Culture | Page 2489 | Science Codex

99-cent pricing? The left digit matters more than the last two

CAMDEN — Just-below pricing, prices that end with 99-cents, are a common marketing gimmick but a penny saved doesn't always translate into a penny earned for retailers.

In a meta-analysis of the effect 99-cent price endings have on consumers, Robert Schindler, a professor of marketing at the Rutgers School of Business–Camden, studied the marketing strategy behind pricing an item at, say, $29.99 instead of $30. The penny may not seem like much, but people actually perceive a big difference in price and think they're getting a bargain.

Revisiting the David Nutt debate: Not possible to rank different drugs by the harm they cause

The scientific and political worlds were transfixed in late 2009 when UK drugs advisor Dr.

Modern songs about degrading sex - how they affect kids

Do sexualized lyrics in popular music have an impact on the sexual behavior and attitudes of adolescents? Researchers Cougar Hall, Joshua H. West, and Shane Hill from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, take a look at the trend of increasing use of sexually explicit lyrics in music. Their findings, published online in Springer's journal Sexuality & Culture, provide food for thought for educators whose focus is to promote healthy sexual development.

Chondroitin sulfate improves hand function, relieves morning stiffness caused by osteoarthritis

New research shows that chondroitin sulfate significantly decreased pain and improved hand function in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand compared with those in the placebo group. Results of the clinical trial available today in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), also report that chondroitin sulfate improves grip strength and relieves morning stiffness.

Even mild cognitive impairment appears to substantially increase risk for death

INDIANAPOLIS – Cognitive impairment, even when detected at an early, mild stage, is a significant predictor of decreased life expectancy.

According to a new, long-term study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University researchers, cognitive impairment, especially at the moderate to severe stages has an impact on life expectancy similar to chronic conditions such as diabetes or chronic heart failure. Their findings, "Cognitive Impairment: An Independent Predictor of Excess Mortality. A Cohort Study" appears in the Sept. 6, 2011 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Parental smoking blamed for student truancy

Children who live in households where they are exposed to tobacco smoke miss more days of school than do children living in smoke-free homes, a new nationwide study says. Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found these children have higher rates of respiratory illnesses that can be caused by second-hand smoke and details the probable economic costs of their increased school absence in Pediatrics.

India: Pharmacists need to provide medical better risk and benefit information to teenagers

Hyderabad, India: A large proportion of teenagers regularly and frequently take some form of medication without receiving targeted information about the risks and benefits, according to a review of current research at the annual congress of the International Pharmaceutical Federation.

ATS statement regarding White House decision to delay new ozone standard

Today, the White House issued a press release stating they would not move to issue a final standard on ozone pollution. The American Thoracic strongly condemns this decision. "This is not change we believe in," said ATS President-Elect Monica Kraft, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Asthma, Allergy and Airway Center at Duke University.

Europeans think the 'typical' European looks like them

What does a typical European face look like according to Europeans? It all depends on which European you ask. Germans think the typical European looks German while Portuguese people think the typical European looks more Portuguese.

Language speed vs. efficiency: Is faster better?

A recent study of the speech information rate of seven languages concludes that there is considerable variation in the speed at which languages are spoken, but much less variation in how efficiently languages communicate the same information. The study, "A cross-linguistic perspective on speech information rate," to be published in the September 2011 issue of the scholarly journal Language, is co-authored by François Pellegrino, Christophe Coupé, and Egidio Marsico.

Trauma experts criticize BBC's Holby City for 'peddling dangerous drugs'

According to Dr Ian Roberts, Head of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Injury Control at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the recent episode ("Big Lies, Small Lies") seriously misrepresents the scientific evidence.

"In clinical trials, Factor VIIa (the drug presented in the programme) was shown to substantially increase the risk of serious side effects from unwanted clotting but it has never been shown to save lives. In fact, the most recent trial showed a trend towards more deaths with Factor VIIa" says Roberts.

DMP for diabetes type 1: guidelines indicate some need for revision

Sexual orientation - gay black men are more likable than straight ones?

Studies by psychologists at the University of Toronto claim that gay black men have a likability edge over straight ones, the opposite of what occurs in the perception of white men - even if the study subjects aren't told which people they are looking at are straight or gay.

Obviously it may instead mean some people like men who look less threatening - no one ever reads about someone getting mugged by a gay man wearing Versace.

Earth from space: Irene's eye

This week we look at two images taken simultaneously with different Envisat sensors of Hurricane Irene, which struck the US east coast last week.

The first black and white image is from Envisat's radar, covering the coastal areas of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

The radar provides an unusual view of a hurricane as it shows the rough ocean surface through the clouds.

New half-match bone marrow transplant procedure yields promising outcomes for cancer patients

PHILADELPHIA—Half-matched bone marrow or stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients have typically been associated with disappointing clinical outcomes. However, a clinical trial conducted at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson testing its unique, two-step half-match procedure has produced some promising results: the probability of overall survival was 45 percent in all patients after three years and 75 percent in patients who were in remission at the time of the transplant.