WASHINGTON -- A brain study in infant rats demonstrates that the anti-epilepsy drug phenobarbital stunts neuronal growth, which could prompt new questions about using the first-line drug to treat epilepsy in human newborns. In Annals of Neurology EarlyView posted online May 11, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) report that the anti-epilepsy drug phenobarbital given to rat pups about a week old changed the way the animals' brains were wired, causing cognitive abnormalities later in life. The researchers say it has been known that some of the ...

Qualified homebuyers who purchase a new home from Pardee Homes can secure rental income on their existing home, via the "Smart Move Advantage" company. Available in the builder's Southern California and Las Vegas new home communities, the program offered by Smart Move Advantage aims to help prospective buyers capitalize on one of the best buyers' markets in decades, according to Pardee Homes Senior Vice President of Sales Gary Probert. "Pricing and financing point to 'yes' for a new home purchase, yet selling your existing home remains challenging," ...

A smartphone with GPS functionality is a delightful tool. It guides its owner safely and with certainty through the streets of an unfamiliar city. But after arriving at the destination, all too often the orientation is gone, because as soon as you enter a building, you lose contact with the GPS satellites. Then you are on your own – whether in the interminable hallways of the trade fair complex, or inside one of the branches of the local megaplex shopping mall. "Wouldn't it be helpful," Harald von Rosenberg thought to himself, "if at such moments the smart phone could quickly ...

Using the latest satellite tracking technology, conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Exeter (UK), and the Government of Mexico have completed a ground-breaking study on a mysterious ocean giant: the manta ray. The research team has produced the first published study on the use of satellite telemetry to track the open-ocean journeys of the world's largest ray, which can grow up to 25 feet in width. Researchers say the manta ray—listed as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—has become increasingly ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Revenue-driven surgery and poor planning drive some surgical patients home too early, concludes a pair of logistical studies conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. The studies show a correlation between readmission rates and how full the hospital was at the time of discharge, suggesting that patients went home before they were healthy enough. The researchers recommend better planning and other logistical solutions to avoid these problems. The studies appear in the two most recent issues of the ...

UPTON, NY – Hydrogen gas offers one of the most promising sustainable energy alternatives to limited fossil fuels. But traditional methods of producing pure hydrogen face significant challenges in unlocking its full potential, either by releasing harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or requiring rare and expensive chemical elements such as platinum. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new electrocatalyst that addresses one of these problems by generating hydrogen gas from water cleanly and with ...

Yeoman Technology Group has announced the date for its "Your Ugly Baby - Getting a Handle on How Your Products Look Online" webinar event. The webinar, which will take place live on Wednesday, June 6th at 10 am Eastern, will be provided free of charge, but registration is limited. Interested executives may register via the Yeoman website: http://www.yeomantechnologies.com/events According to Yeoman Technology Group President and event presenter Mike Healey, "A recent Yeoman study of over 1,000 items sold on Amazon found a whopping 70% contained errors ...

WASHINGTON — Bayer CropScience sought to reduce risks associated with the manufacturing and storage of the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC) at its processing plant in Institute, W.Va., says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. However, the company did not make an effort to incorporate all possible hazard control methods, and the report found that not all chemical manufacturing plants have adopted safer processes that aim to minimize or eliminate hazards. The committee that wrote the report recommended that the U.S. Chemical Safety ...

Blue Steel Acquisitions confirms consumers do not ask what the message of a marketing campaign is; therefore it is so important for businesses to understand their customers' needs. A study conducted by Gartner (Business Insider), a leading information technology research and advisory company, reports that companies have to step up their game when it comes to multi-channel marketing. Mark Fodor, CEO of Cross View confirms that the problem lies in the 's' word: "The opportunity for merchants to become more cross-channel is there, but they need to learn how to communicate ...

RICHMOND, Va. (May 10, 2012) – Even mild head injuries can cause significant abnormalities in brain function that last for several days, which may explain the neurological symptoms experienced by some individuals who have experienced a head injury associated with sports, accidents or combat, according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers. These findings, published in the May issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, advance research in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI), enabling researchers to better understand what brain structural ...

Regenerating sensory hair cells, which produce electrical signals in response to vibrations within the inner ear, could form the basis for treating age- or trauma-related hearing loss. One way to do this could be with gene therapy that drives new sensory hair cells to grow. Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have shown that introducing a gene called Atoh1 into the cochleae of young mice can induce the formation of extra sensory hair cells. Their results show the potential of a gene therapy approach, but also demonstrate its current limitations. The extra ...

Leighmans.com, one of the leading providers of corporate gifts and branded merchandise in the UK, has been recognised at this year's "Lions' Lair" business innovation awards. The Lions' Lair judging panel this year awarded first place to the new Leighmans product the 'iPrint', an adhesive strip which is fitted to mobile devices and phones to let people use them in wet weather and when wearing bulky gloves. Leighmans reports that the iPrint has been a huge success with its customers - companies which have mobile workers and staff members who commute have ...

