news 2011

Londoners and Scots are less likely to support reductions to immigration than people in the Midlands and Wales, new research by Oxford University's Migration Observatory shows. In their recent public opinion survey undertaken with Ipsos MORI, the Observatory highlights regional findings which suggest that there may not be a direct link between the scale of immigration to an area and public support for cuts to immigration.

Thoughts about killing oneself and engaging in suicidal behavior may begin much younger than previously thought. While about one of nine youths attempt suicide by the time they graduate from high school, new findings reveal that a significant proportion make their first suicide attempt in elementary or middle school.

If you like tofu, tempeh, edamame or miso soup, you're a fan of soybeans. But the significance of this legume goes far beyond a few culinary treats - soybeans rank seventh among world crops for tonnage harvested. Now, a new study led by researchers at the University of Toronto Mississauga and the University of Oregon gets at the root of soybean domestication in Asia, and challenges many of the long-held beliefs about when and where humans first began to domesticate this plant — and specifically, increase its seed size.

One million Britons experienced workplace violence in the last two years, while millions more were subjected to intimidation, humiliation and rudeness, new research has shown. Surprisingly, managers and professionals in well-paid full-time jobs are among the groups most at risk. The study also shows that conventional employment policies are failing to deal with workplace ill-treatment.

Although the average Facebook user may gave some 130 "friends," in reality, Americans have, on average, slightly more than two confidantes, down from three 25 years ago, but the size of this social network has stabilized since 2004, finds a new Cornell study. Although this shrinking social network "makes us potentially more vulnerable," said Matthew Brashears, assistant professor of sociology, the good news is that "we're not as socially isolated as scholars had feared." Brashears' study is published online and in press in the journal Social Networks.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Preschoolersers are aware and understand threats when they see their mother harmed by violent conflicts at home, a new University of Michigan study finds. The study explored what factors influence children's comprehension and response when violence occurs. Researchers evaluated intimate partner violence?conflicts that can be physical or sexual'in the past year for 116 mother-child groups with known violence in the homes.

Around the world, the day dawns full of promise. But moods go downhill over the course of the day, rebounding again in the evening, according to a Cornell analysis of the public Twitter messages of 2.4 million people in 84 countries. Equanimity perks up again on weekends - but later in the morning, suggesting mass sleeping-in.

Around the world, the day dawns full of promise. But moods go downhill over the course of the day, rebounding again in the evening, according to a Cornell analysis of the public Twitter messages of 2.4 million people in 84 countries. Equanimity perks up again on weekends - but later in the morning, suggesting mass sleeping-in.

By presenting Israeli Jews and Israeli and West Bank Palestinians with evidence that groups of people are capable of change, Stanford researchers were able to increase the subjects' willingness to compromise on key political issues. Israelis and Palestinians have been locked in a bloody cycle of reciprocal retaliation for so long, it can be difficult to imagine the region without its tragic brand of perpetual motion.

A molecule which helps restrain the body's immune response is also capable of stimulating defences against virus infection by promoting the survival of immune cells known as Natural Killer (NK) cells, new University research has uncovered. Ian Humphreys, School of Medicine, and a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow believes that the findings will have important implications for the design of vaccines to combat viral pathogens.

Sept. Raising a child doesn't take a village, U-M research shows ANN ARBOR, Mich.—It doesn't take a village to raise a child after all, according to University of Michigan research. "In the African villages that I study in Mali, children fare as well in nuclear families as they do in extended families," said U-M researcher Beverly Strassmann, professor of anthropology and faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

The UK riots may have damaged properties and businesses, but the real damage hasn't even been properly considered yet, say University of Nottingham experts.

PA 237/11 Older people taking new generation antidepressants are at more risk of dying or suffering from a range of serious health conditions including stroke, falls, fractures and epilepsy, a study involving researchers at The University of Nottingham has found.

Suicide rates among people with mental illness in England and Wales have fallen over the last decade, latest figures show. The 2011 Annual Report published today (Tuesday, 19 July) by The University of Manchester's National Confidential Inquiry (NCI) into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness reveals: Patient suicides have fallen from a peak of 1,315 in 2004 to 1,196 in 2008.

AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work researchers have been chosen by the U.S. Department of Justice to participate in a study to determine why rape kits are not being tested and used as possible evidence in sexual assault cases. Untested sexual assault evidence kits are being discovered in police evidence rooms all across the country having broad ramifications for the police and crime laboratories, for the courts and for the victims, say the researchers.

Women refugees are not being processed fairly according to a University of Melbourne led study. The study suggests Australia can do better in how it processes women refugees applying for asylum. Researchers say gender-based persecution issues such as rape, trafficking, female genital mutilation, denial of education, domestic abuse and imprisonment need to be taken into account in the processing of women refugees.

Listen to podcast ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Young people who have sustained a head injury during their lifetime are more likely to engage in violent behavior, according to an eight-year study from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Further, the research found that young people who suffered a recent head injury (within a year of being questioned for the study) were even more likely to report violent behavior.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Many teen girls who push, slap or punch their dates know the situation could become more violent, but they think most consequences are unlikely, a new study shows. Researchers at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University used the theory of planned behavior, which predicts a person's intentions and actions.

Professor Stephen Castles , Research Chair in Sociology at the University of Sydney, has revealed that research on migration and diversity has experienced a significant drop, despite the expanding and diversifying migration to Australia since the 1990s. Professor Castles presented the information in a talk delivered at Rethinking Australian research on migration and diversity , a workshop funded by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia co-convened by Professor Graeme Hugo (Adelaide University) and Associate Professor Ellie Vasta (Macquarie University).

A new report by Oxford University researchers reveals ten key problems with the UK's evidence base on migrants and migration. The report is by the Migration Observatory, a project of the University's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS). The Migration Observatory was launched by Immigration Minister Damian Green, MP and Baroness Oona King of Bow last week.