CHICAGO --- Women who are obese at the start of their pregnancy may be passing on insufficient levels of vitamin D to their babies, according to a new Northwestern Medicine® study. The study found that babies born to lean mothers had a third higher amount of vitamin D compared to babies born to obese moms. Vitamin D is fat-soluble, and previous studies have found that people who are obese tend to have lower levels of the vitamin in their blood. In this study, both obese and lean mothers had very similar levels of vitamin D at the end of their pregnancies, yet obese ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (January 7, 2013) – Surveys suggest that while most US physicians are willing to play a role in responding to natural and manmade disasters, most do not feel adequately prepared to fulfill that role. Toward helping physicians and health care systems understand and fulfill their obligation to provide medical care in disasters, the January Southern Medical Journal is a special issue on disaster medicine and physician preparedness. The official journal of the Southern Medical Association, the SMJ is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters ...

AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 7, 2013) A new study out by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, found large differences in the criteria that states use to determine eligibility for Part C early intervention services for infants and toddlers who have developmental delays. A developmental delay is any significant lag in a child's development as compared with typical child development. Current eligibility criteria for Part C services vary from state to state. With their colleagues, Steven Rosenberg, PhD, associate professor, University of Colorado Department ...

The quest for a twin Earth is heating up. Using NASA's Kepler spacecraft, astronomers are beginning to find Earth-sized planets orbiting distant stars. A new analysis of Kepler data shows that about 17 percent of stars have an Earth-sized planet in an orbit closer than Mercury. Since the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars, there are at least 17 billion Earth-sized worlds out there. Francois Fressin, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), presented the analysis today in a press conference at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Long Beach, ...

Comets trailing wispy tails across the night sky are a beautiful byproduct of our solar system's formation, icy leftovers from 4.6 billion years ago when the planets coalesced from rocky rubble. The discovery by astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Clarion University in Pennsylvania of six likely comets around distant stars suggests that comets – dubbed "exocomets" – are just as common in other stellar systems with planets. Though only one of the 10 stars now thought to harbor comets is known to harbor planets, the fact that all these stars have ...

TORONTO, Jan. 7, 2013—A new study has found that adults with diabetes in Ontario are getting significantly fewer government-funded eye exams than they were a decade ago, a key component of high-quality diabetes care essential to preventing diabetes-related eye complications. The decrease is an unintended consequence of the provincial government's decision in 2004 to delist routine eye exams from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan for healthy adults under age 65, said lead researcher Dr. Tara Kiran. Routine eye exams continue to be funded for adults with diabetes and other ...

NEW YORK (Jan. 7, 2013) -- The relationship between a physician practice's adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and quality improvements in patient care remains unclear. However, a new study published in the January issue of Health Affairs by Weill Cornell Medical College and the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP) of the New York City Health Department shows evidence that EHR implementation can improve patient care in small physician practices in New York City when combined with sustained high-intensity technical assistance. To evaluate the effects EHRs have ...

The center of our Milky Way galaxy is a wondrous place full of huge star clusters, dust clouds, magnetic filaments and a supermassive black hole. But it can be a confusing place, too, posing challenges to astronomers trying to image these exotic features and learn more about where they are located in the galaxy. Northwestern University's Farhad Zadeh has discovered a new tool for detecting dusty clouds and stars: simply take a picture using radio waves. He is the first to identify what he calls radio dark clouds and stars. Stars in the early and late phases of their ...

Chemists at the University of California, Davis, have engineered blue-green algae to grow chemical precursors for fuels and plastics -- the first step in replacing fossil fuels as raw materials for the chemical industry. "Most chemical feedstocks come from petroleum and natural gas, and we need other sources," said Shota Atsumi, assistant professor of chemistry at UC Davis and lead author on the study published Jan. 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of obtaining a quarter of industrial chemicals from ...

WASHINGTON — Teachers across the United States report alarmingly high rates of personally experiencing student violence and harassment while at school, according to an article published by the American Psychological Association that presents comprehensive recommendations to make schools safer for school personnel as well as students. "Understanding and Preventing Violence Directed Against Teachers: Recommendations for a National Research, Practice, and Policy Agenda," was published online Jan. 7 in the APA's flagship journal, American Psychologist. "Violence directed ...

In 2011, a months-long blast of energy launched by an enormous black hole almost 11 billion years ago swept past Earth. Using a combination of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the world's largest radio telescope, astronomers have zeroed in on the source of this ancient outburst. Theorists expect gamma-ray outbursts occur only in close proximity to a galaxy's central black hole, the powerhouse ultimately responsible for the activity. A few rare observations suggested this is not the ...

Once a cyclone, now a tropical depression, Sonamu is being battered by moderate wind shear and an intrusion of dry air is it has practically stalled in the South China Sea. On Sunday, Jan. 6, Tropical Storm Sonamu's maximum sustained winds were near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph). Sonamu's center was located about 255 nautical miles (258.9 miles/416.7 km) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, near 7.2 north and 108.9 east and continued to move west. At that time, the ragged low level center became exposed to outer winds. Satellite data showed that the strongest convection ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Chemicals used as flame retardants are present as environmental pollutants at locations around the globe, including remote sites in Indonesia, Nepal and Tasmania, according to a study by researchers from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The study, published this month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, makes use of a novel but highly effective sampling technique: measuring concentrations of the chemicals in the bark of trees, which absorbs compounds in both vapor and particle phases. "These findings ...

