Culture

Binge drinking strongly associated with eating problems among Russian women

Adolescent binge drinking has been linked to a host of problems, including worse school performance, risky sexual behaviors, illicit drugs, and a greater risk of suicide. Binge drinking may also be linked to problematic eating behavior, yet little research exists. A study of the relationship between binge drinking and eating problems among Russian adolescents has found that problematic eating behaviors and attitudes are commonplace, and that binge drinking is associated with more eating problems in girls than boys.

Education 'experts' may lack expertise

The people most often cited as "education experts" in blogs and news stories may have the backing of influential organizations - but have little background in education and education policy, a new study suggests.

Out of Africa: Did humans migrate quickly and all-at-once or in phases based on weather?

Considerable debate surrounds the migration of human populations out of Africa. Two predominant hypotheses concerning the timing contrast in their emphasis on the role of the Arabian interior and its changing climate. In one scenario, human populations expanded rapidly from Africa to southern Asia via the coastlines of Arabia approx. 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Another model suggests that dispersal into the Arabian interior began much earlier (approx.

Cyberbullying linked to 6-fold increase in female college student depression

More than 1 in 4 females have experienced cyberbullying in college, increasing their risk for depression. Female college students who acted as cyberbullies were also more likely to report problem alcohol use, according to a new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Why are kidney patients starting dialysis sooner?

Over time, patients with advanced kidney disease have been starting dialysis progressively earlier in the course of their disease, likely because doctors are embracing higher levels of kidney function as being appropriate for dialysis initiation. The findings come from a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

PA Governor Tom Wolf Reinstates Moratorium On New Oil and Gas Leases For State Lands

Governor Tom Wolf today signed an executive order reinstating a moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development in state parks and forests. At an event in Benjamin Rush State Park, Governor Wolf signed the executive order with members of the General Assembly in attendance.

Precision medicine to prevent diabetes? Personalized model could steer prevention efforts

How can we keep more people from joining the ranks of the 29 million Americans already diagnosed with diabetes? What if we could tell with precision who has the highest risk of developing the disease, and figure out which preventive steps are most likely to help each of them individually?

Researchers have just released a "precision medicine" approach to diabetes prevention that could do just that - using existing information like blood sugar levels and waist-to-hip ratios, and without needing new genetic tests.

Is urbanization pushing Earth's evolution to a tipping point?

That humans and the cities we build affect the ecosystem and even drive some evolutionary change in species' traits is already known. The signs are small but striking: Spiders in cities are getting bigger and salmon in rivers smaller; birds in urban areas are growing tamer and bolder, outcompeting their country cousins.

What's new is that these evolutionary changes are happening much more quickly than previously thought, and have potential impacts on ecosystem function on a contemporary scale. Not in the distant future, that is -- but now.

How stress can lead to inequality

Stress is a staple of our lives today, and we know intuitively that it can influence our confidence in competing with others. But how exactly does stress do that? Scientists at EPFL have carried out the first behavioral study to show how stress actually affects our degree of confidence, implying that it can even be a cause of social inequality rather than just a consequence of it. On a biological level, the researchers have also associated the effects of stress with the release of the hormone cortisol. The study is published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Unhealthy eating habits outpacing healthy in most world regions

Worldwide, consumption of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables has improved during the past two decades, but has been outpaced by the increased intake of unhealthy foods including processed meat and sweetened drinks in most world regions, according to the first study to assess diet quality in 187 countries covering almost 4.5 billion adults, published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

Social media can help and hurt companies during product recalls

Companies are starting to embrace social media as a viable disclosure channel for product recalls, with the goal of limiting and repairing damage to the firms' reputation.

Using a sample of 405 consumer product recalls between 2000 and 2012, researchers found that corporate social media, in general, lessens negative price reactions to product recall announcements. However, as social media evolved from less to more interactive channels, firms have lost complete control over the content appearing on their corporate social media, and the benefits of social media have lessened.

Academy Awards: World cinema in the ghetto

Four minutes into the 1994 Oscars, host Whoopi Goldberg declared: “Tonight we gather to honour Hollywood’s best, which is also the world’s best”. The directors of the five films nominated for the Best Foreign Language category, including Taiwanese Ang Lee and the eventual winner from Spain Fernando Trueba, must have felt like getting their coats.

Better informed women less likely to want a breast mammogram

Women who understand the risk of over-detection and over-diagnosis associated with mammography screening have lower intentions to have a breast screening test, according to a new study. Over-detection and over-diagnosis refers to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer that would not have presented clinically during a woman's lifetime.

Such a diagnosis, and the resulting overtreatment, can harm women physically and emotionally.

Fifty Shades of Grey fans and the 'mommy porn' myth

With the release of Fifty Shades of Grey in cinemas , serious questions have been raised about whether the film depicts abuse.

Russia is building a psychological firewall against the West

President Vladimir Putin of Russia may fear) that the internet is a CIA project, but unfortunately he is not alone.

According to our recently released study about how the Russian public views the internet his views are widely shared by large portions of the the Russian public.