All clips tagged study : clipclip

Less Work Email Equals Less Stress

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112529204/...

clipped by odie May 07, 2012

email employees environment focus stress study work workplace

Notes by odie: There are a number of ways to reduce stress at work, among them is one that most people probably wouldn’t think of as a stress reducer, but according to new research, removing email from employees’ workplace environment can reduce stress and allow the

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There are a number of ways to reduce stress at work, among them is one that most people probably wouldn’t think of as a stress reducer, but according to new research, removing email from employees’ workplace environment can reduce stress and allow them to focus and perform far better.

In a new study, conducted by University of California, Irvine researchers and the US Army, heart rate monitors were attached to computer users in a suburban office setting, while software sensors detected how often they switched computer windows. Participants were divided into two groups: the first group gave up email for five days, and the other continued using email with no interruptions.

The researchers found that those who continued to use their email changed screens (37 times per hour on average) twice as often as the control group (18 times per hour on average). Those who continued their e-mailing habits, kept in a “high alert” state, with heart rates reflecting that. Those who had abstained from email, had more “natural, variable heart rates.”

Also, those who did not use their email for the five-day period reported being more productive and were better able to remain focused on their job.

“We found that when you remove email from workers’ lives, they multitask less and experience less stress,” said Gloria Mark, PhD, Irvine informatics professor and co-author of the study, which was funded by the Army and the National Science Foundation.

That is a huge positive, she added, since stress itself has been linked to a variety of health problems, such as heart disease and depression. The findings concur with previous research that showed people with steady “high alert“ heart rates have more cortisol, a hormone linked to stress.

The findings could be useful for boosting productivity, she said, adding that employers may want to consider healthier options for their employees, such as controlling the amount of time workers spend logged-on to email.

“Email vacations on the job may be a good idea,” she noted. “We need to experiment with that.”

Mark noted that recruiting volunteers was a difficult task. But once she found the right group — civilian employees at the Army Natick Soldier Systems Center near Boston — she found they were much happier at the end of the five-day period. They “loved being without email, especially if their manager said it was OK,” she said. “In general, they were much happier to interact in person.”

Getting up and walking to someone’s desk to deliver a message offered physical relief to the participants as well, Mark noted. The only drawback the participant’s reported was feeling isolated, not being able to garner critical information from colleagues who were still using email.

Mark also noted there were other drawbacks as well. While email may be stressful, there really is no practical alternative to it. And it is possible, that being away from email for extended periods, could be more stressful for some people than being on it all the time. Plus, giving up email permanently could be more harmful than good for those who rely on it in the workforce. Abstinence from email is a decision that affects, by extension, anyone who might send you a message — and anyone to whom you might send a message. In that sense, email is a matter of public health in the most literal sense.

STEM Associate's Degree Pays Better Than Liberal Arts Bachelor's - STEM Education

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/stem-education...

clipped by odie Apr 23, 2012

degree education income STEM study US Census Bureau

Notes by odie: People with an associate's degree in a STEM field earn more than those with a bachelor's degree in education or liberal arts, according to new data released Thursday by the United States Census Bureau.

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Highest sales taxes among U.S. cities in Alabama: study

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/us-us...

clipped by odie Apr 11, 2012

Alabama high rates study taxes US

Notes by odie: Two Alabama cities top a new ranking of U.S. cities with the highest combined state and local sales tax rates, a study released on Wednesday found.

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Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, have sales tax rates of 10 percent, the steepest in the country, said The Tax Foundation, a conservative tax research group.

Which cities had the lowest rates? They were the only two that had no state or local sales taxes at all: Portland, Oregon, and Anchorage, Alaska, the study said.

Third-lowest was Honolulu, Hawaii, with a 4 percent state sales tax and a 0.5 percent local tax, yielding a 4.5 percent combined rate.

Tied for fourth-lowest were five Virginia cities with 5-percent combined sales tax rates: Virginia Beach, Richmond, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Arlington.

The Tax Foundation, which promotes lower taxes generally, said disparities in sales taxes can motivate shoppers to travel from one jurisdiction to another to avoid high taxes.

"For example, strong evidence exists that Chicago-area consumers make major purchases in surrounding suburbs or online to avoid Chicago's high sales tax rates," the study said.

Chicago's combined rate is 9.5 percent, the nation's third-highest after the two Alabama cities.

Sales taxes can also play a role in business location decisions, according to the foundation.

The group added that its study ranks tax rates alone and does not make adjustments for what items are taxable and what are not. This can vary widely from state to state.

