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Social Sciences - Politics - 13.12.2022
Women's suffrage: better level of education, fewer weddings
Women’s suffrage: better level of education, fewer weddings
The introduction of the general right to vote for women in Switzerland contributed significantly to their emancipation. Researchers at the University of Basel have now retrospectively statistically evaluated and quantified the effects on employment, education and the family model. The anonymous petition by women in Zurich demanding women's suffrage in 1868 as part of the constitutional reform had no chance of success, as did many other initiatives to this end.

Health - Social Sciences - 10.12.2022
LGBT people at a health disadvantage
LGBT people at a health disadvantage
The University of Lucerne studied whether and in which areas lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans (LGBT) people have unequal health opportunities compared to the rest of the Swiss population.

Social Sciences - Psychology - 28.11.2022
Why we display belonging on Social Media
Why we display belonging on Social Media
Previous research on social media has mainly focused on how often people use it. Researchers from the University of Basel and the University of Koblenz-Landau have developed a new construct for measuring why people spend so much time on these platforms - and what content they post. November 2022 Are you the sort of person who likes to post photos on Instagram or Facebook and tag people in them? Do you frequently add things like "#bestfriends" or "BFFs"- If so, you probably have a high level of DTBP, or desire to belong publicly.

Social Sciences - 24.11.2022
Girls are trendsetters on social networks
Girls are trendsetters on social networks
When it comes to widely used social networks, girls set the trends. They join new social networks earlier than boys, as the JAMES 2022 study by ZHAW and Swisscom shows.

Social Sciences - Psychology - 07.11.2022
Summer camps promote altruism in children
Summer camps promote altruism in children
A team from the University of Geneva shows that participating in camps helps develop valuable socio-emotional skills. Be able to control oneself, cooperate or help others: having socio-emotional abilities is essential for those who wish to interact positively with their peers. These skills are largely acquired during childhood and can be trained in different contexts, such as school, family or leisure.

Health - Social Sciences - 28.10.2022
Current Recommended Treatment against Whipworm Shows Better Results than New Drug Combination
Current Recommended Treatment against Whipworm Shows Better Results than New Drug Combination
Swiss TPH researchers tested two different drug combinations against the parasitic worm Trichuris trichiura on Pemba Island, Tanzania. Findings show that a new treatment combination (moxidectin and albendazole) is inferior compared to the current recommended treatment combination (ivermectin and albendazole).

Pharmacology - Social Sciences - 27.10.2022
Vodka, Benzodiazepines & Co: A Dangerous Mix for Young People
At least 33 young people have died from polydrug use in Switzerland since 2018. Polydrug use refers to taking two or more psychoactive substances at the same time. The young adults are often unaware of the associated risks and rarely use the available services to minimize the risks, the initial results of a study by the Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (IGSF) and the University of Zurich have shown.

Pedagogy - Social Sciences - 13.10.2022
Early Self-Regulation Boosts Children's Educational Success
Early Self-Regulation Boosts Children’s Educational Success
A study by the universities of Zurich and Mainz has shown that teaching children how to manage their attention and impulses in primary school has a positive long-term effect on their later educational success. Self-regulation, i.e., the ability to manage attention, emotions and impulses, as well as to pursue individual goals with perseverance, is not a skill that we usually associate with young children.

Career - Social Sciences - 10.10.2022
The days of the generalist are gone. Long live the specialist!
In science, specialization pays off - at least when it comes to career impact. That's the finding of a team of researchers who looked specifically at this subject. Is it better to be a generalist or a specialist? Gaétan de Rassenfosse, who holds the Chair of Innovation and IP Policy at EPFL, set about answering this question by digging through data on more than 30,000 biomedical researchers.

Social Sciences - Psychology - 13.07.2022
Social Development of Infants Unaffected by Covid-19 Pandemic
Social Development of Infants Unaffected by Covid-19 Pandemic
Health issues and loss, social isolation and mental health problems - the pandemic has had a drastic effect on our society. But how have the youngest members of society been coping with these changes? Researchers at the University of Zurich have found that the presence of parents and caregivers is enough to mitigate the pandemic's negative effects on the social development of infants.

