http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/miot-wwl071216.php
Public Release: 13-Jul-2016
Why we like the music we do
New study suggests that musical tastes are cultural in origin, not hardwired in the brain
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In Western styles of music, from classical to pop, some combinations of notes are generally considered more pleasant than others. To most of our ears, a chord of C and G, for example, sounds much more agreeable than the grating combination of C and F# (which has historically been known as the "devil in music").
For decades, neuroscientists have pondered whether this preference is somehow hardwired into our brains. A new study from MIT and Brandeis University suggests that the answer is no.
In a study of more than 100 people belonging to a remote Amazonian tribe with little or no exposure to Western music, the researchers found that dissonant chords such as the combination of C and F# were rated just as likeable as "consonant" chords, which feature simple integer ratios between the acoustical frequencies of the two notes.
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In 2010, Godoy, an anthropologist who has been studying an Amazonian tribe known as the Tsimane for many years, asked McDermott to collaborate on a study of how the Tsimane respond to music. Most of the Tsimane, a farming and foraging society of about 12,000 people, have very limited exposure to Western music.
"They vary a lot in how close they live to towns and urban centers," Godoy says. "Among the folks who live very far, several days away, they don't have too much contact with Western music."
The Tsimane's own music features both singing and instrumental performance, but usually by only one person at a time.
•••••
The researchers also performed experiments to make sure that the participants could tell the difference between dissonant and consonant sounds, and found that they could.
The team performed the same tests with a group of Spanish-speaking Bolivians who live in a small town near the Tsimane, and residents of the Bolivian capital, La Paz. They also tested groups of American musicians and nonmusicians.
"What we found is the preference for consonance over dissonance varies dramatically across those five groups," McDermott says. "In the Tsimane it's undetectable, and in the two groups in Bolivia, there's a statistically significant but small preference. In the American groups it's quite a bit larger, and it's bigger in the musicians than in the nonmusicians."
When asked to rate nonmusical sounds such as laughter and gasps, the Tsimane showed similar responses to the other groups. They also showed the same dislike for a musical quality known as acoustic roughness.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Reducing racial bias possible in older children, finds UBC study
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uobc-rrb071316.php
Public Release: 13-Jul-2016
Reducing racial bias possible in older children, finds UBC study
University of British Columbia
Research has shown children have racial biases from an early age, but a new University of British Columbia study has found that it is possible to combat prejudice in older kids.
The study-- the first of its kind to examine developmental differences in the capacity to reduce racial prejudice in children-- found that telling stories that depict black individuals contributing positively to the community successfully reduced implicit, or automatic, race bias in children between the ages of nine and 12.
"Institutional and systematic forms of racism continue to be a pressing social issue, especially with the recent high-profile police shootings of African-Americans," said Antonya Gonzalez, the study's lead author and a graduate student at UBC's department of psychology. "This study suggests that if we want to start having a conversation about reducing implicit racial bias in adults, we need to intervene in the minds of children when prejudice first starts to take root."
Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that unconsciously affect our understanding, actions and decisions. Previous research has shown that implicit racial bias exists in children as young as five.
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The researchers found that implicit racial bias was not reduced in younger children aged five to eight. As a group, younger children continued to make quicker associations between positive words and white people, as well as negative words and black people.
Older children who heard stories with white characters also showed an implicit bias favouring white people over black people. However, older children who heard positive stories depicting black individuals did not exhibit implicit racial bias, and did not have an automatic preference for either racial group.
The findings suggest that it is possible to reduce implicit racial bias in older children by exposing them to stories that positively depict people from historically disadvantaged groups, and that Grades 4 to 6 might be an ideal time for parents and teachers to intervene.
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Public Release: 13-Jul-2016
Reducing racial bias possible in older children, finds UBC study
University of British Columbia
Research has shown children have racial biases from an early age, but a new University of British Columbia study has found that it is possible to combat prejudice in older kids.
The study-- the first of its kind to examine developmental differences in the capacity to reduce racial prejudice in children-- found that telling stories that depict black individuals contributing positively to the community successfully reduced implicit, or automatic, race bias in children between the ages of nine and 12.
"Institutional and systematic forms of racism continue to be a pressing social issue, especially with the recent high-profile police shootings of African-Americans," said Antonya Gonzalez, the study's lead author and a graduate student at UBC's department of psychology. "This study suggests that if we want to start having a conversation about reducing implicit racial bias in adults, we need to intervene in the minds of children when prejudice first starts to take root."
Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that unconsciously affect our understanding, actions and decisions. Previous research has shown that implicit racial bias exists in children as young as five.
•••••
The researchers found that implicit racial bias was not reduced in younger children aged five to eight. As a group, younger children continued to make quicker associations between positive words and white people, as well as negative words and black people.
Older children who heard stories with white characters also showed an implicit bias favouring white people over black people. However, older children who heard positive stories depicting black individuals did not exhibit implicit racial bias, and did not have an automatic preference for either racial group.
