Social Science posts
- January 7, 2010
- 11:15 PM
- 398 views
Are suburban neighbourhoods bad for your health?
by Christopher Leo in Christopher Leo
A growing body of research suggests that urban sprawl, in addition to being bad for cities, the environment and agriculture, may also take a toll on your health. For example, in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive … Continue reading →... Read more »
Trowbridge MJ, Gurka MJ, & O'Connor RE. (2009) Urban sprawl and delayed ambulance arrival in the U.S. American journal of preventive medicine, 37(5), 428-32. PMID: 19840697
- January 6, 2010
- 03:30 PM
- 592 views
Innovation in Health: Socialism and Innovation
by Ryan in Evidence-Based Public Health
What's the motivation for innovation in healthcare, and does any degree of socialization at any level have an impact?... Read more »
Conrad, D., & Perry, L. (2009) Quality-Based Financial Incentives in Health Care: Can We Improve Quality by Paying for It?. Annual Review of Public Health, 30(1), 357-371. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100243
- January 6, 2010
- 07:59 AM
- 559 views
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in "not caused by single virus" shock!
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Late last year, Science published a bombshell - Lombardi et al's Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. This paper reported the presence of a recently-discovered virus in 67% of the blood samples from 101 people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).The question of whether people with CFS are suffering from an organic illness, or whether their condition is partially or entirely psychological in nature, is the Israel vs. Palestine........ Read more »
Erlwein, O., Kaye, S., McClure, M., Weber, J., Wills, G., Collier, D., Wessely, S., & Cleare, A. (2010) Failure to Detect the Novel Retrovirus XMRV in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. PLoS ONE, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008519
Lombardi VC, Ruscetti FW, Das Gupta J, Pfost MA, Hagen KS, Peterson DL, Ruscetti SK, Bagni RK, Petrow-Sadowski C, Gold B.... (2009) Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Science (New York, N.Y.), 326(5952), 585-9. PMID: 19815723
- January 5, 2010
- 10:46 AM
- 1,197 views
The Neuroscience of MySpace
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
How does popularity affect how we judge music?We tend to say we like what other people like. No-one wants to stand out and risk ridicule by saying they don't enjoy universally loved bands, like The Beatles... unless they're trying to fit into a subculture where everyone hates The Beatles.But do people just pretend to like what others like, or can perceived popularity actually change musical preferences? Do The Beatles actually sound better because we know everyone loves them? An amusing Neuroima........ Read more »
Berns, G., Capra, C., Moore, S., & Noussair, C. (2010) Neural mechanisms of the influence of popularity on adolescent ratings of music. NeuroImage, 49(3), 2687-2696. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.10.070
- January 4, 2010
- 11:42 PM
- 834 views
SME: A supply chain risk?
by Jan Husdal in husdal.com
Does having Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in your supply chain constitute an increased exposure to supply chain risk? Particularly if these SMEs occupy business-critical positions in the supply chain?... Read more »
Finch, P. (2004) Supply chain risk management. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 9(2), 183-196. DOI: 10.1108/13598540410527079
- January 3, 2010
- 06:01 PM
- 860 views
Supply Chain Risk Literature: a complete review
by Jan Husdal in husdal.com
Finally, here it is, the complete review of supply chain risk. At least by the looks of it. Supply chain risks: a review and typology, is a 2009 article by two scholars from the University of Kentucky, Shashank Rao and Thomas J Goldsby, who review, synthesize and typify some 160 or so articles in supply [ ... ]... Read more »
Rao, S., & Goldsby, T. (2009) Supply chain risks: a review and typology. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 20(1), 97-123. DOI: 10.1108/09574090910954864
- January 2, 2010
- 08:00 AM
- 916 views
More on Korean linguistic exports
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
Not only is Korean an increasingly popular choice of study as a foreign language, now South Korea is also promoting the use of the Hangul script to write languages other than Korean – that is according to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, AlertNet, the Language Museum Blog, the Language Log and many others. [...]... Read more »
Mühlhäusler, Peter. (1996) Linguistic ecology: language change and linguistic imperialism in the Pacific region. Routledge. info:/
Pennycook, A., & Coutand-Marin, S. (2003) Teaching English as a Missionary Language. Discourse, 24(3), 337-353. DOI: 10.1080/0159630032000172524
- December 31, 2009
- 12:46 PM
- 671 views
1 in 86: the prevalence of autism among adults
by Michelle Dawson in The Autism Crisis
"Autism rate in children has doubled, say doctors" ... "Autism 'more common than thought'" ... "Autism in children '10 times higher' than first thought" ... "Autism at a record high" ... "autism is 25 times more common than what researchers thought"... This mess of headlines and claims was generated in response to one autism prevalence study, Baird et al. (2006), published in the Lancet. All 56,946 individuals comprising the targeted population cohort in this study are, as of today, the last day........ Read more »
BAIRD, G., SIMONOFF, E., PICKLES, A., CHANDLER, S., LOUCAS, T., MELDRUM, D., & CHARMAN, T. (2006) Prevalence of disorders of the autism spectrum in a population cohort of children in South Thames: the Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP). The Lancet, 368(9531), 210-215. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69041-7
- December 30, 2009
- 06:11 PM
- 801 views
Death and Taxes: It's Shaping Up to be a Busy Year
