WASHINGTON – Researchers who were looking for organisms that eke out a living in some of the most inhospitable soils on Earth have found a hardy few. A new DNA analysis of rocky soils in the martian-like landscape on some volcanoes in South America has revealed a handful of bacteria, fungi, and other rudimentary organisms, called archaea, which seem to have a different way of converting energy than their cousins elsewhere in the world. "We haven't formally identified or characterized the species," said Ryan Lynch, a microbiologist with the University of Colorado in Boulder ...

Divorce attorney Ashley Oldham of Roberts Law Group, joined Marti Skold of News 14 to discuss the annual early spring surge in divorces: "Couples often wait until after the holidays to make the decision to get a divorce," explained Oldham. The number of divorce filings typically begins to rise in January, peaking in mid-March. The holiday season, New Year's resolutions and the return of tax time "put unique stressors on couples," likely contributing to the rise in divorce filings in the first few months of a new year. When considering divorce, Oldham ...

New research from the University of Warwick suggests getting more money may not make you happier, especially if you are neurotic. In a working paper, economist Dr Eugenio Proto, from the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) at the University of Warwick, looked at how personality traits can affect the way we feel about our income in terms of levels of life satisfaction. He found evidence suggesting that neurotic people can view a pay rise or an increase in income as a failure if it is not as much as they expected. Neuroticism is a fundamental ...

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., June 9, 2012 – Merck (NYSE: MRK) (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) today announced results of a post-hoc pooled analysis in which patients with type 2 diabetes age 65 or older treated with JANUVIA® (sitagliptin) 100 mg/day achieved similar blood sugar reductions as those treated with a sulfonylurea, with significantly less hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). JANUVIA is indicated, as an adjunct to diet and exercise, to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. JANUVIA should not be used in patients with ...

DARIEN, IL – New research shows that sleep loss markedly exaggerates the degree to which we anticipate impending emotional events, particularly among highly anxious people, who are especially vulnerable. Two common features of anxiety disorders are sleep loss and an amplification of emotional response. Results from the new study suggest that these features may not be independent of one another but may interact instead. Researchers from the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, used brain scanning on 18 healthy adults in two separate ...

It seems like every year tort reform advocates and some state lawmakers in New York try to pass legislation that would change the state's scaffold law. Unfortunately, 2012 is turning out to be no different. A bill has been proposed that would change the protections provided to workers under the state's scaffold law, Labor Law Section 240(1). Under the current scaffold law, property owners and employers in New York bear absolute liability when construction workers are injured in accidents that involve any heights, such as scaffold, ladder and even stairway accidents. ...

DARIEN, IL – MRI scans from a study being presented today at SLEEP 2012 reveal how sleep deprivation impairs the higher-order regions in the human brain where food choices are made, possibly helping explain the link between sleep loss and obesity that previous research has uncovered. Twenty-three healthy adults participated in two sessions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), one after a normal night's sleep and a second after a night of sleep deprivation. In both sessions, participants rated how much they wanted various food items shown to them while they ...

DARIEN, IL – The sight of unhealthy food during a period of sleep restriction activated reward centers in the brain that were less active when participants had adequate sleep, according to a new study using brain scans to better understand the link between sleep restriction and obesity. Researchers from St. Luke's – Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University in New York performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on 25 men and women of normal weights while they looked at images of healthy and unhealthy foods. The scans were taken after five nights in ...

At the end of January a new federal regulation took effect that requires all New York commercial driver's license holders (CDL) to have a medical certification in order to legally operate their vehicles. The medical certification must be issued by a doctor on a Department of Transportation approved form, and must state that the driver is physically able to operate a commercial motor vehicle. Typically the certification will be valid for two years, but can be good for a shorter period of time depending on the driver's medical condition. Only exempt personnel, like school ...

Paris, France: Aspirin taken for five days before a heart operation can halve the numbers of patients developing post-operative acute kidney failure, according to research presented at the European Anaesthesiology Congress in Paris today (Sunday). Professor Jianzhong Sun (MD, PhD), professor and attending anaesthesiologist at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, USA), told the meeting that in a study of 3,219 patients, pre-operative aspirin therapy was associated with a reduction in acute renal failure of about three in every 100 patients ...

WEST CHESTER, Pa., June 11, 2012 – Results from the first feasibility study of an advanced first-generation artificial pancreas system were presented today at the 72nd Annual American Diabetes Association Meeting in Philadelphia. Findings from the study indicated that the Hypoglycemia-Hyperglycemia Minimizer (HHM) System was able to automatically predict a rise and fall in blood glucose and correspondingly increase and/or decrease insulin delivery safely. The HHM System included a continuous, subcutaneous insulin pump, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and special software ...

Paris, France: French researchers have found a way to identify quickly the 5-10% of patients in whom the commonly used painkiller, tramadol, does not work effectively. A simple blood test can produce a result within a few hours, enabling doctors to switch a non-responding patient on to another painkiller, such as morphine, which will be able to work in these patients. Dr Laurent Varin, an anaesthesiologist at the Caen Teaching Hospital (Caen, France), presented the findings to the European Anaesthesiology Congress in Paris today (Sunday). Tramadol is a synthetic opioid ...

Cerebral palsy is a lifelong disorder affecting about one out of 300 children in the United States. It characteristically affects movement control, causing muscles to stiffen or jerk. Often, people with this disorder move their limbs awkwardly, and other muscles in the body may be affected as well. Patients with cerebral palsy may also be affected cognitively. The range of severity of symptoms of cerebral palsy is variable...some people are completely dependent on others for every aspect of daily living, and may be confined to bed or wheelchairs, while others are able to ...