For instance, groceries may be non-taxable in some states, partially taxable in others, and fully taxable in still others. Clothing and business-to-business transactions also vary.

Tied with Chicago with comparatively high combined rates of 9.5 percent were Glendale, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington.

Other cities with rates of 9 percent or more included Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa, Arizona; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; and New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Among bigger U.S. cities, New York came in 14th on the list with a combined rate of 8.875 percent; Los Angeles, 17th at 8.75; San Francisco, 24th at 8.5; Houston, 27th at 8.25; Atlanta and Philadelphia tied for 43rd at 8; Minneapolis, 52nd at 7.775; Denver, 63rd at 7.62; Boston, 91st at 6.25; while Detroit and Washington, D.C. tied for 92nd at 6 percent.

Study Finds Possible Link Between Dental X-Rays And Brain Tumors

http://gawker.com/5900600/study-finds-possible-...

clipped by odie Apr 10, 2012

brain dentist non-malignant research study tumors x-ray

Notes by odie: A new study published in the official journal of the American Cancer Society — which is aptly titled Cancer — found that dental X-rays can significantly increase the likelihood of developing non-malignant brain tumors over the course of a lifetime.

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Long-Lasting Marriages on the Rise, Says U.S. Census Report

http://abcnews.go.com/US/long-lasting-marriages...

clipped by odie Mar 22, 2012

less divorce marriage research study US Census Bureau

Notes by odie: Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al and Tipper Gore -- these are the exceptions, not the rule, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report says that fewer Americans are getting married, and more marriages are lasting longer.

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Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al and Tipper Gore -- these are the exceptions, not the rule, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report says that fewer Americans are getting married, and more marriages are lasting longer.

"Many Americans have ... heard this idea that one in two marriages will fail and that marriage is on the ropes," said Bradford Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. "Marriage is actually becoming more stable in America and divorce is becoming less common."

Seventy-seven percent of couples married since 1990 reached their 10-year anniversaries, according to census figures. That's a slight increase from 74 percent in the 1980s, when divorce rates where at an all-time high.

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"Most divorces have always occurred within 10 years of marriage because most people who are unhappily married figure that out quickly," said Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the perception that divorce is common place, most Americans marry once and make it work.

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After decades of increases, U.S. divorces are... View Full Size

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After decades of increases, U.S. divorces are leveling off, with couples now slightly more likely to reach their tenth wedding anniversaries.

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Fifty-five percent of all married couples have been married for at least 15 years, according to the census report, while 35 percent have celebrated their 25th anniversaries and a special 6 percent have made it more than 50 years.

Kathy Rogillio Birt says she has been married 27 years and shared the secrets of her success on the World News Facebook page.

"You must put the other person first, be a good listener, communicate, start and end the day with a kiss, don't go to bed mad, laugh a lot, keep up the romance, be spontaneous, and be quick to forgive," she wrote.

Martha Sturtz, a retired school teacher from Mexico, N.Y., wrote that the secret to her 34 years of marriage was "communication, and being each other's best friend." She added that there were also three important words.

"Of course knowing the three words any women loves to hear helps," she wrote. "Not 'I love you,' but 'Let's eat out,' or, 'Let's order in!'"

Wilcox said one of the primary reasons marriages are lasting longer is that people are postponing marriage. "Couples that get married in their mid-twenties or later than that are more likely to avoid divorce court," he said.

"There is sort of more of a soul mate model of marriage today. ... Fifty years ago, this was one of the things you did when you became a young adult. You found a boyfriend or girlfriend and if you were pretty happy you'd go ahead and get married," said Wilcox. "Today the bar for marriage is much higher because people want a soul mate, not just a spouse. And a soul mate should be someone who is capable of providing you with emotional fulfillment, an intense relationship -- and, by the way, a decent bank account helps."

For many the soul mate model of marriage is less accessible, and while marriages on the whole are lasting longer, in many social strata, instability is on the rise.

"Americans who don't have a college degree and who are less affluent, working class and poor Americans. They are seeing increases in divorce, they are seeing increases in childbearing, and we're seeing a kind of growing marriage divide in American life," said Wilcox. "More and more couples are having kids outside of marriage in a cohabiting context, and that's why 41 percent of kids today are born outside of marriage in large parts. ... Their kids are more likely to be exposed to a carousel of romantic partners and to suffer as a consequence."

Voter Registration Errors: 1 In 8 Files Contain Significant Mistakes, Study Finds

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/voter-...

clipped by odie Feb 14, 2012

error mistakes registration study US voters

Notes by odie: Some 24 million voter registrations in the United States contain significant errors, including about 1.8 million dead people still on the rolls and many more approved to vote in multiple states, according to a report released Tuesday.

