MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'conflict'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:55:57 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158889&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F008255.html In an approximate 5 year cycle the warming of the surface water in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean during the El Niño-Southern Oscillation causes changes in weather including shifts in rainfall and temperatures. For 90 affected tropical countries these climate changes cause societal stress that up the risk of civil war. In the first study of its kind, researchers have linked a natural global climate cycle to periodic increases in warfare. The arrival of El Niño, which every three to seven years boosts temperatures and cuts rainfall, doubles the risk of civil wars across 90 affected tropical countries, and may help account for a fifth of worldwide conflicts during the past half-century, say the authors. The paper, written by an... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158889 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5158889 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158872&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fquis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes-redux.html Revised HHS Rules for Conflict of Interest Fall Short This morning NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins announced revisions to the existing 1995 regulations on objectivity in research that is funded by the Public Health Service. The focus is on significant financial interests (SFI) and on financial conflicts of interest (FCOI). The regulations illustrate the 3-way dance involving academic institutions (the grantees), NIH (the grantor) and academic scientists (the investigators). Thanks to Senator Grassley (R-Iowa) and his investigator Paul Thacker, headlined revelations in recent years about unacceptable management of FCOI at places like Stanford (Alan Schatzberg), Emory (Charles Nemeroff) and Harvard (Joseph Biederman) forced these revisions of the NIH regulations. The general initial react... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158872 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:10:00 +0100 5158872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5152892&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F08%2F23%2Fgalcayo-somalia-2%2F Galcayo South Hospital compound, Somalia, August 2011 Hibo Osman (20) with daughter Asho (8 months) from Galcayo. She has 5 children and was married off at an early age. Her daughter is now suffering from diarrhoea and is malnourished. She is sitting outside the tents of the therapeutic feeding centre. When Hibo was pregnant from her last child her husband was shot in a firefight. Hibo is supporting herself by selling second hand cloths on the market in Galcayo. She buys them wholesale on credit, and sells them to customers who pay her in weekly rates. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5152892 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:48:39 +0100 5152892 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159221&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F23%2Ftaxi-to-the-darkside%2F * * * ] * * * (BBC Broadcast, 2011) From jigsawproductions: This documentary murder mystery examines the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base from injuries inflicted by U.S. soldiers. In an unflinching look at the Bush administration’s policy on torture, the filmmaker behind Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room takes us from a village in Afghanistan to Guantanamo and straight to the White House. In English and Pashtu. Related Situationist posts: “The Situation of Bullying,” “Lessons Learned from the Abu Ghraib Horrors,”  “Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Tenet: ‘Guilty‘,” Divided Loyalties Symposium “Lessons Learned from the Abu Ghraib Horrors,”  “The Justice Department, Milgram, & Torture,” “The Bush Frame: Us vs. Them; Good vs. Evil;... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159221 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:01:53 +0100 5159221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159223&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F20%2Fbreastfeeding-prejudice%2F From Bozeman Daily Chronicle: A study conducted at Montana State University finds that even though breastfeeding is healthy, cheap and beneficial to mother and child, there is a strong bias against nursing mothers among both men and women. Jessi L. Smith, psychology professor at MSU, found that participants in three studies thought nursing mothers were not as mentally competent as other groups of women and said they’d be less likely to hire breastfeeding mothers for a job. The results of Smith’s study were published this summer in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Smith and her co-authors questioned MSU students in three double-blind studies about how they perceived breastfeeding moms’ competence and hire-ability compared to non-breastfeeding people. In all ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159223 Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:01:21 +0100 5159223 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139688&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDdqHQ1G_3zk%2F By Ted Galen CarpenterAfter weeks of very little movement either militarily or diplomatically in Libya, there are apparent developments on both fronts in recent days. Rebel forces, aided by NATO’s air support, finally appear to be advancing into western Libya and cutting off supply lines to Tripoli, the long-time stronghold of support for Muammar Qaddafi. And reports are swirling about secret negotiations that might provide a peaceful exit from the country for the aging dictator. Those developments underscore that U.S. and NATO officials urgently need to consider what strategy they intend to pursue if Qaddafi’s more than four-decade hold on power finally comes to an end.  That is more crucial for the leaders of the European members of the alliance, since Libya is located on Europe’s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139688 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:48:28 +0100 5139688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139895&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F16%2Fthe-cause-of-rioting-thats-easy-rioters%2F British Prime Minister David Cameron attributed the recent riots in his to “the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations.”   The message may seem vaguely situationist at first blush, as Cameron emphasizes the problem of a “broken society.” But what he really seems to care about are the bad “choices” made by selfish, irresponsible individuals. Cameron’s comments resemble remarks he’s made in the past.  In 2008, according to one account, he declared that “people who are fat, poor or addicted to drugs could only have themselves to blame.” It’s a one-size-fits-all ideology:  If you have problems, look in the mirror! To be fair, Cameron does acknowledge one situational... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139895 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:42:14 +0100 5139895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130825&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F16%2Fbreastfeeding-prejudice%2F From Bozeman Daily Chronicle: A study conducted at Montana State University finds that even though breastfeeding is healthy, cheap and beneficial to mother and child, there is a strong bias against nursing mothers among both men and women. Jessi L. Smith, psychology professor at MSU, found that participants in three studies thought nursing mothers were not as mentally competent as other groups of women and said they’d be less likely to hire breastfeeding mothers for a job. The results of Smith’s study were published this summer in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Smith and her co-authors questioned MSU students in three double-blind studies about how they perceived breastfeeding moms’ competence and hire-ability compared to non-breastfeeding people. In all ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130825 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:01:21 +0100 5130825 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062293&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F25%2Fchange-in-relationships-what-to-do-when-your-partner-changes%2F Your once sort of neat partner becomes a sloppy mess. Or they start spending more time on the golf course. Or worse, when you first met they wanted to have children, but now say they’re not interested. What do you do when your partner changes in small or big ways? Here, Terri Orbuch, Ph.D, clinical psychologist and author of 5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great, offers her insight on change in relationships. Myths about Change It’s a myth that people or relationships don’t change, Orbuch said. In fact, it’s inevitable. Relationships go through different developmental stages and situations, such as job loss, health problems, financial issues and family conflict. So it’s natural for changes to occur. Another myth, according to Orbuch, is that change is bad. So m... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062293 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:48:21 +0100 5062293 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5057770&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F23%2Fheat-of-the-moment%2F From Wired Science: The link between violence and hot weather is so intuitive that it’s embedded in our language: Hotheads lose tempers that flare, anger simmers and comes to a boil, and eventually we cool down. So what does science have to say? Do tempers truly soar with temperature? The answer, appropriately enough for these triple-digit days, is hazy and hotly contested. To be sure, extensive literature exists on hot weather and violence, stretching from poorly controlled regional studies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — oh, those hot-blooded southerners! — to more sophisticated modern analyses. This doesn’t just apply to the United States, but countries like England and Wales and New Zealand. But whether weather is cause or coincidence is difficult to determine. Perh... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5057770 Sat, 23 Jul 2011 04:01:46 +0100 5057770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008304&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F08%2Fhow-to-calm-down-after-a-fight%2F You’re on the couch and he’s in the bed, but neither of you is sleeping. After the heated argument over your summer vacation destination, he stomped angrily upstairs and you sit sobbing on the couch. He wants to go to camping with tents and backpacks and you want to stay at a resort by the ocean. Arguments are part of every relationship, but how we respond to them is crucial. Our reaction to conflict or any stressful event is based on our life experiences and genetics. We all have those friends who are so laid back that nothing affects them and we also have friends who become frazzled over the smallest situations. But to successfully manage conflict, we need to manage our stress first. If you cannot quickly calm yourself down, you will not be able to hear what your partner is real... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008304 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:54:48 +0100 5008304 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008324&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F07%2Fthe-situation-of-heroism%2F From NPR’s Morning Edition: In 1971, at Stanford University, a young psychology professor created a simulated prison. Some of the young men playing the guards became sadistic, even violent, and the experiment had to be stopped. The results of the Stanford Prison Experiment showed that people tend to conform — even when that means otherwise good people doing terrible things. Since then, the experiment has been used to help explain everything from Nazi Germany to Abu Ghraib. Now, in a new project, [Situationist Contributor] Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist who created the prison experiment, is trying to show that people can learn to bring out the best in themselves rather than the worst. An Unwanted Legacy Four decades after he created the Stanford Prison Experiment, Zimbardo says h... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008324 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:01:39 +0100 5008324 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4990114&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F06%2F30%2Fabubakar%2F Shousha Camp, Tunisia – June 2011 Abubakar, 51, Eritrea. The last few months were very bad. I arrived in the Shousha camp in April. The living conditions here are extremely difficult. We are suffering. I am a writer. I write poems, short stories and novels and I plan to write about life here in the camp. Some 3,000 Sub-Saharan Africans are stranded in camps at the Tunisian border with Libya. The majority remain in a deadlock situation as they cannot be repatriated due to the situation in their country of origin and face an uncertain future. Most have fled violence or repression in their own country in search for a better life. Many experienced detention in Libya and they are now stranded in Shousha, with no future in sight. This situation has repercussions on their mental health sta... MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4990114 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:44:31 +0100 4990114 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4973470&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F06%2F27%2Fjuong-pajok%2F village, South Sudan – June 18, 2011 Thousands of IPD’s (Internally Displaced People) who fled fighting in the contested border area of Abyei have sought refuge close to Juong Pajok village, Warrap State, South Sudan. Heavy clashes and bombing, in and around Abyei, between the northern SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) and southern SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) erupted in mid May 2011, causing a massive exodus of an estimated 90,000 people towards the south. This group of displaced people first arrived on June 2, 2011, without access to food, clean water, shelter or healthcare. They tried to build basic shelters to shield themselves from the harsh sun with twigs and clothing. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4973470 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:44:59 +0100 4973470 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4950290&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F06%2F20%2Ftunisia-2%2F Shousha camp, May 2011 A recently arrived Oromo clan (Ethiopian ethnic group) are having a meeting. The war in Libya has forced more than 600 000 civilians – foreign workers, migrants and Libyans – to flee the country, mainly to Tunisia in the west and Egypt in the east, but also across the desert to Niger, Chad and beyond or across the Mediterranean to Lampedusa. Assistance to Libyan refugees in southern Tunisia is mainly provided by local communities out of solidarity, while a minority is assisted by the international community. Tataouine governorate alone is hosting around 60’000 Libyan refugees. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4950290 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:03:00 +0100 4950290 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4943271&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F06%2F17%2Fliberia-5%2F Soglay, Liberia – May 16, 2011 A baby sleeps under an improvised malaria net. Following the post-election violence and subsequent tension in Ivory Coast, more than a hundred thousand people fled to Liberia. The vast majority chose to stay with Liberian families and communities, particularly in Grand Gedeh and Nimba Counties. This photo was taken in Soglay, in Nimba County, where MSF runs a mobile clinic to reach the dispersed refugee population. Malaria is a key concern; numbers are rapidly rising due to the rainy season – with more than one third of consultations for malaria, including severe malaria leading to anaemia. MSF runs mobile clinics to more than 20 locations along the eastern border counties of Liberia to assist the refugees.. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4943271 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:50:20 +0100 4943271 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4899858&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F06%2F03%2Ftunisia%2F Shousha camp, Tunisia – May 2011 Hundreds of thousands of refugees have passed through Shousha camp since the start of the Libyan conflict, but some 4,000 people – mainly sub-Saharan Africans – cannot be repatriated due to the situation in their country of origin and face an uncertain future. Since early March, MSF has been running a mental health programme for people who have fled the conflict in Libya, giving over 9,000 mental health consultations. Many people have had traumatic experiences, either witnessing or directly experiencing violence in the course of their escape from Libya. In addition, thousands of sub-Saharan African refugees are survivors of persecution and ill-treatment that took place in Libya prior to the conflict. