science wire

Legislation allowing individuals to decide in advance to refuse life-saving treatment presents serious risks in cases of attempted suicide, a leading psychiatrist has warned.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A new University of Michigan study finds that college women with roommates who weigh more than average gain less weight during their freshman year than women with slimmer roommates: half a pound versus 2.5 pounds.

Nearly two thirds of the public do not want to see children locked up behind bars until at least the age of 12, rising to 14 for young people convicted of a non-violent crime, according to a new poll. The poll supports the findings of a major new research report by Out of Trouble profiling around 6,000 young people in custody.

'Friendship Paradox' May Help Predict Spread of Infectious Disease September 15, 2010 By Inga Kiderra The largest component, 714 people, of the social network studied by Fowler and Christakis, on Dec. Infected individuals are colored red, friends of infected individuals are colored yellow, and circle size is proportional to the number of friends infected.

University Park, Pa. Repeal of birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants would expand the nation's unauthorized population by at least 5 million over the next decade, according to a new report from the Migration Policy Institute.

Psychological violence during pregnancy by an intimate partner is strongly associated with postnatal depression, independently of physical or sexual violence, according to a paper by researchers in Bristol and Brazil, published today in The Lancet. This finding has important policy implications since most social policies focus on prevention and treatment of physical violence.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that Australia's prison system is in desperate need of a massive overhaul, according to Peter Norden AO from the University of Melbourne. A national research report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1351.0.55.031) showed a dramatic increase in the national prison population between 1994 and 2007 of 3.7% per year, and an increase in prisoners with prior imprisonment increasing at a rate of 3.2% per year.

The unusual instrument is a lithophone made up of 'ringing rocks' from the Cumbrian hills. It has been created to introduce children to geology and the landscape of the Lake District through music.

A new book published this month accuses Governments and NGOs of increasingly giving tacit approval to widespread human rights abuses in the name of wildlife conservation in Africa.

It comes as no surprise that many children suffer when a parent is behind bars. But as rates of incarceration grew over the past 30 years, researchers were slow to focus on the collateral damage to children.

Almost 40% of people admitted to hospital after taking an overdose received sub-standard care that may have contributed to their death, a new study has found. Researchers at The University of Manchester's Centre for Suicide Prevention looked at all those in England who died in hospital following an overdose over a 12-month period.

Interviewers prepare their PDA devices before heading out into the field. The researchers adapted smartphones to help record interview responses in the Central African Republic, the first time such technology was used to conduct surveys in the country.

Emergency care may be failing to spot patients who go on to die by suicide - many of whom use these services in the year leading up to their death, suggests a small University of Manchester study. Around 5,000 people kill themselves in England and Wales each year and previous research has indicated that the emergency department might be well-placed to pick up patients vulnerable to suicide.

A Soviet-born political analyst says that revelations of treachery and double-dealing in Afghanistan are an old story - and that the U.S.S.R.'s war in the region has lessons to teach us still.

A Professor of Anthropology at The University of Manchester has been elected a Fellow of the prestigious British Academy.

Catholic Relief Services of Baltimore faced a daunting challenge: getting advice from several thousand people at once.

Home | News | Calendar | Directory | Contact Columbia University Home | Administrative Resources | Field Educators News Index News Archive For Immediate Release July 12, 2010 HIV Intervention Program Boosts Safe Sex Habits Among High Risk Couples New York, NY - Heterosexual, African American couples of serodiscordant HIV status (one HIV positive and one negative) reported a significant increase in safer sex behaviors after taking part in an HIV/STD intervention study Project Eban, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

In a report published this week, researchers from the University of Leeds predict that ethnic minorities will make up one-fifth of the population by 2051 (compared to 8% in 2001), with the mixed ethnic population expected to treble in size.

"A Heart Connects Us: Immigrant Letters and the Experience of Migration" provides insight into letters written between 1850 and 1970 MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (07/12/2010) —The Immigration

Single mums have on average up to 27 hours a week less free time than a person in a dual income household without children according to new research from The Australian National University. The study, led by Professor Bob Goodin from the University's Research School of Social Sciences, measured how much time people strictly need to spend on various activities of daily life, distinguishing between acts of choice and necessity.

Cambridge, Mass. July 9, 2010 - Mary Lewis, a historian of modern France whose work has shed new light on French immigration and imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, has been named professor of history at Harvard University.

A researcher at the University of Manchester is to investigate the links between the global problem of forced labour and the contemporary UK economy, in a three-year project starting in October. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, Professor Nicola Phillips will examine the 'big picture' of human trafficking for labour exploitation, focussing on the situation in the UK economy and the global networks of production and trade in which it is embedded.

McGill to host second Echenberg Family Conference: The Global Conference on Human Rights and Diverse Societies The McGill University Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism is delighted to announ

An intensive professional training course has been launched for some of the young British Muslims most likely to become the faith's next generation of spiritual leaders.

ICSR Peace and Security Summit 02 Jul 2010, PR 149/10 The ICSR Peace and Security Summit in New York, widely regarded the most important event of its kind in 2010, brought together 400 leading policy

Government’s vision for criminal justice reform 30 Jun 2010, PR 148/10 The Government's vision for criminal justice reform has been unveiled today by the Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, in his first major speech.

'Combating radicalisation in prisons' report 28 Jun 2010, PR 146/10 The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), King's College London, has published a poli

Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and lower-educated women and women in their 20s account for more than half of all abortions.

Entrepreneurship is taking off in China and with little input from the government, reports a new Cornell study.

BERKELEY — Philip Selznick, professor emeritus of law and sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading expert in the sociology of both law and organizations, died Saturday, June 12.

New web forum shames states’ crimes 15 Jun 2010, PR 135/10 The International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) was launched at King's College London to create a single web forum at www.StateCrime&

A Cornell sociologist is launching a new study to develop methods of identifying covert social networks, including terrorists who are preparing attacks, human traffickers and drug smugglers, among other groups. Matthew Brashears, assistant professor of sociology, has received a three-year, $797,000 grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for the study that aims to help the U.S. government thwart terrorist attacks.

Visiting scholar Abebe Gellaw says the United States has traded silence for security and military cooperation by ignoring Ethiopia's "appalling human rights record.

The UK's largest ever research project on poverty and social exclusion has been launched with the ultimate ambition of helping to find solutions to tackle the problems of poverty and deprivation.