As U.S. policymakers consider ways to ease prohibitions on marijuana, the public health approaches used to regulate alcohol and tobacco over the past century may provide valuable lessons, according to new RAND Corporation research. Recent ballot initiatives that legalized marijuana in Colorado and Washington for recreational uses are unprecedented. The move raises important questions about how to best allow the production, sales and the use of marijuana while also working to reduce any related social ills. A new study published online by the American Journal of Public ...

We all think we have a rough idea of what happened 12,000 years ago when people at several different spots around the globe brought plants under cultivation and domesticated animals for transport, food or fiber. But how much do we really know? Recent research suggests less than we think. For example, why did people domesticate a mere dozen or so of the roughly 200,000 species of wild flowering plants? And why only about five of the 148 species of large wild mammalian herbivores or omnivores? And while we're at it, why haven't more species of either plants or animals been ...

Singapore, 19 April 2014 – A research team led by the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) has uncovered a novel function of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP), one of the main pathogenic culprits of Alzheimer's disease. This discovery may help researchers understand how the protein goes awry in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, and potentially paves the way for the development of innovative therapeutics to improve the brain function of dementia patients. The findings were published in the prestigious scientific research journal Nature Communications last ...

Smoking during pregnancy – particularly among economically-disadvantaged women – leads to a host of poor pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, preterm birth, SIDS, and additional adverse effects later in life. Without a formal treatment intervention, women in this population continue to smoke, and their babies suffer. Vermont Center on Behavior and Health Director Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., and colleagues, have developed an effective behavioral economic approach that offers women financial incentives for quitting. The groups' most recent findings, published online ...

Advances in the technology frontier have resulted in major disruptions and transformations in the massive data processing infrastructures. For the past three decades, classical database management systems, data warehousing and data analysis technologies have been well recognized as effective tools for data management and analysis. More recently, data from different sources and in different format are being collected at unprecedented scale. This gives rise to the so-called 3V characteristics of the big data: volume, velocity and variety. Classical approaches of data warehousing ...

(PHILADELPHIA) -- Muscle weakness is a common symptom of both long-time alcoholics and patients with mitochondrial disease. Now researchers have found a common link: mitochondria that are unable to self-repair. The results will be published online April 21 in The Journal of Cell Biology. The link to self-repair provides researchers both a new way to diagnose mitochondrial disease, and a new drug target. Mitochondria -- organelles that produce the energy needed for muscle, brain, and every other cell in the body -- repair their broken components by fusing with other mitochondria ...

In recent years, there are growing studies concerning the use of different carrier materials for sustained-release and controlled-release of nerve growth factor in neuroscience research. In a study by Prof. Gao Li and team from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, amino-functionalized ethylenediamine-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes were used to prepare carbon nanotubes-nerve growth factor complexes by non-covalent grafting. Results showed that amino functionalization improved carbon nanotubes-nerve growth factor complex dispersibility, ...

Conversations about wartime atrocities often omit certain details. According to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, these omissions can lead people to have different memories for the event depending on social group membership. "We started thinking about this project around the time when stories began to emerge in the popular media about atrocities committed by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan," says lead researcher Alin Coman, psychological scientist at Princeton University. "We wanted to scientifically ...

The recent discovery of the Higgs boson has confirmed theories about the origin of mass and, with it, offered the potential to explain other scientific mysteries. But, scientists are continually studying other, less-understood forces that may also shed light on matters not yet uncovered. Among these is quantum turbulence, writes Katepalli Sreenivasan, an NYU University Professor, in a special issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Sreenivasan's introductory analysis, written with issue co-editors Carlo Barenghi of Newcastle University and Ladislav ...

WASHINGTON — In a study of crimes committed by people with serious mental disorders, only 7.5 percent were directly related to symptoms of mental illness, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. Researchers analyzed 429 crimes committed by 143 offenders with three major types of mental illness and found that 3 percent of their crimes were directly related to symptoms of major depression, 4 percent to symptoms of schizophrenia disorders and 10 percent to symptoms of bipolar disorder. "When we hear about crimes committed by people ...

WASHINGTON -- As the school year winds down and final exams loom, teachers may want to avoid reminding students of the bad consequences of failing a test because doing so could lead to lower scores, according to new research published by APA. "Teachers are desperately keen to motivate their students in the best possible way but may not be aware of how messages they communicate to students around the importance of performing well in exams can be interpreted in different ways," said lead author David Putwain, PhD, of Edge Hill University in Lancashire, England. The study, ...

ATLANTA--Ginseng can help treat and prevent influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages, according to research findings by a scientist in Georgia State University's new Institute for Biomedical Sciences. In a recent issue of Nutrients and an upcoming publication of the International Journal of Molecular Medicine, Sang-Moo Kang reports the beneficial effects of ginseng, a well-known herbal medicine, on human health. Kang's primary research focuses on designing and developing effective vaccines against ...

VIDEO: This movie explains the new coating material. Click here for more information. Ever stop to consider why lotus plant leaves always look clean? The hydrophobic – water repelling – characteristic of the leaf, termed the "Lotus effect," helps the plant survive in muddy swamps, repelling dirt and producing beautiful flowers. Of late, engineers have been paying more and more attention to nature's efficiencies, such as the Lotus effect, and studying its behavior in order ...

