A new study finds that transplanting embryonic cells into adult mouse spinal cord can alleviate persistent pain. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 24th issue of the journal Neuron, suggests that reduced pain results from successful integration of the embryonic cells into the host spinal cord. The findings open avenues for clinical strategies aimed not just at treating the symptoms of chronic debilitating pain, but correcting the underlying disease pathology. There are two major classes of chronic pain: inflammatory pain that results from injury to tissue, ...

A new study unravels a link between a protein that can modify cellular metabolism in the brain and seizure susceptibility. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 24th issue of the journal Neuron, may lead to the development of new treatments for epilepsy. Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by seizures, unpredictable and abnormal bursts of electrical activity in the brain. Some cases of epilepsy are resistant to traditional drug treatments but can be improved by a "ketogenic" diet. This type of diet, which is very low in sugars and high in fat, forces neurons ...

As the U.S. presidential election campaigns heat up, the economic debate is dominated by bailouts, austerity and, inevitably, taxation. Now a new study published in Symbolic Interaction asks why tax is such an important issue to voters and explores the moral ideas which underpin their views. Americans are famously hostile to taxes even though they are not heavily taxed in comparison to Canadians and the British. In their study Dr Jeff Kidder and Dr Isaac Martin, from Northern Illinois University and the University of California-San Diego, explore how middle class feelings ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke University-led study of North Carolina toddlers suggests that exposure to potentially toxic flame-retardant chemicals may be higher in nonwhite toddlers than in white toddlers. The study also suggests that exposure to the chemicals is higher among toddlers whose fathers do not have a college degree, a proxy measure of lower socioeconomic background. Hand-to-mouth activity may account for a significant amount of the children's exposure to the contaminants, according to the study, which appears Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. ...

The limitations of conventional and current solar cells include high production cost, low operating efficiency and durability, and many cells rely on toxic and scarce materials. Northwestern University researchers have developed a new solar cell that, in principle, will minimize all of these solar energy technology limitations. In particular, the device is the first to solve the problem of the Grätzel cell, a promising low-cost and environmentally friendly solar cell with a significant disadvantage: it leaks. The dye-sensitized cell's electrolyte is made of an organic ...

Lunge feeding in rorqual whales (a group that includes blue, humpback and fin whales) is unique among mammals, but details of how it works have remained elusive. Now, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution and University of British Columbia have solved the mystery. They discovered a sensory organ in the chin of rorqual whales that communicates to the brain. The organ orchestrates the dramatic changes and adjustments needed in jaw position and throat-pouch expansion to make lunge feeding successful. The team's research will be the featured cover story in the May 24 ...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are molecules produced in the skin to fend off infection-causing microbes. Vitamin D has been credited with a role in their production and in the body's overall immune response, but scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a hormone previously associated only with maintaining calcium homeostasis and bone health is also critical, boosting AMP expression when dietary vitamin D levels are inadequate. The finding, published in the May 23, 2012 online issue of Science Translational Medicine, more fully explains ...

Leading provider of corporate gifts and customizable incentives Leighmans this week reports that it is on course for GBP1m revenues during the current financial year. Leighmans specializes in innovative corporate gifts and this year has seen demand for products rise despite the continuing economic climate. Customers have been requesting items, from pens to mugs, post-it notes to badges and polo shirts - in increasing numbers. Leighmans has been operating for more than 10 years now and the company has enjoyed steady growth. According to founder Darren Leigh, the company ...

Dr. Charles Scholler, dentist in Camarillo, is pleased to be able to offer his patients a $500 discount on Invisalign treatment. He hopes the promotion will spur some of his patients to make the decision to undergo treatment to straighten their teeth with Invisalign. "I am happy and excited to be able to offer this promotion to our patients. Invisalign is a great way for patients to straighten their teeth without having to wear braces. I hope that this promotion will encourage some of our patients to make the decision to undergo Invisalign treatment," said ...

For decades, neurologists have known that a diet high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrates can reduce epileptic seizures that resist drug therapy. But how the diet worked, and why, was a mystery—so much so that in 2010, The New York Times Magazine called it "Epilepsy's Big, Fat Miracle." Now, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School have proposed an answer, linking resistance to seizures to a protein that modifies cellular metabolism in the brain. The research, to be published in the May 24th issue of the journal Neuron, may lead to ...

Children are more likely to have more body fat during childhood if their mother has low levels of Vitamin D during pregnancy, according to scientists at the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU), University of Southampton. Low vitamin D status has been linked to obesity in adults and children, but little is known about how variation in a mother's status affects the body composition of her child. Low vitamin D status is common among young women in the UK, and although women are recommended to take an additional 10μg/day of vitamin D in ...

Dr. Daniel Micheals, Frederick podiatrist from the Reconstructive Foot & Ankle Institute, is happy to be able to offer weekly newsletters to his patients. The newsletters are designed to increase patients' awareness of different foot-related topics. With topics ranging from stress fractures to athlete's foot, the Frederick, MD podiatrist's newsletters are designed to cover a large range of topics. It is very important to take care of your feet and ankles and Dr. Michaels hopes that the newsletters help to educate his patients to give them the knowledge necessary ...

