Biologists Leonard Freed and Rebecca Cann from the University of Hawaii at Manoa have been studying birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge for 20 years. Located on an old cattle ranch on the windward slope of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii, it was established in 1985 to protect 8 species of rare and endangered perching birds. The refuge and its volunteers planted over 400,000 seedlings of native koa trees in an abandoned pasture to restore high elevation forest. The once-rare white-eye colonized the restoration area, grew rapidly in it, but then surged into ...

Spring's early arrival in the Twin Cities caused many motorcycle enthusiasts to tune up their bikes and hit the road early this year. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm resulted in the death of a Lake Elmo motorcyclist. This accident prompted the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) to issue a motorcycle accident safety warning on March 16th. DPS Motorcycle Safety Warning The DPS warning is aimed at both motorists and bikers. It encourages drivers to be alert to the presence of motorcyclists around them and to double-check blind spots when changing lanes or making ...

Federal truck-safety regulators released a new, improved program in December 2010 that changes the way the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the part of the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for heavy-truck and large bus safety, enforces compliance with federal road-safety rules and regulations. The agency's priority is to reduce the rate of commercial-truck crashes and related injuries and deaths. The FMCSA noticed the decreasing rate of truck accidents was dropping at a slower pace and undertook a comprehensive overview of how it could better ...

PITTSBURGH, May 23 – In one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of the cost of robotic-assisted, laparoscopic surgery for prostate cancer, researchers at UPMC found that this now-dominant surgical approach is significantly more costly than standard open surgery, despite little scientific evidence of long-term improved patient outcomes. The results of the study are available online and will appear in the July issue of the journal Urology. In one of the first studies based on actual direct and indirect costs at a single institution—rather than computer models that ...

As we get older, it becomes more difficult to do many everyday activities -- and driving is no different. Despite the challenges associated with driving as a senior citizen, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 78 percent of people age 70 and above -- about 22 million seniors -- are still driving. We're all familiar with media stories that involve senior citizens driving off the road, and sometimes injuring the unsuspecting people around them. But, statistics show that generally speaking, older drivers are not as much of a harm to others as you might ...

This press release is available in German. Tobacco: actually pretty bad food for leafhoppers Empoasca sp. is not a typical pest of wild tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata). When this plant grows in its natural habitats in North America, however, it is attacked by tobacco hornworm larvae (Manduca sexta). This specialist insect is resistant to the toxic nicotine, which the plant produces as a defense against its enemies. When researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology used particular transgenic plants in field experiments, they noticed that these plants were ...

Prescription drug advertisements have become ubiquitous in United States' media, including television and magazines. Unfortunately, these ads may be ultimately misleading about potential side effects, placing patients at risk. How Drug Marketing Campaigns Portray Side Effects Drug companies use several techniques to downplay the side effects of the potentially dangerous drugs they are advertising. First, a drug company may enlist a celebrity to endorse its product. For example, the anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel is promoted by professional golfer Phil Mikelson. ...

Traumatic brain injury -- often called TBI -- is brain damage that can be caused by a blow or jolt to the head, as well as by an object penetrating the skull. Oftentimes, TBIs are not life threatening and those who suffer from mild injuries experience temporary brain-cell dysfunction -- which results in symptoms such as headaches, sleep-pattern changes, mood alterations and loss of consciousness that lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes. In other cases, TBIs can be quite severe, causing serious damage or even death to the victims. The Causes and Effects of Severe ...

Use of the antioxidant urate to protect against the neurodegeneration caused by Parkinson's disease appears to rely on more than urate's ability to protect against oxidative damage. In the May issue of the open-access journal PLoS One, researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (MGH-MIND) describe experiments suggesting the involvement of a novel mechanism in urate's protection of cultured brain cells against Parkinson's-like damage. "Our experiments showed, unexpectedly, that urate's ability to protect neurons requires the presence of ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Blame it on your genes? Researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center say individuals with variations in certain "obesity genes" tend to eat more meals and snacks, consume more calories per day and often choose the same types of high fat, sugary foods. Their study, published online by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and appearing in the June issue, reveals certain variations within the FTO and BDNF genes – which have been previously linked to obesity – may play a role in eating habits that can cause obesity. ...

If you have filed for bankruptcy, you may wonder what your credit will look like after you obtain your discharge of debt. You understand that a bad credit rating means credit cards and loans will be more expensive and harder to get. However, you may be surprised to find your credit could be better than you expect. Bad Credit? The good news is your credit can probably only improve. If you had to file bankruptcy, your financial situation was probably rather unstable. All of your creditors were aware of this; after all, they were the ones harassing you to pay their bills. Once ...

Seagrasses are a vital part of the solution to climate change and, per unit area, seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world's temperate and tropical forests. So report researchers publishing a paper this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. The paper, "Seagrass Ecosystems as a Globally Significant Carbon Stock," is the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses. The results demonstrate that coastal seagrass beds store up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, mostly in the soils beneath them. As a comparison, a ...

About a year ago, 15 people were killed in a commercial bus that was traveling from Connecticut to New York City. A few months later, 30 bus passengers were injured in upstate New York in an accident that killed a truck driver. According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, these New York bus accidents are just two examples of why it's necessary to increase the amount of commercial bus inspections conducted by the Department of Transportation. To that end, Cuomo and the New York State Legislature recently approved $1 million in the state budget to create a program that will allow ...

