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Issue 72
June 2008

Welcome to the 72nd edition of Flash, our bi-weekly alert for science, health and medical journalists. Flash is a courtesy service with access to ScienceDirect, Elsevier’s online platform, providing full text access to some 2,000 scientific, technical and medical journals.

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ARTICLES

1. COULD HONEY BE THE CURE FOR A NEWLY EMERGING TYPE OF MRSA

Honey’s medicinal and anti-microbial properties for treating wounds have been known for more than 4,500 years. From battle wounds to minor skin infections, many have relied on honey to start the healing process and ease the pain.

New research detailed in Elsevier’s latest Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice examines the potential of honey’s anti-microbial activity against community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) organisms. The study expands upon previous research where honey was examined in relation to HA-MRSA – skin infections often linked to hospital and healthcare stays. With CA-MRSA on the rise in the US, particularly among those participating in sport, and in young, healthy individuals in the community with no risk factors for acquisition of HA-MRSA, this new study is timely and of interest to healthcare practitioners involved in wound management.

Results revealed that quantitative counts of all CA-MRSA declined rapidly in all honey varieties tested, and culturable bacterial organisms were not detectable after 24 hours. With positive findings, healthcare practitioners, nurses and alternative therapists should see natural honey as a treatment that could be used for anti-microbial activity. Further studies are now required to demonstrate the mechanism and components of using honey in relation to anti-microbial activity and clinical application.

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2. MEASURING THE SCHOOL IMPACT ON CHILD OBESITY

The prevalence of obesity has skyrocketed over the past two decades, stretching the waistlines of people young and old around the world. More are taking notice of this pandemic, and some groups, like the UK Department of Health, have even taken the controversial step of recently introducing monitoring for obesity in Primary Schools.

With the introduction of widespread monitoring, it makes sense to look at the data and seek out clues as to the determinants of obesity, exploring the impact that schools may have on the problem. In Elsevier’s latest Social Science & Medicine, researchers assess the data collected over a two-year period of 2,367 pupils, aged five and nine, who attended 35 Leeds primary schools, to look at Body Mass Index scores and trends in obesity levels.

Even after controlling for factors like socio-demographic backgrounds, the researchers were able to show that there was considerable variation between schools in terms of pupils’ obesity. In essence, they produced a school league table for obesity, adjusted for school and socio-demographic confounders.

While this data would not necessarily benefit the schools at first glance, it could lead to exploration as to why the schools differ. Perhaps tips could be gained by studying the exceptional schools to see why some have managed to combat the obesity pandemic. Maybe some schools allow more physical education time, have bigger play areas, or participate in a healthy school lunch programme. Resources, in turn, could be targeted toward those schools in greatest need.

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3. TAX REFUNDS – DO PEOPLE SPEND IT OR SAVE IT

No matter the country or person, taxes often set off a heated debate as to what works and what doesn’t. In fact, multiple presidential administrations have cut taxes to stimulate spending, but arguments surface as to whether or not tax refunds stimulate consumer spending or investment.

A new study in Elsevier’s Journal of Economic Psychology assesses whether tax refunds administered in one lump-sum are more likely to be saved than tax refunds of the same yearly amount refunded in smaller monthly increments. Using college students as subjects, the researchers explored the types of savings and spending that resulted from both refund patterns.

Overall, the study revealed taxpayers would save most of a modest tax refund paid in a lump-sum. However, if that same amount was administered in monthly payments, people would be more likely to spend it. Additional data was collected about how the refunds would specifically be used. For instance, it was discovered that taxpayers are hesitant to pay off long-term debts such as a mortgage with a small monthly refund, but will pay a larger percentage with lump-sum refunds.

These findings support previous data that reveal tax cuts tend to do a better job stimulating economic growth than a tax rebate of the same magnitude.

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4. SIZING UP OUR CRIMINALS

Big. Small. Athletically fit. Overweight. Does body size have an influence on the type of crime a criminal commits? From the earliest days of criminological thought, researchers have sought biological causes of criminality. Among the debates is the argument of whether or not criminals are characterised by a certain body type or build.

