Background: It is a common myth that the direction of rotation of bath water as it drains down a plughole is determined by the rotation of the Earth – in particular the hemisphere in which it is performed. Careful experiments have been performed to confirm that the rotation of the Earth has only a miniscule effect on the motion (Shapiro, 1962; Trefethen et al, 1965) and it can also be demonstra...

Internet review forums increasingly supplement expert opinion and social networks in informing consumers about product quality. However, limited empirical evidence links digital word-of-mouth to purchasing decisions. We implement a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of positive Yelp.com ratings on restaurant reservation availability. An extra half-star rating causes restaura...

ground?in his case the field of general practice?he was opposed by those who preferred wild pastures where they pointed to the rarer natural flowers but ingnored the vast areas of neglect. More than was generally realised, he was well aware of the antagonisms aroused by the College whose aims he did so much to nurture in its early days. But out of this College, with all its failings, came the g...

Michael Argyle, who died aged 77 on September 6th, was one of the handful of British psychologists to have gained an international reputation. He was a pioneer in the scientific study of social behaviour. His research on interviews and conversations established that nonverbal rather than verbal communication dictate the impressions people make on others. So much is the primacy of ‘‘body languag...

My research uses algebraic and geometric methods to prove theorems in extremal combinatorics. Going the other way, I also use combinatorial methods to prove algebraic results. Algebraic methods are deeply embedded in my work and nearly all of my success in graph theoretic research has come from attacking purely combinatorial problems through the lens of algebra, combinatorial number theory, or ...

Buried pipeline systems are commonly used to transport water, sewage, oil, natural gas and other materials. In the conterminous United States, there are about 77,109 km (47,924 miles) of crude oil pipelines, 85,461 km (53,114 miles) of refined oil pipelines and 67,898 km (42,199 miles) of natural gas pipelines (FEMA, 1991). The total length of water and sewage pipelines is not readily available...

Michael Stoker Sir Michael Stoker, a pioneer of virology and the cell biology of cancer cells, died on 13 August at the age of 95. Viruses have always been useful tools for probing the workings of cells, and Michael exploited tumor-causing viruses to gain a better understanding of oncogenic mechanisms at the dawn of the molecular biology of animal cells. During a long career, Michael not only m...

Interview with Michael Ristow on his highly cited paper on his highly cited paper: Ristow M, Zarse K, Oberbach A, Klöting N, Birringer M, Kiehntopf M, Stumvoll M, Kahn CR, Bl?her M. "Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26; 106(21):8665-70. By January 2012, "Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exe...

The opportunity to work with faculty and other students in the context of teamwork and mentorship is invaluable to all persons involved. The College of Health Sciences and Professions values and promotes involvement in research and creative activities outside of the classroom. It takes a significant investment of time, dedication, and passion from everyone involved to produce these unique proje...