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4899858 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:49:03 +0100 4899858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893578&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F02%2Fgroup-influence%2F From the instructional video series Psychology: The Human Experience: Influence explains individuality, group behavior, and deindividuation. Related Situationist posts: The Power of the Situation “Video on the Original Milgram Experiment,” Gender Conformity “Solomon Asch’s Classic Group-Influence Experiment,” “The Situational Effect of Groups,” Milgram-Inspired Movie “The Situation of Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiments,” “Milgram Replicated on French TV – ‘The Game of Death’,” “A Shocking Situation,” “Zimbardo on Milgram and Obedience – Part I,” “The Case for Obedience,” “Replicating Milgram’s Obedience Experiment – Yet Again,” “Jonestown (The Situation of Evil) Revisited,” “Milgram Remake,” “The Situation... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893578 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:44:16 +0100 4893578 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4882969&cid=t_123276_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2FIkvedTW5RBY%2F Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Roger Hendrix, Rachel Katzenellenbogen, and Harmit Malik Vincent and guests Rachel Katzenellenbogen, Roger Hendrix, and Harmit Malik recorded TWiV #135 live at the 2011 ASM General Meeting in New Orleans, where they discussed transformation and oncogenesis by human papillomaviruses, the amazing collection of bacteriophages on the planet, and the evolution of genetic conflict between virus and host. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #135 (63 MB .mp3, 97 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode: Papillomavirus E6 proteins (Virology) Diversity of mycobacteriophages (PLoS One) Adaptive evol... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4882969 Sun, 29 May 2011 18:57:32 +0100 4882969 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813379&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F11%2Fholder-on-the-situation-of-violence%2F In 2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the launch of the “Defending Childhood” initiative to help prevent children’s and young people’s exposure to violence, mitigate its effects and put an end to cycles of violence that undermine the public’s health. During this webcast, he described his vision for this initiative and its progress so far. Related Situationist posts: 25 Mil­lion Years of Us vs. Them “Michael McCullough on the Situation of Revenge and Forgiveness,” The Power of Suggestion The Situation of Psychopaths The Situation of Hate Crimes Obesity and Bullying The Cruelty of Children Examining the Bullying Situation The Situation of Bullying The Situation of Gang Rape The Situation of Hazing, Torture, Gender, and Tears “New Study ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813379 Wed, 11 May 2011 04:01:51 +0100 4813379 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4803250&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F08%2Fmy-lai-massacre%2F From Wikipedia: My Lai was the mass murder of 347–504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, conducted by a unit of the United States Army. All of the victims were civilians and most were women, children (including babies), and elderly people. Many of the victims were raped, beaten, tortured, and some of the bodies were found mutilated. The massacre took place in the hamlets of Mỹ Lai and My Khe of Sơn Mỹ village during the Vietnam War. While 26 US soldiers were initially charged with criminal offenses for their actions at My Lai, only William Calley was convicted of killing 22 villagers. Originally given a life sentence, he served three and a half years under house arrest. When the incident became public knowledge in 1969, it prompted widespread outrage around the wor... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4803250 Sun, 08 May 2011 22:51:10 +0100 4803250 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775406&cid=t_123276_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2Fmaterial-world-part2-220307.mp3 One of my first posts about nonsense taught in universities was about the University of Westminster (April 2008): Westminster University BSc: “amethysts emit high yin energy”. since then, there have been several more revelations. Jump to follow-up Professor Petts The vice-cnancellor of Westminster, Professor Geoffrey Petts, with whom the buck stops, did have an internal review but its report was all hot air and no action resulted (see A letter to the Times, and Progress at Westminster). That earned Professor Petts an appearence in Private Eye Crystal balls. Professor Petts in Private Eye (and it earned me an invitation to a Private Eye lunch, along with Francis Wheen, Charlie Booker, Ken Livingstone . . ). It also earned Petts an appearence in the Guardian (The opposite of... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775406 Tue, 03 May 2011 08:10:00 +0100 4775406 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775440&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F03%2Fshared-human-experiences%2F Matt Motyl and his co-authors recently posted their excellent article, titled “Subtle Priming of Shared Human Experiences Eliminates Threat-Induced Negativity Toward Arabs, Immigrants, and Peace-Making” on SSRN (forthcoming  (April 20, 2011). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. * * * Many studies demonstrate that mortality salience can increase negativity toward out-groups but few have examined variables that mitigate this effect. The present research examined whether subtly priming people to think of human experiences shared by people from diverse cultures increases perceived similarity of members of different groups, which then reduces MS-induced negativity toward out-groups. In Study 1, exposure to pictures of people from diverse cultures engaged in common human act... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775440 Tue, 03 May 2011 04:01:18 +0100 4775440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4774145&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F05%2F02%2Fivory-coast%2F Abidjan, Ivory Coast – April 18th, 2011 A surgical team performs a c-section during a power cut in Abobo Sud Hospital in Abidjan. A week after the end of the military standoff in Abidjan, very few hospitals are open, and Abobo Sud has been handling thirty deliveries daily. MSF has been supporting Abobo Sud Hospital since the end of February. At the peak of post-election violence, MSF was treating 25-30 conflict-related wounded every day from mid-March to 11th April. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4774145 Mon, 02 May 2011 11:11:22 +0100 4774145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753768&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F26%2Frichard-hackman-on-what-makes-for-a-great-team%2F Harvard University professor Richard Hackman spoke in March at Harvard Law School.Professor Hackman has studied the secrets of effective teams ranging from airplane cockpit crews to musical ensembles. In his talk, sponsored by the Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences, Professor Hackman summarized the conditions that increase the likelihood of creating teamwork “magic.” For a brief introduction to Professor Hackman’s recent research on teamwork, check out this Harvard Business Review article on “sand dune teams.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753768 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:28:46 +0100 4753768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4742467&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F22%2F9-tips-to-quit-nagging%2F From what I hear from other people, it’s clear that I’m not the only person who struggles with nagging. It turns out that being a nag is just as unpleasant as being nagged — so finding strategies to stop nagging brings a real happiness boost to a relationship. But even though no one enjoys an atmosphere of nagging, in marriage or any partnership, chores are a huge source of conflict. How do you get your sweetheart to hold up his or her end, without nagging? One of my best friends from college has a very radical solution: she and her husband don’t assign. That’s right. They never say, “Get me a diaper,” “The trash needs to go out,” etc. This only works because neither one of them is a slacker, but still — what a tactic! And they have three children! That&#821... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4742467 Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:30:02 +0100 4742467 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4740404&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F04%2F21%2Flibya%2F Misrata, Libya – April 2011 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) evacuated 99 people, including 64 war-wounded and 35 accompanying persons, by boat from 15 to 16 April from Misrata to Zarzis, Tunisia. This operation took place two weeks after a first boat evacuation of 71 injured people. “For weeks now, health structures have been struggling to cope with the influx of patients. They have been lacking medical equipment and personnel to treat the wounded and the sick suffering from chronic diseases,” said Dr. Morten Rostrup, an MSF doctor who was on the boat. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4740404 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:05:27 +0100 4740404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4704722&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F13%2Fmemory-biases-as-source-of-prejudice%2F From Miller-McCune: A recent poll finding nearly half of Mississippi Republicans disapprove of interracial marriage is a disturbing reminder of the continuing prejudice faced by minority groups in 21st-century America. Why is such bias seemingly immune to eradication, and why does it seem to be more prevalentamong social conservatives? A fascinating new study from Italy suggests at least part of the answer can be traced to the way we process information and form political attitudes. Psychologists Luigi Castelli and Luciana Carraro of the University of Padua present evidence that our perception of minority groups is often distorted due to inaccurate recall of information. This phenomenon, they add, is more pronounced among social conservatives. Presented with a series of facts abou... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4704722 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:01:12 +0100 4704722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676731&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fwho-you-gonna-believe.html WHO YOU GONNA BELIEVE? Ghostwriting Charges and Stonewalling at the American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association came under a searchlight this past December over allegations of ghostwriting. The story originated with a public letter from Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to the Director of NIH, and it was picked up by Duff Wilson writing in the New York Times. The book was Recognition and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for Primary Care. The named authors were Charles Nemeroff, now chairman of psychiatry at the University of Miami, and Alan Schatzberg, formerly chairman of psychiatry at Stanford University. Both are well known for ethical controversy – see here and here. Soon, these allegations were being dissected in the bl... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676731 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 04:44:00 +0100 4676731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4639766&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F03%2F28%2Fliberia-2%2F Froley village, Nimba County – March 2011 Martine, 72 years old, arrived in Frolay with her daughter one month ago. As she is too old to walk fast and for long, she spent three days on the road to reach border crossing point of Butuo. Her daughter who was with her only kid went faster and came back to look after her mother. When people from close villages crossed their home village of Souapleu on their way to the border, Martine and her daughter decided to follow them. Here in Liberia, they stay in the house of a Liberian relative. As the situation continues to deteriorate in Ivory Coast, tens of thousands Ivorian have fled their country and sought refuge in Liberia. The vast majority are staying with host families, scattered in more than 70 villages throughout the County. This situ... MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4639766 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:18:28 +0100 4639766 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615202&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F21%2F25-mil%25c2%25adlion-years-of-us-vs-them%2F From World News: Like peo­ple, some of our mon­key cousins tend to take an “us ver­sus them” view of the world, a study has found. This sug­gests that the ten­den­cy for hu­man groups to clash may stem from a dis­tant ev­o­lu­tion­ary past, sci­en­tists say. Yale Un­ivers­ity re­search­ers led by psy­chol­o­gist Lau­rie San­tos found in a se­ries of ex­pe­ri­ments that mon­keys treat mon­keys from out­side their groups with the same sus­pi­cion and dis­like as their hu­man cousins tend to treat out­siders. The find­ings are re­ported in the March is­sue of the Jour­nal of Per­son­al­ity and So­cial Psy­chol­o­gy. “One of the more trou­bling as­pects of hu­man na­ture is that we eval­u­ate peo­ple dif­fer­ently de­pend­ing on wh... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615202 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:01:44 +0100 4615202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610887&cid=t_123276_117_f&fid=37824&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doctorkalitenko.com%2Fblog%2Finept-trials-tainted-studies-living-disease-waiting-cure%2F According to statistics, 1500 people die every day in the United States from cancer. Shocking statistic? Sure. But how long have these people lived with the disease, how long did they know about it? What kind of treatment did they receive? What kind of treatment could they have received if it was not held up in one study after another? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted perhaps the most amazing point (1) How long will someone have to wait for a drug to be approved? How many treatments are there that are being held up by inefficient trials while you or a loved one are dying of cancer. Here’s where a holistic doctor like myself just doesn’t understand. Why should we trust clinical studies? Well, there are years and years of various testing done before a product is ap... Doctor Kalitenko antiaging blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610887 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:38:31 +0100 4610887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600598&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F16%2Fkennedy-and-pronin-on-the-spiral-of-conflict%2F A group of  Harvard Law students are blogging over at the Law & Mind Blog.  Here is one of their posts about a chapter by Situationist Contributor Emily Pronin and Kathleen Kennedy (forthcoming in from Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson’s  book, “Ideology, Psychology, and Law”).  The post is authored by HLS student Michael Lieberman. * * * In their chapter, Bias Perception and the Spiral of Conflict, Kathleen Kennedy and Emily Pronin examine what they see as a major cause of breakdowns in negotiation, both small- and large-scale: a tendency of each side to view the other side’s position as biased and preference-driven (rather than based on objective facts). Kennedy and Pronin explain that we tend to see signs of bias all around us – some even posit t... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600598 Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:53:16 +0100 4600598 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4599063&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F03%2F16%2Fliberia%2F Nimba District, Liberia – March 13, 2011 Tens of new refugees are reaching the village of Kparblee in Liberia, in the district of Nimba bordering Ivory Coast. This family just arrived from the city Toulepleu, where fighting erupted early March between pro-Outtara forces and the army loyal to disputed president Gbagbo. As the situation is deeply deteriorating in Ivocry Coast, they spent seven days in the bush, looking for places to sleep and for food. They didn’t want to go to Liberia too fast, hoping that the fighting would stop. They were exhausted when they reached the Liberian border. This family is currently staying in a school building of the village of Kparblee. They have relatives in the village, but will have to wait a few days before being able to go to their home. (So... MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4599063 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:26:44 +0100 4599063 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4565905&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Findependent-peer-reviewed-scientific-journals-just-how-independent-are-they%2F2011.03.09 On September 27, 2010, the peer-reviewed scientific journal Europace published online-before-print a case report entitled “Spontaneous explosion of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator” by Martin Hudec and Gabriela Kaliska. In the pdf of that case report a figure containing a color photo of the affected patient’s chest, chest X-ray, and two pictures of the extracted device (one seen here) were included. The pictures and case presentation were dramatic and the case very rare. Both were perfect reasons to report such an important case to the medical literature. And so these doctors sent the case to Europace on June 29, 2010, and the article was accepted after revision on August 16, 2010, with the article appearing online September 27, 2010. The authors must have felt v... