Culture

ERIE, Pa. - A collection of plant fiber artifacts woven by inhabitants of Huaca Prieta, a pre-Columbian site of the Late Preceramic Period in northern Peru, is making its way to the laboratory of Dr. James Adovasio, director of the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Looking at the dark stripes on the tiny zebrafish you might not expect that they hold a potentially important clue for discovering a treatment for the deadly skin disease melanoma. Yet melanocytes, the same cells that are are responsible for the pigmentation of zebrafish stripes and for human skin color, are also where melanoma originates. Craig Ceol, PhD, assistant professor of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and collaborators at several institutions, used zebrafish to identify a new gene responsible for promoting melanoma.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — When it comes to producing more offspring, larger female hyenas outdo their smaller counterparts.

A new study by Michigan State University researchers, which appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society, revealed this as well as defined a new way to measure spotted hyenas' size.

The U.S. Department of Energy's costs for securing its facilities that house nuclear weapons and material have increased from $550 million in 2002 to around $930 million in 2010. UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING RISK IN SECURITY SYSTEMS FOR THE DOE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX, a congressionally requested report from the National Research Council, examines whether risk-based approaches, including probabilistic risk assessment, could be used to improve methods for determining security requirements at these facilities.

US citizens who have a high quality of life are more engaged in the direct democracy process, according to Ryan Yonk from Utah State University and Professor Shauna Reilly from Northern Kentucky University in the US. Their study, looking at the effects of quality of life on voter participation in direct democracy elections, demonstrates that quality of life is a strong predictor of voter turnout. However, interestingly, voters with a higher quality of life are less likely to support changes in public policy through direct democracy.

After many years of gradual increase followed by a three-year levelling off period, sales of addictive anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs decreased by just under two per cent in 2010.

This comes from the new report "Drug Consumption in Norway 2006-2010". The statistics include all sales of prescription and OTC drugs in Norway from wholesalers to pharmacies, hospitals / nursing homes and grocery stores. The report also shows that total sales of OTC medicines measured in DDDs declined by six per cent in 2010.

As Iran's nuclear plant attack and Chinese-based hackers attacking Morgan Stanley demonstrate how the Internet can wreak havoc on business and governments, a new paper by a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy hypothesizes what an all-out cyberwar between the U.S. and China might look like.

Insomnia is common in Spain, and affects one person in every five. This is the conclusion of a study carried out by the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona and the Stanford University School of Medicine (USA), which shows that 40% of survey respondents aged over 65 report interrupted sleep at night being the prime cause of this problem.

Having sex for the first time can improve or degrade your self-image depending on whether you are male or female, according to Penn State researchers. On average, college-age males become more satisfied with their appearance after first intercourse, whereas college-age females become slightly less satisfied.

Agricultural innovation in developing countries can be hampered and discouraged by envy, according to research published today by academics at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Researchers found that envy reduced adoption of innovations such as fertilizers and improved seeds, and modernisation can be discouraged out of fear of a negative reaction from others, sometimes manifesting itself in the form of the 'evil eye' - the belief that a look can cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed - and similar attitudes.

Reducing doctors' working hours from over 80 a week does not seem to have adversely affected patient safety and has had limited impact on postgraduate training in the United States, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

Further work is now needed to assess the impact of reducing hours to 48 a week in Europe, say the authors.

Deaths from diarrhea—a major killer of young children in poor countries—could be almost halved if already available interventions such as breastfeeding, hand washing with soap, and improved household water treatment were widely implemented.

In this week's PLoS Medicine, and to coincide with World TB Day, Madhukar Pai from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and colleagues introduce the BCG World Atlas, an open access, user friendly website for TB clinicians to discern global BCG vaccination policies and practices and improve the care of their patients.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University study found that a smoke-free air law implemented in an Indiana community did not hurt business at the off-track betting facility in that community. The findings, the researchers said, suggest there is "no economic reason for policymakers to exclude OTB facilities from smoke-free legislation."

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are helping meet the water demands of a riparian desert region that is home to a national conservation area and a thriving military base.