Culture

Can a computer be taught to automatically label every song on the Internet using sets of examples provided by unpaid music fans? University of California, San Diego engineers have found that the answer is yes, and the results are as accurate as using paid music experts to provide the examples, saving considerable time and money.

"What you measure is what you get," said Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. Soon Vermont may measure its economic well-being somewhat differently.

This week, the Vermont legislature sent a bill to Governor Peter Shumlin that charges the University of Vermont's Gund Institute for Ecological Economics with developing a new way of measuring the health of the state economy: it's called the Vermont Genuine Progress Indicator.

The law would be the first of its kind in the U.S. and builds on a growing network of state GPI initiatives, most notably Maryland's.

PULLMAN, Wash.—Arzu Aysin Tekindor has never seen "Antiques Roadshow," the PBS television program that routinely subjects artworks and other collectibles to the burning question: What is it worth?

But she has devised an economic model that gets at the underpinnings of the question, breaking down how some paintings sell for astronomical prices, like the record auction price of $120 million fetched by Edward Munch's "The Scream" earlier this week.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to an Indiana University researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization.

Radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians recommended additional imaging about 30% of the time in oncologic PET/CT reports, with about half of those recommendations being unnecessary, a new study shows.

Short term follow-up of patients who have had a negative (benign) MRI-guided vacuum assisted breast biopsy may not be necessary, a new study indicates.

Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients should undergo a preoperative MRI exam even if their breasts are not dense, a new study indicates. The study found no difference between the usefulness of 3T breast MRI in detecting additional malignancies and high risk lesions in dense versus non-dense breasts.

Advanced imaging has been identified as one factor that contributes to the overall rising cost of healthcare in the US. Unnecessary or inappropriate imaging utilization magnifies the cost burden associated with advanced imaging studies like MRIs and PET/CT scans. Though these studies often provide the best clinical information for making a diagnosis or planning treatment, experts suspect that a significant number of unnecessary studies are performed.

Patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) often become confused or delirious soon after, or within a few days of, admittance to the ICU. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care shows that use of earplugs can result in better sleep (as reported by the patients), lower the incidence of confusion, and delay the onset of cognitive disturbances.

A new study by a team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) indicates that thin polymer films can have different properties depending on the method by which they are made. The results* suggest that deeper work is necessary to explore the best way of creating these films, which are used in applications ranging from high-tech mirrors to computer memory devices.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a prototype bioreactor—a device for culturing cells to create engineered tissues—that both stimulates and evaluates tissue as it grows, mimicking natural processes while eliminating the need to stop periodically to cut up samples for analysis. Tissue created this way might someday be used to replace, for example, damaged or diseased cartilage in the knee and hip.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has issued newly created guidelines for the screening, treatment, and management of lupus nephritis—a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) where the disease attacks the kidneys. Previously, only general guidelines for SLE existed for clinicians. The guidelines, available today in Arthritis Care & Research, are specific to lupus nephritis and include methods for identifying renal disease, newer therapies, and treatment of pregnant SLE patients with kidney involvement.

Critical issues in learning, ADHD and autism will be explored during the Association for Psychological Science annual convention in Chicago, from May 23 to the 27th. Leaders in the field studying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, learning, and childhood development will present the latest in psychological science research that will shed light on treatment options, disorder management, memory and school performance.

There will be two major offerings in ADHD research.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The flexible properties of hydrogels — highly absorbent, gelatinous polymers that shrink and expand depending on environmental conditions such as humidity, pH and temperature — have made them ideal for applications from contact lenses to baby diapers and adhesives.

A new systematic assessment of malnutrition, created by researchers at Penn State, will aid dietitians and other health care providers in diagnosis and treatment.