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OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Some 24 million voter registrations in the United States contain significant errors, including about 1.8 million dead people still on the rolls and many more approved to vote in multiple states, according to a report released Tuesday.

Even though the inaccuracies impact one in eight registrations, researches at the Pew Center on the States said they don't see it as an indicator of widespread fraud. Rather, they believe outdated systems are failing to keep pace with the most basic changes in people's lives, feeding perceptions that U.S. elections are not as airtight as they could be.

In conjunction with Pew's report, eight states said they are working this year on a centralized data system to help identify people whose registrations may be out of date.

"A lot of people probably assume we do this already," said Sam Reed, who oversees elections as Washington's secretary of state. "I think it's going to bring more trust and confidence in the election system."

About 2.7 million people have active registrations in multiple states, including about 2,000 people registered in four or more states, according to the Pew report. Elections officials said it is difficult to track when someone has moved to another state without canceling their previous registration.

Some 1.8 million deceased people are still listed as active voters, according to the study, which is based on a computer analysis of a proprietary voter database used by Democrats. Researchers believe 12.7 million records do not reflect the current addresses of active voters while 12 million contain address inaccuracies, including those that make it unlikely that mail could reach them.

Some of the files contain multiple problems, with Pew estimating that a total of 24 million have problems.

The numbers are at least partially supported by anecdotal evidence. For example, Washington state and Alaska – one of the nation's least populous states – compared each other's voter registration systems last year and found an estimated 4,500 duplicates.

The eight states involved in the centralization project are Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Pew believes the centralized system and online voter registrations will help save money by eliminating the need to print millions of forms, enter data by hand or send mail to outdated or incorrect addresses.

"That's a tremendous cost to the taxpayers," said David Becker, director of Election Initiatives at the Pew Center on the States. The centralized system has not settled on participation fees yet but is expected to be in the tens of thousands of dollars per state per year.

The Brennan Center for Justice, which has been working on voter registration issues, is also pushing for a modernization of the system but cautions that states need to take particular care to not rush to eliminate voters from their rolls. Lawrence Norden, an attorney at the center, said there have been a number of cases in recent years where people have been improperly removed from the system based on an incomplete match – for example, two people who have the same name and birthdate.

"This is something that has to be done very carefully," he said.

Some states have adopted laws in the last couple years to require photo IDs to vote – hoping it would prevent fraud even though examples of such cheating are rare. That tactic was one the Brennan Center is directly opposing.

Linda Lamone, the administrator of elections in Maryland, said the Pew work has already pushed the state toward online voter registration, which will also allow voters to update their information electronically. Maryland has also changed its system so that voters who choose to register while getting a driver's license must complete the process there. Previously, voters had to separately file paperwork and the state ended up having conflicting information about registrants.

Lamone said dead people who are registered in the state but end up dying in another state that does not actively share death information can leave deceased voters on the rolls. She said the centralized system will help ease those administrative challenges.

"We're going to get better information on voters," she said. "Overall, it's going to result in much more accurate voter registration lists."

Is gossip bad for you? New study finds health benefits

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57361315...

clipped by odie Jan 18, 2012

bad feelings frustration gossip health study

Notes by odie: Do you gossip? Even if the answer is yes, you're not likely to admit it. Gossip is generally frowned upon for its potential to spread harmful rumors or labeled as idle chatter. But a new study suggests gossip might be good for your social and psychologica

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(CBS) Do you gossip? Even if the answer is yes, you're not likely to admit it. Gossip is generally frowned upon for its potential to spread harmful rumors or labeled as idle chatter. But a new study suggests gossip might be good for your social and psychological health.

"Gossip gets a bad rap, but we're finding evidence that it plays a critical role in the maintenance of social order," said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, coauthor of the study published in this month's online issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The study focused on "prosocial" gossip, which "has the function of warning others about untrustworthy or dishonest people," Willer said in a written statement.

For the study, researchers conducted four experiments. First, they hooked 51 volunteers up to heart rate monitors. The volunteers observed two people playing a game in which the players' generosity toward each other was measured by how many dollars or points they shared. When one player did not play by the rules and hoarded points, the observers' heart rates increased, and most seized the opportunity to slip a "gossip note" to warn new players.

"Passing on the gossip note ameliorated their negative feelings and tempered their frustration," Willer said. "Gossiping made them feel better."

