EurekAlert! - Business and Economics

Overweight kids experience more loneliness, anxiety, MU study finds

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Missouri-Columbia) 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.

UT multimedia program increases middle school interest in science

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston) Middle school students who were part of a unique science learning program developed by the University of Texas School of Public Health showed significant increases in interest and achievement scores compared to other students, a recent study found.

Report calls for new initiative to improve math education for preschoolers

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(National Academy of Sciences) 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.

Graduate students win prestigious prizes for their work

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) Each year, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics awards SIAM Student Paper Prizes to the most outstanding papers submitted to the SIAM Student Paper Prize Competition. SIAM is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 SIAM Student Paper Prizes who will present their papers during the SIAM Annual Meeting in Denver, Colo., July 6-10.

Poor health among indigenous peoples a question of cultural loss as well as poverty

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Canadian Institutes of Health Research) 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,.

UT scientist receives hemophilia research award

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston) Keri Smith, Ph.D., an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, has received a Career Development Award from the National Hemophilia Foundation.

Research output in developing countries reveals 194 percent increase in five years

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Elsevier) 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.

Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(American Association for the Advancement of Science) Changing winter conditions are causing Scotland's wild Soay sheep to get smaller despite the evolutionary benefits of having a large body, researchers report in a study that shows how climate change can trump natural selection.

International team of students and scientists on month-long field course in Siberian Arctic

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Woods Hole Research Center) Scientists and undergraduate students from across the United States and Russia are departing July 2 for a month-long field course in the Russian Arctic. The program, known as the Polaris Project, is training future leaders in arctic research and education, and informing the public about the impacts of climate change.

African institutions lead international consortia in $49 million initiative

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Wellcome Trust) More than 50 institutions from 18 African countries -- from Senegal to Sudan to South Africa -- are to participate in international consortia under a £30 ($49) million initiative from the Wellcome Trust to strengthen research capacity on the continent.

NEJM study addresses impact of Medicare Part D on medical spending

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences) 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.

UT Austin professor honored with prestigious mathematics award

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) Mary F. Wheeler, of the University of Texas at Austin, will be awarded the Theodore von Kármán Prize at the SIAM Annual Meeting for her seminal research in numerical methods for partial differential equations, her leadership in the field of scientific computation and service to the scientific community, and for her pioneering work in the application of computational methods to the engineering sciences, most notably in geosciences.

Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden professor to receive prestigious prize in mathematics

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) The W.T. and Idalia Reid Prize in Mathematics will be awarded to Anders Lindquist at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in Denver, July 6-10. Lindquist is being recognized for his fundamental contributions to the theory of stochastic systems, signals, and control. He is head of the Division of Optimization and Systems Theory and director of the Strategic Center for Industrial and Applied Mathematics both at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.

Computational scientist receives prestigious honor

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics will honor Franco Brezzi, one of the leading computational mathematicians of our day, as the 2009 John von Neumann Lecturer during the SIAM Annual Meeting in Denver, July 6-10. Brezzi is director of the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Information Technology and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Italy.

Improving math education in early childhood

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(National Academy of Sciences) Though many consider teaching math to young children to be unnecessary or inappropriate at this stage in their educational development, research shows that as early as infancy, children start to think about the world in mathematical ways

Finding solutions to the chronic nursing shortage

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Western Ontario) The Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at the University of Western Ontario has announced a $2 million research chair to address issues surrounding the chronic shortage of registered nurses in Canada and the United States. Dr. Heather Laschinger, Ph.D., was named the first Arthur Labatt Family Nursing Research Chair in Human Resource Optimization.

Recent news reports of sweetener reformulations raise questions about motivations

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Weber Shandwick Worldwide) The misleading "health" halo surrounding highly-publicized marketing campaigns regarding sweetener reformulations is starting to dim. Recent announcements by Starbucks and other brands that they will remove high fructose corn syrup from certain products are being called into question in news articles by several experts and respected journalists. Recent Washington Post and Chicago Tribune articles have poked holes in companies' marketing efforts, and put forth scientifically substantiated facts about sweeteners commonly used in foods.

AIUM announces management agreement with the International Society of Therapeutic Ultrasound

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine) The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine has reached a management agreement with the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound effective July 1, 2009. The AIUM will support the ISTU's administrative, financial and member service functions in an effort to maximize the ISTU's mission of advancing therapeutic ultrasound applications worldwide.

Warmer climate can direct flow of tourists northwards

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Gothenburg) For over half a century, Northern Europeans have been heading south for our holidays. A warmer climate may reverse the flow of tourists, and encourage more Southern Europeans to head north. But how will future changes in climate affect tourism in Gothenburg? This is the subject of a new European research project at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Bad medicine

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies) Are individuals, families, communities and employers getting their money's worth from US health care? That's the big question in the news today, pushed further into the spotlight by the Obama administration. Charles M. Kilo, M.D., M.P.H, CEO of GreenField Health in Portland, Oregon, and co-author Eric B. Larson, M.D., M.P.H., of Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, Washington, explore this important question in their commentary "Exploring the Harmful Effects of Health Care" in the July 1 JAMA.

Risky business: Stressed men more likely to gamble

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Southern California) Stressed out, dude? Don't go to Vegas. New research, to be in the journal PLoS One, shows that men under stress may be more likely to take risks, correlating to such real-life behavior as gambling, smoking, unsafe sex and illegal drug use.

Tunnel vision

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(US Department of Homeland Security - Science and Technology) They're digging tunnels along the US border at a fast and furious pace, but not a single one of them has ever been discovered by US border patrol agents using technology. That's going to change.

Accelerating personalized mental health care

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(King's College London) A powerful new research facility at the heart of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Center is being launched today by Professor Dame Sally C. Davies, director general of research and development and chief scientific adviser, department of health. The Biomedical Research Center Nucleus is a unique center housing key translational initiatives to support the development of novel therapies and treatments for mental health and related disorders.

Ecological Society of America announces 2009 award recipients

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Ecological Society of America) The Ecological Society of America will present societal awards to five distinguished ecologists at its 94rd Annual Meeting on Monday, August 3, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More than 3,500 attendees are expected at this year's meeting.

Vietnamese drug authority teams with United States standards-setting organization

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(US Pharmacopeia) As Vietnam's industrial capabilities have developed rapidly in recent decades, government officials have recognized the importance of helping to secure the nation's supply of medicines. In an important milestone addressing this need, the Vietnamese Pharmacopoeia Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Pharmacopeial Convention.