23 August, 2013

Biggest heart attack risks for Indians revealed

Indian researchers have conducted a data mining exercise to find out important risk factors in increasing the chances of an individual having a heart attack.

The authors confirm that the usual suspects high blood cholesterol, intake of alcohol and passivesmoking play the most crucial role in 'severe,' 'moderate' and 'mild' cardiac risks, respectively.

Subhagata Chattopadhyay of the Camellia Institute of Engineering in Kolkata used 300 real-world sample patient cases with various levels of cardiac risk - mild, moderate and severe and mined the data based on twelve known predisposing factors: age, gender, alcohol abuse, cholesterol level, smoking (active and passive), physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes, family history, and prior cardiac event.

He then built a risk model that revealed specific risk factors associated with heart attack risk.

Chattopadhyay explained that the essence of this work essentially lies in the introduction of clustering techniques instead of purely statistical modeling, where the latter has its own limitations in 'data-model fitting' compared to the former that is more flexible.

He said that the reliability of the data used, should be checked, and this has been done in this work to increase its authenticity. I reviewed several papers on epidemiological research, where I'm yet to see these methodologies, used.

The study has been published in International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

23.08.2013

How personality affects ability to have kids

A new study has found a link between men's and women's personalities and the likelihood of them having kids.

Men with neurotic personality traits are having fewer children compared to previous generations, according to the study. The study examined the effect of personality on how likely a person is to have children, using extensive survey and birth registry data fromNorway.

It also found that men who are extraverted and open tend to have more children, while women who rank as conscientious on personality tests tend to have fewer children, although these findings were constant across generations.

The study could have important implications for population dynamics at a time when fertility rates across developed countries have fallen to below replacement rates.

Personality effects may be one factor contributing to the decline of fertility rates in Europe, but they have not previously been studied in detail, IIASA's Vegard Skirbekk, who led the study, said.

Population changes are an important factor for projecting future changes in sustainability, climate, energy, and food security, IIASA's core research areas.

In particular, Skirbekk notes the decline in childbearing among neurotic men—neurotic meaning individuals who tend to be moody and emotional.

The study found that the effect only applies for men born after 1957.

Skirbekk said that the change in these men's fertility could be due to new norms in having children, for example that couples today wait longer to have children, and couples tend to test each other out more before committing to raising children together.

The study is published in the European Journal of Personality.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

23.08.2013

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it

William Arthur Ward