The second experiment had 111 participants fill out a questionnaire about their levels of altruism and cooperativeness. When they then observed the scores in relation to the economic trust game and saw that one player had cheated, observers reported feelings of frustration - and then experiencing relief once they were given a chance to pass on a gossip note.

Did some feel more inclined to gossip than others? According to Matthew Feinberg, a UC Berkeley social psychologist and lead study author, "the higher participants scored on being altruistic, the more likely they were to experience negative emotions after witnessing the selfish behavior and the more likely they were to engage in the gossip."

Participants in the third experiment were asked to sacrifice money they had received to be in the study if they wanted to send a gossip note. And a large majority of observers agreed to take the financial hit.

"People paid money to gossip even when they couldn't affect the selfish person's outcome," Feinberg said.

For the final experiment, 300 participants from around the country were recruited via Craigslist to play several rounds of the economic trust game online. They played using raffle tickets that would be entered in a drawing for a $50 cash prize - added incentive to win. But this time, some players were told that the observers during a break could pass a gossip note to players in the next round. What happened? The threat of being gossiped about caused virtually all the players to act more generously - especially those who had scored low on an altruism questionnaire taken prior to the game.

What's the take-home message from these four experiments? "When we observe someone behave in an immoral way, we get frustrated," Willer said. "But being able to communicate this information to others who could be helped makes us feel better."

Still, Dr. Laura Davies, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the study focused on a specific kind of gossip that many people don't consider gossip.

Children recall memories back to age 2

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/12/28/Child...

clipped by odie Dec 29, 2011

age 2 children k recall memories study

Notes by odie: Events experienced by children as young as age 2 can be recalled later, researchers in New Zealand found.

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Experimental malaria vaccine shows early promise

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/20/us-ma...

clipped by odie Dec 21, 2011

experimental malaria promise study vaccine

Notes by odie: British scientists have developed an experimental malaria vaccine that may have the potential to neutralize all strains of the most deadly species of malaria parasite.

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Results from very early tests of the vaccine in mice and rabbits show it induces an antibody response able to halt many strains of the P. falciparum parasite, the form that causes almost all of the 655,000 malaria deaths worldwide each year.

The researchers, whose work was published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, plan to take the vaccine into early stage human trials in two to three years, but it may be a decade or more beyond that before it is fully developed.

"Vaccines against malaria are notoriously difficult to develop," said Adrian Hill of Britain's Oxford University, who worked on the vaccine research team.

This vaccine builds on work published last month by the same team, who pinpointed a single receptor for a protein called RH5 that is critical for the malaria parasite to gain entry into red blood cells where it multiplies and spreads.

The researchers said in November they thought that by blocking this process, they could halt the disease in its tracks - and Tuesday's results confirm their thinking.

"What's exciting about RH5 is that we've shown that antibodies against this protein have so far knocked down every parasite we've been able to test in the laboratory," Simon Draper of Oxford's Jenner Institute, who also worked on the study, said in a telephone interview.

"We haven't found one yet that the vaccine isn't able to stop."

Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease that killed around 655,000 in 2010 according to latest World Health Organisation data. The vast majority of malaria deaths are among children and babies in sub-Saharan Africa.

The blood stage of the parasite's life cycle begins when it invades human red blood cells, and it is this stage that is responsible for malaria illnesses and deaths.

Scientists have been working for decades on trying to develop an effective vaccine against the disease, but this has proved particularly tricky because the parasites' antigens - the target of vaccines - tend to be genetically too diverse.

Researchers say RH5 doesn't show this diversity, making it a particularly good target for a vaccine to exploit.

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline published data in October showing its experimental vaccine, RTS,S, halved the risk of children getting malaria in a large trial in Africa, making it likely to become the world's first licensed malaria vaccine.

Other teams of researchers around the world are also working on other approaches to a malaria vaccine.

Experts agree that wiping out the disease - a goal the scientific community says could be achieved in the next few decades with the right tools - will need a vaccine that is more effective than RTS,S.

"Unlike RTS,S, which aims to stop the parasite getting into the liver, this RH5 vaccine is trying to kill the parasite in the blood," Draper explained. "So it may be possible that the RH5 vaccine could complement RTS,S."

"Ultimately we don't know until we test our vaccine in humans whether it will be more efficacious than RTS,S. But these data on RH5 are some of the most exciting in the field at the moment."

This Is Why You Were Friended or Unfriended

http://mashable.com/2011/12/19/friend-unfriend-...

clipped by odie Dec 20, 2011

facebook friends men study unfriend women

Notes by odie: While some Internet interactions are online-only relationships, the most common reason we add friends on Facebook is because we know people in real life.

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