Our Sun may seem pretty impressive: 330,000 times as massive as Earth, it accounts for 99.86 percent of the Solar System's total mass; it generates about 400 trillion trillion watts of power per second; and it has a surface temperature of about 10,000 degrees Celsius. Yet for a star, it's a lightweight. The real cosmic behemoths are Wolf-Rayet stars, which are more than 20 times as massive as the Sun and at least five times as hot. Because these stars are relatively rare and often obscured, scientists don't know much about how they form, live and die. But this is changing, ...

Drug-resistant bacteria annually sicken 2 million Americans and kill at least 23,000. A driving force behind this growing public health threat is the ability of bacteria to share genes that provide antibiotic resistance. Bacteria that naturally live in the soil have a vast collection of genes to fight off antibiotics, but they are much less likely to share these genes, a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has revealed. The findings suggest that most genes from soil bacteria are not poised to contribute to antibiotic resistance ...

Washington, D.C.—Wolf-Rayet stars are very large and very hot. Astronomers have long wondered whether Wolf-Rayet stars are the progenitors of certain types of supernovae. New work from the Palomar Transient Factory team, including Carnegie's Mansi Kasliwal, is homing in on the answer. They have identified a Wolf-Rayet star as the likely progenitor of a recently exploded supernova. This work is published by Nature. Wolf-Rayet stars are notable for having strong stellar winds and being deficient in hydrogen when compared with other stars. Taken together, these two factors ...

NEW HYDE PARK, NY – A recent study by investigators from LIJ Medical Center demonstrated that using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in men with an elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) resulted in a prostate cancer detection rate that was twice as high as data reported in the March 1999 Prostate journal that analyzed men undergoing the standard 12-core biopsy with an elevated PSA. Physicians in the recent trial used a targeted approach to evaluate prostate cancer that combines MR imaging and transrectal ultrasound fusion guided prostate biopsy. Given the limitations ...

Babies are cute. Kittens are cute. But for some people, products that emphasize baby features like chubby cheeks and large eyes cause them to be more careful and restrained. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, products that are cute in a playful and whimsical way can bring out more indulgent behavior. "We were not convinced that all cute products would lead to the restrained behavior that stems from baby-cuteness. Our research examined whether there are indeed different types of cuteness, and if these differences could lead to more or less indulgent ...

People who drive BMWs and wear expensive suits must surely occupy roles of power and authority. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, when we can separate societal expectations of power from how power makes us feel, we have better control over what it means to be powerful. "When a person is placed into a powerless or powerful role, they sometimes conform to the expectations of that role. But when they are focused on the internal feeling of having or lacking power, we observed the opposite patterns of behavior," write authors Derek D. Rucker (Kellogg ...

Coolness helps sell everything from fashion and music to electronics and cigarettes. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people and brands become cool by understanding what is considered normal, obeying the rules considered necessary, and then diverging from the rules considered expendable. "Our research explores how brands and people become cool in the eyes of consumers. We reasoned that brands could become cool by breaking rules that seemed unnecessary or unfair, but not by breaking legitimate rules," write authors Caleb Warren (Texas A&M University) ...

When people purchase luxury items like expensive watches and high-end automobiles, they often consider themselves members of a select group of consumers. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, when outsiders show an interest in a luxury brand, they help improve its overall value. "Just as tourists boost the pride of citizens toward their home country and reinforce the attractiveness and desirability of the place they visit, brand tourists (as fans of the brand) inspire feelings of membership pride and enhance brand image," write authors Silvia Bellezza ...

When face-to-face with our failures, it's hard not to deny the consequences of our shortcomings—and sometimes we make problems worse by engaging in the behaviors we have been trying so hard to avoid. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, practicing self-acceptance may be the best way to boost our self-worth and avoid self-deprecating behaviors and consequences. "Consider the person who has just realized that they are poorly prepared financially for retirement," write authors Soo Kim and David Gal (both Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern ...

As a human race we strive for perfection, knowing that no one is perfect. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research offers insight into why we surround ourselves with people who help bring out our best but don't make us feel terrible when we stray from perfection. "In a situation requiring two people to use self-control, either both indulge, both abstain, or one indulges while the other abstains. Our research looks at how these different outcomes impact people who are friends," write authors Michael L. Lowe (Texas A&M University) and Kelly L. Haws (Vanderbilt University). In ...

When shopping online, we often have the option of clicking on additional product photos taken from different angles or showing additional features. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, looking at more photos when making product comparisons can ultimately inhibit us from noticing what differentiates them in the first place. "The intuition that 'seeing more is always better' does not consider the possibility that when presented with too many product photos, the way we process information is altered," write authors Jayson Shi Jia (University of ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (May 21, 2014) – Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have found a new target for treating chronic pain: an enzyme called PIP5K1C. In a paper published today in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers led by Mark Zylka, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, shows that PIP5K1C controls the activity of cellular receptors that signal pain. By reducing the level of the enzyme, researchers showed that the levels of a crucial lipid called PIP2 in pain-sensing neurons is also lessened, thus decreasing pain. They also found a compound ...

