US Sweepstakes and Fulfillment Company (ussweeps.com), a leading national sweepstakes and interactive promotional marketing company, has been honored with the 2014 Rochester Business Journal (RBJ) Best of the Web Award in the Business and Professional Services category. RBJ is Rochester's leading source of business news and information. The award was presented to Barbara Laughton, President of US Sweepstakes, at RBJ's annual awards breakfast on April 9. The awards were given for sites determined to be Rochester's best business websites by a panel of judges. They evaluated ...

STANFORD, Calif. — A low-cost empowerment program for adolescent girls in Kenyan slums sharply curtails rape and sexual harassment of these girls, who live in an environment where women have low status and are frequently attacked, a large new study shows. The findings, by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and the nongovernmental organization Ujamaa-Africa/No Means No Worldwide, validated the program's effectiveness in combating an appallingly common hazard among girls living in the slums of Nairobi: ...

Children and young adults with epilepsy are more likely to suffer broken bones, burns and poisonings compared to those without the neurological disorder, new research has found. The study, led by academics at The University of Nottingham and funded by the National Institute for Health Research, shows that young people with the condition are at significantly greater risk of being poisoned by medication, leading the authors to call for further research into whether these poisonings are intentional. The results, taken in tandem with previous research findings, highlight ...

An expert task force has created a new definition for epilepsy that refines the scope of patients diagnosed with this brain disease. The study published in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), provides a greater level of detail to diagnose epilepsy by including individuals with two unprovoked seizures, and those with one unprovoked seizure and other factors that increase risk of seizure recurrence. The 2005 report by the ILAE task force defined an epileptic seizure as "a transient occurrence of signs and/or ...

OAKLAND, Calif. — Gaining both too much or too little weight during pregnancy appears to increase the risk of having an overweight or obese child, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In one of the largest studies to examine current Institute of Medicine recommendations regarding pregnancy weight gain in relation to childhood obesity, researchers reviewed the electronic health records of 4,145 racially diverse female members of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California who had completed a health survey ...

A study following more than 1,800 children from ages 6 months to nearly 8 years found a small but consistent association between increased television viewing and shorter sleep duration. The presence of a television in the room where a child sleeps also was associated with less sleep, particularly in minority children. Investigators from MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) report their results – the first to examine the connection between television and sleep duration over several years – in the May issue of Pediatrics. ...

Each year around 2,000-2,500 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in England, the most common cancer in women under 35. Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV) types 16 and 18 is responsible for around 70-80% of cervical cancers. A study conducted by Public Health England and presented today at the Society for General Microbiology's Annual Conference shows a reduction in these two HR HPV types – which are included in the HPV vaccines used – in sexually active young women in England. Between 2010 and 2012, over 4000 samples were collected from young ...

BOSTON (April 14, 2014)—Nearly one-third of cases of Wilms tumor, a pediatric cancer of the kidney, are linked to a gene called Lin28, according to research from Boston Children's Hospital. Mice engineered to express Lin28 in their kidneys developed Wilms tumor, which regressed when Lin28 was withdrawn, indicating that strategies aimed at blocking or deactivating the gene hold therapeutic promise for children with Wilms. Studies in the mouse model further suggest that controlled expression of Lin28 can promote kidney development and therefore may hold clues to regeneration ...

The mechanism which underlies the susceptibility of liver disease patients to life-threatening infection has been uncovered by Wellcome Trust-funded medical scientists, who have also suggested a possible treatment to reverse immune suppression in these patients. Liver disease, or cirrhosis, is currently the fifth leading cause of death in the UK. Cirrhosis patients are more than five times more likely to pick up infections in hospital than patients with other chronic conditions, due to reduced immunity which is a well-recognised feature of the disease. In a study published ...

ANN ARBOR—The sponginess of the environment where human embryonic stem cells are growing affects the type of specialized cells they eventually become, a University of Michigan study shows. The researchers coaxed human embryonic stem cells to turn into working spinal cord cells more efficiently by growing the cells on a soft, utrafine carpet made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty. Their study is published online at Nature Materials on April 13. This research is the first to directly link physical, as opposed to chemical, signals to human embryonic stem cell differentiation. ...

VIDEO: Scientists collected fish from the coral reefs shown here and found that fish from the more acidic waters of the bubble reefs were less likely to detect the odor of... Click here for more information. Fish living on coral reefs where carbon dioxide seeps from the ocean floor were less able to detect predator odor than fish from normal coral reefs, according to a new study. The study confirms laboratory experiments showing that the behavior of reef fishes can be seriously ...

The phenomenon has long been known in psychology: traumatic experiences can induce behavioural disorders that are passed down from one generation to the next. It is only recently that scientists have begun to understand the physiological processes underlying hereditary trauma. "There are diseases such as bipolar disorder, that run in families but can't be traced back to a particular gene", explains Isabelle Mansuy, professor at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. With her research group at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich, she has been studying ...

Scientists at Yale University have devised a dramatically faster way of identifying and characterizing complex alloys known as bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), a versatile type of pliable glass that's stronger than steel. Using traditional methods, it usually takes a full day to identify a single metal alloy appropriate for making BMGs. The new method allows researchers to screen about 3,000 alloys per day and simultaneously ascertain certain properties, such as melting temperature and malleability. "Instead of fishing with a single hook, we're throwing a big net," said ...

