Culture

Genetic studies involving the long term storage and study of human samples hold great promise for medical research—but they also pose new threats to individuals such as uninsurability, unemployability, and discrimination, say a team of researchers in this week's PLoS Medicine.

Parent-doctor discussions about whether to maintain or withdraw life support from terminally ill or severely premature newborns are so plagued by miscommunication and misunderstanding that they might as well be in different languages, according to a small but potentially instructive new study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center reported in the September issue of Pediatrics.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – People with migraines may also be more likely to develop blood clots in their veins, according to a study published in the September 16, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In the condition, called venous thrombosis or thromboembolism, blood clots form in a vein, which can limit blood flow and cause swelling and pain. Those clots can then dislodge from the vein and travel to the heart and the lungs, which can be fatal.

Marketers like to talk about "priming" goals—or sending subtle messages to encourage consumption. For example, thirsty people who encounter ads related to thirst tend to buy more beverages.

But a surprising new study in the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that goal priming can backfire, especially when consumers are in uncommon situations.

If you are deciding on a major vacation for next year, you'll use different criteria than if you are planning a trip this weekend, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Remember when you pigged out on birthday cake? If you're an impulsive eater, that memory might help you choose a fruit salad next time around.

When it comes to tempting or fattening foods, some people are a lot more impulsive than others. And according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, impulsive people think and act differently than non-impulsive people after they remember a time when they resisted or succumbed to temptation.

Wouldn't you like some more information about that cream puff? Not if you just ate it.

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examined what's known as the "Blissful Ignorance Effect," the way consumers' goals shift after they've made purchases.

Multinational companies advertising luxury goods abroad should consider advertising those goods in English, whereas ads for necessities might be more effective in local languages, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Less than 2 percent of Americans use coupons, likely because of fear of being viewed as cheap or poor. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research demonstrates that not only do coupon users face stigmatization; people who stand near them do too.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An ethanol-fueled spike in grain prices will likely hold, yielding the first sustained increase for corn, wheat and soybean prices in more than three decades, according to new research by two University of Illinois farm economists.

Corn, an ethanol ingredient that has driven the recent price surge, could average $4.60 a bushel in Illinois, nearly double the average $2.42 a bushel from 1973 to 2006, said Darrel Good and Scott Irwin, professors of agriculture and consumer economics.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA'S PROGRESS: ENSURING THE BEST PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE NEW ADMINISTRATION, a new report from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, offers advice to presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama on filling high-level federal science and technology positions after the election.

The report lists about 80 appointees who will be crucial in advising the new president on issues that range from energy to health care to economic growth.

Avignon/Halle(Saale). INRA and CNRS French scientists and a UFZ German scientist found that the worldwide economic value of the pollination service provided by insect pollinators, bees mainly, was €153 billion in 2005 for the main crops that feed the world. This figure amounted to 9.5% of the total value of the world agricultural food production. The study also determined that pollinator disappearance would translate into a consumer surplus loss estimated between €190 to €310 billion.

It was one of the defining legal battles of the twentieth century. A courtroom drama which tackled issues of class, gender relations, sexuality, morality and censorship head on.

But though thousands of words have been penned debating the literary merits of the book since it appeared on our shelves, the famous obscenity trial which led to the publication of DH Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover has never been the subject of detailed academic scrutiny.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A researcher at Oregon State University has used a new method of combining multiple sources of data to identify counties in Oregon with high numbers of methamphetamine-related problems per capita, giving officials a new tool in fighting the illegal drug.

The study, presented today at a toxicology conference in Canada, examined statistics from four sources then identified five counties with the most meth-linked incidents per capita, such as deaths, poisonings and places where meth is made.

Like a plug and a socket, a nerve and a muscle fiber mesh at the neuromuscular junction. New work by Nishimune et al published in the Journal of Cell Biology reveals that an extracellular matrix protein called laminin shapes both sides of the junction to ensure they fit together type="rel"doi="10.1083/jcb.2008.