Culture

Scientists in Poland are describing how a medical imaging technique has taken on a second life in revealing forgery of an artist's signature and changes in inscriptions on paintings that are hundreds of years old. A report on the technique, called optical coherence tomography (OCT), is in ACS' Accounts of Chemical Research, a monthly journal.

A weed calculator developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist tells ranchers the number of additional cows they could raise if they eliminated one or two widespread exotic invasive weeds.

Rangeland ecologist Matt Rinella at the ARS Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Mont., created a computer model that predicts weed impacts on forage production.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes chronic, widespread pain throughout the body. In a new study, University of Missouri researchers are examining how the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia can affect marriages. Initial findings reveal that diagnosed spouses have considerably higher levels of depressive symptoms and pain and report more marital instability and anger than their spouses. For both spouses, the symptoms can trigger increased emotional withdrawal and mental strain.

Doctors who are male, from lower income groups and have experienced academic difficulties at medical school are more likely to find themselves in front of the General Medical Council (GMC) for professional misconduct, according to research published on bmj.com today.

The authors, Janet Yates and David James from the University of Nottingham Medical School, emphasise that this is a small study and that "the findings are preliminary and should be interpreted with caution."

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬—What constitutes effective public relations strategies is an ongoing discussion among professionals in the field, as well as the general public. Researchers recently studied the effectiveness of public relations strategies employed during the SARS crises of 2002.

Migration from rural to urban areas is associated with increasing levels of obesity and is a factor driving the diabetes epidemic in India, according to a new study published this week in PLoS Medicine.

A receptor that is present in the nucleus of cells can, when activated, slow the growth of tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells, a new study found. The study built on the recent discovery that farnesoid X receptor (FXR) — a nuclear receptor found mainly in the liver — is found in breast cancer tissue. Although previous research showed that FXR can slow proliferation of breast cancer cells, it was not known whether it could do the same with tamoxifen-resistant cells.

p>An examination of the world-wide use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), which involves transplantation of blood stem cells derived from the bone marrow or blood, finds that there are significant differences in transplant rates between countries and continental regions by indication and donor type, and that HSCT is most frequently used in countries with higher gross national incomes and governmental health care expenditures, according to a study in the April 28 issue of JAMA.

ANAHEIM, CA –Researchers from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy have provided the first evidence-based data on changes in drug metabolism in obese children as compared to healthy weight children.

The study, conducted by L'Aurelle Johnson and Manoj Chiney in the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacy, evaluated drug metabolism in sixteen healthy weight children and nine obese children.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A study that will be published in a forthcoming journal adds to the mounting evidence that self-regulation – or children's ability to control their behavior and impulses – is directly related to academic performance.

A key finding in that study shows that at-risk children who can self-regulate have higher reading, math and vocabulary achievement.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that women and men eat more chocolate as depressive symptoms increase, suggesting an association between mood and chocolate.

Results of this paper, co-authored by Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at UCSD School of Medicine, will appear in the April 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Ancient mummies, skulls and bones galore — Indiana Jones himself would learn a thing or two at the American Association of Anatomists' Annual Meeting beginning April 24, 2010 in Anaheim. A two-day mini-meeting on the special topic of Biological Anthropology (April 26-27) will include four symposia, a platform session, and a poster session¬, all designed to shed light on cranial and postcranial functional anatomy, adaptations in soft-tissue anatomy and fossil evidence for human evolution. The meeting is part of the Experimental Biology (EB) conference.

PREPARING TEACHERS: BUILDING EVIDENCE FOR SOUND POLICY, a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council, assesses what is known about how K-12 teachers are educated in the U.S. and recommends further research and data collection that could aid education policy and practice. Advance copies will be available to reporters only starting at 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 28. THE REPORT IS EMBARGOED AND NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 11 A.M. EDT ON THURSDAY, APRIL 29. Reporters can obtain copies by contacting the Office of News and Public Information at tel.

Class-action lawsuits against financial companies would often be better aligned with the financial interests of the wronged investor if they were directed at corporate officers and advisors who oversaw questionable practices, rather than the actual corporation as a whole.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite living in an age of iPads and hybrid cars, young Americans are more like the young adults of the early 1900s than the baby boom generation: They are living at home longer, are financially insecure and are making lower wages.