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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Proves Effective at Reducing Depression in People Who Have not Responded to Antidepressants

Health

Antidepressants are the most widely used treatment for people with moderate to severe depression.

However, up to two thirds of people with depression don’t respond fully to this type of treatment. New findings have shown cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), provided in addition to usual care, can reduce symptoms of depression and help improve patients’ quality of life.

This is the first large-scale trial to test the effectiveness of CBT – a type of talking psychotherapy- given in addition to usual care that includes antidepressants. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA)-funded CoBalT study aimed to determine the best ‘next step’ treatment for people whose depression had not responded to medication alone. (more…)

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Hunt for Bin Laden

Politics

Bowden recounts hunt for bin Laden in President’s Authors Series talk

When a team of U.S. Navy SEALS entered the compound of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in the early hours of May 2, 2011, it marked the successful culmination of a data-driven military and intelligence quest that began with the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. (more…)

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Microsoft and EINS Sign Android Patent Agreement

Technology

Agreement covers EINS Cat tablets running the Android platform

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 11, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. and EINS SE signed a patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for EINS devices running the Android platform. EINS manufactures Android tablets under the Cat brand in Germany. While the contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from EINS SE. (more…)

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After the Storm, Haiti’s Food Situation Looks Bleak

Economy, Environment, Politics

ANN ARBOR — The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which ripped through southern Haiti in October, will extend beyond destruction and injury. The current and future food security looks bleak barring significant intervention during the next year, according to a University of Michigan report.

Rain-triggered mudslides throughout the country from the hurricane has not only washed out homes, but also roadways and bridges—bringing transportation to a near standstill, says Athena Kolbe, the report’s lead author and a U-M doctoral candidate in social work and political science. The natural disaster compounded Haiti’s long struggles to transport enough produce from the countryside to village markets and major urban centers. (more…)

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Asteroid that Killed the Dinosaurs also Wiped out the ‘Obamadon’

Nature, Science

The asteroid collision widely thought to have killed the dinosaurs also led to extreme devastation among snake and lizard species, according to new research — including the extinction of a newly identified lizard Yale and Harvard scientists have named Obamadon gracilis.

“The asteroid event is typically thought of as affecting the dinosaurs primarily,” said Nicholas R. Longrich, a postdoctoral associate with Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics and lead author of the study. “But it basically cut this broad swath across the entire ecosystem, taking out everything. Snakes and lizards were hit extremely hard.” (more…)

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