by Eric Widera in GeriPal
Death elasticity and the estate tax.... Read more »
Kopczuk, W., & Slemrod, J. (2003) Dying to Save Taxes: Evidence from Estate-Tax Returns on the Death Elasticity. Review of Economics and Statistics, 85(2), 256-265. DOI: 10.1162/003465303765299783
Gans, J., & Leigh, A. (2006) Did the Death of Australian Inheritance Taxes Affect Deaths?. Topics in Economic Analysis , 6(1). DOI: 10.2202/1538-0653.1654
- December 30, 2009
- 01:58 PM
- 1,021 views
Languages of the heart
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
While my Christmas post was of the gloomy kind, most blogs I follow had more heart-warming stories. Sociolingo Africa picked up a press release coming out of Orlando, Florida issued by who-I-don’t-know, about new translations of the Christmas story becoming available just in time for this year’s event. According to the press release, the Wycliffe [...]... Read more »
Errington, Joseph. (2008) Linguistics in a colonial world: a story of language, meaning, and power. Blackwell Publishing. info:/
- December 30, 2009
- 10:05 AM
- 965 views
Escaping the "poverty trap" of infectious disease
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
Even in the twenty-first century, infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, cholera, and AIDS remain widespread in much of the developing world, at tremendous cost to human life and economic productivity. Poorer nations lack the resources for more effective public health measures; but widespread infectious disease may slow or prevent the economic development that can provide those resources. A new paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society tries to sort out this chicken-and-egg problem, ........ Read more »
Bonds, M., Keenan, D., Rohani, P., & Sachs, J. (2009) Poverty trap formed by the ecology of infectious diseases. Proc. R. Soc. B. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1778
- December 30, 2009
- 08:00 AM
- 935 views
Computer skills linked to math talent
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
Businesses and the economy as a whole rely increasingly on computing, but many potential users are not entirely confident of the technology. A research study published in January suggests that an individual’s computer self-efficacy is influenced by their competence in mathematics. I asked the author Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems Franklin Morris of The [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkComputer skills linked to math talent
... Read more »
R. Franklin Morris, Jr., & Evelyn H. Thrasher. (2010) Implications for e-commerce: the influence of math and computer confidence on computer self-efficacy. International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 3(1), 15-37. info:/
- December 28, 2009
- 12:48 AM
- 833 views
Monkey Pay Per View
by Evil Monkey in Neurotopia
As humans, we know how important social interactions are. Aside from the importance of immediate family members, we also like to socialize with new people, unrelated people, and generally just people. There are several other species which are also known to be very social, and I'm not talking about bees. In mammals, the size of the frontal cortex, which is very important for higher informational processing, actually varies according to how high the group size of the species generally is. For ........ Read more »
Deaner, R., Khera, A., & Platt, M. (2005) Monkeys Pay Per View: Adaptive Valuation of Social Images by Rhesus Macaques. Current Biology, 15(6), 543-548. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2005.01.044
- December 27, 2009
- 03:24 PM
- 730 views
The Genetics of Living To 100
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Is there a gene for long life?Boston-based group Sebastiani et al say they've found not one but two, in RNA Editing Genes Associated with Extreme Old Age in Humans and with Lifespan in C. elegans.They took 4 groups of "oldest old" people: from New England, Italy, and Japan, and American Ashkenazi Jews. All were aged 90 or more, and many of them were 100, centenarians. As control groups, they used random healthy people who weren't especially old. The total sample size was an impressive 2105 old v........ Read more »
Sebastiani P, Montano M, Puca A, Solovieff N, Kojima T, Wang MC, Melista E, Meltzer M, Fischer SE, Andersen S.... (2009) RNA editing genes associated with extreme old age in humans and with lifespan in C. elegans. PloS one, 4(12). PMID: 20011587
- December 26, 2009
- 01:13 PM
- 990 views
Christmas Cheer from BMJ
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Fig 1 (Firth et al., 2009). X ray pictures can easily detect an ingested coin. Position of coin on lateral view (left), relative to anterior (right) or posterior picture affects size of image on film.Every year, BMJ has a special Christmas issue with spoof articles and silly studies. Today's feature examines the relationship between the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the value of coins swallowed by children (Firth et al., 2009):Main outcome measures Total value of coins ingested and number of ........ Read more »
Firth, P., Zheng, H., & Biller, J. (2009) Ingested foreign bodies and societal wealth: three year observational study of swallowed coins. BMJ, 339(dec04 1). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b5066
- December 25, 2009
- 03:56 AM
- 1,274 views
The burning children of globalization
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
I’ve been wondering what would be an appropriate Christmas post for the Language on the Move blog. Seeing that I’m deeply skeptical about all those claims about the wonderful advantages of bilingualism, a good news story à la “bilingualism helps to ward off dementia” was never going to be an option. That’s when the first [...]... Read more »
Abdelmajid Hannoum. (2009) The Harraga of Tangier. Encounters: an international journal for the study of culture and society, 231-246. info:/
- December 24, 2009
- 02:00 PM
- 1,001 views
Can modern day gadgets help combat prejudice?
