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Press Releases in October, 2011

Vitamin D study suggests no mortality benefit for older women

A study of postmenopausal women found no significant mortality benefit from vitamin D after controlling for health risk factors such as abdominal obesity. The only exception was that thin-waisted women with low vitamin D levels might face some risk. The results agree with advice issued last year by the Institute of Medicine that cautioned against vitamin D having a benefit beyond bone health. (Distributed October 31, 2011)

Researchers complete mollusk evolutionary tree

Clarity on the mollusk family tree: The flamingo tongue snail, Cyphoma gibbosum, is a common and easily recognized gastropod mollusk found in shallow waters of the tropical western Atlantic. It has a bright orange, white, and black pattern on the mantle folds that cover the shell in life.
Researchers at Brown University and partner institutions have compiled the most comprehensive evolutionary tree for mollusks to date. Their analysis surprisingly places two enigmatic groups, cephalopods and monoplacophorans, as sister clades. The team has also shown that there was a single origin for shelled mollusks. Results appear in Nature. (Distributed October 26, 2011)

Land animals, ecosystems walloped after Permian dieoff

Survivors: Lystrosaurus, a relative to mammals, was one of a handful of “disaster taxa” to escape from the rubble of the Permian Period, along with the meter-high spore-tree Pleuromeia. Low diversity of animals delayed the full recovery of land ecosystems by millions of years.
Researchers at Brown University and the University of Utah have concluded the mass extinction that ended the Permian Period was disastrous for land-based animals. In a specimen-by-specimen analysis, the scientists say species were reduced to a handful of forms, called disaster taxa. The low diversity of vertebrates meant that terrestrial ecosystems endured boom-and-bust cycles for up to 8 million years before finally stabilizing. Results appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (Distributed October 25, 2011)

Gun traffickers exploit differences in state laws

Traffic flow: Traffickers tend to move illegal guns from states with weaker gun laws (red-hued) into states with stricter gun laws (blue-shaded).
A new study by Brown University economist Brian Knight explores the state-to-state flow of illegal firearms in America and examines the role of state gun regulations. He presents evidence of spillover effects associated with gun regulations, as with guns originating in Indiana and recovered during crime investigations in Illinois. (Distributed October 24, 2011)
Garonzik Lectures on International Economics and Finance

Rogoff to deliver inaugural Garonzik lecture

The inaugural Garonzik lecture: Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff, who has served as chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is the inaugural speaker for the Fredric B. Garonzik '64 Lecture Series on International Economics and Finance.
Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff will deliver the inaugural lecture in the Fredric B. Garonzik ’64 Lecture Series on International Economics and Finance at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in Sayles Hall. Rogoff is a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. (Distributed October 24, 2011)
Large Hadron Collider

Landsberg named physics coordinator for Compact Muon Solenoid

At the hub of the search for the Higgs boson: In December, Greg Landsberg, professor of physics, wilil begin a two-year term as physics coordinator for the Compact Muon Solenoid, a detector at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva.
As physics coordinator for the Compact Muon Solenoid, Greg Landsberg will oversee part of the international hunt for new subatomic particles, including the Higgs boson. He begins his two-year term in December. (Distributed October 24, 2011)

University confers honorary doctorate on Herb Kaplan

Alpert Medical School’s newest doctor: Herb Kaplan, president of the Warren Alpert Foundation, acknowledges cheers during the August opening of the Warren Alpert Medical School. Kaplan received an honorary doctorate at the building’s dedication today.
Herbert M. Kaplan, business leader and medical philanthropist, was honored for his dedicated work to improve health care and academic medicine at Brown University and throughout the East Coast. Kaplan received an honorary degree during the dedication of the Warren Alpert Medical School’s new home. (Distributed October 22, 2011)
Actions of the Corporation

Corporation endorses more ROTC opportunities, recommendations on varsity athletics

At its October meeting, the Corporation of Brown University endorsed the administration’s recommendation to explore enhanced opportunities for ROTC, affirmed its response to a report on varsity athletics, formally accepted gifts totaling more than $34.2 million, and took action on a number of other matters. (Distributed October 22, 2011)
ROTC Report and Response

President Simmons accepts recommendations of ROTC committee

Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons today released her response to a report by the Committee on the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Simmons accepted the report’s recommendations to expand opportunities for students to participate in ROTC. The full text of Simmons’ response is available online at brown.edu/reports/rotc/ (Distributed October 19, 2011)

Brown University reports an 18.5% endowment return

Brown University’s endowment earned an 18.5-percent return and grew to a market value of $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2011. The endowment supports need blind admission policy, academic programs, professorships, graduate fellowships and research. (Distributed October 18, 2011)

Allergies may help in fighting brain tumors

Subjects with somewhat elevated levels of antibodies produced to fight allergens were less likely to go on to develop brain tumors, according to a new study. The study adds to evidence from prior studies, but some questions still remain. (Distributed October 17, 2011)
November 19 through February 19

Nostalgia Machines: Technology and memory collide

Jonathan Schipper, Measuring Angst (2009): Glass, steel, electronics (detail)
Featuring an international group of emerging and established artists, Nostalgia Machines at the David Winton Bell Gallery explores the intersection of nostalgia and technology in contemporary sculpture. An opening-night colloquium at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, is open to the public without charge. (Distributed October 14, 2011)

Earthquakes generate big heat in super-small areas

Simulating earthquakes in the laboratory: Geophysicists Terry Tullis, left, and David Goldsby have shown that rock surfaces sliding past each other in an earthquake can create intense heat but only at the pinpoint places where their surfaces actually touch.
In experiments mimicking the speed of earthquakes, geophysicists at Brown University detail a phenomenon known as flash heating. They report in a paper published in Science that because fault surfaces touch only at microscopic, scattered spots, these contacts are subject to intense stress and extreme heating during earthquakes, lowering their friction and thus the friction of the fault. The localized, intense heating can occur even while the temperature of the rest of the fault remains largely unaffected. (Distributed October 13, 2011)

Plant genomes may help next generation respond to climate change

Climate shapes the distribution of plants: Laura J. Martin, a Brown graduate now a Ph.D candidate at Cornell, takes a census of surviving Arabidopsis plants at the field site in Norwich, England. Harvested plants were shipped to Brown for analysis.
Plants may have the genetic flexibility to respond to climate change. In experiments with the common European plant Arabidopsis thaliana, a team of researchers led by Brown University scientists learned that climate is the agent that determines the suite of genes that gives the plant the best chance of surviving and reproducing throughout its natural range. The finding may unlock the molecular basis for other plants’ adaptability to climate change. Results appear in Science. (Distributed October 6, 2011)

‘Genetic biopsy’ of human eggs might help pick the best for IVF

Genetic information by proxy: Researchers found that analyzing genetic material in polar bodies can yield information about gene expression in the egg without disturbing the egg itself.
Researchers at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island have developed a way to extract information about gene expression from fertile human egg cells without hurting them. Expendable ‘polar bodies’ in the cells reflect much the same information as the eggs themselves, researchers have determined. (Distributed October 6, 2011)