EurekAlert! - Social/Behavioral Science

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

American Journal of Human Genetics
Perfect pitch study offers window into influences of nature and nurture
Practice, practice, practice might get you to Carnegie Hall, but for aspiring musicians, there's new evidence that genes may influence one's ability to get there, as well.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Association for Computer Machinery's Conference on Electronic Conference
Second Life data offers window into how trends spread
Do friends wear the same style of shoe or see the same movies because they have similar tastes, which is why they became friends in the first place? Or once a friendship is established, do individuals influence each other to adopt like behaviors?

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Pediatric Research
Brain malformations significantly associated with preterm birth, Wake Forest research shows
New research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine provides for the first time a solid scientific answer for the long-standing question of whether there is an association between preterm birth and brain malformations.

National Institutes of Health, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, Pratt Family Foundation

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Applied Developmental Science
Overweight kids experience more loneliness, anxiety, MU study finds
As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight as a step toward reversing current trends. Now, a new University of Missouri study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten.

US Department of Agriculture, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Programs

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Genome Research
Ben-Gurion U. researchers reveal connection between cancer and human evolution
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer. The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Report calls for new initiative to improve math education for preschoolers
To ensure that all children enter elementary school with the foundation they need for success, a major national initiative is needed to improve early childhood mathematics education, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Lancet
Poor health among indigenous peoples a question of cultural loss as well as poverty
Health problems of Indigenous peoples around the world are intimately tied to a number of unique factors, such as colonization, globalization, migration, and loss of land, language and culture. These factors remain even after the "typical" social problems facing the poor, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and low education levels are addressed, according to Dr. Malcolm King, lead author of a paper to be published tomorrow in The Lancet,.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Psychological Science
The problem with self-help books: Study shows the negative side to positive self-statements
In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The positive self-statements suggested in these books, such as "I am a lovable person" or "I will succeed," are designed to lift a person's low self-esteem and push them into positive action. According to a recent study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science; however, these statements can actually have the opposite effect.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Psychological Science
In the eye of the storm: Why some people stayed behind
Hurricane Katrina was the largest natural disaster in US history, claiming the lives of more than 1,800 victims and causing well over $100 billion in damage along the Gulf Coast. The 2005 storm breached every levee in New Orleans, flooding almost the entire city as well as the neighboring parishes. Yet a surprising number of people stayed behind and rode out the storm.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

International Multisensory Research Forum
Children with autism need to be taught in smaller groups, pilot study confirms
Since the 1970s, there has been much debate surrounding the fact that individuals with autism have difficulty in understanding speech in situations where there is background speech or noise. Today, at the annual meeting of the International Multisensory Research Forum being held at the City College of New York, neuroscientists announced conclusive evidence to verify this fact.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Sexist jokes favor the mental mechanisms that justify violence against women
These are the conclusions of research work carried out at the University of Granada in a sample of 109 18-26 year old university male students. The results of this work will be released July 2 in the framework of the International Summer School and Symposium on Humor and Laughter.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

World Conference of Science Journalists
Research output in developing countries reveals 194 percent increase in five years
The partners of Research4Life announced today at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 that a new research impact analysis has demonstrated a dramatic rise in research output by scientists in the developing world since 2002. By comparing absolute growth in published research before (1996 � 2002) and after (2002 - 2008) the advent of the Research4Life programs, the analysis has revealed a 194 percent or 6.4-fold increase in articles published in peer reviewed journals.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Science
Stanford bioethicist and colleagues call for federal regulation of genetic ancestry testing
The lack of federal regulation in instances of DNA use will be addressed in the Policy Forum section in the July 3 issue of Science by Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Ph.D., of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, and colleagues from four other universities. The need for a clear set of rules governing genetic ancestry testing is becoming more urgent, Lee said, given the proliferation of private corporations that promise consumers insight into their genetic origins.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009

