University of British Columbia

About: University of British Columbia is a education organization based out in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 89939 authors who have published 209679 publications receiving 9226862 citations. The organization is also known as: UBC & The University of British Columbia.

Most people are not WEIRD

Abstract: To understand human psychology, behavioural scientists must stop doing most of their experiments on Westerners, argue Joseph Henrich, Steven J. Heine and Ara Norenzayan.

Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production

Abstract: In recent years, several extreme weather disasters have partially or completely damaged regional crop production. While detailed regional accounts of the effects of extreme weather disasters exist, the global scale effects of droughts, floods and extreme temperature on crop production are yet to be quantified. Here we estimate for the first time, to our knowledge, national cereal production losses across the globe resulting from reported extreme weather disasters during 1964-2007. We show that droughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9-10%, whereas our analysis could not identify an effect from floods and extreme cold in the national data. Analysing the underlying processes, we find that production losses due to droughts were associated with a reduction in both harvested area and yields, whereas extreme heat mainly decreased cereal yields. Furthermore, the results highlight ~7% greater production damage from more recent droughts and 8-11% more damage in developed countries than in developing ones. Our findings may help to guide agricultural priorities in international disaster risk reduction and adaptation efforts.

Simvastatin and Niacin, Antioxidant Vitamins, or the Combination for the Prevention of Coronary Disease

Abstract: Background Both lipid-modifying therapy and antioxidant vitamins are thought to have benefit in patients with coronary disease. We studied simvastatin–niacin and antioxidant-vitamin therapy, alone and together, for cardiovascular protection in patients with coronary disease and low plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Methods In a three-year, double-blind trial, 160 patients with coronary disease, low HDL cholesterol levels, and normal low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were randomly assigned to receive one of four regimens: simvastatin plus niacin, antioxidants, simvastatin–niacin plus antioxidants, or placebos. The end points were arteriographic evidence of a change in coronary stenosis and the occurrence of a first cardiovascular event (death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or revascularization). Results The mean levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol were unaltered in the antioxidant group and the placebo group; these levels changed substantially (by –42 percent and +2...