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US Hispanics prefer beer

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Greater alcohol outlet density is linked to male-to-female partner violence

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Substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders are common among French prisoners

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Precipitation levels may be associated with autism

Children living in counties with higher levels of annual precipitation appear more likely to have higher prevalence rates of autism, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The results raise the possibility that an environmental trigger for autism may be associated with precipitation and may affect genetically vulnerable children.

Parents' wartime deployment associated with children's behavior problems

Children ages 3 to 5 with a parent deployed to a war zone appear to exhibit more behavior problems than their peers whose parents are not deployed, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Living with smokers may be associated with inadequate access to food

Children and adults living with adult smokers appear less likely to have daily access to enough healthy food compared with those living with non-smoking adults, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease predicts high risk and rate of further infection in teenagers

A study among Baltimore inner-city teenage girls treated for pelvic inflammatory disease shows they are highly vulnerable to subsequent sexually transmitted infections (STI) — sometimes within a few weeks or months of their treatment.

Stretching silicon: A new method to measure how strain affects semiconductors

MADISON: University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers and physicists have developed a method of measuring how strain affects thin films of silicon that could lay the foundation for faster flexible electronics.

Silicon is the industry standard semiconductor for electronic devices. Silicon thin films could be the basis for fast, flexible electronics. Researchers have long known that inducing strain into the silicon increases device speed, yet have not fully understood why.

Moores UCSD Cancer Center studying novel leukemia vaccine for high-risk patients

Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) are conducting clinical trials of a novel therapy aimed at revving up the immune system to combat a particularly difficult-to-treat form of leukemia.

The experimental therapy is being offered to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) whose cancer did not respond or was resistant to initial treatment or harbors a particular chromosomal abnormality called a 17p deletion. In most of these cases, the cancer has failed to respond to further conventional therapy.

Ecologists say metabolism accounts for why natural selection favors only some species

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Why are some species of plants and animals favored by natural selection? And why does natural selection not favor other species similarly?

According to a UC Riverside-led research team, the answer lies in the rate of metabolism of a species – how fast a species consumes energy, per unit mass, per unit time.

The researchers studied 3006 species, the largest number of species ever analyzed in a single study. The species list encompasses much of the range of biological diversity on Earth – from bacteria to elephants, and algae to sapling trees.

Study finds fears of HIV transmission in families with infected parent

Despite ongoing efforts to educate the public about HIV, a new study by researchers from UCLA, the RAND Corp., Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston has found that two-thirds of families with an HIV-infected parent experience fears about spreading HIV in the home.

The qualitative study is the first to interview multiple family members, including minor children, in families with an HIV-infected parent about their concerns over HIV transmission in the household. The findings will be published in the November issue of the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics.

Previously unknown immune cell may help those with Crohn's and colitis

The tonsils and lymphoid tissues in the intestinal tract that help protect the body from external pathogens are the home base of a rare immune cell newly identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers indicate that the immune cells could have a therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Their report will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Nature and is currently available through advanced online publication.

GSU study first to confirm long-term benefits of morphine treatment in infants

ATLANTA – A recent study conducted by researchers at Georgia State University is the first of its kind to demonstrate that administration of preemptive morphine prior to a painful procedure in infancy blocks the long-term negative consequences of pain in adult rodents. These studies have serious implications for the way anesthetics and analgesics are administered to neonates prior to surgery. Infant rodents that did not receive preemptive pain medication prior to surgery were less sensitive to the effects of morphine in adulthood.

Liver transplant recipients have higher cancer risk

A new Canadian study comparing cancer rates of liver transplant patients to those of the general population has found that transplant recipients face increased risks of developing cancer, especially non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and colorectal cancer. Risks were more pronounced during the first year of follow-up and among younger transplant recipients. These findings are published in the November issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons.

A license to drive with ADHD

If your teen can't pass a driver's test, it might not mean more time in driver's ed is needed. It might be due to ADHD.