Culture | Page 2865 | Science Codex

Tobacco companies paid movie stars millions in celebrity endorsement deals

Tobacco companies paid the Hollywood A-listers of the 1930s and 1940s millions of dollars in today's money to endorse particular brands of cigarette, under contract, reveals research in Tobacco Control.

The continued presence of on-screen smoking in today's mainstream films is rooted in these "studio era" deals, claim the authors.

The research team accessed cigarette endorsement contracts between tobacco companies and studio-controlled movie stars, as well as adverts of the period, from university and major US newspaper archives.

Researchers study acoustic communication in deep-sea fish

RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 24, 2008) – An international research team studying sound production in deep-sea fishes has found that cusk-eels use several sets of muscles to produce sound that plays a prominent role in male mating calls.

These findings, published online today in the Royal Society journal, Biology Letters, may help researchers gain further insight into acoustic communication in the deep sea and the role of sound in fish behavior.

CO2 emissions booming, shifting east, researchers report

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sept. 24, 2008 -- Despite widespread concern about climate change, annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and manufacturing cement have grown 38 percent since 1992, from 6.1 billion tons of carbon to 8.5 billion tons in 2007.

Presidential debates are mostly positive and emphasize policy

COLUMBIA, Mo. –Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are preparing for their first presidential debate this week. William Benoit, one of the nation's leading experts on political campaigns at the University of Missouri, says presidential debates have become an important part of presidential campaigns since 1960.

Intraperitoneal metastasis after spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. It is usually manifested in the 6th and 7th decade of life. Extrahepatic metastases are seen in 64% of patients with HCC. The most frequent sites of extrahepatic metastases are lung, abdominal lymph node and bone, but peritoneal dissemination is unusual. Rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma is a life-threatening complication. The incidence of spontaneous rupture of HCC is about 8% - 26% in Asia and accounts for the 10% mortality of HCC patients.

Immunohistochemical localization of Glutathione-S-transferase-pi in human colorectal polyps

Specific molecular forms of GST are known to be expressed in preneoplastic cells, and have been known to participate in their resistance to drugs. GST-pi are present in most epithelial tissues of the human gastrointestinal tract. Significant amounts of the class pi GST was expressed in the majority of human tumors and human tumor cell lines. Studies have shown that GST-pi expressed highly in neoplasm and could be regarded as a tumor marker. However the immunohistochemical and the immunoelectron microscopical localization of GST-pi, in human polyps, are not clear.

New studies find global warming will have significant economic impacts on Florida coasts

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Leading Florida-based scientific researchers released two new studies today, including a Florida State University report finding that climate change will cause significant impacts on Florida's coastlines and economy due to increased sea level rise. A second study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University recommends that the state of Florida adopt a series of policy programs aimed at adapting to these large coastal and other impacts as a result of climate change. Key findings of the FAU report were included just this week by Florida Gov.

Case report: Duodenal perforation caused by an ingested toothbrush handle

Accidental swallowing of foreign bodies occurs in children and adults. The majority of ingested foreign bodies pass uneventfully through the gastrointestinal tract. However, in some patient, the ingested foreign body may cause impaction, perforation, or obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.

The research team led by Dr. Tzu-Chieh Chao from Taiwan report a rare case of duodenal perforation caused by an ingested 12-cm long toothbrush handle. This will be published on July 21, 2008 of the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

How to choose the optimal surgical procedure in patients with sigmoid volvulus?

Sigmoid volvulus has been described since ancient times, but its treatment is still evolving. Several surgical approaches have been used including, resection, non-operative reduction using a colonoscope, sigmoidopexy and mesosigmoidoplasty. There is no consensus at present with regard to the optimal surgical management in an acute situation. RPA has emerged as the treatment of choice for sigmoid volvulus over the past two centuries. However, using this approach, anastomotic leakage may occur in the elderly and hemodynamically unstable patients with sigmoid volvulus.

Melting ice under pressure

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The deep interior of Neptune, Uranus and Earth may contain some solid ice.

Through first-principle molecular dynamics simulations, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists, together with University of California, Davis collaborators, used a two-phase approach to determine the melting temperature of ice VII (a high-pressure phase of ice) in pressures ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 atmospheres.

Ban on betting would boost ailing economy, gambling critic says

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Congress should resurrect the nationwide gambling ban that existed through most of the 20th century to help soothe a fragile U.S. economy shaken by the worst credit and financial crisis in decades, a University of Illinois professor and national gambling critic says.

John W. Kindt argues that gambling is a multi-billion dollar drag on the economy, not the moneymaking boost touted by supporters. Cash merely changes hands from bettors to casino owners, he says, creating no products or anything else of value.

MU expert says presidential debates likely to be as significant as 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate

COLUMBIA, Mo. – With many polls showing presidential candidates Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain in a dead heat, many are predicting that the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 could be a turning point in the election. In addition, with the surprising selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, the St. Louis vice presidential debate could be the most viewed in U.S. history.

New study looks to define evangelicals and how they affect polling

The way the evangelical movement is defined has profound implications for where evangelicals fit into the political spectrum, according to a study by sociologists at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin.

"In this election year, there is much debate over whether Sen. Obama can shave off enough evangelical votes to carry certain swing states, said Rice's D. Michael Lindsay, one of the researchers. "That depends a great deal on which poll you are looking at and, more importantly, how the survey defines the evangelical population."

Scientists detect cosmic 'dark flow' across billions of light years

WASHINGTON -- Using data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), scientists have identified an unexpected motion in distant galaxy clusters. The cause, they suggest, is the gravitational attraction of matter that lies beyond the observable universe.

"The clusters show a small but measurable velocity that is independent of the universe's expansion and does not change as distances increase," says lead researcher Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We never expected to find anything like this."

New ways to use biomass

Alternatives to fossil fuels and natural gas as carbon sources and fuel are in demand. Biomass could play a more significant part in the future. Researchers in the USA and China have now developed a new catalyst that directly converts cellulose, the most common form of biomass, into ethylene glycol, an important intermediate product for chemical industry. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the catalyst is made of tungsten carbide and nickel on a carbon support.