Culture

Montreal, September 9th, 2010 – An investigation published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine has found that male partners who express greater support, attention and sympathy to women's chronic vulvovaginal pain may trigger more pain, but also increase sexual satisfaction in female partners.

New research into how music conveys emotion could benefit the treatment of depression and the management of physical pain.

Using an innovative combination of music psychology and leading-edge audio engineering the project is looking in more detail than ever before at how music conveys emotion.

The project, at Glasgow Caledonian University is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Among Asian-Americans living in California, Laotian/Hmong-Americans have the lowest survival rates for the most common type of liver cancer, a new study by researchers with the UC Davis School of Medicine has found.

The study, the largest population-based examination of liver cancer rates among Asian-Americans, highlights a profound disparity that calls for targeted outreach to detect and treat the disease earlier among Laotian/Hmong-Americans, said Moon Chen Jr., a professor of hematology and oncology in the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Rosemont, Ill. – The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recently approved and released an evidence-based clinical practice guideline on the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infections of the hip and knee. Clinical practice guidelines are one avenue the Academy uses to ensure that patients receive high quality care. A periprosthetic joint infection occurs when bacteria or other foreign organisms enter the wound during or at any point following joint replacement surgery, sometimes even years after surgery.

WASHINGTON, DC: Synthetic biology—defined as the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems or re-design of existing natural biological systems for useful purposes—holds enormous potential to improve everything from energy production to medicine, with the global market projected to reach $4.5 billion by 2015. But what does the public know about this emerging field, and what are their hopes and concerns? A new poll of 1,000 U.S.

Athens, Ga. – What if there were a way to predict when a species was about to become extinct, in time to do something about it? Findings from a study by John M. Drake, associate professor in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, and Blaine D. Griffen, assistant professor at the University of South Carolina, may eventually lead to such an outcome. Their study also has implications for understanding drastic, even catastrophic, changes in many other kinds of complex systems, from the human brain to entire ecosystems.

Research!America today called on Congress to take legislative action that will allow federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research to proceed, in light of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's refusal yesterday to lift his recent injunction on federally funded research using embryonic stem cells.

St. Louis, MO, September, 8, 2010 – Despite a recession, some groups are happier with more costs and a larger government role in the restaurant industry, believing that a lack of federally mandated nutritional labeling for restaurant meals was why people are fat.

PASADENA, Calif.—We've all heard the predictions: e-commerce is going to be the death of traditional commerce; online shopping spells the end of the neighborhood brick-and-mortar store.

While it's true that online commerce has had an impact on all types of retail stores, it's not time to bring out the wrecking ball quite yet, says a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

MIAMI — September 8, 2010 -- Operational forecasting centers produce climate predictions that provide input for important decisions regarding water management, agriculture, and energy. "Assessment of Intraseasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction and Predictability", a new report from the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, examines current capabilities for making climate predictions -- such as seasonal hurricane or longer-term drought forecasts -- and identifies opportunities for improvement.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The U.S. economy is experiencing anemic growth, yet businesses are sitting on a mountain of cash worth nearly $2 trillion, according to Federal Reserve estimates. But this trend is nothing new for firms, who have been steadily increasing their cash holdings over the past three decades, a University of Illinois business professor says.

Finance professor Heitor Almeida says the fact that businesses are stuffing corporate piggy banks with spare cash for the proverbial "rainy day" is unrelated to the belt-tightening brought about by the continuing financial crisis.

High testosterone levels in CEOs negotiating mergers and acquisitions are linked to a higher rate of dropped deals and an increase in hostile takeover attempts, according to a new study in the current issue of Management Science, a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).

"Deal or No Deal: Hormones and the Mergers and Acquisitions Game" is by Maurice Levi, Kai Li, and Feng Zhang of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. The study appears in the current issue of Management Science.