A novel ultrathin collagen matrix assembly allows for the unprecedented maintenance of liver cell morphology and function in a microscale "organ-on-a-chip" device that is one example of 3D microtissue engineering. A team of researchers from the Center for Engineering in Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital have demonstrated a new nanoscale matrix biomaterial assembly that can maintain liver cell morphology and function in microfluidic devices for longer times than has been previously been reported in microfluidic devices. This technology allows researchers to ...

A newly constructed family tree of the hummingbirds, published today in the journal Current Biology, tells a story of a unique group of birds that originated in Europe, passed through Asia and North America, and ultimately found its Garden of Eden in South America 22 million years ago. These early hummingbirds spread rapidly across the South American continent, evolved iridescent colors – various groups are known today as brilliants, topazes, emeralds and gems – diversified into more than 140 new species in the rising Andes, jumped water gaps to invade North America and ...

AMES, Iowa – A medical device, once its job is done, could harmlessly melt away inside a person's body. Or, a military device could collect and send its data and then dissolve away, leaving no trace of an intelligence mission. Or, an environmental sensor could collect climate information, then wash away in the rain. It's a new way of looking at electronics: "You don't expect your cell phone to dissolve someday, right?" said Reza Montazami, an Iowa State University assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "The resistors, capacitors and electronics, you don't expect ...

Right now a doomed gas cloud is edging ever closer to the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. These black holes feed on gas and dust all the time, but astronomers rarely get to see mealtime in action. Northwestern University's Daryl Haggard has been closely watching the little cloud, called G2, and the black hole, called Sgr A*, as part of a study that should eventually help solve one of the outstanding questions surrounding black holes: How exactly do they achieve such supermassive proportions? She will discuss her latest data at a press ...

Las Vegas - A study published recently in PLOS ONE authored by Dr. Henry Sun and his postdoctoral student Dr. Gaosen Zhang of Nevada based research institute DRI provides new evidence that Earth bacteria can do something that is quite unusual. Despite the fact that these bacteria are made of left-handed (L) amino acids, they are able to grow on right-handed (D) amino acids. This DRI study, funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the NASA Exobiology Program, takes a closer look at what these implications mean for studying organisms on Earth and beyond. "This finding ...

PITTSBURGH, April 3, 2014 – Health care clinics should routinely offer same-day placement of intrauterine devices (IUDs) to women seeking emergency contraception, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The study findings, published online in the journal Contraception, demonstrate that providing patient education along with same-day placement service increases both knowledge and use of IUDs three months and a year after women seek emergency contraception. "Women seeking emergency contraception, who are at very high risk of undesired ...

(PHILADEPHIA) – Parents who have not attended college are at a disadvantage when it comes to talking about higher education with their kids – yet these are the students who most need a parent's guidance. A new approach developed and tested by researchers at University of the Pacific's Gladys L. Benerd School of Education may help solve the problem. It was presented today at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. [April 4, 8:15 a.m. EDT, Philadelphia Convention Center Terrace Level, Terrace IV] "There is a common perception that low-income ...

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (April 4, 2014) – The 2012 fatal shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin by his Florida neighbor George Zimmerman sparked a fierce debate about racism and gun violence. Now, researchers are exploring what the controversial case says as well about sexism and violence against women. Boston College Lynch School of Education Professor Ana M. Martinez Aleman spoke today at the American Educational Research Association annual conference in Philadelphia about the highly politicized debate surrounding the Martin case and the implications for researchers who ...

The amount of snow needed to trigger an avalanche in the Himalayans can be up to four times smaller than in the Alps, according to a new model from a materials scientist at Queen Mary University of London. The proposed universal model could have implications in better understanding strategies for mitigating natural hazards related to snow and rock avalanches and safeguarding people on mountain villages, roads and ski resorts. By using a branch of mechanics that aims to understand how cracks spread in solid structures, Professor Nicola Pugno from Queen Mary's School ...

HEIDELBERG, 4 April 2014 – Not so long ago researchers thought that RNAs came in two types: coding RNAs that make proteins and non-coding RNAs that have structural roles. Then came the discovery of small RNAs that opened up whole new areas of research. Now researchers have come full circle and predicted that some long non-coding RNAs can give rise to small proteins that have biological functions. A recent study in The EMBO Journal describes how researchers have used ribosome profiling to identify several hundred long non-coding RNAs that may give rise to small peptides. "We ...

Recent research results show that an atmospheric hole over the tropical West Pacific is reinforcing ozone depletion in the polar regions and could have a significant influence on the climate of the Earth. An international team of researchers headed by Potsdam scientist Dr. Markus Rex from the German Alfred Wegener Institute has discovered a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon over the South Seas. Over the tropical West Pacific there is a natural, invisible hole extending over several thousand kilometres in a layer that prevents transport of most of the natural and ...

VIDEO: This video shows the internal structure of developing gland thread cells in hagfish slime. Click here for more information. University of Guelph researchers have unravelled some of the inner workings of slime produced by one of nature's most bizarre creatures – hagfish. They've learned how the super-strong and mega-long protein threads secreted by the eel-like animals are organized at the cellular level. Their research was published today in the science journal Nature ...

A study presented today at the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases shows that long-term low levels of vitamin D intake are associated with higher 10-year fracture risk in elderly women. Vitamin D insufficiency in seniors has been shown to contribute to increased risk of osteoporotic fractures. Previous studies have used single vitamin D measurements to investigate effects on bone. However, in elderly women, relatively little is known about the effects of long-term vitamin D insufficiency on bone health. The study by Swedish researchers ...

