The 2012 Marine Climate Change in Australia Report Card shows climate change is having significant impacts on Australia's marine ecosystems. The report card provides information about the current and predicted-future state of Australia's marine climate and its impact on our marine biodiversity. The report card also outlines actions that are underway to help our marine ecosystems adapt to climate change. "Australia has some of the world's most unique marine ecosystems," project leader CSIRO's Dr Elvira Poloczanska said. "They are enjoyed recreationally, generate considerable ...

Earthworms could be used to extract toxic heavy metals, including cadmium and lead, from solid waste from domestic refuse collection and waste from vegetable and flower markets, according to researchers writing in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management. Swati Pattnaik and M. Vikram Reddy of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, at Pondicherry University, in Puducherry, India, explain how three species of earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia fetida and Perionyx excavates can be used to assist in the composting of urban waste and ...

Researchers have found what they believe is the key to understanding why the human brain is larger and more complex than that of other animals. The human brain, with its unequaled cognitive capacity, evolved rapidly and dramatically. "We wanted to know why," says James Sikela, PhD, who headed the international research team that included researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and the National Institutes of Mental Health. "The size and cognitive capacity of the human brain sets us apart. But how did that happen?" "This ...

Fast-growing retail medical clinics are attracting more older patients and delivering more preventive care, particularly flu shots and other vaccinations, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation. Researchers found that visits to retail medical clinics increased four-fold from 2007 to 2009, with the proportion of patients over age 65 growing from 8 percent to 19 percent of all visits during this period. More than 44 percent of visits to the clinics occurred on the weekend or other hours when physician offices typically are closed, suggesting retail clinics ...

As November draws near, many Americans are thinking about which political candidates will be receiving their support. For die-hard Democrats and Republicans, the decision may be a no-brainer. As the country grows increasingly divided between liberals and conservatives, however, many voters have rejected traditional partisan identities, choosing to call themselves Independents. But new research suggests that Independents may not be as independent as they think. Psychological scientists Carlee Beth Hawkins and Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia decided to use a ...

Researchers have discovered molecular and protein signatures that predict rapid onset of liver damage in hepatitis C patients following a liver transplant. The markers appeared soon after transplant and well before clinical evidence of liver damage. Such early detection of susceptibility to hepatitis C virus-induced liver injury could lead to more personalized monitoring and treatment options after a transplant. Also, because the markers stem from an underlying pathology occurring at a very basic level, they might reveal why hepatitis C is so clinically variable, and ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two studies suggest that two peptide agents used either together or individually with a low-dose of a standard chemotherapy drug might offer more effective cancer therapy than current standard single-drug treatments. The studies used animal models of breast cancer to show that the peptide combinations dramatically delay tumor onset and progression by both inhibiting tumor growth and blocking the formation of new tumor blood vessels, say the researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A parasite thought to be harmless and found in many people may actually be causing subtle changes in the brain, leading to suicide attempts. New research appearing in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry adds to the growing work linking an infection caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite to suicide attempts. Michigan State University's Lena Brundin was one of the lead researchers on the team. About 10-20 percent of people in the United States have Toxoplasma gondii, or T. gondii, in their bodies, but in most it was thought to ...

WASHINGTON – Blacks who survived a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain had higher blood pressure than whites a year later, according to a study published today in the journal Stroke. The finding might help explain why blacks have a greater risk of suffering a second stroke than whites. The research, a part of the Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) Stroke Disparities Program led by Chelsea Kidwell, M.D., was designed to examine racial and ethnic differences in strokes known as intracranial hemorrhage or ICH. ICHs account for 10 percent of all strokes, but carry ...

LOS ANGELES — Research from the University of Southern California (USC) and Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) found that cooking red meats at high temperatures, especially pan-fried red meats, may increase the risk of advanced prostate cancer by as much as 40 percent. Mariana Stern, Ph.D., associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, led analyses for the study, "Red meat and poultry, cooking practices, genetic susceptibility and risk of prostate cancer: Results from the California Collaborative Prostate Cancer Study." ...

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, August 16, 2012 – Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers revealed that a majority of children suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) treated with montelukast, a drug approved for asthma or hay fever, showed significant improvement in respiratory disturbance and adenoid size, according to a new study published in Pediatrics Journal. A considerable percentage of children who suffer from OSA and undergo tonsillectomies and polypectomies occasionally suffer from post-operative infection, bleeding and dehydration. Some children experience ...

Engineers at a company co-founded by a University of Texas at Dallas professor have identified a material that can reduce the pollution produced by vehicles that run on diesel fuel. The material, from a family of minerals called oxides, could replace platinum, a rare and expensive metal that is currently used in diesel engines to try to control the amount of pollution released into the air. In a study published in the August 17 issue of Science, researchers found that when a manmade version of the oxide mullite replaces platinum, pollution is up to 45 percent lower ...

To speed up the process of identifying threatened and endangered plant species, a team of New York Botanical Garden scientists has developed a streamlined method for evaluating the conservation status of large numbers of plant species, using information from plant research collections and Geographic Information Systems technology. Faced with such threats as deforestation, climate change, and invasive species, a significant proportion of the world's plant species are commonly believed to be in serious decline and possibly headed toward extinction. For government officials, ...

