Science & health briefs

Published: July 17, 2007

Their noses apparently weren't their only problems. Patients seeking cosmetic rhinoplasty ("nose jobs”) often exhibited personality abnormalities including obsessiveness, hypochondriasis and "good faking,” or making false statements that make them look better compared with others, according to a study published in the July 2007 issue of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery.

Authors evaluated the personalities of 66 rhinoplasty candidates to determine what their rate of satisfaction with the procedure would be. None of the rhinoplasty patients rated "normal” on a personality test, while 40 percent of the control group did.

Rhinoplasty patients also exhibited a greater rate of "negative” personality traits. Twenty-three percent were labeled "obsessive;” 20 percent rated as hypochondriacal; 20 percent rated as "good faking;” and 12 percent rated as "bad faking” (making statements that make your situation worse than it is.)

Patients with the lowest satisfaction rate were those who scored as "obsessive,” "psychasthenic” (excessive doubts, compulsions, obsessions and unreasonable fears), and "anti-social.” The authors believe this means people with these personality traits are not well-suited for cosmetic rhinoplasty.

A prototype of what may be the next generation of personal computers has been developed by University of Maryland engineers. Capable of computing speeds 100 times faster than current desktops, the technology is based on parallel processing on a single chip.

The prototype uses a circuit board about the size of a license plate on which are mounted 64 parallel processors. To control the processors, researchers developed a parallel computer organization that allows the processors to work together and make programming simple for software developers.

Inventors are offering $500 for the best name for the new technology. To enter, go online to www.eng.umd.edu.

Gay people tend to smoke more than non-gays, research has found.

Women and men in California's general population were less likely to be smokers than a sample of Californians who identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers compared a 2003-04 tobacco use survey of 1,950 gay, lesbian or bisexual residents with a general population survey from 2002.

A National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Tobacco Control Network director said the group is trying to spotlight the problem.

From Wire Reports