Oxford, June 10, 2012 - Despite considerable research showing that children of same-sex parents fare just as well as children with heterosexual parents, two papers - a review of existing studies and a new study - published today in Elsevier's Social Science Research, find insufficient data to draw any definitive conclusions. The review by Dr. Loren Marks from Louisiana State University finds that much of the science that forms the basis for the highly regarded 2005 official brief on same-sex parenting by the American Psychological Association (APA) (http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting-full.pdf) ...

Enabling bioengineers to design new molecular machines for nanotechnology applications is one of the possible outcomes of a study by University of Montreal researchers that was published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology today. The scientists have developed a new approach to visualize how proteins assemble, which may also significantly aid our understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which are caused by errors in assembly. "In order to survive, all creatures, from bacteria to humans, monitor and transform their environments using small protein ...

With the Tom Sachs space-themed art exhibit, "Space Program: Mars" as a backdrop, XCOR Aerospace named Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) as the new General Sales Agent (GSA) for the XCOR owned Lynx Suborbital vehicle flying from the Mojave Air and Spaceport. SXC was previously announced as the first wet lease customer for a Lynx production vehicle with planned flights from Curacao. The GSA places the responsibility with SXC for ticket sales through the extensive network of XCOR Space Tourism Specialists and for astronaut training and relations for XCOR Lynx flights ...

The Fairfax dentists unveil a new office video tour, which viewers can find on the Smiles at Fairfax Corner website. The video tour displays the incredible amenities and beautiful office environment that Dr. Riaz Rayek offers to patients. The new office video tour provides viewers with an in-depth depiction of everything Smiles at Fairfax Corner has to offer. From the welcoming, relaxing reception area to a look into the treatment rooms filled with high-tech dental equipment, Dr. Rayek guides viewers through the various facets of the office. You can also see the dental ...

Decoding the DNA of patients with advanced breast cancer has allowed scientists to identify distinct cancer "signatures" that could help predict which women are most likely to benefit from estrogen-lowering therapy, while sparing others from unnecessary treatment. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis uncovered mutations linked to whether or not women respond to aromatase inhibitors, drugs often prescribed to shrink large tumors before surgery. These mutations also correlate with clinical features of breast tumors, including how likely they ...

The Homeland Security Network has just completed a face-lift that will make it easier and quicker to use the site. The new home page gives user's clear options on where to go to get free educational webinars, educational movies, DVDs, News, Resources and lots more. "Everybody concerned with protecting the USA knows that the dots get connected when information from many different agencies is fused. The Homeland Security Network is like a private Facebook, with a big difference. It is only for hand-verified members of the US First Responder agencies or private security ...

NEWPORT, Ore. – A team of scientists that last year created waves by correctly forecasting the 2011 eruption of Axial Seamount years in advance now says that the undersea volcano located some 250 miles off the Oregon coast gave off clear signals hours before its impending eruption. The researchers' documentation of inflation of the undersea volcano from gradual magma intrusion over a period of years led to the long-term eruption forecast. But new analyses using data from underwater hydrophones also show an abrupt spike in seismic energy about 2.6 hours before the eruption ...

LA JOLLA, CA – June 10, 2012 – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have developed chemical compounds that can make key modifications to common sugar molecules ("glycans"), which are found on the surface of all cells in our body. The new study presents powerful new tools for studying these molecules' function, for example in cell signaling and immunity, and for investigating new treatments for chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, cancer metastasis, and related conditions. The new study, which appears online in Nature Chemical Biology on June 10, 2012, describes ...

Researchers studied genetic data of more than 11 000 people and found altogether six genes that predispose to migraine without aura. Four of these genes are new and two of them confirm previous findings. The new genes identified in this study provide further evidence for the hypothesis that dysregulation of molecules important in transmitting signals between brain neurons contribute to migraine. Two of the genes support the hypothesis of a possible role of blood vessels and thus disturbances in blood flow. The researchers carried out what is known as a genome-wide ...

Concertboom is launching the public version of its live music database, offering a top-class portal for the global concert and ticketing industries. Concertboom provides the most accurate live-music data information, in the fastest possible time and features a simple, desirable appearance and feel with a revolutionary two-click motion that gives live music lovers worldwide access to a database that spans all musical genres. Recently highlighted by Google AdSense for top-ranking positions and strategic marketing within the music industry space, Concertboom is an early ...

A 25 year study in Northern Sweden, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition Journal, is the first to show that a regional and national dietary intervention to reduce fat intake, decreased cholesterol levels, but a switch to the popular low carbohydrate diet was paralleled by in an increase in cholesterol levels. Over the entire 25 year period the population BMI continued to increase, regardless of either diet, and both the increase in body mass and increased cholesterol levels are indicators of increased cardiovascular risk. In the 1970's it was noticed ...

Scientists at the Babraham Institute have gained a new understanding of how the growth of the placenta is regulated before birth, which has important implications for a healthy pregnancy. The research, published today (10 June) in the journal Nature Cell Biology shows that the controlled release of a specific molecule, called miR-675, slows down growth of the placenta before birth. RNA molecules are best known as the intermediary between the cell's DNA and the making of proteins necessary for cell function. However, there are also many RNA molecules with functions other ...