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4565905 Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0100 4565905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4532567&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FsAQS7vachLg%2F Japan’s Osaka District Court late last week ordered AstraZeneca to pay 60.5 million yen - or about $733,000 - to nine of 11 plaintiffs for failing to include proper warnings about serious side effects on the labeling for its Iressa lung cancer med when it was approved in the country in July 2002. However, the three-judge panel ruled the Japanese government was not liable for any damages. At issue was interstitial lung disease, or ILD, which was cited in 810 deaths through March 2010, according to Medwatcher Japan, a non-profit watchdog, and attorneys who represent the plaintiffs. They argued AstraZeneca downplayed safety issues by failing to prominently note on the labeling the potential for ILD at the time of approval and then advertised Iressa as “anti-cancer drug with little... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4532567 Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:53:37 +0100 4532567 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489930&cid=t_123276_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2011%2F02%2F17%2Fjustice-clarence-thomas-he-did-it-his-way%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. Justice Clarence Thomas: He Did It His Way. Fun, fun, fun till Congress takes the freebies away. Filed under: Politics Tagged: clarence thomas, conflict of interest, ginny thomas, robert donna trussell, scotus, supreme court (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489930 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:36:56 +0100 4489930 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4482824&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F02%2F15%2Fsurprising-findings-on-what-makes-a-happy-stable-marriage%2F Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing psychologist Terri Orbuch, Ph.D, about her book 5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great. (Stay tuned for the article on Psych Central shortly!) Since 1986, Orbuch has followed the same 373 couples to investigate what leads to marriage happiness and stability long term. Among a slew of interesting findings, her study yielded two surprising results, which I had to share with readers. (The article includes details on the study.) 1. Focus on what is working, not on what isn’t. We often hear about the importance of working through negative issues in relationships. Like Orbuch writes in her book, it’s common for experts to ask couples to consider what’s going wrong in their relationship. While addressing problems in your relation... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4482824 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:27:35 +0100 4482824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4482833&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F16%2Fthe-criminals-that-other-criminals-punish%2F This week, inmates in Sao Paulo broke into a cell block where prisoners convicted of rape and pedophilia were held and killed six people, including a man, Jose Agostinho Pereira, convicted of imprisoning his daughter for twelve years and having seven children with her, two of whom he also sexually abused.  Using makeshift knives, the attacking inmates, decapitated Pereira and three of the other prisoners. Extreme overcrowding in the prison seemed to be one cause of the violence – a number of inmates, unhappy with their poor conditions, attempted to escape, which precipitated a riot.  However, the level of brutality and the focus of the harm seem to tell another story.  Indeed, it’s important to note that the men who were killed had been kept apart from the general population for the... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4482833 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:01:43 +0100 4482833 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477823&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F15%2Flaw-competition-self-interest%2F Over at the new Law & Mind Blog, several Harvard Law students have been blogging about a chapter by Mitchell Callan and Situationist Contributor Aaron Kay. In the first post on the topic (copied below), 1L student Becky Ding summarizes the chapter (forthcoming in Ideology, Psychology, and Law, edited by Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson). * * * In Association between Law, Competitiveness, and the pursuit of self-interest, Mitchell Callan and Aaron Kay discuss how law and the way our legal system functions affect and shape our thinking and interpersonal relations. In particular, it fosters the assumption that people are self-interested, competitive and untrustworthy. Callan and Kay supports their theory through theories and research results from various social cognition studies. Calla... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477823 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:01:54 +0100 4477823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4460010&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F10%2Fdivided-loyalties-symposium%2F Situationist Contributor Jon Hanson will give the keynote at an interdisciplinary symposium:“Divided Loyalties: Professional Standards and Military Duty“ Hanson’s talk is titled “Shock Therapy: Changing Unethical Behavior by Understanding its Sources.” The symposium is being held at Case Western University Law School, and is funded in part by the Arthur W. Fiske Memorial Lectureship Fund. It it co-sponsored by: Center for Professional Ethics, Frederick K. Cox International Law Center, Institute for Global Security Law & Policy, Law-Medicine Center, and Center for Social Justice. The symposium website summarizes the focus of the conference this way: There has always been some tension between the ethical, legal, and professional obligations of professionals and the ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4460010 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:29:26 +0100 4460010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4450337&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F08%2Fthe-tiger-mother%2F Over at the new Law & Mind Blog, several Harvard Law students have been blogging about about system justification theory.  Here is one of those posts, written by first -year student Marty Ehlenbach. Yale Law Professor Amy Chua’s recently published book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has become a seemingly endless source of fodder for Internet blogs and discussion groups. The book, largely meant to be a memoir, recounts the author’s methods of raising her two daughters; she allowed them limited time for playdates or TV, and describes grueling methods for both study and music practice. When a short excerpt was published in the Wall Street Journal, the newspaper fielded an enormous number of comments (7670 at this writing) expressing a wide variety of opinions on the topic. ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4450337 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 04:01:43 +0100 4450337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4427764&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38795&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F02%2F02%2Fsouth-sudan-6%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dsouth-sudan-6 Makpundu refugee camp – November 19, 2010 Widows from Lord’s Resistance Army attacks Ngbitimo 45 (left) and Letina (right) during a Medecins Sans Frontieres counselling session in Makpundu refugee camp, South Sudan. With the world’s attention on the recent referendum determining the separation of southern and northern Sudan, the south of the country continues to face a dynamic that instils alarm and anxiety and exacerbates the situation of an already vulnerable population. MSF continues providing medical assistance to people who have been affected by the Ugandan rebel group Lord Resistance Army (LRA) violence in Yambio, Western Equatoria State in southern Sudan. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4427764 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 10:05:26 +0100 4427764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382804&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideos.videopress.com%2Fpn0rNzqV%2Fsarah-palin-responds-to-tucson-shooting_hd.mp4 Last week The Situationist asked this question: Was Sarah Palin exhibiting the naive cynicism dynamic in her remarks about the shooting in Tucson (see video)? * * * * * * Several readers responded thoughtfully in brief comments, but Paul Rosenberg provided an outstanding, painstakingly thorough response over at Open Left. We highly recommend his post. * * * For some related Situationist posts, see: “Sarah Palin a Naive Cynic?,” “A Horror Movie for Palinites?,” “The Tragedy in Tucson: What Do You Think?,” “The Great Attributional Divide,” “Naive Cynicism,” “Legal Academic Backlash – Abstract,” “Emily Pronin on the Situation of Bias,” “Asymmetric Introspection and Extrospection,” and “The Si... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382804 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:40:28 +0100 4382804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4376183&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38795&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F01%2F20%2Fcongo-13%2F%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dcongo-13 Masisi, Democratic Republic of Congo – February 2009 G. is 43 years old, she has come to the women’s clinic, part of an outreach care programme run by Médecins Sans Frontières. “During the 1994 war, people in Masisi district were killed by machetes; others managed to escape. One day, when I was on my way to the fields with some other women – it was in 1996 – armed men stopped us, beat us and raped us. Some of the women fell in a ditch. I fell too and I am still limping today. Three of the women who were raped at the same time as me died a week later because of the injuries they had sustained. “Since then, I have had pain in my abdomen. For all these years… I really feel weaker, I don’t go to the fields anymore. I often have headaches and I sleep badly. And when I see ... MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4376183 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:05:14 +0100 4376183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4575133&cid=t_123276_117_f&fid=37824&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doctorkalitenko.com%2Fblog%2Ffda-cure-obesity-dangerous-weight-loss-surgery-surgery-option%2F Where do we stop when it comes to getting skinny? That’s often the question we ask when looking at a picture of a gaunt supermodel that we will never know, whose look we will never achieve. Or, we ask it when we hear about Hollywood and eating disorders. But recently, the government is jumping in on trying to cure the obesity problem in the United States, not with methods to improve our diets, healthier and safer options, and guidelines, but instead, by looking into approving lap band procedure for millions more Americans. According to this article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/business/02obese.html?_r=2&ref=health) the potentially deadly surgery is now an option for people with a BMI (body mass index) of 40% or 35% is there is another medical condition, s... Doctor Kalitenko antiaging blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4575133 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:21:04 +0100 4575133 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343208&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideos.videopress.com%2Fpn0rNzqV%2Fsarah-palin-responds-to-tucson-shooting_hd.mp4 Situationist Contributors Adam Benforado and Jon Hanson have written extensively about a dynamic they call “naive cynicism.” Their work explores how dispositionism maintains its dominance despite the fact that it misses so much of what actually moves us. It argues that the answer lies in a subordinate dynamic and discourse, naive cynicism: the basic subconscious mechanism by which dispositionists discredit and dismiss situationist insights and their proponents. Without it, the dominant person schema – dispositionism – would be far more vulnerable to challenge and change, and the more accurate person schema – situationism – less easily and effectively attacked. Naive cynicism is thus critically important to explaining how and why certain legal policies manage to carry the da... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343208 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:34:30 +0100 4343208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4338035&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F12%2Fthe-power-of-suggestion%2F In the wake of the massacre in Tucson one of the debates has been over whether a toxic environment might have contributed to the assailant’s behavior.  Social psychology has demonstrated countless times the power of seemingly trivial situatonal forces to encourage hostility and violence.  One of the classics is a 1975 study of the effects of dehumanization. Here is a 1999 summary of that study by Situationist Contributor Phil Zimbardo. * * * My colleague, Albert Bandura, and his students contnued this line of research by extending the basic paradigm here to study the minimal conditions necessary to create dehumanization (Bandura, Underwood, & Fromson, 1975). What they manipulated was only the actors’ perceptioin of their victims–no authority pressures, no induced an... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4338035 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:17:15 +0100 4338035 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331067&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F10%2Fthe-tragedy-in-tucson-what-do-you-think%2F The unfolding news and debates about causes and consequences of yesterday’s tragic violence are raising many of the issues and themes common to this blog.  We hoped our readers would weigh in and share their thoughts and reactions to the events themselves and media discourse that has followed:  Bad Apple? Disposition? Context?  Situation? Spiraling conflict? Naive cynicism? Below you’ll find some excerpts from today’s Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh programs.  What do you think?  Please comment. * * * * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Situation of Presidential Death Threats,” “Motivated Skepticism,” “Interview with Professor Eric Knowles,” “Naive Cynicism,” “The Situation of Talk Radio,”... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331067 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:52:15 +0100 4331067 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322550&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F01%2F07%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-january-7-2011%2F The first month in the new year is often filled with reflections. We reflect on the past year. We reflect on what’s still to come. We reflect on the choices we made, good and bad, and wonder what we can do better for the coming year. Do you feel the inner struggle with the past in one hand and your future on the other? Reflections often bring both excitement for the new year and a mourning for what we haven’t yet achieved. As we sink our toes into 2011, what will you wish for? What are your dreams? Whether you want to create a more healthy work/life balance, be happier, or more compassionate, these posts will help you get there. It’s 5 posts to start the ending of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 right. Enjoy! Does Work/Life Conflict Cause You Stress? Dialectical Behavior T... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322550 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:48:40 +0100 4322550 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4300730&cid=t_123276_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FfZlOYbqT0hA%2F Ok, ok, so I said I probably wouldn’t be posting again this side of 2011, but I’m a fickle fella. So I decided to succumb to self-indulgence and share with you what I think are the best 10 posts I wrote for the A Daring Adventure blog this year. I know it says the 10 best post of 2010, but come one, I think we both know if I’d have called it my best 10 of 2010 you probably wouldn’t be reading now! Before I cut to the chase a quick apology to my newsletter readers. When I ran my free Life Coaching offer I said there would be two runners-up prizes and I completely forgot. So I will announce the runners up in next months newsletter. By the way, if you fancy some free Life Coaching, get signed up in the box at the bottom of this post as I plan on running it again in 2011. 