Researchers have found a major piece of genetic evidence that confirms the role of a group of virus-fighting genes in cancer development. Our understanding of the biological processes that cause cancer is limited. UV light and smoking are two well-understood cancer-causing processes. Exposure to either of these processes causes distinguishable patterns of genetic damage, or 'signatures', on the genome that can lead to cancer. All cancer-causing processes leave their own distinct imprint or signature, on the genomes of cancer cells. The APOBEC family of genes control ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Some 2 to 5 percent of all international trade involves counterfeit goods, according to a 2013 United Nations report. These illicit products — which include electronics, automotive and aircraft parts, pharmaceuticals, and food — can pose safety risks and cost governments and private companies hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Many strategies have been developed to try to label legitimate products and prevent illegal trade — but these tags are often too easy to fake, are unreliable, or cost too much to implement, according to MIT researchers who ...

Alzheimer's disease, the primary cause of dementia in the elderly, imposes a tremendous social and economic burden on modern society. In Japan, the burden of the disease in 2050 is estimated to be a half a trillion US dollars, a figure equivalent to the government's annual revenues. Unfortunately, it has proven very difficult to develop drugs capable of ameliorating the disease. After a tremendous burst of progress in the 1990s, the pace of discoveries has slowed. Dr. Saido believes that part of the difficulty is the inadequacy of current mouse models to replicate the ...

The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high-resolution images over large volumes of tissue. The approach, a form of adaptive optics, works in tissues that do not scatter light, making it well suited to imaging the transparent ...

In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and other institutions have taken the first steps toward creating a roadmap that may help scientists narrow down the genetic cause of numerous diseases. Their work also sheds new light on how heredity and environment can affect gene expression. Pinpointing the genetic causes of common diseases is not easy, as multiple genes may be involved with a disease. Moreover, disease-causing variants in DNA often do not act directly, but by activating nearby genes. To add to the complexity, genetic ...

With Easter less than two weeks away there is no time to waste. It's time to gather up all the candy, paint all the eggs, and perhaps find a festive bunny costume to wear for fun. At iLoveSexy, an online retailer for women's lingerie and costume, there is wide selection of costumes from popular brands like Leg Avenue, Roma Costume, Be Wicked, and more. Finding that bunny costume won't be a problem, and although they do not provide the conventional onesie type bunny outfit, the alternatives certainly do not disappoint. There can be many different approaches to a bunny ...

Global Storm is excited to announce an addition to its lineup of restaurant software tools, the Global Storm Table App! Global Storm has created a line of grocery, retail and restaurant apps to ease business stress, streamline communication, provide customer outreach and more. Global Storm is excited to add this new app to our line of products, which will help attract and maintain restaurant patrons. The Table App is a relatively simple app that is mounted to the tables of a restaurant. While this app was built for iPads, it also works great and saves space and money ...

The Small Business Information Center (SBIC) of Hillsborough County is hosting its complimentary, two-part Developing a Business Plan workshop at the University Area Community Center on Saturday, April 12 from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Attendees not only learn everything involved in developing a business plan, but also have the chance to receive a $1,000 grant to launch their entrepreneurial dream. After the workshop, attendees are encouraged to develop their complete business plan and submit it by May 1 to be eligible for the $1,000 grant provided by the University Area ...

The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera (Verismo Opera) and Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) announce Verismo Opera is the theatre's House Opera Company. Now in its 25th anniversary season, Verismo Opera produces grand, professional productions twice a year, along with an international vocal competition, concerts, master classes, and workshops. The new partnership will allow Verismo Opera to expand the number of production performances to three this year in Bergen County, New Jersey at bergenPAC and continue its mission of sharing grand, traditional opera ...

Durango, CO - April 11, 2014 - With a growing global presence, the Colorado based Blu Girls Tribe is further establishing itself with its latest feature in New York Times. New York Times columnist, Cindy Hirschfield, joined the Blu Girls on a heli-skiing trip in the rugged snowy terrain of Alaska, and experienced what being a Blu Girl is all about. Hirschfield's New York Times piece highlighted a heli-skiing trip with nine skier and snowboarder Blu Girls from around the country who gathered to conquer the Alaskan backcountry slopes. Along with fostering a close-knit ...

It's one thing to brand a widget; it's another to employ the tools of branding to address the issue of homelessness. That indeed is the charge for third year graphic design students at Woodbury University. Working with The Midnight Mission in downtown Los Angeles, students are tapping their creativity to brand The Mission's Family Housing Program. Overseen by Associate Professor Cate Roman, M.F.A., the required course provides students with an opportunity to work directly with a non-profit client from the Los Angeles community. The Midnight Mission offers a path to ...

BuyaTimeshare.com (http://buyatimeshare.com) has released the results of an evaluation of owner resale information based on the consumer advertisements placed on the resale leader's website. Conducted by the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina, the independent study measured information from over 18,000 advertisements placed by owners looking to sell their timeshares through BuyaTimeshare.com. Among the findings: • The median advertised sale price was $11,000 • The mode (most frequent) sale price was $10,000 • The ...