A study of the UK’s pathologists, carried out by a scientist at the University of Liverpool on behalf of the Department of Health and the Royal College of Pathologists, has sparked concern over the numbers leaving the profession – particularly in academia.

Pathologists are skilled scientists whose role is to identify the nature, origin and process of a disease. Professor Christopher Foster from the University’s School of Cancer Studies carried out the audit of academic pathologi

University of Chicago researchers and colleagues have found strong support that a disturbance of a specific neurochemical can lead to sudden infant death syndrome, the primary cause of death before age 1 in the United States. Approximately 3,000 infants die each year from SIDS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the March 8, 2006, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers describe what happens during hypoxia when levels of the hormone seroton

With the popularity of Web-based retailers, knowing online buying behavior may be the difference between success and failure for Web marketers, according to Swinder Janda, an associate professor of marketing at Kansas State University.

Internet use has grown tremendously over the last few years — about 95 million Americans have online access — and current trends indicate a steady increase in consumers’ willingness to make online purchases, Janda said.

Janda,

First-ever national analysis of local TV news health coverage reveals opportunities for both broadcasters and health experts to improve

Local television newscasts, where most Americans get most of their news, are packed with medical stories and health information. But the first-ever national study of that coverage finds many problems with it, and sees room for improvement by both TV stations and the health experts whose work fills the news.

In the March issue of the Ame

Study addresses feedbacks to climate change

Significantly more carbon is stored in the world’s soils than is present in the atmosphere. In a process called a “positive feedback,” global warming may stimulate decomposition of soil organic matter, thus releasing heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere, possibly causing the rate of global warming to increase further. Disagreement exists, however, regarding the effects of climate change on global soil carbon stocks.

Using makeup to cover a severe facial blemish may not improve the quality of a woman’s life, a new study suggests.

It did not matter how severe or what kind of blemish she had, whether it was a case of severe acne, a noticeable facial scar or pronounced dark spots covering the face.

“The women who used foundations to cover these kinds of marks reported having a lower health-related quality of life than did the women who didn’t wear the same kind of makeup,” sai

Women are redefining their role in the workplace and are more likely to seek personal fulfilment than top flight career success, research from the University of Leicester suggests.

The stereotypical view of women at the pinnacle of their profession in business and commerce -as illustrated by movies Disclosure and Working Girl – is outdated says Dr Jo Brewis, Reader in Management at the University of Leicester Management Centre.

Dr Brewis, whose research interests focus

The Internet has created a space where people can experiment with their sexuality. Many heterosexual men, who have previously merely fantasized about it, take the plunge and have cyber sex with other men. These are some of the findings in Typing, Doing and Being-­A Study of Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexuality on the Internet, a new dissertation from Malmö University College in Sweden. Michael W. Ross will defend the thesis on March 10, and the public defense will be the first ever at the Fac

More than a third of adults are lonely, with people in their forties suffering the highest levels, according to a study published in the latest Journal of Clinical Nursing.

People with strong religious beliefs were less likely to be lonely and people who were unemployed reported higher levels of loneliness than people who were retired.

The study, by a team of UK and Australian researchers, showed that 35 per cent of the 1,289 people who took part in 30-minute telephone i

When mothers experience symptoms of depression after the birth of their children they are less likely to breastfeed, play with, read to or perform other interactive parenting tasks with their newborns, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Columbia University. The nationwide study is the largest to examine whether a mother’s depressive symptoms impact her parenting practices post partum. The results appear in the March 2006

Organic farming has long been touted as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional agriculture. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides strong evidence to support that claim.

Writing in the March 6 online edition of PNAS, Stanford University graduate student Sasha B. Kramer and her colleagues found that fertilizing apple trees with synthetic chemicals produced more adverse environmental effects than feeding them with organi

Two new studies in the March Cell Metabolism reveal a survival mechanism by which cells adapt to oxygen starvation by ratcheting down their demand. The mechanism serves to protect against the potentially fatal production of free radicals when oxygen is scarce, one group reported. The findings may also have important implications for understanding the physiology of cancerous tumors, the researchers said, suggesting new combination treatment strategies for fighting the disease.

When the sup

Despite their reputation as a cruel tool of teachers intent on striking fear into the hearts of unprepared students, quizzes — given early and often — may be a student’s best friend when it comes to understanding and retaining information for the long haul, suggests new psychology research from Washington University in St. Louis.

“Students who self-test frequently while studying on their own may be able to learn more, in much less time, than they might by simply study

A Loughborough University research project has highlighted a lack of ‘joined-up thinking’ in emergency planning for the protection of the UK built environment.

The ongoing study is being led by a team of academics from the University’s Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre (IMCRC). Its aim is to assess how a safe, secure and sustainable built environment can be achieved by reducing the frequency and impact of natural and manmade disasters that result in damage

Significant advance for understanding leading cause of blindness in elderly

A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, pinpoints the role that two genes – Factor H and Factor B – play in the development of nearly three out of four cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a devastating eye disease that affects more than 10 million people in the United States.

Findings indicate that 74 percent of AMD patients carry certain variants in o

A new study shows that tropical and subtropical countries suffer far more illness and death during flu outbreaks than previously imagined, with both hospital admissions and deaths rising considerably during a flu outbreak.

Most strains of influenza are successfully fought off by the vast majority of people, who are back to normal within a week or two. Nevertheless, flu can cause serious illness, and sometimes death, in the elderly and other vulnerable people. A flu outbreak al