New York -- As parents do their final holiday shopping, comic books, and their related superhero-themed toys and children's gear, continue to be popular. From Batman rain boots and Legos, to paperback books about Wonder Woman, many stores are filled with superhero-inspired toys. New research shows that a reboot this year of DC Comics super heroes, however, put a little something extra into the characters – a mega dose of sexual objectification. In an effort to reverse slumping sales figures and attract the attention of a new generation of readers to their brands, DC Comics ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research suggests that, in people who don't currently have memory problems, those with smaller regions of the brain's cortex may be more likely to develop symptoms consistent with very early Alzheimer's disease. The study is published in the December 21, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "The ability to identify people who are not showing memory problems and other symptoms but may be at a higher risk for cognitive decline is a very important step toward developing new ways for doctors to ...

Held at Manchester Central from 6th to 8th January 2012. Visitors can come and talk to the Fred. Olsen experts, who will be on hand to advise them about the choice of cruises available, and will help them select the perfect cruise holiday for their tastes and budget. Knowledgeable Fred. Olsen staff will be promoting the cruise lines' extensive programme of worldwide cruises, from a choice of convenient regional UK ports. Fred. Olsen will be showcasing some great offers, through the 'Captains' Collection'. This new brochure, of 73 specially-selected ex-UK cruises, offers ...

The hippocampus is an important brain structure for recollection memory, the type of memory we use for detailed reliving of past events. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the December 22 issue of the journal Neuron reveals characteristics of the human hippocampus that allow scientists to use anatomical brain scans to form predictions about an individual's recollection ability. The new research helps to explain why this relationship has been hard to find in the past and provides evidence for a possible underlying mechanism. The hippocampus, a deep brain structure ...

People with dyslexia often struggle with the ability to accurately decode and identify what they read. Although disrupted processing of speech sounds has been implicated in the underlying pathology of dyslexia, the basis of this disruption and how it interferes with reading comprehension has not been fully explained. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the December 22 issue of the journal Neuron finds that a specific abnormality in the processing of auditory signals accounts for the main symptoms of dyslexia. "It is widely agreed that for a majority of dyslexic ...

New York Education Department Official Accused of Stealing Millions A former consultant to the New York Department of Education stole more than $3 million from the state department over a six-year period, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The stiff penalties that the former consultant faces show just how important it is for those accused of fraud to seek out experienced legal counsel. The New York Times wrote that the consultant allegedly stole $3.6 million from the education department in part to pay for the costs of new cars and real estate deals. The ...

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC-ASCT), for previously untreated patients with advanced follicular lymphoma (FL) does not improve overall survival compared with conventional-dose chemotherapy alone, according to an online study published December 21 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Follicular lymphoma is the most common sub-type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in North America, characterized by a long natural history, with multiple remissions and relapses following treatment. A number of chemotherapy regimens have been combined ...

Scientists at the BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and the University of British Columbia are excited over a discovery made while studying rare tumour types. Dr. David Huntsman, genetic pathologist and director of the Ovarian Cancer Program of BC at the BC Cancer Agency and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and Dr. Gregg Morin, a lead scientist from the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the BC Cancer Agency, led a team who found mutations in rare, seemingly unrelated cancers were all linked to the same gene, known as DICER. The ...

Connecticut Gets Smart on Crime With Inmate Early Release Law As Connecticut and other states grapple with tight budgets, many have made attempts to lower recidivism, or the rate at which released prisoners are reincarcerated for new crimes. A national study found that more than 40 percent of people released from prison end up back behind bars. However, a new law in Connecticut may help to rehabilitate inmates and prevent or reduce recidivism. The state's new "risk reduction" credit program allows inmates in Connecticut to earn credits toward an earlier ...

A fundamental problem that has puzzled generations of scientists has finally been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of scientists has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite – the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals – causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures. The discovery gives new insight into the mineral in which mankind discovered magnetism, and it may enable magnetite and similar materials to be exploited in new ways. The research, published in Nature, was led ...

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, reports that abnormal sequences of DNA known as rare copy number variants, or CNVs, appear to play a significant role in the risk for early onset bipolar disorder. The findings will be published in the Dec. 22 issue of the journal Neuron. CNVs are genomic alterations in which there are too few or too many copies of sections of DNA. Researchers have known that spontaneously occurring (de novo) CNVs – genetic mutations not inherited from parents – significantly ...

Industrial Leaders, an online network established in 2003 for the manufacturing community, announced today the launch of its latest marketing campaign to help companies in Nevada locate a suitable job shop approved by AMSN at http://www.MFGpartners.net The company said it will combine a number of promotional strategies to help bring work to local machine shops and custom manufacturers throughout the Silver State by connecting local businesses and organizations with the most suitable vendors presented on the IndustrialLeaders.com website. According to Industrial Leaders, ...

In perhaps the most comprehensive survey of the inner workings of HIV, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has mapped every apparent physical interaction the virus makes with components of the human cells it infects—work that may reveal new ways to design future HIV/AIDS drugs. Explored this week in back-to-back papers in the journal Nature, the survey reveals a pathogenic landscape in which HIV's handful of proteins makes hundreds of physical connections with human proteins and other components inside ...

