Tag Archives: data

Guidelines for Prostate Screening Widely Ignored, Study Finds

2008 recommendations from federal task force had no impact

New research confirms that the controversial decision by Warren Buffett – the 81-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway – to undergo a blood test screening for prostate cancer despite his age is hardly unusual. Despite recommendations in 2008 from the United States Preventive Services Task Force against testing for prostate cancer in men aged 75 years or older, almost half of men in that age group continue to get screening tests.

In 2005, before the recommendations were released, 43 percent of men age 75 and above elected to take the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. In August 2008, the Task Force stated it “recommends against the service,” arguing “there is moderate or high certainty the service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits.” (more…)

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For Display Ads, Being Seen Matters More than Being Clicked

New Research from Pretarget and comScore Suggests that Buyer Conversion is More Highly Correlated with Ad Viewability and Hover than with Clicks or Gross Impressions

SAN FRANCISCO and RESTON, VA, April 24, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, and Pretarget, the intent targeting company, today released results of an online advertising study which found that ad viewability and hover time are more strongly correlated with conversions (defined as purchases and requests for information) than clicks or total impressions.

“Your ad being seen matters more than your ad being clicked – if you have a back-end conversion metric,” said Pretarget Founder Keith Pieper. “After all, what good is an ad that can’t be seen? It’s intuitive that an ad must be seen to make an impact, and it’s even more intuitive than someone hovering and engaging with an ad might convert, even absent a click.” (more…)

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Cosmic Ray Mystery

Massive detector homes in on cosmic ray production

IceCube, an international collaboration involving University of Delaware scientists, is shedding new light on cosmic ray production.

Although cosmic rays were discovered 100 years ago, their origin remains one of the most enduring mysteries in physics. Now, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a massive detector in Antarctica, is homing in on how the highest energy cosmic rays are produced. (more…)

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Feelings of Immaturity Accompany Alcohol Misuse into Adulthood, Say MU Researchers

*Discovery Could Improve Substance Abuse Treatment*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Tipping back one too many cocktails during an individual’s early 20s doesn’t correlate to a personal sense of immaturity; however if this habit doesn’t stop as they reach age 30, young adults can feel psychologically underdeveloped, according to a University of Missouri study. Helping young adults acknowledge their mental impulse to “sober up” as they mature can improve substance abuse intervention programs.

“When a heavy drinking 30-year-old comes in for therapy and says he doesn’t feel like an adult, we can present this study and suggest that cutting back on alcohol could help him feel more mature,” said lead researcher Rachel Winograd, a doctoral student in psychology at MU. (more…)

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NASA Map Sees Earth’s Trees in a New Light

PASADENA, Calif. – A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth’s forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while also helping them quantify the carbon stored in Earth’s vegetation.

Scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; the University of Maryland, College Park; and Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, Mass., created the map using 2.5 million carefully screened, globally distributed laser pulse measurements from space. The light detection and ranging (lidar) data were collected in 2005 by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System instrument on NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). (more…)

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Yale Discovery of ‘Young’ Supermassive Black Holes Challenges Current Theory

Astronomers at Yale University have discovered what appear to be three fast-growing supermassive black holes in a relatively young, still-forming galaxy.

The discovery raises the possibility that this type of black hole continues to form billions of years after the Big Bang, challenging current theory. Astronomers previously thought all supermassive black holes emerged soon after the birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. (more…)

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IBM Completes Acquisition of Algorithmics

ARMONK, N.Y. – 21 Oct 2011: IBM today announced the closing of its acquisition of Algorithmics. The acquisition expands IBM’s business analytics capabilities in the area of financial risk. Algorithmics provides software and services for improved business insights at banks and investment and insurance organizations to assess risk and address regulatory challenges. The purchase price is $380.2 million

Algorithmics’ capabilities, combined with IBM’s recent acquisition of OpenPages, gives clients a full array of financial and operational risk technology offerings and services to help with these challenges. The ability to gain granular insight into financial risks in advance provides businesses with critical information vital to their operations. (more…)

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Email Evolution: Web-based Email Shows Signs of Decline in the U.S. While Mobile Email Usage on the Rise

*Growing Number of Communication Channels Prompts Shift in Consumers’ Email Behavior*  

RESTON, VA, January 20, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from a study on U.S. consumers’ evolving email behaviors using data from its comScore Media Metrix and MobiLens services. The study found that in November 2010, the number of visitors to web-based email sites declined 6 percent compared to the previous year, while email engagement declined at an even greater rate. During the same time period, the number of users accessing email via their mobile devices grew by 36 percent as an increasingly complex digital environment influenced consumers’ communication habits.  (more…)

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