A publication by the Latin Business Chronicle stated that Nicaragua was the country with the highest index of FDI as percentage of itsGDP in Latin America in 2011, with a total of 13.3 percent, followed distantly by Panama with 9.1 percent and Chile with 7.0 percent. In 2011, Nicaragua had an extraordinary performance attracting a total of US$968 million of FDI, growing 90.5% when compared to 2010. The FDI attracted in 2011 was led mainly by the energy, telecommunications and free zones sectors, which together accounted for 52 percent of total FDI. Nicaragua's performance ...

Seagrass Recovery, Inc., located in St. Petersburg, Florida, has launched a new website promoting seagrass conservation. The website was designed to provide concerned citizens, organizations, educational institutions, and corporations vital information on how to protect, restore and expand seagrass habitats. The new website is intended to better align Seagrass Recovery's branding to match its mission to save oceans, estuaries and shorelines for generations to come. A recent article, "Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock", published online ...

Persson Associates, in the business of helping companies develop Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP's) for over 30 years, has just released a new product which is low cost, easy to use; all geared towards Small and Medium Businesses (SMB's) computer services (aka Information Technology: I/T). Ask yourself the following questions: 1. Does your company need a written Disaster Recovery Plan for computer services? 2. Do you have limited resources to develop a DRP for I/T? 3. Can you afford to spend $35 to get started? If you answered "yes" to the above 3 questions, ...

Gorgeous 47-acre Kingwood Center will come ablaze during the annual Great Pumpkin Glow. On Sunday Oct. 21 from 4 - 9 p.m., the stunning display of hundreds of glowing pumpkins will warmly greet guests as they walk through Kingwood Center's lush grounds. The public is also invited to get in on the action and contribute to the display, carving his or her own pumpkin Oct. 19-20 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pumpkin carving is free, but supplies are limited. Pumpkins can be picked up to take home on Oct. 23. Complete information on this one-time event is available at www.kingwoodcenter.org ...

Top 40 Billboard artist, author, and conference speaker Jennifer Shaw is releasing her new album entitled Someday during October's National Sensory Awareness Month. To assist in efforts to bring awareness to sensory disorders and other special needs issues, Shaw is offering the song entitled "Your Child" as a free download to all special needs families during the month of October. Shaw's own son, Toby, was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder at an early age. In addition, a music video of the song is in the works and special needs families are encouraged ...

There are several chores homeowners can tackle this fall to prepare themselves for a stress-free spring. These include preparing lawn mowers for winter, removing fallen leaves, storing outdoor furniture and staining wooden decks, fences and furniture. While many of us are used to the routine maintenance of preparing for colder weather, we may not consider practical projects, such as deck staining, that will help us get ahead of our spring chores. Here's how to get your deck-staining job done before the snow hits the ground: - Before heading to the store, create ...

As crowds of angry people flood into the streets of Athens to protest government austerity programs, demonstrators armed with gasoline bombs and bricks are met by riot police with tear gas and rubber bullets. The demonstrations have been an occasional occurrence in Athens through much of the last year. As the demonstrations rage and tempers remain short, it's local businesses that sometimes get caught in the crossfire between rioters and police. To protect their security personnel, companies like IKEA have partnered up with EnGarde to supply the latest in bulletproof ...

Newspaper co-owner, Emily Mason-Wohl writes a story that begins, "I remember being murdered. I died a terrifying violent death. I shall never forget it." But it does not occur to her that she might be writing about an actual past life. Meanwhile, set on Florida's Gulf Coast, Emily and her best friend City Prosecutor Marta Miller battle evil forces operating under the guise of a religious cult threatening to destroy the peaceful city. One member of the cult wants Emily dead--for personal reasons--again. In the middle of it all, Alessio, the love of her ...

Rip Media Group (RMG) is proud to announce the launch of Vigilant Solutions' new website at http://www.vigilantsolutions.com in conjunction with a new branding and video marketing strategy. Rip Media Group has been working to achieve a complete redesign of Vigilant's website, branding, and comprehensive corporate video content to support Vigilant's expansive growth in the software and data mining sector. "The extensive research process was key to awarding Rip Media our marketing contract," said Brian Shockley, Vigilant's Vice President of Marketing. "Using ...

PaySimple, the leading provider of cloud-based automated payments and receivables solutions for small businesses, announced today that Andrew Lanthier has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer. Lanthier will help the company further grow its leadership in providing cloud-based financial tools to small- and mid-sized businesses. Lanthier also will head the company's new office in the San Mateo, California. Lanthier joins PaySimple after holding leadership roles in payments technology since 1999, most recently after seven years in senior positions at PayPal, where ...

RENO – An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Alison Murray, an Associate Research Professor at the Desert Research Institute's Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) that a clear difference exists between the marine microbial communities in the Southern and Artic oceans, contributing to a better understanding of the biodiverisity of marine life at the poles and its biogeography. This new understanding not only sheds light on newly recognized biodiversity patterns but reinforces ...

The fracture of materials is a very important issue for both structural and functional materials. Crack-tip behavior is among the most basic problems in fracture mechanics. Many theoretical and experimental investigations have been carried out to understand the effect of crack-tip deformation fields. However, direct nanoscale measurement of strain fields around the crack-tip has not yet been achieved, despite many years of research. Professors Zhao ChunWang and Xing YongMing from Inner Mongolia University of Technology set out to tackle this problem. They adopted a combination ...

