Connecticut Gets Smart on Crime With Inmate Early Release Law As Connecticut and other states grapple with tight budgets, many have made attempts to lower recidivism, or the rate at which released prisoners are reincarcerated for new crimes. A national study found that more than 40 percent of people released from prison end up back behind bars. However, a new law in Connecticut may help to rehabilitate inmates and prevent or reduce recidivism. The state's new "risk reduction" credit program allows inmates in Connecticut to earn credits toward an earlier ...

A fundamental problem that has puzzled generations of scientists has finally been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of scientists has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite – the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals – causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures. The discovery gives new insight into the mineral in which mankind discovered magnetism, and it may enable magnetite and similar materials to be exploited in new ways. The research, published in Nature, was led ...

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, reports that abnormal sequences of DNA known as rare copy number variants, or CNVs, appear to play a significant role in the risk for early onset bipolar disorder. The findings will be published in the Dec. 22 issue of the journal Neuron. CNVs are genomic alterations in which there are too few or too many copies of sections of DNA. Researchers have known that spontaneously occurring (de novo) CNVs – genetic mutations not inherited from parents – significantly ...

Industrial Leaders, an online network established in 2003 for the manufacturing community, announced today the launch of its latest marketing campaign to help companies in Nevada locate a suitable job shop approved by AMSN at http://www.MFGpartners.net The company said it will combine a number of promotional strategies to help bring work to local machine shops and custom manufacturers throughout the Silver State by connecting local businesses and organizations with the most suitable vendors presented on the IndustrialLeaders.com website. According to Industrial Leaders, ...

In perhaps the most comprehensive survey of the inner workings of HIV, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has mapped every apparent physical interaction the virus makes with components of the human cells it infects—work that may reveal new ways to design future HIV/AIDS drugs. Explored this week in back-to-back papers in the journal Nature, the survey reveals a pathogenic landscape in which HIV's handful of proteins makes hundreds of physical connections with human proteins and other components inside ...

Frontier Holidays are hosting the Andalucian International Walking & Cultural Festival in co-operation with the Town Hall of El Burgo and the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park. This event will take place from February 26th to March 4th and promises to be an unforgettable holiday experience. The white mountain village of El Burgo, close to Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park is the glorious setting for the festival. This area has select status as a member of the EDEN project, recognising areas of outstanding natural beauty and cultural importance across the European continent. The ...

goFLUENT was delighted to walk away with the "Brandon Hall Bronze Award" for the "Best Use of Blended Learning" category only a few days after being shortlisted, in two categories, for the Learning Awards 2012 in London. Prestigious awards like these are rarely given to European training providers - and even more so to those in the field of English language training. Receiving this award demonstrates goFLUENT's position as a global leader within the market, believes Christophe Ferrandou, CEO of the goFLUENT group. This success comes only a few ...

Knowsley Safari Park has supported the Zoo Outreach Organisation for years, contributing financial support and generating awareness of the organisations hard work throughout the world; 2011 was no different, and a massive financial contribution was just one way in which Knowsley Safari Park, one of the UK's best loved animal attractions, has helped ZOO in the past 12 months. The Zoo Outreach Organisation works with individuals and institutions across the globe to promote conservation education, conservation research, conservation (wildlife) welfare and conservation action. ...

Winning a fight can raise aggressiveness, and a study of fighting crickets, published Dec. 21 in the online journal PLoS ONE, provides new insight into the biochemical mechanism that may be responsible. The researchers, led by Paul Stevenson of the University of Leipzig in Germany, staged cricket "tournaments" to investigate the source of the heightened aggression, called the "winner effect", and the potential role of different treatments on this effect. They found that the increased aggression associated with the winner effect is transient; the aggression levels returned ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—December 21, 2011—Gladstone Institutes scientist Nevan Krogan, PhD, today is announcing research that identifies how HIV—the virus that causes AIDS—hijacks the body's own defenses to promote infection. This discovery could one day help curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Dr. Krogan conducted this research in his laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)—a leading medical school with which Gladstone is affiliated—where Dr. Krogan is an associate professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology and an affiliate of the California ...

Asia's leading sportsbook software services provider, ONEworks has become the first e-Gaming company to receive the new Network Services Licence from the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. The ONEworks ONEbook sportsbetting platform and associated services satisfied the jurisdiction's licensing requirements and stringent online gaming standards. The company will operate under the Isle of Man's new Network licensing system which was launched in July of this year and enables the company to make its platform available to business clients worldwide. Tom Hall, ...

Dengue disease can be deadly. People infected by the mosquito-borne virus can develop an infection whose mild form is so harsh it's called "break-bone fever." Severe forms of the disease known as dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome can be killers, making the disease a pressing public health problem in the sub-tropical regions where it is endemic. There is no treatment beyond fluid management, there is no therapeutic, and there is no vaccine. Why one person and not another succumbs to the virus has been suspected, but not known. Scientists from the Broad ...

Listeners can learn new vocabulary through hip-hop music, even though the lyrics may be difficult to understand, according to a study published in the Dec. 21 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE. The author, Paula Chesley of the University of Alberta, found that the number of hip-hop artists that a participant listened to was predictive of the participant's knowledge of words and phrases used in hip-hop songs that are not considered to be mainstream, like "road dog" (friend) and "guap" (lots of money). Additionally, participants were more likely to know a vocabulary item ...

