Culture | Page 2722 | Science Codex

Doctors should learn how to talk about money with patients

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – As health insurers require people to base more treatment decisions on out-of-pocket costs, physicians should learn to talk to patients about money, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

With health insurance open enrollment season under way – when tens of thousands of workers learn of increases in their deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs – the issue is especially timely, said Mark A. Hall, J.D., a professor of law and public health in the Division of Public Health Sciences at the School of Medicine.

Reading comics isn't child's play, if you want to promote literacy

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Although comics have been published in newspapers since the 1890s, they still get no respect from some teachers and librarians, despite their current popularity among adults. But according to a University of Illinois expert in children's literature, critics should stop tugging on Superman's cape and start giving him and his superhero friends their due.

Iconic Oswald photo not faked, digital forensics expert says

Dartmouth Computer Scientist Hany Farid has new evidence regarding a photograph of accused John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Farid, a pioneer in the field of digital forensics, digitally analyzed an iconic image of Oswald pictured in a backyard setting holding a rifle in one hand and Marxist newspapers in the other.

Oswald and others claimed that the incriminating photo was a fake, noting the seemingly inconsistent lighting and shadows. After analyzing the photo with modern-day forensic tools, Farid says the photo almost certainly was not altered.

Atlanta's Fernbank Museum tracks infamous conquistador through Southeast

November 3, 2009, ATLANTA—Archaeologists at Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History have discovered unprecedented evidence that helps map Hernando de Soto's journey through the Southeast in 1540. No evidence of De Soto's path between Tallahassee and North Carolina has been found until now, and few sites have been located anywhere.

Professor: Fear, shame keep homeowners from defaulting

Millions of American homeowners are "underwater" on their mortgages – owing more than the value of their homes – and would be better off walking away.

That is the suggestion Brent T. White, a University of Arizona associate professor of law, makes in his newly released working paper, "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis."

White, whose article will be published in this month's issue of Arizona Legal Studies, said fear, guilt and shame are what keep many homeowners from making rational economic decisions.

Babies' language learning starts in the womb, study finds

From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo.

Atlanta's Fernbank Museum tracks infamous conquistador through southeast

November 3, 2009, ATLANTA—Archaeologists at Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History have discovered unprecedented evidence that helps map Hernando de Soto's journey through the Southeast in 1540. No evidence of De Soto's path between Tallahassee and North Carolina has been found until now, and few sites have been located anywhere.

Does green tea prevent cancer? Evidence continues to brew, but questions remain

PHILADELPHIA – Although scientists are reluctant to officially endorse green tea as a cancer prevention method, evidence continues to grow about its protective effects, including results of a new study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, which suggests some reduction in oral cancer.

Green tea shows promise as chemoprevention agent for oral cancer, M. D. Anderson study finds

HOUSTON - Green tea extract has shown promise as cancer prevention agent for oral cancer in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The study, published online in Cancer Prevention Research, is the first to examine green tea as a chemopreventative agent in this high-risk patient population. The researchers found that more than half of the oral leukoplakia patients who took the extract had a clinical response.

UC research on homeless veterans presented in Washington, D.C.

Research examining issues surrounding homeless veterans and the types of relationships they had with their fathers was presented Nov. 4 at the VA Veteran Homelessness Summit in Washington, D.C. The research was a collaboration between Gary Dick, associate professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, and Brad Schaffer, social worker for the Veterans Administration Cincinnati Medical Center. The summit, organized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, launched an initiative to end homelessness among veterans in the next five years.

TV bombards children with commercials for high-fat and high-sugar foods

St. Louis, MO, November 4, 2009 – Childhood obesity in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. With more than one fourth of advertising on daytime and prime time television devoted to foods and beverages and continuing questions about the role television plays in obesity, a study in the November/December issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior examines how food advertising aimed at children might be a large contributor to the problem.

Minority students earned greater number of academic degrees in fiscal year 2006

A new National Science Foundation report shows an increase in the number of academic degrees awarded to minority students since 2004, the last time such data were published.

The report, Science and Engineering Degrees by Race/Ethnicity: 1997-2006, developed by the Science Resources Statistics division of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate shows more degrees awarded to minorities in nearly all categories.

Benefit of a mentor: Disadvantaged teens twice as likely to attend college

Two findings from a new national study reveal the power of mentors, particularly those in the teaching profession:

For all teen students, having an adult mentor meant a 50 percent greater likelihood of attending college.
For disadvantaged students, mentorship by a teacher nearly doubled the odds of attending college.

"Potential is sometimes squashed by the social environment, and the data show that mentors can overcome those forces," said Lance Erickson, a sociology professor at Brigham Young University and the study's lead author.

Hybrid bluegrasses analyzed for use in transition zone

KNOXVILLE, TN—The transition zone can be one of the most challenging places to maintain high-quality turfgrass; changeable growing conditions in these regions often prove too hot for some grasses and too cold for others. Finding turfgrass that thrives in these challenging environments can be perplexing for turf management professionals and homeowners alike.

3-week course of breast radiation may be as effective as conventional 5- to 7-week course for early breast cancers

According to a study presented November 4, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), a shortened, more intensive course of radiation given to the whole breast, along with an extra dose of radiation given to the surgical bed of the tumor (concomitant boost), has been shown to result in excellent local control at a median follow up of two years after treatment with no significant sides effects.