Climate feedbacks from decomposition by soil microbes are one of the biggest uncertainties facing climate modelers. A new study from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the University of Vienna shows that these feedbacks may be less dire than previously thought. The dynamics among soil microbes allow them to work more efficiently and flexibly as they break down organic matter – spewing less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than previously thought, according to a new study published in the journal Ecology Letters. "Previous climate ...

Procrastination and impulsivity are genetically linked, suggesting that the two traits stem from similar evolutionary origins, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research indicates that the traits are related to our ability to successfully pursue and juggle goals. "Everyone procrastinates at least sometimes, but we wanted to explore why some people procrastinate more than others and why procrastinators seem more likely to make rash actions and act without thinking," explains psychological ...

Green tea is said to have many putative positive effects on health. Now, researchers at the University of Basel are reporting first evidence that green tea extract enhances the cognitive functions, in particular the working memory. The Swiss findings suggest promising clinical implications for the treatment of cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders such as dementia. The academic journal Psychopharmacology has published their results. In the past the main ingredients of green tea have been thoroughly studied in cancer research. Recently, scientists have also been ...

Each year prostate tissue samples are taken from over a million men around the world – in most cases using 12 large biopsy needles – to check whether they have prostate cancer. This medical procedure, which was recently described by an American urology professor as 'barbaric'**, shows that 70% of the subjects do not have cancer. The examination is unnecessarily painful and involves risk for these patients, and it is also costly to carry out. A patient-friendly examination, which drastically reduces the need for biopsies, and may even eliminate them altogether, has been ...

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) reassessed the antiviral drug combination rilpivirine/emtricitabine/tenofovir. In early 2012, the combination was approved for the treatment of adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) who have not received previous antiretroviral treatment. For men, the Institute then found proof, and for women, indications of a considerable added benefit of the fixed combination in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy. In the end of 2013, the approval was expanded to people ...

Tropical Cyclone Peipah passed the island of Palau on April 5 moving through the Northwestern Pacific Ocean as it heads for a landfall in the Philippines. Peipah was formerly known as Tropical Cyclone 05W and was renamed when it reached tropical storm-force. Since then, however, wind shear has weakened the storm to a tropical depression. On April 5 at 2100 UTC/5 p.m. EDT, Tropical Storm 05W, renamed Peipah (and known locally in the Philippines as Domeng) was located about 262 nautical miles east-southeast of Koror. It was centered near 5.5 north and 137.8 east and moving ...

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine researchers have identified the genetic mutation responsible for a form of cleft palate in the dog breed Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. They hope that the discovery, which provides the first dog model for the craniofacial defect, will lead to a better understanding of cleft palate in humans. Although cleft palate is one of the most common birth defects in children, affecting approximately one in 1,500 live human births in the United States, it is not completely understood. The findings appear this week online in the journal ...

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (April 7, 2014) – Taking remedial courses at the four-year college level may hold students back from earning their bachelor's degrees, but at the community college level remedial education can help earn an associate's degree, according to researchers from Boston College's Lynch School of Education. The role of remedial education has been under scrutiny for years, viewed as an essential tool in efforts to raise rates of degree completion. At the same time, critics question whether the courses are appropriate for institutions of higher education. The ...

When we watch a movie, our brains react to it immediately in a way similar to brains of other people. Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have succeeded in developing a method fast enough to observe immediate changes in the function of the brain even when watching a movie. By employing movies it was possible to investigate the function of the human brain in experimental conditions that are close to natural. Traditionally, in neuroscience research, simple stimuli, such as checkerboard patterns or single images, have been used. Viewing a movie creates multilevel ...

As part of a German-French research project, a team led by Dr. Christa E. Müller from the University of Bonn and Dr. David Blum from the University of Lille was able to demonstrate for the first time that caffeine has a positive effect on tau deposits in Alzheimer's disease. The two-years project was supported with 30,000 Euro from the non-profit Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V. (AFI) and with 50,000 Euro from the French Partner organization LECMA. The initial results were published in the online edition of the journal "Neurobiology of Aging." Tau deposits, along ...

Researchers are blending technology with nature, as they present details on an iPad application to examine how young children are learning science skills in nature-themed outdoor play settings. Alan Wight, a doctoral candidate in the University of Cincinnati School of Education; Cathy Maltbie, a research associate for the UC Evaluation Services Center; and Victoria Carr, a UC associate professor of education and director of the UC Arlitt Child and Family Research and Education Center, presented details on the innovation at the annual meeting of the American Educational ...

SAN DIEGO – (April 7th, 2014) A major discovery that brings a new drug target to the increasingly exciting landscape of cancer immunotherapy was published yesterday by researchers from La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology and their collaborators from other institutes. The study, led by Amnon Altman, Ph.D., and Kok-Fai Kong, Ph.D., is particularly noteworthy because it reveals a new way to block the function of CTLA-4, an immune inhibitory checkpoint receptor already generating huge interest in the pharmaceutical and research communities due to its potential ...

An international team of researchers from the University of Arizona, China and the United Kingdom has discovered the earliest known cardiovascular system, and the first to clearly show a sophisticated system complete with heart and blood vessels, in fossilized remains of an extinct marine creature that lived over half a billion years ago. The finding sheds new light on the evolution of body organization in the animal kingdom and shows that even the earliest creatures had internal organizational systems that strongly resemble those found in their modern descendants. "This ...