10. P... Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4300730 Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:48:42 +0100 4300730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4275394&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F21%2Fblood-race%2F From the Harvard Gazette: The centuries-old “one-drop rule” assigning minority status to mixed-race individuals appears to live on in our modern-day perception and categorization of people like Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, and Halle Berry. So say Harvard University psychologists, who’ve found that we still tend to see biracials not as equal members of both parent groups, but as belonging more to their minority parent group. The research appears in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Many commentators have argued that the election of Barack Obama, and the increasing number of mixed-race people more broadly, will lead to a fundamental change in American race relations,” says lead author Arnold K. Ho, a Ph.D. student in psychology at Harvard. “Our work challenges the ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4275394 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:36:58 +0100 4275394 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4272600&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fmedical-schools-dont-ask-faculty-dont.html ProPublica -- the non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest and which received a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting -- recently published a story revealing that physicians from Stanford, Penn and the Universities of Pittsburgh and Colorado Denver have faculty members who have accepted money to promote drugs despite the fact that these universities have conflict of interest policies that restrict their doctors from accepting pharma money (see "Medical Schools Don't Verify Faculty Compliance with Ban on Pharma Speaker Fees").This is just the latest revelation made possible by comparing names in ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database of payments publicly reported by seven drug companies with names of faculty members at a dozen medical schools ... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4272600 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:32:00 +0100 4272600 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4245359&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F09%2Fspeaking-truth-to-the-situation%2F This week’s This American Life was titled “Last Man Standing,” which included three outstanding “stories about people who feel compelled to keep going, especially when everyone else has given up,” including: a story about the only Juror on the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich who believed he was innocent of trying to sell Barack Obama’s senate seat; the story of Duke Fightmaster, who refused to give up his simple dream: to replace Conan O’Brien; and a story about God and extraterrestrials. It’s a terrific show, which you can listen to for free here. Also this week at Harvard, an event at the Carr Center featured “four stories of dissent.”  A story about the event is posted below. Lecture-goers were so intrigue... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4245359 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 04:01:59 +0100 4245359 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4190234&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F23%2Fthe-situation-of-perceived-intentionality%2F This study tests the hypothesis that alcohol magnifies the intentionality bias by disrupting effortful cognitive abilities. Using a 2 × 2 balanced placebo design in a natural field experiment disguised as a food-tasting session, participants received either a high dose of alcohol (target BAC = .10%) or no alcohol, with half of each group believing they had or had not consumed alcohol. Participants then read a series of sentences describing simple actions (e.g., “She cut him off in traffic”) and indicated whether the actions were done intentionally or accidentally. As expected, intoxicated people interpreted more acts as intentional than did sober people. This finding helps explain why alcohol increases aggression. For example... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4190234 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:59:37 +0100 4190234 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175674&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvOhVVEi-vIo%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoFor the past couple of years, Nicaragua’s president Daniel Ortega has been desperately seeking to subvert his country’s constitution and feeble democratic institutions in order to stand for re-election next year. Since the Nicaraguan constitution bars him from running for a third term (he was president in 1985-1990), Ortega tried unsuccessfully to have the constitution amended by the National Assembly, where his Sandinista party lacks a majority to do so. However, through judicial shenanigans facilitated by a Supreme Court and an Electoral Tribunal packed with Sandinista allies, Ortega is likely to run again next year. Mary O’Grady of the Wall Street Journal and The Economist have documented the case. Despite seemingly getting away with it, Ortega faces strong c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175674 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:08:50 +0100 4175674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164557&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F15%2Fthe-situation-of-creating-a-consumer-financial-protection%25c2%25a0bureau%2F In the wake of the worst economic crisis in the United States since the Great Depression, there has been a drive to reconfigure the regulatory state and renegotiate the relationship between Americans, business, and government. In a new article, just posted on SSRN, I argue that the ultimate formulation of that relationship turns, to a significant degree, on our basic attributional tendencies, particularly where we look to assign causal responsibility when things go wrong. Who or what engendered the shanty town that appeared in Sacramento, California in 2008?  Who blackened the pelican and closed the beach of Pensacola?  What lies behind the rise in diabetes in elementary school students? The answers that we give drive our remedial responses and our prophylactic measures—and in doing so... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164557 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:01:08 +0100 4164557 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4163071&cid=t_123276_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FcVybM1XtXM8%2F Since launching my Life Coaching At The Speed of Sound, I have been really busy working with clients on their values. Normally I’ll probably only do this one or twice per week, but for the last week or so it’s been a daily and sometimes twice daily experience. During this time one specific anti-value, that of ‘Conflict’, has reared its ugly head time and time again. I wasn’t sure whether this was just a fluke, or whether it is a trend I’ve simply never noticed before. So I dug out some old clients files and did some checking. Indeed ‘Conflict’ appeared a lot more frequently than I would have guessed. People (or at least my clients) do genuinely seem to want to avoid being in situations that cause conflict. Today I wanted to give you one very simple trick to avoid conflict, ... Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4163071 Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:15:35 +0100 4163071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159241&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmore-doctors-are-refusing-industry-perks-and-gifts%2F2010.11.12 Physicians and particularly primary care doctors are reporting fewer industry ties than five years ago, according to a survey. While 94% of doctors reported some type of perk from a drug or device maker in 2004, 83.8% did in 2009, researchers reported in the Nov. 8 Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers surveyed a stratified random sample of 2,938 primary care physicians (internal medicine, family practice, and pediatrics) and specialists (cardiology, general surgery, psychiatry and anesthesiology) with a 64.4% response rate. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159241 Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0100 4159241 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151878&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F09%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-november-9-2010%2F I’ve had quite a bit of visitors in the month of October. And while it was fun and I was grateful for their company, it was exhausting. It reminded me of the upcoming holiday season. Giving me a preview of what’s to come in the next few months. The good thing is that I learned something during the parade of October visitors that may help you get through the season with friends and family peacefully. Conflict often occurs because of misunderstanding and miscommunication. You may, for example, have gone to therapy and learned ways to take care of yourself. But your family hasn’t done the same. Returning to the home you grew up in and the life you used to live sometimes means that those who knew you before, may not know how to interact with you now. Here’s where my tip... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151878 Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:59:46 +0100 4151878 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133852&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F04%2Fsusan-fiske-discusses-her-work-on-different-types-of-prejudices%2F Situationist Contributor Susan Fiske discusses her research on stereotypes and prejudice and the systematic principles that influence how groups are treated in society. * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Situation of Objectification,” “Women’s Situational Bind,” “Hey Dove! Talk to YOUR parent!,” and “You Shouldn’t Stereotype Stereotypes.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133852 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:01:18 +0100 4133852 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4119713&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fiqx9Ideosb4%2F There’s nothing like a nasty battle over the rights to a drug under development to make for interesting reading. And so we present you with some intense legal haggling over a molecule known as WZ4002, which was discovered by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for combating non small-cell lung cancer with specific gene mutations. The compound is potentially quite valuable because it may be able to treat patients who don’t respond to existing cancer pills. The dispute, however, is not your run-of-the-mill spat over development rights. Instead, the lawsuit peels back the curtain on some of the jockeying that occurs among universities, drugmakers and scientists when potentially lucrative intellectual property rights are in play. Here’s why: the legal ba... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4119713 Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:35:42 +0100 4119713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4098075&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F21%2Fthe-situation-of-precision-targeted-ads%2F Robert Wright posted an interesting commentary on the New York Times Opinionator last night in which he argued that the arrival of HTML 5, which “will allow sites you visit to know your physical location and will make it easier for them to keep track of your browsing and shopping history,” may be “the salvation of journalism.” As he explains, “The willingness of advertisers to spend the money that sustains journalists has always depended on having information about the reader.”  And modern technology, with its ability to track individual consumer behavior, has made it possible to tailor and target ads towards specific individuals.  In Wright’s words, What if God [or Google or Yahoo], knowing exactly who every Slate reader is, and what kinds of products and services he’s a... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4098075 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:01:07 +0100 4098075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4074163&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F14%2Fjim-sidanius-terror-intergroup-violence-and-the-law-%25e2%2580%259d%2F In his fascinating presentation at Harvard Law School on September 12, 2010, Professor Sidanius discussed ways in which the legal system has been, and continues to be, used as a means to effectuate intergroup violence, particularly through the criminal justice system.  Here is a video of that that talk [Duration: 54:10]. Professor Sidanius, a Harvard University professor in the departments of Psychology and African and African American Studies, focuses his research on the political psychology of gender, group conflict, and institutional discrimination, as well as the evolutionary psychology of intergroup prejudice. He runs the Sidanius Lab in Intergroup Relations, which conducts research regarding intergroup relations, social inequality, hierarchy, stereotyping, ideology, and prejudice.... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4074163 Thu, 14 Oct 2010 05:21:42 +0100 4074163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4065347&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXGrJhxU0r9k%2F By Malou InnocentThe Department of State recently released newly declassified documents covering U.S. policy toward Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from January 1973-July 1975. At a State Department conference commemorating the release of these documents, diplomat, strategist, and Nobel laureate Henry Kissinger bemoaned the torment that consumed a generation of Americans as the conflict wore on. The insight Kissinger provides–possibly unintentional–underscores why assessments of war should go beyond critiques of its political and geostrategic ramifications; they should also extend to the various ways that war affects our society and public more generally. In Kissinger’s somber assessment of America’s involvement in Southeast Asia, he said he regrets that what should have been ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4065347 Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:06:43 +0100 4065347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4065420&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F12%2Fjim-sidanius-terror-intergroup-violence-and-the-law-%25e2%2580%259d%2F In his fascinating presentation at Harvard Law School on September 12, 2010, Professor Sidanius discussed ways in which the legal system has been, and continues to be, used as a means to effectuate intergroup violence, particularly through the criminal justice system.  Here is a video of that that talk [Duration: 54:10]. Professor Sidanius, a Harvard University professor in the departments of Psychology and African and African American Studies, focuses his research on the political psychology of gender, group conflict, and institutional discrimination, as well as the evolutionary psychology of intergroup prejudice. He runs the Sidanius Lab in Intergroup Relations, which conducts research regarding intergroup relations, social inequality, hierarchy, stereotyping, ideology, and prejudice.... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4065420 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 05:21:42 +0100 4065420 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4045151&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F08%2Frobert-reich-on-the-unequal-situation-of-the-great-recession%2F Discussion about (In)Equality,” “The Interior Situational Reaction to Inequality,” “The Situation of Money and Happiness,” “Nicole Stephens on ‘Choice, Social Class, and Agency’,” “The Situation of Mortgage Defaults,” “Barbara Ehrenreich – a Situationist,” “Warren on the Situation of Credit,” “The Situation of the Mortgage Crisis,” and “Financial Squeeze: Bad Choices or Bad Situations?.