For a brief period, anyone who searched POPLINE using the search term “abortion” would get 0 results. Inquiries by concerned librarians revealed that POPLINE administrators at Johns Hopkins had made “abortion” a stop word after USAID, the reproductive health database’s funder, expressed concern about a few articles in the database. “Abortion” was quickly restored as a search term after numerous complaints.

For more, see articles at NPR and the Baltimore Sun.

The PRI Library has received announcement of the C2S Summer Biomarkers Institute, to be held June 9-11 at the Evanston, IL campus of the Northwestern University.

A good marriage is associated with lower blood pressure, but a bad marriage is worse than being single, according to a preliminary study forthcoming in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. (USA Today)

Citation: J. Holt-Lunstad, W. Birmingham, & B. Jones. (2008). Is there something unique about marriage? The relative impact of marital status, relationship quality, and network social support on ambulatory blood pressure and mental health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. (Abstract available online)

The Statistics Department within the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has just launched a new internet-based data service for the global user community. The service brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can search and down load a variety of statistical resources of the UN system. Click here for more information and access to the service.

The PRI Library has received announcement of the “What’s the Use of Race?” conference to be held at the MIT Faculty Club on April 25-26, 2008 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The PRI Library has received announcement of the 2008 Diabetes & Obesity Disparities in Healthcare Systems Conference to be held June 30 - July 1, 2008 in Bethesda MD.

The over-85 group is the fastest-growing population in the US, and even those with chronic conditions have a good chance at living to 100, according to an NPR story.

See also: Dellara F. Terry, Paola Sebastiani, Stacy L. Andersen, & Thomas T. Perls (2008). Disentangling the Roles of Disability and Morbidity in Survival to Exceptional Old Age. Archives of Internal Medicine, 168(3):277-283. (Available online to the Penn State community)

Measles epidemics in Niger fluctuate wildly from one season to another but the timing of the outbreaks always coincides with the end of the annual rainy season, according to an international team of researchers.

The erratic nature of the outbreaks, they add, underlies the need for greater surveillance to detect potential epidemics and a quicker vaccination response to control the disease.

The lead author of the study is Matthew Ferrari, research associate at Penn State’s Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics.

Citation: Ferrari, M. J., Grais, R. F., Bharti, N., et al. (2008). The dynamics of measles in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature, 451(7179), 679-684. (Available online to the Penn State community)

Two new books chronicle public understanding of the causes of cancer, from the original focus on environmental issues to concentration on lifestyle and hereditary factors and a return to the environment. Sandra Steingraber discusses the books and her own experience with cancer in The Times Literary Supplement.

Biostatistician Andrew Vickers writes in the New York Times that many cancer researchers refuse to share their data, even when sharing it could potentially save lives.The National Institutes of Health (NIH) request that researchers they fund share their data:

The NIH expects and supports the timely release and sharing of final research data from NIH-supported studies for use by other researchers. Starting with the October 1, 2003 receipt date, investigators submitting an NIH application seeking $500,000 or more in direct costs in any single year are expected to include a plan for data sharing or state why data sharing is not possible. (NIH Data Sharing Policy)