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‘Explorers’ use uncertainty and specific area of brain

As they try to find the best reward among options, some people explore based on how uncertain they are about the outcome of the options.  Those who employ that thought process, unlike people who use other strategies, uniquely harness the computational power of the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, a new study finds. (Distributed February 8, 2012)   Read the story

A piece of history rediscovered

A 1960s icon rediscovered: Working on an assignment for a writing class, Brown senior Malcolm Burnley found a story that would land him on NPR, the BBC and other major media.
What began as an assignment for an English course has now captured international attention. Senior Malcolm Burnley shares details about a little known piece of Brown history: a 1961 visit to campus by African American icon Malcolm X. (Distributed February 7, 2012)
Doctors and patients

Lecture or listen: When patients waver on meds

Listening makes it better: M. Barton Laws and colleagues analyzed hundreds of doctor-patient conversations. Doctor directives predominated but open-ended questions and better listing may help patients stick with medication regimens.
According to a new analysis of hundreds of recorded office visits, doctors and nurse practitioners typically issued orders and asked closed or leading questions when talking to their HIV-positive patients about adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Attempts at problem-solving with patients who had lapsed occurred in less than a quarter of visits. (Distributed February 2, 2012)

Middle East Studies shifts toward the modern

Academe considers the Arab Spring: Political upheavals in the Middle East are driving a reevaluation of how and what scholars study and teach. Iranian sociologist Asef Bayat joined Brown this spring as the inaugural Aga Khan Visiting Professor of Islamic Humanities.
With traditional scholarly strengths in the ancient Middle East, Brown is increasing the faculty and adding courses that focus on contemporary Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. Beshara Doumani, an acclaimed scholar of the Middle East, will join the Brown faculty this summer as the Joukowsky Family Distinguished Professor of Modern Middle East History and will begin directing the Middle East Studies Program. (Distributed February 2, 2012)

In lab, Pannexin1 restores tight binding of cells lost in cancer

Ties that bind: Cancerous rat cells (black) expressing the protein Pannexin1 are bound within a strong network of actin (red), while adjacent cells that don't express Pannexin1 (green) have much less developed actin network around them. (Click image for higher resolution.)
By studying tumor cell behavior in a novel “scaffold-free” 3-D system, researchers have determined that the protein Pannexin1 may play an important biomechanical role in binding tissues together, an effect that is lost in cancerous cells. (Distributed January 30, 2012)

Rosenberg named faculty ombudsperson

Ruth Kohorn Rosenberg: Brown University Faculty Ombudsperson
Ruth Kohorn Rosenberg, currently director of student mediation in the Office of Student Citizenship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been named faculty ombudsperson at Brown University. She begins her duties Feb. 22, 2012.  (Distributed January 30, 2012)

Winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx dressed for flight

Everything old is new again: Using new research techniques and tools, Ryan Carney and colleagues determined that the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx feather was black, which would have provided structural advantages to the raven-sized dinosaur’s wings during flight.
The iconic, winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx was dressed for flight, an international team of researchers led by Brown University has concluded. The group identified the color of the raven-sized creature’s fossilized wing feather, determining it was black. The color and the structures that supplied the pigment suggest that Archaeopteryx’s feathers were rigid and durable, which would have helped it to fly. Results appear in Nature Communications. (Distributed January 24, 2012)

Biochip measures glucose in saliva, not blood

Tripping the light fantastic: Each plasmonic interferometer – thousands of them per square millimeter – consists of a slit flanked by two grooves etched in a silver metal film. The schematic shows glucose molecules “dancing” on the sensor surface illuminated by light with different colors. Changes in light intensity transmitted through the slit of each plasmonic interferometer yield information about the concentration of glucose molecules in solution.
Engineers at Brown University have designed a biological device that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva. The technique could eliminate the need for diabetics to draw blood to check their glucose levels. The biochip uses plasmonic interferometers and could be used to measure a range of biological and environmental substances. Results are published in Nano Letters. (Distributed January 20, 2012)

Many high-risk Americans don’t get hepatitis B vaccine

Missed opportunities: A transmission electron microscope image shows particles of the hepatitis B virus. A vaccine has existed since 1982 but many people at high risk for getting the virus nevertheless are not innoculated.
A recently published study investigating hepatitis B vaccination rates in the United States found that more than half of adults at risk for hepatitis B virus remain unvaccinated. With many of these individuals making contact with the healthcare system, including HIV testing, this statistic reflects many missed opportunities to vaccinate this population. (Distributed January 19, 2012)
op-ed

Jay-Z: Dropping the B-word doesn’t begin to cover it

Tricia Rose, professor of Africana studies, is well-known for her work on the emergence of hip hop culture, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994). In 2003 she wrote about black women’s sexual life stories (Longing To Tell: Black Women Talk About Sexuality and Intimacy), and she returned to hip hop in 2008 with The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop–And Why It Matters. This essay first appeared in the Guardian (U.K.). (Distributed January 19, 2012)
Opening January 25

Optical Noise features ’60s and ’70s print revival

Andy Warhol, Jacqueline Kennedy II (1965): Screenprint, 24 x 30 inches. David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University.
Featuring 19 artists representative of 1960s and ’70s art movements, Optical Noise: American & British Prints/Films from the 1960s-1970s is on view at the Bell Gallery from Wednesday, Jan. 25, through Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. (Distributed January 18, 2012)

A Beethoven’s Ninth to honor Ruth Simmons

A choral/orchestral tribute: The Brown University Orchestra and Chorus, with the Providence College Festival Chorus, will perform works including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Saturday, March 3, 2012. The concert is a tribute to Brown President Ruth J. Simmons.
The Brown University Orchestra and Chorus, with the Providence College Festival Chorus, will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and other works in a tribute concert for President Ruth J. Simmons on Saturday, March 3, 2012, at the Vets, Veterans Memorial Auditorium. (Distributed January 18, 2012)
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