A small minority of today's university students don't use email and others are confused by the array of technologies available at universities. Yet many students couldn't bear to be without their mobile phones and find themselves distracted by social networking sites during study. These are the some of the findings from research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) into how today's generation of students use technology. The research, led by Dr Christopher Jones of the Open University, surveyed and interviewed over two thousand first year students ...

Researchers from New York University and the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart reveal how protons move in phosphoric acid in a Nature Chemistry study that sheds new light on the workings of a promising fuel cell electrolyte. Phosphoric acid fuel cells were the first modern fuel cell types to be used commercially and have found application as both stationary and automotive power sources. Their high efficiency as combined power and heat generators make them attractive targets for further development. In the cell, phosphoric acid functions as the medium (or "electrolyte") ...

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and their colleagues in China have described a rapidly emerging Staphylococcus aureus gene, called sasX, which plays a pivotal role in establishing methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) epidemics in most of Asia. Senior author Michael Otto, Ph.D., of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says these findings illustrate at the molecular level how MRSA epidemics may emerge and spread. Moreover, their study identifies a potential target for novel therapeutics. MRSA is a leading cause of severe infections ...

The removal of skin cancer is a necessary and often life-saving procedure. There are several types of skin cancer, many of which can turn lymphatic before spreading to other areas of your body if not taken care of promptly. Because skin cancer is caused by exposure to UV rays, the face and neck are frequently impacted by these growths. Great care is taken by your surgeon when removing skin cancer. This is in an attempt to minimize any damage to surrounding, healthy tissue, and to help ensure your cancer removal does not disfigure your features more than necessary. However, ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Through a combination of atomic-scale materials design and ultrafast measurements, researchers at the University of Illinois have revealed new insights about how heat flows across an interface between two materials. The researchers demonstrated that a single layer of atoms can disrupt or enhance heat flow across an interface. Their results are published this week in Nature Materials. Improved control of heat exchange is a key element to enhancing the performance of current technologies such as integrated circuits and combustion engines as well ...

On April 13, 2012, Judge Joseph R. Goodwin issued orders identifying Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for the transvaginal mesh MDL actions against manufacturing giants Johnson & Johnson, American Medical Systems, Ethicon and Boston Scientific. Select attorneys from across the country have been appointed to serve in committee and other leadership roles to coordinate the prosecution of injury claims arising from transvaginal mesh devices manufactured by these entities. Attorney Joseph A. Osborne of Babbitt Johnson Osborne & LeClainche has been selected to serve as ...

The responsibilities of a South Carolina injury lawyer extend far beyond the courtroom. We are not only advocates, but resources in our community. We possess the unique opportunity to provide the public with a great deal of information concerning their legal rights and responsibilities. It is why I wrote the book Your Guide to South Carolina Personal Injury & Workers' Comp, and why its pages are filled with straightforward answers and safety tips rather than confusing legalese. We are also counselors. Our job is to listen to clients' concerns, answer their questions, ...

SAN DIEGO— 'Brain freeze' is a nearly universal experience—almost everyone has felt the near-instantaneous headache brought on by a bite of ice cream or slurp of ice-cold soda on the upper palate. However, scientists are still at a loss to explain this phenomenon. Since migraine sufferers are more likely to experience brain freeze than people who don't have this often-debilitating condition, brain freeze may share a common mechanism with other types of headaches, including those brought on by the trauma of blast-related combat injuries in soldiers. One possible link between ...

By the time today's elementary schoolers graduate from college, the U.S. corn belt could be forced to move to the Canadian border to escape devastating heat waves brought on by rising global temperatures. If farmers don't move their corn north, the more frequent heat waves could lead to bigger swings in corn prices – "price volatility" – which cause spikes in food prices, farmers' incomes and the price livestock farmers and ethanol producers pay for corn. A study published April 22 in the journal Nature Climate Change shows for the first time climate change's outsized ...

At presentations held at the Historic Williamson County Courthouse on April 10, 2012 and at Montgomery County Courthouse on April 11, 2012, six fifth-graders were recognized by Nashville attorney Randy Kinnard for their winning entries in a contest that asked students to define the meaning of respect. In Williamson County, the first-place winner, Emma Rutherford from Edmondson Elementary, received $1,000 for her school, $1,000 for the charity of her choice - Monroe Carell, Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, and $500 in U.S. Savings Bonds for herself. In Montgomery ...

On April 10, 2012, the nominees for the 16th Annual Webby Awards were announced. Among the nominees was the website for Chicago-area based Sulaiman Law Group, LTD, which was nominated in the "law" category. This is the first Webby Awards nomination for Sulaiman Law Group, which practices extensively in Illinois bankruptcy law, foreclosure defense and consumer rights. The attorneys at Sulaiman Law Group go to great lengths, updating their website with the most current law and information available regarding consumer defense. The firm believes that the public ...

Thousands of pre-school children in Africa could benefit from access to treatment for an endemic disease, after tests showed infants to be at high risk of infection. Researchers tested hundreds of children aged between one and five in countries in sub-Saharan Africa where snail fever – also known as bilharzia or schistosomiasis – is endemic. Currently, infants are not regularly tested for infection as they are perceived to be at low risk of exposure to the water-borne disease and not to suffer severely from its ill-effects. Scientists showed that in fact, infection ...