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have used computer simulations of cancer cells – cancer avatars – to identify drugs most likely to kill cancer cells isolated from patients' brain tumors. The findings, published in May 21 online issue of the Journal of Translational Medicine, may help researchers stratify cancer patients for clinical trials according to their cancers' genomic signatures and predicted sensitivities to different cancer drugs. Such an approach would allow scientists to selectively test cancer ...

PITTSBURGH, May 21, 2014 – A precise rhythm of electrical impulses transmitted from cells in the inner ear coaches the brain how to hear, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. They report the first evidence of this developmental process today in the online version of Neuron. The ear generates spontaneous electrical activity to trigger a response in the brain before hearing actually begins, said senior investigator Karl Kandler, Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology and neurobiology, Pitt School of Medicine. These patterned ...

An online training module designed for the evaluation and care of chronic pain greatly improved medical student clinical skills, according to a report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The module, built by the University of Pittsburgh and using an elderly woman with chronic lower back pain as a case study, is the first curriculum resource created through the efforts of the National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium's Centers of Excellence in Pain Education program (CoEPEs). The program was developed in response to the Affordable Care Act's mandate to ...

When University of Illinois Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Hyunjoon Kong, graduate student Cartney Smith, and colleagues set out to improve MR imaging (MRI), they turned current contrast agent technology on its head—or rather, they turned it inside out. The new compound they designed in collaboration with Illinois' Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry Steven C. Zimmerman is not only more effective, but also self-assembling. Kong is also a member of the Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering research theme at the Institute for Genomic Biology. When ...

Currently accepted wisdom in the corporate world is that in order to motivate frontline employees who serve customers, corporations need to increase their salary, make them feel more positive about the company, or give them more explicit instructions on how to interact with customers. A new study led by Drexel University's Daniel Korschun, PhD, an assistant professor at the LeBow College of Business, examines how frontline employees respond to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities such as charitable giving, environmental programs and ethical practices. The study ...

Universal guidelines and improvements in technology are needed to reduce injuries and deaths from improper placement of nasogastric feeding tubes in pediatric patients, according to a comprehensive review of published literature. The review, conducted by the New Opportunities for Verification of Enteral Tube Location (NOVEL) Work Group Project of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) found that while the bedside placement of a nasogastric feeding tube is a common procedure conducted by nurses, incorrect placement can have serious and ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A new fuel-cell concept, developed by an Michigan State University researcher, will allow biodiesel plants to eliminate the creation of hazardous wastes while removing their dependence on fossil fuel from their production process. The platform, which uses microbes to glean ethanol from glycerol and has the added benefit of cleaning up the wastewater, will allow producers to reincorporate the ethanol and the water into the fuel-making process, said Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist and one of the co-authors. "With a saturated glycerol market, traditional ...

New Rochelle, NY, May 21, 2014—The workplace can provide an ideal environment to implement support, well-being, and testing interventions aimed at reducing risky alcohol use among men. By targeting male-dominated industries, in particular, alcohol screening and prevention efforts may be effective in reducing alcohol use, according to a Review article in Journal of Men's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Men's Health website. A team of Australian researchers led by Nicole Lee, ...

NEW HYDE PARK, NY – A recent study by investigators from LIJ Medical Center demonstrated that using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in men with an elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) resulted in a prostate cancer detection rate that was twice as high as data reported in the March 1999 Prostate journal that analyzed men undergoing the standard 12-core biopsy with an elevated PSA. Physicians in the recent trial used a targeted approach to evaluate prostate cancer that combines MR imaging and transrectal ultrasound fusion guided prostate biopsy. Given the limitations ...

PITTSBURGH—Web services companies, such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft, all make promises about how they will use personal information they gather. But ensuring that millions of lines of code in their systems operate in ways consistent with privacy promises is labor-intensive and difficult. A team from Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft Research, however, has shown these compliance checks can be automated. The researchers developed a prototype automated system that is now running on the data analytics pipeline of Bing, Microsoft's search engine. According to ...

According to the Alaskan Division of Forestry the Funny River fire was very active overnight (May 20) because of low humidity. Currently the fire is estimated to be near 7,000 acres and has reached Tustumena Lake. It is spreading east and west along the shore, is 10 miles long, and is about a mile wide with broadening at the lake shore. There have been no evacuations or reports of any structures lost. Early this morning (May 21), flame lengths of 125 feet with erratic fire behavior were reported. Winds for today are forecasted to remain out of the north keeping the fire ...

Radioactivity is usually associated with nuclear fallout or comic-book spider bites, but in very small amounts it can be a useful tool for diagnosing diseases. Small molecules containing a radioactive isotope of fluorine called "18F radiotracers" are used to detect and track certain diseases in patients. Once injected into the body, these molecules accumulate in specific targets, such as tumors, and can be visualized by their radioactive tag on a positron emission tomography (PET) scan. The 18F tags quickly decay so no radioactivity remains after about a day. But there ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (May 21, 2014)—Having premenstrual syndrome (PMS) before menopause does not mean women will be troubled by hot flashes afterward. But they may face more menopause complaints other than hot flashes, such as trouble with memory and concentration, finds a new study published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). The research team at the Helsinki University Central Hospital and Folkhälsan Research Institute in Helsinki, Finland, are the first to show a link between PMS and a worse quality of life after menopause. They ...