Social Sciences - 08.07.2022
How Society Thinks About Risk
How Society Thinks About Risk
From pandemics to nuclear energy - the world is full of risks. Psychologists at the University of Basel have developed a new method of determining how risk is perceived within a society. Many of our everyday activities involve a certain degree of risk - whether to our work, finances or health. But how is risk perceived within a society and how do individuals think about risk? This was what Dr. Dirk Wulff and Professor Rui Mata, researchers in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Basel, set out to discover.

Social Sciences - Health - 20.06.2022
The economic effects of Cannabis in Switzerland
The economic effects of Cannabis in Switzerland
A study conducted by the UNIGE and the consulting firm EBP reveals that the entire Cannabis system in Switzerland generates an annual turnover of one billion francs. Cannabis generates an annual turnover of around one billion Swiss Francs. This sum does not only contain production, import and trade in the shadow economy but also legal economic activity such as policing, the judicial system, social work and healthcare.

Social Sciences - Life Sciences - 24.03.2022
Popular Male Dolphins Produce More Offspring
Popular Male Dolphins Produce More Offspring
The reproductive success of male dolphins is not determined by strength or age, but via social bonds with other males. The better integrated males are in their social network, the more offspring they produce, a new study by an international team of researchers led by the University of Zurich has shown using long-term behavioral and genetic data.

Social Sciences - Health - 17.03.2022
The colored skeletons of Çatalhöyük
The colored skeletons of Çatalhöyük
An international team with participation of the University of Bern provides new insights about how the inhabitants of the "oldest city in the world" in Éatalhöyük (Turkey) buried their dead. Their bones were partially painted, excavated several times and reburied. The findings provide insight into the burial rituals of a fascinating society that lived 9000 years ago.

Life Sciences - Social Sciences - 09.03.2022
Connecting stress, weight, and social anxiety in early adolescence
Scientists at EPFL have found a biological connection explaining why there is an increased predisposition to develop obesity and being less sociable in individuals that have experienced stress during early puberty. Between the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence, there is a critical window of time referred to as -peripuberty-.

Environment - Social Sciences - 08.02.2022
Citizen Science: Knowledge as a weapon in the fight for clean water
Citizen Science: Knowledge as a weapon in the fight for clean water
There is too much nickel, too much arsenic and far too much manganese. The research project by Désirée Ruppen, who is doing her doctorate at the aquatic research institute Eawag and the ETH Zurich, provides watertight proof for the first time of what everyone on the ground already knew. The Deka River in the Hwange district is heavily polluted by coal mining and the coal-fired power plant, and is a serious health risk for the people who drink its water or fish in it.

Health - Social Sciences - 08.02.2022
Altitude Positively Impacts Cardiovascular Health Peruvian Study Finds
Altitude Positively Impacts Cardiovascular Health Peruvian Study Finds
People living in high altitudes are less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, a key indicator of cardiovascular health. A study published today in PLOS One investigated the association between the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and the use of improved cook stoves in the rural Andes in Peru. While the use of these stoves was not found to be related to better metabolic health, body mass index (BMI) and altitude appear to be strong determinants of metabolic syndrome.

Health - Social Sciences - 03.02.2022
Analysis of 20 Years Finds Malaria Control in Young Children Saves Lives into Adulthood
Analysis of 20 Years Finds Malaria Control in Young Children Saves Lives into Adulthood
Tanzanian study of 6,700 children over two decades highlights new insights into the long-term health benefits of bed nets. Bed nets save lives in the long run, according to a 22-year study in Tanzania, which for the first time, indicates that children who sleep under them at an early age are more likely to survive into adulthood.

Social Sciences - Health - 03.02.2022
Childhood health and cultural inequalities: women pay the price
Childhood health and cultural inequalities: women pay the price
Scientists from the University of Geneva and Université Grenoble Alpes have shown that women from under-privileged cultural backgrounds are less likely to take physical exercise in adulthood. It has now been demonstrated that the socio-economic conditions in which children grow up in will have an impact on their health behaviour- particularly physical activity - in adulthood.

Social Sciences - Health - 02.02.2022
Mosquito nets in young children save lives into adulthood
Mosquito nets in young children save lives into adulthood
Bed nets save lives in the long run. For the first time, a study indicates that children who sleep under a mosquito net at an early age are more likely to survive into adulthood. This is shown by a long-term study over two decades with 6,700 children in Tanzania. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , followed more than 6,700 children from 1998, tracking them again in 2019 to find out what happened to them.