At the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy in the city of Uppsala, young people with a flair for languages go from having no knowledge of a language such as Arabic, Russian or Dari to speaking it fluently in the space of 13 months. From morning to evening, weekdays and weekends, the recruits study at a pace unlike on any other language course. As a control group, the researchers used medicine and cognitive science students at Umeå University – students who also study hard, but not languages. Both groups were given MRI scans before and after a three-month period of ...

Forget the TV remote and the games controller, now you can control anything from your mobile phone to the television with just a wave of your hand. Researchers at Newcastle University and Microsoft Research Cambridge (MSR) have developed a sensor the size of a wrist-watch which tracks the 3-D movement of the hand and allows the user to remotely control any device. Mapping finger movement and orientation, it gives the user remote control anytime, anywhere – even allowing you to answer your phone while it's still in your pocket and you're walking down the street. Being ...

This press release is available in German. Catalytic converters work poorly if they have not yet warmed up. Tiny metal particles in a catalytic converter require a minimum temperature to function efficiently. At the Vienna University of Technology, thanks to a new measuring method, it has now become possible to examine many different types of these particles at the same time. Reliable information regarding what it is exactly that the efficiency of catalytic converters depends on has thus been obtained for the first time. Low ignition temperature desired "A large part ...

A tabletop system where users can come together and view shared content will be unveiled today [Tuesday 9 October]. A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have developed the system aimed at supporting mixed-focus collaborative tasks. Researchers from the University's Department of Computer Science will present PiVOT (personalised view-overlays for tabletops) at the 25th ACM UIST 2012, a symposium for innovations in the software and technology of human-computer interfaces. Through two view zones, PiVOT provides personalised views to individual users ...

Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid, along with British colleagues from the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, have developed a test that studies genetic patterns in blood cells to detect advanced–stage prostate cancer. The results of the study are being published today in the journal The Lancet Oncology. The study shows that gene patterns in blood cells act as a barcode and could be used together with the current PSA test to select those patients with the worst prognosis in need of ...

Oxford, October 8, 2012 - A nanotech material containing an extract from liquorice can be used to sterilize and protect medical devices and implants which include biological components, and protects these functional bio-components during the sterilization process. Publishing their findings in the latest issue of Materials Today, a team of researchers from Germany and Austria explain how conventional sterilization techniques based on a blast of radiation, or exposure to toxic gas can damage the functional biological components of the device. The coating, containing a component ...

This press release is available in German.Ferrara/Leipzig. New methods might allow polluted sites to be investigated and monitored long term at significantly reduced costs. Authorities and those who have to remediate polluted sites in Europe might therefore be able to save costs and use these to treat other areas. This is the conclusion of the EU research project ModelPROBE, which was coordinated by the UFZ. The results, with which the scientists aimed to lower the workload of authorities and consultants, include a handbook detailing the methods for characterising contaminated ...

VIDEO: This is about the worldwide patent for a Spanish stroke rehabilitation robot. Click here for more information. Robotherapist 3D, a robot which aids stroke patients' recovery, is to be brought to market by its worldwide patent holder, a spin-off company from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (Alicante, Spain). It is the first robot to enable patients to start doing exercises while supine, allowing them to begin shortly after the stroke and expediting recovery. ...

Almost 100 freshwater species not native to the UK have invaded the River Thames catchment making it one of the most highly invaded freshwater systems in the world, according to scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The research, published in the journal Biological Invasions at the weekend, suggests that legislation to prevent the introduction of non-native species across the UK has been unsuccessful. The cost to the British economy of invasive non-native species is £1.7bn every year (CABI report, 2010). Lead author, Dr Michelle Jackson* who undertook the ...

The scientific analysis in this document shows that the research design of Séralini et al. contained fundamental shortcomings that preclude any sensible conclusions from being drawn. In other words, the statements that Séralini made about the health effects of GMOs and Roundup were baseless. Moreover, the research shows signs of selective interpretation of the findings or a misleading representation of these, which is contrary to prevailing scientific ethical standards. ###View the entire analysis online: http://www.vib.be/en/news/Pages/VIB-concludes-that-Seralini-study-is-not-substantiated-.aspx ...

This press release is available in Spanish. The goal of the scientists in the Information and Communications Technology Security Group (Seguridad de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones - SeTI) at UC3M who are working on the E-SAVE project is to use information technologies (ITs) to improve the enforcement of certain traffic regulations. Specifically, they propose a set of systems for the automated, immediate and telematic supervision and management of the administrative sanctioning process. The purpose is to reduce highway accidents, given that one of ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique that allows users to better determine the amount of charge remaining in a battery in real time. That's good news for electric vehicle drivers, since it gives them a better idea of when their car may run out of juice. The research is also good news for battery developers. "This improved accuracy will also give us additional insight into the dynamics of the battery, which we can use to develop techniques that will lead to more efficient battery management," says Dr. Mo-Yuen Chow, a professor ...

Signs that are too small or unclear to consumers seem to be a growing national issue, leading some business owners to lose potential customers, according to University of Cincinnati Marketing Professor James Kellaris. "This persistent, growing national problem is frustrating for consumers and can lead to loss of business and, by extension, loss of tax revenue for the community," Kellaris said. Kellaris, the James S. Womack/Gemini Chair of Signage and Visual Marketing in the UC Carl H. Lindner College of Business, will present this research during the October 10 -11 ...