People’s perceptions of their own life expectancy can be linked to their decision on whether or not to invest in a pension, a study led by Nottingham University Business School has revealed.

Nottingham University Business School’s Centre for Risk & Insurance Studies commissioned MORI to conduct a wide ranging public opinion survey of 3,966 adults aged over 16 years across Great Britain covering various aspects of public perceptions of mortality such as general level of health, s

Contrary to the prevailing belief that the HIV epidemic in the UK can be traced back to one source, a new study suggests that HIV spread via at least six independent virus introductions and subsequent transmission chains. The findings, published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also suggest that antiviral therapy has not had a significant impact on the growth of the epidemic and that changes in sexual behaviour have been more effective in slowing the sp

A new study by Temple University School of Medicine researchers has shown why the pounds melt so quickly on low-carbohydrate diets, and it’s not related to water, metabolism or boredom. The research was conducted in a group of obese patients with type 2 diabetes who followed the Atkins diet.

According to lead researcher, Guenther Boden, M.D., “When carbohydrates were restricted, study subjects spontaneously reduced their caloric intake to a level appropriate for their heigh

A standard drink is generally calculated as a 12-ounce glass of beer, four-ounce glass of wine, or a one-ounce shot of hard liquor. Malt liquor beers (MLBs), which have a higher alcohol content by volume compared to other beers, are typically sold in larger containers, and are priced lower by volume. MLB drinkers are more likely to be homeless, unemployed, receive public assistance, and tend to drink more alcohol, more often, than other types of drinkers. A stand

’Life on the bubble’

A team of researchers, led by an environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis, has applied a molecular approach to identify the biological particles in aerosol responsible for making employees of a Colorado hospital therapeutic pool ill. They found: when the bubble bursts, the bacteria disperse, and lifeguards get pneumonia-like symptoms.

Lars Angenent, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of chemical engineering, and col

Two University of Iowa researchers were part of a large multi-center study that provides compelling direct evidence of an association between prolonged residential radon exposure and lung cancer risk.

The study, an analysis of data pooled from seven different North American residential radon studies, demonstrates an 11 to 21 percent increased lung cancer risk at average residential radon concentrations of approximately 3.0 picocuries per liter of air, during an exposure period o

UHC study indicates need for new standards and training

Improving the training and standardizing the procedures used by the nation’s eye banks to assess corneal cells may help to select corneas with optimal health for transplantation, according to new study led by Jonathan H. Lass, MD, principal investigator of the study and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Thi

Analysis finds marked differences among countries indicating the importance of cultural and political factors

In most countries around the world, men significantly outnumber women in academic leadership positions. A group of researchers recently set out to explain this disparity, as well as to examine whether this difference reflects the female to male ratio among physicians or whether it reflects country-specific factors. Their findings, published in the March 2005 issue of Ar

Turkey hunters have higher rates of shooting-related injuries than hunters of other species in Pennsylvania, according to a Penn State College of Medicine study. In fact the study found that Pennsylvania hunters’ chances of being shot depend on both what they’re hunting and the hunters’ ages, with the highest injury rates reported in hunters under the age of 20.

“This study examined differences in characteristics and rates of past injuries with the goal of providing information to

The largest, most comprehensive study ever done comparing the effectiveness of hand hygiene products shows that nothing works better in getting rid of disease-causing viruses than simply washing one’s hands with good old-fashioned soap and water.

Among the viruses soapy hand washing flushes down the drain is the one that causes the common cold. Other removable viruses cause hepatitis A, acute gastroenteritis and a host of other illnesses.

A separate key finding was

Businesses are struggling to protect their most important asset – their intellectual property (IP) or “know-how”, say researchers at the University of Sussex.

Given that up to 80% of the value of many firms is now formed by their IP, which includes patents, copyright, trademarks and designs, this dramatic finding by the University’s Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) raises serious risk management challenges for firms, investors and clients.

The study, jo

Stereotypes about older workers prevent companies from benefiting from their knowledge and experience, says LSU researcher

Workers are getting older and within five years 20 percent of the workforce will be more than 55, says the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those figures are likely to collide with deeply held stereotypes about older workers resisting change and not being able to learn new technologies and systems. Dr. Tracey Rizzuto, assistant professor of psychology at Loui

A group of Dartmouth researchers has learned that the brain’s auditory cortex, the part that handles information from your ears, holds on to musical memories.

In a study titled “Sound of silence activates auditory cortex” published in the March 10 issue of Nature, the Dartmouth team found that if people are listening to music that is familiar, they mentally call upon auditory imagery, or memories, to fill in the gaps if the music cuts out. Using functional magnetic resonance im

Columbia University Medical Center study shows link between depression and worsening heart disease

Depression is known to be “hard on the heart” – now researchers are a step closer to understanding why. A new Columbia University Medical Center study examining potential links between depression and heart disease found that heart disease patients who showed symptoms of depression were substantially less adherent to taking a prescribed medicine than patients without depression. Pat

The University of Manchester’s School of Environment and Development will host the second of its annual lectures on 9 March.

Renowned academic Professor Saskia Sassen, Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago and Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, will present ‘Immigrants and Citizens – A new architecture for political membership’. The lecture will take place in Crawford House lecture theatre 1 at 3.30. Professor Sassen is a wo

A concentration of senior citizens in a community can be a financial boon to a school district, rather than an adversary, unless the group includes a high percentage of newcomers with few, if any, emotional ties with the area, according to two Penn State experts.

“The ’aging of America’ will not automatically exacerbate fiscal strains on public school systems and their community residents,” says Dr. Michael B. Berkman, associate professor of political science. “A large in