This press release is available in German. The mass ratio of protons and electrons is deemed to be a universal constant. And rightly so, as the latest radio-astronomy observations of a distant galaxy have shown. Scientists at the VU University of Amsterdam and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn used the 100-metre radio telescope in Effelsberg to measure absorption lines of the methanol molecule at a number of characteristic frequencies. The researchers analysed the spectrum of the simplest of all the alcohols in a very distant galaxy. The result: to ...

The pelvic exam, a standard part of a woman's gynecologic checkup, frequently is performed for reasons that are medically unjustified, according to the authors of a UCSF study that may lay the groundwork for future changes to medical practice. The research shows that many physicians mistakenly believe the exam is important in screening for ovarian cancer. The study, which surveyed obstetricians and gynecologists around the country, also shows that doctors continue to perform the exam in part because women have come to expect it. The article is currently published online ...

Antibodies are key to the recognition and neutralisation of bacteria by our immune system. The most common antibodies have the shape of a Y, and the two prongs fasten to molecules that belong to the bacteria. The cells in the immune system recognise the shaft and can then attack the bacteria. Since the 1960s, it has been known that certain bacteria have developed the ability to turn these antibodies around, which makes it more difficult for the immune system to identify them. These include streptococcus bacteria, sometimes referred to as 'killer bacteria', that cause ...

Memo to casino operators: just because you build it doesn't mean they will come. A new study out of the University of Iowa examined how casino growth in the state has influenced gambling by residents. The survey suggests that fewer Iowans gambled overall and also that fewer people have become addicted to gambling despite a recent spurt in gaming facilities. Casino gambling was introduced in Iowa in 1991. There are currently 21 casinos in Iowa, all but three licensed by the state. (The others are owned and operated by Native American tribes.) The findings could affect ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan Health System doesn't claim to be perfect. But its response to medical errors, near-misses, unexpected clinical problems and unintended outcomes is a model for the nation that other hospitals can and should copy, according to a new paper in a prestigious health care journal. The "Michigan Model" for handling these situations, and preventing them from happening again, has not only helped patients and medical staff alike – it has also helped UMHS go against the grain of the costly, combative "deny and defend" medical malpractice ...

Electronic devices become smaller, lighter, faster and more powerful with each passing year. Currently, however, electronics such as cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc., are rigid. But what if they could be made bendable or stretchy? According to the University of Delaware's Bingqing Wei, stretchable electronics are the future of mobile electronics, leading giants such as IBM, Sony and Nokia to incorporate the technology into their products. Beyond traditional electronics, potential stretchable applications include biomedical, wearable, portable and sensory devices, ...

(SALT LAKE CITY)—Buprenorphine is a safe and effective drug for treating opioid addiction. But as the prescribed use of buprenorphine has dramatically increased in recent years, accidental exposure of children to the drug has risen sharply, placing them at risk for serious injury and in extremely rare cases even death, according to researchers at the Utah Poison Control Center (UPCC), U School of Medicine's Department of Family and Preventive Health, and the Utah Department of Health (UDOH). In a study published Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, by the U.S. Centers for Disease ...

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite continues to provide rainfall and cloud height data on powerful Cyclone Evan as it crawls through the Samoan Islands with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains. NASA's TRMM satellite identified "hot towers" in the storm, hinting that it would continue to intensify. On Dec. 14, American Samoa, Tonga and Fiji are all under warnings or alerts as Evan continues to move west. A gale warning is in effect for Tutuila and Aunuu. A high surf warning is in effect for all of American Samoa. A flash flood watch is in effect ...

Turns out the trope is true: You should trust your gut -- as long as you're an expert. So says a new study from researchers at Rice University, George Mason University and Boston College. "How expert someone is within a particular domain has a positive impact on their ability to make an accurate gut decision," said Rice's Erik Dane, lead author of a study published last month in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. However, he added, "Even if you're an expert, intuitive decision-making is better for some types of tasks than others. Tasks that ...

HOUSTON – (Dec. 14, 2012) – A new material structure predicted at Rice University offers the tantalizing possibility of a signal path smaller than the nanowires for advanced electronics now under development at Rice and elsewhere. Theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and postdoctoral fellow Xiaolong Zou were investigating the atomic-scale properties of two-dimensional materials when they found to their surprise that a particular formation, a grain boundary in metal disulfides, creates a metallic – and therefore conducting – path only a fraction of a nanometer wide. That's ...

TORONTO, ON – Global lifespans have risen dramatically in the past 40 years, but the increased life expectancy is not benefitting everybody equally, say University of Toronto researchers. In particular, adult males from low- and middle-income countries are losing ground. People are living longer on average than they were in 1970, and those extra years of life are being achieved at lower cost, the researchers, led by U of T Chemical Engineering PhD candidate Ryan Hum, say in a paper published in the open access science journal eLife this month. However, the costs for ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A multicenter study led by researchers at UC Davis describes new, paradoxical characteristics of the most common type of breast cancer. The findings shed light on how the disease can evade treatment and could improve diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. The research, led by Jian Jian Li, director of translational research in the UC Davis Department of Radiation Oncology, examined breast tumors previously thought to lack the HER2 protein, which, when over-expressed, is associated with disease recurrence. Instead, researchers found in the tumors ...

