Long before President Obama signed the recent bill to provide tax incentives to companies that hire veterans, top-ranked national VA mortgage lender iFreedom Direct Corporation made it a practice to employ our country's heroes. As a VA specialty lender, the company primarily serves veterans. In their own unique way, each veteran employed by this leading VA loan company has an impact on the success of operations. Some of the veterans employed by iFreedom Direct offer insights on working in the VA loan industry and what Veterans Day means to them. Rickey Kirby, a ...

A new book on the analysis of poker behavior is being called by many the best work on the subject. The book, Reading Poker Tells, is an instructional guide for interpreting the physical and verbal behavioral patterns, or "tells," of poker players. It was written by former professional poker player Zachary Elwood and published by Portland, Oregon publisher Via Regia. Elwood said he was inspired to write a book on poker tells when he realized that previous books treated the subject too simplistically and that none had gone into enough detail about the "subtleties ...

SmokeTastic is starting to make a huge impact with their electronic cigarette review site, it is the only site which tests the products and records videos so you can see them in action. Their honest approach is seeing a mass influx of visitors and positive feedback from the professionals, even the electronic cigarette companies themselves are using the site to help improve their products and relationships. "It has been a difficult year, testing all these products is endless, as soon as you think you have finished, another brand is released, or there's an upgrade," ...

(PHILADELPHIA) – If you've had joint replacement surgery, it's likely you've been given warfarin, a common blood thinner and clot-preventer, prior to surgery. While effective, research from the Rothman Institute at Jefferson has shown aspirin to be just as effective in preventing clots, specifically pulmonary emboli, life-threatening blood clots that can develop in the arteries of the lungs following joint replacement surgery. Their research was recognized as one of the best poster presentations at the recent American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) meeting ...

New antibiotic and anti-cancer chemicals may one day be synthesised using biotechnology, following CSIRO's discovery of the three genes that combine to provide soldier beetles with their potent predator defence system. CSIRO researchers, and a colleague at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, published details of the gene identification breakthrough and potential applications recently in the international journal Nature Communications. "For the first time, our team has been able to isolate and replicate the three genes that combine to make the potent fatty acid that soldier ...

LOS ANGELES — Nov. 7, 2012 – Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have found that an experimental compound may help stem the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy by restoring normal blood flow to muscles affected by the genetic disorder. The researchers studied HCT 1026, a new type of molecule in which nitric oxide is chemically attached to a standard anti-inflammatory agent, in a preclinical model of muscular dystrophy. Results suggest HCT 1026 may be beneficial for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which begins in early childhood, and Becker muscular ...

University of Melbourne Engineers have developed a novel method of collecting and storing carbon dioxide that will reduce the cost of separating and storing carbon dioxide. The quest to capture carbon dioxide is crucial to a cleaner future and once captured, carbon dioxide can be compressed and safely stored. It is also a useful source for chemical manufacture. However, current processes are inefficient and require several stages of refining and extraction before a pure form of carbon dioxide is produced. One method of capturing carbon dioxide is through molecular ...

Australian marine scientists have unearthed evidence of an historic coral collapse in Queensland's Palm Islands following development on the nearby mainland. Cores taken through the coral reef at Pelorus Island confirm a healthy community of branching Acropora corals flourished for centuries before European settlement of the area, despite frequent floods and cyclone events. Then, between 1920 and 1955, the branching Acropora failed to recover. Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at the University of Queensland say the rapid collapse of ...

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders are marked by mutations that impair signaling between neurons. These mutations cause key brain circuits involved in learning and memory to develop too quickly, leading to long-lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, according to a study published by Cell Press in the November 9th issue of the journal Cell. The findings could pave the way to new treatment strategies for severe forms of neurodevelopmental disorders. "We have provided perhaps the first evidence that acceleration ...

AUDIO: This is a fairy-wren incubation call. Click here for more information. It's always a good idea to listen to your mother, but that goes double for baby fairy-wrens even before they are hatched. If those fairy-wren babies want to be fed, they need to have a password—a single unique note—taught to them by their mothers from outside the egg. The nestlings incorporate that password right into their begging calls, according to researchers who report their discovery online ...

JUPITER, FL – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown that a single protein plays an oversized role in intellectual and behavioral development. The scientists found that mutations in a single gene, which is known to cause intellectual disability and increase the risk of developing autism spectrum disorder, severely disrupts the organization of developing brain circuits during early childhood. This study helps explain how genetic mutations can cause profound cognitive and behavioral problems. The study was published in the ...

Ottawa, Canada (November 8, 2012) – Scientists have named a new species of horned dinosaur (ceratopsian) from Alberta, Canada. Xenoceratops foremostensis (Zee-NO-Sare-ah-tops) was identified from fossils originally collected in 1958. Approximately 20 feet long and weighing more than 2 tons, the newly identified plant-eating dinosaur represents the oldest known large-bodied horned dinosaur from Canada. Research describing the new species is published in the October 2012 issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. "Starting 80 million years ago, the large-bodied ...

