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Why must we compensate after buying gifts that threaten our identities?

If a vegetarian has to buy a steakhouse gift certificate for a friend, her discomfort will lead her to buy something else that reaffirms her identity, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"When gift givers choose a gift that matches the identity of the recipient but is contrary to their own identity, they experience discomfort," write authors Morgan K. Ward (Southern Methodist University) and Susan M. Broniarczyk (University of Texas). This discomfort leads consumers to choose other products that express their identities.

Eindhoven University builds affordable alternative to mega-laser X-FEL

Eindhoven University builds affordable alternative to mega-laser X-FEL

Photons vs. protons for treatment of spinal cord gliomas

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A study comparing the long-term outcomes of patients with spinal-cord tumors following radiation therapy suggests that certain subsets of patients have better long-term survival. It also suggests that photon-based radiation therapy may result in better survival than proton-beam therapy, even in patients with more favorable characteristics.

New fossil site in China shows long recovery of life from the largest extinction in Earth's history

A major new fossil site in south-west China has filled in a sizeable gap in our understanding of how life on this planet recovered from the greatest mass extinction of all time, according to a paper co-authored by Professor Mike Benton, in the School of Earth Sciences, and published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The work is led by scientists from the Chengdu Geological Center in China.

An important breakthrough by IRCM researchers in hematopoiesis and the development of B cells

A team at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) led by Dr. Tarik Möröy, President and Scientific Director of the institute and Director of the Hematopoiesis and Cancer research unit, will be publishing an important breakthrough in tomorrow's issue of Immunity, a scientific journal from the Cell Press group. The researchers identified a new regulator playing a critical role in the development B cells, which produce antibodies.

Carnegie Mellon researchers discover mechanism for signaling receptor recycling

Carnegie Mellon researchers discover mechanism for signaling receptor recycling

A new method is developed for predicting shade improvement after teeth bleaching

Researchers at the University of Granada have developed a new method for predicting the precise shade that a bleaching treatment will bring about for a patient's teeth. What is innovative about this method is that it allows researchers to successfully predict the outcome of a bleaching treatment, which will have a significant impact on such treatments, which are becoming more frequent.

Record time limit

Running and swimming records are broken again and again at almost every international athletics event. But, can human performance continue to improve indefinitely? Will runners continue to accelerate off the starting blocks and reach the finish line in faster and faster times? Will swimmers always be able to dive into the record books with a quicker kick?

Boy or girl? Australians think we shouldn't choose

Most Australians do not approve of IVF or abortion for sex-selection purposes, and most do not think a hypothetical blue or pink pill to select the sex of a child should be legal, a new study has found.

The study, led by Dr Rebecca Kippen from the School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne, analysed responses from more than 2,500 people participating in the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes, combined with a series of in-depth parental interviews.

Seeing double: Africa's 2 elephant species

Africa's 2 elephant species

Contrary to the belief of many scientists (as well as many members of the public), new research confirms that Africa has two—not one—species of elephant. Scientists from Harvard Medical School, the University of Illinois, and the University of York in the United Kingdom used genetic analysis to prove that the African savanna elephant and the smaller African forest elephant have been largely separated for several million years.

Smarter systems help busy doctors remember

CHICAGO --- Busy doctors can miss important details about a patient's care during an office examination. To prevent that, Northwestern Medicine researchers have created a whip-smart assistant for physicians – a new system using electronic health records that alerts doctors during an exam when a patient's care is amiss.

Spread of TB in prisons increases the incidence of TB in the general population

The risk of tuberculosis (TB) and latent TB (in which the bacteria that cause TB lie dormant but can reactivate later to cause active TB disease) is higher in the prison population than in the general population. And importantly, the spread of TB and latent TB within prisons can substantially increase their incidence in the general population.

St. Michael's Hospital first in Ontario to implant powerful new defibrillator

TORONTO, Ont., Dec. 21, 2010 – St. Michael's Hospital today became the first in Ontario to implant a small but powerful new defibrillator into a patient's chest.

The defibrillator – about the size of a Zippo lighter – is the smallest available in terms of surface area and can deliver the highest level of energy, 40 joules.

New evidence of stem cells' pivotal role in cancer shown in Stanford study

STANFORD, Calif. — Leukemia patients whose cancers express higher levels of genes associated with cancer stem cells have a significantly poorer prognosis than patients with lower levels of the genes, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding is among the first to show that the cancer stem cell hypothesis — which posits that some cancers spring from and are replenished by a small, hardy population of self-renewing cells — can be used to predict outcomes in a large group of patients and one day to tailor treatments in the clinic.

Gene alteration identified that predisposes to syndrome with high risk of cancer

Researchers have identified a new genetic alteration that predisposes individuals to Cowden syndrome, a rare disorder that is characterized by high risks of breast, thyroid and other cancers, according to preliminary research published in the December 22/29 issue of JAMA.