Culture

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American College of Physicians (ACP) and American Osteopathic Association (AOA) are urging Congress to extend the current-law payment parity for primary care and immunization services under Medicaid for at least two years. Absent congressional action, federal support for this policy runs out at the end of the year. Collectively representing nearly 423,000 physicians, the four groups met with dozens of congressional offices on Capitol Hill recently.

Four of six major archaeological sites in Syria have been heavily looted and damaged, according to an analysis of high-resolution satellite images that documents the extent of the destruction.

The report analyzes six of the 12 sites that Syria has nominated as World Heritage Sites: Dura Europos, Ebla, Hama's Waterwheels, Mari, Raqqa, and Ugarit.

Images from 2014 show numerous pits throughout three sites where ancient cities once stood. The pits generally do not appear in similar images from 2011, when the conflict in Syria began.

Analysts at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have used statistical analyses to better understand why solar market policies in certain states are more successful. Their findings indicate that while no standard formula for solar implementation exists, a combination of foundational policies and localized strategies can increase solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in any state.

Now that Christmas is over, tinsel is a lot less charming. Yet few people think about why and how it was created in the first place. It's been a holiday decoration staple for decades, and it turns out that silver stuff hanging from your tree has quite a storied past. Tinsel has been made out of everything from real silver, to lead to dangerously flammable materials.

This week's Speaking of Chemistry decks your halls with the history of tinsel.

Gallbladder removal is one of the most common operations performed in older adults. Yet, research from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston shows many patients who would benefit most from the surgery don't get it.

Only a minority of patients in England with gout with indications to receive urate-lowering therapy were treated according to guideline recommendations, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA. And the British pride themselves on free health care so why patients are not getting it remains unclear.

Seals of quality carry weight in the sustainable real estate industry – but the variety of existing certification systems results in a lack of transparency. These are the key findings of a current study conducted by MODUL University Vienna, Austria. The study examined the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as actors in a sustainable real estate industry in Austria and throughout the world. In addition to a survey of international green building councils, a comprehensive case study was also elaborated.

Researchers have published what they are calling the first full scientific study of the landmark crime experiment they conducted on policing with body-worn-cameras in Rialto, California in 2012 - the results of which have been cited by police departments around the world as justification for rolling out this technology.

An international research team has determined the genetic sequencing of 16 mosquitoes - Anopheles genus, the sole carriers of human malaria--providing new insight into how they adapt to humans as primary hosts of the disease.

Several children's programs were aired during the regime of Ferdinand Franco, the Spanish dictator who won when the Communists and the Nazis were vying for control over Spain in 1936. During his reign, kids did not have their own programming. Children were instead known as young adults and could only watch the television during a limited schedule, on one channel, and content was family friendly.

Though there have been efforts to paint violence and crime as simple economics - give people more money and there is less crime - a new presentation at the Institute of Medicine's Means of Violence workshop finds there is instead a better reason why many poor neighborhoods don't have people preying on each other. The bonds that tie a neighborhood together can help shield community members from gun violence, according to new findings by Yale School of Medicine researchers in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program (RWJF CSP).

People with fewer friends on Facebook raise more money for charity than those with lots of connections, according to an economist at the University of Warwick.

Professor Kimberley Scharf analyzed data from JustGiving.com and found a negative correlation between the size of a group and the amount of money given by each donor - with the average contribution by each person dropping by two pence for every extra connection someone had on Facebook.

Getting old doesn't spell doom when it comes to making important financial decisions.

Using credit scores and cognitive ability tests, the researchers found evidence that "crystallized intelligence," which is gained through experience and accumulated knowledge, is more important that "fluid intelligence," the ability to think logically and process new information. Past research has clearly shown that fluid intelligence decreases with old age, a phenomenon known as "cognitive decline."

The Muslim terror organization known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, uses extreme violence and brutality against anyone it perceives as a threat to its goal of expansion and restoration of an Islamic Caliphate. The significant behavioral aspects of this unparalleled violence and its implications for the future are explored in a compelling Review article published in Violence and Gender.

Two experimental DNA vaccines to prevent Ebola virus and the closely related Marburg virus [1] are safe, and generated a similar immune response in healthy Ugandan adults as reported in healthy US adults earlier this year. The findings, from the first trial of filovirus vaccines in Africa, are published in The Lancet.