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Training can change adult brain's structure

As London taxi drivers in training are busy learning how to navigate the city's thousands of streets and places of interest over a period of years, the experience actually changes the very structure of their brains, according to a report published online on December 8 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

9 Dec 2011

QUMS researchers to gain better understanding of dynamics of mortality

A better understanding of worldwide mortality rates is on the cards thanks to a novel study by researchers from Queens University Management School.

9 Dec 2011

Report uncovers disparities in cancer incidence and death rates in Australia

Over the past quarter century in Australia, cancer incidence rates have increased while deaths from cancer have steadily decreased. Those are some of the findings of a recent study published early online in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology.

9 Dec 2011

Many Americans lost health insurance coverage during 2007-09 recession

An estimated 9.3 million American adults lost health insurance coverage as a result of increased unemployment during the recession of 2007-09, according to a newly published study by researchers at Cornell, Indiana and Carnegie Mellon universities.

9 Dec 2011

Study: Hearing and sight are deeply intertwined

Our senses of sight and hearing work closely together, perhaps more than people realize, a new UCLA psychology study shows.

9 Dec 2011

Nighttime-lights imagery can pinpoint disease hotspots

Normally used to spot where people live, satellite images of nighttime lights can help keep tabs on the diseases festering among them, too, according to new research.

9 Dec 2011

Young football players may be at higher risk for stroke

Young football players may be at higher risk for stroke, according to a new study released in Journal of Child Neurology (JCN), published by SAGE.

9 Dec 2011

Nurses report symptoms of burnout, job dissatisfaction

Nurses working in hospitals around the world are reporting they are burned out and dissatisfied with their jobs, reported researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research in a study of 100,000 nurses in nine countries.

9 Dec 2011

Dietary fibers from brown algae help people lose more weight

A new research project conducted at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen, shows that dietary fibres from brown algae boost the sensation of satiety, thereby making people eat less and lose more weight.

9 Dec 2011

Global health R&D funding from wealthy nations fell 6% in 2010, annual G-FINDER report finds

"A group that tracks funding for neglected diseases released its fourth annual report Wednesday, showing for the first time since 2007 a decrease in government and public spending in global health research and development," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

8 Dec 2011

BPA found in 94% of thermal cash register receipts

The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions" podcast series discusses the discovery of bisphenol A (BPA) in 94 percent of thermal cash register receipts and describes how recycling of those receipts spreads BPA to paper napkins, toilet paper and other paper products.

8 Dec 2011

Mystery of unpleasant tough texture in vegetable oil-cooked hot dogs

In part of an effort to replace animal fat in hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers and other foods with healthier fat, scientists are reporting an advance in solving the mystery of why hot dogs develop an unpleasant tough texture when vegetable oils pinch hit for animal fat. A report on their study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

8 Dec 2011

Recommendations to address challenges associated with chronic inflammatory diseases

A dramatic increase in the incidence of chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma, allergy, and irritable bowel syndrome, has led to concern about how modern lifestyles may trigger physiological defense mechanisms.

8 Dec 2011

Study contradicts premise of framing effect on making health decisions

The behavior of consumers who are faced with making decisions about their health is not significantly influenced by the way health messages are worded or framed, according to a large, new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and other institutions.

8 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Insurance safety net; Orszag on shift in health plans

In this country, three subjects that are guaranteed to generate a heated debate are religion, politics and, you guessed it, health insurance. Of the first two, Mark Twain observed that "people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand."

8 Dec 2011

Exposure to smoke decreases lung function in firefighters

After monitoring firefighters working at prescribed burns in the southeastern U.S., University of Georgia researchers found that lung function decreased with successive days of exposure to smoke and other particulate matter.

8 Dec 2011

ISARIC aims to prepare clinical research community for next influenza pandemic

An international consortium aimed at ensuring that the clinical research community is better prepared for the next influenza pandemic or other rapidly emerging public health threat is launched today by leading funders of medical research from across the globe.

8 Dec 2011

Visual cortex cells play a key role in reconstructing 3D shape

As dizzying as it may sound, the impression that we are living in a 3D world is actually a continuous fabrication of our brains. When we look at things, the world gets projected onto the retina and information about the third dimension is lost - a bit like when a 3D object casts a shadow onto a flat, 2D wall. Somehow the brain is able to reconstruct the third dimension from the image, allowing us to experience a convincing 3D world.

8 Dec 2011

Short breaks can help employees keen their minds off snacking

A 15-minute walk can cut snacking on chocolate at work by half, according to research by the University of Exeter. The study showed that, even in stressful situations, workers eat only half as much chocolate as they normally would after this short burst of physical activity.

8 Dec 2011

CSL partners with NIH to study Cytomegalovirus, a common cause of abnormalities in newborns

CSL Limited announced today that it is partnering with the world’s largest health research agency, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study a potential new treatment for the prevention of congenital CMV infection, one of the most common known causes of congenital (i.e., present at birth) abnormalities in the developed world.

7 Dec 2011