Polaris Financial Technology Ltd., a leading global Financial Technology Company, today announced that Everest Group, a consulting and research firm on global services, has recognised Polaris as a 'Star Performer' and 'Major Contender' on the Everest Group PEAK Matrix for large Banking Applications Outsourcing Relationships 2012*. Everest Group evaluated leading global IT vendors servicing large (_$25 million), multi-year (_3 years) applications outsourcing engagements specific to the banking sector in terms of delivery capability and market success. It issues this ...

360 Mobile Solutions has launched its NRCard(TM), a dual bootable microSD memory card that allows users to run both the native Nook OS and Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS on the Nook Color and Nook Tablet eReaders. The Android OS boots from the card vs. the system, avoiding warranty forfeiture. "eReaders [like the Nook and Kindle] were actually around before the tablet, and we find people using them more and more as the demand for technology grows, and our economy, unfortunately doesn't," says Malik Shamsuddin, 360 Mobile Chief Marketing Officer. "We wanted ...

In public comments submitted today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) charged that the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) continues to fail at implementing its Congressional mandate to facilitate the uptake of nonanimal testing methods government-wide. Specifically, the groups charge that ICCVAM's Draft Five-Year Plan (2013-2017): inappropriately ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When you look at a gift-wrapped present, the basic properties of the wrapping paper — say, its colors and texture — are not generally changed by the nature of the gift inside. But surprising new experiments conducted at MIT show that a one-atom-thick material called graphene, a form of pure carbon whose atoms are joined in a chicken-wire-like lattice, behaves quite differently depending on the nature of material it's wrapped around. When sheets of graphene are placed on substrates made of different materials, fundamental properties — such as how the ...

Amidst horrendous flooding around Manila and major rice-growing across Luzon in the Philippines, some good news has emerged for rice farmers – Submarino rice – rice that can survive around 2 weeks of being under water. Rice is unique because it can grow well in wet conditions where other crops cannot, but if it is covered with water completely it can die, leaving flooded farmers bereft of income. Submarino rice was bred by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and can survive floods if they occur before flowering. The latest Submarino variety was released ...

Investigators reporting in the Cell Press journal Trends in Genetics say that new analytical techniques are changing long-held, simplistic views about the evolutionary history of humans in Europe. Their findings indicate that many cultural, climatic, and demographic events have shaped genetic variation among modern-day European populations and that the variety of those mechanisms is more diverse than previously thought. Recent advances in paleogenetics are providing never-before-seen glimpses into the complex evolution of humans in Europe, helping researchers piece together ...

Decoded process could hold the key to future treatments for a wide range of chronic health problems including Motor Neuron Disease, myotonic dystrophy and a wide range of cancers, University of Sheffield scientists have revealed. Experts from the University's Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, collaborating with scientists from Harvard Medical School in the USA, have revealed how a complicated set of proteins called TREX act as a passport for the transfer of cell blueprints which create proteins that are essential for life. The researchers believe ...

Two papers that will appear in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, both receiving advance online release, may help identify gene variants that contribute to the risks of developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Tourette syndrome (TS). Both multi-institutional studies were led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, and both are the first genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the largest groups of individuals affected by the conditions. "Previous studies of these disorders have demonstrated that both TS and OCD are strongly heritable and may ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW) today released a report representing consensus findings from a cross-section of stakeholders that could help transform the process used to evaluate interventions to treat obesity, a public health crisis that now affects one in three adults. The report, "Obesity Drug Outcome Measures," results from a stakeholder dialogue group convened by GW that, over a period of nine months, explored why development and approval of obesity drugs have proven so difficult. "At a time when ...

Ottawa, Ontario (August 14, 2012) – Nutrient pollution, one of the greatest threats to our freshwater resources, is responsible for the algal blooms that blanket our lakes and waterways in summer months. Large blooms of cyanobacteria ('blue green algae') can cause fish kills, increase the cost of drinking water treatment, devalue shoreline properties, and pose health risks to people, pets, and wildlife. A new paper just published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences shows that microcystin, a toxin produced by cyanobacteria, is present in Canadian lakes ...

A novel virus has been identified as the possible cause of a common but mysterious disease that kills a significant number of pet snakes all over the world, thanks to research led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)—and three snakes named Juliet, Balthazar and Larry. The virus, previously not thought to infect snakes at all, appears to cause "inclusion body disease." Long the bane of zoo officials and exotic pet owners, the deadly illness spreads among boas and pythons in captivity, causing micro clumps of clustered proteins to form inside ...

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida have discovered a mechanism that explains how some cancer cells "hijack" a biological process to potentially activate cell growth and the survival of cancer gene expression. Their study appeared in a recent issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. The newly discovered mechanism involves histones (highly alkaline proteins found in cells that package and order DNA), and in this case, histone H2B, one of the five main histone proteins involved in the structure of chromatin. Chromatin ...