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4045151 Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:01:14 +0100 4045151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4036720&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F10%2F06%2Flet-your-children-be-children%2F Everyday, the same scene plays itself out across American neighborhoods across the United States. Mothers pull up in their Suburbans and Lexus SUVs at the entrance to their housing development. Even though the families live in perfectly safe, middle-class (or better) neighborhoods, parents feel the need to chauffeur their children the few blocks from the bus stop to home. Why? This behavior may be understandable if the child is 5 or 6. But at 8 or 10, this behavior is ludicrous and symptomatic of a dangerous infection that has spread throughout this country in the latest generation of parents. If not stopped, we may end up raising a whole generation or two of children who have little effective life coping skills and no connection or understanding to the world around them. If you’re ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4036720 Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:30:41 +0100 4036720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3987020&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Ffeel%2Fevery-time-i-hear-tom-cruise%25e2%2580%2599s-character-profess-those-three-dreaded-words-to-renee-zellweger%25e2%2580%2599s-dorothy-near-the-end-of-%25e2%2580%259cjerry-maguire%25e2%2580%259d-i-get-shivers-and-not-the-good%2F – Blisstree Editor-in-Chief, Christine Egan, from her post Relationships: The Great Soulmate Debate Post from: BlissTree Every time I hear Tom Cruise’s character profess those three dreaded words to Renée Zellweger’s Dorothy near the end of “Jerry Maguire,” I get shivers (and not the good kind). In real life, “You deplete me” is often more accurate. (Source: Healthbolt) Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3987020 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:00:21 +0100 3987020 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3976470&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Ffeel%2F200314%2F So how many of these 7 biggest relationship mistakes have you ever made? (via The Frisky) Post from: BlissTree (Source: Healthbolt) Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3976470 Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:40:58 +0100 3976470 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959972&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F12%2Fjim-sidanius-returns-to-harvard-law-school%2F On Monday, September 12th, the HLS Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences (SALMS) is hosting a talk by Professor Jim Sidanius entitled “Under Color of Authority: Terror, Intergroup Violence, and the Law.” Professor Sidanius, a Harvard University professor in the departments of Psychology and African and African American Studies, focuses his research on the political psychology of gender, group conflict, and institutional discrimination, as well as the evolutionary psychology of intergroup prejudice.  He runs the Sidanius Lab in Intergroup Relations, which conducts research regarding intergroup relations, social inequality, hierarchy, stereotyping, ideology, and prejudice. Professor Sidanius will be speaking about ways in which the legal system has been, and continues to... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959972 Sun, 12 Sep 2010 04:01:06 +0100 3959972 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3915084&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F31%2Fthe-situation-of-forgiveness%2F Ryan Fehr, Michele Gelfand, and Monisha Nag, recently posted their paper, “The Road to Forgiveness: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of its Situational and Dispositional Correlates” on SSRN. Here’s the abstract. * * * Forgiveness has received widespread attention among psychologists from social, personality, clinical, developmental and organizational perspectives alike. Despite great progress, the forgiveness literature has witnessed few attempts at empirical integration. Toward this end, we meta-analyze results from 175 studies and 26,006 participants to examine the correlates of interpersonal forgiveness (i.e. forgiveness of a single offender by a single victim). A tripartite forgiveness typology is proposed, encompassing victims’ cognitions, affect, and constraints followin... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3915084 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:01:03 +0100 3915084 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3901917&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F08%2F25%2Fsri-lanka-3%2F Vavuniya, Sri Lanka – May 2010 Italian physiotherapist Valeria Maglia conducts a physio session with 22 year old patient Suvarna in Pompamadhu Hospital where MSF runs a rehabilitation programme for people with spinal injuries. Most of the patients’ injuries are a result of the war between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers that ended in May 2009. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3901917 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:11:06 +0100 3901917 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3857183&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F08%2F11%2Frussian-federation%2F Ingushetia. June 2010 Residents of the ORS IDP (internally discplaced population) settlement. The situation in the three republics of the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation remains volatile. MSF has been providing support to hospitals and through clinics and has been raising awareness of the mental health problems caused by the conflict. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3857183 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:54:27 +0100 3857183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3807443&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F01%2Ftolerating-hostility-in-the-workplace%2F From EurekaAlert: She never gets invited to lunch with the rest of her co-workers. He always gets publicly criticized for his mistakes. But according to research by Kansas State University psychologists, neither of these workers is likely to leave the job. Meridith Selden, a K-State doctoral graduate in psychology, and her adviser, Ron Downey, K-State professor of psychology, studied workplace hostility. They found that among workers reporting hostility in the current position, almost half — 45 percent of them — had no definite plans to leave their current job. In addition, 59 percent indicated that they either liked or did not dislike their current job. And this research took place well before the economic downturn. “They might like the job, just not certain elements of ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3807443 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:01:28 +0100 3807443 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3802458&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F30%2Fattributional-divide-top-10%2F This article, the first of a multipart series, argues that a major rift runs across many of our major policy debates based on our attributional tendencies: the less accurate dispositionist approach, which explains outcomes and behavior with reference to people’s dispositions (i.e., personalities, preferences, and the like), and the more accurate situationist approach, which bases attributions of causation and responsibility on unseen influences within us and around us. Given that situationism offers a truer picture of our world than the alternative, and given that attributional tendencies are largely the result of elements in our situations, identifying the relevant elements should be a major priority of legal scholars. With such information, legal academics could predict which indiv... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3802458 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:01:43 +0100 3802458 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3779406&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F07%2F22%2Fkashmir-2%2F India, Kashmir, August 2008 The population of Kashmir is traumatised by over 20 years of violence. New tensions arise all the time. They are living under the pressure of these tensions and have to deal with losing loved ones or get injured themselves. In one way or another everyone is affected by the situation in Kashmir. MSF has worked to increase awareness of psychosocial problems and in 2009 more than 5,800 people were treated on the mental health programme. MSF also provided support to six clinics in Kupwara, conducting more than 20,500 consultations. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3779406 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:47:56 +0100 3779406 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3776609&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FG7wD-XKMv5o%2F Twice this week, we have learned that members of the FDA advisory panel convened to review the safety of the Avandia diabetes pill had relationships with drugmakers that had something at stake. One panelist, David Capuzzi, has an ongoing relationship with GlaxoSmithKline as a speaker, although he apparently spoke only once about the diabetes drug (see here). And Abraham Thomas has, in the past, given talks about Actos, a rival pill sold by Takeda Pharmaceuticals (see here). The FDA is now investigating the episode surrounding Capuzzi and expects to have some decision by the end of the week. A finding that warrants further inquiry could be sent to the HHS Office of Inspector General. The agency, however, may not probe Thomas, because his speaking engagements for Takeda took place more than ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3776609 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:29:54 +0100 3776609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3776566&cid=t_123276_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2FyhuUroklUKk%2F From a daily non-fiction letter that I get every day, a frightening list of conflicts. “As Scientific American said in September 1998, ‘Many of the world’s problems stem from the fact that it has 5,000 ethnic groups but only 190 countries.’ … via delanceyplace.com 7/21/10 – ethnic differences. Filed under: Current Affairs Tagged: conflict, war (Source: white pebble) white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3776566 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:52:06 +0100 3776566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3776612&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FaBixXSE3HwE%2F Two more colleges are in the process of restricting funding from industry. Harvard Medical School will prohibit its 11,000 faculty from giving promotional talks for drug and device makers and accepting personal gifts, travel, or meals, The Boston Globe writes. And Central Michigan University may not accept money upcoming continuing medical education programs, according to Central Michigan Life. The Harvard will also place strict limits on income faculty can earn from companies for consulting, joining boards, and other work; require public reporting of payments of at least $5,000 on a med school website; and promise more robust internal reporting and monitoring of these relationships. Harvard will also create a firewall between health care companies during these courses. One target is Pri-M... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3776612 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:36:16 +0100 3776612 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3770935&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F07%2F20%2Fkyrgyzstan-3%2F Jalalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan – June 2010 Painted wall inside the ruins of a house. Five weeks after violent clashes erupted in the south of Kyrgyzstan and despite an apparent return to a more peaceful situation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) doctors, psychologists and nurses continue to deal with cases of violence on a daily basis. More concerning still, the capacity of victims to receive adequate health care differs according to the community they belong to. Read the press release here (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3770935 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:43:09 +0100 3770935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3750117&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F14%2Fsituationist-political-science-and-the-situation-of-voters%2F Joe Keohane wrote an outstanding article, “How Facts Backfire: Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains,” for the Boston Globe last week.  Here are some excerpts. * * * It’s one of the great assumptions underlying modern democracy that an informed citizenry is preferable to an uninformed one. “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789. . . . Mankind may be crooked timber, as Kant put it, uniquely susceptible to ignorance and misinformation, but it’s an article of faith that knowledge is the best remedy. If people are furnished with the facts, they will be clearer thinkers and better citizens. If they are ignorant, facts will enlighten them. If they are mistaken, facts w... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3750117 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:16:26 +0100 3750117 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3717295&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F07%2F01%2Fcongo-12%2F A woman walks in the rain in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 15, 2009. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, long-standing conflict has pushed farmers off their land, forced family to flee violance continually, and robbed children of the nutritious foods they need to grow up and develop. Watch the new #STRVD film from Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders: “CONGO: The Malnutrition That Shouldn’t Be” (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3717295 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:59:10 +0100 3717295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3710623&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F29%2Fthe-situational-effects-of-inequality%2F Here is an intriguing (40-minute) interview with Richard Wilkinson co-author of the book The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger and co-founder of The Equality Trust. * * * * * * For a sample of related Stiuationist posts, see “The Situational Consequences of Poverty on Brains,” For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “Inequality and the Unequal Situation of Mental and Physical Health,” “The Interior Situation of Intergenerational Poverty,” “Rich Brains, Poor Brains?,” “Jeffrey Sachs on the Situation of Global Poverty,” “The Situation of Financial Risk-Taking,” “The Situation of Standardized Test Scores,” “The Toll of Discrimination on Black Women,” “The Physical Pains of Discrimination,” “The D... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3710623 Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:16:48 +0100 3710623 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3694132&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F06%2F24%2Fkyrgyzstan-2%2F Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan, June 23, 2010 Uzbek refugees coming back to Kyrgyzstan after crossing border at the Sary Tash check point. The situation is still very tense in Osh and Jalal-Abad, southern Kyrgyzstan, where violent clashes killed hundreds since June 10th. MSF teams are on the ground providing medical care to the victims and displaced and giving support to the local health structures. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3694132 Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:02:36 +0100 3694132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671695&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwho-and-h1n1-conflict-of-interest%2F2010.06.17 On June 11, 2009, Dr. Margaret Chan, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared that the H1N1 flu that was then spreading around the world was an official pandemic. This triggered a series of built-in responses in many countries, including stockpiling anti-viral medications and preparing for a mass H1N1 vaccination program. At the time the flu was still in its “first wave” and the fear was that subsequent waves, as the virus swept around the world, would become more virulent and/or contagious –- similar to what happened in the 1918 pandemic. This did not happen. At least our worst fears were not realized. The H1N1 pandemic, while serious, simmered through the winter of 2009-2010, producing a less than average flu season, although with some worrisome differe... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671695 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:00:41 +0100 3671695 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671806&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F17%2Fthe-social-situation-of-breaking-up%2F Rose McDermott, Nicholas Christakis, and James Fowler have recently posted their fascinating paper “Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Unless Everyone Else is Doing it Too: Social Network Effects on Divorce in a Longitudinal Sample Followed for 32 Years” on SSRN.   Here’s the abstract. * * * Divorce is the dissolution of a social tie, but it is also possible that attitudes about divorce flow across social ties. To explore how social networks influence divorce and vice versa, we utilize a longitudinal data set from the long-running Framingham Heart Study. We find that divorce can spread between friends, siblings, and coworkers, and there are clusters of divorcees that extend two degrees of separation in the network. We also find that popular people are less likely to get divorced... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671806 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 04:01:27 +0100 3671806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3666038&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F16%2Fstudents-situations-leave-them-less-empathetic-situationist%2F From University of Michigan News Service: Today’s college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and ’90s, a University of Michigan study shows. The study, presented in Boston at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analyzes data on empathy among almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years. “We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000,” said Sara Konrath, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research. “College kids today are about 40 percent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait.” Konrath conducted the meta-analysis, combining the results of 72 different studies of American college student... