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The time-honored tradition of displaying emotions to try to get a better deal might actually work, but inflating emotions can backfire, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Kids always seem to be ahead of trends, and marketers realize the importance of new products and services taking off with the younger set. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research helps identify which children might be the trendsetters of their generation.

Authors Jan Kratzer (Berlin University of Technology) and Christopher Lettl (University of Aarhus, Denmark) examined the attitudes and networks of children who are "lead users," people who are most likely to develop and disseminate commercially attractive innovations.

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, May 12, 2009 – A new study by a Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researcher reveals a linkage between elderly people's appetite and mortality rates, with those who report impaired appetite more likely to die sooner.

Entomopathogenic fungi may be a safe and efficient means of controlling Triatoma infestans, the bug that helps spread Chagas disease, according to new research conducted in Argentina. The study, published May 12 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows the success of the fungi to kill bugs resistant to current control methods.

AUSTIN, Texas—A nearly complete collection of genes for a species of reef-building coral has been assembled by a team led by biologists from The University of Texas at Austin.

The scientists will use the genetic data to understand natural variations in corals from around the world and how they respond, at the genetic level, to rising water temperatures.

Using a new technique for cDNA preparation combined with the latest sequencing methods, researchers have uncovered the larval transcriptome of a reef-building coral (Acropora millepora). Their study, described in the open access journal BMC Genomics, features the most extensive database of genes and genetic markers currently available for any coral.

WORCESTER, Mass. — A genetic variant that substantially improves survival of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, has been indentified by a consortium of researchers led by John Landers, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Robert Brown, MD, DPhil, Chair and Professor of Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Discovery of the KIFAP3 gene variant is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Montreal, May 11, 2009 – When it comes to immunity, men may not have been dealt an equal hand. The latest study by Dr. Maya Saleh, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and McGill University, shows that women have a more powerful immune system than men. In fact, the production of estrogen by females could have a beneficial effect on the innate inflammatory response against bacterial pathogens. These surprising results were published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Kris Huygen and colleagues, at the Scientific Institute of Public Health, Belgium, have now identified a role for LXR proteins in the mouse immune response to airway infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. As treatment of normal mice with molecules that activate LXRs provided substantial protection from both a new infection and established infections, the authors suggest that LXRs might provide a new target for tuberculosis therapeutics.

Photosynthesis is a remarkable biological process that supports life on earth. Plants and photosynthetic microbes do so by harvesting light to produce their food, and in the process, also provide vital oxygen for animals and people.

Now, a large, international collaboration between Arizona State University, the University of California San Diego and the University of British Columbia, has come up with a surprising twist to photosynthesis by swapping a key metal necessary for turning sunlight into chemical energy.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A popular view among evolutionary biologists that fundamental genes do not acquire new functions was challenged this week by a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Sediments released by many of the world's largest river deltas to the global oceans have been changed drastically in the last 50 years, largely as a result of human activity, says a Texas A&M University researcher who emphasizes that the historical information that can be gathered from sediment cores collected in and around these large deltaic regions is critical for a better understanding of environmental changes in the 21st century.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers have learned more about how smallpox conducts its deadly business — discoveries that may reveal as much about the human immune system as they do about one of the world's most feared pathogens.

For people trying to maintain weight after participation in a weight-loss program, support from nurses is as effective as a more expensive intensive program with dieticians and exercise specialists, found a new study by New Zealand researchers in CMAJ. It appears that regular face-to-face interaction with a supportive health professional is a key success factor.

BOSTON -- The DASH diet was initially developed to help patients lower their blood pressure, but a large study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) demonstrates that women who followed the diet also significantly reduced their risk of developing heart failure. Published in today's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, the findings offer still more evidence that a diet high in plant foods and low in sugar and saturated fats is good for your cardiac health.