Culture

Two new studies confirm the serious health effects caused by water pipe smoking (WPS), including reduced lung function and other cardiorespiratory conditions. In one study, researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo found that, compared with people who do not smoke, WPS was associated with a significant reduction in lung function, equivalent to cigarette smoking.

Having a significant other who exhibits controlling behaviors appears to be associated with increased physical and sexual relationship violence, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, young women experiencing these behaviors are more hesitant to answer questions about relationship violence.

PITTSBURGH April 4 – Adolescents who spend more time listening to music are far more likely to have major depressive disorder, while young people who spend more time reading books are far less likely to have such a diagnosis, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published in the April edition of the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

A technique Michael Jackson reportedly used to prolong his youth is showing promise as a way to boost the effectiveness of a natural cancer remedy.

An environment of pure oxygen at three-and-a-half times normal air pressure adds significantly to the effectiveness of a natural compound already shown to kill cancerous cells, researchers at the University of Washington and Washington State University recently reported in the journal Anticancer Research.

Scholarly papers from the winners and finalists of the 2010 Prix Galien USA and Prix Galien International awards have been published as a special issue of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. The Prix Galien, regarded as the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research, recognizes outstanding achievements in improving the global human condition through the development of innovative drugs and treatments.

CHICAGO (April 4, 2011) – The gender gap among United States Medical Graduates (USMG) in the traditionally male-dominated specialty of general surgery is shrinking, according to study results published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. These findings align with the overall trend of increasingly equal gender enrollment of medical students.

In the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, as well as political unrest in Egypt and Libya, researchers at Northwestern University are analyzing data that provides unique insight into the effects of these crises on the Internet.

Using data from approximately 1.4 million users of Ono and NEWS, software programs developed by the AquaLab research group of Fabián E. Bustamante, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the McCormick School of Engineering, researchers can get a glimpse of Internet traffic from the user perspective.

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) were introduced in this country in the 1970s. Currently, there are approximately 9.5 million ATVs in use and more than 150,000 reported ATV-related injuries in this country annually. The rapid rise in ATV-related injuries is due to increased use and also to the production of larger, faster, and more powerful vehicles, according to a review article that was recently published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS).

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) -- A system that aims to compare, assess and improve teacher candidates and teacher training programs will be the subject of three papers presented by the University of California, Riverside's director of teacher education at a national education conference during the next week.

To allow web applications run on four screens, the webinos project consortium creates a full open source code base. The tagerted technology will allow different devices and applications to work together, securely, seamlessly and interoperably. Most recentely, the consortium has summarized the first research results in four reports covering use cases, security, technical requirments and industry landscape. The reports are now available for download at www.webinos.org.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN—Stressed out? Spend some time with Mother Nature. Pick up any self-help manual and you'll likely find sage advice about the restorative effects of spending time in natural surroundings. Research shows that people who spend time in natural environments are more likely to realize long-term physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits. For urban dwellers with limited access to nature, horticultural activities like gardening may offer stress reduction benefits. But can participation in horticulture-based activities lead to enlightenment?

MESA, Ariz. — April 1, 2011 — Predictive Biomarker Sciences (PBS-Bio) decodes the workings of drugs made by two private firms in abstracts presented this week at the 102nd annual conference of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The conference runs April 2-6 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The presentations will be given on April 5.

In one abstract, PBS-Bio shows how the drug UNBS1450, made by Unibioscreen, a Belgian firm, affects two genes — MCL1 and MYC.

Berlin, Germany, Saturday 02 April 2011: According to new data presented today at the International Liver CongressTM, the United States (U.S.) could soon be faced with an epidemic of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)1, one of the major contributing factors of chronic liver disease (CLD), considered as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The study highlights that if the current rates of obesity and diabetes continue for another two decades, the prevalence of NAFLD in the US is expected to increase by 50% in 2030.

AMES, IA—Dr. Ann Marie VanDerZanden is preparing students in her horticulture classes for challenging careers by boosting their critical thinking capacity. "Horticulture graduates entering the field of landscape design and installation must be able to integrate technical skills with practical applications. This requires higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis", VanDerZanden explained.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The first national study of the prevalence of multiple partner fertility shows that 28 percent of all U.S. women with two or more children have children by more than one man.

The study will be presented April 1 in Washington, D.C., at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America.