The findings suggest that it is possible to reduce implicit racial bias in older children by exposing them to stories that positively depict people from historically disadvantaged groups, and that Grades 4 to 6 might be an ideal time for parents and teachers to intervene.
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Students grasp abstract math concepts after they demonstrate them with arm motions
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/smu-sga071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Students grasp abstract math concepts after they demonstrate them with arm motions
Video game that directs students to make arm movements fosters understanding for proving complex geometry theorems
Southern Methodist University
Students who make relevant arm movements while learning can improve their knowledge and retention of math, research has shown.
Now researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a model using geometry proofs that shows potential for wide adoption -- a video game in which students make movements with their arms to learn abstract math concepts.
The research is the first to use widely available technology combined with relevant body gestures and apply it to the learning of complex reasoning in a highly conceptual, pre-college math domain -- geometric proof production.
"When they're doing geometry, students and teachers gesture all the time to show shapes, lines, and relationships, and the research suggests this is very beneficial," said teaching expert Candace Walkington, assistant professor of teaching and learning in SMU's Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development.
"Our goal is to create an environment that supports students in making motions that help them understand the math better, Walkington said."
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Emerging research is investigating the theory that our body actions can actually influence our thoughts, in addition to our thoughts driving our actions. Body movement can induce new activity in our neural systems. This activity can create and influence our learning, thinking and mental organization. This mind-body partnership, dubbed "embodied cognition," is driving new approaches to learning subjects such as math.
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Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Students grasp abstract math concepts after they demonstrate them with arm motions
Video game that directs students to make arm movements fosters understanding for proving complex geometry theorems
Southern Methodist University
Students who make relevant arm movements while learning can improve their knowledge and retention of math, research has shown.
Now researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a model using geometry proofs that shows potential for wide adoption -- a video game in which students make movements with their arms to learn abstract math concepts.
The research is the first to use widely available technology combined with relevant body gestures and apply it to the learning of complex reasoning in a highly conceptual, pre-college math domain -- geometric proof production.
"When they're doing geometry, students and teachers gesture all the time to show shapes, lines, and relationships, and the research suggests this is very beneficial," said teaching expert Candace Walkington, assistant professor of teaching and learning in SMU's Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development.
"Our goal is to create an environment that supports students in making motions that help them understand the math better, Walkington said."
•••••
Emerging research is investigating the theory that our body actions can actually influence our thoughts, in addition to our thoughts driving our actions. Body movement can induce new activity in our neural systems. This activity can create and influence our learning, thinking and mental organization. This mind-body partnership, dubbed "embodied cognition," is driving new approaches to learning subjects such as math.
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Today's teenagers could become prematurely hearing-impaired, study warns
In my neighborhood, it is the immigrant parents who subject their children to continuous VERY LOUD music in their homes & cars.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/fda-ttc071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Today's teenagers could become prematurely hearing-impaired, study warns
Tinnitus, often a symptom of hearing loss, can result from constant use of earphones and frequenting very noisy places
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Teenagers are increasingly experiencing tinnitus, often a symptom of hearing loss, as a result of using ear buds to listen to music for long periods every day, as well as frequenting very noisy places like nightclubs, discos and rock concerts, according to a study performed in Brazil.
Tinnitus is the medical term for perception of sound that has no external source. Many sufferers describe it as a ringing in the ears, others as whistling, buzzing, chirping or hissing. A paper describing the study has just been published in Scientific Reports, an online journal published by Springer Nature.
"We found a very high prevalence of tinnitus among adolescents, and this should be seen as an early warning that these youngsters run a serious risk of hearing loss. If this teen generation continue to expose themselves to very high noise levels, they'll probably suffer from hearing loss by the time they're 30 or 40," said Tanit Ganz Sanchez, associate professor of otolaryngology at the University of São Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP) and principal investigator for the study.
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"This level of prevalence is alarming," Sanchez said. "There was a notion that tinnitus was a problem of older people, but we're seeing it becoming more prevalent in younger groups, including children and teenagers, because of their increasing exposure to high levels of noise, among other factors."
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"We found that adolescents perceive tinnitus very often but unlike adults don't worry about it and don't complain to parents or teachers, for example. As a result, they aren't seen by a doctor or hearing specialist, and the problem can become chronic," Sanchez said.
The researchers also observed that most of the teenagers who took part in the study reported risky listening habits, such as continuous use of ear buds and exposure to very noisy environments; even so, those who reported experiencing tinnitus displayed less tolerance of loud sounds.
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Tinnitus is caused by temporary or permanent damage to cochlear hair cells. Located in the inner ear (cochlea), these cells stretch and contract repeatedly in response to sound-induced vibrations.
When they are stimulated by very loud noise, such as explosions, fireworks, live pop music, or music listened to through ear buds with the sound turned up, the cochlear hair cells are overloaded and can be temporarily or permanently damaged.
Neighboring regions of the inner ear must work harder and faster to compensate for the loss of function in damaged or dead hair cells, giving rise to tinnitus, Sanchez explained.