VIDEO: Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have identified the specific type of immune cells that orchestrate the inflammatory attack on the artery wall, which is a... Click here for more information. SAN DIEGO – (August 14, 2012) – Most people probably know that heart disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. But what many may be surprised to learn is that cholesterol has a major accomplice in causing dangerous arterial plaque buildup that can ...

Whilst the most powerful earthquake since records began hit Japan in 2011, triggering a massive tsunami which devastated much of the country, space scientists involved in one of the 'brightest' international Sun missions continued working tirelessly at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara, Japan, to capture new data from our turbulent star. These latest Hinode results, to be discussed in a meeting at the University of St Andrews this week (Tuesday 14 August), include new data on the structure of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, obtained whilst ...

Guided press tour The excavation will be open to the press on Wednesday 15 August from 13.00 to 15.30.The tour starts at Alkenvej 171, 8660 Skanderborg. ...

Sulphur dioxide emissions from shipping have sharply decreased in EU ports thanks to an EU policy which limits sulphur content in fuels for ships at berth or at anchor in ports. Scientists at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre measured key air quality parameters in Mediterranean harbours before and after the entry into force of the low-sulphur requirements in January 2010. In European harbours they found an average decrease of 66% in concentrations of sulphur dioxide, a chemical compound that poses risks to health and the environment. Measurements taken in ...

People who give positive encouragement and constructive criticism could be wasting their breath according to the latest research from a psychology expert at Queen Mary, University of London. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, found that when people received either positive or negative feedback about their performance on complex decision-making tasks, it made their decision making worse. Study author Dr Magda Osman explained: "The kind of task people had to perform was difficult and demanding. So, when people received positive or negative ...

The mammalian skull, including that of people, is composed of about 20 bones. Fish, reptile and bird skulls, however, have considerably more. After all, when mammals evolved from reptile-like vertebrates 320 million years ago, the skull's structure became simplified during its development and the number of skull bones decreased. Some bones were lost in the lineage leading to mammals in the course of evolution, especially a number of skull roof bones. The skull's interparietal, which is one of the skull roof bones, particularly puzzled researchers: on the one hand, it ...

They're sleek. They're fast. They're powerful. And, they are deafening. Furthermore, those Top Gun military jets need to be up in the air in the wee hours – over land – to simulate their landings on aircraft carriers. But innovations out of the University of Cincinnati's Gas Dynamics and Propulsion Laboratory are showing promise in reducing the intense noise of these supersonic jets without impacting their power. It's research that can help neighborhoods slumber a little more soundly, keep their windows rattling a little less loudly and also protect the hearing of military ...

University of Cincinnati research – from noise reduction in sophisticated military jets to quieter car rides – will be presented at INTER-NOISE 2012, the 41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering, to be held Aug. 19-22 in New York City. UC is among only a few universities with a specific focus on vehicle noise control. The UC research to be presented at INTER-NOISE: UC innovations to reduce the noise of the nation's most sophisticated military aircraft. Jeff Kastner, research assistant professor in the UC College of Engineering and Applied ...

All noise is not necessarily equal – especially when it comes to sound minimization in automobiles. For instance, automakers have long used sound-absorbing materials (passive control) in the design of cars in order to minimize engine noise and the "routine" noise of tires traveling on smooth pavement at a consistent speed. However, a means to minimize sudden, unexpected noises – like those from an encounter with potholes, bumps or other roadway pavement obstacles – has been more problematic. A significant step in countering such unexpected roadway noises is the development ...

Until recent decades the Atlantic Rainforest covered a large area of today's Brazil from Amazonas to present-day Argentina. In the 1970s, after years of deforestation, this rain forest was almost completely destroyed, mainly replaced by cattle pastures. This study reveals an unexpected aspect of deforestation. Thorsten Dittmar's team and colleagues from Brazil and the USA show that the common practice of slash and burn left huge amounts of charcoal in the soil. This charcoal is washed out by rainfalls and transported by rivers into the Atlantic Ocean. The soluble fraction ...

WASHINGTON – Girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are significantly more likely to attempt suicide or injure themselves as young adults than girls who do not have ADHD, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Young women diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, particularly the type with early signs of impulsivity, were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide and two to three times more likely to report injuring themselves than comparable young women in a control group, according to ...

Current drug therapy for patients with HIV is unable to control the complete replication of the virus in the brain. The drugs therefore do not have any effect against the complications associated with neurocognitive impairment in patients with HIV. New research by Joseph Steiner and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University has discovered that a group of plant polyphenols known as catechins, which naturally occur in green tea and the seed of the cacao tree, may help in the prevention of these neurological complications. Their work is published online in Springer's Journal ...

Researchers in Leuven (VIB/KU Leuven) have confirmed their hypothesis that normalizing blood vessels by blocking oxygen sensor PHD2 would make chemotherapy more effective. They also demonstrated for the first time that this strategy would reduce the harmful side effects of chemotherapy on healthy organs. Limited success of chemotherapy The effectiveness of chemotherapy is first and foremost limited by the difficulties of delivering the anticancer drugs to the actual tumor. Tumors are characterized by abnormally shaped blood vessels – they are irregular in shape, have ...