Culture

British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest tobacco transnational, strategically influenced the European Union's framework for evaluating policy options, leading to the acceptance of an agenda which emphasizes business interests over public health, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

MADISON — While much of the promise of stem cells springs from their ability to develop into any cell type in the body, the biological workings that control that maturation process are still largely unknown.

Writing in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week (Jan. 11), scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Irvine present a new model of stem cell regulation.

A soccer-specific exercise program that includes individual instruction of athletes appears to reduce the risk of knee injuries in young female players, according to a report in the January 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln have addressed the issue of faulty software by developing an algorithm and open source tool that is 300 times faster at generating tests and also reduces current software testing time.

The new algorithm has potential to increase the efficiency of the software testing process across systems.

BOULDER--While governments around the world continue to explore strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a new study suggests policymakers should focus on what needs to be achieved in the next 40 years in order to keep long-term options viable for avoiding dangerous levels of warming.

The study is the first of its kind to use a detailed energy system model to analyze the relationship between mid-century targets and the likelihood of achieving long-term outcomes.

HOUSTON - (Jan. 11, 2010) – A new method of blocking the genesis of blood vessels that feed tumors may start with the nuclear receptor COUP-TFII (chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II), said a pair of Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) researchers who have studied the factor for more than 20 years.

NEWARK, DEL – Taxpayers will lose a significant portion of the $300 Million they are shelling out for the federal government's appliance rebate program and the energy-saving program could actually increase energy usage, two University of Delaware economists say.

Economics Professors Burton Abrams and George Parsons published their analysis of the program in the 1st Quarter 2010 issue of the Milken Institute Review. (Published Jan. 11, 2010)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2010 — There's more to the eye makeupthat gave Queen Nefertiti and other ancient Egyptian royals those stupendous gazes and legendary beauty than meets the eye. Scientists in France are reporting that the alluring eye makeup also may have been used to help prevent or treat eye disease by doubling as an infection-fighter. Their findings are scheduled for the next (Jan. 15, 2010) issue of the American Chemical Society (ACS) semi-monthly journal, Analytical Chemistry.

WASHINGTON -- Stepped-up vaccination requirements, a boost in resources for prevention and treatment, and a public awareness campaign similar to the effort that dispelled the stigma of HIV/AIDS are needed to curb the health threats posed by hepatitis B and hepatitis C, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

A ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that regulates the cell cycle promotes chromosome missegregation and tumor formation, according to van Ree et al. in the January 11 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org).

You couldn't have asked for a better day for a competition. It's minus five degrees, the sun's shining and there's not a breath of wind. The snow's perfect and the biathlete's in top form. He's one of the best – he can win the race. Often there's only a few thousandths of a second between the victor and the vanquished, so the gliding ability of his skis is very important. And this depends on several factors, not least whether the wax mixture he's applied suits the particular type of snow.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases is a member of the committee that this week issued updated guidelines for childhood and teen immunizations to include formal recommendations that children older than 6 months get the H1N1 influenza vaccine to guard against swine flu, and that combination vaccines are generally preferred over separate injections.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases is a member of the committee that this week issued updated guidelines for childhood and teen immunizations to include formal recommendations that children older than 6 months get the H1N1 influenza vaccine to guard against swine flu, and that combination vaccines are generally preferred over separate injections.

Prof. Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa who deciphered the inscription: "It indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research."

Putting yourself in the line of fire is shown to reap huge rewards, in a new study published this week in Science.

Researchers from the Zoological Society of London, University of Queensland and the University of Neuchâtel have discovered that male cleaner wrasse are quick to play the hero when their dinner is at stake.

Cleaner wrasse live on coral reefs and feed on the parasites of larger 'client' fish. They gain an even bigger meal if they take some of the mucus off the skin of a client, but this cheating behaviour results in a disgruntled customer.