Health Care for Women International
Mexican wives' mental health dives when husbands work in US
A new study finds that Mexican wives who stay home when their husbands immigrate to the United States for work have poorer mental health than a comparison group.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Nature
Schizophrenia linked for first time to chromosome region in study led by Stanford scientists
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have played a major role in an international effort that has shown, for the first time, that modern genetic technologies can solve the riddle of how gene variations lead to schizophrenia.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Nature
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share genetic roots
A trio of genome-wide studies -- collectively the largest to date -- has pinpointed an array of genetic variation that cumulatively may account for at least one-third of the genetic risk for schizophrenia. One of the studies traced schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in part, to the same chromosomal neighborhoods. All three studies implicate an area of Chromosome 6 known to harbor genes involved in immunity and controlling how and when genes turn on and off.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Nature
Study strongly supports many genetic contributions to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
An international research consortium has discovered that many common genetic variants contribute to a person's risk of schizophrenia, providing the first molecular evidence that this form of genetic variation is involved in schizophrenia. The researchers also found that many of these DNA variations also are involved in bipolar disorder but not in several nonpsychiatric diseases.

Stanley Medical Research Foundation, Sylvan Herman Foundation, UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, Science Foundation Ireland

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Journal of National Cancer Institute
JNCI news brief: Cost-effectiveness of HPV vaccination in the Netherlands
Even under favorable assumptions, including lifelong protection against 70 percent of all cervical cancers and no side effects, vaccination against the human papillomavirus is not cost-effective in the Netherlands, according to a study published online July 1 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

New England Journal of Medicine
NEJM study addresses impact of Medicare Part D on medical spending
After enrolling in Medicare Part D, seniors who previously had limited or no drug coverage spent more on prescriptions and less on other medical care service, says a University of Pittsburgh study in the July 2 issue of New England Journal of Medicine. The study also found that seniors who had relatively good drug benefits before enrolling in Medicare Part D spent somewhat more on prescriptions and increased their spending on other medical care services.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Psychological Bulletin
Those unsure of own ideas more resistant to views of others
We swim in a sea of information, but filter out most of what we see or hear. A new analysis of data from dozens of studies sheds new light on how we choose what we do and do not hear. The study found that while people tend to avoid information that contradicts what they already think or believe, certain factors can cause them to seek out, or at least consider, other points of view.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting
A young brain for an old bee
Scientists have found that by switching the social role of honey bees, aging honey bees can keep their learning ability intact or even improve it. The research team is hoping to use them as a model to study general aging processes in the brain and how to prevent or ameliorate cognitive impairments associated with old age. The results will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Meeting on Wednesday, July 1.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting
Triggering muscle development -- a therapeutic cure for muscle wastage?
Scientists have shown that if elderly men who were given growth hormone and exercised their legs showed an appreciable muscle mass increase. Dr. Geoff Goldspink says, "This raises the question: Can age-related loss of muscle strength and increased fragility be ameliorated by the therapeutic application of mechano growth factor?" The findings will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Meeting on Wednesday, July 1.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Sleep
Poor sleep is independently associated with depression in postpartum women
A study in the July 1 issue of the journal Sleep suggests that postpartum depression may aggravate an already impaired sleep quality, as experiencing difficulties with sleep is a symptom of depression.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Sleep
Sleep duration is associated with variations in levels of inflammatory markers in women
A study in the July 1 issue of the journal Sleep demonstrates that levels of inflammatory markers varied significantly with self-reported sleep duration in women but not men.

Public Release: 1-Jul-2009

Ophthalmology
Clue to normal-tension glaucoma; herpes infection and corneal transplants
The July issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, includes two studies that may influence clinical treatment of serious eye conditions. One study reports on silent cerebral infarcts incidence and visual field loss in patients with normal-tension glaucoma; the other correlates inflammation biomarkers with corneal transplant rejection in herpes simplex patients.


			HOME DISCLAIMER PRIVACY POLICY TERMS & CONDITIONS CONTACT US TOP Copyright ©2009 by AAAS, the science society.