(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System have demonstrated that the effects on white matter brain volume from long-term alcohol abuse are different for men and women. The study, which is published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, also suggests that with abstinence, women recover their white matter brain volume more quickly than men. The study was led by Susan Mosher Ruiz, PhD, postdoctoral research scientist in the Laboratory for Neuropsychology at BUSM and research ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Earthworms creep along the ground by alternately squeezing and stretching muscles along the length of their bodies, inching forward with each wave of contractions. Snails and sea cucumbers also use this mechanism, called peristalsis, to get around, and our own gastrointestinal tracts operate by a similar action, squeezing muscles along the esophagus to push food to the stomach. Now researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University have engineered a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting ...

NASA scientist Tom Hanisco is helping to fill a big gap in scientists' understanding of how much urban pollution -- and more precisely formaldehyde -- ultimately winds up in Earth's upper atmosphere where it can wreak havoc on Earth's protective ozone layer. He and his team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., have developed an automated, lightweight, laser-induced fluorescence device that measures the levels of this difficult-to-measure organic compound in the lower troposphere and then again at much higher altitudes. The primary objective is determining ...

Many of the long term goals people strive for — like losing weight — require us to use self-control and forgo immediate gratification. And yet, denying our immediate desires in order to reap future benefits is often very hard to do. In a new article in the August issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers Kentaro Fujita and Jessica Carnevale of The Ohio State University propose that the way people subjectively understand, or construe, events can influence self-control. Research from psychological ...

NEW YORK, N.Y. (August 9, 2012) – Over 400 attendees from across the U.S. and around the world participated in the first national conference for families and professionals, "Treating the Whole Person with Autism: Comprehensive Care for Children and Adolescents with ASD." Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, organized and hosted the conference in collaboration with educational partners at Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH), The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Health ...

VIDEO: Researchers Alyssa Stark and Tim Sullivan test the adhesion of a geckos feet in water. Their findings may help improve the adhesion of bandages, sutures and similar items in moist... Click here for more information. Akron, Ohio, August 9, 2012 — Scientists already know that the tiny hairs on geckos' toe pads enable them to cling, like Velcro, to vertical surfaces. Now, University of Akron researchers are unfolding clues to the reptiles' gripping power in wet conditions ...

High, cold cloud tops with bitter cold temperatures are indicators that there's a lot of strength in the uplift of air within a tropical cyclone. NASA's Aqua satellite passed by Hurricane Gilma and saw a concentrated area of very cold cloud tops. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Hurricane Gilma on August 9 at 5:53 a.m. EDT. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of the cloud temperatures that showed the strongest storms and heaviest rainfall were wrapped around the storm's center. Cloud top temperatures in that area were as cold ...

In patients with hoarding disorder, parts of a decision-making brain circuit under-activated when dealing with others' possessions, but over-activated when deciding whether to keep or discard their own things, a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study has found. NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health. Brain scans revealed the abnormal activation in areas of the anterior cingulate cortex and insula known to process error monitoring, weighing the value of things, assessing risks, unpleasant feelings, and emotional decisions. NIMH grantee David ...

For years, many scientists had thought that plate tectonics existed nowhere in our solar system but on Earth. Now, a UCLA scientist has discovered that the geological phenomenon, which involves the movement of huge crustal plates beneath a planet's surface, also exists on Mars. "Mars is at a primitive stage of plate tectonics. It gives us a glimpse of how the early Earth may have looked and may help us understand how plate tectonics began on Earth," said An Yin, a UCLA professor of Earth and space sciences and the sole author of the new research. Yin made the discovery ...

The possibility of an inexpensive, convenient test for Alzheimer's disease has been on the horizon for several years, but previous research leads have been hard to duplicate. In a study to be published in the August 28 issue of the journal Neurology, scientists have taken a step toward developing a blood test for Alzheimer's, finding a group of markers that hold up in statistical analyses in three independent groups of patients. "Reliability and failure to replicate initial results have been the biggest challenge in this field," says lead author William Hu, MD, PhD, ...

Sparse microwave imaging is a novel concept in microwave imaging that is intended to deal with the problems of increasing microwave imaging system complexity caused by the requirements of the system applications. Under the support of the 973 program "Study of theory, system and methodology of sparse microwave imaging", Chinese scientists have conducted considerable research into most aspects of sparse microwave imaging, including its fundamental theories, system design, performance evaluation and applications. Their work, consisting of a series of papers, was published ...

North American freshwater fishes are going extinct at an alarming rate compared with other species, according to an article in the September issue of BioScience. The rate of extinctions increased noticeably after 1950, although it has leveled off in the past decade. The number of extinct species has grown by 25 percent since 1989. The article, by Noel M. Burkhead of the US Geological Survey, examines North American freshwater fish extinctions from the end of the 19th Century to 2010, when there were 1213 species in the continent, or about 9 percent of the Earth's freshwater ...

Blue Pie are excited to announce that California-based independent label Rustin Records has signed to our White Label Music Program. The program provides labels with back end infrastructure and management systems. Rustin Records was established by Sam Rustin in August of 2008 and is currently being run by both himself and Earl Pampaian. Sam also acts as producer and sound engineer when recording his label's exciting roster of artists, including Mizz Playah Proof, M.O.B., Shorty, and Vital Impulse. Rustin Records primarily focuses on Hip Hop, but is open to other ...

