Using tools that help physicians decide whether to use expensive imaging studies such as MRI scans can help reduce the ordering of unnecessary tests, but implementation of the tools in real-world settings has many challenges, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The tools, computer-based programs that match a patient's characteristics against treatment criteria and recommend a treatment, helped increase the proportion of tests for Medicare fee-for-service patients rated as appropriate, according to findings published in the June 2 edition of the Journal of the American ...

This news release is available in French. Montreal, June 2nd, 2015 - A team of researchers from Universite de Montreal, Polytechnique Montreal and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France is the first to succeed in preventing two-dimensional layers of black phosphorus from oxidating. In so doing, they have opened the doors to exploiting their striking properties in a number of electronic and optoelectronic devices. The study's results were published in the prestigious journal Nature Materials. Black phosphorus: future key player in new technologies Black ...

Any box or bottle of over-the-counter (OTC) medicine lists its active ingredients prominently on the label. But are consumers using that information to make wise choices about taking two or more OTC drugs at the same time? Probably not, suggests a new study in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. "A consumer who takes a cold medicine containing, for instance, acetaminophen, may see nothing wrong with taking an additional medicine that also contains acetaminophen," write authors Jesse R. Catlin (California State University, Sacramento), Connie Pechmann (University ...

You go to the grocery store to buy a pound of ground beef and a can of tomato sauce. You walk out with the ground beef, the sauce, and a bag of chocolate-covered almonds, a silicon spatula, and the latest celebrity magazine. What happened? According to a new study in the Journal of Marketing, what and when you purchased determined the array of items you eventually bought. "Shoppers enter the grocery store planning to buy certain things, but are tempted to buy unplanned items," write authors Timothy J. Gilbride (University of Notre Dame), Jeffrey Inman (University of Pittsburgh), ...

Consumers often complain that online companies violate their privacy--but the problem may be with the consumers themselves. According to a new study in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, there can be a big discrepancy between what consumers believe that online privacy policies promise and what those policies do in fact promise. Many consumers assume policy protections that were never there. "The difference between the level of privacy consumers think they have after reading a privacy notice and the level of privacy they actually have can be striking," writes the ...

A new study by a University of Toronto Mississauga researcher has taken the first-ever look at the academic outcomes of children with epilepsy who have had brain surgery, and found that they have a higher chance of struggling in class following their surgery. Psychology professor Mary Lou Smith was co-leader of a team of researchers who studied the arithmetic, spelling, reading and reading comprehension abilities of children after having resective epilepsy surgery, a procedure that involves removing a part of the brain in order to halt seizures. The patients completed ...

Not too long ago, Microsoft mailed loyal Xbox customers an e-card encoded with twenty-five cents' worth of Microsoft points. The software behemoth might have thought it was showing appreciation. But recipients of the company's "generosity" might have felt "Is that all I'm worth?" According to a new study in the Journal of Marketing, companies that bestow monetary gifts in too small amounts can leave customers feeling, well, small. "Financial acknowledgments, if they are too insignificant, can definitely backfire," write authors Peggy J. Liu (Duke University), Cait Lamberton ...

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. When it comes to selling, that might be a good thing, suggests a new study in the Journal of Marketing. "Salespeople can make accurate intuitive judgments of a customer's needs, and those judgments can significantly increase sales," write authors Zachary R. Hall (Texas Christian University), Michael Ahearne (University of Houston), and Harish Sujan (Tulane University). "In fact, when a salesperson deliberately rethinks first impressions of a customer, he or she might lose a potential sale." To reach ...

Some 30,000 years ago, prehistoric man wielded animal bones as needles to suture otherwise lethal wounds. This tactic has been used, and improved upon, over time and remains the basis of surgical procedures conducted today. Even with radical new surgical techniques, which rely on metallic and polymeric staples or chemical adhesives to seal incisions, infection and permanent scarring remain major concerns. The success of any wound closure is entirely dependent on the physician's skill set alone. Prof. Abraham Katzir, Head of the Applied Physics Group at Tel Aviv University's ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Research has shown that media, such as television and video games, can affect viewers' thoughts and actions. Now, new research by Cynthia Frisby, an associate professor of strategic communication in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, has revealed racial stereotyping in the way media portray athletes. Frisby found that media stories on African-American athletes focus primarily on criminal actions while stories about white athletes are overwhelmingly positive. For her study, Frisby examined 155 news articles about male athletes from online ...

Why do people participate in programs that benefit the environment, even when there seems to be no direct personal benefit in taking part? More specifically, why would consumers pay good money for wind energy when it is not at all clear that they are benefiting from that energy? The answer may lie in a psychological sense of community with other wind-energy customers, according to a new study in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. The authors interviewed participants in a wind power program in the western United States. The goal was to understand in depth what ...

New Orleans, Louisiana - June 2, 2015 - Data confirms that there is transmission of fecal coliforms in communal bathrooms at Quinnipiac University and that toothbrushes can serve as a vector for transmission of potentially pathogenic organisms. This research is presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. "The main concern is not with the presence of your own fecal matter on your toothbrush, but rather when a toothbrush is contaminated with fecal matter from someone else, which contains bacteria, viruses or parasites that are not part of your ...