The results of recent animal experiments conducted by neuroscientists suggest that tinnitus can also be due to impairment of hair cell synapses (neural pathways) to the cochlear nerve, resulting in reduced neural output from the ear to the brain.
Damage to these synapses due to exposure to high levels of noise can cause not only hearing loss but also neural alterations in auditory pathways that reduce a teenager's sound level tolerance.
•••••
If these teenagers continue to use ear buds frequently and are exposed to very noisy environments until age 20 or 25, for example, the damage to their cochlear hair cell synapses will progress and they may become deaf while still relatively young, according to Sanchez.
As body mass index increases, so does spread of multiple myeloma
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/au-abm071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
As body mass index increases, so does spread of multiple myeloma
American University
In a new study published in Cancer Letters, American University researchers show how, as body mass index increases, so does the growth and spread of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, which accounts for about 10 percent of all blood cancers in patients.
"Once a person with cancer is out of the normal weight category, their BMI is contributing to multiple myeloma growth and progression," said Katie DeCicco-Skinner, associate professor of biology at American University and lead study author.
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Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
As body mass index increases, so does spread of multiple myeloma
American University
In a new study published in Cancer Letters, American University researchers show how, as body mass index increases, so does the growth and spread of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, which accounts for about 10 percent of all blood cancers in patients.
"Once a person with cancer is out of the normal weight category, their BMI is contributing to multiple myeloma growth and progression," said Katie DeCicco-Skinner, associate professor of biology at American University and lead study author.
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Characteristcs leading to academic success
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Genetics play role in character traits related to academic success, study says
University of Texas at Austin
Character traits, such as grit or desire to learn, have a heavy hand in academic success and are partially rooted in genetics, according to a psychology study at The University of Texas at Austin.
Though academic achievement is dependent on cognitive abilities, such as logic and reasoning, researchers believe certain personality and character traits can motivate and drive learning.
In a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, UT Austin psychology associate professor Elliot Tucker-Drob found that genetic differences among people account for about half of the differences in their character, and that the remaining variation in character was influenced by environmental factors occurring outside of the home and school environments.
[I really doubt that home and school environments have to influence.]•••••
By comparing siblings, researchers learned that outside of what could be genetically explained, variance in a child's character could be attributed to unshared environmental effects, ruling out experiences shared by siblings such as parenting and attending the same school.
[Siblings do not have the same experiences at home & school.]•••••
In the study, genetics accounted for 69 percent of a person's general character, with 31 percent of variance accounted for by environmental influences. Furthermore, each character measure was heavily correlated with openness and conscientiousness, which were 48 and 57 percent heritable respectively.
Character measures promoting intellectual curiosity, such as intellectual self-concept, were linked more heavily to openness, which showed sizable associations with academic achievement; those representing work ethic, such as grit, associated more with conscientiousness, which was modestly correlated with academic achievement.
"This may indicate that aspects of character that are associated with interest and desire to learn may be stronger drivers of academic achievement than aspects of character associated with diligence and hard work," said Tucker-Drob, noting that one way genes influence academic achievement is by influencing aspects of character that are relevant for learning.
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New resistance gene found in 'high risk' multidrug-resistant pathogen
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/asfm-nrg071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
New resistance gene found in 'high risk' multidrug-resistant pathogen
American Society for Microbiology
A team of Italian investigators has discovered a new variant of an emerging antibiotic resistance mechanism. The new variant, dubbed mcr-1.2, confers resistance to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. The research is published July 11, in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
"This is a particularly worrisome development for the future of antimicrobial therapy," said corresponding author Gian Maria Rossolini, M.D., Director of the Clinical Microbiology and Virology Unit, Florence Careggi University Hospital, Florence. More worrying is that the new resistance mechanism was discovered on a multidrug-resistant strain of the pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae, she added. That bacterium was isolated from a rectal swab of a child hospitalized with leukemia.
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Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
New resistance gene found in 'high risk' multidrug-resistant pathogen
American Society for Microbiology
A team of Italian investigators has discovered a new variant of an emerging antibiotic resistance mechanism. The new variant, dubbed mcr-1.2, confers resistance to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. The research is published July 11, in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
"This is a particularly worrisome development for the future of antimicrobial therapy," said corresponding author Gian Maria Rossolini, M.D., Director of the Clinical Microbiology and Virology Unit, Florence Careggi University Hospital, Florence. More worrying is that the new resistance mechanism was discovered on a multidrug-resistant strain of the pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae, she added. That bacterium was isolated from a rectal swab of a child hospitalized with leukemia.
