COLUMBUS, Ohio – Instead of calming fears, the death of Osama bin Laden actually led more Americans to feel threatened by Muslims living in the United States, according to a new nationwide survey.
In the weeks following the U.S. military campaign that killed bin Laden, the head of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, American attitudes toward Muslim Americans took a significant negative shift, results showed. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — While some members of Congress and others are trying to repeal the healthcare reform law that was passed in 2010, known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” medical providers have begun to implement requirements as the law slowly phases in over the next several years. For reform to be successful, one University of Missouri public health expert has determined that professional associations for psychologists and other medical providers need to be at the forefront of the planning stages, and that everyone, including providers and patients, will need to be educated on rights and responsibilities.
“We looked at psychology departments here in the United States and in other countries to determine what worked best when implementing the policies outlined in healthcare reform,” said Nancy Cheak-Zamora, assistant professor of health science in the MU School of Health Professions. “Many providers, especially psychologists, work independently, but the new healthcare law is encouraging providers to develop a medical team approach, one that can tackle many different aspects of a disease.” (more…)
*Long-term study shows students must know about numbers at beginning of first grade*
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Psychologists at the University of Missouri have identified the beginning of first grade math skills that teachers and parents should target to effectively improve children’s later math learning.
A long-term psychology study indicates that beginning first graders that understand numbers, the quantities those numbers represent, and low-level arithmetic will have better success in learning mathematics through the end of fifth grade, and other studies suggest throughout the rest of their lives. (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Few treatments exist for patients with advanced primary liver cancer, but University of Florida researchers have found a new way to broaden the range of options and potentially improve health outcomes by combining two treatments.
In the first study of its kind, the researchers combined sorafenib, the only Food and Drug Administration-approved pill for treating advanced liver cancer, with another routinely used therapy known as transarterial chemoembolization, which works by cutting off the blood supply to tumors. No unexpected toxic effects were seen, and the combo appears to have the potential to improve survival for certain groups of patients. (more…)
Nuclear power is a major component of our nation’s long-term clean-energy future, but the technology has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of Japan’s recent Fukushima disaster. Indeed, many nations have called for checks and “stress tests” to ensure nuclear plants are operating safely.
In the United States, about 20 percent of our electricity and almost 70 percent of the electricity from emission-free sources, including renewable technologies and hydroelectric power plants, is supplied by nuclear power. Along with power generation, many of the world’s nuclear facilities are used for research, materials testing, or the production of radioisotopes for the medical industry. The service life of structural and functional material components in these facilities is therefore crucial for ensuring reliable operation and safety. (more…)
In a new report, researchers have found that Americans have a wide range of attitudes and beliefs when it comes to climate change, yet also show some surprising similarities. The report, which is the latest in a series from the Yale University Project on Climate Change Communication, demonstrates how Americans fall into one of six categories called the “Global Warming’s Six Americas,” each reflecting different attitudes and behaviors when it comes to climate change. (more…)
A new advance by UCLA biochemists has brought scientists one step closer to developing treatments that could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.
The researchers report that they have designed molecular inhibitors that target specific proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease and HIV to prevent them from forming amyloid fibers, the elongated chains of interlocking proteins that play a key role in more than two dozen degenerative and often fatal diseases. (more…)
As the nation recognizes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s start, public interest has been rekindled in the war and the numerous memorials and monuments marking historic figures, sites and battlegrounds in states around the country.
South Carolina militiamen fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and over the next four years more than 10,000 military engagements between the North and South took place. In the end more than 600,000 soldiers died. (more…)
