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Science Says

New and interesting research in health and medicine is never-ending. Keep up and tune in daily to Science Says to hear the abstracts of groundbreaking research in different topics of health and medicine. Science Says a daily dose of this podcast will make you smarter.
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Episodes

SARS to novel coronavirus – old lessons and new lessons

The response to the novel coronavirus outbreak in China suggests that many of the lessons from the 2003 SARS epidemic have been implemented and the response improved as a consequence. Nevertheless some questions remain and not all lessons have been successful. The national and international response demonstrates the complex link between public health, science and politics when an outbreak threatens to impact on global economies and reputations. The unprecedented measures implemented in China are...

Mar 17, 2020

Where to look for the morals in markets?

There is a heated debate on whether markets erode social responsibility and moral behavior. However, it is a challenging task to identify and measure moral behavior in markets. Based on a theoretical model, we examine in an experiment the relation between trading volume, prices and moral behavior by setting up markets that either impose a negative externality on third parties or not. We find that moral behavior reveals itself in lower trading volume in markets with a negative externality, while ...

Feb 28, 2020

Enabling Delay of Gratification Behavior in Those Not So Predisposed: The Moderating Role of Social Support.

The presence of delay of gratification (DG) in childhood is correlated with success later in a person's life. Is there any way of helping adults with a low level of DG to obtain similar success? The present research examines how social support helps those low in DG nonetheless to act similarly to those high in DG. This research includes both correlational studies and experiments that manipulate social support as well as both field studies and a laboratory study. The results show that with high s...

Feb 07, 2020

Testing anxiety in undergraduate medical students and its correlation with different learning approaches.

Science Says is supported by Leksi (https://Leksi.co): the best education and study app to convert your notes and articles to audio so you can listen and learn anywhere, anytime. Objectives: Undergraduate medical students experience a considerable amount of stress and anxiety due to frequent exams. The goal of the present study was to examine the development of exam related anxiety and to test for a correlation between anxiety and learning approaches. Methods: A whole class of 212 medical studen...

Jan 28, 2020

Approaches to studying predict academic performance in undergraduate occupational therapy students: a cross-cultural study

Science Says is supported by Leksi (https://Leksi.co): the best education and study app to convert your notes and articles to audio so you can listen and learn anywhere, anytime. Learning outcomes may be a result of several factors including the learning environment, students’ predispositions, study efforts, cultural factors and approaches towards studying. This study examined the influence of demographic variables, education-related factors, and approaches to studying on occupational therapy st...

Jan 09, 2020

Physical Activity and Brain Health

Science Says is supported by Leksi (https://Leksi.co): the best education and study app to convert your notes and articles to audio so you can listen and learn anywhere, anytime. Physical activity (PA) has been central in the life of our species for most of its history, and thus shaped our physiology during evolution. However, only recently the health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, and of highly energetic diets, are becoming clear. It has been also acknowledged that lifestyle and diet ca...

Dec 19, 2019

Habit and Identity: Behavioral, Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Facets of an Integrated Self

Science Says is supported by Leksi (https://Leksi.co): the best education and study app to convert your notes and articles to audio so you can listen anywhere, anytime. Two studies investigated associations between habits and identity, in particular what people consider as their “true self.” Habit-identity associations were assessed by within-participant correlations between self-reported habit and associated true self ratings of 80 behaviors. The behaviors were instantiations of 10 basic values...

Dec 10, 2019

Self-Reflection and the Inner Voice: Activation of the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus During Perceptual and Conceptual Self-Referential Thinking

Inner speech involvement in self-reflection was examined by reviewing 130 studies assessing brain activation during self-referential processing in key self-domains: agency, self-recognition, emotions, personality traits, autobiographical memory, and miscellaneous (e.g., prospection, judgments). The left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) has been shown to be reliably recruited during inner speech production. The percentage of studies reporting LIFG activity for each self-dimension was calculated. Fif...

Dec 04, 2019

A neural link between generosity and happiness

Generous behaviour is known to increase happiness, which could thereby motivate generosity. In this study, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging and a public pledge for future generosity to investigate the brain mechanisms that link generous behaviour with increases in happiness. Participants promised to spend money over the next 4 weeks either on others (experimental group) or on themselves (control group). Here, we report that, compared to controls, participants in the experimental grou...

Nov 21, 2019

A mindfulness-based intervention to increase resilience to stress in university students (the Mindful Student Study): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial

Background: The rising number of young people going to university has led to concerns about an increasing demand for student mental health services. We aimed to assess whether provision of mindfulness courses to university students would improve their resilience to stress. Methods: We did this pragmatic randomised controlled trial at the University of Cambridge, UK. Students aged 18 years or older with no severe mental illness or crisis (self-assessed) were randomly assigned (1:1), via remote su...