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Bicycling may help prevent type 2 diabetes
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Bicycling may help prevent type 2 diabetes
PLOS
Habitual cycling, whether as transportation to work or as a recreational activity, is associated with lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine. This cohort study, conducted by Martin Rasmussen of the University of Southern Denmark, and colleagues, included 24,623 men and 27,890 women from Denmark, recruited between the ages of 50 and 65, and compared the association between self-reported recreational and commuter cycling habits with T2D incidence measured in the Danish National Diabetes Registry. The authors found that participants who engaged in habitual cycling were less likely to develop T2D, and risk of developing T2D appeared to decrease with longer time spent cycling per week. Five years after they were initially recruited, participants were contacted for follow-up and their cycling habits were re-assessed. People who took up habitual cycling during this period were at 20% lower risk for T2D than non-cyclists.
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While the authors adjusted for potential confounding variables such as diet, alcohol and smoking habits, and physical activity outside of cycling, and also analysed for confounding by waist circumference and body-mass index, there is a chance these results may have been affected by unmeasured confounding, or bias due to patients with missing data, or as a result of self-reported cycling behavior.
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"We find it especially interesting that those who started cycling had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, given that the study population were men and women of middle and old age. This emphasizes that even when entering elderly age, it is not too late to take up cycling to lower one's risk of chronic disease."
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Study identifies 'book deserts' -- poor neighborhoods lacking children's books -- across country
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/nyu-si071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Study identifies 'book deserts' -- poor neighborhoods lacking children's books -- across country
New York University
A study led by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development finds a startling scarcity of children's books in low-income neighborhoods in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
The lack of children's books was even more pronounced in areas with higher concentrations of poverty, according to the findings published online in the journal Urban Education.
"Children's books are hard to come by in high-poverty neighborhoods. These 'book deserts' may seriously constrain young children's opportunities to come to school ready to learn," said Susan B. Neuman, professor of childhood and literacy education at NYU Steinhardt and the study's lead author.
Residential segregation has dramatically increased in recent years, with both high- and low-income families becoming increasingly isolated. In their study, the researchers looked at the influence of income segregation on access to children's books, a resource vital to young children's development.
Access to print resources--board books, stories, and informational books--early on has both immediate and long-term effects on children's vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension skills. And while public libraries are critically important in giving families access to books, research has shown that the presence of books in the home is related to children's reading achievement.
However, a 2001 study by Neuman found a sharp contrast between low- and middle-income neighborhoods when it came to being able to buy children's books. In a middle-income community, thanks to plentiful bookstores, 13 books for each child were available. In contrast, there was only one age-appropriate book for every 300 children in a community of concentrated poverty.
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Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Study identifies 'book deserts' -- poor neighborhoods lacking children's books -- across country
New York University
A study led by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development finds a startling scarcity of children's books in low-income neighborhoods in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
The lack of children's books was even more pronounced in areas with higher concentrations of poverty, according to the findings published online in the journal Urban Education.
"Children's books are hard to come by in high-poverty neighborhoods. These 'book deserts' may seriously constrain young children's opportunities to come to school ready to learn," said Susan B. Neuman, professor of childhood and literacy education at NYU Steinhardt and the study's lead author.
Residential segregation has dramatically increased in recent years, with both high- and low-income families becoming increasingly isolated. In their study, the researchers looked at the influence of income segregation on access to children's books, a resource vital to young children's development.
Access to print resources--board books, stories, and informational books--early on has both immediate and long-term effects on children's vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension skills. And while public libraries are critically important in giving families access to books, research has shown that the presence of books in the home is related to children's reading achievement.
However, a 2001 study by Neuman found a sharp contrast between low- and middle-income neighborhoods when it came to being able to buy children's books. In a middle-income community, thanks to plentiful bookstores, 13 books for each child were available. In contrast, there was only one age-appropriate book for every 300 children in a community of concentrated poverty.
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Workplace climate, not women's 'nature,' responsible for gender-based job stress
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/iu-wcn071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Workplace climate, not women's 'nature,' responsible for gender-based job stress
Indiana University
Social scientists have long known that women working in numerically male-dominated occupations like physics and firefighting report experiencing workplace stress, but men who work in numerically female-dominated occupations like nursing and child care do not.
But why? Is it something about women or something about the workplace? A study by an Indiana University sociologist suggests it's the latter.
Cate Taylor, assistant professor of sociology and gender studies at IU Bloomington, designed and carried out an experiment that subjected both men and women to the negative social conditions that many women report experiencing in male-dominated occupations. The result: Men showed the same physiological stress response to the conditions as did women.
"Women are not especially sensitive to negative workplace social conditions," Taylor said. "Rather, both women and men exhibit similar responses to the same types of stressful workplace conditions."
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The results suggest that conditions associated with male-dominated professions are what cause token women to report experiencing high levels of stress in the workplace, Taylor said. The answer isn't to "fix" the women by teaching them to be less sensitive, because when women and men are exposed to the exact same social conditions, they actually have the same stress response. A better answer might be to address the workplace social exclusion faced by minorities in their occupations.
And the findings matter, Taylor said. For one thing, exposure to chronic physiological stress response, indicated by cortisol response, has been found to be associated with negative health effects, including heart disease, digestive problems, weight gain and depression.