Improving Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Road All across Indiana, passenger vehicles must share the road with large trucks and other commercial vehicles. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Association is a non-profit organization, which focuses on safety issues for these large vehicles and their interactions with others on the road. Accident Statistics According to CVSA statistics, accidents where at least one large truck or bus was involved claimed 13,337 lives from 2007 though 2009. Injuries totaled 260,028 during the same time period. In more than seven out of ...

The holidays in Los Angeles signifies an annual pilgrimage for thousands of fans, players, coaches and scouts from across the nation that flock to the ABA Basketball Games which is now being broadcast by UBC Sports on the UBC-TV Network . The nationally-renowned ABA League was founded in 1967 competing with the well-established National Basketball Association, until the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. The original ABA featured Julius "Dr. J" Erving, George Gervin, Spencer Haywood, Moses Malone and other legends. Four ABA teams were absorbed from the merger: the Brooklyn ...

Retensa, a leader in Employee Retention Strategies and Research, publishes its thought provoking eighth annual "Biggest Quits" list. Each year, Retensa compiles a list of the top 10 most noteworthy resignations across all US industries, sports, and government. Three key trends in the 2012 resignations: long term tenure ends quickly, sex scandals, and culture matters. Trend 1: Life-long careers end abruptly. The most successful NCAA basketball coach has one thing in common with two retail executives from Best Buy, and a tech giant's introduction of Windows ...

Thyroid patients worldwide gave their Facebook profiles the blue ribbon treatment this week to showcase that January is Thyroid Awareness month, a project initiated by the thyroid patient advocacy group, ThyroidChange. May 2011, the group launched a petition as an international protest against the current endocrinology recommendations for the treatment of thyroid disease. The petition has united more than 7500 patients worldwide, to date, as proof that current treatment guidelines are not only ineffective, but also cost our healthcare systems billions of dollars treating ...

The USA VA team is constantly involved in many aspects of marketing, whether online or offline, we have been researching and tracking the trends! We have compiled some interesting information about what is coming for the 2013 year! So, take a little glimpse into the future of marketing! 2012 has been quite an interesting year in marketing trends. The changes in the popularity of some of the widest-known social marketing platforms have made a drastic change in the idea of online marketing as a whole. People aren't focusing as much on paying for advertising through traditional ...

Streaming live on the Co-Creator Radio Network on Tuesday, January 8, at 11 a.m. Pacific time/2 p.m. Eastern time, on her show "Why Shamanism Now?: A Practical Path to Authenticity," shaman and founder of the Last Mask Center for Shamanic Healing Christina Pratt notes that there has been a great domestication of the heart in America, numbing and dumbing down the voice that should guide us. It is the rare individual today who knows the path of his or her heart, who is fearless in feeling the passionate emotions of a spiritual adult, and who finds the courage of ...

New Jersey has been very proactive in the pursuit of ending bullying in our schools. In 2002, the original anti-bullying law N.J.S.A.18A:37-13 was passed. This was a first giant step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient as noted by suicides of bullied children and young adults. The New Jersey Legislature passed the "Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act" November 22, 2010 with practically unanimous support in both houses. Governor Chris Christie signed the legislation as P.L. 2010, Chapter 122 (P.L. 2010, c.122) and the new provisions took full ...

Don McCauley of the Free Publicity Focus Group and Danielle Hampson of eBroadcastMedia.com, founders of Book Marketing, announced today The Authors Show radio and TV weekly broadcast schedule. Book Marketing, branded as 'The Authors Marketing Powerhouse', allows authors and publishers the opportunity to upload photos, bios, book covers, video and book videos. The site also offers discussion forums, segmented special interest groups and allows for event listings. Each author can develop a personalized page. In addition the site allows for integration with Facebook and ...

On Thursday, February 7, 2013, the Mona Lisa Restaurant hosts a classically-flavored dinner and show with a special menu to celebrate the valentine in your life. Joseph Spinella's show provides an excellent accompaniment to the traditional fine-dining establishment of Mona Lisa Restaurant in Sarasota, Florida. He performs many Italian favorites, such as 'O Sole Mio' and 'Funiculi Funicula'; and audience participation is encouraged. The lively, entertaining music is mesmerizing and audiences invariably offer standing ovations hoping for an encore. A native of Wayne, NJ ...

"We believe small businesses need simple, reliable and affordable tax software," said Halfpricesoft.com founder Dr. Ge. "We created ezW2 to make that possible. Customers can start running W2 and 1099 as soon as the software is installed - no learning curve, no wasted time." EzW2 2012 can fill, print (paper) and e-file (paperless) tax forms W-2, W-3, 1099-misc and 1096. Users who want to save time and money on tax forms can try the blank paper printing feature. EzW2 software is approved by SSA to print black and white substitute forms on white paper ...

Just in time for the busiest travel season of the year, Holiday Rentals To Go announces the launch of its new vacation homes site. Poised to be a premier destination for renting, selling, or exchanging vacation homes, the site currently offers some of the world's most exotic properties ideal for consumers that want to escape the hustle and bustle of their everyday life. "While we may hear many saying that the economy is in a bad state, the reality is that a signifigant segment of the population will still be taking their annual vacation" said Jennifer Snyder, ...

College students who head to school for the first time this winter semester with standard twin-sized sheets in tow will be in for a surprise when they make their dorm room beds for the first time. Most college dorms have twin XL size mattresses, which are longer than traditional twin mattresses, and standard twin size mattresses will not fit. In the winter semester, finding sheets designed for these beds in regular retail stores is challenging, but TwinXL.com, an online retailer catering to college students, has these sheets available year-round. Twin XL mattresses are ...