Studies and Analyses

In the years at the dangerous border between adolescence and adulthood, about three men die for every woman, according to a new University of Michigan study of the ratio of male to female mortality rates in 20 nations, including the United States.

The study, selected as a “hot topic talk” to be presented May 28 at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, also appears in the current issue of the journal Evolutionary Psychology.

“Being male is now the single largest

In laboratory experiments, women — but not men — who had been exposed to frustrating noise stress ate more cheese, chocolate, potato chips and popcorn after the stressful session was over.

Dr. Laura C. Klein, assistant professor of biobehavioral health who led the study, says, “Although other researchers have shown that both men and women eat more during stressful periods, this is the first study to show that eating is affected in some individuals after a stress is stopped.

“In

Moderate exercise in conjunction with common dietary supplements significantly reduce the risk of atherosclerosis because, combined, they boost the body’s production of nitric oxide, which protects against a variety of cardio-vascular disorders, a new UCLA study led by 1998 Nobel Laureate in medicine Louis J. Ignarro shows.

The study, “Long Term Beneficial Effects of Physical Training and Metabolic Treatment on Atherosclerosis in Hypercholesterolemic Mice,” will be published the week o

Using the zebrafish, a model organism widely used in genetic studies, researchers have found that when it comes to social interactions with other fish, individual zebrafish learn to prefer one fish color pattern over another according to their early experience with these patterns. The work extends the utility of zebrafish to studies of behavior and evolution and is reported by University of Texas researchers Raymond E. Engeszer, Dr. David M. Parichy, and Dr. Michael J. Ryan.

Social behavior

Preliminary results of a European Commission-funded study, the SIREN project, presented today at a workshop in Brussels, show that growing insecurity and inequality in Europeans’ work life is contributing to the electoral success of right-wing populist and extremist parties. The study covers eight European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland) and is based on more than 300 interviews and a telephone survey of 5,800 employed persons.

According

The idea that dying people hang on to life in order to celebrate one more birthday or holiday lacks any scientific basis, say scientists who reviewed two decades’ worth of research.

“The studies published to date have not convincingly established that death can be postponed through force of will or hastened by the loss of the desire to live,” say Judith A. Skala, R.N., Ph.D., and Kenneth E. Freedland, Ph.D., of Washington University School of Medicine.

Available research is c