For another, both stress and exclusion from important workplace social networks and mentorship may be significant factors in preventing women from getting or keeping jobs in male-dominated occupations. Male-dominated occupations, on average, have higher pay and prestige and better working conditions than mixed-sex or female-dominated occupations. Taylor said the under-representation of women in male-dominated occupations is a significant factor behind the gender wage gap. On average, women earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men.
"If the workplace climate were less unfriendly, we might see more women in these male-dominated occupations, and we might see more parity in pay," she said. "That would be good for women and good for families."
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Workplace climate, not women's 'nature,' responsible for gender-based job stress
Indiana University
Social scientists have long known that women working in numerically male-dominated occupations like physics and firefighting report experiencing workplace stress, but men who work in numerically female-dominated occupations like nursing and child care do not.
But why? Is it something about women or something about the workplace? A study by an Indiana University sociologist suggests it's the latter.
Cate Taylor, assistant professor of sociology and gender studies at IU Bloomington, designed and carried out an experiment that subjected both men and women to the negative social conditions that many women report experiencing in male-dominated occupations. The result: Men showed the same physiological stress response to the conditions as did women.
"Women are not especially sensitive to negative workplace social conditions," Taylor said. "Rather, both women and men exhibit similar responses to the same types of stressful workplace conditions."
•••••
The results suggest that conditions associated with male-dominated professions are what cause token women to report experiencing high levels of stress in the workplace, Taylor said. The answer isn't to "fix" the women by teaching them to be less sensitive, because when women and men are exposed to the exact same social conditions, they actually have the same stress response. A better answer might be to address the workplace social exclusion faced by minorities in their occupations.
And the findings matter, Taylor said. For one thing, exposure to chronic physiological stress response, indicated by cortisol response, has been found to be associated with negative health effects, including heart disease, digestive problems, weight gain and depression.
For another, both stress and exclusion from important workplace social networks and mentorship may be significant factors in preventing women from getting or keeping jobs in male-dominated occupations. Male-dominated occupations, on average, have higher pay and prestige and better working conditions than mixed-sex or female-dominated occupations. Taylor said the under-representation of women in male-dominated occupations is a significant factor behind the gender wage gap. On average, women earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men.
"If the workplace climate were less unfriendly, we might see more women in these male-dominated occupations, and we might see more parity in pay," she said. "That would be good for women and good for families."
Facebook Is Making You Spend More Money Than You Should
I don't think my Facebook friends fit in this category. Except maybe they spend more on going to music events because of what other people post!https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/08/24/Facebook-Making-You-Spend-More-Money-You-Should
By Beth Braverman
August 24, 2016
Financial planners have always warned that the “lifestyle creep” that comes with the desire to keep up with friends and neighbors can hurt consumers’ ability to meet their long-term financial goals.
As we’ve have expanded our social circles, however, thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, we’re now trying to keep up with even more people. Nearly 40 percent of American adults with social media accounts say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations on social media have prompted them to look into similar purchases or vacations, and more than 11 percent spent money after seeing someone else’s post, according to a new poll by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
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Small rise in booze duty could cut British violence-related emergency visits by 6,000 a year
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/cu-sri071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Small rise in booze duty could cut violence-related emergency visits by 6,000 a year
Tax system reforms in England and Wales could be better than minimum unit pricing
Cardiff University
A small rise of 1% in alcohol prices could significantly reduce violence-related injuries in England and Wales, consequently reducing their burden on hard-pressed emergency departments, concludes a study by Cardiff University.
Published in the journal Injury Prevention, the study finds that violence-related emergency department (ED) attendance is greater when alcohol prices are lower and estimates that over 6,000 fewer violence-related ED attendances per year would result from a 1% rise above inflation on alcohol sold through drinking establishments and shops.
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tags: drug abuse, drug use
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Small rise in booze duty could cut violence-related emergency visits by 6,000 a year
Tax system reforms in England and Wales could be better than minimum unit pricing
Cardiff University
A small rise of 1% in alcohol prices could significantly reduce violence-related injuries in England and Wales, consequently reducing their burden on hard-pressed emergency departments, concludes a study by Cardiff University.
Published in the journal Injury Prevention, the study finds that violence-related emergency department (ED) attendance is greater when alcohol prices are lower and estimates that over 6,000 fewer violence-related ED attendances per year would result from a 1% rise above inflation on alcohol sold through drinking establishments and shops.
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tags: drug abuse, drug use
Stupidity paradox -- why smart people don't think too much at work
One problem is that some bosses feel threatened by intelligent employees.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/lu-sp-070816.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Stupidity paradox -- why smart people don't think too much at work
Lund University
Intelligent people don't often think critically at work, as this is often uncomfortable. When a culture of "functional stupidity" prevails, it leads to a huge waste of resources, says Professor of Business Administration Mats Alvesson at Lund University, Sweden, who has written a book on the phenomenon of functional stupidity.