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3666038 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:01:22 +0100 3666038 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3666227&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FRGDjRXl_eDU%2F Between 2004 and 2007, the number of clinical trial investigators who are regulated by the FDA fell 5.2 percent in the US and 6.1 percent in Europe, while increasing 16 percent in Eastern Europe, 12 percent in Asia and 10 percent in Latin America, according to a new survey from the Association of Clinical Research Organizations. Why are investigators in the US and Western Europe dropping out? We know that pharma can runs trials more cheaply overseas. But what do investigators say? Well, 70 percent of respondents believe current regulations make trials difficult to manage. They cited such issues as medical liability (42 percent in the US vs. 20 percent in Western Europe), conflict of interest rules and mandates that docs disclose financial relationships with pharma. File this under backlash... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3666227 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:50:05 +0100 3666227 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648616&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F10%2Fthe-situation-of-hate-crimes%2F Here is another segment from John Quinones excellent ABC 20/20 series titled “What Would You Do?” — a series that, in essence, conducts situationist experiments through hidden-camera scenarios. This episode asks, “what would you do if you witnessed a hate crime?” (and includes analysis from social psychologist John Dovidio). * * * * * * To review a sample of related Situationist posts, see “Jena 6 – Part I,” “The Situation of Racism in LA Gangs,” “Racial bias clouds ability to feel others’ pain,” “An Apathy Epidemic,” “The Situation of Blaming Rihanna,” “Situationist Theories of Hate – Part III,” “Obesity and Bullying,” “Hoyas, Hos, & Gangstas,” “Unrec... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648616 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:01:45 +0100 3648616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3639745&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F06%2F08%2Fafghanistan-5%2F Lashkargah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, June 2010 In the male inpatient department of Boost Hospital, MSF doctor Sergio Cabral examines 2 year old Amir who has pneumonia. MSF is providing medical care at the Ahmed Shah Baba hospital in eastern Kabul and the Lashkargah Provincial Hospital in Helmand Province. The growing insecurity in Helmand Province is forcing people to go to extreme lengths to seek either routine or emergency care at often dysfunctional health structures. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3639745 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:27:12 +0100 3639745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3617913&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F01%2Ftalk-to-an-iraqi-from-this-american-life%2F From This American Life: “A young Iraqi ends up in America after fleeing Iraq and goes on a road trip to ask Americans questions about the War. But he approaches people in a very specific way, a way you might actually recognize from Peanuts comics. The conversations he has illuminate how we form opinions about a war happening far away.” The roughly sixteen minutes worth of video are, like most TAL stories, outstanding.  We include them on the Situationist, however, because of how powerfully the dialogues illustrate the influence of system justification, in-group bias, and other psychological motives. * * * * * * * * * To read a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Cruelty of Children,” “Racism Meets Groupism and Teamism,” “‘Us’ and ‘Them... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3617913 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:01:21 +0100 3617913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3612070&cid=t_123276_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FGBXnwUOHdfU%2F “The Power of Humility is a remarkable recovery book that presents profound tools for changing your life in simple, practical steps. . . . It will help us see the solutions that were there all the time, hidden from view by our own habits.” -Bruce Greyson, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, University of Virginia School of Medicine Do you shy away from conflict? Do you tend to over- or under-react during disagreements? Is it difficult for you to rise above a painful problem in a relationship? If so, you’re not alone. We all experience conflict on a daily basis, whether it’s with another person like a co-worker or boss, or in a “triangle” with two other people such as in a family relationship. Dealing with strife isn’t easy because most of us don’t ... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3612070 Thu, 27 May 2010 17:17:00 +0100 3612070 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3599504&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F26%2Fracial-prejudice-in-real-estate-markets%2F Here is another segment from John Quinones excellent ABC 20/20 series titled “What Would You Do?” — a series that, in essence, conducts situationist experiments through hidden-camera scenarios. This episode asks, “what would you do if you attended a real estate open house where only certain people were welcome?” (and includes analysis from social psychologist John Dovidio). * * * * * * It has been over 50 years since the Black, middle-class Myers family moved into all-White Levittown.  You can watch the landmark (32-minute) documentary depicting reactions to the Myers moving into Levittown below. * * * * * * Finally, here is a 1991 ABC Primetime story on the “nature of today’s prejudices.” The documentary follows “two men (equal in ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3599504 Wed, 26 May 2010 15:49:12 +0100 3599504 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3581673&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F20%2Fstop-that-thief-or-not%2F Here is another segment from John Quinones excellent ABC 20/20 series titled “What Would You Do?” — a series that, in essence, conducts situationist experiments through hidden-camera scenarios.  This episode asks “what would you do if you witnessed a beach theif in action?” (and includes analysis from social psychologist Carrie Keating). * * * * * * To review a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Situation of Prejudice: Us vs. Them? or Them Is Us?” and “The Racialized Situation of Vandalism and Crime,” each of which contains a sizable list of other related Situationist posts. “ (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3581673 Thu, 20 May 2010 04:51:21 +0100 3581673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3572459&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F05%2F18%2Fsomalia-6%2F Galcayo, Northern Somalia – May 2010 Ayan A. from Galcayo. Ayan is 10 years old and has had cataract with navigation vision only since birth. She is coming with her mother from “Benberiad Ley” 90 km away from Galcayo. The journey took her 1 full day by car and around 10 USD. Ayan’s mother heard on the radio that MSF was organzing the eye camp and felt excited for her child. Ayan’s mother whom has 8 children had to bring constant attention to Ayan though the child was careless about her blindness. Ayan whom has never been to school due to her blindness will now by capable of learning how to write and read. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3572459 Tue, 18 May 2010 09:57:01 +0100 3572459 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3567959&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F15%2Fthe-situation-of-prejudice-us-vs-them-or-them-is-us%2F Here is another segment from John Quinones excellent ABC 20/20 series titled “What Would You Do?” — a series that, in essence, conducts situationist experiments through hidden-camera scenarios (in consultation with renowned social psychologist John Dovidio). * * * * * * To review a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The ‘Turban Effect’,” “Journalists as Social Psychologists & Social Psychologists as Entertainers,” “The Situation of Racial Profiling,” “The Situation of Being ‘(un)American’,” “Do We Miss Racial Stereotypes Today that Will Be Evident Tomorrow?,” “Perceptions of Racial Divide,” and “Perceptions of Racial Divide,The Psychology of Barack Obama as the Antichrist,” (... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3567959 Sat, 15 May 2010 04:01:09 +0100 3567959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3566812&cid=t_123276_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FukhZ9JvKvME%2F Anxiety Anxiety is experienced by all people, it is a normal reaction to stress, conflict, fear, change, threat, & etc or more usually there is no apparent reason for it to occur. When a person becomes aware, conscious or subconscious, that something is wrong or different, anxiety is triggered. But remember the actual cause may not be identifiable by you or anyone else. Anxiety can be regarded as a signal that change or action is needed. It can be an energy source to find the right solution and overcome inertia and make changes. Anxiety can occur in different strengths. It can cause a nudge, nag, demand, panic, or a ‘kick in the backside’, a ‘knock on the door’, or a major stress in life, a ‘rock bottom’. However anxiety reactions can have good and bad effects. It may res... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3566812 Fri, 14 May 2010 19:57:25 +0100 3566812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3546907&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F09%2Fobesity-and-bullying%2F Christian Nordqvist wrote a nice summary of recent research for  Medical News Today on the relationship of obesity with bullying.  Here are a few excerpts. * * * A new study published in the journal Pediatrics reports that obese children have a higher risk of being bullied, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, social skills, academic achievement or gender. The study, titled “Weight status as a predictor of being bullied in third through sixth grades” was carried out by Julie C. Lumeng, M.D., . . . and her colleagues. * * * The aim of this study was to establish the link between childhood obesity and being the victim of bullying in 3rd, 5th, and 6th grades. * * * Researchers studied 821 children who were . . . . recruited at birth in 10 study sites around the USA. The res... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3546907 Sun, 09 May 2010 04:01:33 +0100 3546907 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3538276&cid=t_123276_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iqscorner.com%2F2010%2F05%2Faaidd-death-penalty-task-force-conflict.html I was recently asked (and accepted) to be a member of the AAIDD Death Penalty Task Force to address issues regarding Atkins MR/ID death penalty cases.  I want to thank the AAIDD members for the privilege.  This is a conflict of interest disclosure note.  Any comments or posts at  IQ's Corner or the ICDP blog do not represent the views or opinions of the AAIDD Death Penalty Task ForceI will not post any AAIDD Death Penalty Task Force internal communications at my two blogs.  Any task force information that is made public will be posted here as an FYI post with a URL to the appropriate AAIDD web resource.  If the AAIDD DP TF asks me to disseminate information via my blogs, such posts will be clearly labeled.Technorati Tags: psychology, forensic psychology, foren... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3538276 Wed, 05 May 2010 16:06:00 +0100 3538276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3529855&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fthe-situation-of-cooperation%2F From The National Science Foundation: Humans are incredibly cooperative, but why do people cooperate and how is cooperation maintained? A new research study by UCLA anthropology professor Robert Boyd and his colleagues from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico suggests cooperation in large groups is maintained by punishment. The finding challenges previous cooperation/punishment models that argue punishment is uncoordinated and unconditional. Boyd and his team report their research in the April 30 issue of the journal Science. . . . To understand the study, let’s start with a small group of friends. In small groups, individuals often have personal connections with other group members and cooperation typically is maintained by a “you help me, I’ll help you” reciproci... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3529855 Tue, 04 May 2010 04:01:25 +0100 3529855 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3508265&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F27%2Fthe-situation-of-bullying-2%2F Maia Szalavitz, co-author of Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential — and Endangered wrote an intriguing article, titled “How Not to Raise a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy” in a recent issue of Time Magazine.  Here are some excerpts. * * * Increasingly, neuroscientists, psychologists and educators believe that bullying and other kinds of violence can . . . be reduced by encouraging empathy at an early age. Over the past decade, research in empathy — the ability to put ourselves in another person’s shoes — has suggested that it is key, if not the key, to all human social interaction and morality. Without empathy, we would have no cohesive society, no trust and no reason not to murder, cheat, steal or lie. At best, we would act only out of self-interest; at wors... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3508265 Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:01:45 +0100 3508265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3493167&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F04%2F22%2Findia-6%2F Srinagar, Kashmir – May 2009 Psychiatric patients in a mental health project run by MSF, in Kashmir, India. MSF carries out basic healthcare and psychosocial counselling to a population traumatised by over 20 years of violence and works to increase awareness of psychosocial problems. In 2009, more than 5,800 people were treated in the mental health programme. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3493167 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:24:45 +0100 3493167 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3485747&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F04%2F20%2Fgaza-3%2F Erez, Gaza Strip – November 2009 Mouna (19 years old), walks down the covered walkway towards Erez terminal before heading to France to be treated. Mouna’s left leg was severed from her body after a shell burst into a UN school classroom she was seeking shelter in during the January war. After several days in hospital she realized what had happened to her and wished she was dead. For many months afterwards she would not leave her home due her fears of the way people would look at her and treat her. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3485747 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:10:04 +0100 3485747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3482183&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F04%2F19%2Fingushetia-3%2F Nazran – December 2009 Angusht IDP settlement in Nazran, Ingushetia. A Chechen IDP family living in a box-tent. Thousands of people who lost their homes during the wars are still living as refugees in Ingushetia or Dagestan, or in Grozny itself. The MSF programmes in the North Caucasus, in Chechnya and Ingushetia provide mother-and-child healthcare, mental-health support and tuberculosis (TB) care. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3482183 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:17:13 +0100 3482183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3482949&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F19%2Fde-capturing-the-fda%2F Harvard Law Student, Jason Iuliano, recently posted his forthcoming article, “Killing Us Sweetly: How to Take Industry Out of the FDA” (forthcoming Journal of Food Law and Policy) on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * For more than a century, the Food and Drug Administration has purported to protect the public health. During that time, it has actually been placing corporate profits above consumer safety. Nowhere is this corruption more evident than in the approval of artificial sweeteners. FDA leaders’ close ties to the very industry they were supposed to be regulating present a startling picture. Ignoring warnings from both independent scientists and their own review panels, FDA decision makers let greed guide their actions. They approved carcinogenic sweeteners such ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3482949 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:01:50 +0100 3482949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3457881&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F11%2Fthe-neuro-situation-of-violence-and-empathy%2F This study, published in the most recent issue of the Revista de Neurología, concludes that the prefrontal and temporal cortex, the amygdala and other features of the limbic system (such as insulin and the cingulated cortex) play “a fundamental role in all situations in which empathy appears”. Moya Albiol says these parts of the brain overlap “in a surprising way” with those that regulate aggression and violence. As a result, the scientific team argues that the cerebral circuits – for both empathy and violence – could be “partially similar”. “We all know that encouraging empathy has an inhibiting effect on violence, but this may not only be a social question but also a biological one – stimulation of these neuronal circuits in one direction ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3457881 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:01:26 +0100 3457881 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3453975&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F08%2Fthe-situation-of-an-airstrike%2F Benedict Carey wrote a great article, titled “Psychologists Explain Iraqi Airstrike Video” for the New York Times.  