A new study forthcoming in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research explores “range effect” and seeks to understand better what consumers do when faced with a range of price and quality options. Specifically, the authors found that offering a wide range of options causes consumers to gravitate towards extreme choices because it is easier for the consumer to discern difference.
“When two attributes have different levels of evaluability, extending the range of the b
New research shows that a wasting condition responsible for nearly a third of all cancer deaths involves the loss of an essential muscle protein that is also lost in people with muscular dystrophy.
The findings provide a better understanding of cancer wasting, also known as cancer cachexia, a condition first described more than 100 years ago that still lacks effective therapy. The findings also might lead to new ways to diagnose and treat the condition.
The study, led
Researchers here have discovered a new marker that might identify a serious form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in people who lack the signs that normally alert doctors that the patient needs intense therapy.
The study was led by researchers with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. It focused on AML patients whose cancer cells show none of the chromosome alterations that help doctors deter
Unprecedented nonlinear optical efficiency could make small organic molecules useful for optical computing, data processing and telecommunication
Researchers from Lehigh University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) have reported unprecedented nonlinear optical efficiency in some small organic molecules that makes the molecules potentially useful for optical computing, optical data processing, and optical telecommunication.
In an article to
Researchers at Northwestern University and Columbia University have found that “wiring” in female rat brain memory area expands and retracts in relation to the amount of estrogen present during the estrous/menstrual cycle.
A study describing this research will be presented on Nov. 14 by Aryeh Routtenberg, professor of psychology, neurobiology and physiology at Northwestern University, at the 2005 Society for Neuroscience Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Because this area of
New research from the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that we pick certain brand names for an entirely narcissistic reason – because they contain letters of the alphabet that are in our own name. The theory is an extension of the ’name letter effect,’ which has demonstrated that people indeed like the letters in their name more so than others letters. The current research extends this phenomenon to consumerism and defines ’name letter branding,’
When the going gets tough, older adults’ brains get going, according to new research by a University of Michigan professor studying how key regions of the brain click on when needed.
Several regions in the brain, especially in the frontal cortex, are involved in helping people meet the demands of a constantly changing environment. While earlier research focused on older adults’ failures to activate these regions, the new U-M research found that older adults can activate
Pumps implanted into the chest to maintain circulation can significantly extend the lives of the sickest patients in end-stage heart failure who are not candidates for heart transplantation, according to the results of a clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center cardiologists.
The pumps, known as left ventricular assistant devices (LVADs), are employed when the heart’s left ventricle – the chamber of the heart that pumps blood throughout the body – is too weak
Results show neural reorganization occurs during short-term memory
An international team of scientists for the first time has detected a memory trace in a living animal after it has encountered a single, new stimulus. The research, done with honeybees sensing new odors, allows neuroscientists to peer within the living brain and explore short-term memory as never before, according to scientist Roberto Fernández Galán, a leading author on the report who is currently a postdoctoral
VCU Massey Cancer Center to develop human study
Two new drugs, when combined, killed up to 75 percent of breast cancer tumor cells in mice and suppressed the regrowth of tumors, according to researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center.
The findings, published online Nov. 14 in the journal Cancer Biology and Therapy, may also have implications for prostate cancer, lymphoma, myeloma and other hematologic cancers.
Paul Dent, Ph.D., assoc
Students with disabilities and learning difficulties are taking part in a unique University of Liverpool training scheme that enables them to educate those with similar disabilities to themselves.
Peer Advocacy Changing Things Together (PACTT) helps people with mental health problems, learning difficulties and physical disabilities to achieve their goals through education. The programme is organised by the Moving on with Learning (MOWL) project, in the University’s Department
Exercise capacity, as measured in terms of VO2max, is a powerful predictor of death in patients with coronary artery disease, not just patients with heart failure. That is the finding of Mayo Clinic research presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2005 in Dallas.
VO2max is the maximum amount of oxygen a person can take in during exercise. In a VO2max study, a patient walks on a treadmill for about 5 to 15 minutes and breathes through a valve;
A gene thought to influence perception and susceptibility to drug dependence is expressed more readily in human beings than in other primates, and this difference coincides with the evolution of our species, say scientists at Indiana University Bloomington and three other academic institutions. Their report appears in the December issue of Public Library of Science Biology.
The gene encodes prodynorphin, an opium-like protein implicated in the anticipation and experience of pain, s
Research showing how genes affect group loyalty and patriotism was published in the October 2005 issue of Nations and Nationalism, an academic journal of the London School of Economics.
Entitled “Ethnic nationalism, evolutionary psychology, and genetic similarity theory,” it shows how genetic similarity provides “social glue” in groups as small as two spouses and best friends or in those as large as nations and alliances.
The evidence comes from studies of identical an
Kills blood cancer cells with low toxicity in preclinical studies
An anti-cancer compound derived from bacteria dwelling in ocean-bottom sediments appears in laboratory tests to be a potent killer of drug-resistant multiple myeloma cells, and potentially with less toxicity than current treatments, report Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers in the November issue of Cancer Cell.
The experimental compound, NPI-0052, has been found to block or inhibit cancer cells’
A new study in mice gives hope that a combination of gene therapy and exercise may extend the lives of people who have Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a chronic and progressive illness that leads to paralysis and ultimately death. There are no known cures, and the only FDA-approved method for treating the disease is a drug that may extend life between three and six months, said Brian Kaspar, the study’s lead aut
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