CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Competition is a strong driving force of evolution for organisms of all sizes: Those individuals best equipped to obtain resources adapt and reproduce, while others may fall by the wayside. Many organisms — mammals, birds and insects, for instance — also form cooperative social structures that allow resources to be defended and shared within a population. But surprisingly, even microbes, which are thought to thrive only when able to win the battle for resources against those nearest to them, have a somewhat sophisticated social structure that relies on ...

A study of survival data for Stage III, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients at the University of Maryland's Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore indicates that marital status and race can significantly impact patient survival rates, according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and The University of Chicago. This ...

Analysis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient records in the California Cancer Registry (CCR) database during the 20-year period of 1988-2008 indicates that Hispanics/Latinos with NSCLC have a higher overall survival compared to non-Hispanic white patients, according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and The ...

Crizotinib is effective in shrinking tumors in patients with anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) positive non-small cell lung cancer, a cancer commonly found in people who never smoked, and should be the standard of care for advanced stages of this disease, according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - From a public policy point of view, the national debt accumulation since President Obama took office is largely a result of policies put in place prior to his inauguration, says a new analysis by University of Maryland expert Philip Joyce. He adds that Obama's policies will make little impact in the debt over the next decade. "The best that can be said about presidential fiscal policies thus far is that they would slow the bleeding, but they neither would stop it nor would they do much to heal the patient," Joyce says. The size of the debt has been ...

Today, technicians in Minnesota will begin to position the first block of a detector that will be part of the largest, most advanced neutrino experiment in North America. The NuMI Off-Axis Neutrino Appearance experiment – NOvA for short – will study the properties of neutrinos, such as their masses, and investigate whether they helped give matter an edge over antimatter after both were created in equal amounts in the big bang. The experiment is on track to begin taking data in 2013. "This is a significant step toward a greater understanding of neutrinos," said Marvin ...

A neutron detector developed for studies focused on life science, drug discovery and materials technology has been licensed by PartTec Ltd. The Indiana-based manufacturer of radiation detection technologies is moving the technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory toward the commercial marketplace. The Neutron-Sensitive Anger Camera allows researchers to study a wider variety of crystalline structures, supporting studies in biology, earth science, geology, materials science and condensed matter physics. "This ORNL detector system, ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- We hear all the time that we need to get off the couch, stop watching TV and get moving. But what if watching TV under specific conditions could actually provide the mental boost you need to tackle a difficult task? A new paper that describes two studies by Jaye Derrick, PhD, research scientist at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions, found that watching a rerun of a favorite TV show may help restore the drive to get things done in people who have used up their reserves of willpower or self-control. "People have a limited pool ...

ENERGY – Revolutionary heat pump . . . Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Oklahoma's ClimateMaster Inc. have collaborated to develop a ground source heat pump that can reduce a homeowner's electric bill by up to 60 percent. The Trilogy 40 is the first geothermal heat pump certified by the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute to achieve a space cooling efficiency rating in excess of 40 EER (energy efficiency ratio). An EER rating of 13.5 is typical of conventional heat pumps. For a family living in a 2,600-square-foot well-insulated home, that translates ...

URBANA – As a college student, you may be happy simply not to have gained the "Freshman 15." But a University of Illinois study shows that as little as 1.5 pounds per year is enough to raise blood pressure in that age group, and the effect was worse for young women. "In our study, a small weight gain was enough to raise a college student's systolic blood pressure by 3 to 5 points. If young people continue to gain 1.5 pounds a year and think it doesn't matter, they're misleading themselves and increasing their risk for heart disease," said Margarita Teran-Garcia, a U of ...

A new study published in a special issue of Substance Abuse finds that recovering alcoholics who help others in 12-step programs furthers their time sober, consideration for others, step-work, and long-term meeting attendance. These novel findings are from a 10-year, prospective investigation led by Maria Pagano, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the "Helping Others" study. Dr. Pagano and colleagues evaluated the decade long of treatment outcomes using data from a single site in ...

Boston, Mass. - Sepsis, or bacterial infection of the bloodstream, is a grave, hard-to-diagnose threat in premature newborns in the NICU. Even when it's detected and treated with antibiotics, its inflammatory effects can harm fragile babies' development. Now, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have modeled the effects of sepsis on the unique newborn immune system, using mice. They and others have begun using the model to identify diagnostic markers and better treatments. The new model is described September 6 in the online open-access journal PLOS ONE (available ...

SALT LAKE CITY Sept. 6, 2012 - University of Utah engineers mapped white blood cells called eonsinophils and showed an existing diagnostic method may overlook an elusive digestive disorder that causes swelling in the esophagus and painful swallowing. By pinpointing the location and density of eosinophils, which regulate allergy mechanisms in the immune system, these researchers suggest the disease eosinophilic esophagitis, or EoE, may be under- or misdiagnosed in patients using the current method, which is to take tissue samples (biopsies) with an endoscope. These ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 6, 2012 -- After last year's accidental discovery of "zombie"-like bees infected with a fly parasite, SF State researchers are conducting an elaborate experiment to learn more about the plight of the honey bees. The scientists are tagging infected bees with tiny radio trackers, and monitoring the bees' movements in and out of a specially designed hive on top of the Hensill Hall biology building on campus. At the same time, they are monitoring hives on campus and on the roof of the San Francisco Chronicle's offices for further signs of the mysterious ...

