As legalization of marijuana has gained traction across the country, legislators in Texas are considering bills that would diminish the penalties for people convicted of certain marijuana offenses. One of the proposed laws would change the penalties associated with simple marijuana possession. Under House Bill 184, individuals who are charged with possession of one ounce or less of marijuana would face a maximum fine of $500 and no jail time. In addition, simple possession would constitute a class C misdemeanor. This legislation would affect a large number of cases ...

Bicycle riders often share the road with drivers, increasing their risk of injury in an accident simply because of their comparative exposure and weight differential. Because there is not much to shield cyclists from impact, accidents involving bicyclists can often result in serious injuries or death. It is important to work to make the roads a safer place for bicyclists, and holding drivers responsible for negligently causing a crash can help improve safety for everyone. Making roads safer in Atlanta It is difficult for cyclists and vehicles to share the road when ...

South Carolina's DUI laws could be changing, as state legislators are facing pressure from activists. Advocates including Mothers Against Drunk Driving would like the state to expand its use of ignition interlock systems for people with DUI convictions. Ignition interlock requirements An ignition interlock device attaches to a vehicle's starting mechanism and will not allow the car to start until the driver blows into the device. The device then analyzes the breath sample to measure the driver's blood alcohol level. If the blood alcohol level is less than 0.02 percent, ...

North Carolina residents may recall hearing about a devastating case of abuse reported at the O'Berry Neuro-Medical Treatment Center in Goldsboro. The treatment center is a state-run facility for people with developmental disabilities. Unfortunately, abuse at facilities, such as nursing homes and facilities for the developmentally disabled, is not uncommon. Reported abuse in facilities Abuse in facilities is not often reported, and when it is, there is not always an investigation nor is the wrongdoer always charged. This is even true when the victims can identify ...

While it might be true that Georgia residents are starting to see a bit of improvement in the area of job growth, many are still facing financial struggles. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia's overall bankruptcy filings have dropped 15 percent; however, the state still holds the number two spot nationwide for filings. The article credits low interest rates, a dip in consumer credit debt and job growth with lowering the state filing numbers; yet, the lower numbers do not mean much to those who are currently facing wage garnishments, foreclosure of ...

Police recently seized several weapons from a Portland home after allegedly finding heroin on one of the residents. The search and seizure resulted in the arrest of two individuals on multiple drug and weapons charges. Police report finding "arsenal" of weapons in man's Portland area home Police began investigating two individuals approximately a month ago, after learning they might be involved with heroin. One of the individuals, a 30-year-old male, was allegedly carrying an ounce of heroin on him and a handgun when he was confronted by police. Police ...

In recent years, distracted driving has received a great deal of attention from both lawmakers and safety experts as a serious threat on our nation's roadways. Although distracted driving is certainly a problem, a new study indicates that driver fatigue, though often overlooked, is a common factor in serious car accidents. According to the results of a study released recently by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, fatigue is the cause of approximately 20 percent of all car accidents in the U.S. These findings are surprising because previous studies - based on ...

The Houston, Texas personal injury firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend is proud to announce the selection of attorney Sammy Ford IV to the 2013 listing of Texas Rising Stars as published in Super Lawyers Magazine. No more than 2.5 percent of Texas lawyers under 40 or who have been in practice for 10 years or less are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive the honor of being named to the Rising Stars listing. Mr. Ford is a native Houstonian and a 2004 graduate of the Harvard College. After completing his legal education ...

In order for Norcross Dental to grow and better serve their clients, they are announcing their partnership with Cardinal Web Solutions. This collaboration will provide Norcross Dental with a dynamic online presence, providing better tools and education concerning their patients' dental care[/url]. Norcross Dental Online Communication has always been essential at Norcross Dental. Not only do they feel that it is important for patients to listen to their dentists concerning their dental care, but they also know that it is vital for dentists to listen to their patients. ...

Lawrenceville Dental Associates, a group of dentists in Lawrenceville, Ga., is pleased to announce its partnership with Internet marketing firm, Cardinal Web Solutions. Cardinal Web Solutions will provide Lawrenceville Dental Associates with customized search engine optimization (SEO). The goal of SEO is to increase a Web site's ranking with popular online search engines. This practice is particularly useful for Web sites that are looking to improve their online customer conversion rates. Lawrenceville Dental Associates hopes that by improving its site's SEO value, ...

Few things inspire as much apprehension in the workplace as a looming performance review. No matter how diligent and competent we may be, most of us are still at least somewhat nervous as we enter our annual or semi-annual review. We desire to not only meet but exceed the expectations that our employers place on us because these benchmarks typically determine who will receive raises, promotions, or even whether or not we will remain employed with that business. Atlanta staffing agency professionals at TRC Staffing Services, Inc. explain that this fear response could ...

Award-winning Cuban composer and guitarist Yalil Guerra will be celebrating 30 years in the music industry on Saturday April 27, 2013, 7:00 p.m. at The Glendale Public Library. The show will be a free concert as an acknowledgment to a community that has adopted him after arriving in the U.S. from Cuba via Spain. www.rycy.com. Mr. Guerra received the Latin Grammy in 2012 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. He is also known as the youngest Cuban musician ever to win an international competition. His music has been played by the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Corpus ...

