Culture | Page 2486 | Science Codex

College students talk a lot, hook up a lot less

College students talk about hooking up -- a lot. In fact, they talk about it much more than it actually happens, and they believe other students are having the encounters more often than they actually are, as a new study shows.

The research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln examined how college students' social networks often lead them to define, perceive and participate in "hookups" -- the slang term for casual intimate encounters outside of dating or exclusive relationships. The study also looked at the extent to which those networks influenced risky sexual behavior.

Jasper, Texas unfairly branded as racist after 1998 hate crime - study

Just because a hate crime occurs does not mean a place is racist - gangs of black men recently targeted white people at a state fair in Wisconsin, but that doesn't mean Wisconsin hates white people.

Yet as the Sept. 21 execution date looms for a man convicted for his role in chaining and dragging a black man to his death, the small East Texas town of Jasper remains vilified worldwide as racist after the 1998 murder.

Campus smoking ban reduces smoking

Bans on smoking reduce smoking. No surprise there - but in a college environment, where students are being taught skepticism and independent thinking, is cultural fundamentalism a good thing?

According to an Indiana University study, the end result is worth the implication.

Elevated cholesterol levels: Benefit of ezetimibe is not proven

Elevated blood cholesterol levels are regarded as a risk factor for heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases. However, this does not necessarily mean that every cholesterol-lowering drug can also prevent heart attacks. For example, the benefit of the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe is unclear. In particular, proof is lacking that patients have a greater benefit if they take ezetimibe in addition to statins for the prevention of heart attacks.

New research will help combat antibiotic resistance problems in Africa

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in several African countries. One of the main problems is the very uneven quality of medicine, which makes it difficult for health professionals to prescribe correct doses of medication. To tackle this challenge, a Ghanaian PhD student at the University of Copenhagen has developed a new chemical analysis technique that provides fast and reliable determination of the exact contents of a drug.

Does race dictate quality of care?

Racial minorities have reduced access to high-quality joint replacement care, according to Dr. Xueya Cai and colleagues from the University of Iowa in the US. Their analysis in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research says that African American patients are more likely than Caucasians to receive total knee arthroplasty (or replacement surgery) in low-quality hospitals.

Unique study shows efficacy of imaging technology in evaluating heart drug dalcetrapib

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time used several imaging techniques to prove the efficacy of a promising new treatment for atherosclerosis—the build-up of plaque in artery walls that can lead to a heart attack. Using positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the research team showed that dalcetrapib, a novel treatment for atherosclerosis, prevented the progression of disease and reduced vascular inflammation over 24 months. The data are published in the September 12 issue of The Lancet.

Sorry, Hillary - Raising a child doesn't take a village

The nuclear family is making a comeback after being cast into the wilderness around 1996. It doesn't take a village to raise a child after all, according to University of Michigan research.

U.S. public may not be aware of important uncertainties about drug benefits and harms

CHICAGO – Many U.S. adults believe that only extremely effective drugs without serious adverse effects are approved, but providing explanations to patients highlighting uncertainties about drug benefits may affect their choices, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The article is part of the journal's Less Is More series.

Treatment of CV risk factors appears to improve sexual function in men with erectile dysfunction

CHICAGO – Lifestyle modifications and pharmaceutical treatment of risk factors for cardiovascular disease are associated with improvement in sexual function among men with erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a meta-analysis posted Online First today in Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

American College of Physicians: Here's how to reduce health care spending in a socially and fiscally responsible manner

(Washington) – Recommendations to reduce federal health care spending in a socially and fiscally responsible manner while maintaining quality have been made in a letter to the Congressional Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction from the American College of Physicians (ACP).

MSU sustainability scientists suggest how countries can cooperate on climate

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- When countries try to work together to limit the effects of climate change, the fear of being the only nation reducing greenhouse gas emissions – while the others enjoy the benefits with no sacrifice – can bring cooperation to a grinding halt.

Canadian are fat too: 1 in 5 has metabolic syndrome

Approximately one in five Canadians has metabolic Canadians syndrome — a combination of risk factors for diabetes and heart disease — according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/site/embargo/cmaj110070.pdf.

More PhDs, more competition: Pressure for positive results puts science under threat

Scientific research may be in decline across the globe because of growing pressures to report only positive results, new analysis suggests.

A study by the University of Edinburgh examined more than 4,600 scientific research papers published between 1990 and 2007 and found a steady decline in studies in which the findings contradicted scientific hypotheses.

Papers reporting null or negative findings are in principle as useful as positive ones, but they attract fewer readers and citations, so scientific journals tend to reject them.

Transcendental Meditation reduces medical needs cost by up to 28%

According to a study published this week in American Journal of Health Promotion, people with consistently high health care costs experienced a 28 percent cumulative decrease in physician fees after an average of five years practicing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique compared with their baseline. Both between and within group comparisons were statistically significant. This study has major policy implications.