An elongated crack, a random upheaval -- less than perfect sidewalks can send almost anyone caught off guard tumbling. For those in wheelchairs, shoddy sidewalks can even mean a complete lack of mobility. In New York State, a person in a wheelchair is considered a pedestrian, and is subject to all pedestrian traffic laws. Yet, the neglected state of a good number of sidewalks in Albany can make compliance with the law difficult or impossible, substantially raising the risk of pedestrian accidents. Wheelchair Users Can Be Forced Into Traffic Due to Unsafe Sidewalks If ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Women receiving care for breast cancer have significantly impaired cardio-pulmonary function that can persist for years after they have completed treatment, according to a study led by scientists at Duke University Medical Center. The findings, reported online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, also provide initial evidence that poor cardio-pulmonary function may be a strong predictor of survival among women with advanced breast cancer. "We know that exercise tolerance tests, which measure cardiopulmonary function, are among some of the most important ...

Anyone who has had to face more than one health problem at a time knows the cumulative effect multiple illnesses may have on your life. From daily treatment regimens to long stays in the hospital, the effects of several illnesses can be more than just disruptive; they can be disabling. New Study Links Mental Illness, Physical Manifestations A new report issued in April by an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services details the connection between mental illness and related physical health problems. According to researchers, individuals with major ...

When confronted with adverse situations such as the loss of a loved one, some people never fully recover from the pain. Others, the majority, pull through and experiment how the intensity of negative emotions (e.g. anxiety, depression) grows dimmer with time until they adapt to the new situation. A third group is made up of individuals whose adversities have made them grow personally and whose life takes on new meaning, making them feel stronger than before. Researchers at the Basic Psychology Unit at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona analysed the responses of 254 students ...

The hordes of bark beetles that have bored their way through more than 6 billion trees in the western U.S. and British Columbia since the 1990s do more than damage and kill stately pine, spruce and other trees. A new study finds that these pests can make trees release up to 20 times more of the organic substances that foster haze and air pollution in forested areas. It appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. Kara Huff Hartz, Gannet Hallar and colleagues explain that western North America is experiencing a population explosion of mountain pine beetles, ...

In 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began implementation of the Compliance, Safety and Accountability, or CSA, program. Among other things, CSA involves the gathering of trucking industry data. Much of this data pertains to safety compliance, and the latest set of findings released in May, 2012, is indicative of the current state of trucking safety. More Trucking Operations, and More than a Third Have Fatigued Driving Incidents Do more independent trucking operations translate into more tractor trailer accidents? Only time will tell for certain, ...

Army scientists and industry collaborators have successfully protected laboratory animals from lethal hantavirus disease using a novel approach that combines DNA vaccines and duck eggs. The work appears in a recent edition of the online scientific journal PLoS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science. According to first author Jay W. Hooper of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), this is the first time that the DNA vaccine/duck egg system has been shown to produce an antiviral product capable of protecting against hantavirus ...

The Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel (North, I-85) is now offering the perfect summer package. Available at participating Hampton hotels, The Great Getaway lets guests save 15% to 40% off Best Available Rate for trips booked by July 23, 2012 for stays through September 30, 2012. Some restrictions may apply; special offers and rates are subject to availability. Conveniently located near the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, this Atlanta Airport hotel is the perfect place for families traveling to the area this summer to stay. "The Great ...

Scientists are reporting development of a new, higher-yield, two-step, less costly process that may ease supply problems and zigzagging prices for the raw material essential for making the mainstay drug for malaria. That disease sickens 300-500 million people annually and kills more than 1 million. The report on the process, which uses readily available substances and could be easily implemented by drug companies, appears in ACS' journal Organic Process Research & Development. David Teager and Rodger Stringham of the Clinton Health Access Initiative explain that artemisinin ...

Velvet spiders include some of the most beautiful arachnids in Europe and some of the world's most cooperative species. Social species can be very abundant in parts of tropical Africa and Asia with conspicuous colonies dotting the landscape. Social colonies may consist of hundreds of closely-related individuals that participate in dramatic mass attacks on prey (Figure 1) and care for their young. The ecology of these social species is fascinating and has been the subject of several landmark scientific papers. The study was published in a special issue of the open access ...

Fostering People Ireland, the non-statutory Dublin-based fostering agency, has announced two upcoming events aimed at recruiting more carers to help the growing number of children in need of care in the capital and the surrounding area. Fostering People Ireland has grown its reputation since its launch in September 2011, but remains in need of qualified, enthusiastic carers. The first event will be held at Maudlin House Hotel in Naas, County Kildare on 23 May 2012 from 4pm - 8pm. The second event will be held on 6 June 2012 at the Premier Inn, Airparks in Swords, County ...

The latest in a series of events marking the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting will be a May 24 reception introducing Kimberly Coley who has recently been appointed Vice President of External Affairs for Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast (GSCCC). Coley, who brings a wealth of experience in community advocacy, volunteer coordination, youth program, and marketing and public relations, will head-up a new Girl Scout office in Santa Barbara. Ms. Coley's primary responsibilities will be to serve as a Girl Scout leadership liaison for Santa Barbara, and to oversee community ...