Avant Assessment is pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Bower as Chief Executive Officer. In addition to a track record of corporate growth, Mr. Bower brings more than 30 years of experience in education research and design with a focus on improving outcomes through personalized learning. Mr. Bower first became engaged in education reform in the Stanford International Development Education program. Bower went on to complete an MBA at Harvard Business School with a focus on operations management and entrepreneurship, after which he spent 12 years in various high ...

Sound Physicians, a leading hospitalist organization focused on driving improvements in quality, satisfaction and financial performance of inpatient healthcare delivery, announced today an agreement to provide hospitalist services at San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif. Sound Physicians will provide comprehensive hospitalist services to the 254-bed hospital, which is the second Adventist Health hospital in California with which Sound Physicians has partnered. Adventist Health operates more than 19 hospitals throughout California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, ...

Bruegger's Bagels, known for its authentic New York-style bagels baked fresh all day, is celebrating its 30th year with Three Free Bagel Day as a thank-you to its loyal guests and as a fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, which also turns 30 this year. On Thursday, April 25, from open until 2 p.m., guests can visit any participating Bruegger's Bagels bakery, present a coupon and receive three free bagels of their choice. In return, guests are encouraged to donate to their local Children's Miracle Network hospital and help kids and families in need. "The ...

Help us shape the future of the undergraduate curriculum and business schools experience? Multi-campus, continent, language? Do you really need more soft skills? Are you ready for work? Is the workplace ready for you? Is it even worth going to business school? What is missing from your current programme? If you were the Dean for a day and could make changes what would they be? What do you think your programme should look like by 2020 to prepare future students to be effective business leaders? Assemble a team and produce a video that provides your prediction. Be creative--be ...

It's a bit like learning the secrets of the family that lived in your house in the 1800s by examining dust particles they left behind in cracks in the floorboards. By looking at specks of dust carried to earth in meteorites, scientists are able to study stars that winked out of existence long before our solar system formed. This technique for studying the stars – sometimes called astronomy in the lab — gives scientists information that cannot be obtained by the traditional techniques of astronomy, such as telescope observations or computer modeling. Now scientists ...

NEW YORK—A massive study analyzing gene expression data from 22 tumor types has identified multiple metabolic expression changes associated with cancer. The analysis, conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, also identified hundreds of potential drug targets that could cut off a tumor's fuel supply or interfere with its ability to synthesize essential building blocks. The study was published today in the online edition of Nature Biotechnology. The results should ramp up research into drugs that interfere with cancer metabolism, a field that dominated ...

Fueled by industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Earth's climate warmed more between 1971 and 2000 than during any other three-decade interval in the last 1,400 years, according to new regional temperature reconstructions covering all seven continents. This period of manmade global warming, which continues today, reversed a natural cooling trend that lasted several hundred years, according to results published in the journal Nature Geoscience by more than 80 scientists from 24 nations analyzing climate data from tree rings, pollen, cave formations, ice cores, lake and ocean ...

Sydney researchers have discovered a new type of immune cell in skin that plays a role in fighting off parasitic invaders such as ticks, mites, and worms, and could be linked to eczema and allergic skin diseases. The team from the Immune Imaging and T cell Laboratories at the Centenary Institute worked with colleagues from SA Pathology in Adelaide, the Malaghan Institute in Wellington, New Zealand and the USA. The new cell type is part of a family known as group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) which was discovered less than five years ago in the gut and the lung, where ...

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer, and while family physicians in Canada only see 1 cases a year, the number of cases is expected to increase as the population ages. A review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) provides an evidence-based overview of diagnosis and treatment of the disease for general physicians. The main risk factor for pancreatic cancer is smoking, although about 20% of patients have a family history of the disease. Symptoms usually manifest 10 years after the start of the disease, which means screening has ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to the drug fulvestrant and perhaps improve the effectiveness of other breast-cancer drugs. The findings of the laboratory and animal study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggest a new strategy for treating breast cancer, the researchers say. The drug, ...

BOSTON—With work and entertainment operating around the clock in our modern society, sleep is often a casualty. A bevy of research has shown a link between sleep deprivation and cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and obesity. However, it's been unclear why sleep loss might lead to these effects. Several studies have tested the effects of total sleep deprivation, but this model isn't a good fit for the way most people lose sleep, with a few hours here and there. In a new study by Keith Pugh, Shahrad Taheri, and George Balanos, all of the University of Birmingham ...

BOSTON—Up to 20 percent of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq have experienced at least one blast concussion. New research suggests that nearly half these veterans may have a problem so under-recognized that even military physicians may fail to look for it. A new study conducted by Charles W. Wilkinson, Elizabeth A. Colasurdo, Kathleen F. Pagulayan, Jane. B. Shofer, and Elaine R. Peskind, all of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington in Seattle, has found that about 42 percent of screened veterans with blast injuries have irregular ...

BOSTON — A passing remark launched the project that will be described at the Experimental Biology 2013 conference in Boston on Monday. A poster, presented by undergraduate Ashley McMichael from Albany State University, has preliminary data that hint that there is an association between a rare pregnancy condition and malaria. The remark that launched the project was made by a collaborator of Julie Moore, a malaria expert at the University of Georgia. Moore was visiting her collaborator, pediatric pathologist Carlos Abramowsky at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (affiliated ...