GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Shark attacks in the U.S. declined in 2011, but worldwide fatalities reached a two-decade high, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File report released today. While the U.S. and Florida saw a five-year downturn in the number of reported unprovoked attacks, the 12 fatalities — which all occurred outside the U.S. — may show tourists are venturing to more remote places, said ichthyologist George Burgess, director of the file housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. "We had a number of fatalities ...

Cleansing a newborn's umbilical cord with chlorhexidine can reduce an infant's risk of infection and death during the first weeks of life by as much as 20 percent, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study, conducted in rural Bangladesh in partnership with ICDDR,B and a Bangladeshi NGO Shimantik and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program, is the latest in a series of studies showing that umbilical cord cleaning with chlorhexidine ...

Press release service 24-7PressRelease today announced the release of its new blog, which can be found at the address: http://blog.24-7pressrelease.com. The blog was designed to provide industry professionals with a go-to portal that provides news and updates, marketing tools, and helpful tips. A section entitled Coffee Break will include light reading designed to offer the reader a reprieve from the daily grind. The blog will feature a roster of press releases, regularly updated. 24-7PressRelease is an online press release service that provides its clients with ...

A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis. An international collaboration between researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, Duke University, Harvard University, the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam and Kings College London reported these findings Feb. 3 in the journal Cell. These results suggest the possibility of tailoring tuberculosis treatment, based on a patient's genetic sequence at a gene called LTA4H, which controls the ...

Women who did not plan to get pregnant are much more likely to stop breastfeeding within three months of giving birth, according to a study published in the journal Current Anthropology. The research suggests that women whose pregnancies were unplanned often experience more emotional and physical discomfort with breastfeeding compared to women who planned to get pregnant. More than 40 percent of the women in the study, which focused on mothers from low-income neighborhoods in São Paulo, Brazil, had stopped exclusively breastfeeding by three months, despite the fact that ...

A new study published in the journal Respirology reveals that a high level of soft drink consumption is associated with asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Led by Zumin Shi, MD, PhD, of the University of Adelaide, researchers conducted computer assisted telephone interviewing among 16,907 participants aged 16 years and older in South Australia between March 2008 and June 2010 inquiring about soft drink consumption. Soft drinks comprised Coke, lemonade, flavored mineral water, Powerade, and Gatorade etc. Results showed that one in ten adults drink ...

LA JOLLA, CA -- Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute in California and the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology have developed a "biological computer" made entirely from biomolecules that is capable of deciphering images encrypted on DNA chips. Although DNA has been used for encryption in the past, this is the first experimental demonstration of a molecular cryptosystem of images based on DNA computing. The study was published in a recent online-before-print edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie. Instead of using traditional computer hardware, a group ...

The nation's largest health, fitness, recreation, and amenities distributor has changed its name from Wilkins Fitness Enterprises to Wilkins Solutions Enterprises. No longer just selling commercial fitness equipment such as treadmills, ellipticals, and strength equipment, Wilkins' offerings now include playground equipment, flooring, rehab equipment, patio furniture, and ADA compliant pool lifts in addition to their previous lines. To reflect its wider diversity of offerings, the holding company has formally announced a change in its name. The name change comes on the ...

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 brought an influx of Soviet mathematicians to U.S. institutions, and those scholars' differing areas of specialization have changed the way math is studied and taught in this country, according to new research by University of Notre Dame Economist Kirk Doran and a colleague from Harvard. Titled "The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Productivity of American Mathematicians," the study will appear in an upcoming edition of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. "In this paper, we examine the impact of the ...

How can insurers justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient per year on "orphan drugs" – extremely expensive medications for rare conditions that are mostly chronic and life-threatening -- when this money could provide greater overall health benefit if spread out among many other patients? Those spending decisions reflect the "rule of rescue," the value that our society places on saving lives in immediate danger at any expense. But the broad application of the rule of rescue will be increasingly difficult to support as "personalized medicine" produces ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Poor emotional health and morbid obesity are associated with less functional gain following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. In the new study, "Can Telephone Support During Post-TKR Rehabilitation Improve Post-op Function: A Randomized Controlled Trial," presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), approximately 180 patients were categorized by gender, body mass index (BMI) and emotional health. Each patient randomly received either emotional telephone support by a trained behavioral specialist, ...

PHILADELPHIA – The molecular pathway that carries time-of-day signals from the body's internal clock to ultimately guide daily behavior is like a black box, says Amita Sehgal, PhD, the John Herr Musser Professor of Neuroscience and Co-Director, Comprehensive Neuroscience Center, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Now, new research from the Sehgal lab is taking a peek inside, describing a molecular pathway and its inner parts that connect the well-known clock neurons to cells governing rhythms of rest and activity in fruit flies. Sehgal is ...

Some early-stage breast cancers are potentially harmless, but others invade surrounding healthy tissue and become deadly. This study has identified a small pattern of molecules that highlights important differences between early-stage breast tumors and invasive, deadly ones. The findings might lead to a way to identify early tumors that will likely become invasive. COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers have discovered a restricted pattern of molecules that differentiate early-stage breast tumors from invasive, life-threatening cancer. They also found a similar molecular signature ...