By using electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current, researchers from UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have made major improvements to an ultra-fast, high-capacity class of computer memory known as magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM. The UCLA team's improved memory, which they call MeRAM for magnetoelectric random access memory, has great potential to be used in future memory chips for almost all electronic applications, including smart-phones, tablets, computers and microprocessors, as well as for data storage, ...

A new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers suggests that an existing HIV drug called maraviroc could be a potential therapy for Staphylococcus aureus, a notorious and deadly pathogen linked to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations each year. Their study is published online this week in Nature. "What are the chances that a drug for HIV could possibly treat a virulent Staph infection?" asks Victor J. Torres, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology, and senior author of the study. "These findings are the result of a fantastic collaboration that we hope will result ...

ATLANTA - An international study of ibrutinib in people with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) continues to show unprecedented and durable results with few side effects. Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented interim findings of the multi-center Phase 2 study today at the 54th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition. "I believe we are witnessing a breakthrough in mantle cell lymphoma. This is great news for patients," said Michael Wang, M.D., associate professor in MD Anderson's Departments of ...

BOZEMAN, MT (December 13, 2012) – A new tool developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its partners is being used by scientists and land managers to model how noise travels through landscapes and affects species and ecosystems— a major factor in land and wildlife management decisions such as where to locate new roads or recreational trails. The tool, SPreAD-GIS, uses spatial data layers to predict how sound spreads from a source through the surrounding landscape and how it is affected by such factors as vegetation, terrain, weather conditions, and background ...

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Dec. 14, 2012 — A fast growing, flesh-eating fungus killed 5 people following a massive tornado that devastated Joplin, Mo., according to two new studies based on genomic sequencing by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Health officials should be aware of infections caused by the fungus Apophysomyces, according to the studies, which tracked 13 people infected by the pathogen during the Class EF-5 tornado — the most powerful category — whose 200-plus mph winds plowed through ...

Physicists at the University of Calgary and at the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo have published new research in Nature Physics which builds on the original ideas of Einstein and adds a new ingredient: a third entangled particle. Quantum entanglement is one of the central principles of quantum physics, which is the science of sub-atomic particles. Multiple particles, such as photons, are connected with each other even when they are very far apart and what happens to one particle can have an effect on the other one at the same moment, even though these effects ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Aerobic training is the best mode of exercise for burning fat, according to Duke researchers who compared aerobic training, resistance training, and a combination of the two. The study, which appears Dec. 15, 2012, in the Journal of Applied Physiology, is the largest randomized trial to analyze changes in body composition from the three modes of exercise in overweight or obese adults without diabetes. Aerobic exercise – including walking, running, and swimming – has been proven to be an effective way to lose weight. However, recent guidelines have suggested ...

The Preiss Company is pleased to announce that Craig Eick has recently joined the company as Vice President of Design & Construction. He will be responsible for overseeing the Raleigh real estate company's interest in current development projects under construction, working with joint venture partners on projects in the development phase, and collaborating with the company's Executive Vice President of Development on potential new development projects. Eick brings 25 years of experience in the industries of real estate development and construction management. Prior ...

Tomas Mustelin, Vice President of Research, Respiratory, Inflammatory, and Autoimmune Diseases at MedImmune will give a featured presentation on "Targeting Cytokines in the Appropriate Patient Subsets" at the 11th Cytokines and Inflammation Conference to be held in San Diego, CA on January 31 - February 1, 2013 by GTC. Dr. Mustelin is Vice President and Interim Head of Research at MedImmune. On top of his many responsibilities, he oversees departments for novel therapeutics for grievous respiratory, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases. He is currently a ...

A reason to celebrate today for the Encore Resort Las Vegas who have recently been awarded the title of best hotel in Las Vegas by the Australian online hotel booking site Which Hotel 4 Me.com. Renowned for its signature golf course, very trendy nature and world class customer service the Encore Resort Las Vegas is a luxury hotel located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Offering a fantastic range of facilities and amenities the hotel has quickly grown a reputation for excellence since it first opened its doors in 2009. In rating the Encore Resort as the best hotel ...

Marking the company's eighth Colorado acquisition, San Diego-based Pathfinder Partners, LLC has purchased two of the four buildings within the Garrison Business Park - a fully-leased, class B, flex industrial and office complex located at 9195-9197 W. 6th Avenue, Lakewood, Colo., 80215. Pathfinder purchased the two buildings - spanning 49,000 square feet of functional office, laboratory and warehouse spaces with nine roll-up truck doors, 16-foot high ceilings and extensive parking - from the real estate owned department of a CMBS special servicer. Both buildings are ...

Having a child with special needs requires parents to invest even more time and energy than those with unaffected children do. In an effort to bring some relief to the lives of these parents, Thousand Oaks resident Melissa Berenstein, mother of 15-year-old Miranda who has cerebral palsy, came up with the idea to have a night out for parents- to encourage them to "let down their hair and socialize with others in the same boat." Each month, Melissa coordinates 2 dinners -- one for moms and one for dads -- where they are able to socialize, build friendships and develop ...

The Duggan and Fine Construction Company is pleased to announce they are building a relationship with iWebContent. Duggan and Fine understands how important it is to reach out to their customers through the Internet. However, this requires more than having a simple website on the Internet; it requires a company to pay close attention to the latest Internet marketing techniques to ensure they are able to reach the widest audience that has a need for their services. The Duggan and Fine Construction Company is a full-service construction company that specializes in new ...