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"Organisations suffer from a reflection deficit. Questions that are critical are seen as uncomfortable and therefore we assume flexible positions, making an effort to ensure that nobody can criticise us. We then end up in a situation where everyone does the right thing, everyone is positive, and all things seem to be in order when in fact they are not", says Mats Alvesson.
Together with André Spicer from Cass Business School in London, Mats Alvesson shows a variety of examples of what happens when symbolic activities and what we display become more important than what we actually do - and the room for individual thought and responsibility is decreased.
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Scavenger crows provide public service, research shows
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uoe-scp071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Scavenger crows provide public service, research shows
University of Exeter
Crows are performing a useful function and keeping our environment free from rotting carcasses, research carried out at the University of Exeter in Cornwall has discovered.
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The researchers found that most of the carcass removal ecosystem service - which has been well studied in more natural and exotic habitats, such as vultures in Africa - is being carried out by crows, with a little help from foxes, magpies, badgers and herring gulls.
Dr Richard Inger, a researcher attached to the Environmental and Sustainability Institute at Penryn Campus, said: "If you consider all the wildlife that lives in the habitats in our towns and countryside, it might seem odd that we rarely see dead animals, apart from roadkill. This is because other animals act as scavengers and eat them.
"It's a bit grizzly but crows and other scavengers, which are often perceived as pests and generally fairly unloved species, are performing a very valuable service. Without these scavengers dead animals would be scattered around our environment rotting and causing a hygiene hazard."
The researchers observed and filmed 17 vertebrate species eating rat carcasses which they placed at 12 study sites between May and September 2015. Seven species including the Carrion Crow, the Common Buzzard, European Magpie, Herring Gull, Fox and Badger were recorded eating the carcasses, with 98 per cent of the activity carried out by the Crows.
Dr Inger highlighted the importance of the scavenger role and added: "We know what can happen when natural scavengers are removed as this was the case with the vulture populations of India, which plummeted massively in the 1990s. Vultures were fatally poisoned by a veterinary drug given to cattle, meaning that carcasses were not eaten by vultures but instead by feral dogs, which grew in numbers and caused a huge increase in cases of rabies."
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Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Scavenger crows provide public service, research shows
University of Exeter
Crows are performing a useful function and keeping our environment free from rotting carcasses, research carried out at the University of Exeter in Cornwall has discovered.
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The researchers found that most of the carcass removal ecosystem service - which has been well studied in more natural and exotic habitats, such as vultures in Africa - is being carried out by crows, with a little help from foxes, magpies, badgers and herring gulls.
Dr Richard Inger, a researcher attached to the Environmental and Sustainability Institute at Penryn Campus, said: "If you consider all the wildlife that lives in the habitats in our towns and countryside, it might seem odd that we rarely see dead animals, apart from roadkill. This is because other animals act as scavengers and eat them.
"It's a bit grizzly but crows and other scavengers, which are often perceived as pests and generally fairly unloved species, are performing a very valuable service. Without these scavengers dead animals would be scattered around our environment rotting and causing a hygiene hazard."
The researchers observed and filmed 17 vertebrate species eating rat carcasses which they placed at 12 study sites between May and September 2015. Seven species including the Carrion Crow, the Common Buzzard, European Magpie, Herring Gull, Fox and Badger were recorded eating the carcasses, with 98 per cent of the activity carried out by the Crows.
Dr Inger highlighted the importance of the scavenger role and added: "We know what can happen when natural scavengers are removed as this was the case with the vulture populations of India, which plummeted massively in the 1990s. Vultures were fatally poisoned by a veterinary drug given to cattle, meaning that carcasses were not eaten by vultures but instead by feral dogs, which grew in numbers and caused a huge increase in cases of rabies."
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Lighter weights just as effective as heavier weights to gain muscle, build strength
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/mu-lwj071216.php
Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Lighter weights just as effective as heavier weights to gain muscle, build strength
McMaster University
New research from McMaster University is challenging traditional workout wisdom, suggesting that lifting lighter weights many times is as efficient as lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions.
It is the latest in a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights.
"Fatigue is the great equalizer here," says Stuart Phillips, senior author on the study and professor in the Department of Kinesiology. "Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn't matter whether the weights are heavy or light."
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Public Release: 12-Jul-2016
Lighter weights just as effective as heavier weights to gain muscle, build strength
McMaster University
New research from McMaster University is challenging traditional workout wisdom, suggesting that lifting lighter weights many times is as efficient as lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions.
It is the latest in a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights.
"Fatigue is the great equalizer here," says Stuart Phillips, senior author on the study and professor in the Department of Kinesiology. "Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn't matter whether the weights are heavy or light."
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Monkeys in Brazil 'have used stone tools for hundreds of years at least'
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uoo-mib070116.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Monkeys in Brazil 'have used stone tools for hundreds of years at least'
Was early human behavior influenced by their observations of monkeys using stone tools?