Tropical Storm Cyril was known as "11P" has been strengthening since February 6, and still appears very compact on infrared NASA satellite data. In the morning hours of February 7 (local time Vanuatu) Cyril was located south of the island of Vavau in the Kingdom of Tonga. All warnings for Niue and Tonga have now been cancelled. During the morning hours of February 7, Cyril picked up speed and is moving to the southeast at 28 knots (~32 mph/~52 kph). Cyril's maximum sustained winds were near 45 knots (~52 mph/~83 kph). Those tropical-storm-force winds only extended out ...

SAN FRANCISCO – Wrist fractures, also called distal radius fractures (DRF), are among the most common osteoporosis-related fractures occurring on average 15 years earlier than hip fractures. As vitamin D deficiency has recently been linked with muscle weakness, increased fall risks, and bone fractures, investigators sought to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among post menopausal women with DRF. The study, "Hypovitaminosis D in Postmenopausal Women with a Distal Radius Fracture," was presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of ...

Cyclone Jasmine continues to wind between New Caledonia and Vanuatu and bring cyclone-force winds, heavy rain and very rough surf. NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead early on February 7 and noticed the strongest part of the cyclone was around the center and north and east of the center. Aqua data showed that an eye has developed. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Jasmine on February 7, 2012 at 03:17 UTC (2:17 p.m., Pacific/Noumea local time/Feb 6, 10:17 p.m. EST). Jasmine's strongest thunderstorms ...

The Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN, for its acronym in Spanish), in a recently published report, stated that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 4.7 percent in 2011, the highest growth rate in the Central American region and well above the Latin America and the Caribbean average of 4.3 percent. Following Nicaragua's growth in 2011 were Costa Rica with a 3.8 percent GDP growth, Guatemala with 3.3 percent, Honduras with 3.2 percent and El Salvador with 1.4 percent. This is the second consecutive year in which Nicaragua leads the region in terms of ...

(PHILADELPHIA) – Researchers at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson examined data on patients being treated for lumbar stenosis and the degenerative spine condition spondylolisthesis and found that patients who received epidural steroid injections (ESI) had a higher rate of crossover to surgery and fared worse in physical health and bodily pain versus those who did not receive ESI, dispelling their pre-study hypothesis. Data for this study was gathered from the database of the prospective, multicenter NIH-funded SPORT (Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial) of surgical ...

La Jolla, CA -- Reviving a theory first proposed in the late 1800s that the development of organs in the normal embryo and the development of cancers are related, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have studied organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers, and perhaps other cancers, develop in people. Their findings provide new ways to predict and personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In a paper published February 3 in Cell Stem Cell, the scientists report striking similarities between genetic signatures found in certain types ...

BaseKit, the online website builder, has been launched by HostGator; enabling their SMB's to build and manage their own website with the state of the art technology. The hosting giant, based in Houston, Texas, is offering BaseKit to both new and existing customers. As one of the fastest growing private companies in America, HostGator is always seeking innovative products and services to enrich its customers' experiences and surpass their expectations. BaseKit has received international acclaim as an all-in-one website builder that lets SMB's build a site that "looks ...

A monsoon trough continues to drench northeastern Australia and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite measured and calculated the rainfall in the region. Low pressure centers associated with a summer monsoon trough have repeatedly drenched Australia from central Queensland to northern New South Wales. The clockwise rotation of these low pressure centers have continued to pump warm moist air from the Coral Sea over these areas resulting in severe flooding. Thousands of Australians have been displaced by this flooding. A Tropical cyclone called Jasmine ...

Tracker Corp, http://trackercorp.com, the most innovative developer of Form I-9 & E-Verify compliance software and the immigration case management system trusted by more Fortune 500 employers than any other provider, released the latest round of enhancements to its Tracker I-9 software, version 7.4. Tracker I-9 software fully complies with all current functional changes to E-Verify (v23). These changes include enabling RIDE (Records and Images from DMV for E-Verify) validation of certain Drivers' Permits and State-Issued ID cards (currently Mississippi only), providing ...

SAN FRANCISCO – Following a total joint replacement, anticoagulation (blood thinning) drugs can prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot deep within the extremities, or a pulmonary embolism (PE), a complication that causes a blood clot to move to the lungs. However, prolonged use of these therapies may increase the risk of hemorrhage and infection. In the study, "Aspirin was Effective to Prevent Proximal DVT and PE in TKA and THA - Analysis of 1,500 Cases," presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), investigators ...

SAN FRANCISCO – The elevated risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) – a blood clot that travels from the leg to the lungs – following total joint replacement (TJR) surgery has been well established, yet little is known about the natural course and timing of this potentially fatal condition. In the study, "Pulmonary Embolism Following Total Joint Arthroplasty: When Do They Occur?", presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers reviewed the records of 25,660 patients who received TJR between 2000 and 2010. All patients ...

SAN FRANCISCO – Previous studies have found that human behavior during a recession is remarkably different than that during a bullish economy. For example, people tend to spend more time focused on working and less time engaging in leisure and recreation activities, resulting in fewer motor vehicle and other accidents. According to a 10-year study at a Level 1 regional trauma center, presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), economic trends do impact orthopedic trauma volume. Between 1999 and 2009, a local ...