Offering free HIV tests instead of charging a small fee is more cost-effective at preventing HIV infections and draws in three times as many people for testing, according to a Duke University Medical Center study conducted in Tanzania.

The Duke researchers provided free HIV tests and counseling during a two-week pilot program in 2003. The number of people seeking tests increased from 4.1 per day before the free testing interval to 15.0 per day during the pilot program. However, th

The First In-Depth Demographic Analysis of the Strike Zone

The images were accurate: The Gulf Coast’s poor, black residents were hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina, according to findings by a Brown University sociologist. Professor John Logan’s new research is the first of its kind from the disaster zone and raises provocative questions about the future population of New Orleans.

The Gulf Coast’s African Americans and poorest residents were disproportionately impacted by Hur

Study led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine may provide new hope for cancer patients and others with compromised immune systems

New study by Mount Sinai researchers may lead to improved stem cell therapies for patients with compromised immune systems due to intensive cancer therapy or autoimmune disease. The study is published in this week’s issue of Cell.

A group, led by Paul Frenette, Associate Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, found that t

A study of seven tropical forests around the world has revealed that nature encourages biodiversity by favoring the growth of less common trees. The landmark study, conducted by 33 ecologists from 12 countries and published in the Jan. 27 issue of the journal Science, conclusively demonstrates that diversity matters and has ecological importance to tropical forests. Helene Muller-Landau, an assistant professor of ecology in the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences, is a c

Children who experience a rewarding friendship before the birth of a sibling are likely to have a better relationship with that brother or sister that endures throughout their childhood, said Laurie Kramer in a University of Illinois study published in December’s Journal of Family Psychology.

“There’s something about early friendships — when they work well, they help children learn how to behave constructively in relationships,” said Kramer, co-editor with Lew Bank

Unique resources at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital let researchers generate a “gold mine” of data to track evolution of bird flu virus genes and understand how they cooperate to cause disease

Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have completed the first large-scale study of bird flu virus genomes, thereby doubling the amount of genetic information available on the genes and proteins of these viruses. The results of the project could lead to

University of Pittsburgh researchers announced they have genetically engineered an avian flu vaccine from the critical components of the deadly H5N1 virus that completely protected mice and chickens from infection. Avian flu has devastated bird populations in Southeast Asia and Europe and so far has killed more than 80 people.

Because this vaccine contains a live virus, it may be more immune-activating than avian flu vaccines prepared by traditional methods, say the researcher

Systematic phonics should feature in every child’s reading instruction and it should be part of every literacy teacher’s repertoire, according to a Government-funded review of research by academics at the Universities of York and Sheffield.

The review, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), found that systematic phonics – letters and sounds taught in sequence from early childhood — resulted in better progress in reading accuracy among children o

A report entitled “International Perceptions of UK Research in Physics and Astronomy” was published on 26 January 2006.

The conclusions of the international panel included the following statement:
“The UK continues to enjoy a high standing in astrophysics and solar system physics. The best departments and individuals have outstanding international reputations and there has been considerable growth on several fronts since the 2000 review, both in terms of participation in larg

DFG Approves 19 New Research Units

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will provide approximately €30.6 million in funding for 19 new Research Units over the next three years. This decision was reached by the Joint Committee at its meeting on 12 January 2006. The broad spectrum of topics demonstrates the attractiveness of the programme for all disciplines. The DFG currently funds 151 Research Units, in which several scientists from different

While more free time sounds like a good thing for everyone, new research suggests it is a better deal for men than it is for women.

A study found that men who have more free time feel less rushed than men with less leisure time. But even when women have more time free from paid work and household tasks, they don’t feel less rushed.

The results suggest that women – particularly mothers – may feel the pressures of childcare and housework even when they have ti

Research puts actors’ memory on center stage

“How do you learn all those lines?” It is the question most asked of actors and their art. The ability to remember and effortlessly deliver large quantities of dialogue verbatim amazes non-thespians. Most people imagine that learning a script involves hours, days, and even months of rote memorization. But actors seldom work that way; in fact, they often don’t consciously try to memorize lines at all. And they seldom consider mem

Relationships with industry, competitive environments associated with research secrecy

Open sharing of information is a basic principle of the scientific process, but it is well known that secrecy has become a fact of life in academic science. Several studies have described how researchers may withhold the results of their studies from other scientists or deny them access to data or materials. In two new reports, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Inst

Care at a trauma center lowers by 25 percent the risk of death for injured patients compared to treatment received at non-trauma centers, according to the results of a nationwide study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Washington School of Medicine. “A National Evaluation of the Effect of Trauma Center Care on Mortality,” to be published in the January 26, 2006, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, is among the

A study published in the latest issue of Conservation Biology examines the effects of humans on Magellanic Penguins and finds no immediate, negative effects of tourism. Although first seeing people is stressful for the penguins, habituation is rapid. The authors monitored the defensive head turns and the level of a hormone secreted in response to stress (plasma corticosterone) of penguins when encountering humans. “Head turns of penguins visited for 10 days were significantly lower than those of

Hispanics in America who self-identify as Black are suffering higher rates of hypertension than their Hispanic counterparts who identify as White, according to research conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. However, the study found that on the whole, U.S. Hispanics have lower rates of high blood pressure (16.8 percent) than non-Hispanics (24.7 percent).

The study suggests this apparent health advantage could be an artifact of the U.S. Census groupin