A protein called "clathrin," which is found in every human cell and plays a critical role in transporting materials within them, also plays a key role in cell division, according to new research at the University of California, San Francisco. The discovery, featured on the cover of the Journal of Cell Biology in August, sheds light on the process of cell division and provides a new angle for understanding cancer. Without clathrin, cells divide erratically and unevenly—a phenomenon that is one of the hallmarks of the disease. "Clathrin is doing more than we thought ...

A study carried out by Dr. Louis Bherer, PhD (Psychology), Laboratory Director and Researcher at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM), an institution affiliated with Université de Montréal, has shown that all seniors, even those considered frail, can enjoy the benefits of exercise in terms of their physical and cognitive faculties and quality of life and that these benefits appear after only three months. This discovery is excellent news, as increased life expectancy has also increased the number of frail seniors in our communities. In geriatrics, ...

Untreated severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in the elderly, and adequate treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may significantly reduce this risk, according to a new study from researchers in Spain. "Although the link between OSA and cardiovascular mortality is well established in younger patients, evidence on this relationship in the elderly has been conflicting," said lead author Miguel Ángel Martínez-García, MD, of La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Valencia, Spain. "In ...

Cincinnati, OH, September 7, 2012 – Heart defects are the most common form of congenital malformations affecting newborns. Infants who were prenatally diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD) are more stable and have better outcomes than infants who were diagnosed after birth. Diagnosing CHD in a fetus also allows mothers to educate themselves on heart malformations, consider their options, and potentially plan for intervention or surgery after birth. However, a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics finds that, along with these benefits, ...

Melanoma, newly diagnosed in more than 76,000 Americans in 2011, is the most common and dangerous form of skin cancer. Melanoma is rare in children, accounting for 1 to 4 percent of all melanoma cases and just 3 percent of pediatric cancers. Just as adult cases of melanoma are increasing, pediatric melanoma is rising at the rate of 1 to 4 percent per year. The physicians and staff at Moffitt Cancer Center have a special interest in melanoma and related conditions occurring in childhood, and recently published results of their experience with cases of pathologically ...

Inflatables are a significant investment, both financially and for the livelihood of your business, and should be cared for as such. A few simple care and maintenance steps will keep your inflatables in tip-top form and damage free. To prevent your inflatable from becoming a host for bacteria and germs you must clean and sanitize it thoroughly after each use. After an event, while the inflatable is still inflated, do a walk through removing any loose debris and trash. Once this has been picked up, sweep out the unit, the pillars and the netting. After all of the ...

Sonoma Energy Capital, LLC. has successfully drilled the Maunie #2 Well to total depth in the N Maunie Field. The N Maunie field is a proven structure that has produced over 5 million barrels of oil from the formations above 3000 feet. " The Illinois basin is experiencing a modern oil boom and it is attracting oil producers from around the country ," according to Bob Nelson, President of Sonoma Energy Capital, LLC. "We are on the cutting edge of deep drilling in the Illinois Basin with our expert team". Sonoma Energy Capitals president, Bob Nelson, has ...

K2M, Inc., the largest privately held spinal device company in the world focused on developing innovative solutions for the treatment of complex spinal pathologies and minimally invasive procedures, today announced the launch of the SERENGETI Complex Spine Minimally Invasive Retractor System at the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) 47th Annual Meeting in Chicago. SERENGETI Complex Spine brings K2M's focus on complex spine and minimally invasive together into one system by providing surgeons the ability to address deformity, trauma, and tumor, while promoting tissue preservation. ...

Benefit Auctions Auctioneer Col. Cole Wyatt Davis comes out of retirement. Cole had received so many letters, emails and phone calls from so many benefit and charities. Cole Wyatt Davis has worked for Non-profits all over the globe to help raise millions of dollars for great causes. Joan Cook said, " Cole is one of the greatest auctioneers of all time. He makes a benefit or charity gala / event fun, exciting and action packed when he is behind that microphone. Cole is not the normal charity or benefit auctioneer at all. He connects with the audience very fast and inner ...

September 5, 2012 - Lindsey Carse was a 15-year-old small town Southern girl who started working at a hair salon in Montana where she simply "just fell in love with hair". Lindsey knew that hair was her calling so she left her small town and headed out West with a big dream of owning her own hair salon in the "Golden Triangle" of streets around Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. At 17-years-old, Lindsey enrolled at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica where she learned how to consider the clients' unique features and desires when perceiving ...

Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Ann Kelly and her indie label October Daze Records announce that the third full length video from her debut recording 'Petals and Thorns' is now available on YouTube for the song 'Between The Lines'. The new video embodies the noir era of Lauren Bacall and Rita Hayworth with Kelly's powerful yet feminine vocal style. "Kelly's performances strike the right notes of assertiveness, playfulness, and hurt... a femme fatale undermined by a vulnerable heart," wrote critic Russ Buchanan of examiner.com. Videos for the first two singles ...