ScienceBlog.com

Health

BUSM researchers find no adjustment method fully resolves confounding by indication

(Boston) - Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston University School of Public Health have found that no adjustment method fully resolves confounding by indication in observational studies, meaning when the validity of a study is threatened by unmeasured confounding, it is not straightforward to determine which method of adjustment, if any, is most effective in obt

May 26, 2009

Technology

Study shows bank risk-assessment tool not responding adequately to market fluctuations

A new study from North Carolina State University indicates that regulators need to do more to ensure that banks are adequately computing their Value-at-Risk (VaR) to reflect fluctuations in financial markets.

May 26, 2009

Uncategorized

MSU discoveries upend traditional thinking about how plants make certain compounds

EAST LANSING, Mich. ? Michigan State University plant scientists have identified two new genes and two new enzymes in tomato plants; those findings led them to discover that the plants were making monoterpenes, compounds that help give tomato leaves their distinctive smell, in a way that flies in the face of accepted thought.

May 26, 2009

Health

Comprehensive cardiogenetic testing for families of sudden unexplained death victims can save lives

Vienna, Austria: Relatives of a young person who dies suddenly should always be referred for cardiological and genetic examination in order to identify if they too are at risk of sudden death, a scientist told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Tuesday 26 May). Dr.

May 26, 2009

Health

Poor attention in kindergarten predicts lower high school test scores, UC Davis researchers find

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) ? As thousands of students nationwide prepare to leave high school, a UC Davis study appearing online today in the June issue of the medical journal Pediatrics shows a clear link between attention problems early in school ? as early as kindergarten ? and lower high school test scores.

May 26, 2009

Earth & Environment

Racing the clock: Rapid climate change forces scientists to evaluate extreme conservation strategies

Scientists are, for the first time, objectively evaluating ways to help species adapt to rapid climate change and other environmental threats via strategies that were considered too radical for serious consideration as recently as five or 10 years ago.

May 25, 2009

Health

Survey suggests higher risk of falls due to dizziness in middle-aged and older Americans

A full third of American adults, 69 million men and women over age 40, are up to 12 times more likely to have a serious fall because they have some form of inner-ear dysfunction that throws them off balance and makes them dizzy, according to Johns Hopkins experts.

May 25, 2009

Health

Scientists find shared genetic link between the dental disease periodontitis and heart attack

Vienna, Austria: The relationship between the dental disease periodontitis and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been known for several years. Although a genetic link seemed likely, until now its existence was uncertain.

May 25, 2009

Health

Identification of genetic variants affecting age at menopause could help improve fertility treatment

Vienna, Austria: For the first time, scientists have been able to identify genetic factors that influence the age at which natural menopause occurs in women.

May 25, 2009

Earth & Environment

Groundbreaking proposals unveiled for the inclusion of climate change data in annual reports

The Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) today announced proposals designed to assist directors in the inclusion of climate change-related information in companies' annual reports.

May 25, 2009

Health

La Jolla Institute unlocks mystery of potentially fatal reaction to smallpox vaccine

SAN DIEGO ? (May 25, 2009) Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have pinpointed the cellular defect that increases the likelihood, among eczema sufferers, of developing eczema vaccinatum, a severe and potentially fatal reaction to the smallpox vaccine.

May 24, 2009

Brain & Behavior

Psychologists find that head movement is more important than gender in nonverbal communication

May 21, 2009 ? It is well known that people use head motion during conversation to convey a range of meanings and emotions, and that women use more active head motion when conversing with each other than men use when they talk with each other.

May 24, 2009

Brain & Behavior

A person's high or low response to alcohol says much about their risk for alcoholism

Someone who has a low level of response (LR) to alcohol, meaning relatively little reaction to alcohol, has a higher risk for developing alcohol-use disorders (AUDs).

May 22, 2009

Health

Results of phase I trial of novel herbal therapy for men at high risk of prostate cancer

NEW YORK ? Results of a phase I clinical trial of a novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend have demonstrated that the therapy is associated with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer.

May 22, 2009