Culture

Women are often told that mammography saves lives. But rarely is the question asked, 'how often?' Researchers writing in BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, set out to examine how often this life-saving event occurs.

More prominent displays may be needed to help increase consumer awareness of nutritional information in fast food restaurants, according to an observational study from Yale University that appears in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers visited McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks and Au Bon Pain restaurants in both urban and suburban settings. They counted the number of customers who read on-premises nutritional information which was available on posters, pamphlets or computer terminals in the restaurants.

Historians are now able to reveal detailed information that shows the Imperial Court in Vienna "managed" its sizeable staff of up to 3,000 with the efficiency of a modern-day company. They are currently researching "instruction manuals" that provided the court staff with precise details of the manner in which specific tasks were to be completed and by whom. By examining these volumes as part of an Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project, the organisational structures of the Viennese Court are being uncovered and made available to the public.

SALT LAKE CITY, March 22, 2009 –– Confusion about what constitutes plagiarism — not malicious intent — is the leading cause of plagiarism at the graduate school level, according to an expert presenting here today on the increasingly worrisome problem at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). George M. Bodner, Ph.D., who serves on the Ethics Committee of the ACS, which is the world's largest scientific society, was among a panel of scientists who discussed plagiarism.

Scientists from the University of Sheffield and Queen's University Belfast have made a unique discovery which will help us understand one of the most puzzling features of the Sun. The research has helped explain why the outside atmosphere of the Sun is actually hotter than the inner photosphere.

The surface of the Sun, known as the photosphere, reaches temperatures of 5,000 degrees. It would seem logical that the temperature is lower further away from the Sun; however the outer atmosphere, known as the corona, can reach temperatures of over a million degrees.

Scientists at Queen's University have made a finding that will help us to understand more about the turbulent solar weather and its affect on our planet.

Along with scientists at the University of Sheffield and California State University, the researchers have detected giant twisting waves in the lower atmosphere of the Sun.

The discovery sheds some light on why the Sun's corona, the region around the Sun, has a much higher temperature than its surface - something that has always puzzled scientists.

Recently, LCAs with typical backgrounds of the patients are diagnosed by radiological findings without pathological findings due to the progress of diagnostic imaging techniques. A typical LCA shows low density or isodensity on plain computed tomography, presents a homogenous contrasting effect on arterial phase and does not show an apparent wash out on delayed phase. A typical LCA in magnetic resonance imaging shows almost the same signal intensity as the surrounding parenchyma on T1 and T2 and shows high intensity on fat suppression T2.

A retrovirus related to HIV became stably integrated into the genome of several lemurs around 4.2 million years ago, according to research led by Dr. Cédric Feschotte at the University of Texas, Arlington. Published March 20 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, the analysis of prosimian immunodeficiency virus (pSIV) offers new insights into the evolution of lentiviruses.

The Internet could be used as an early warning system for potential ecological disasters, according to researchers from Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and the University of East Anglia.

Most adolescents referred to long-term group homes in Los Angeles County after being charged with a serious offense reported they were still involved with crime or drugs seven years later, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The bleak findings suggest there is a need to improve juvenile justice rehabilitation programs, according to the report published online by the American Journal of Public Health.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Although the Society for Human Resource Management reports that 97 percent of U.S. companies have a written sexual harassment policy, a recent University of Missouri study indicates that those policies might not be effective in preventing workplace harassment. Researchers in the MU College of Arts and Science examined the way individuals define and explain their understanding of flirting and sexual harassment in an organizational setting. The researchers found that individuals' perceptions and their understanding are not always a perfect match.

MADISON — Runners, listen up: If your body is telling you that your pace feels a little too fast or a little too slow, it may be right.

A new study, published online March 18 in the Journal of Human Evolution, shows that the efficiency of human running varies with speed and that each individual has an optimal pace at which he or she can cover the greatest distance with the least effort.

Troy, N.Y. – A new study answers a key question at the very heart of nanotechnology: Why are nanorods so small?

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered the origins of nanorod diameter, demonstrating that the competition and collaboration among various mechanisms of atomic transport hold the key to nanorod size. The researchers say it is the first study to identify the fundamental reasons why nearly all nanorods have a diameter on the order of 100 nanometers.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Even small devices need power, and much of that juice comes from fuel cells. As these devices become even smaller, the rush is on to find more efficient ways to power them.

In the last several years, scientists have discovered that palladium, a metal, is a strong candidate for providing that initial boost that helps fuel cells go. Palladium is far cheaper than another popular fuel cell catalyst, platinum, and it's more abundant.

A new report by psychologists at the University of Leicester warns of the dangers of jurors facing trauma because of their exposure to harrowing and gruesome evidence.

In the first study of its kind, the research highlights how women jurors are more vulnerable, particularly if the trial covers material that resonates with their personal histories.