The influence of the ground beneath us on the air around us could be greater than scientists had previously thought, according to new research that links the long-ago proliferation of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere to a sudden change in the inner workings of our planet. Princeton University researchers report in the journal Nature that rocks preserved in the Earth's crust reveal that a steep decline in the intensity of melting within the planet's mantle — the hot, heat-transferring rock layer between the crust and molten outer core — brought about ideal conditions for the ...

Jeanne T. from Minnesota had spent too many hours at big box stores looking for something beyond the common and generic vanities they offered to complete her dream home renovation. Eventually, she knew she had to shop online. Still though, after perusing a few online stores and finding all of the same boring options, she was ready to give up. It was just then that she stumbled upon Unique Online Furniture's site at Unique Vanities. She later admitted to a Product Specialist, "I was so excited to find you guys! I felt like I had looked at 800 vanities... and they were ...

Scientists at the University of British Columbia and the Smithsonian Institution have discovered a sensory organ in rorqual whales that coordinates its signature lunge-feeding behaviour – and may help explain their enormous size. Rorquals are a subgroup of baleen whales – including blue, fin, minke and humpback whales. They are characterized by a special, accordion-like blubber layer that goes from the snout to the navel. The blubber expands up to several times its resting length to allow the whales to engulf large quantities of prey-laden water, which is then expelled ...

TEMPE, Ariz. – The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and a committee of scientists from around the world announced their picks for the top 10 new species described in 2011. This is the fifth year for the top 10 new species list, which was released May 23 to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who was responsible for the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications. On this year's top 10 new species list are a sneezing monkey, a beautiful but venomous jellyfish, an ...

Researchers have shown in mice how immune cells in the brain target and remove unused connections between brain cells during normal development. This research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, sheds light on how brain activity influences brain development, and highlights the newly found importance of the immune system in how the brain is wired, as well as how the brain forms new connections throughout life in response to change. Disease-fighting cells in the brain, known as microglia, can prune the billions of tiny connections (or synapses) between neurons, ...

A novel anti-inflammatory drug could help to improve survival in the most severe cases of malaria by preventing the immune system from causing irrevocable brain and tissue damage. Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have shown that a new class of anti-inflammatory agents, called IDR (innate defense regulator) peptides, could help to increase survival from severe clinical malaria when used in combination with antimalarial drugs. A research team fronted by Dr Ariel Achtman and Dr Sandra Pilat-Carotta, and led by Professor Louis Schofield from the institute's Infection ...

Ultracold quantum gases are an ideal experimental model system to simulate physical phenomena in condensed matter. In these gases, many-body states can be realized under highly controlled conditions and interactions between particles are highly tuneable. A research group led by Wittgenstein awardee Rudolf Grimm and START awardee Florian Schreck have now realized and comprehensively analyzed repulsive polarons for the first time. The scientists from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Institute for Experimental ...

Announce It! has added three new themes to its unique line of personalized party favors. These themes are available for ordering now. The new themes are baby shower birds nest, wedding peacock, and personal monogram style wedding designs. Announce It! owner Lori Shirley believes that customers will find these new themes a perfect way to express the joy of their occasion. "I keep a watchful eye on all special occasions along with an open ear as to how people want to express those occasions," she says. Along with these new themes, customers can look forward ...

Quantum technologies promise to redefine the landscape of information processing and communication. We already live in an information age, in which vast amounts of data are sent around the world over optical fibers, but future quantum networks may be many times more powerful. These networks will require interfaces that can transfer information from quantum processors onto light particles (photons). Such interfaces will allow optical fibers to transmit information-bearing photons between remote data registers, which are likely to be composed of quantum dots or ions. ...

A team from the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) has developed a technique to measure internal cell temperatures without altering their metabolism. This finding could be useful when distinguishing healthy cells from cancerous ones, as well as learning more about cellular processes. Temperature controls many of the cell's life processes, such as splitting and metabolism. A European research team led by the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), which has the Severo Ochoa mark of excellence, has published a non-invasive method that offers quicker, more precise data ...

Did you stumble across your mugshot on the Internet? InternetReputation.com works with individuals and business owners to remove harmful private information on Google and all the major search engines. An individuals Internet reputation has become extremely important in the last 5 years. Tennessee.Arrests.org is a new mugshot database that is quickly gaining popularity, specializing in listing the mugshots of people that have been arrested in more than sixteen counties across Tennessee. "We are excited to announce that we can offer remove of mugshots from Tennessee.Arrests.org, ...

The short breaks travel agency, UK Breakaways, has a long history of providing low cost holiday accommodation at quality hotels and holiday centres across the UK. A trading division of Travelstyle, one of the UK's leading domestic tour operators, UK Breakaways has its roots back in the formation of that company in 1992. As part of a brand refresh process and to mark the company's 20th year in operation, they recently launched their new look site at www.ukbreakaways.com The new look for UK Breakaways has also been synchronised with a marketing campaign emphasizing the ...

London, UK (May 23, 2012) – The British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) has released fresh guidelines on the best methods to treat substance abuse and addiction in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE. A panel of experts has carefully researched the new, comprehensive guidelines, offering practitioners a detailed review of the evidence to help them optimise their clinical decisions. The new BAP guidelines target treatment of substance abuse, harmful use, addiction and comorbidity with psychiatric disorders, and primarily focus on pharmacological ...