AMHERST, Mass. – Recently biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst led by Wei-lih Lee have identified a new molecular player in asymmetric cell division, a regulatory protein named She1 whose role in chromosome- and spindle positioning wasn't known before. Asymmetric cell division is important in the self-renewal of stem cells and because it ensures that daughter cells have different fates and functions. When a fertilized egg develops in a fruit fly or a human being, the number of asymmetric cell divisions must be precisely balanced by symmetric cell divisions, ...

JUPITER, FL, November 8, 2012 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have defined the molecular structure of an enzyme as it interacts with several proteins involved in outcomes that can influence neurodegenerative disease and insulin resistance. The enzymes in question, which play a critical role in nerve cell (neuron) survival, are among the most prized targets for drugs to treat brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study was published online ahead of print ...

Scientists from the University of Leicester have hit upon unique forms of spinal nerve activity that shape output of nerve cell networks controlling motor behaviours. The breakthrough in the Department of Biology at the University of Leicester is announced today (5pm GMT on Thursday Nov 8) in the journal Current Biology. The three- year study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Although the neural basis of motor control has been studied for over a century, the processes controlling maturation of locomotor behaviours – like ...

November 8, 2012 — (Bronx, NY) — A study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that body mass index (BMI)—the most commonly used weight-for-height formula for estimating fatness—may not be the best measure for estimating disease risk, and particularly the risk of certain types of cancer. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology. BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight (in kilograms) by his or her height in meters squared, or W/H2. Most of the early studies that ...

MADISON — For the first time, Wisconsin researchers have taken skin from patients and, using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, turned them into a laboratory model for an inherited type of macular degeneration. Dr. David Gamm, director of the UW's McPherson Eye Research Institute, said that while Best disease is relatively rare, having a patient-specific model of the eye disease, which destroys the macula of the retina, could lead to a greater understanding of more common eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration. "This model gives us a chance ...

Dream images could provide insights into people's mental health problems and may help with their treatment, according to a psychology researcher from the University of Adelaide. Dr Lance Storm, a Visiting Research Fellow with the University of Adelaide's School of Psychology, has been studying dream symbols (or "archetypes") and their meanings, as described by the famous psychologist and psychiatrist, Carl Jung. In the early 1900s, Jung proposed that these archetypes were ancient images stemming from humans' collective unconscious. He believed that dream symbols carried ...

In order to contribute to the development of the primary sector and environmental care, the Basque Institute of Agricultural Research and Development, NEIKER-Tecnalia, has analysed various ways of spreading slurry on arable land to determine the most appropriate way of cutting the amount of ammonia that is released into the atmosphere. The three methods studied were: the traditional splash plate or fan method, hanging pipes, or injection. The last one turned out to be the most environmentally friendly in terms of ammonia emissions (NH3), as it achieves a 93% cut in NH3 ...

Mankind's emissions of fossil carbon and the resulting increase in temperature could prove to be our salvation from the next ice age. According to new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, the current increase in the extent of peatland is having the opposite effect. "We are probably entering a new ice age right now. However, we're not noticing it due to the effects of carbon dioxide", says researcher Professor Lars Franzén. Looking back over the past three million years, the earth has experienced at least 30 periods of ice age, known as ice age pulses. ...

As nanotechnology progresses, it becomes increasingly important to know in detail the dynamics of the nanoworld (the world at the scale of a millionth of a millimeter). What happens, for example, when we try to drive a polyelectrolyte (a long chain of electrically charged molecules, such as DNA) through a nanopore if knots cause the translocation process to jam? It's not a pointless question, because now a new DNA sequencing method to electrochemically analyze every single strand by driving it through a nanopore, is being developed. Since those strands tend to tangle up ...

Limiting the quantity of catalysts – substances that trigger a chemical reaction – used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals is important, and research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has now demonstrated that small quantities of copper work well in this respect. "This is an important finding, not just academically but also for industry," says chemist Per-Fredrik Larsson. Catalysis is an incredibly valuable tool in the field of chemistry, with the Haber-Bosch process being one of the most important catalytic processes in the world. It is used to manufacture ...

A study published by Andrea Vanossi, Nicola Manini and Erio Tosatti - three SISSA researchers - in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) provides a new tool to better understand how sliding friction works in nanotribology, through colloidal crystals. By theoretically studying these systems of charged microparticles, researchers are able to analyze friction forces through molecular dynamics simulations with accuracy never experienced before. "There are several and very concrete potentialities", stated Andrea Vanossi, one of the members of the research ...

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder are characterised by persistent thoughts and repetitive behaviours. A new study reveals that sufferers worry considerably more than the general population in the face of morality problems. Along with the help of experts from the Barcelona's Hospital del Mar and the University of Melbourne (Australia), researchers at the Hospital de Bellvitge in Barcelona have proven that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, known as OCD, are more morally sensitive. "Faced with a problem of this type, people suffering from this type ...

A new software product developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge could greatly improve sound perception for users of hearing aids. The software prescribes the amount of amplification of high-frequency sounds required to restore the audibility of such sounds. This increases the frequency range of sound that individuals with hearing loss are able to detect, improving speech perception, sound localisation and the ability to hear certain musical sounds, when compared with current methods. Results of an evaluation of the software were published recently in the ...