Nov 12, 2019

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question: A randomized trial of Twitter effects in medical education

Introduction: Many medical education journals use Twitter to garner attention for their articles. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of tweeting on article page views and downloads. Methods: The authors conducted a randomized trial using Academic Medicine articles published in 2015. Beginning in February through May 2018, one article per day was randomly assigned to a Twitter (case) or control group. Daily, an individual tweet was generated for each article in the Twitter group th...

Oct 29, 2019

The impact of artificial intelligence in medicine on the future role of the physician

The practice of medicine is changing with the development of new Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods of machine learning. Coupled with rapid improvements in computer processing, these AI-based systems are already improving the accuracy and efficiency of diagnosis and treatment across various specializations. The increasing focus of AI in radiology has led to some experts suggesting that someday AI may even replace radiologists. These suggestions raise the question of whether AI-based systems wi...

Oct 17, 2019

The relationships between bilingual learning, willingness to study abroad and convergent creativity

Convergent creativity is a form of creative thinking that uses existing knowledge or traditional methods to analyze available information and generate an appropriate solution. The differences in the performance of participants in convergent creativity caused by bilingual learning is a popular research area in creativity. A final sample of 68 participants was asked to complete the remote associates test (RAT). The results indicate that a moderate positive correlation exists between bilingual lear...

Oct 16, 2019

Applications of Machine Learning Approaches in Emergency Medicine; a Review Article

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques in different medical fields, especially emergency medicine is rapidly growing. In this paper, studies conducted in the recent years on using artificial intelligence in emergency medicine have been collected and assessed. These studies belonged to three categories: prediction and detection of disease; prediction of need for admission, discharge and also mortality; and machine learning based triage systems. In each of these categories, ...

Oct 10, 2019

Can a Like Save the Planet? Comparing Antecedents of and Correlations Between Environmental Liking on Social Media, Money Donation, and Volunteering

Due to the societal dissemination of digital technology, people are increasingly experiencing environmental topics through digital media channels such as social networks. Several researchers therefore have proposed these channels as a possibility to strengthen sustainable development based on their cost-efficient nature. But while prior studies have investigated isolated factors for understanding environmental social media behavior, there is still scarce understanding of the relevant underlying ...

Oct 08, 2019

Social Influence in Adolescent Decision-Making: A Formal Framework

Adolescence is a period of life during which peers play a pivotal role in decision-making. The narrative of social influence during adolescence often revolves around risky and maladaptive decisions, like driving under the influence, and using illegal substances (Steinberg, 2005). However, research has also shown that social influence can lead to increased prosocial behaviors (Van Hoorn et al., 2017) and a reduction in risk-taking (Braams et al., 2019). While many studies support the notion that ...

Oct 03, 2019

Happy Children: A Modern Emotional Commitment

American parents greatly value children’s happiness, citing it well above other possible priorities. This commitment to happiness, shared with parents in other Western societies but not elsewhere, is an important feature of popular emotional culture. But the commitment is also the product of modern history, emerging clearly only in the 19th century. This article explains the contrast between more traditional and modern views, and explains the origins but also the evolution of the idea of a happy...

Oct 01, 2019

Keeping up with the times: how national public health and governmental organizations communicate about cannabis on Twitter

Background: Public health and governmental organizations are expected to provide guidance to the public on emerging health issues in accessible formats. It is, therefore, important to examine how such organizations are discussing cannabis online and the information that is being provided to the public about this increasingly legal and available substance. Methods: This paper presents a concise thematic analysis of both the volume and content of cannabis-related health information from selected (...

Sep 26, 2019

Mood States and Everyday Creativity: Employing an Experience Sampling Method and a Day Reconstruction Method

Investigating the mood-creativity relationship in everyday life is important for innovation promotion in organizational management. This study explores the relationship between mood states and everyday creativity using two different measurement methods. Both the experience sampling method (ESM) and the day reconstruction method (DRM) were simultaneously applied to conduct a 15-day follow-up study of the relationship between 10 typical positive and negative moods and creativity in daily situation...

Sep 24, 2019

Selling health and happiness how influencers communicate on Instagram about dieting and exercise: mixed methods research

Background: Eating disorders among adolescents are an ongoing public health concern. Sustainable health promotion programmes require a thorough understanding of the social context in which minors engage. Initial studies show that young people make extensive use of social networks in order to exchange experiences and gather information. During this process their (buying) behaviour is significantly affected by so-called influencers. Methods: The exploratory research studies non-campaign driven hea...

