An oversized semi-trailer truck carrying NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) has arrived at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch. This NASA and U.S. Geological Survey mission will continue a 40-year record of measuring change on the planet from space. LDCM is the eighth satellite in the Landsat series, which began in 1972. It will extend and expand global land observations that are critical in many sectors, including energy and water management, forest monitoring, human and environmental health, urban planning, ...

PHILADELPHIA — The protein kinase Akt is a key regulator of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, survival, and death. New work on Akt's role in cancer stem cell biology from the lab of senior author Honglin Zhou, MD, PhD and Weihua Li, co-first author, both from the Center for Resuscitation Sciences, Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Xiaowei Xu, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, appears in Molecular Cell. The findings were also highlighted in Nature and Science reviews. This new research shows ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In the rain forests of the Congo, where mammals and birds are hunted to near-extinction, an impenetrable sound of buzzing insects blankets the atmosphere. Because it is a fairly inaccessible region with political unrest, much of the Congo's insect biodiversity remains largely undiscovered. In a new monographic book published this week in Zootaxa, researchers at the University of Florida and the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium provide insect biodiversity information for this area in Central Africa that increasingly undergoes habitat destruction. ...

University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine researchers have uncovered a genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates that could also help explain why humans are susceptible to diseases not found in other species. Scientists have wondered why vertebrate species, which look and behave very differently from one another, nevertheless share very similar repertoires of genes. For example, despite obvious physical differences, humans and chimpanzees share a nearly identical set of genes. The team sequenced and compared the composition of hundreds ...

Meteorites that had fallen from an asteroid impact that lit up the skies over California and Nevada in April are showing scientists just how complex an asteroid surface can be. A new study published in Science this week by an international team of researchers describes the speedy recovery of the meteorites and reports that this space rock is an unusual example from a rare group known as carbonaceous chondrites, which contain some of the oldest material in the solar system. The study of these meteorites and others like them could hold answers to unsolved mysteries about ...

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (Dec. 20, 2012) – The clock is ticking and you still haven't decided what to get that special someone in your life for the holidays. When it comes to those last-minute gift-buying decisions for family and close friends, intuition may be the best way to think your way through to that perfect gift. When faced with tough decisions, some people like to "trust their gut" and go with their intuition. Others prefer to take an analytical approach. Boston College Professor Michael G. Pratt, an expert in organizational psychology, says new research shows intuition ...

A meteorite that exploded as a fireball over California's Sierra foothills this past spring was among the fastest, rarest meteorites known to have hit the Earth, and it traveled a highly eccentric orbital route to get here. An international team of scientists presents these and other findings in a study published Friday, Dec. 21, in the journal Science. The 70-member team included nine researchers from UC Davis, along with scientists from the SETI Institute, NASA and other institutions. The researchers found that the meteorite that fell over Northern California on April ...

Little more than a decade ago, the United States imported much of its natural gas. Today, the nation is tapping into its own natural gas reserves and producing enough to support most of its current needs for heating and power generation, and is beginning to export natural gas to other countries. The trend is expected to continue, as new methods are developed to extract natural gas from vast unrecovered reserves embedded in shale. Natural gas can be used to generate electricity, and it burns cleaner than coal. "With petroleum reserves in decline, natural gas production ...

A new study co-authored by the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that clay minerals, rocks that usually form when water is present for long periods of time, cover a larger portion of Mars than previously thought. In fact, Assistant Professor James Wray and the research team say clays were in some of the rocks studied by Opportunity when it landed at Eagle crater in 2004. The rover only detected acidic sulfates and has since driven about 22 miles to Endeavour Crater, an area of the planet Wray pinpointed for clays in 2009. The study is published online in the ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Patients who quit smoking and took an aspirin and statin before undergoing treatment for blocked leg arteries were less likely to suffer a complication six months later, according to new research led by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center. But few patients made the lifestyle changes and were on recommended medical therapy that can relieve leg pain and cramping associated with peripheral arterial disease, or PAD. The registry findings were published online ahead of print in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions and reveal a dramatic ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 20, 2012 – People with Type 2 diabetes have two to four times the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to people without the disease. The best way for doctors to predict which diabetes patients are at the greatest risk for heart disease is to use a coronary artery calcium (CAC) test in addition to the most commonly used assessment tool, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Current medical guidelines recommend treating all diabetes patients as high risk, but the Wake Forest Baptist study found that CAC can identify ...

JUPITER, FL, December 20, 2012 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a new approach to alter the function of RNA in living cells by designing molecules that recognize and disable RNA targets. As a proof of principle, in the new study the team designed a molecule that disabled the RNA causing myotonic dystrophy. The study, published online ahead of print on December 20, 2012 by the journal Angewandte Chemie, reports the creation of small molecules that recognize disease-associated RNAs, targeting them for destruction. ...

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) lauded U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazars announcement of a final management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) that balances wildlife conservation and energy development in the biggest public landscape in the country. The Integrated Activity Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final IAP/EIS) issued today by the Bureau of Land Management is the first comprehensive land management plan ever developed for the NPR-A. By protecting extensive coastal plain habitat around Teshekpuk Lake, and the ...

