Tag Archives: Study

Study Claims Scottish Independence Will Be More Damaging Than Brexit

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Scotland’s possible independence from the UK is more likely to harm the country’s finance sector than the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), according to a new research.

According to the study released by the Strathclyde University on Monday, Scotland’s banks and financial institutions are expected to survive the Brexit shock with no major implications.

However, the outlook of an independence from the UK looks grimier than even a “sharp” Brexit, the research warns.

Under the “hard Brexit” formula, the UK may lose its preferential access to the EU’s single market and suffer from soured relations with other EU members.

“The uncertainties for the sector following independence look even greater than those following a sharp Brexit,” read the report, which was conducted by former Royal Bank of Scotland economist Jeremy Peat and Owen Kelly, head of Scottish Financial Enterprise.

“There are risks associated with Brexit but, historically, they are not the largest that the industry has faced,” the report continued.

“While it is not easy to see new opportunities arising from Brexit, equally the threats are not, given the diversity of the sector existential.”

Around 90,000 people are directly employed by the Scotland’s financial services, while another 90,000 jobs are indirectly dependent on the industry. Overall, the sector contributes £8 billion to the economy.

Scottish and British officials have been at odds over Brexit, ever since an EU referendum in June.

Although nearly 52 percent of Britons opted to leave the bloc during the vote, some 62 percent of the Scottish people voted against the decision.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has made it clear that she will complete the Brexit process by 2019 and that Scotland has no veto over it. She has also turned down Glasgow’s calls for an ‘equal’ role in the Brexit negotiations.

The spat has revitalized Scottish hopes for secession, two years after the first independence referendum on September 18, 2014, where 55 percent of the voters opposed the idea.

According to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland and the other two devolved administrations—Wales and Northern Ireland—were in favor of the UK remaining in the single market.

Credit: presstv

One In 10 Children Has ‘Aids Defence’, Study Says

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A 10th of children have a “monkey-like” immune system that stops them developing Aids, a study suggests.

The study, in Science Translational Medicine, found the children’s immune systems were “keeping calm”, which prevented them being wiped out.

An untreated HIV infection will kill 60% of children within two and a half years, but the equivalent infection in monkeys is not fatal.

The findings could lead to new immune-based therapies for HIV infection.

The virus eventually wipes out the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to other infections, what is known as acquired human immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids).

The researchers analysed the blood of 170 children from South Africa who had HIV, had never had antiretroviral therapy and yet had not developed Aids.

Tests showed they had tens of thousands of human immunodeficiency viruses in every millilitre of their blood.

This would normally send their immune system into overdrive, trying to fight the infection, or simply make them seriously ill, but neither had happened.

Read More: BBC

Laziness Is Actually A Sign Of High Intelligence – Scientists

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Brainy people spend more time lounging around than their less intelligent counterparts, a new study has found.

 

People with a high IQ rarely get bored, leading them to spend more time lost in thought, according to scientists Florida Gulf Coast University.

 

The results suggest that less intelligent people are more prone to boredom, and may use physical activity as a way of alleviating it.

 

Using a decades-old “need for cognition” psychology test, researchers identified 30 students who expressed a strong desire to think a lot, and 30 who were keen to avoid anything too mentally taxing.

 

The test, which was taken online, involves rating how strongly participants agree with statements such as: “I really enjoy a task that involves coming up with new solutions to problems”.

 

 Brain activity

All of the participants – 30 ‘thinkers and 30 ‘non-thinkers’ – then wore a fitness tracker on their wrist for seven days to measure how physically active they were during their everyday lives.

 

The thinkers were found to be significantly less active from Monday to Friday than the non-thinkers.

 

There was no difference between the two groups over the weekend, something that the researchers were unable to explain.

 

While less active people may be more intelligent, the researchers stressed that physical activity is important to avoid the negative health affects of a sedentary lifestyle.

 

As the sample of just 60 students was so limited, further study with a larger sample group, plus non-students from different cultures may be needed to build on the findings.

The study was published in the Journal of Health Psychology .

Boko Haram, ISIS Responsible For More Than Half Of World’s Deaths From Terrorism, Study Says

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The number of people killed globally in terrorist attacks jumped 80 percent last year to the highest level ever recorded, the Institute for Economics and Peace said Tuesday.

The Global Terrorism Index found that 32,658 people were killed by terrorists in 2014, up from the 18,111 fatalities of the previous year, the largest increase on record.

The study defines terrorism as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation”.

Nigeria-based Boko Haram and the Islamic State group were responsible for more than half of the deaths, according to the study, which measures attacks, deaths and damage from terror attacks in 162 countries.

“Terrorism is gaining momentum at an unprecedented pace,” said Steve Killelea, the executive chairman of the Institute of Economics and Peace, which produces the study.

The increase followed a 61 percent rise in 2013.

The study found that terrorism was highly concentrated, with the five countries ofAfghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria accounting for 78 percent of deaths last year.

Iraq was the worst affected with 9,929 deaths from terrorism — suffering both the highest number of attacks and the most fatalities from terrorism ever recorded by a country.

The biggest rise in fatalities from terrorism however was in Nigeria, which saw an increase of over 300 percent in deaths to 7,512.

Credit: Vanguard