Culture

Most Americans interviewed in a national poll believe winter is the most dangerous time for driving, but the truth is that summer is the most dangerous time with Fourth of July weekend being the deadliest.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Iacocca Foundation announce today the completion of the Phase I BCG clinical trial in type 1 diabetes, as well as the submission of all safety reports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the MGH data safety monitoring boards. Plans for the Phase II clinical study, which will continue the investigation of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination as a treatment for people with existing type 1 diabetes, are actively underway.

Rome, Italy: European legislation that requires all couples undergoing assisted reproduction treatment (ART) to be screened for HIV and hepatitis at the time of every sperm or egg donation is unnecessary, expensive, and potentially distressing for patients, the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today (Monday).

The hidden secrets of some of the world's most famous paintings have been revealed thanks to a partnership between EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and the National Gallery.

Culminating in the first major exhibition of its kind in summer 2010, scientists at the Gallery have been using the latest equipment to shed new light on the history behind some of the Gallery's priceless works of art.

After 10 years of careful breeding and research, scientists have developed what could be the world's most perfect prawn.CSIRO scientists and the prawn industry have bred an improved Black Tiger prawn which is producing record yields in aquaculture farms and winning awards.

So good are these prawns that they have won five gold medals at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in the past two years, including 'Champion of Show', the highest award possible.

An intervention in middle schools lowered the obesity rate in students at highest risk for type 2 diabetes, those who started out overweight or obese in sixth grade, an NIH-funded study has found. However, schools that implemented the program did not differ from comparison schools in the study's primary outcome—the prevalence of overweight and obesity combined—which had declined 4 percent in both groups of schools by the end of the three-year study.

In Norway, the category of “servant” was abolished in the 1950s due to industrialization and changes in the labor market, the movement towards gender equality and a greater concern for egalitarianism and democracy.

Drug studies financed by pharmaceutical companies frequently show positive results in favor of the sponsor, says a research group headed by the Chairman of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Association in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107(16): 279-85).

Prof. Wolf-Dieter Ludwig and colleagues describe the influence of sponsoring on the results, protocol and quality of drugs studies and conclude that pharmaceutical companies exploit a wide variety of possibilities of manipulating study results.

Edmontonians love their cars. In fact, 77 percent of us make all our trips by car. So if we know that it's healthier to walk, will developing more walkable neighbourhoods help to break the habit and get us walking to the store instead?

The University of Southampton has played a key role in a major new piece of research that challenges the belief that the biggest charities are becoming increasingly dominant in financial terms – a development sometimes known as 'Tescoisation'.

The research was conducted by the Third Sector Research Centre, led by the Universities of Southampton and Birmingham, and the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy, a consortium which includes the University of Southampton.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Price spikes for gasoline, grain and other commodities could be magnified if lawmakers curb speculative trading in futures markets, according to a new study released today in conjunction with this weekend's G20 summit.

Congress is considering proposals to restrict a growing surge of speculation in commodity futures that some blame for a 2008 spike that netted record corn, rice and wheat prices and pushed gasoline over $4 a gallon.

Since the second world war, the use of rape as a weapon of war has assumed strategic importance, and is now a deliberate military strategy, argue researchers in an editorial published on bmj.com today.

The effects of rape and sexual violence during war also extend beyond individual victims and are economically, physically, psychologically, and culturally devastating for families and communities, say authors Coleen Kivlahan, volunteer forensic physician for HealthRight International, and Nate Ewigman from the University of Florida.