University of Oxford
New archaeological evidence suggests that Brazilian capuchins have been using stone tools to crack open cashew nuts for at least 700 years. Researchers say, to date, they have found the earliest archaeological examples of monkey tool use outside of Africa. In their paper, published in Current Biology, they suggest it raises questions about the origins and spread of tool use in New World monkeys and, controversially perhaps, prompts us to look at whether early human behaviour was influenced by their observations of monkeys using stones as tools. The research was led by Dr Michael Haslam of the University of Oxford, who in previous papers presents archaeological evidence showing that wild macaques in coastal Thailand used stone tools for decades at least to open shellfish and nuts.
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Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Monkeys in Brazil 'have used stone tools for hundreds of years at least'
Was early human behavior influenced by their observations of monkeys using stone tools?
University of Oxford
New archaeological evidence suggests that Brazilian capuchins have been using stone tools to crack open cashew nuts for at least 700 years. Researchers say, to date, they have found the earliest archaeological examples of monkey tool use outside of Africa. In their paper, published in Current Biology, they suggest it raises questions about the origins and spread of tool use in New World monkeys and, controversially perhaps, prompts us to look at whether early human behaviour was influenced by their observations of monkeys using stones as tools. The research was led by Dr Michael Haslam of the University of Oxford, who in previous papers presents archaeological evidence showing that wild macaques in coastal Thailand used stone tools for decades at least to open shellfish and nuts.
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Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Female physicians at public medical schools paid an average of 8 percent less than males
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/mgh-fpa070716.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Female physicians at public medical schools paid an average of 8 percent less than males
Largest study of gender-based salary disparities uses publicly available databases
Massachusetts General Hospital
In what is probably the largest study of salary differences between male and female medical school faculty members, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) find that - even after adjusting for factors likely to influence income - women physicians earn an average of $20,000 per year less than men. Their study, which analyzed data for physicians employed at 24 public medical schools, is being published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.
"More than raising attention to salary sex differences in medicine, our findings highlight the fact that these differences persist even when we account for detailed factors that influence income and reflect academic productivity,"
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Adjusted salary disparities were greatest for orthopedic surgery, obstetrics/gynecology (one of the specialties female physicians were most likely to enter), other surgical subspecialties and cardiology. They were least in family medicine and emergency medicine; and adjusted average salaries for women in radiology were slightly higher than for men. Disparities also varied among medical schools, with adjusted average salaries for male physicians being significantly higher at nine schools - the greatest disparities occurring at schools in the western U.S. - and higher adjusted salaries for female physicians at two schools.
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Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Female physicians at public medical schools paid an average of 8 percent less than males
Largest study of gender-based salary disparities uses publicly available databases
Massachusetts General Hospital
In what is probably the largest study of salary differences between male and female medical school faculty members, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) find that - even after adjusting for factors likely to influence income - women physicians earn an average of $20,000 per year less than men. Their study, which analyzed data for physicians employed at 24 public medical schools, is being published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.
"More than raising attention to salary sex differences in medicine, our findings highlight the fact that these differences persist even when we account for detailed factors that influence income and reflect academic productivity,"
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Adjusted salary disparities were greatest for orthopedic surgery, obstetrics/gynecology (one of the specialties female physicians were most likely to enter), other surgical subspecialties and cardiology. They were least in family medicine and emergency medicine; and adjusted average salaries for women in radiology were slightly higher than for men. Disparities also varied among medical schools, with adjusted average salaries for male physicians being significantly higher at nine schools - the greatest disparities occurring at schools in the western U.S. - and higher adjusted salaries for female physicians at two schools.
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When kids learn to conserve energy, their behavior also spreads to parents
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/osu-wkl070716.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
When kids learn to conserve energy, their behavior also spreads to parents
Oregon State University
Girl Scouts and their parents reported increases in energy-saving behaviors, such as turning off power strips at night and washing clothes in cold water, after the children participated in an intervention program, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Energy.
The new energy conservation program was developed by researchers from Oregon State University and Stanford University, who designed and tested the program's effectiveness with 30 Girl Scout troops in northern California.
The researchers found that the increased energy-saving behavior, as self-reported by the children, continued for more than seven months after the trial program ended. They also found that the intervention had an effect on parents' energy-saving behavior for more than eight months. The findings suggests that these kinds of educational programs could have a significant and lasting impact on family energy consumption, said Hilary Boudet, an assistant professor of climate change and energy at Oregon State University and lead author of the paper.
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Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
When kids learn to conserve energy, their behavior also spreads to parents
Oregon State University
Girl Scouts and their parents reported increases in energy-saving behaviors, such as turning off power strips at night and washing clothes in cold water, after the children participated in an intervention program, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Energy.
The new energy conservation program was developed by researchers from Oregon State University and Stanford University, who designed and tested the program's effectiveness with 30 Girl Scout troops in northern California.
