Culture

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cheers German nuclear exit (and thus more fossil fuels)

Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011, the German government took the nation's eight oldest reactors offline immediately and passed legislation that will close the last nuclear power plant by 2022.

Gen X overtaking baby boomers on obesity

New research from the University of Adelaide shows that Australia's Generation X is already on the path to becoming more obese than their baby boomer predecessors.

Studies show that boomers currently have the highest level of obesity of any age group in Australia. However, new research by University of Adelaide PhD student Rhiannon Pilkington has revealed some alarming statistics. As part of her research, she has compared obesity levels between the two generations at equivalent ages.

Patients with diabetes left in the dark

Patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes feel "left in the dark" and unsure what they can and can't eat whilst sometimes waiting months to receive diabetes education, according to a new study published online today in the journal Primary Health Care Research & Development (1). The research carried out by Dr Michelle McKinley and colleagues at Queen's University Belfast, explored the views of people recently diagnosed with diabetes and discovered that whilst waiting for a referral to a diabetes education programme, they received little or no information about what to eat.

New MS drug proves effective where others have failed

A drug which 'reboots' a person's immune system has been shown to be an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who have already failed to respond to the first drug with which they were treated (a 'first-line' therapy), as well as affected individuals who were previously untreated. The results of these two phase III clinical trials were published today in the journal The Lancet.

5 year olds are generous - but only when being observed

Children as young as five are generous when others are aware of their actions, but antisocial when sharing with a recipient who can't see them, according to research published Oct. 31 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Kristin Lyn Leimgruber and colleagues from Yale University.

Jamaican teen immigrants do better when they retain strong ties to original culture

URBANA –Many young Jamaican immigrants are succeeding in the United States precisely because they remain strongly tied to Jamaican culture, said University of Illinois professor Gail M. Ferguson.

"Although many of these youths have forged a unique tricultural identity that draws from their Jamaican culture, African-American culture, and mainstream European American culture, the important factor in their academic and behavioral success is retaining strong ties to their Jamaican background," she said.

Do clinicians and patients have same definition of remission from depression?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island Hospital researcher Mark Zimmerman, M.D., director of outpatient psychiatry, has found that patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) define remission from depression differently than clinicians. While many psychiatrists and clinicians view remission from a symptom-based standpoint, the study found that patients put much more emphasis on life satisfaction and sense of well-being than on actual symptoms. The paper is published online in advance of print in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Medicare: Barrier to hospice increases hospitalization

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A Medicare rule that blocks thousands of nursing home residents from receiving simultaneous reimbursement for hospice and skilled nursing facility (SNF) care at the end of life may result in those residents receiving more aggressive treatment and hospitalization, according a new analysis.

New metric to track prosthetic arm progress

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Amputees with a new prosthetic arm must learn how to use their device to perform everyday tasks that were once second nature. Taking off a shirt becomes a conscious, multistep effort: grasp the shirt, lift the shirt over the head, pull arms through the sleeves, place the shirt on the table, let go of the shirt.

Penn researchers find error reporting improves perceptions of safety and may reduce incidents

(BOSTON) – Documenting adverse events improves perceptions of safety and may decrease incidents in multi-site clinical practices, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of the year-long study, which focused on the Radiation Oncology department's workflow, show a strong correlation between the implementation of a Conditions Reporting System and increasingly positive responses to staff surveys focusing on the culture of safety within the department.

New study reveals that every single junk food meal damages your arteries

UC research brings us step closer to rollable, foldable e-Devices

The next generation of electronic displays – e-Readers, smartphones and tablets – is closer thanks to research out today from the University of Cincinnati.

Advances that will eventually bring foldable/rollable e-devices as well as no pixel borders are experimentally verified and proven to work in concept at UC's Novel Devices Laboratory. That research is published today in the journal "Nature Communications."

BMJ wants Roche to release Tamiflu trial data

In 2009, Roche made a public promise to release full clinical trial reports of its antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in response to an investigation by the BMJ and Cochrane collaborators Peter Doshi and Tom Jefferson.

In an open letter to company director Professor Sir John Bell, BMJ editor in chief Fiona Godlee says, "Billions of pounds of public money have been spent on [Tamiflu] and yet the evidence on its effectiveness and safety remains hidden from appropriate and necessary independent scrutiny."

'Made In USA' - American consumers overvalue US-produced apparel

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- In today's globalized economy, a large percentage of apparel products are multinational products as raw materials are produced, transported and assembled in different countries. However, consumers have little information about where and to what extent their apparel is produced domestically or overseas. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that American consumers place a much higher value on apparel produced entirely in the US with US raw materials as opposed to products produced partially or entirely overseas.

Bullying has long-term health consequences

HUNTSVILLE, TX (10/30/12) -- Childhood bullying can lead to long term health consequences, including general and mental health issues, behavioral problems, eating disorders, smoking, alcohol use, and homelessness, a study by the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University found.