A stegosaurus no more?

Peter Galton, a curatorial affiliate with the Peabody Museum of Natural History, wrote in the September issue of the Swiss Journal of Geosciences that the first named stegosaurus — also known as the “type specimen” — is too incomplete to compare with other fossils, invalidating its name. However, Galton has sent in a petition to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, which regulates species names, to designate a new type specimen called Stegosaurus stenops, thereby saving the name of the famous Jurassic-era dinosaur.

Professor and postdoctoral fellow attend congressional briefing

Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry Joan Steitz and Gigi Galiana, a postdoctoral associate in the diagnostic radiology department at the Yale School of Medicine, participated in a congressional briefing for women in science in Washington on Sept. 23. Steitz served as a panelist for the briefing, while Galiana was one of five women scientists nationwide to receive a $60,000 research grant from L’Oreal USA’s fellowship for women in science.

Hospices cost-effective, provide good care for cancer patients

Cancer patients who remained in hospice care until death paid, on average, $6,537 in expenses, while patients who stopped hospice care incurred about $30,848 in expenses, according to a Yale School of Public Health-Mount Sinai School of Medicine study to be published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study, which tracked 90,826 hospice patients in 1,384 hospices from 1998 to 2002, found that patients who left hospice care were ten times more likely to be admitted into a hospital emergency department, with stays that were on average nearly three times as long.

Connecticut schools have fewer unhealthy snack options

According to a study conducted by Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and published in the Journal of School Health, all Connecticut school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program reduced the availability of unhealthy snack foods during the 2006-’07 school year. Currently, about 68 percent of Connecticut’s eligible schools seek Healthy Food Certification from the state, an increase of 34 percent since the program was implemented in 2006.