Studies and Analyses

Findings challenge age-based treatment guidelines

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 48 eye centers across North America report that many children between the ages of 7 and 17 with amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” may benefit from treatments usually prescribed for younger children.
“Previously, many eye specialists thought treating amblyopia in older children would be ineffective, but we found that many teenagers responded to treatment,” says Michael Repka, M

Desert blooms–plants that flourish in arid areas after rains–might reduce water accumulation in soil should the climate shift toward wetter conditions, according to a study conducted by a team led by University of Texas at Austin hydrogeologists.

By the same token, such vegetation keeps water from reaching the water table deep below the surface in such areas. “Monitoring soil-water response to extreme El Niños in Nevada indicates that vegetation response will dampen the impact

Entrepreneurs who are quick to think along new lines, invest in new technology, and who dare to take risks are more successful than more traditional small-scale business people. This was found in a study carried out among 14 manufacturing companies mainly in the Mälaren Valley in central Sweden.

The focus of the study is on the so-called strategic resources of the companies and the purpose is to develop a model that identifies competitive advantages in small and medium-sized m

A Ugandan drug trial’s findings that the AIDS medication nevirapine is effective and safe in preventing HIV transmission from mother to unborn child during birth were well-supported, according to a new, independent analysis by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The IOM’s analysis of the design and methodology of the 1997 drug study in Uganda, called HIVNET 012, determined that policy-makers and other scientists can rely on the resulting data and conclusions, despite some flaws

An anti-poverty program in Milwaukee, Wisc., substantially increased marriage rates among single mothers who have never been married, according to research by New York University psychology professor Hiro Yoshikawa and Anna Gassman-Pines, a doctoral candidate in psychology. The findings, the result of an unprecedented five-year study of Milwaukee’s “New Hope Project,” will be presented on Sat., April 9, at the Society for Research in Child Development conference in Atlanta, Ga.

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A baby’s understanding of language may begin with its own name, which a baby uses to break sentences into smaller parts so it can learn other words, according to new research by Texas A&M University psychologist Heather Bortfeld, who studies language development in infants and children.

Bortfeld’s research, which appears in the upcoming April issue of “Psychological Science,” shows that babies use familiar words such as their names as a sort of “anchor” into the speech s