DENVER — Almost half of college students judge men and women with similar sexual histories by the same standard and hold equally negative attitudes towards both their male and female peers who they believe hook up "too much," suggests new research to be presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. "Men and women are increasingly judging each other on the same level playing field," said Rachel Allison, co-author of the study and a doctoral candidate in the University of Illinois at Chicago's Department of Sociology. "But, gender equality ...

DENVER — Many have argued the Marxist theories of a classless society died with the collapse of the Soviet Union and a faltering Cuba, but a University of Dayton study has found a place where such approaches may have a shot of survival—Facebook, and other social networking sites. University of Dayton sociologist and criminologist Art Jipson discovered in his most recent research that the homeless, along with everyone else, are turning to social media and that social media sites are turning into places where all people are truly equal. Jipson, an associate sociology ...

DENVER — New research out of the University of Cincinnati is believed to be the first to examine the relative impact of militarization and corruption on civilian populations. The findings reveal that a specific form of military organization—praetorian militarization—as well as national-level corruption—both adversely affect the well-being of citizens. The findings by Steve Carlton-Ford, a professor and head of the UC sociology department, and T. David Evans, a UC emeritus associate professor of sociology, will be presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological ...

In a 2010 survey of laid-off workers across the United States, married moms spent more time between jobs and were overall less likely to find new jobs compared with married dads. Once re-employed, married moms experienced a decrease in earnings of $175 more per week compared with married dads. The results suggest that the recent recession, dubbed the "man-cession" or "he-cession" because more men than women lost jobs, could also be viewed as a "mom-cession" as laid-off moms had the hardest time finding new jobs. "These findings hold true across different backgrounds, ...

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with wheeze and asthma inpreschool children, even among children who were not exposed to maternal smoking late inpregnancy or after birth, according to a new study. "Epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to maternal smoking during fetal andearly life increases the risk of childhood wheezing and asthma, but earlier studieswere not able to differentiate the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure," said lead author Åsa Neuman. MD, of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the KarolinskaInstitutet in Stockholm, ...

The housing foreclosure crisis has been blamed for widespread economic and social problems in the United States, including reduced property values, depressed consumer spending and a decline in government services. Some observers speculate that it has also led to more crime in hard-hit cities. Not so, according to research by doctoral student Roderick Jones and professor William Alex Pridemore of the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University Bloomington. In an examination of 142 U.S. metropolitan areas, they found no association between housing-mortgage stress ...

Richard P. Brown, MD, Patricia Gerbarg, MD, and Heather Mason of Yoga for the Mind, teach ground-breaking Breath~Body~Mind Level 1 Training for Stress and Trauma Transformation Sunday through Friday, August 19-24, 2012, at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA. The six-day workshop, eligible for CE credits and a certificate, will train yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and health care providers mind-body healing techniques to help clients recover from stress and trauma. Practitioners will also learn techniques for their own personal use. Based on extensive ...

The New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council (The Council) will hold its 17th Annual Networking on the Green for Scholarships on August 20 at the elegant Forsgate Country Club, located in central New Jersey's scenic Monroe Township community. Networking on the Green is a day of business networking and activities ranging from a golf competition to dance lessons. There's a non-golfers golf clinic, tennis clinic, in-house game competitions, an awards luncheon and grand prize auctions. One unique auction prize is a golf package for three (3) for a ...

DJ Smallz and Southern Smoke brands are proud to announce the Southern Smoke Summer World Tour taking place from August 8, 2012 - September 30, 2012 in multiple cities throughout Japan, the Middle East and Canada. DJ Smallz, aka "Mr. Southern Smoke" is headlining the tour along with surprise guest appearances from some of his celebrity friends and athletes. DJ Smallz gained a notable position in the music game in 2003 with the launch of his "Southern Smoke" mixtape brand, a new level of mixtapes that was specifically known for breaking new music ...

200 Orphanages Worldwide, Inc., a nationwide orphan care nonprofit based in Sartell Minnesota, is expanding with board members equipped to develop a deeper and wider reach on behalf of orphans. The latest Members bring unique gifts and talents to the board in nonprofit expertise and campaign outreach as it seeks to make a greater impact in the lives of orphans. Cory B. Scheer, assistant professor of Nonprofit and Business Leadership at William Jewell College in Liberty Missouri joined the board in June 2012. He earned his masters at Rockhurst University and was executive ...

Brisbane is turning up the heat this winter and introducing a saucy overnight package sure to turn fans of the 50 Shades phenomenon in a spin. Ladies looking to treat their lover to a romantic weekend away, look no further than '50 Shades of Stay' at Quay West Suites Brisbane, The Sebel Suites Brisbane or The Sebel King George Square. Included in the 50 Shades of Stay package is: • Luxurious overnight accommodation • Bottle of sparkling wine, strawberries with chocolate dipping sauce • Lip balm (lip biting remedy) • Room service breakfast for two (a girl's ...

Devyn Rose, who has previously worked under the moniker "Tanya T6", has worked with multi-platinum producer Dame Grease (Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Eve), N.O.R.E., KURUPT, Jae Millz, French Montana, Max B, and Royce Da 59. Devyn has re-invented herself and has been able to develop an eccentric new generation mix of R&B, Pop, and Hip Hop genres. Her new style signifies edgy, sexy with attitude, driven and loud, which has evolved into Devyn Rose. "It's definitely a busy and exciting time for me, I've been in the studio experimenting with new sounds and new ideas. ...