Sarah A. Leavitt writes: The most fun shopping trip of the year occurred when the NBM's exhibitions staff went to Frederick, Maryland's antique stores. We agreed on the beautiful wicker chair but were less sure when deciding among various sets of kitchen containers and vessels. Did the other set have a more unusual pattern? We already had a Hamburglar juice glass, but what about a Kentucky Derby collectible glass?

  A new study has found that a subclass of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called “good” cholesterol, may not protect against coronary heart disease (CHD) and in fact may be harmful.

“British tourists in Italy in the 1770s were time-travellers, imagining themselves in the classical past amidst the landscapes and ruins they encountered on their journeys. The maps, books and antiquities that they purchased and works of art they commissioned were imbued with meaning and memories." Tourists today can experience scientific discoveries in Oxford museums and their shops.

A Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day is 43% more likely than other internet users and more than three times as likely as non-internet users to feel that most people can be trusted.

Lacy Schley writes: "Laughter is the best medicine — at least that’s the case for some anxiety sufferers trying improvisation training at The Second City. The Panic/Anxiety/Recovery Center in Chicago is partnering with a well-known theater troup to use improv to help people overcome their fears."

Julia Sneden writes, "The next time you wonder where your taxes are going, I recommend reading this book. You may also want to take an aspirin or a Xantac, or at least a glass of wine before reading this section of Drift, to dull the pain."

“Title X–supported family planning centers served 4.7 million women in 2008 ... contraceptive services ... helped women and couples avoid 973,000 unintended pregnancies, which would have resulted in 433,000 unplanned births and 406,000 abortions. Without these services, unintended pregnancy and abortion in the United States would be one-third higher"

Men like to know when their wife or girlfriend is happy while women really want the man in their life to know when they are upset. "It could be that for women, seeing that their male partner is upset reflects some degree of the man’s investment and emotional engagement in the relationship, even during difficult times" 

Lauren Andersen writes: :Over the past few months, students from Santa Barbara, California to Miami, Florida have played hosts to some unusual substitute teachers, as senior women scientists and engineers from the highest levels of the Obama Administration hit the road as part of the Women in STEM Speakers Bureau roundtable series."

Outside Over There features a powerful Sendakian heroine, but the adventure here is more perilous, the style of artwork more inventive; the story is full of allusions to Romantic-era painters and musicians. This book also tapped into dark memories from Sendak’s childhood and proved to be one of his most labor-intensive books to write and conceptualize.

“It’s disheartening to see that unbalanced portrayals of men and women persist in popular films,” noted Amy Bleakley, the lead author of the paper. “Movie-going youth – the largest consumers of movies per capita – who are repeatedly exposed to portrayals of women as sexual and men as violent may internalize these portrayals.”

Rose Madeline Mula writes: "I just joined a spinning class for seniors (spinning wool, that is); I’ve become a surfing enthusiast (TV channels and the Internet); I cycle every day (actually, recycle); and last week during a trip to Vermont, I participated in chair lifting — not lifting chairs, but riding in one up a mountainside."

Ferida Wolff writes: "We also planted a lilac bush in our backyard. It was a different variety with darker flowers and a more delicate scent. It grew tall and leggy and did not do as well. For two years it reluctantly put out leaves, no flowers, and half stopped growing at all. This year it bloomed with vigor; each day we look out at the rejuvenation of this beauty."

We find some bogus assumptions in the Obama campaign's fable about a fictional woman. The infographic depicts a fictional woman whose life from age 3 to 67 is better under the president’s policies than under those of Republican Mitt Romney. But in reality, the contrasts are not so stark or simple as the Obama team would have viewers believe

The largest job gains for women in April came in professional and business services, which include temporary help services, private education and health, and leisure and hospitality. Women also gained jobs in the manufacturing sector.

We've observed an uptick in cell phone use for research purposes recently, including confirmation of the owner's accuracy in a conversation with friends. "Let me check that (on my phone)". They're also looking up times that events will start, nearby restaurants, objects on view at a musem, shopping nearby and so on.

A more authentic image of the real Burr has begun to emerge to replace that of the arch-villain, based upon popular prejudice fostered by political animosity that has darkened the pages of history books for many years.

From intrusive pat-downs to body scans to perceived profiling, the Transportation Security Administration always seems to be the target of complaints. It took the TSA almost four years to tell Pro Publica what people complained about — in 2008.

Cigarette advertising has suggested that smoking will make women thinner, more self-confident and independent, and more fashionable, sophisticated, and cool. These tricks of the tobacco trade have remained surprisingly consistent despite changing beliefs about smoking and women’s rights.

There are fiction writers who are able to tease out tangled skeins of suspense into balls that can be unrolled logically and delightfully from the first loose end to the heart at the center, and can smooth out the last kink.

Elaine Soloway writes: "I wasn’t jealous when Tommy beamed as he led Julie on a tour of our house. He was showing off his paintings and smiled at her, like a teen smitten with a cheerleader. But when my husband revealed something to this art therapist he had not shared with me, I felt envious."

Hypertension was the most commonly reported medical condition among adults that could result in a health insurer denying coverage, requiring higher-than-average premiums, or restricting coverage. Mental health disorders and diabetes were the second and third.

Women who started the menopause early were found to have a higher risk of fragility fracture and of mortality. The mortality rate was 52.4% in the early compared to 35.2% in the late group. The fracture incidence rate was 44.3% in the early group compared to 30.7% in the late menopause group.