Here are some excerpts, with the addition of the videos to which the article refers. * * * The sight of human beings, most of them unarmed, being gunned down from above is jarring enough. But for many people who watched the video of a 2007 assault by an Army Apache helicopter in Baghdad, released Monday by WikiLeaks.org, the most disturbing detail was the cockpit chatter. The soldiers joked, chuckled and jeered as they shot people in the street, including a Reuters photographer and a driver, believing them to be insurgents. * * * * * * In recent days, many veterans have made the point that fighters cannot do their jobs without creating psychological distance fro... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3453975 Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:52:23 +0100 3453975 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3440856&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F06%2Fmichael-mccullough-on-the-situation-of-revenge-and-forgiveness%2F From TempletonFoundation: Why is revenge such a pervasive and destructive problem? Why is forgiveness so difficult? In “Beyond Revenge,” Michael E. McCullough argues that the key to creating a more forgiving world is to understand both the evolutionary forces that gave rise to these intimately human instincts and the social forces that activate them in our minds today. Drawing on the latest breakthroughs in the social and biological sciences, McCullough offers practical and often surprising advice for how individuals, social groups, and even nations might move beyond our deep penchant for revenge. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To read a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Situation of Punishment (and Forgiveness),” “The Situation of Revenge,” �... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3440856 Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:57:36 +0100 3440856 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3408412&cid=t_123276_105_f&fid=38964&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdrwes.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fwhy-do-medicine-when-you-can-advise-for.html It's very generous of Sanolfi-Aventis's marketing department to make this offer (pdf) for me to serve as an "advisor" for dronedarone today, but seriously, I was a bit skeptical that they wanted my "feedback on the reasons for and against utlilization of Multaq® in the appropriate patient as well as to understand communication and educational needs with regard to Multaq® and the atrial fibrillation state in general."Where were they when the drug launched? Might it be because it's this drug has not been quite the blockbuster they'd hoped for?But of course I'd never be swayed to use more of this drug by this important consulting work. No, really.-WesP.S.: To Sanolfi-Aventis marketers: Please update your prescriber database with my correct workplace.Musings of a cardiologist and cardiac ele... Dr. Wes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3408412 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:52:00 +0100 3408412 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3398863&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fdr-pangloss-as-nih-institute-director.html DR. PANGLOSS AS NIH INSTITUTE DIRECTORJAMA is out today with a Commentary by Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Using indirection, Dr. Insel has risen to the defense of seven academic psychiatrists on whom an ethical searchlight has been trained for the past several years by Senator Grassley and others. With ludicrous optimism and a series of straw man discussions, Dr. Insel makes the case that things are not really as bad as they seemed to be or, if they were, then other specialty physicians were doing much the same things. Dr. Insel needs to recalibrate his ethical compass.Why is an NIH Institute Director issuing this apologia for the corruption of academic psychiatry? Does he not have better things to do, such as ensuring that longstanding NIH regulat... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3398863 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:42:00 +0100 3398863 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3386869&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fstudy-researchers-with-glaxo-ties.html As mentioned in my previous post on the MIT controversy surrounding an economist's testifying to Congress on healthcare policy without revealing possible economic conflicts of interest that could affect his views, frequently expressed on this blog are concerns about undisclosed conflicts of interest and their corrosive effects upon healthcare (query link).One major question that arises is the degree to which conflicts of interest can affect the integrity of the scientific literature. Answering this question is more a matter of social science research rather than biomedical inquiry.One internal medicine resident at the Mayo Clinic took on this challenge and published such a study, a systematic review, in the British Medical Journal. It is entitled "Association between industry affiliation a... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3386869 Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:40:00 +0100 3386869 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3382771&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fgruber-at-mit-to-sen-grassley-i-promise.html In a stunning display of academic arrogance, MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, who promoted and defended the administration's health care policies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance as well as the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, while collecting $400,000 from HHS for his services, literally blew off a letter of inquiry from Senators Grassley and Enzi regarding possible conflicts of interest. (See this Google search on the terms "jonathan gruber conflict of interest HHS".)The professor has been a source of support for what many consider improbable arguments of the impact of current health care reform efforts, while being on the HHS dole.Sen. Grassley and Sen. Enzi have thus written Dr. Susan Hockfield, President of MIT, to "encourage" the professor to be a... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3382771 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:58:00 +0100 3382771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3369090&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F03%2F16%2Fingushetia-2%2F , Russian Federation – December 2009 On the road to Malgobek, a wedding dress for sale. Ingushetia, a small republic of the Russian Federation, in the North Caucasus, bordering Chechnya, once housed over 140,000 displaced Chechens who fled the war. Nowadays, there are an estimated 18,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the republic, many of them living in precarious conditions. But the situation of the local population is not much better. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3369090 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:07:34 +0100 3369090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366277&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F14%2Fthe-situation-of-the-health-care-debate%2F A Harvard Law student wrote a worthwhile post on Law & Mind a few weeks ago about some of the dynamics behind the health care debate.  Here is an excerpt. * * * How should an institution inspire collective action?  What’s the best strategy?  The conventional wisdom is that to solve a collective problem, the institution should reward contributors and punish free-riders.  To prevent people from littering, fine them; to induce people to donate to charity, reward them; to move people to invent, lure them with intellectual property . . . .  The implicit reasoning is that the typical human agent is a rational wealth-optimizer who won’t contribute to a public good unless he or she is incentivized to do.  Yet, . . . the rational actor model isn’t an accurate depiction of human natu... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366277 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:27:41 +0100 3366277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3363664&cid=t_123276_105_f&fid=38964&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdrwes.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fblogging-acc-note-from-unwashed.html Forgive me Lord, for I have sinned...I was a speaker for Medtronic a while back, I'm not sure when. I was paid a fee to do this, but I can't recall exactly how much. (No doubt Senator Grassley knows by now.) I'm not even sure if my contract with Medtronic is still in effect, but I disclosed that former relationship to the American College of Cardiology before their upcoming meeting since I am blogging the conference this year.And I was shunned.Oh sure, they paid my registration fee - that was the original agreement (my "pay" if you will) - but because of my unwashed status as a former speaker for a company, there will be no coffee and donuts, no access to cell phone rechargers, no sit-down laptop computer space, and no early access to press releases and interviews with investigators. *Sigh... Dr. Wes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3363664 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:13:00 +0100 3363664 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3331367&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F04%2Fthe-situation-of-looting%2F Stephen Mulvey for BBC News had an illuminating article earlier this article, asking “Why Do People Loot?“  Here are some excerpts. * * * Chile could be mistaken for being in the throes of a political uprising rather than the aftermath of a natural disaster. “We understand your urgent suffering, but we also know that these are criminal acts that will not be tolerated,” President Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday, condemning the “pillage and criminality”. * * * Social psychologists accept both that looting is criminal behaviour, and that it is natural when the forces of law and order disappear. They distinguish different types of looting, including: Looting of goods needed for survival Opportunistic theft of good such as TV sets Collective action, cond... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3331367 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:37:35 +0100 3331367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3306913&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F25%2Fthe-interior-situational-reaction-to-inequality%2F In this study, we’re starting to get an idea of where this inequality aversion comes from,” he says. “It’s not just the application of a social rule or convention; there’s really something about the basic processing of rewards in the brain that reflects these considerations.” The brain processes “rewards”—things like food, money, and even pleasant music, which create positive responses in the body—in areas such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and ventral striatum. In a series of experiments, former Caltech postdoctoral scholar Elizabeth Tricomi (now an assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University)—along with O’Doherty, Camerer, and Antonio Rangel, associate professor of economics at Caltech—watched how t... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3306913 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:21:34 +0100 3306913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3244048&cid=t_123276_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FU_U7Ito0v0w%2F The research collaboration between Janet Woodcock, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, and scientists at Momenta Pharmaceuticals during the 2008 heparin crisis did not constitute a conflict, even though the drugmaker had an application pending before the agency, according to FDA legal counsel Ralph Tyler, The Baltimore Sun writes. But Woodcock voluntarily removed herself from considering the application, as well as a competing one filed by Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, which raised the allegations last April, the paper reminds us. Both companies are developing a generic version of low molecular weight heparin, which is currently sold by Sanofi-Aventis as Lovenox. “We’ve determined that there’s no conflict here,” Tyler tells the paper, ad... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3244048 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:00:28 +0100 3244048 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3220559&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F01%2F29%2Fdo-you-refer-to-yourselves-as-we-in-a-couple%2F If you do, congratulations! You’re likely better at conflict resolution with your partner than couples who don’t refer to themselves as “we.” How do we know? Well, conversations can tell us a lot about how couples view themselves, both individually and as a couple. By analyzing conversations between couples, you can learn a lot about their interactions: UC Berkeley researchers analyzed conversations between 154 middle-aged and older couples about points of disagreement in their marriages and found that those who used pronouns such as “we,” “our” and “us” behaved more positively toward one another and showed less physiological stress. In contrast, couples who emphasized their “separateness” by using pronouns such as “I,” “me” and “you” we... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3220559 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:02:37 +0100 3220559 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3210949&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2010%2F01%2F27%2Fchad-2%2F Iridimi, Chad – September 2007 A girl hangs the washing on a tree to dry outside the Iridimi refugee camp. The area around the camp is deforested by the refugees. Women have to go far away from the camp to find fire wood. Thousands of Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes due to the escalating violence in the Darfur region and are now living in temporary refugee camps in eastern Chad. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3210949 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:46:57 +0100 3210949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3193799&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F21%2Fdavid-berreby-interviews-frans-de-waal%2F Situationist friend and author David Berreby recently conducted a fascinating interview of  primatologist Frans De Waal on BloggingHeads.  A rough table of contents of their discussion is listed just below the video. * * * * * * Frans’s latest book, “The Age of Empathy” (04:11) Empathy as a social contagion (06:54) A biological basis for morality and soccer hooliganism (18:48) Does religion have to be at war with science? (12:48) The fragility of empathy (04:08) Enron, the selfish gene, and Nazi pseudoscience (08:14) * * * To read about Frans de Waal’s latest book, The Age of Empathy, click here. To check out David Berreby’s excellent blog, Mind Matters, click here. For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Science of Morality,” “The Si... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3193799 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:01:12 +0100 3193799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3126799&cid=t_123276_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fdysfunctional-families%2F Dysfunctional families maintain a false facade in public Dysfunctional Families; Types, Symptoms and Effect on Children A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehaviour and even abuse on the part of individual members of the family occur continually, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is normal. Dysfunctional families are most often a result of the alcoholism, substance abuse, or other addictions of parents, parents’ untreated mental illnesses/defects or personality disorders, or the parents emulating their own dysfunctional parents and dysfunctional family experiences. Behavior patterns Dysfunctional family members have common symptoms and behavior patterns as a ... