While stock prices of firms almost always go up immediately after an announcement of a takeover bid by another company, a new study shows that there’s a lot of variation in just how far the stock prices may change.

In fact, the study showed that about one-quarter of stock prices actually go higher than the initial bid price announced by the acquiring firm. Overall, investors seem to be savvy about pricing stocks of target firms, said Ralph Walkling, co-author of the study

The Minimally Invasive Surgical Therapies (MIST) Consortium for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) has launched a new study to compare long-term benefits and risks of transurethral needle ablation (TUNA) and transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) to a regimen of the alpha-1 inhibitor alfuzosin and the 5-alpha reductase inhibitor finasteride. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at NIH, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is investing more tha

Act on the Surgeon General’s bone health report

It’s one of the first demonstrations on how to take care of your bones since the Surgeon General warned that half the population is likely to be at risk for osteoporosis unless they take action. Experts are putting prevention on display today at a fitness center in midtown Manhattan. Leaders in fitness and nutrition are demonstrating exactly how participants in the BEST Study, a four-year investigation conducted at the Univ

X-43A research vehicle screamed into the record books again Tuesday, demonstrating an air-breathing engine can fly at nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Preliminary data from the scramjet-powered research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at nearly Mach 9.8, or 7,000 mph, as it flew at about 110,000 feet.

The high-risk, high-payoff flight, originally scheduled for Nov. 15, took place in restricted airspace over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Los Angeles. T

Why are old habits so hard to break? A new study suggests that over time, our bad habits (such as smoking cigarettes or over eating) become automatic, learned behaviors. Even if we consciously try to put new good intentions into place, those previously learned habits remain stronger in more automatic, unconscious forms of memory.

This research may help explain why when we’re under stress we fall back into old habits, such as cheating on a new diet after a bad day at work. Stre

Findings may have implications for contraceptive

A study led by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has determined that a novel enzyme in sperm is essential for sperm motility and male fertility. The new study may offer a potential target for an effective, non-hormonal male contraceptive, the researchers said. The findings will be published today (Nov. 15) in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A rep

May not be considered non-toxic

Bismuth bullets, which became the primary form of bullets sold in Canada after lead shot was incrementally banned for environmental reasons between 1991 and 1999, may not be as non-toxic as originally thought, according to a new study. “It’s not clear whether bismuth is a non-toxic shot alternative,” says study co-author William Gough, a professor in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto at Scarbo

Offer more human capital, skills

Cities in China not dominated by state-run industries are benefiting more from foreign investment than cities with a large number of state-controlled industries, find university researchers. “Cities that don’t have a large proportion of state-controlled industries appear to offer a better range of human capital and skills that would be attractive to foreign direct investment,” says University of Toronto economics professor Gordon Anderson, a

A new measurement tool called the computerized clinical vignette can help clinicians and policymakers assess and improve the quality of physician practice while potentially reducing costs, according to a study led by a researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

The vignette — which presents a simulated patient visit to the doctor via computer — is an accurate, inexpensive, and efficient way to measure how well physicians handle their clinical practice, the st

Sick days, disability, early retirement, and premature death of diabetic Americans born between 1931 and 1941 cost the country almost $133.5 billion by the year 2000, according to a new estimate by researchers with the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This analysis is the first to identify the staggering financial impact of diabetes on the economy using a single, consistent source of data — the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national longitudinal s

Children of immigrants share with their parents all problems connected with adaptation to new surroundings. It is difficult for the children to cope with new social environment and lifestyle, but their relationships with parents are better than those in native families. This conclusion is drawn by the Russian psychologists from Saratov.

Political and social-economic developments within the post-soviet space have induced mass departure of Russian people from newly formed states.

The largest population study ever done into the risk of cancer in families that fulfil the criteria for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing has confirmed that breast and ovarian cancers are the major concerns for geneticists and doctors counselling families. It has also verified that families eligible for BRCA1/2 mutation testing are at increased risk of pancreatic, prostate and stomach cancers.

One important conclusion of the study was that, in families with at least one woman with b

Driving with one hand on the wheel and another on a cell phone has led to legal restrictions and proposals to require drivers to use hands-free phones.

Hello?

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have tested the hands-free approach and found that drivers — young and old — struggled to see dangerous scenarios appearing in front of them.

The experiments, reported in the Fall 2004 issue of the journal Human Factors, were conducted

Attachment security has long been recognized as one of the hallmarks of adaptive social development in infancy and childhood, and is increasingly being recognized for its similar role in adolescence and adulthood. In adolescence, attachment security reflects the ability to openly and straightforwardly seek out and value close relationships while maintaining perspective and balance within those relationships.

Numerous studies have identified the importance of attachment security

Many families experience economic stress such as job loss and salary cuts. Such stress often has negative effects on marriages, parenting, and children’s developmental outcomes. Although all ethnic groups and social classes experience economic stress at some point in their lives, minority families are especially likely to suffer such economic problems. For instance, poverty rates for African-American and Hispanic-American families are three times higher than for non-Latino white families.

Although triplets are the fastest growing birth population in the Western world, and the number of triplet births has multiplied tenfold since 1980 in industrialized countries, no systematic research has studied the development of triplets across infancy.

Thus, we designed a study in which we followed 23 sets of triplets, 23 sets of twins, and 23 singletons (138 infants) from birth to 1 year. We matched groups for medical (e.g., gestational age, birthweight, medical risk) and en