WASHINGTON— The black piranha and the extinct giant piranha, or megapiranha, have the most powerful bites of carnivorous fishes, living or extinct, once body size is taken into account, finds researchers in a paper recently published in Scientific Reports. The research paper, Mega-Bites: Extreme jaw forces of living and extinct piranhas, highlights the piranhas' specialized jaw morphology, which allows them to attack and bite chunks out of much larger prey. Guillermo Ortí, the George Washington University Louis Weintraub Professor of Biology in the Columbian College of ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Dec. 20, 2012) – Using mesenchymal stromal cells derived from adipose (fat) tissues, genetically modified to express a bioluminescent marker, researchers in Italy have tracked cells after transplantation. The cells were followed from their injection into the spleen of mice modeling liver disease, to their characterization as "hepatic precursors," and to their subsequent migration through the spleen before engrafting at regenerating sites in the liver by bioluminescent imaging. Their study is described in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (21:9), ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Dec. 20, 2012) – When different types of cells are transplanted with the intent of having them aid in repairing central nervous system (CNS) trauma, what is the fate and function of those cells? A Belgian research team carried out research aimed at answering this question by determining how five varieties of cells - neural stem cells, mouse embryonic fibroblasts, dendritic cells, bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) and splenocytes - functioned and survived after transplantation in the CNS. Their study is published in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Dec. 20, 2012) – A team of researchers from three medical institutions in Guangzhou, China, have found that iron oxide nanoparticles (INOPS) are a useful contrast agent for in vivo magnetic resonance tracking of transplanted human endothelial cells. However, the impact of INOPS on the cells varies with a number of factors including the INOPS load. They found that the percentage of iron-labeled cells was significantly lower after 48 hours post-transplantation than at 24 hours post-transplantation. They also found that high INOPS concentration can affect ...

Scientists studying how songbirds stay on key have developed a statistical explanation for why some things are harder for the brain to learn than others. "We've built the first mathematical model that uses a bird's previous sensorimotor experience to predict its ability to learn," says Emory biologist Samuel Sober. "We hope it will help us understand the math of learning in other species, including humans." Sober conducted the research with physiologist Michael Brainard of the University of California, San Francisco. Their results, showing that adult birds correct ...

Branch retinal vein occlusion – blockage of the blood vessels that channel blood from the retina – is a common eye disease. A type of blood clot in the eye, the disease causes reduced vision, and people with the disease also typically have an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes and other serious conditions. A young scientist from the University of Copenhagen has made a significant contribution to finding the cause of the disease. Mette Bertelsen and her colleagues photographically verified the diagnosis of branch retinal vein occlusion in 1168 people. A team of ...

The NJ Association of Verismo Opera is known for developing the stars of tomorrow. Artistic Director Lucine Amara announces boys, nine to eleven years of age, with a soprano voice are invited to audition for the role Gherardino in the grand, professional opera company's production of Giacomo Puccini's Gianni Schicchi that will be performed on Sunday, April 21 at the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) in Englewood, New Jersey. Open auditions will be held on January 7, 2013 from 4-7 p.m. at the bergenPAC in the Cabaret Room, 30 North Van Brunt Street. The application ...

PowerStone Property Management Inc. a full service Orange County, California based property management firm, today announced that in 2012 it has added twenty-two new Home Owner Associations to its client roster representing a 25% growth jump from the previous year. Its professional staff has also increased by 12% over last year with the addition of 5 new employees. Client additions include a mix of new condominium, master planned, single family, and commercial properties. "Out of the 22 or so associations we gained this year, most came in the 3rd and 4th quarters." ...

MediPurpose(tm), a master distributor and manufacturer of medical products, today announced that it donated 1900 cases of babyLance(tm) infant heelsticks to international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization Matthew 25: Ministries. Working closely with U.S. hospitals, corporations, businesses and individuals, Matthew 25: Ministries has shipped an estimated 115 million pounds of donated humanitarian supplies to the needy in the United States of America and impoverished countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean, the Balkans and Africa. "MediPurpose's ...

Metropolis Iron, a fabricator of custom drapery hardware, address plaques and cornices, has released a new section to their website targeted to the needs of designers and buyers of custom fabricated metal home decor items. The new Metropolis Iron Learning Center features tidbits on Metropolis' line of products and general items related to drapery medallions and hardware. The new Learn More feature can be found at http://metroiron.net/metropolis-iron-learning-center/ on their website under the "About Metropolis Iron" tab at the top of the Home Page. With new ...

DRS and Associates, a full-service, marketing and public relations agency renowned for guiding and branding major home design and architectural brands and building materials, has been named agency of record for Sonneman - A Way of Light. DRS will oversee the seamless integration of Sonneman - A Way of Light's public relations, advertising, digital and social media campaigns. Work on the account begins immediately. "In choosing a partner for our brand," said Robert Sonneman, founder and CEO of Sonneman - A Way of Light, "we wanted a firm with strong ties ...

Nutrilys Del Mar, a leading marine supplements company based in San Diego, launched its Secret Santa Sweepstakes this week. The Nutrilys Del Mar Facebook contest runs through the 24th and requires no purchase in order to participate. "Nutrilys Del Mar is really feeling the Christmas spirit this year," said Nutrilys Del Mar founder and CEO, Thierry Lerond. "We wanted to give the free gift of health for the holidays where people could boost their immune system, increase their energy, and get through the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. And our supplements ...