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Something strange happens when a consumer learns her favorite product choice isn't available: Instead of picking the runner-up, she'll reject it for another alternative, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Consumers don't react positively to all messages of corporate social responsibility, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The message needs to line up with consumers' mindsets and understanding of the brands.

"Certain brand concepts may be roadblocks for firms aiming to benefit from corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs," write authors Carlos J. Torelli (University of Minnesota), Alokparna (Sonia) Basu Monga (University of South Carolina), and Andrew M. Kaikati (University of Georgia).

Larger portion sizes usually mean we eat more food, but according to new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, bigger bites lead to eating less—in restaurant settings.

"In this research we examined the influence of small versus large bite-sizes on overall quantity of food consumed," write authors Arul Mishra, Himanshu Mishra, and Tamara M. Masters (all University of Utah, Salt Lake City).

BOSTON, MA (July 14, 2011) — The power to edit genes is as revolutionary, immediately useful and unlimited in its potential as was Johannes Gutenberg's printing press. And like Gutenberg's invention, most DNA editing tools are slow, expensive, and hard to use—a brilliant technology in its infancy. Now, Harvard researchers developing genome-scale editing tools as fast and easy as word processing have rewritten the genome of living cells using the genetic equivalent of search and replace—and combined those rewrites in novel cell strains, strikingly different from their forebears.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The enormous decline of large, apex predators and "consumers" ranging from wolves to lions, sharks and sea otters may represent the most powerful impacts humans have ever had on Earth's ecosystems, a group of 24 researchers concluded today in a new report in the journal Science.

The decline of such species around the world is much greater than previously understood and now affects many other ecological processes through what scientists call "trophic cascades," in which the loss of "top down" predation severely disrupts many other plant and animal species.

Being at the very top of a social hierarchy may be more costly than previously thought, according to a new study of wild baboons led by a Princeton University ecologist.

BOSTON--Wanderlust in a person can be admirable or romantic. In a cancerous tumor, it may be lethal.

Most deaths from cancer result from tumor cells that have strayed from their original location to insinuate their way into distant tissues. With few exceptions, however, doctors have little way of determining whether a newly formed tumor is more likely to remain idle or send invader cells to other parts of the body.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Stereotypes about gender affect investment decision-making, even among successful women, researchers concluded in a new study on how gender affects investing strategies.

As part of the Target Safely initiative, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has developed a white paper, the first of a series of such papers, on the safe use of integrating intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) into the radiation oncology clinic. The executive summary of this white paper is published in the July print issue of Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO), ASTRO's clinical practice journal. The full text of the document is available in advance of print online at www.practicalradonc.org.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a devastating incurable disease in which degeneration of dopamine neurons in the brainstem leads to tremors and problems with movement and coordination. An increasing proportion of patients appear to be genetically predisposed to disease. Now, two independent research groups have identified a mutation associated with an inherited form of PD.

One of the treats of summer—fresh, antioxidant-rich blueberries—has new competition for the title of "superfruit."

But at least the contenders are keeping the title in the family.

Researchers have found that two species of wild blueberries native to the tropical regions of Central and South America—the New World tropics, or Neotropics—contain two to four times more antioxidants than the blueberries sold in U.S. markets.

This finding is the result of an analysis of the compounds contained in neotropical blueberries grown at The New York Botanical Garden.

Bariatric surgery is not only cost-effective for treating people who are severely obese, but also for those who are mildly obese, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings support making bariatric surgery available to all obese people, the researchers say.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In 1997, the actress and singer Julie Andrews lost her singing voice following surgery to remove noncancerous lesions from her vocal cords. She came to Steven Zeitels, a professor of laryngeal surgery at Harvard Medical School, for help.

Bone marrow transplant survival more than doubled in recent years for young, high-risk leukemia patients treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with patients who lacked genetically matched donors recording the most significant gains. The results are believed to be the best ever reported for leukemia patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation.