The birds are back! Gardeners everywhere are welcoming their migrating friends back to their yards: hummingbirds, sparrows, swallows, martins, larks and goldfinches, to name a few familiar varieties. For gardeners and birdwatchers who want to invite new species to their yard this spring, here are a few tips from the gardeners at Avant Garden Decor: 1.) Clean your bird feeders to get rid of winter's grime and grit: just use hot soapy water and a scrub brush. Or, you could put your birdfeeders in the rinse cycle of your dishwasher. Just be sure not to use chemicals ...

Besthomesecuritycompanys.com, or BHSC, continues to provide quality reviews to help viewers make confident decisions when choosing to do business with a home security company. In addition to reviewing home security companies, BHSC recognizes businesses for their stellar work in the home security industry by extending "Besty Awards" to the top performing companies. "We feel it is important to identify those companies that are out-performing and leading the industry," Michael Bratton said. "This year's award recipients do the most for their customers ...

Corcentric, a leading provider of Accounts Payable automation and electronic invoicing solutions, uses this week's blog to show the advantages in time and money by implementing an e-invoicing solution that includes a vendor portal. AP managers know how much time their staff spends every month answering vendor phone calls concerning invoice payments. Vendor portals can dramatically reduce that time. Instead of calling your AP staff with questions about invoice status, vendors can use the AP automation solution's vendor portal to access the information they need, 24/7. ...

Gateway Classic Cars is delighted to announce the opening of its 4th showroom in Dearborn, Michigan starting June 1st, 2013. As of June 1, Gateway Classic Cars will become the largest classic car showroom network and museum in the United States and potentially the world. The Detroit showroom takes on the charismatic appeal which has been preceded by the existing three locations in St. Louis, Louisville and Chicago. Our large 45,000 square foot showroom, encompassing years of classic car heritage, will showcase all classic, collector and exotic cars and trucks. As ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that one night of sleep deprivation leads to an increase in men's perceptions of both women's interest in and intent to have sex. Results show that when they were well-rested, both men and women rated the sexual intent of women as significantly lower than that of men. However, following one night of sleep deprivation, men's rating of women's sexual intent and interest increased significantly, to the extent that women were no longer seen as having lower sexual intent than men. Sleep deprivation had no significant effect on variables related ...

DARIEN, IL – Two new studies show that fatigue may impair strike-zone judgment during the 162 game Major League Baseball season, and a MLB player's sleepiness can predict his longevity in the league. One study found that MLB players' strike-zone judgment was worse in September than in April in 24 of 30 teams. When averaged across all teams, strike-zone judgment was significantly worse in September compared with April. The statistical model demonstrated strong predictive value through the season. "Plate discipline - as measured by a hitter's tendency to swing at pitches ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 29, 2013)—A high-dose of ultrasound targeted to painful bone metastases appears to quickly bring patients relief, and with largely tolerable side effects, according to new research presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Monday, June 3. During the procedure, known as MR-guided focused ultrasound, doctors direct a concentrated beam of energy to specific nerve endings that are causing pain in bone metastases. These patients typically have a significant amount of discomfort—half ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 29, 2013)—Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center will present data at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Saturday, June 1, which shows the discovery of potential biomarkers that may be used to identify patients with head and neck cancer whose tumors are unlikely to respond to treatment by the targeted therapy cetuximab—a type of monoclonal antibody. The FDA approved the drug, in combination with radiation or as a second-line drug after chemotherapy had failed, in 2006. In 2011, the drug was approved as a first-line ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 29, 2013)—Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center and other institutions have completed a phase II clinical trial that may help identify those patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer who do not require the full radiation dose given in a standard regimen of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). Preliminary findings will be presented by Shanthi Marur, first author on the study and an oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Sunday, ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 28, 2013)—A promising new therapy for the most common form of lung cancer appears to produce largely manageable side effects, and an ongoing clinical trial is determining whether the compound treats tumors more effectively than what's on the market, according research that scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center will present at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Saturday, June 1. "We're very excited about this drug," says Hossein Borghaei, DO, chief of thoracic medical oncology at Fox Chase. "I think if we learn how ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 28, 2013)—Nearly two-thirds of solid tumors carry at least one mutation that may be targeted, or medicated, by an existing compound, according to new findings from researchers Fox Chase Cancer Center that will be presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on June 3. The results suggest that it may one day become commonplace for doctors to sequence tumors before deciding on a treatment regimen. "Extended sequencing of a patient's tumor is not something that's routinely done now," says study author Patrick Boland, ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that bright light therapy may improve sleep, cognition, emotion and brain function following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Results show that six weeks of morning bright light therapy resulted in a marked decrease in subjective daytime sleepiness. This improvement was further associated with improvements in the propensity to fall asleep and nighttime sleep quality. Bright light therapy also affected depressive symptoms. "Our preliminary data suggests that morning bright light therapy might be helpful to reduce subjective daytime ...