Central-east Mexico gave birth to the domesticated chili pepper — now the world's most widely grown spice crop — reports an international team of researchers, led by a plant scientist at the University of California, Davis. Results from the four-pronged investigation — based on linguistic and ecological evidence as well as the more traditional archaeological and genetic data — suggest a regional, rather than a geographically specific, birthplace for the domesticated chili pepper. That region, extending from southern Puebla and northern Oaxaca to southeastern Veracruz, ...

The wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta are slowly sinking and rapidly eroding, but new research from Rice University and the University of South Carolina has found the river's supply of sand -- the material engineers most need to rebuild the delta -- will stay constant for centuries. The new study, which appears online this week in Nature Geoscience, is encouraging news for scientists and government officials who are working to shore up southeastern Louisiana's rapidly disappearing wetlands. The delta sinks each year as its soil settles and becomes more compact. ...

Cell reprogramming converts specialised cells such as nerve cells or skin cells towards an embryonic stem cell state. This reversal in the evolutionary development of cells also requires a reversal in the biology of telomeres, the structures that protect the ends of chromosomes; whilst under normal conditions telomeres shorten over time, during cell reprogramming they follow the opposite strategy and increase in length. A study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports, from the Cell Publishing Group, reveals that the SIRT1 protein is needed to lengthen and maintain ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new approach to handling agitation, aggression and other unwanted behaviors by people with dementia may help reduce the use of antipsychotics and other psychiatric drugs in this population, and make life easier for them and their caregivers, a team of experts says. Publishing their recommendations under the easy-to-remember acronym of "DICE", the panel of specialists in senior mental health hope to spark better teamwork among those who care for dementia patients at home, in residential facilities and in hospitals and clinics. In fact, the federal ...

Kids will be more than just observers at the Women in Development of Mercer County breakfast meeting Thursday, April 24 at the Fedora Cafe at 2633 Main St. The breakfast meeting, from 8:30-10 am, will focus on ways to effectively engage children, tweens and teens in volunteerism and philanthropy. Elian Rubin, a 7th Grade Student at John Witherspoon Middle School in Princeton, will speak about his experiences in fundraising. Elian is an active volunteer with SAVE, A Friend to Homeless Animals, Princeton Boy Scout Troop 43 and his school's Do Something Club. In addition ...

Employees and tenants of Montreal's landmark Sun Life Building now have access to a unique benefit: exclusive yoga classes. As part of a new wellness initiative, property manager Bentall Kennedy is pleased to offer this benefit to all occupants of the Sun Life Building located at 1155 Metcalfe Street. The company, which earned a 1st place rank for sustainability in the Americas in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), is offering tenants and employees of the building the opportunity to de-stress, get fit and have fun with in-house yoga in a 10th floor ...

Suzanne Lieurance, The Working Writer's Coach, helps writers everywhere write more, sell more, and make more money. She now offers a free, 5 module e-course called "Jumpstart Your Freelance Writing Career." This free e-course is designed to help writers get clear about their writing goals and start thinking about an action plan to reach those goals. Lieurance knows that many people who have a passion for writing have no idea how to turn that passion into a business or a writing career, which is why she developed this free e-course. "When people sign up for my free ...

The event, aptly titled 'The Power of Ideas' will focus on how attendees can leverage their entrepreneurial ideas, develop the qualities and traits needed to maximise the chances of business success and business development, branding and growth. Unique to the events hosted by 'Generation Success', the event has been designed to be a fully interactive and practical session created to help candidates develop an edge over their future competitors. As a highly successful and acclaimed entrepreneur, Ketan Makwana will take a break from his current role as Director of Rockstar ...

In the spring of 1913, the city of San Marino incorporated, partly to avoid being taken over by a neighboring town with higher property taxes. In 1914, one year later, what was going on? How was the new little city working? What was going on in the 48 United States? KEN VERONDA, Headmaster of Southwestern Academy, will entertain one and all with a historical lecture on this era at Crowell Public Library Monday, May 19th at 7:00 p.m. Ken will impart the issues and perspectives of that day including the problems with the schoolhouse, Alhambra's outrageous charges for their ...

Positive lifestyle company Happy Fix (www.happyfix.com) is bringing its message on the road to the Lake Norman Bags & Brews Festival May 3rd at the Central Greenway at Mooresville Town Square in support of the inaugural fundraiser for the Captain Mark McDowell Memorial Foundation. Happy Fix will be selling quality, sought-after products people love at the event, including uber-comfy apparel and fun accessories. "We're honored to be supporting this event and the Captain Mark McDowell Foundation," Stacy Menzies, Happy Fix president said. Captain McDowell grew ...

Mold victims should know that there are possible links between multiple sclerosis (MS) and exposure to elevated levels of indoor toxic mold, warns Phillip Fry, Certified Environmental Hygienist, author of Mold Health Guide, and webmaster since 1999 of the 300 page mold health information website http://www.moldinspector.com. Environmental physicians believe that environmental influences (such as exposure to elevated levels of indoor toxic mold) might possibly be associated with several neurologically-oriented diseases such as Parkinsonfs disease, multiple sclerosis, ...

The Barbara Lee & Elihu Harris Lecture Series announced today a presentation featuring Dr. Coyness L. Ennix, Jr, noted heart surgeon and advocate for the Affordable Care Act and Mr. Peter V. Lee, Executive Director, Covered California. Dr Ennix and Peter Lee will be joined by Congresswoman Barbara Lee and former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris will also speak. The lecture will present information and updates regarding the Affordable Care Act and Covered California. There will be time for the speakers to answer questions. The lecture takes place on Thursday, April 24th ...