Randal Mills, President & Chief Executive Officer of Osiris to give a Keynote Presentation at the 9th Stem Cell Research & Therapeutics Conference (Oct 24-26, 2012 in Philadelphia, PA) In May of 2012 Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. made history with their world's first approved Stem Cell Drug: Prochymal (remestemcel-L), leaving Canada the first country to approve Stem Cell Medicinal Product for Rare Disease called acute Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD). "Prochymal is being evaluated in Phase 3 clinical trials for several indications, including acute graft ...

Sea Temple Resort & Spa Palm Cove Resort is pleased to announce the newest addition to its conference and events offerings, with the opening of the Sea Temple Garden Pavilion. Located at the front of the 5-star, beachfront resort, The Garden Pavilion is surrounded by tropical gardens and beautiful timber decking, making it an idyllic spot for holding outdoor breakouts, tea or coffee breaks, and pre or post-conference drinks and canapes . The two-storey pavilion consists of a large function room on the ground floor which can be divided into two rooms with floor-to-ceiling ...

Hartman Inventory Systems launched a contest on Memorial Day to give away a free business package to a deserving veteran. While there were many truly outstanding applicants, once all entries were reviewed in great detail one person stood head and shoulders above the rest. Founders Mike and Cindy Hartman wanted to do something for a veteran to say thank you for his or her service. "As business owners ourselves and knowing the sense of pride in owning one's own business, we wanted to help a veteran have that opportunity. After much thought, we made the decision to ...

SheerID is asking marketers to take a serious look at their own back-to-school marketing campaigns this fall before trying to target the valuable college student market. With 20.4 million students gearing up to head back to campus and spend an estimated $53.5 billion on school supplies, text books, apparel, electronics, and dorm room decorations, the competition for students' dollars has never been tougher. SheerID's graphic is based on the results of a survey SheerID answered by 384 students currently enrolled in 2 year, 4 year, and graduate degree programs. The survey ...

Today, the financial education experts at The Rich Dad Company, http://www.richdad.com, announced the installation of a portable, high-tech recording studio from VocalBooth , http://www.VocalBooth.com. Now, "The Rich Dad Radio Show with Robert Kiyosaki" will originate directly from The Rich Dad Company offices in Scottsdale, AZ to be heard by 18.9 million subscribers of SiriusXM Satellite Radio, on Channel 168 Talk Radio, every Saturday at 3:00 p.m. EDT. "By installing the sound-isolation, portable recording studio from VocalBooth here in our Scottsdale ...

Annual List Ranks North America's Top 500 Technology Integrators Novacoast Inc., an IT professional services and product development company, today announced it has been recognized by UBM Channel as a part of CRN's 2012 Solution Provider 500 list, which ranks the top technology integrators in North America. Formerly known as the "VAR 500," the Solution Provider 500 ranks the highest producing solution provider organizations in the IT channel from hardware sales, software sales, and managed IT services. Novacoast placed #339th in the annual ranking, up nearly ...

People who are behind on their taxes may be happy to learn that the Internal Revenue Service has recently implemented a major expansion of its Offers in Compromise program. The program allows delinquent taxpayers to negotiate a settlement with the IRS for less than the amount they owe in back taxes if they cannot afford to pay the full amount due. With many Americans still reeling from the financial effects of the Great Recession, more and more taxpayers have expressed a need for tax relief in recent years. According to a recent report from Reuters, the IRS received ...

A Nevada law that went into effect in October 2011 with the intent of helping to stabilize the housing market has had the opposite effect, some critics say. The new law makes it a felony for lenders to foreclose on properties without first proving that they own the mortgage. Passed in the wake of last year's robo-signing foreclosure scandal, in which several major mortgage lenders were accused of foreclosing on homes without verifying the necessary paperwork, Nevada lawmakers hoped the new measure would revitalize the housing market by reassuring buyers that they would ...

Selecting the proper person to serve as your personal representative, who will manage the administration of your estate after you die, is an important part of the estate planning process. Many put a great deal of thought into choosing people whom they believe will be able to complete the duties of the personal representative competently. Fewer people realize that there are steps they can take to make a personal representative's job easier and help ensure that their plans for their assets will come to fruition after they pass on. Wills One of the most important pieces ...

The "Hurt Study" is a comprehensive analysis of motorcycle accidents that details both obvious and less well-known causes of dangerous bike crashes. The study offers valuable lessons in motorcycle safety and accident prevention for both motorcycle enthusiasts and other drivers on the road. Hurt Study The Hurt Study examined the causes of 900 motorcycle accidents. In all, the study found that 41 percent of fatal accidents involved motorcyclists who ran off the road. The next-most frequent accident types involved failure to obey a traffic signal, head-on collisions, ...

Despite recent signs of stabilization in the real estate market, many experts predict that a new wave of home foreclosures is in store for Indiana and other states where lenders have been slow to work through the foreclosure backlog created during the 2011 robo-signing investigations. Foreclosures dropped off significantly across the country in 2011 due to widespread allegations of improprieties in the foreclosure process. After lenders settled with government officials for $25 billion in early 2012, foreclosure rates spiked again as lenders worked hard to make up for ...

It is not unusual in marriages for one person to be solely responsible for the family's finances. Unfortunately, when couples divorce, such an arrangement makes it easier for one spouse to take advantage of the other's ignorance of the family's financial situation and push for an unfair property division. It is illegal and unethical to hide assets during divorce, but people try to do it with alarming frequency. People going through divorce should be aware of the signs that their spouses may be hiding assets and the methods they typically use to do so. Indications a Spouse ...