Rock band Good Knives announced today their upcoming UK tour, set to kick off May 1 in Cambridge, England. With intercontinental members hailing from the UK and the US, the band is touring in support of their new album "A Place Called Doubt," and will be releasing a new music video for their single "Heart Is Cracked" mid-April. Good Knives is composed of vocalist Shaunny P, guitarist Duffs (Ex Love Equals Death), bassist DJay Brawner (Wiggum), and drummer Ray Blanco (The Bangkok Five, Hometown Hero). Good Knives UK Tour May 2014 dates are listed below: 5/1 Corner ...

(Scottsdale, AZ) Helping people feel better is Nick Montoya's life mission. This savvy business leader is also the creator of The Ageless Program. He and family member Javier Montoya have teamed up with Elevate Yoga Studio to treat the Glendale community to a rousing yoga, musical experience. They will be showcasing their Ageless Program offerings on Saturday April 12th at the Arrowhead Citadel Plaza. Nick, a tenured Fortune 100 executive transformed his life through yoga and now offers executive coaching and motivational speaking, infused with healing based yoga, all ...

Kimco Insurance, Inc. - Kim Williams Allstate Insurance Agency located at 237 N. Hunt Club Boulevard, Suite 101 in Longwood, Florida 32779 has earned the Premier Agency designation for their consistent performance and exemplary customer service. This designation is reserved for only the top Allstate insurance agencies who repeatedly demonstrate outstanding performance. Kimco Insurance, Inc. has also achieved Honor Ring status in the past two years. "We are excited to have achieved this designation. We have been in business for 23 years and offering insurance in Longwood, ...

Aaron M. Davis, President and CEO of Hillsborough Title, is proud to announce the acquisition of CornerStone Title in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. This is the fourth acquisition in four months for the Tampa Bay-based title agency, marking its strategic expansion into the Sarasota-Bradenton area. Mary Howard, founder of CornerStone Title, will continue to serve as Relationship Manager for the local operation, which will retain the CornerStone Title name. "We are excited to join forces with Hillsborough Title," Howard said. "The firm's focus on customer service, best practices, ...

Two years ago celebrity jewelry designer and photographer Beth Yorn began volunteering her time with Compton Jr. Posse (CJP), a Compton based program that teams inner city kids with horses. While working with CJP Yorn met Shola Oyefeso, a high school student that showed a keen interest in photography. The two linked up, with Yorn mentoring Oyefeso by helping her to further develop her photography skills, including guiding her through the process of paper selection and framing. To teach the business side of being an artist, plans are in the works for Beth to assist in setting ...

Most people dream of writing a book some day. But for most of those people, some day never comes for a variety of reasons. Either they don't know how to get started writing their book or they don't have a system to follow, so they give up and their manuscript remains untouched on a computer file or in a desk drawer in their office. But this doesn't have to be. Award-winning authors and book-publishing coaches, Wendy Dewar Hughes and Suzanne Lieurance have seen this happen much too often with beginning writers. So they got together and developed an easy-to-follow system ...

Batteries Plus Bulbs, the nation's first, largest and fastest growing battery and light bulb franchise, has been ranked a high-power franchise by Franchise Times as part of the magazine's 2014 Fast and Serious list. Coming in at No. 33 out of 298 franchise concepts, the ranking not only recognizes Batteries Plus Bulbs for its rapid growth over the past few years but also for its sustainability as a strong steady franchise concept. The list was formed using a 10-point formula, including percentage sales growth, percentage unit growth, dollar sales growth and numerical ...

The American Basketball Association (ABA) http://www.abalive.com, today announced that it has added the "Oceanside A-Team" to begin play next season. "This is a very special team," stated ABA CEO Joe Newman. "The A-Team stands for autism - and the support and awareness of autism that owners Jobs For Autism and Jeffrey Stein will provide with their ABA team as a vehicle. We are very pleased and and proud to have them in the ABA." Jeffrey Stein is the chairman and founder of Jobs for Autism Inc. an organization dedicated to spreading awareness to businesses and employers ...

Perspective Group, the leading independent PR & Multimedia Company for the timeshare and vacation ownership industry has announced a strategic partnership between its INTUITION Brand Marketing service and BragFire, an innovative and engaging social video creation platform. INTUITION is a comprehensive brand marketing service that provides enterprise-level social media monitoring, brand reputation management, competitive analysis and keyword tracking, combined with unique content creation, PR services and intelligent online and social media marketing. BragFire's ...

The Circus Conservatory of America, forming in Portland, ME as the nation's first circus arts college, announces two strategic partnerships in healthcare and higher education that position the school to achieve its mission of providing the highest caliber education to circus artists in the United States. The Conservatory will partner with Mercy Hospital, a member of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, to provide sports medicine services and training to Conservatory students. In addition, Maine College of Art (MECA) will provide humanities, science, and visual art courses ...

More Americans are expected to escape the rate race, ditch nine-five and do something that inspires and enriches them, according to bestselling author, Ben Angel. Followed by over 40,000 worldwide, Ben has released his latest book, Flee 9 to 5, Get 6-7 Figures & Do What You Love. Already an Amazon bestseller, it shows people how to become part of a growing international trend of 'Agent's of Influence,' that are turning their expertise and knowledge into profits. "Agents of Influence are everyday individuals and entrepreneurs who are sick of making peanuts by sharing ...

For 15 years, PSN has proudly provided rural communities throughout the United States with quality healthcare. They have established a vast network of highly qualified specialists who believe in their philosophy of bringing healthcare to the patient by local healthcare expansion. PSN has announced it will exclusively endorse Missouri-based Keystone Mutual as a provider for medical professional liability insurance. Keystone Mutual has shown a steadfast dedication to its policyholders over the years. Keystone policyholders have an insurer that listens and responds to ...