Culture

(PHILADELPHIA) – Breast cancer survivors who lift weights are less likely than their non-weightlifting peers to experience worsening symptoms of lymphedema, the arm- and hand-swelling condition that plagues many women following surgery for their disease, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

STANFORD, Calif. — The labeling information that comes with prescription drugs tells you what's known about the medication, but researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine think it's high time that the labeling tell you what isn't known.

New research indicates that decreased cravings for pleasure may be at the root of a core symptom of major depressive disorder. The research is in contrast to the long-held notion that those suffering from depression lack the ability to enjoy rewards, rather than the desire to seek them.

The research, led by Vanderbilt psychologists Michael Treadway and David Zald, was published Aug. 12 by the online journal PLoS One.

An insulator can now be transformed to conduct electricity by an ordinary camera flash.

A Northwestern University professor and his students have found a new way of turning graphite oxide -- a low-cost insulator made by oxidizing graphite powder -- into graphene, a hotly studied material that conducts electricity. Scientists believe graphene could be used to produce low-cost carbon-based transparent and flexible electronics.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Injuries can occur during a sporting competition at any time. However, new research finds that during football, injuries sustained at the beginning or middle of a game are more severe compared to injuries sustained during the end or in overtime. This finding suggests that the changes of intensity throughout competition influence risk of severe injury.

Reconstructions of past hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean indicate that the most active hurricane period in the past was during the "Medieval Climate Anomaly" about a thousand years ago when climate conditions created a "perfect storm" of La Niña-like conditions combined with warm tropical Atlantic waters.

Folsom, CA – August 11, 2009 – On Monday, August 17th at 1:30PM in Hensill Hall 113, attendees of the 90th Annual Pacific Division Meeting of the AAAS in San Francisco will get to learn about the latest efforts in science communication from some of the brightest minds in the field.

The symposium is called “Good Science is Only Part of the Job: Communicating Science to the Public.” (Online link: http://www.sou.edu/aaaspd/2009SANFRANCISCO/Symposia09.html#15).

PRINCETON, N.J. – Finding the best way to pack the greatest quantity of a specifically shaped object into a confined space may sound simple, yet it consistently has led to deep mathematical concepts and practical applications, such as improved computer security codes.

When mathematicians solved a famed sphere-packing problem in 2005, one that first had been posed by renowned mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1611, it made worldwide headlines.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Mothers and fathers play different roles and make different contributions to a child's upbringing, but a father's influence upon a child's academic success later in life is felt the most when he's involved from the very beginning, says a University of Illinois expert in early childhood education.

While a mother's involvement in school was found to be positively related to a child's academic achievement, a father's involvement was found to be negatively related to later student achievement, according to Brent McBride, a professor of human development at Illinois.

London's oldest timber structure has been unearthed by archaeologists from Archaeology South-East (part of the Institute of Archaeology at UCL). It was found during the excavation of a prehistoric peat bog adjacent to Belmarsh Prison in Plumstead, Greenwich, in advance of the construction of a new prison building. Radiocarbon dating has shown the structure to be nearly 6,000 years old and it predates Stonehenge by more than 500 years.

Mosquitoes with the potential to carry diseases lethal to many unique species of Galapagos wildlife are being regularly introduced to the islands via aircraft, according to new research published today.

The southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, was previously thought to have been introduced to the Galapagos in a one-off event in the mid-1980s.

Regular use of aspirin after colorectal cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of cancer death, report investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. In the August 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study's authors also find that the aspirin-associated survival advantage was seen primarily in patients with tumors expressing the COX-2 enzyme, a characteristic of two-thirds of colorectal cancers.

This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-08/jaaj-mdp080709.php">Chinese.

This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-08/jaaj-aua080709.php">Chinese.

Men and women who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and began regular use of aspirin had a lower risk of overall and colorectal cancer death compared to patients not using aspirin, according to a study in the August 12 issue of JAMA.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Most older drivers are unaware of the potential impact on driving performance associated with taking medications, according to new research from the Center for Injury Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The findings, released today by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, indicate that 95 percent of those age 55 and older have one or more medical conditions, 78 percent take one or more medications, and only 28 percent have an awareness of the risks those medications might have on driving ability.