The impact of scary TV on children's wellbeing has been overstated, according to University of Sussex psychologists. While research has shown that a small minority of children can have extreme reactions to a scary programme or film, the researchers found that, overall, children show very little sign of increased anxiety, fear, sadness or sleep problems. University of Sussex research student, Laura Pearce, and Andy Field, Professor of Child Psychopathology at the University, reviewed all research into the topic carried out over the past 25 years. Their findings, ...

A scientific group from the Center for RNA Research within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and School of Biological Sciences in Seoul National University has reported an insightful molecular mechanism of how Microprocessor, the DROSHA-DGCR8 complex, precisely determines cleavage sites on miRNA-containing primary transcripts allowing faithful initiation of microRNA biogenesis. The group's findings, published in Cell on 28th May as Advance Online Publication, not only reveal the function of each part of human Microprocessor, but also outline future work on the molecular ...

Bariatric surgery does not only benefit the health of patients who undergo this weight loss procedure. It also leads to greater intimacy between them and their life partners, and adds a spark to their sex life. It's all in all a shared journey that brings partners closer together, says Mary Lisa Pories of East Carolina University in the US, lead author of a study providing insights into the experience of couples after one of the partners underwent weight loss surgery. The findings are published in Springer's journal Obesity Surgery. Bariatric surgery is the most effective ...

SALT LAKE CITY - Intermountain Healthcare is one of 150 organizations in the nation that was invited to the White House to help develop national policy to address the growing problem of the overuse of antibiotics. Intermountain has been studying this issue extensively for the past several years and is one the of leading healthcare organizations in the United States to research best practices to help curb the inappropriate use of antibiotics, which is contributing to the growing problem of resistant bacteria. Intermountain will participate in a one-day antibiotic stewardship ...

BOSTON - A new study from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) suggests that risk factors for readmission change significantly over the course of the 30 days following hospital discharge. Thirty-day hospital readmission rates have become a federal quality metric intended to reflect inpatient quality of care and unnecessary health care utilization. Published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the research suggests that two distinct 8-day and 30-day readmission rates would serve as better inpatient quality measurements and would better inform ...

The scientific team, from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Seoul National University, has developed an ultra-thin wearable quantum dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs). The electronic tattoo is based on current quantum dot light emitting diode (QLED) technology. Colloidal quantum dot (QLED's) have attracted great attention as next generation displays. The quantum dots (QDs) have unique properties such as the color tunability, photo/air stability, and are printability on various substrates. The device is paper thin and can be applied to human skin like a sticker. The ...

To arrange for an interview with a researcher, please contact the Communications staff member identified at the end of each tip. For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to one of our media contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov. SOLAR - Suitability mapping ... Using remote sensing data, researchers can efficiently determine optimum sites for solar power plants, according to a study led by Olufemi Omitaomu of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With the target of solar ...

University of Adelaide researchers have discovered cerebral palsy has an even stronger genetic cause than previously thought, leading them to call for an end to unnecessary caesareans and arbitrary litigation against obstetric staff. In an authoritative review published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, members of the Australian Cerebral Palsy Research Group, based at the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, argue that up to 45% of cerebral palsy cases can have genetic causes. This builds on research published in February this year ...

A study of marine mammals and other protected species finds that several once endangered species, including the iconic humpback whale, the northern elephant seal and green sea turtles, have recovered and are repopulating their former ranges. The research, published in the June edition of Trends in Ecology and Evolution, suggests that some species, including humpback whales, have reached population levels that may warrant removal from endangered species lists. But returning species, which defy global patterns of biodiversity loss, create an urgent new challenge for policymakers ...

Researchers at Tohoku University and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan, have developed a novel ultra-compact heterogeneous wavelength tunable laser diode. The heterogeneous laser diode was realized through a combination of silicon photonics and quantum-dot (QD) technology, and demonstrates a wide-range tuning-operation. The researchers presented their work at a Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) in San Jose, California, on May 13. The related paper was also be published in Applied Physics Express ...

A research group at Tohoku University has succeeded in fabricating an atomically thin, high-temperature superconductor film with a superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of up to 60 K (-213°C). The team, led by Prof. Takashi Takahashi (WPI-AIMR) and Asst. Prof. Kosuke Nakayama (Dept. of Physics), also established the method to control/tune the Tc. This finding not only provides an ideal platform for investigating the mechanism of superconductivity in the two-dimensional system, but also paves the way for the development of next-generation nano-scale superconducting ...

An international team led by Thayne Currie of the Subaru Telescope and using the Gemini South telescope, has discovered a young planetary system that shares remarkable similarities to our own early solar system. Their images reveal a ring-like disk of debris surrounding a Sun-like star, in a birth environment similar to the Sun's. The disk appears to be sculpted by at least one unseen solar system-like planet, is roughly the same size as our solar system's Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt (commonly called the Kuiper Belt), and may contain dust and icy particles. This work provides ...

Using a brand new survey method, researchers in Bergen have asked a broad spectrum of people in Norway about their thoughts on climate change. The answers are quite surprising. Some 2,000 Norwegians have been asked about what they think when they hear or read the words "climate change". There were no pre-set answers or "choose the statement that best describes your view" options. Instead the respondents had to formulate their views on climate change in their own words. The answers have provided striking new insight into what the average person on the street in Norway ...