Culture

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- A city's size no longer is the key factor in building vibrant local economies, according to a study by a Michigan State University sociologist.

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), a professional organization of member scientists, opposes the Federal District Court injunction that froze federal funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. ARVO is troubled by this barrier to research that has the potential to restore sight and mitigate eye damage.

BETHESDA, MD, SEPT 2, 2010 - The old joke is a joke no more. In the CBE—Life Sciences Education (CBE-LSE), the adage that biology is for science students who don't do math gets challenged. "Bio-math" or "math-bio" is in the future for students of both disciplines, say the contributors of seven essays and 17 research articles on new ways to integrate mathematical thinking into biology education and introduce biological problems into math learning.

New research uncovers a case of mistaken identity that may have a significant impact on future breast cancer prevention and treatment strategies. The study, published by Cell Press in the September 3rd issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, suggests that despite their "stem cell-like" characteristics, most aggressive breast tumors are not derived from normal mammary gland stem cells.

Washington, DC -- Bold and coordinated leadership at the federal level is essential to create secure, long-term, sustainable biomedical research funding policies based on strategic priorities, say the authors of a commentary about America's fledgling biomedical research framework published in this week's The Journal of the American Medical Association.

DURHAM, N.H. – New research from the University of New Hampshire shows that the "gateway effect" of marijuana – that teenagers who use marijuana are more likely to move on to harder illicit drugs as young adults – is overblown.

Whether teenagers who smoked pot will use other illicit drugs as young adults has more to do with life factors such as employment status and stress, according to the new research. In fact, the strongest predictor of whether someone will use other illicit drugs is their race/ethnicity, not whether they ever used marijuana.

New York, NY, September 2, 2010—16.6 million small business employees work in firms that will be eligible for tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. The credits, designed to offset health insurance premium costs and help small businesses afford and maintain health insurance, are available in taxable years beginning in 2010. Researchers estimate that by 2013, 3.4 million workers may work in firms that take advantage of the tax credit.

Using readily available computer programs, researchers have developed a system to identify genes that will be useful in the classification of breast cancer. The algorithm, described in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research will enable researchers to quickly generate valuable gene signatures without specialized software or extensive bioinformatics training.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A study led by researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Smoking Cessation Center may change the way clinicians make treatment decisions for their patients who smoke.

HOUSTON - Specific prevention and education strategies are needed to address breast cancer in Mexican-origin women in this country, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, which was published online in the journal Cancer.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Expanding their scope of study on the mechanisms of bacterial infection, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have reported the surprise finding from a small clinical study that cranberry juice cocktail blocked a strain of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from beginning the process of infection.

CHICAGO – The American Dietetic Association has published an updated position paper on food insecurity in the United States, calling for funding for food and nutrition assistance programs, increased nutrition education and efforts to promote economic self-sufficiency for all households and individuals.

The paper calls access to food "a basic human need and fundamental right," defining food insecurity as "limited or intermittent access to nutritionally adequate, safe and acceptable foods accessed in socially acceptable ways."

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have been called the defining moment of our time. Thousands of people died and the attacks had huge individual and collective consequences, including two wars. But less is known about the immediate emotional reactions to the attacks. For a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers analyzed text messages sent on September 11, 2001 for emotional words. They found spiking anxiety and steadily increasing anger through that fateful day.

London, UK (September 1, 2010) – Faith based schools are on the rise in the UK, apparently boosting educational standards. But are religious values at odds with legislation on equality? Research that appears today in the journal Education Management Administration and Leadership published by SAGE shows what happens when school values and those of the state diverge, with unfortunate consequences for gay students and staff.

Your favorite catsup or fruit juice might be "hot-filled" at the food-processing plant—that is, poured into its waiting container while the catsup or juice is still hot from pasteurization. Current containers made from corn-based plastics literally can't take the heat of hot-filling, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chemist William J. Orts.