Washington, September 10 : While higher intelligence is known to be related to better self-control, Yale University researchers have for the first time identified the brain region that is key to this association.

"It has been known for some time that intelligence and self-control are related, but we didn''t know why. Our study implicates the function of a specific brain structure, the anterior prefrontal cortex, which is one of the last brain structures to fully mature,” said psychologist Dr. Noah A. Shamosh, who conducted the study with Jeremy R. Gray.

Washington, September 10 : Two anthropologists from the University of Missouri and Arizona State University have come up with a novel way to study religion by focusing on verbal communication, instead of speculating about alleged beliefs in the supernatural that cannot actually be identified.

"Instead of studying religion by trying to measure unidentifiable beliefs in the supernatural, we looked at identifiable and observable behaviour - the behaviour of people communicating acceptance of supernatural claims," said Craig T. Palmer, associate professor of anthropology in the MU College of Arts and Science.

Washington, Sept 10 : Food factory work surfaces coated in titanium are better than those of stainless steel, for they can cut the number of food poisoning cases every year, a new study has revealed.

In the food industry, work surfaces need to be easy to clean, but wear of food contact surfaces through abrasion, cleaning and impact damage increases the surface roughness, making it quite difficult to clean the surfaces.

Researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK have examined the way different work surfaces harbour bacteria that could contaminate food and found that titanium coated surfaces can make it more difficult for pathogenic bacteria to attach themselves to the metal.

Washington, Sept. 10 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is scaling down his expectations and concentrating more of his resources on winning the vote in the traditional swing states, and ultimately winning what is being predicted as a “close race” for the White House.

According to The Telegraph, the Obama campaign is targeting Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, which are seen as key battleground states.

Washington, September 10 : A new study that has examined tradeoff among fuel switching and emission control policies, has indicated that fuel emissions from marine vessels still remain a global concern.

The study was carried out by James Winebrake, professor and chair of the Department of Science, Technology and Society/Public Policy at Rochester Institute of Technology, and James Corbett, associate professor in the College of Marine and Earth Studies at the University of Delaware.

Washington, Sept 10 : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted an Iftar party in the honour of diplomats, writers and artists from Muslim countries here on Monday night.

Members of the diplomatic community, including Pakistan''s ambassador Husain Haqqani, Washington-based Pakistani journalists, members of the US Congress, representatives of American civil society, religious and academic communities attended the reception at the State Department, reported The News.

Speaking on the occasion, Rice said that people of all faiths appreciate Ramazan’s spirit.