A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society's Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development (AHEAD) Program, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and regional partners finds that a new approach to beef production in southern Africa could positively transform livelihoods for farmers and pastoralists, while helping to secure a future for wildlife and wildlife-based tourism opportunities. Market access for livestock and livestock products from Africa is constrained by the presence of foot and mouth disease (FMD). Fear of the FMD virus largely precludes large-scale ...

FINDINGS: Cushing disease is a life-threatening disorder most commonly triggered by tumors, often benign, in the pituitary glands, resulting in excess production of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). The condition is marked by progressive weight gain, excessive fatty tissue deposits and a rounding of facial features, known as "moon face," and can lead to diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological disturbances. Cushing disease, which is more common in women than men, is also associated with a three- to four-fold increase ...

WASHINGTON—Scientists have long suspected that a flourishing of green foliage around the globe, observed since the early 1980s in satellite data, springs at least in part from the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. Now, a study of arid regions around the globe finds that a carbon dioxide "fertilization effect" has, indeed, caused a gradual greening from 1982 to 2010. Focusing on the southwestern corner of North America, Australia's outback, the Middle East, and some parts of Africa, Randall Donohue of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial ...

Taking an image of an individual molecule while it undergoes a chemical reaction has been deemed one of the holy grails of chemistry. Scientists at the University of Berkeley and the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) have managed, for the very first time, to take direct, single-bond-resolved images of individual molecules just before and immediately after a complex organic reaction. The images enable appreciating the processes of the rupture and creation of links between the atoms making up a molecule. The article, entitled Direct Imaging of Covalent Bond Structure ...

Gastrointestinal bacteria are important for digestion, immune functions and general health. Wouter van Dongen and colleagues from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the Vetmeduni Vienna have collaborated with scientists from the Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB), Toulouse and from the US Geological Survey, Anchorage to study the cloacal bacterial assemblies of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). The bacteria in the cloaca are known to be similar to assemblages deeper within the gastrointestinal tract, so the researchers examined samples ...

This news release is available in German. A protein called c-FLIP-R is critical to immune cell survival: If this molecule is missing, the cells kill themselves – and are thus no longer able to perform their job fighting off invaders. Now, scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) Braunschweig and at the Otto von Guericke University (OvGU) Magdeburg have published their findings in the renowned European Journal of Immunology. Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is a kind of cellular suicide program. If something triggers it, the cells perish ...

This news release is available in German. A physical particle postulated 80 years ago could provide a decisive step toward the realization of novel, highly efficient data storage devices. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), the Technische Universitaet Dresden and the University of Cologne found that with magnetic monopoles in magnetic vortices, called skyrmions, information can be written and erased. Iron filings strewn on a sheet of paper trace the field lines of a bar magnet below the paper, thereby showing the magnet's north and south poles. ...

Jena (Germany) Entrepreneurship plays an important role for the prosperity of today's modern societies. Those who want to found a company under their own steam and who want to make it an economic success, need more than a good idea and the necessary expertise. Business founders usually are characterized by a quite specific entrepreneurial personality structure. Great companies with long traditions are proof of this, as well as numerous scientific studies. "People with an entrepreneurial personality structure are more open to new experience, more extravert and conscientious. ...

The European Perinatal Health Report released by the Euro-Peristat project is the most comprehensive report on the health and care of pregnant women and babies in Europe and brings together data from 2010 from 26 European Union member states, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Euro-Peristat takes a new approach to health reporting. Rather than simply comparing countries on single indicators such as infant mortality, our report paints a fuller picture by presenting data about mortality, low birthweight and preterm birth alongside data about health care and maternal characteristics ...

Rapid expansion of programs to prevent HIV transmission to babies and vaccinate children show how results can be achieved in relatively little time Some of the world's poorest countries have managed to cut maternal and young child mortality rates by half or more, according to a new report from Countdown to 2015. The report, Accountability for Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival, highlights successes in improving maternal health and reducing child mortality in some countries, while pointing out where progress has been lagging in others. There has been remarkable ...

MADISON – A Facebook profile is an ideal version of self, full of photos and posts curated for the eyes of family, friends and acquaintances. A new study shows that this version of self can provide beneficial psychological effects and influence behavior. Catalina Toma, a UW-Madison assistant professor of communication arts, used the Implicit Association Test to measure Facebook users' self-esteem after they spent time looking at their profiles, the first time the social psychology research tool has been used to examine the effects of Facebook. The test showed that after ...

HEIDELBERG, 31 May 2013 – Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the United Kingdom have determined the crystal structure of Parkin, a protein found in cells that when mutated can lead to a hereditary form of Parkinson's disease. The results, which are published in The EMBO Journal, define the position of many of the mutations linked to hereditary Parkinson's disease and explain how these alterations may affect the stability and function of the protein. The findings may in time reveal how the activity of Parkin is affected in patients with this rare but ...

Researchers have determined the precise chemical structure of the HIV capsid, a protein shell that protects the virus's genetic material and is a key to its ability to infect and debilitate the human body's defense mechanism. Detailed simulations were achieved with the use of a supercomputer on a 64 million atom sample. The capsid has become an attractive target for the development of new antiretroviral drugs that suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of AIDS. The research paper describing these results is the cover story of this week's journal Nature (May 30, ...