In Elsevier’s The Social Science Journal, researchers delve deeper into this argument by using the Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess prisoners from the State of Arkansas. In the 1940s William Sheldon defined three body types believed to be associated with criminality: mesomorphs, who are athletically fit; endomorphs, who are overweight, and ectomorphs, characterised by fragility and thinness. Sheldon’s research implied that mesomorphic individuals were more prone to committing violent and aggressive acts. This new study, using BMI, provides a more refined measuring system to define the morphologies.

Analysing data gathered from a random sample of 5,000 male prisoners, the study evaluated the impact of BMI on offending patterns. Information on height, weight, the inmate’s crime and the seriousness of the offence was obtained.

Based on the findings, mesomorphic offenders were more likely to be in prison for a violent offence than their endomorphic counterparts; the direction was the same for ectomorphs, but this variable failed to gain statistical significance. More importantly, the authors state this research can be interpreted as support for those criminologists who would discard biological determinants of criminality, specifically in relation to physique.

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5. THE NEED FOR NURSING HOMES IN CHINA

China faces a dramatic transition from a young to aged society in the next 30 to 40 years. In 2000, there were more than 88 million aged 65 years and older, which represents seven percent of the population. This is projected to increase to 23 percent by 2050. The numbers are clear, but the question lies in whether or not China is ready to care for this ageing demographic?

Elsevier’s Journal of the American Medical Directors Association examines China’s health and long-term care solutions for older adults. While the country recognises there is a huge gap in what is needed and what exists, the findings largely suggest China is ill-prepared and needs dramatic policy change to prepare for the future.

Many factors contribute to the big gap. First, the decreasing size of the Chinese family has impacted the traditional family support foundation for older people. Second, the quality of care in most nursing homes is suboptimal. Most administrative and frontline workers receive little training in elder care and the staff turnover rate is high. Third, China has limited resources and when it comes to the government-owned or -sponsored nursing homes, the elders who qualify for these services must meet numerous eligibility criteria (no income source, no legal guardian, no ability to work, living alone, etc.).

The Chinese government has recognised the emerging trends and is starting to make changes. However, China is a big country and more needs to be done. Since the Chinese government realises its financial limitations, a future solution may be to encourage private and overseas investors to build and operate private nursing homes in China. Future potential for the private nursing home sector may approach three percent of the older population.

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6. NEW INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE BRAIN STORES VISUAL MEMORIES

From the various plays in an athletic match to the everyday movement of people, humans spend a considerable amount of time remembering the actions of other individuals. While we all acknowledge this visual information overload, it is still unclear how the visual system stores this data to be recalled at a later date.

A study in Elsevier’s new issue of Cognition uses a change detection method where observers were asked to remember agents and the actions they performed. By performing four slightly different experiments, the study gained new insights into how we store visual information about the actions and identities of other members of our social world. Most compelling was the discovery that people store information about who performed an action, and what action they performed, in separate memory systems. This was demonstrated by showing that people regularly make a surprising kind of memory error in which they remember actors and actions, but fail to remember which actor performed which action. Thus, they have trouble linking actors to their actions in memory. The study goes on to show how various types of cues in the visual input lead the brain to successfully link actors to their actions.

Overall, these new findings suggest that working memory consists of a specialised system for retaining information about other people’s actions. This study begins to reveal how the brain organises the continuous stream of information it receives as input into the agent and action units, which in turn serve as the building blocks for many socio-cognitive capacities.

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DISCLAIMER:
The summaries of published papers in this email are intended to be read as accessible signposts towards the original abstracts and articles, which of course have been peer-reviewed. However, the summaries in this email have not been peer reviewed, nor have they been approved by the authors of the articles or their editors.

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1. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2007.11.004
2. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.02.029
3. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2008.04.001
4. doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2008.03.009
5. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2008.01.008
6. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.02.012