Frontier Holidays are hosting the Andalucian International Walking & Cultural Festival in co-operation with the Town Hall of El Burgo and the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park. This event will take place from February 26th to March 4th and promises to be an unforgettable holiday experience. The white mountain village of El Burgo, close to Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park is the glorious setting for the festival. This area has select status as a member of the EDEN project, recognising areas of outstanding natural beauty and cultural importance across the European continent. The ...

goFLUENT was delighted to walk away with the "Brandon Hall Bronze Award" for the "Best Use of Blended Learning" category only a few days after being shortlisted, in two categories, for the Learning Awards 2012 in London. Prestigious awards like these are rarely given to European training providers - and even more so to those in the field of English language training. Receiving this award demonstrates goFLUENT's position as a global leader within the market, believes Christophe Ferrandou, CEO of the goFLUENT group. This success comes only a few ...

Knowsley Safari Park has supported the Zoo Outreach Organisation for years, contributing financial support and generating awareness of the organisations hard work throughout the world; 2011 was no different, and a massive financial contribution was just one way in which Knowsley Safari Park, one of the UK's best loved animal attractions, has helped ZOO in the past 12 months. The Zoo Outreach Organisation works with individuals and institutions across the globe to promote conservation education, conservation research, conservation (wildlife) welfare and conservation action. ...

Winning a fight can raise aggressiveness, and a study of fighting crickets, published Dec. 21 in the online journal PLoS ONE, provides new insight into the biochemical mechanism that may be responsible. The researchers, led by Paul Stevenson of the University of Leipzig in Germany, staged cricket "tournaments" to investigate the source of the heightened aggression, called the "winner effect", and the potential role of different treatments on this effect. They found that the increased aggression associated with the winner effect is transient; the aggression levels returned ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—December 21, 2011—Gladstone Institutes scientist Nevan Krogan, PhD, today is announcing research that identifies how HIV—the virus that causes AIDS—hijacks the body's own defenses to promote infection. This discovery could one day help curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Dr. Krogan conducted this research in his laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)—a leading medical school with which Gladstone is affiliated—where Dr. Krogan is an associate professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology and an affiliate of the California ...

Asia's leading sportsbook software services provider, ONEworks has become the first e-Gaming company to receive the new Network Services Licence from the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. The ONEworks ONEbook sportsbetting platform and associated services satisfied the jurisdiction's licensing requirements and stringent online gaming standards. The company will operate under the Isle of Man's new Network licensing system which was launched in July of this year and enables the company to make its platform available to business clients worldwide. Tom Hall, ...

Dengue disease can be deadly. People infected by the mosquito-borne virus can develop an infection whose mild form is so harsh it's called "break-bone fever." Severe forms of the disease known as dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome can be killers, making the disease a pressing public health problem in the sub-tropical regions where it is endemic. There is no treatment beyond fluid management, there is no therapeutic, and there is no vaccine. Why one person and not another succumbs to the virus has been suspected, but not known. Scientists from the Broad ...

Listeners can learn new vocabulary through hip-hop music, even though the lyrics may be difficult to understand, according to a study published in the Dec. 21 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE. The author, Paula Chesley of the University of Alberta, found that the number of hip-hop artists that a participant listened to was predictive of the participant's knowledge of words and phrases used in hip-hop songs that are not considered to be mainstream, like "road dog" (friend) and "guap" (lots of money). Additionally, participants were more likely to know a vocabulary item ...

Headwater has added seven new trips to its walking and cycling collection, ensuring holidaymakers can get under the skin of 110 destinations across 32 different countries and islands in the coming year. With Cuba featuring in the Lonely Planet 'Top 10 countries for 2012' list, Headwater has launched its first tour to this fascinating destination. The 10-day guided walking holiday offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into a country whose clock stopped in 1959. From crumbling palaces and colonial mansions to salsa-filled squares and roads with more donkeys than ...

Efforts to combat climate change should take into account the development levels of different countries when negotiating agreements, according to a study published in the Dec. 21 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE. On an early stage, developing countries tend to rely on fossil fuels to achieve their development targets. In a world of limited technology transfer, cumulative CO2 emission necessary for development are between 20 and 30% of previously calculated budges to keep global temperature below 2°C target. The authors of the recent report, led by Luis Costa of the ...

One of the most vexing challenges in the battle against dengue virus, a mosquito-borne virus responsible for 50-100 million infections every year, is that getting infected once can put people at greater risk for a more severe infection down the road. Now, for the first time, an international team of researchers that includes experts from the University of California, Berkeley, has pulled apart the mechanism behind changing dengue virus genetics and dynamics of host immunity, and they are reporting their findings in the Dec. 21 issue of Science Translational Medicine. ...

Organic semiconductors could usher in an era of foldable smartphones, better high-definition television screens and clothing made of materials that can harvest energy from the sun needed to charge your iPad, but there is one serious drawback: Organic semiconductors do not conduct electricity very well. In a paper to be published online on Wednesday by the journal Nature, researchers at Stanford led by chemical engineer Zhenan Bao have changed that equation by improving the ability of the electrons to move through organic semiconductors. The secret is in packing the molecules ...