News by Subject Business & Economics

The multicenter trial coordinated by the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Turku, Finland, shows that low socioeconomic status in childhood increases the risk of higher left ventricular mass and poorer diastolic function in adulthood.

Combining movement and storytelling activities boosts pre-school children's key motor skills and language ability, according to Coventry University experts who used bestselling book 'The Gruffalo' during their research.

New research finds the type of sensory experience an advertisement conjures up in our mind -- taste and touch vs. sight and sound -- has a fascinating effect on when we make purchases. The study led by marketing professors at Brigham Young University and the University of Washington finds that advertisements highlighting more distal sensory experiences (sight/sound) lead people to delay purchasing, while highlighting more proximal sensory experiences (touch/taste) lead to earlier purchases.

A new study of 60 million Americans -- about 97 percent of people age 65 and older in the United States -- shows that long-term exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone increases the risk of premature death, even when that exposure is at levels below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

The US banned PCBs nearly four decades ago, but they persist in the environment and have been found in animals and humans since then. Now researchers report in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology that concentrations of airborne PCBs inside schools could result in some students inhaling the compounds at higher levels than they would consume through their diets. Exposure through both are lower than set limits, but cumulative amounts, researchers caution, could be concerning.

The cost of depression is great -- 350 million people worldwide suffer from this disorder and costs for traditional SSRI treatments are high. New clinical research results show magnesium is effective at addressing symptoms and is safer and easier on the wallet than prescription therapies.

A special issue of Big Data presents a series of insightful articles that focus on Big Data and Social and Technical Trade-Offs. Despite the dramatic growth in big data affecting many areas of research, industry, and society, there are risks associated with the design and use of data-driven systems.