Culture

In most movies about high school, the student council president, the so-called band geek or the kid who stays after school for math club often fall victim to the teasing and bullying of the popular students - jocks.

But according to a new study from a Temple University graduate student, those 'jocks' may want to stay away from the student council president and the member of the glee club.

A new study challenges long-standing expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be more particular when it comes to choosing a mate. The research, published by Cell Press in the April issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, suggests that human mating strategies are not likely to conform to a single universal pattern and provides important insights that may impact future investigations of human mating behaviors.

One in five women between the ages of 18 and 24 are smokers, and most say they keep lighting up for fear of gaining weight. But researchers at Temple University have found that when it comes to quitting, a little bit of dialogue and support can be more effective than an exercise plan in helping women not only keep off the weight, but also stay smoke-free.

WASHINGTON -- Levees and floodwalls surrounding New Orleans -- no matter how large or sturdy -- cannot provide absolute protection against overtopping or failure in extreme events, says a new report by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. The voluntary relocation of people and neighborhoods from areas that are vulnerable to flooding should be considered as a viable public policy option, the report says. If relocation is not feasible, an alternative would be to elevate the first floor of buildings to at least the 100-year flood level.

COLLEGE STATION - The loss and fragmentation of Texas' farms, ranches and forests is part of a continued trend that highlights the importance of rural lands in maintaining the state's natural resources and economic base, according to a newly released study.

The study shows that lands classified as farms, ranches and forests declined in 156 of Texas's 254 counties between 1997 and 2006. In all, there was a loss of 2.1 million acres of agricultural lands since 1997, the report notes.

A change in Medicare reimbursement policy could make it more difficult for African Americans with kidney disease to access dialysis services, suggests a study in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "The change in payment policy may disadvantage a substantial group of dialysis patients," comments Areef Ishani, MD (University of Minnesota).

MR enterography is an effective tool to evaluate and guide treatment of patients with Crohn's Disease (a common form of inflammatory bowel disease that typically affects young people) without exposing them to radiation, according to a study performed at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine/Brown University in Providence, RI.

Unnecessary advanced imaging (CT, MRI and nuclear medicine) can be significantly reduced by providing a simple intervention of education to ordering physicians of the risks, benefits and alternatives of various imaging modalities, according to a study performed at Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, NY.

Ordering physicians have limited knowledge of CT-related radiation exposure and its associated risks, according to a study performed at the Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA.

If you are resident of New Orleans, how would you describe personal events that occurred shortly before August 2005? Would you refer to them as happening "back in July of 2005" or would you describe them as happening "just before Hurricane Katrina"? If you live in Oregon, would you make reference to Hurricane Katrina? A team of researchers, led by psychologist Norman R. Brown from the University of Alberta, investigated how public events (e.g., war, natural disaster, terrorism) shape our personal memories.

In older breast cancer survivors, the number of lymph nodes removed during surgery and the presence of cancer in the lymph nodes were the two factors most directly linked to the development of lymphedema, swelling of the arm and hand, according to a study from the Medical College of Wisconsin's Center for Patient Care and Outcomes Research in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

CT colonography, which is a highly effective colorectal screening test, is feasible in rural health centers with the help of teleradiology, according to a study performed at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.

Baroque classical music in the reading room can help improve radiologists work lives, potentially improving diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, according to a study performed by researchers at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD, Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, MD, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, PA.

The prevalence of benign thyroid nodules is high and there are certain ultrasound features, suggesting malignancy, that can help radiologists determine whether or not a biopsy is needed, according to a study performed at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.

Overworked crime scene investigators can take heart at the results of recent tests at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of new technologies that automate the manual portion of latent fingerprint identification. Prototype systems evaluated by NIST performed surprisingly well for a developing technology: half of the prototypes were accurate at least 80 percent of the time and one had a near perfect score.