagnosed with chronic arthritides (including ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) an average of 5.2 years before parous women (those who have given birth to children), according to a new study presented today at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Copenhagen, Denmark, Thursday 11 June 2009: Undertaking a supervised exercise programme can have beneficial effects on functional status and physical function, reduce the need for daily corticosteroid and anti-inflammatory intake and improve levels of depression and anxiety in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a new study presented today at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Students who attended independent schools go on to obtain an average of 30% higher earnings than state school students, according to a study published today in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society. When compared against like for like family background, the gap is reduced to an increase of 20% in earnings. Most of this gap came from the achievement of higher qualifications.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The United States is becoming a nation of haves and have-nots when it comes to tobacco control, according to a comprehensive publication on cigarette smoking prevalence and policies in the U.S. that was released today.

The new report, "Cigarette Smoking Prevalence and Policies in the 50 States: An Era of Change -- the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ImpacTeen Tobacco Chart Book," was presented today at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health meeting in Phoenix.

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Mayo Clinic researchers are reporting that persons who undergo bariatric surgery may have a greater chance of experiencing broken bones, especially in their hands and feet. The study is based on a review of nearly 100 surgical cases at Mayo spanning 21 years and is being presented today at the Endocrinology Society Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Restaurants in Germany legally sell alcohol to teenagers after their sixteenth birthdays and French children drink wine with dinner at an early age, but U.S. parents who follow this relaxed European example, believing it fosters a healthier attitude toward alcohol, should be careful -- it may increase the likelihood that their children binge drink in college.

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) will present new findings and strategies for combating childhood obesity at the 5th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference being held June 9-12 in Los Angeles.

Researchers will participate in oral discussions on using wireless body networks and interactive multimedia to promote physical activity in children, and the link between childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. –According to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, getting more high-quality sleep is associated with better academic performance. The positive relationship is especially relevant to performance in math.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. –Older Americans with depressive symptoms and poor mental health tend to get seven hours of sleep per night or less, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. – According to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, people with chronic stress report shorter sleep duration, worse sleep quality, and more daytime functioning impairments. Conversely, daytime functioning impairments and shorter sleep duration demonstrated a predictive relationship with habitual stress complaints.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. - According to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) negatively affect women's sleep. Sleep is further impaired by pain, depression and poor adherence to RA medications.

Results indicate that length of time since RA diagnosis, RA disease activity, level of pain, depression symptoms and adherence to medications for RA may cause women suffering from the disease to have poor sleep quality.

The labelling for the first homoeopathic product to get a licence from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) should be illegal, because they breach Unfair Trading regulations, argues a senior scientist today.

Snake locomotion may seem simple compared to walking or galloping. But in reality, it's no easy task to move without legs. Previous research has assumed that snakes move by pushing off of rocks and debris around them. But a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that it's all in their design--specifically, their scales.

Nanoparticle films are no longer a delicate matter: Vanderbilt physicists have found a way to make them strong enough so they don't disintegrate at the slightest touch.

In the last 25 years, ever since scientists figured out how to create nanoparticles – ultrafine particles with diameters less than 100 nanometers – they have come up with a number of different methods to mold them into thin films which have a variety of interesting potential applications ranging from semiconductor fabrication to drug delivery, solid state lighting to flexible television and computer displays.