Sep 19, 2019

The effects of screen light filtering software on cognitive performance and sleep among night workers

Background: Previous studies have reported impaired performance, sleepiness and sleep deprivation among night workers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of color screen Light Filtering software on cognitive performance, alertness and sleep quality among night shift operators of a medical emergency operations center. Methods: This field trial interventional study was carried out among 30 nightshift operators of shiraz emergency control center. The baseline assessments were c...

Sep 17, 2019

The Verbal Interaction Social Threat Task: A New Paradigm Investigating the Effects of Social Rejection in Men and Women.

In recent years, digital communication and social media have taken an indispensable role in human society. Social interactions are no longer bound to real-life encounters, but more often happen from behind a screen. Mimicking an online communication platform, we developed a new, fMRI compatible, social threat paradigm to investigate sex differences in reactions to social rejection. During the Verbal Interaction Social Threat Task (VISTTA), participants initiate 30 short conversations by selectin...

Sep 12, 2019

Sepsis information-seeking behaviors via Wikipedia between 2015 and 2018: A mixed methods retrospective observational study

Raising public awareness of sepsis, a potentially life-threatening dysregulated host response to infection, to hasten its recognition has become a major focus of physicians, investigators, and both non-governmental and governmental agencies. While the internet is a common means by which to seek out healthcare information, little is understood about patterns and drivers of these behaviors. We sought to examine traffic to Wikipedia, a popular and publicly available online encyclopedia, to better u...

Sep 11, 2019

Dietetics Program Directors in the United States Support Teaching Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition and Half Connect Vegetarian and Vegan Diets to Environmental Impact

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are clinicians trained in the application of food, nutrition, and dietetics. Vegetarians and vegans have a lower risk of many nutrition-related chronic diseases that are epidemic while vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with reduced environmental impact. Despite this strong diet-disease and diet-environment connection, it is not known if dietetics students are taught the principles of vegetarian and vegan nutrition. The overarching goal of our stu...

Sep 05, 2019

Neurobiological links between stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety have intertwined behavioral and neural underpinnings. These commonalities are critical for understanding each state, as well as their mutual interactions. Grasping the mechanisms underlying this bidirectional relationship will have major clinical implications for managing a wide range of psychopathologies. After briefly defining key concepts for the study of stress and anxiety in pre-clinical models, we present circuit, as well as cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in ...

Sep 03, 2019

MoodJumper: An Exploration of Game Interface Preferences in Users With/Out Mood Disorder

Mental health conditions pose a major challenge to healthcare providers and society at large. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2030 mental illnesses will be the leading disease burden globally. Mental health services are struggling to meet the needs of users and arguably fail to reach large proportions of those in need. According to New Zealand Mental Health Foundation, one in five will experience a serious mood disorder, including depression, at some time in their life. Games for ...

Aug 27, 2019

The effect of hormone replacement therapy on cognitive function in postmenopausal women: An RCT

Background: During the reproductive age, the human brain becomes a target for gonadal steroid hormones. Estrogens influence neural function through effects on neurons and affects indirectly the oxidative stress, inflammation, the cerebral vascular and the immune system. Objective: To evaluate the effect of the traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on the cognitive function in postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 140 postmenopausal women, from No...

Aug 22, 2019

Personalized Health Systems—Past, Present, and Future of Research Development and Implementation in Real-Life Environment

Personal health systems (PHS) are designed to provide the individual with tailored care while enabling the healthcare system to deliver high-quality care to large populations and maintain a sustainable system. Solutions using electronic health records (EHRs) that include predictive models for the risk of disease onset and deterioration enable the care provider to better identify and treat patients with chronic disease and provide personalized prevention. These tools are well-accepted by doctors ...

Aug 20, 2019

The relationship between nursing home quality and costs: Evidence from the VA

Ensuring quality of care in nursing homes is a public health priority, yet how nursing home quality relates to cost is not well understood. This paper addresses this relationship for 132 VA community living centers (nursing homes), for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. We estimated cost models using the VA Decision Support System which tracks total direct costs and nursing direct costs for individual resident segments of care. We summed residents’ total costs and nursing costs to the community living ...

Aug 15, 2019

Science–graphic art partnerships to increase research impact

Graphics are becoming increasingly important for scientists to effectively communicate their findings to broad audiences, but most researchers lack expertise in visual media. We suggest collaboration between scientists and graphic designers as a way forward and discuss the results of a pilot project to test this type of collaboration. Khoury CK, Kisel Y, Kantar M, et al. Science-graphic art partnerships to increase research impact. Commun Biol. 2019;2:295. Published 2019 Aug 6. doi:10.1038/s4200...

Aug 13, 2019
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