by William Lu in The Quantum Lobe Chronicles
Prejudice...we've all experienced it at one point or another. Defined as a preconceived belief, opinion, or judgment toward a group or person because of race, social class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc., it also means a priori beliefs that include any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence. It's been the cause of countless wars and an infinite amount of unnecessary suffering. It must be put to an end once and for all! So how does today........ Read more »
Crisp, R., & Turner, R. (2009) Can imagined interactions produce positive perceptions?: Reducing prejudice through simulated social contact. American Psychologist, 64(4), 231-240. DOI: 10.1037/a0014718
Cunningham, W., Johnson, M., Raye, C., Chris Gatenby, J., Gore, J., & Banaji, M. (2004) Separable Neural Components in the Processing of Black and White Faces. Psychological Science, 15(12), 806-813. DOI: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00760.x
Greenwald, A. (2003) Targets of discrimination: Effects of race on responses to weapons holders. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39(4), 399-405. DOI: 10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00020-9
Harris, L., & Fiske, S. (2006) Social groups that elicit disgust are differentially processed in mPFC. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2(1), 45-51. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsl037
Olsson, A. (2005) The Role of Social Groups in the Persistence of Learned Fear. Science, 309(5735), 785-787. DOI: 10.1126/science.1113551
Steckenfinger SA, & Ghazanfar AA. (2009) Monkey visual behavior falls into the uncanny valley. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(43), 18362-6. PMID: 19822765
Wiekens, C., & Stapel, D. (2008) The Mirror and I: When private opinions are in conflict with public norms. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(4), 1160-1166. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.02.005
- December 23, 2009
- 06:10 PM
- 550 views
Good News for Armchair Neuropathologists
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Ever wanted to crack the mysteries of the brain? Dreamed of discovering the cause of mental illness?Well, now, you can - or, at any rate, you can try - and you can do it from the comfort of your own home, thanks to the new Stanley Neuropathology Consortium Integrative Database.Just register (it's free and instant) and you get access to a pool of data derived from the Stanley Neuropathology Consortium brain collection. The collection comprises 60 frozen brains - 15 each from people with schizoph........ Read more »
Kim, S., & Webster, M. (2009) The Stanley Neuropathology Consortium Integrative Database: a Novel, Web-Based Tool for Exploring Neuropathological Markers in Psychiatric Disorders and the Biological Processes Associated with Abnormalities of Those Markers. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(2), 473-482. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2009.151
- December 22, 2009
- 12:40 PM
- 509 views
Revisiting the Cause of the Black Death
by Michael Long in Phased
Mark Welford and Brian Bossak (Georgia Southern University) shed doubt on the long-held conclusion that the Black Death was caused by bubonic and pneumonic plague. This news feature was written on December 22, 2009.... Read more »
Welford, M. R., & Bossak, B. H. (2009) Validation of Inverse Seasonal Peak Mortality in Medieval Plagues, Including the Black Death, in Comparison to Modern Yersinia pestis-Variant Diseases. PLoS ONE, 4(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008401
- December 21, 2009
- 04:22 PM
- 549 views
Christian cancellation of the secular truce
People living in the UK will have noticed that Christians have been getting noisier in recent years. More clamour for more state-funded faith schools, more litigations, and more complaints against perceived anti-Christian bias.Evidence of a popular religious revival? Or the death throes of a once-powerful ideology? A team from Erasmus University in the Netherlands has some answers.It seems that when Christianity is popular, Christians are content with the idea of a firewall separating Church and........ Read more »
Achterberg, P., Houtman, D., Aupers, S., Koster, W., Mascini, P., & Waal, J. (2009) A Christian Cancellation of the Secularist Truce? Waning Christian Religiosity and Waxing Religious Deprivatization in the West. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48(4), 687-701. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01473.x
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
