A new Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study links regions of two chromosomes to susceptibility for a type of autism characterized by regression in development. Developmental regression can include the loss of previously acquired language, social skills or both.
Moreover, the study is the first to identify involvement of chromosome 21 in this type of autism. This may explain the increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) among children with Down syndrom
Researchers supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, and that despite effective treatments, there are long delays — sometimes decades — between first onset of symptoms and when people seek and receive treatment. The study also reveals that an untreated mental disorder can lead to a more severe, more difficult to treat illness, and to the development of co-occurring mental illnesses.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology study
A simple blood test can quickly identify what type of congestive heart failure (CHF) a patient has, improving diagnostic accuracy; eliminating the need for extensive diagnostic tests, such as heart muscle biopsy or exploratory surgery; and enabling the patient to be treated sooner, according to a study published in the June 7 Journal of the American College of Cardiology. After blood is drawn, the test results are ready in 15 minu
Although morphine is well known as a highly effective analgesic, its clinical utility is severely limited by the development of drug tolerance, the requirement for increasing doses to maintain analgesic effect, and the development of physical dependence. In the June 7 issue of Current Biology, researchers report a new study showing that the administration of a drug cocktail containing morphine along with small doses of two versions of methadone, a related opioid drug, significantly reduced both tole
New data suggest that the accumulation of genetic changes is not solely determined by natural selection. A study by University of Chicago researchers contradicts conventional theory by showing that the percentage of mutations accepted in evolution is also strongly swayed by the speed at which new mutations arrive at a gene: the faster the speed of new mutations, the greater the percentage of those mutations accepted.
“We’ve discovered a striking phenomenon that challenges a para
How consumers process positive and negative product cues
It can be a tough call. Should you get the red car or the black one? The beige interior or grey? Leather or fabric seats? The list goes on and on of the many intrinsic attributes of this new and shiny purchase. In addition, the decision is further complicated by the many extrinsic attributes of a car like warranty and where the car was made. An article in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research suggests
How consumers react to prices ending in 99
Have you ever wondered why prices do not often end in simple round numbers? Decades of research have focused on the issue of pricing and a new study published in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research analyzes how consumers perceive the difference between prices ending in .00 or .99. This study which focuses on the left digit, rather than cents, finds that the difference can be important to consumers.
“We show
New Ebola, Marburg Vaccines effective in animal models
Scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada – with assistance from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases – have developed vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses that have been shown to be effective in non-human primates.
In a study published in this month’s Nature Medicine, Canadian researchers Dr. Heinz Feldmann and Dr. Steven Jones of PHAC’s National Microbiology Laboratory
Current high school start times deprive adolescents of sleep and force students to perform academically in the early morning, a time of day when they are at their worst, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Results from high school senior sleep/wake diaries kept for the study also showed that adolescents lost as much as two hours of sleep per night during the school week, but weekend sleep times during the school year were similar to those in summer.
More kids at risk for injury than previously thought
Children 14 and younger should not sit in the front passenger seat of cars equipped with air bags, according to a new study by an emergency medicine researcher at Oregon Health & Science University’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.Current federally mandated warning labels in cars only indicate a risk of air bag injuries for children 12 and younger.
The study, “Effects of Child Age and Body Size on Serious
High-risk breast cancer patients do not appear to have a higher risk of relapse than the general breast cancer population during the first two years after diagnosis, unless their cancer has spread to more than 10 axillary lymph nodes, Italian researchers reported today at the 2nd ESMO Scientific & Educational Conference (ESEC) in Budapest, Hungary.
Dr. Marina Cazzaniga from Treviglio Hospital, Italy, and colleagues in the NORA study, have been studying 3,500 patients being treated for breast
A recent study determined that patients who underwent recent cardiac surgical procedures and had prolonged stay in the intensive care unit had lower survival rates and lower quality of life.
Dr. Vinayak Bapat at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London and his team looked at a study group of 89 patients who had undergone various cardiac procedures and survived the following 30 days, and a control group with similar parameters but who were discharged from the ICU within 48 hours postopera
Researchers have uncovered the link between two biochemical pathways that plants use to defend themselves against pathogens – pathways that scientists have long believed worked independently of each other.
Knowing how these pathways of immunity work may one day help researchers breed plants that can better resist a variety of pathogens, said David Mackey, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of horticulture and crop science at Ohio State University .
How low-literate individuals adapt to the marketplace
With more than one fifth of American consumers considered functionally illiterate, the assumption that consumer research and the related marketing techniques should be focused solely on literate consumers may be inaccurate. According to a study in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, low-literate consumers who find a way to adapt to a marketplace where literacy is expected can not only challenge the status q
Why did our parents’ crayon box only yield six colors while kids today are enjoying a dizzying 120?! The answer is in the naming: today’s kids are scribbling away with “razzmatazz” and “tropical rain forest.” This move towards ambiguous naming is extremely effective according to an article in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
“The results from these studies suggest that color names can influence propensity of purchase, and that this effect is relate
A new, detailed study published by the University of Surrey (UK) confirms that a combination of fire safety regulations for furniture and smoke alarm promotion could save 850 lives throughout Europe (EU 25 States), and avoid some €3.6 billion costs of residential fires every year.
The UK is the only country in Europe to require domestic and office furniture to be fire safe and the study looks at the impacts of the 1988 legislation to introduce such mandatory minimum fire safety
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