The researchers found that the increased energy-saving behavior, as self-reported by the children, continued for more than seven months after the trial program ended. They also found that the intervention had an effect on parents' energy-saving behavior for more than eight months. The findings suggests that these kinds of educational programs could have a significant and lasting impact on family energy consumption, said Hilary Boudet, an assistant professor of climate change and energy at Oregon State University and lead author of the paper.
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Link found between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson's, but not Alzheimer's
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/tmsh-lfb062716.php
Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Link found between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson's, but not Alzheimer's
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) with a loss of consciousness (LOC) may be associated with later development of Parkinson's disease but not Alzheimer's disease or incident dementia, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the University of Washington School of Medicine.
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Public Release: 11-Jul-2016
Link found between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson's, but not Alzheimer's
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) with a loss of consciousness (LOC) may be associated with later development of Parkinson's disease but not Alzheimer's disease or incident dementia, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the University of Washington School of Medicine.
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Paying More for College? Blame Government Cuts
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/05/31/Paying-More-College-Blame-Government-Cuts?utm_campaign=548f5168cb03a93709042da0&utm_source=boomtrain&utm_medium=email&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiIyOWU2MDRjZS1jNmY3LTQzNTYtOTFhOC1mMjU5ZjNmMjAzOWUifQ%3D%3D
By Eric Pianin
May 31, 2016
Amid mounting complaints from parents and students about rising college tuition, staggering student debt and declining quality of education, a new study blames much of the problem on the sharp reduction in state government support for higher education since the 2008 financial crisis and recession.
Nearly eight years of cuts in state funding for public colleges and universities “have driven up tuition and harmed students’ educational experiences by forcing faculty reductions, fewer course offers, and campus closings,” according to a report by the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
These budgetary policy choices have made college far less affordable — and less accessible — for millions of students who need undergraduate and graduate degrees to make it in today’s highly competitive economy, according to the report written by the center’s Michael Mitchell, Michael Leachman and Kathleen Masterson.
State funding for public two- and four-year colleges and universities is now $8.7 billion below pre-recession levels, after adjusting for inflation, according to the new analysis. Of the 45 states that enacted full higher education budgets for the 2015-2016 academic year, all but four — Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming — are spending less money per student than before the recession began, according to the study.
Average state spending per student is $1,525 for the current year, or 17 percent less than the per-student spending before the onset of the Great Recession. The most glaring examples of declining support for public colleges and universities can be found in Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Funding per student in those states is down by more than 30 percent since the start of the recession.
These cuts have had a ripple effect on public colleges and universities. They have forced those schools to substantially raise tuition and cut back on the size of the faculty, course offerings and extra-curricular activities.
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There are many factors that have contributed to this situation. The economic recovery has been uneven throughout the country, and many states had little choice but to cut spending on higher education while addressing shortcomings in state revenues, soaring deficits in state budgets, underfunded public employee pension funds and increased demands for social services and unemployment insurance.
In some cases, however, states opted for major tax cuts for middle and upper-income people to try to stimulate the economy. Those generous tax cuts for the rich had to be offset by reductions in spending on higher education and other important public programs. Those states that cut taxes include Wisconsin, Louisiana, Kansas and Arizona.
•••••
By Eric Pianin
May 31, 2016
Amid mounting complaints from parents and students about rising college tuition, staggering student debt and declining quality of education, a new study blames much of the problem on the sharp reduction in state government support for higher education since the 2008 financial crisis and recession.
Nearly eight years of cuts in state funding for public colleges and universities “have driven up tuition and harmed students’ educational experiences by forcing faculty reductions, fewer course offers, and campus closings,” according to a report by the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
These budgetary policy choices have made college far less affordable — and less accessible — for millions of students who need undergraduate and graduate degrees to make it in today’s highly competitive economy, according to the report written by the center’s Michael Mitchell, Michael Leachman and Kathleen Masterson.
State funding for public two- and four-year colleges and universities is now $8.7 billion below pre-recession levels, after adjusting for inflation, according to the new analysis. Of the 45 states that enacted full higher education budgets for the 2015-2016 academic year, all but four — Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming — are spending less money per student than before the recession began, according to the study.
Average state spending per student is $1,525 for the current year, or 17 percent less than the per-student spending before the onset of the Great Recession. The most glaring examples of declining support for public colleges and universities can be found in Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Funding per student in those states is down by more than 30 percent since the start of the recession.
These cuts have had a ripple effect on public colleges and universities. They have forced those schools to substantially raise tuition and cut back on the size of the faculty, course offerings and extra-curricular activities.
•••••
There are many factors that have contributed to this situation. The economic recovery has been uneven throughout the country, and many states had little choice but to cut spending on higher education while addressing shortcomings in state revenues, soaring deficits in state budgets, underfunded public employee pension funds and increased demands for social services and unemployment insurance.
In some cases, however, states opted for major tax cuts for middle and upper-income people to try to stimulate the economy. Those generous tax cuts for the rich had to be offset by reductions in spending on higher education and other important public programs. Those states that cut taxes include Wisconsin, Louisiana, Kansas and Arizona.
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