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3126799 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:03:22 +0100 3126799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3107845&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F12%2F21%2Fafghanistan-4%2F Photo: Mads Nissen / Berlingske Lashkargah , Helmand Province – March 2009 A child waits for treatment at ‘Boost Hospital’. MSF has just started working in the only public general hospital still functioning in Helmand, in the provincial capital Lashkargah. It is one of the key health facilities in the south of Afghanistan, a region that is severely affected by ongoing conflict. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3107845 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:39:17 +0100 3107845 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096926&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F17%2Fsteven-pinker-speaks-at-harvard-law-school%2F From HLS in Focus (describing the new student group working with the Project on Law and Mind Sciences (PLMS) at Harvard Law School and the fascinating talk that Stephen Pinker recently gave there). * * * “SALMS” is a recently formed group whose acronym stands for: Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences. They are interested keeping the law school community informed about research in the mind sciences that has profound implications for law and policy making. The group is currently in the process of creating a journal that touches on the same topic. If they are successful, it will be the first journal of its kind in the country. The event that I attended was a lecture by Harvard College Professor, Steven Pinker. The title of the talk was: “A History of Violence: How We Became Le... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096926 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:56:05 +0100 3096926 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3092738&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F12%2F16%2F10-things-i-dont-want-for-christmas%2F While everybody else is busy publishing their “Top 10″ lists for Christmas and year-end, I thought I’d do something a little different… So here’s 10 things I don’t want for Christmas. 10. Excuses. I’m so sick of hearing excuses from people, rather than results. All the time you spend explaining why you didn’t do such and such or couldn’t find XYZ could’ve been spent actually doing such and such or finding XYZ. I think sometimes we all have had our share of hearing enough excuses from others. 9. Endless war and death. Apparently some of our most recent presidents here in the U.S. haven’t been very avid historians. I think it should be requirement of a politician for higher office that they must pass a minimum set of world hi... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3092738 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:41:40 +0100 3092738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3107846&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F12%2F14%2F1151%2F © Jenn Warren Upper Nile, Southern Sudan, November 25, 2009 A woman from Torkej, dismantles her tukul to sell the wood and grass in Nasir for food. Torkej, Jikany Nuer territory, was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe, and is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids and attacks because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. Her 7 children and husband were all killed in the nighttime raid, and she is terrified to return home for fear of another violent attack. Tribal violence overall in Southern Sudan has dramatically increased in 2009, with over 2000 deaths. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3107846 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:12:04 +0100 3107846 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084105&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F12%2F14%2F1151%2F © Jenn Warren Upper Nile, Southern Sudan, November 25, 2009 A woman from Torkej, dismantles her tukul to sell the wood and grass in Nasir for food. Torkej, Jikany Nuer territory, was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe, and is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids and attacks because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. Her 7 children and husband were all killed in the nighttime raid, and she is terrified to return home for fear of another violent attack. Tribal violence overall in Southern Sudan has dramatically increased in 2009, with over 2000 deaths. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084105 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:12:04 +0100 3084105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3048193&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F02%2Fthe-situation-of-violence%2F From BBC’s Horizon: What makes ordinary people commit extreme acts of violence? In a thought-provoking and disturbing journey, Michael Portillo investigates one of the darker sides of human nature. He discovers what it is like to inflict pain and is driven to the edge of violence himself in an extreme sleep deprivation study. He meets men for whom violence has become an addiction and ultimately discovers that each of us could be inherently more violent than we think, and watches a replication of one of the most controversial studies in history, the Milgram study. Will study participants be willing to administer a seemingly lethal electric shock to someone they think is an innocent bystander? * * * * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts about the situation of violenc... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3048193 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:01:10 +0100 3048193 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044824&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F01%2Fthe-situation-of-negotiation%2F This study demonstrates that social neuroscience may provide a new way of understanding micro-processes in cross-cultural negotiations and conflict resolution. * * * You can download the paper for free here.  For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “Social Neuroscience and the Study of Racial Biases,” “Law & the Brain,” “The Situation of Risk Perceptions – Abstract,”and to review previous Situationist posts on cultural cognition, click here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044824 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:01:23 +0100 3044824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3025392&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F11%2F25%2Fcongo-11%2F Photo: Martin Beaulieu Rutshuru, North Kivu Province – September 2009 Françoise Kavira and her mother in the hospital of Rutshuru. Françoise is recovering from severe burn wounds after bandits set fire to her house. More photos & stories from Eastern Congo at Condition: Critical (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3025392 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:54:57 +0100 3025392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2999592&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F11%2F17%2Freducing-marital-stress-through-communication%2F One heavily researched area within psychology is couples’ and marital communication. How a couple chooses to communicate — especially during a conflict — affects all sorts of things in the relationship: stress, relationship health, intimacy, even each person’s health. As Gouin et al. (2009) note in a summary of our existing research on this issue: Individuals reporting lower marital satisfaction experienced more non-specific physical illness symptoms over a 4-year period than individuals with higher marital satisfaction. Among healthy women, lower marital satisfaction was also associated with a more rapid progression of carotid atherosclerosis. Furthermore, women who were initially dissatisfied in their marital relationship were more likely to develop metabolic syn... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2999592 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:23:39 +0100 2999592 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2994978&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F11%2F16%2Fsudan-5%2F Photo: Erik Refner El Geneina, West Darfur – November 2004 A little girl is running though the streets of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state in Sudan. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2994978 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:30:50 +0100 2994978 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2976409&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F11%2F10%2Fcongo-10%2F Photo: Michael Goldfarb Mweso, North Kivu – October 20, 2009 A woman carries a load of firewood with her child balanced on top as she walks along a dirt road in the village of Mweso in North Kivu Province. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2976409 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:20:17 +0100 2976409 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2973137&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F11%2F09%2Fingushetia%2F Photo: Eddy Van Wessel Ingushetia, October 2003 Children doing gymnastics in one of the settlements for internally displaced people (IDP) coming from Chechnya. Many of the IDPs in Ingushetia were housed in spontaneous settlements, or kompaktniki. Often sub-divided warehouse spaces, former factories or roughly fabricated plywood containers, the kompaktniki were in a pitiful condition. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2973137 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:08:14 +0100 2973137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2965985&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F11%2F06%2Fcongo-9%2F Photo: Robin Meldrum Nyanzale, North Kivu – September 15, 2009 In Kikuku IDP camp near Nyanzale. Three days before this photo, the camp had been scene of a 4-hour gun battle at night. All the inhabitants of the camp fled down into the valley and, when they returned the next day, many found the few possessions they had brought with them to the camp had been looted. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2965985 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:41:17 +0100 2965985 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2967250&cid=t_123276_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fis-someone-at-jefferson-regional.html This curious story appeared about apparent clinician health IT safety concerns at Jefferson Regional Medical Center near Pittsburgh:Switch to electronic records alarms Jefferson Regional physiciansBy Walter F. Roche Jr.PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEWFriday, October 30, 2009Jefferson Regional Medical Center's attempts to convert to electronic medical records have some doctors concerned about patient safety. In a memo issued this month, the hospital's Health Information Technology Committee announced the 373-bed facility in Jefferson Hills would revert to printed versions of patients' consultant reports "due to patient safety concerns from the majority of physicians." Jefferson executives downplayed the memo and said they found no evidence that patient safety has been impacted, arguing a small g... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2967250 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:35:00 +0100 2967250 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2963174&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F05%2Fasymmetric-introspection-and-extrospection%2F Situationist Contributor Emily Pronin recently wrote a very helpful primer on her work on the difference between “How We See Ourselves and How We See Others,” which she published in Science.  Here’s the abstract. * * * People see themselves differently from how they see others. They are immersed in their own sensations, emotions, and cognitions at the same time that their experience of others is dominated by what can be observed externally. This basic asymmetry has broad consequences. It leads people to judge themselves and their own behavior differently from how they judge others and those others behavior. Often, those differences produce disagreement and conflict. Understanding the psychological basis of those differences may help mitigate some of their negative effect... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2963174 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:07:57 +0100 2963174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927385&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F26%2Fthe-cruelty-of-children%2F The always outstanding and very situationist This American Life, has a terrific episode on the “The Cruelty of Children” that relates closely to yesterday’s post and makes excellent weekend listening.  You can listen to the episode here and download the podcast here.  Here’s the program description. * * * Stories about kids being mean to each other. Prologue.Bully Book. A first-grader explains to host Ira Glass how bullies become bullies. His explanation: They read a book on how to be a bully. According to his reasoning, how else could you explain why kids are mean to each other? It couldn’t be that they’re just bad. (2 minutes) Act One. I Like Guys. David Sedaris reads one of his funniest and most affecting stories from his book Naked before a live au... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927385 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:01:02 +0100 2927385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2911169&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F10%2F21%2Fcongo-8%2F Photo: Moises Saman Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo – September 2009 A dirt road leading to the Bulange IDP camp housing over 10,000 displaced people outside of Goma, North Kivu, DRC. According to the UN, more than 800,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu provinces as a result of military operations against the Rwandan rebel group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and local militia allies since January 2009. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2911169 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:34:33 +0100 2911169 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2912273&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2009%2F10%2F21%2Fconflicts-of-interest-in-medical-journal-publishing%2F Publish or Perish sums up the urgency for scientists to publish in top journals. Scientists work in competitive environments in which publishing is essential to their careers, reputation and research funding. Journal editors and peer reviewers are the ones to judge the manuscripts for quality and safeguard the interests of the readership of the journal. The editors have different tasks to preform in order to prevent conflict of interests and ensuring the readers of read worthy publications. The first one being the prevention of duplicate publications. This is also called the “Ingelfinger rule”. But what constitutes duplication? Duplicate publication can take a number of forms, ranging from splitting data into the “minimal publishable unit” (MPU) described by Bill Parmley, ... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2912273 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:39:02 +0100 2912273 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2907603&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F10%2F20%2Fsomalia-4%2F Photo: Javier Roldan Jamaame hospital, southern Somalia – July 2009 The hospital was opened in March 2007. A 55 beds hospital, located nearly 30 kms North of Kismayo. Activities include Nutrition, maternity, general medicine and emergency care. In 2009, there was an average of 4 000 consultations and 140 admissions per month. In terms of nutrition an average of 260 kids have been treated every month in ambulatory while 90 more sever cases had to be admitted every month. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2907603 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:11:08 +0100 2907603 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2904947&cid=t_123276_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F19%2Fdan-gilbert-on-the-situation-of-our-decisions%2F Situationist friend Dan Gilbert, who will be speaking today at Harvard Law School (details here), recently completed another fascinating TedTalk. Here is their summary:   “Dan Gilbert presents research and data from his exploration of happiness — sharing some surprising tests and experiments that you can also try on yourself. Watch through to the end for a sparkling Q&A with some familiar TED faces.”  Here’s the video. * * * * * * For a sample of previous Situationist posts by or about Dan Gilbert and his work, see “The Situational Consequences of Uncertainty,” “Dan Gilbert on the Situation of Psychology,” “Something to Smile About,” “The Situation of Climate Change,” “The Heat is On,” “Don’t ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2904947 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:15:02 +0100 2904947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2897636&cid=t_123276_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2009%2F10%2F16%2Fcongo-7%2F Photo: Michael Goldfarb Muheto, North Kivu – October 2009 A twelve-month-old boy weighing just five kilograms cries during an examination at an MSF feeding center in Muheto, North Kivu, DRC, October 15, 2009. The severely malnourished child, born in an IDP camp, returned to his home viallge with his mother only last week. She had been unable to feed him properly during their displacement. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2897636 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:24:39 +0100 2897636