MADISON – Drawing on powerful computational tools and a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Iowa State University materials science and engineering researchers has discovered a new nanometer-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses. Published May 11 in the journal Physical Review Letters, the findings fill a gap in researchers' understanding of this atomic structure. This understanding ultimately could help manufacturers fine-tune such properties of metallic glasses ...

With spring and summer comes the renewed enjoyment of swimming. Few activities are more attractive to children than swimming and swimming pools. However, parents can never really relax when children are in the water, especially those with young children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that, "drowning is the leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4, and three children die every day as a result of drowning." Simply because your children are no longer toddlers does not mean they are without risk, drowning remains ...

Back in the day, couples would meet at family gatherings, parties, bars or church outings. Today, in an age of electronic connectivity, old-fashioned courtship can seem quaint. Like so much else, dating has gone digital, and more and more people are turning to online dating sites to find love -- often successfully. Of course, the Web contains dangers as well as opportunities. Internet crimes are not an urban myth. But excessive concern about so-called predators should not lead to excessive infringement of the right to free speech and association, either. In one recent ...

Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer where the plasma cells in the bone marrow grow out of control, causing damage to bones as well as predisposing patients to anemia, infection and kidney failure. A medical procedure called autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, commonly known as a stem cell transplant, is frequently an important treatment option for many patients. Unfortunately, multiple myeloma continues to progress even after a transplant. A study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine offers promising news about a new long-term therapy, ...

The media have drawn attention to the problem of brain injuries in teens by focusing on the increased likelihood of receiving such injuries from participation in contact sports like football and hockey. After all, males between the ages of 14 and 24 are at the highest risk of sustaining a brain injury. Team sports are not the cause of the majority of those injuries, though; teenagers are far more likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury during a motor vehicle collision than a football game. According to information provided by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, ...

Cancer therapies targeting specific molecular subtypes of the disease allow physicians to tailor treatment to a patient's individual molecular profile. But scientists are finding that in many types of cancer the molecular subtypes are more varied than previously thought and contain further genetic alterations that can affect a patient's response to therapy. A UNC-led team of scientists has shown for the first time that lung cancer molecular subtypes correlate with distinct genetic alterations and with patient response to therapy. These findings in pre-clinical models ...

Irvine, Calif., May 11, 2012 – Undocumented Latino youth in the U.S. face futures clouded by fewer rights than their documented peers and the constant fear of deportation. Such status constraints usually aren't fully understood until young adulthood, said UC Irvine anthropologist Leo Chavez, and the awareness often serves as a catalyst for political and civic involvement. "Rites of passage common to American youth – getting a driver's license, traveling, working and applying to college – are either denied, unattainable or dangerous to pursue for undocumented immigrants," ...

Sometimes the most difficult tasks for workers do not involve high-impact activities like handling equipment or moving loads. In America's information-based, desk-dependent economy, many workers have difficulty enduring the work day due to chronic back pain or repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. The aches and sharp pains that accompany certain medical problems involving the spine, shoulders and wrists can make a day spent at the keyboard in an office chair a difficult test of endurance. This pain takes a terrible toll on productivity for afflicted ...

SAN ANTONIO (May 11, 2012) — The naked mole rat, a curiously strange, hairless rodent, lives many years longer than any other mouse or rat. Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio's Barshop Institute of Longevity and Aging Studies continue to explore this mystery. On May 2 a Barshop Institute team reported that the naked mole rat's cellular machines for protein disposal — called proteasome assemblies — differ in composition from those of other short-lived rodents. The study is in the journal PLoS ONE. This is the first report of the molecular ...

Nearly every driver knows the sinking feeling that comes after seeing the railroad crossing arms drop just as you are about to cross over a set of train tracks. Depending on where you are, you could end up waiting for a very long time. The situation can be ever more frustrating when you look down the tracks and see that the train is still blocks away. In this situation, some people are tempted to try and drive around the crossing arm to cross the tracks before the train arrives. This is always a bad idea. Authorities say that this behavior -- called "gate jumping" ...

Last month, Arizona law enforcement officers stopped a motorist who was allegedly driving aggressively and erratically. According to the police, the driver smelled of alcohol and could not walk without stumbling. Further, there were two young children in the car. The case reflects circumstances of arrests made over the past several months: alleged drunken driving with passengers under the age of 15. Arizona is known for having harsh drunk driving laws. Penalties for all offenders may include ignition interlock devices (IID), fines, jail time, loss of driver's license ...

Researchers at Rutgers University have uncovered a new way to stimulate activity of immune cell opiate receptors, leading to efficient tumor cell clearance. Dipak Sarkar, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and his research team have been able to take a new pharmacological approach to activate the immune cells to prevent cancer growth through stimulation of the opiate receptors found on immune cells. This work, featured on the cover of the May 11 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, describes ...

In Pennsylvania, workers' compensation helps compensate injured workers hurt through on-the-job accidents. It is essentially a no-fault measure for resolving workplace injury claims, as injured workers are paid for their lost wages and medical expenses in exchange for giving up their right to sue their employer for damages. The main purpose is to help employers and employees alike by making sure that injured workers have a way to maintain a certain standard of living while they recover from their injuries, and to provide a reintegration process after recovery. Most people ...