Culture

The introduction of abuse-deterrent OxyContin, coupled with the removal of propoxyphene from the US prescription marketplace, are getting the credit for decreasing opioid prescribing and overdoses in JAMA Internal Medicine. Those two changes led to a 19 percent drop in prescription opioid supply that was mirrored by a 20 percent drop in prescription opioid overdose between August 2010 and December 2012. The drop in prescription opioid overdose was partially offset by an increase in overdose due to heroin, an illicit opioid.

The horticulturist who came up with the concept of 'evolution by natural selection' 27 years before Charles Darwin did should be more widely acknowledged for his contribution, states a new paper by a King's College London geneticist.

The paper, published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, argues that Patrick Matthew deserves to be considered alongside Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace as one of the three originators of the idea of large-scale evolution by natural selection.

Publicly-funded cosmetic surgery was not the intent of nationalized health care but it is certain to happen; in the United States the Affordable Care Act will mean gender modification surgery for prisoners and in the UK and Australia it has meant taxpayer-funded labiaplasties.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can develop symptoms before 2 years of age and usually can be diagnosed by 3 years of age; early identification of ASD is associated with improved long-term developmental outcomes. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers assessed how healthcare providers respond to parents' concerns about their child's early development, as well as how that response affected the timeliness of ASD diagnosis.

Drug users who do not benefit from conventional treatments for heroin addiction should be able to access the drug through the health system, urges a Canadian expert in The BMJ today.

Standard treatments for heroin drug addiction include detoxification, abstinence programmes and methadone maintenance, but there is a subgroup of patients for whom these do not work.

Little is known about how new mobile technologies affect students' development of non-cognitive skills such as empathy, self-control, problem solving, and teamwork. Two Boston College researchers say it's time to find out.

Lynch School of Education Assistant Professor Vincent Cho and researcher Joshua Littenberg-Tobias, PhD, present a new survey measuring teachers' perspectives on these issues today at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting session "Examining the Potential of Mobile Technology."

An annual report from Tel Aviv University researchers reveals that anti-Semitic incidents rose dramatically worldwide in 2014, with violent attacks on Jews ranging from armed assaults to vandalism against synagogues, schools, and cemeteries.

Parents, students and admissions officials have combed through college and university rankings for years. However, education researchers have largely ignored the controversial lists. That's about to change, according to a Boston College expert in educational measurement.

"Are rankings doing more harm than good or more good than harm?" said Lynch School of Education Professor Henry Braun, part of a panel focused on rankings today at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting.

As states and the federal government in the U.S. continue to clash on the best ways to improve American education, Canada's Province of Ontario manages successful education reform initiatives that are equal parts cooperation and experimentation, according to a Boston College professor and authority on educational change.

The tobacco industry kills about 5 million smokers a year, plus another 600,000 non-smokers. With the health risks involved, it’s perhaps unsurprising that e-cigarettes that release nicotine in vapor form are increasingly being promoted as an alternative.

Though it is widely believed that the media objectifies women, women further diminish themselves by constantly comparing their bodies to others'. Regardless of how much time young women devote to viewing television, music videos and using the internet, they will compare their appearances more frequently to photos in magazines and on Facebook, finds a new paper published today in Psychology of Women Quarterly.

Dr John Fry told the British Sociological Association's annual conference in Glasgow today [Friday 17 April] that he interviewed 20 professionals, including Ryder Cup players and a former world number one, to reveal the "particular stresses" behind the glamour of the game.

With human rights violations by government police forces on the increase, it might seem like a bad time for cops to decide who gets a gun to defend themselves but Massachusetts police chiefs say it should be not be an equal right for all people legally allowed, it should remain up to the police.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001 have left a legacy of chronic ill health among emergency medical services workers who came to the rescue of the victims, reveals research published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Those who arrived in the immediate aftermath of the attacks are most at risk of physical and mental ailments, the findings show.

The rapid increase in use of e-cigarettes has led to heated debates between opponents who question the safety of these devices and proponents who claim the battery-operated products are a useful cessation tool. A study, published online on April 16 in the American Journal of Public Health, suggests proponents are in error.