Even with the economy beginning to recover, many former students are still struggling with loan debts. The average college graduate is leaving school with $24,000 in debt, estimates The Project on Student Debt, a study of the nonprofit The Institute for College Access and Success. And that does not even include professional school obligations. According to a 2003 American Bar Association study, average law school grad student loan debt even at that time was $70,000 to $80,000, and the figures are certainly higher now. Even worse, the average medical school graduate in ...

Motorcyclists are well aware that drivers of cars and other vehicles on the road often "just don't see them" -- or at least claim not to see them. As a result, bikers learn to be very vigilant to avoid accidents. But sometimes there isn't much the biker can do to avoid a crash when the other driver is distracted or otherwise not paying attention, as Dallas motorcyclist Zacharie Perez learned recently. Perez, a 25-year-old Iraq War veteran, was riding his motorcycle on a Dallas tollway in March of this year when the cars ahead of him slowed down. The car behind ...

On December 29, 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed revisions to regulations regarding the hours of service (HOS) for property-carrying commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. This new rule was prompted by the federal agency's concerns about the impact of fatigued drivers on overall highway safety. However, the proposed regulations has prompted opponents to lobby the White House to maintain the current rule and abandon any attempt to change it. Under the proposed changes, the FMSCA favors a 10-hour service time limit on commercial drivers, ...

Last June, new guidelines took effect that afforded homeowners greater protection in keeping their homes. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) now allows homeowners to seek a modification even though they have filed for bankruptcy protection. Prior to this change, the mortgage company could deny the modification if the Chapter 7 debtor did not reaffirm the mortgage debt. This was a common fate for people who had lost their jobs and were unable to make their previous payments. HAMP now gives those seeking bankruptcy a way to stay in their home while making amends. ...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been plagued by a backlog for disability hearings for the last half dozen years. Underfunding and understaffing are part of the cause. Every year from 1998 through 2007, the President's Budget requested less than the Commissioner's requested budget, and Congress appropriated even less than the President's request. The number of pending cases has increased dramatically since 1999, reaching an all-time record high of 768,540 cases in December 2008. Through February 2009, the number dropped slightly to 765,527, but has ...

With a name like "DUI Dodger," you just know there's going to be a controversy. Campaigns against drunk driving have worked for years to send the message "don't drink and drive." Thousands of people are arrested every year for driving drunk. DUI Checkpoints One of the preferred methods of enforcement used by police is the DUI or sobriety checkpoints. The checkpoint allows police to funnel all traffic on a given road past officers, who screen for inebriated drivers. The constitutionality of these checkpoints was challenged back in the early ...

According to the National Business Ethics Survey, 56 percent of employees claim to have witnessed serious workplace violations, but only half of these workers take steps to report them. While reporting workplace violations may distress some employees, the Whistleblower Protection Act and protection program, administered by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), protects workers who participate in various reporting activities against employers who violate industry regulations, standards or ethics. Whistleblowers Whistleblowers play a key role in ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring is expected to result in the largest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" on record, according to a University of Michigan aquatic ecologist and his colleagues. The 2011 forecast, released today by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), calls for a Gulf dead zone of between 8,500 and 9,421 square miles, an area roughly the size of New Hampshire. The most likely 2011 scenario, according to U-M's Donald Scavia, is a Gulf dead zone of at least 8,500 square miles, surpassing the current ...

Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2011 – Frostbite can be a minor injury or a life-threatening condition. In the June issue of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, a panel of experts has published evidence-based practice guidelines issued by the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) for the prevention and treatment of frostbite to guide clinicians and disseminate knowledge about best practices. "Frostbite can be a devastating injury that afflicts many people who are in the prime of their lives," commented Scott McIntosh, MD, MPH, lead author, member of the WMS Board of Directors, ...

A University of Iowa study found that women who make their sexual debut as young teens are more likely to divorce, especially if "the first time" was unwanted, or if she had mixed feelings about it. Published in the April issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, the analysis found that 31 percent of women who had sex for the first time as teens divorced within five years, and 47 percent divorced within 10 years. The divorce rate for women who delayed sex until adulthood was far lower: 15 percent at five years, and 27 percent at 10 years. Author Anthony Paik, associate ...

Lord Justice Jackson's proposed litigation cost reforms are likely to have a far ranging impact on personal injury law in the UK. At present the losing party in a personal injury claim will usually pay both the relevant insurance costs and the success fee that a personal injury solicitor can charge in a successful no-win, no-fee claim. The successful claimant may also keep 100% of the damages awarded if agreed with their solicitor. In a recent survey carried out by the lobbying group Access to Justice, 77% of personal injury claimants admitted that they would not ...

Today's television programs are designed to trigger your emotions and your mind through your senses of sound and sight. But what if they could trigger a few more? What if you could smell or taste the cheesy slices of pizza being eaten by your favorite characters on TV? Is it possible? Would audiences enjoy the experience? Would advertisers jump on the opportunity to reach consumers in a new way? These questions formed the basis of a two year experiment by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, conducted in collaboration with Samsung Advanced Institute ...

Though it is known that PDI inhibitors can prevent HIV infection, just how this happens has remained a mystery. And though it has been known that PDI, which normally lives inside the cell, can become entrapped on the cell's surface, it has not been understood how this happens. Now, in a new study, UCLA researchers report that a sugar-binding protein called galectin-9 traps PDI on T-cells' surface, making them more susceptible to HIV infection. IMPACT: The findings could lead researchers to a potential new target for anti-HIV therapeutics, such ...