Headwater has added seven new trips to its walking and cycling collection, ensuring holidaymakers can get under the skin of 110 destinations across 32 different countries and islands in the coming year. With Cuba featuring in the Lonely Planet 'Top 10 countries for 2012' list, Headwater has launched its first tour to this fascinating destination. The 10-day guided walking holiday offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into a country whose clock stopped in 1959. From crumbling palaces and colonial mansions to salsa-filled squares and roads with more donkeys than ...

Efforts to combat climate change should take into account the development levels of different countries when negotiating agreements, according to a study published in the Dec. 21 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE. On an early stage, developing countries tend to rely on fossil fuels to achieve their development targets. In a world of limited technology transfer, cumulative CO2 emission necessary for development are between 20 and 30% of previously calculated budges to keep global temperature below 2°C target. The authors of the recent report, led by Luis Costa of the ...

One of the most vexing challenges in the battle against dengue virus, a mosquito-borne virus responsible for 50-100 million infections every year, is that getting infected once can put people at greater risk for a more severe infection down the road. Now, for the first time, an international team of researchers that includes experts from the University of California, Berkeley, has pulled apart the mechanism behind changing dengue virus genetics and dynamics of host immunity, and they are reporting their findings in the Dec. 21 issue of Science Translational Medicine. ...

Organic semiconductors could usher in an era of foldable smartphones, better high-definition television screens and clothing made of materials that can harvest energy from the sun needed to charge your iPad, but there is one serious drawback: Organic semiconductors do not conduct electricity very well. In a paper to be published online on Wednesday by the journal Nature, researchers at Stanford led by chemical engineer Zhenan Bao have changed that equation by improving the ability of the electrons to move through organic semiconductors. The secret is in packing the molecules ...

Silver Formula Co. Ltd. formally announces the release of its new SWIM SF system - an eco-friendly and non-abrasive substance that uses a silver-copper colloid to sanitize swimming water at the molecular level. To celebrate the launch of this cutting-edge product, Silver Formula is beginning a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of the now-outdated chlorination method of sanitation. Chlorine remains the most popular method for maintaining both public and private swimming pools, largely due to ignorance of both the harmful side effects of chlorine and the alternatives ...

Raxco Software, the leader in disk defrag and optimization software, announced today PerfectDisk 12.5, the latest version of its award-winning and Microsoft-certified utility. This latest version adds a new Space Management feature that helps businesses and users reclaim wasted disk space and better manage their storage, as well as peer-to-peer remote capability to more easily manage remote clients. The new Space Management adds several capabilities, including: · Duplicate File Finder -- recovers disk space by detecting and removing duplicate files such as text documents, ...

Boston, Mass. – In a move aimed at bolstering current systems for assessing and monitoring drug safety, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have created a new method that combines multiple forms of widely available data to predict adverse drug reactions. Unlike current approaches, which rely on detecting evidence of drug safety issues as they accumulate over time in clinical databases, this new method may be able to identify issues years in advance. This study, led by Aurel Cami, PhD, and Ben Reis, PhD, of Children's Hospital Boston's Informatics Program (CHIP), ...

Giving back to the communities in which it builds is a Pardee Homes tradition that takes on special meaning every holiday season, and perhaps never more so than this year. "A slow economy is hardest on the less fortunate, making useful outreach especially critical," said Mike McGee, president and chief executive officer of the LA-based homebuilder. "Our employees made exceptional efforts this year and their unfailing generosity is truly gratifying." Pardee's holiday giving campaign was born nine years ago when company employees decided they preferred ...

VIDEO: Angelman syndrome is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutation or deletion of the maternally inherited copy of Ube3a (blackened region of the chromosomes). The paternally inherited copy of Ube3a is intact... Click here for more information. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Results of a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may help pave the way to a treatment for a neurogenetic disorder often misdiagnosed as cerebral palsy or autism. Known ...

Two Earth-sized planets have been discovered circling a dying star that has passed the red giant stage. Because of their close orbits, the planets must have been engulfed by their star while it swelled up to many times its original size. This discovery, published in the science journal Nature, may shed new light on the destiny of stellar and planetary systems, including our solar system. When our sun nears the end of its life in about 5 billion years, it will swell up to what astronomers call a red giant, an inflated star that has used up most of its fuel. So large ...

Orange Restoration, based in San Diego, adds legally binding mold and hazardous material lab testing to their growing list of professional services. Testing services include air, surface and swab testing, testing or lead and/or asbestos and post remediation cleanup testing. Nearly anyone can look at a black spot on a wall or ceiling and declare, you have black mold and need to have it professionally cleaned. Few companies have the expertise to perform scientific testing to confirm both the type and quantity of the contamination being observed. Orange Restoration's ...

This press release is available in French. University of Toulouse and University of Montreal researchers have detected two planets of sizes comparable to Earth orbiting around an old star that has just passed the red giant stage. This planetary system is located near Lyra and Cygnus constellations at a distance of 3900 light years. This discovery, to be published by in Nature on December 22 2011, may shed new light on the destiny of stellar and planetary systems. "The two planets, named KOI 55.01 and KOI 55.02, are on very short orbits around their host star," explained ...