JUPITER, FL, April 7, 2014 – Scientists thought they basically knew how the most common drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes worked, but a new study from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) reveals unexpected new aspects of the process. These findings could eventually lead to more potent anti-diabetic drugs with fewer serious side effects. The study was published in the April 7, 2014 issue of the journal Nature Communications. The most common type 2 diabetes treatments are known as insulin-sensitizing drugs, which improve how the body responds ...

Drew Reynolds and Sean Nickerson, founding partners of TrackResults, which specializes in Business Intelligence, Sales Reporting and Digital Manifesting for the timeshare industry, have joined the ranks of key ARDA leadership by receiving the coveted RRP designation. The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) is the Washington D.C.-based trade association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries (timeshares). ARDA has almost 1,000 corporate members ranging from privately held firms to publicly traded corporations with extensive experience ...

The Material Handling Institute (MHI) has appointed two St. Onge principals to executive volunteer positions. Bryan Jensen, vice president and principal, St. Onge Co. (www.stonge.com), has been appointed to the MHI Roundtable. Al Reigart, vice president and principal, St. Onge Co., has been appointed to chairman of MHI's Supply Chain Execution Systems & Technologies Group. Jensen's appointment is for four years, Reigart's term is for two years. Members of the roundtable provide counsel and insight to MHI officers. "The Material Handling Institute is the leader in ...

Greece boasts magnificent light and breathtaking islands. But it's not only for vacations! Thousands of young couples from across the world visit the Greek islands each year to organize their destination wedding. According to the official statistics, the island of Santorini in Greece hosts more than 1000 weddings per year with couples from all over the world. Couples from Asia, Russia, the UK and the US as well as Australia and numerous other countries bring relatives and friends, and organize spectacular weddings under the pure, magnificent light of the Mediterranean. ...

For four hours last night, the seven finalist (four from the U.S. and three from Mexico) of USD's annual V2 Bi-National Entrepreneurship Competition gathered to give pitches to a panel of angel investors. The four USD finalist were picked out of a total of 55 entrants. These four companies were also given the chance to have a sit down and have a one-on-one with each investor. After much deliberation, the Angel Investors - Allison Long Pettine, Tom Breitling, Navid Alipour - determined how to split up the $50,000 cash prize. Three of the finalist, Rivolix, Fundpal and ...

Nexans, the worldwide leader in cables and cabling systems, today announced that it has won the 'Structured Cabling Vendor of the Year' award at the annual Network World Middle East Awards 2014 recently held in Dubai. Nexans was selected for a second year in a row by a panel of judges for its latest innovative LAN cabling solutions and its team's commitment in providing the highest level expertise, excellence, customer service and support. "Nexans invests a lot in R & D to bring the most innovative and intelligent LAN cabling solutions to our customers. We are proud ...

The Tudor Experience museum in Stratford-upon-Avon remains as dark and creepy as ever and the weather was certainly putting us through our paces with an afternoon of thunder, lightning and extreme hailstones. This was Simply Ghost Nights first ever investigation at The Falstaff's The Tudor experience, although some of the team had been there some years ago, the building is on three levels with ground floor, 1st floor and the seance room on the top floor, the building is constructed of your typical Tudor materials which have stood the test of time. In the seance room ...

For many of us, video games are a pastime we thoroughly enjoy. The same thing can be said of waiting in lines. This new game, having just launched on Kickstarter, provides a solution to this problem. LINE SIMULATOR 2015 is the most realistic waiting simulator the world has ever seen. Sure, games like Skyrim have awfully long load times, but for those of us who want the true "waiting experience," Line Simulator is the game for you, coming to PC and Mac this summer, and it will appear on Steam Greenlight. Though the developer has offered to port it to other platforms if ...

Tampa Bay bow tie and lifestyle apparel company has unveiled five new handmade wood bow ties today on their website, EllaBing.com. The Julian Mozart Wooden Bow Tie is made of the rare wood, Brazilwood or more commonly known to high-end violin bow producer as Pernambuco. This wood is so rare that wood-database.com listed this wood as having no known sustainable sources at the time of the writing in 2012. The second wood is that of Black Ebony. It is a jet black wood with little grain visibility. It is typically reserved for piano keys, or other high-end instruments. The ...

Rapidsoft Systems, a leading developer of mobile application software and other technology solutions announced a major update of Field Force Tracker, its popular field service dispatch and management software. The new changes include re-designed mobile applications for iPhone and Android phones. It is now even easier to track field employees, jobs and customers using a single dashboard. Also, the company completely redesigned the service contract management functionality of the software. Field Force Tracker, a mobile enabled web-based field service management software, ...

Perkuto announced today the launch of its new product, Digesto. Digesto converts RSS feeds into Marketo emails, fulfilling the promise of completely automated and metrics driven lead engagement. The corporate blog has long been a staple of a successful content marketing plan, and with Digesto, Marketo users can expand the reach of their corporate blog while fully integrating content engagement metrics into Marketo. "In the past, Marketo users needed an external email platform to manage automated RSS-to-Email campaigns. These platforms did not integrate engagement ...

Philadelphia plastic surgeon, Dr. John Lee is pleased to announce he has opened a new state of the art and expanded Philadelphia location to better serve his patients. John J.W. Lee, MD, FACS is celebrating the new location by offering patients $10 per unit for BOTOX Cosmetic to patients in an area that typically charges $15 to $20 per unit. The new plastic surgery office is located in Philadelphia's Main Line at 1201 County Line Road, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010. The new location will be the main office location for the practice. "We invested over $500,000 in the new office ...