Analysis of ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been used to establish migration and population patterns for American indigenous cultures during the time before Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Genetics has used more detailed DNA analysis of individuals from Arequipa region to identify the family relationships and burial traditions of ancient Peru. The social unit (ayllu) of Native South Americans is thought to be based on kin relationships. The establishment of ayllu-based communities is ...

Many people trust personal trainers with their physical well-being. They literally put their bodies on the line under the assumption that trainers can supervise their exercise safely and with expertise. However, a personal trainer's negligence can have serious - and painful - consequences. A New York woman suffered those consequences when a trainer at her Brooklyn gym failed to assist or spot her during an exercise she had never performed before. During this exercise, her foot became caught on a piece of equipment and she fell backward, fracturing both of her wrists. ...

Amid the latest round of metal-on-metal hip replacement recalls, studies being ordered on transvaginal mesh and at least 20 deaths due to faulty heart defibrillator wires, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is under fire to create a more rigorous safety monitoring program for medical devices. Recognizing a rise in injuries due to defective medical devices and the need for better testing, the New York law firm Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman recently released a new website focused on helping patients injured by defective ...

(New York, NY, April 22, 2012) — Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a molecular pathway that controls the retention and release of the brain's stem cells. The discovery offers new insights into normal and abnormal neurologic development and could eventually lead to regenerative therapies for neurologic disease and injury. The findings, from a collaborative effort of the laboratories of Drs. Anna Lasorella and Antonio Iavarone, were published today in the online edition of Nature Cell Biology. The research builds on recent studies, ...

A key protein, which may be activated to protect nerve cells from damage during heart failure or epileptic seizure, has been found to regulate the transfer of information between nerve cells in the brain. The discovery, made by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published in Nature Neuroscience and PNAS, could lead to novel new therapies for stroke and epilepsy. The research team, led by Professor Jeremy Henley and Dr Jack Mellor from Bristol's Medical School, has identified a protein, known as SUMO, responsible for controlling the chemical processes which ...

When considering divorce, one of many questions that will need to be answered is, "Will I lose my healthcare coverage and, if I do lose it, what are my options?" There are many options to consider; your divorce attorney can explain what's available to you based on your situation. Employer-Provided Plans For spouses that maintain coverage under their own employer-provided health care plans, there may be little change upon divorce. If there are children of the marriage, one piece of the child support puzzle will be determining who should maintain health insurance ...

URBANA – University of Illinois scientists report that soy protein may significantly reduce fat accumulation and triglycerides in the livers of obese persons. And they've discovered why it happens: soy restores partial function of that organ's key signaling pathway. "Almost a third of American adults have fatty liver disease, many of them without symptoms. Obesity is a key risk factor for this condition, which can lead to liver failure," said Hong Chen, a U of I assistant professor of food science and human nutrition. Fat is metabolized in the liver, and in obese persons, ...

New research from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York reveals that repeated exposure to cocaine decreases the activity of a protein necessary for normal functioning of the brain's reward system, thus enhancing the reward for cocaine use, which leads to addiction. Investigators were also able to block the ability of repeated cocaine exposure, to induce addiction. The findings, published online April 22 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, provide the first evidence of how cocaine changes the shape and size of neuron rewards in a mouse model. Repeated exposure to cocaine ...

SAN DIEGO, April 22, 2012 –Frida Kahlo's many haunting self-portraits have been studied by experts for decades, have attracted worldwide attention and have sold for millions of dollars at auction. Yet, despite the fact that Kahlo's work focuses largely on anatomy and failed reproduction attempts, relatively little attention has been paid to Kahlo's own body and infertility. Intrigued by the messages manifested in Kahlo's work and surprised by the apparent lack of interest by scientists in Kahlo's clinical condition, Fernando Antelo, a surgical pathologist at the Harbor ...

A new analysis has found that Hispanic lung cancer patients seem to live longer than white or black patients. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that, as with several other types of cancer, certain yet-to-be-defined genetic and/or environmental factors put Hispanic patients at a survival advantage. Most studies that look at ethnic and racial disparities in lung cancer compare black patients with whites. To see how Hispanics compare with other ethnicities with regards to survival after a lung cancer ...

While the divorce rate has declined in the last twenty years for most people, for those over the age of 50 it has seen an increase. This phenomenon is called "gray divorce." The divorce rate for this group has actually doubled during the past few years. As recently as 2009, one out of every four people getting a divorce was over the age of 50. Whereas many older couples in the past outlasted difficulties in a marriage which would eventually end in the death of a spouse, now these couples are divorcing. The reasons for divorce among older populations are not ...

If money is power, how much power has the average American lost due to unemployment, failing investment portfolios, or decreased business profit margins? If the Buffet Rule that President Obama is proposing passes, even those so-called American millionaires will see the power of their own money biting them in the asset as well! In addition to a decrease in income, a large percentage of those living in the United States are experiencing additional negative financial circumstances. Gas prices are persistently reaching record highs (and expected to continually increase). ...

Rare earth metals consultants TRU Group says that recent attempts by Chinese suppliers to halt the six-month old steep decline in REE prices is likely to fail even though the latest February export data for rare earth oxides prices strengthened to US$144,000 per t-REO up significantly over the January figure. Export price levels in 2012 are still more than three times the average for 2010, before the crisis in supply began when China unexpectedly restricted exports. (See accompanying chart). China supplies over ninety per cent of global rare earths and sets REE prices. "Predicting ...