Latest and Breaking Social Behavioral News

Hair provides proof of the link between chronic stress and heart attack
3 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Western Ontario) Researchers at the University of Western Ontario have provided the first direct evidence using a biological marker, to show chronic stress plays an important role in heart attacks. Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair providing an accurate assessment of stress levels in the months prior to an acute event such as a heart attack. The research is published online in the journal Stress.

Cigarette smoke may contribute to lung inflammation through a new chemical pathway
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Cigarette smoke shuts off a key enzyme in airways that regulates the body's response to inflammation, according to findings from the University of Alabama at Birmingham published online today at Science Express. The UAB researchers say smoke inhibits the enzyme, called Leukotriene A4 Hydrolase (LTA4H), causing it to fail in its job of shutting down white blood cells following a successful response to inflammation.

Medicinal cannabis review highlights dilemmas facing health care professionals
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Wiley-Blackwell) Patients who use cannabis for medicinal purposes pose a wide range of legal, ethical and medical dilemmas for the health care professionals looking after them according to an in-depth review just published. The study also found extreme caution about integrating cannabis derivative medications into mainstream medical use.

Italy honors supervolcano fossil discovery; Capellini Medal to SMU’s James Quick
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Southern Methodist University) Italian geologists in September will award the Capellini Medal to Southern Methodist University scientist James E. Quick, recognizing discovery of an enormous 280 million-year-old fossil supervolcano in the Italian Alps. Its magmatic plumbing system is exposed to an unprecedented depth of 25 kilometers. The discovery has sparked worldwide scientific interest and a budding regional geotourism industry in northern Italy's Sesia Valley. Quick led scientists from the University of Trieste to make the discovery.

Report: Discovery networks hostage-taking a rare terror event
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Maryland) A new report by University of Maryland terrorism researchers concludes that the deadly hostage-taking incident at the Discovery Networks in suburban Washington, D.C. meets the criteria of a terrorist act - a rare one for media organizations and the nation's capital region. Hostage-taking, though, is a familiar pattern in D.C. terror cases, the researchers add. There has never been U.S. environmentally inspired suicide eco-terrorism, they say, but don't draw conclusions about whether that occurred at Discovery.

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology reacts to stem-cell ruling
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology expressed its disapproval and disappointment this week in response to the Aug. 23 court ruling that temporarily bars federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

New climate change mitigation schemes could benefit elites rather than the rural poor
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Burness Communications) With governments across Latin America preparing to implement a new financial mechanism aimed at mitigating climate change by curbing carbon emissions from the destruction of tropical forests, experts gathering here today warned against a "one-size-fits-all" approach, calling instead for flexible, balanced solutions to the thorny dilemmas surrounding this new mechanism. Among the experts' chief worries is that the wealthy and powerful could capture many of the benefits, largely at the expense of rural communities, including indigenous groups.

Ancient brew masters tapped antibiotic secrets
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Emory University) A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. The Emory University study finds that it's likely this prehistoric population was using empirical evidence to develop therapeutic agents.

New discovery could pave the way for identification of rogue CFC release
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of East Anglia) A new discovery by scientists at the Universities of East Anglia and Frankfurt could make it possible in future to identify the source of banned CFCs that are probably still being released into the atmosphere. They have also discovered the largest chlorine isotope enrichment ever found in nature.

Ph.D. thesis researches relationship of youth today with the new technologies
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Elhuyar Fundazioa) Sociologist Ms. Lucia Merino presented her Ph.D. thesis titled, "Digital natives: a study of the technological socialisation of young people," at the University of the Basque Country.