Contact: Eivind Ystrom, Ph.D. eivind.ystrom@fhi.no 47-990-01-730 (Norway) Norwegian Institute of Public Health Alexis Edwards, Ph.D. aedwards5@vcu.edu 804-828-8591 Virginia Commonwealth University Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Oft-used DSM diagnosis of alcohol dependence shows reliability A new study examined the reliability of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnosis of alcohol dependence (AD) in a population-based sample. Characteristics relevant to the disorder – number ...

Before making the vital decision of which personal injury solicitor you contact, there are a few pieces of information that you should be clear on regarding the incident in question. If you believe that you have been the victim of an act of medical negligence or personal injury visit your General Practitioner as soon as possible for supportive evidence of your injuries. If involved in a traffic accident the same applies and injuries should be documented in a medical report for potential use in your case If the circumstances dictate (such as a traffic or pedestrian ...

Contact: J. Kim Penberthy, Ph.D. jkp2n@virginia.edu 434-243-0570 University of Virginia School of Medicine Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Motivation to change, confidence to resist temptation, should tailor alcohol-dependence treatment People seeking help for their alcohol or other drug problems enter treatment with very different levels of motivation to change. Differences in motivation appear to make a critical difference in which patients seek, comply with, and complete treatment. Findings from a study of the extent to which motivation and ...

Contact: Rebecca J. Howard, Ph.D. reba@mail.utexas.edu 512-232-2487 The University of Texas at Austin Gregg Homanics, Ph.D. homanicsge@anes.upmc.edu 412-648-8172 University of Pittsburgh Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Understanding alcohol's damaging effects on the brain While alcohol has a wide range of pharmacological effects on the body, the brain is a primary target. However, the molecular mechanisms by which alcohol alters neuronal activity in the brain are poorly understood. Participants in a symposium at the June 2010 annual ...

HOUSTON - (June 15, 2011) – When Noah and Alexis Beery were diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 2, their parents thought they at last had an answer to the problems that had plagued their twin infants from birth. However, that proved only a way station on a journey to find an answer to the children's problems that combined their mother's determination, the high tech world of next-generation sequencing in the Baylor Human Genome Sequencing Center (http://www.hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu/) (HGSC) and the efforts of talented physicians from across the country. In a report in the current ...

This example of an employment law Q&A reinforces the need to find a good employment solicitor to explain its intricacies. What is the procedure when a former employee decides to sue for unfair dismissal? The former employee would submit the form ET1 detailing the complaint, their personal information and any remedy sought. Employment solicitors can ensure this is done correctly. Upon receipt of the ET1 the employer must respond with form ET3 within 28 days outlining the particulars of their response. The parties involved will then enter the 'conciliation process' ...

An international consortium of researchers report today in Nature that they have knocked out almost 40 per cent of the genes in the mouse genome. The completed resource will power studies of gene activity in models of human disease. The results are founded on a novel, efficient production line that is able to target each specific gene in turn. The consortium has cracked all the challenges of generating mutations of each gene in mouse embryonic stem cells, and has already knocked out 9,000 genes in the mouse genome as part of an international effort to knockout all 21,000. ...

In a new study published today in the journal Nature, scientists discovered an entirely new way to change the genetic code. The findings, though early, are significant because they may ultimately help researchers alter the course of devastating genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and many forms of cancer. The genetic code is the set of instructions in a gene that tell a cell how to make a specific protein. Central to the body's protein production process is messenger RNA, or mRNA, which takes these instructions from DNA and directs the steps ...

New Haven, Conn.—Astronomers have been peering farther and farther into space, and back in time, using the world's most powerful telescopes to detect galaxies billions of light years away that existed when the universe was just a fraction of its current age. But detecting the giant black holes thought to lurk at the centers of those galaxies has proven much more difficult. Now a team of astronomers has discovered the earliest black holes ever detected, despite the fact that they are hidden from view by their host galaxies. They also measured the average growth rate of ...

Debenhams has revealed that the de rigueur way for British men to wear their shirts this season is with three buttons undone, otherwise known as the 'shirtego' trend. Last seen on seventies lotharios such as Richard Gere in 'American Gigolo' and John Travolta in 'Saturday Night Fever', the bare chest has marked the return of the 'machosexual' - men who are not afraid to be masculine, confident and sexy. Department store, Debenhams asked its customers, "how low can you go?" and found that 75 per cent of men now regularly wear their shirt with three buttons ...

Leading Canadian health and environmental experts today issued a list of the top five ways parents can protect their children from toxic substances in and around the home. Controlling house dust; switching to less-toxic, fragrance-free cleaners; taking extreme care with renovation projects; avoiding certain types and uses of plastics; and choosing fish that are low in mercury are the five priority actions recommended by the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE) to reduce common sources of toxic exposure associated with child health risks. ...

PHILADELPHIA – Sixty-six percent of publicly-insured children were unable to get a doctor's appointment for medical conditions requiring outpatient specialty care including diabetes and seizures, while children with identical symptoms and private insurance were turned away only 11 percent of the time, according to an audit study of specialty physician practices in Cook County, Ill. conducted by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings are published in the June 16 issue of ...