The new and highly sensitive Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a strong ultraviolet-wavelength absorber on Pluto's surface, providing new evidence that points to the possibility of complex hydrocarbon and/or nitrile molecules lying on the surface, according to a paper recently published in the Astronomical Journal by researchers from Southwest Research Institute and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Such chemical species can be produced by the interaction of sunlight or cosmic rays with Pluto's known surface ices, including methane, ...

This press release is available in Spanish. Festive cookies, served at year-end holiday gatherings, may in the future be made with a larger proportion of whole-grain flour instead of familiar, highly refined white flour. That's a goal of ongoing studies by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Wooster, Ohio. A study by scientists with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Soft Wheat Quality Research Unit in Wooster was published earlier this year in Crop Science. The research may help plant breeders zero in on promising new wheat plants that ...

Many divorced and separated parents are in the midst of the most emotional and contentious part of the year: the holidays. The arguments and strife that drove the parents apart in the first place usually come back with a vengeance during a time to be jolly. Of course, all parents want the best for their children. They want to include kids in family activities and school functions, and they want their children to have experiences that will last a lifetime. However, they may be too rigid when things go awry, and mountains are created from molehill arguments. Nevertheless, ...

This press release is available in French. Montreal -- Breastfeeding increased infant survival rates in 19th -Century Montreal in two major ways, according to research from Concordia University and McGill University. Mother's milk protected vulnerable infants from food and water contaminated by fecal bacteria, while breastfeeding postponed the arrival of more siblings and that improved the health of mothers as well as their subsequent children. Published in the journal Population Studies, using data gathered from Montreal's civil burial records and the 1881 Census, the ...

According to a study conducted by Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel Levinson, medical errors that take place in many health-care facilities are not being tracked by state inspectors. As a result, 15,000 medical fatalities each month have not been corrected, and in some cases, the problems have not even been addressed at all, exposing patients to the risk of harm from medical error and medical malpractice. Levinson analyzed hospitals that participate in Medicare around the country and found that many of the worst medical errors -- including ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Obesity doubles the risk of cancer recurrence and cancer-related death in patients with esophageal cancer who have been treated with surgery, researchers at Mayo Clinic found. Their 778-patient study, which appeared in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (http://jco.ascopubs.org/), found that five-year survival in obese patients -- those with a body mass index of 30 or higher -- with esophageal cancer was 18 percent, compared to 36 percent in patients of normal weight. VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources are available ...

Many of the particles in the atmosphere are produced by the natural world, and it is possible that plants have in recent decades reduced the effects of the greenhouse gases to which human activity has given rise. One consequence of this is that the climate may be more sensitive to emissions caused by human activity than we have previously believed. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) have collected new data that may lead to better climate models. "Emissions by plants to the atmosphere are influenced by climate change – higher temperatures can increase ...

In a case that is sure to have a ripple effect throughout Pennsylvania's public and private employment community, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently ruled that it is against public policy for an employer's uninsured and underinsured motorist automobile insurance to deny payments to victims who are also receiving workers' compensation benefits. On-the-Job Car Accident The case dates back to 2002, when a Sugarcreek Borough police officer was injured in a car accident in his patrol car while performing duties consistent with his position as a law enforcement ...

If your marriage is ending, you might not be thinking about protecting your business interests. You could be caught up in the emotions of the situation, worried about the custody of your children, concerned about new living arrangements or reeling from the blow of an unexpected divorce filing. No matter what the situation, though, if you want your business to thrive after your marriage is dissolved, you need to expend some time and energy taking steps to protect it. Some steps can be taken to protect the value of your family-owned business or your interests in a larger ...

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), through a combination of time-lapse live imaging and mathematical modeling of a special line of human breast cells, have found evidence to suggest that for low dose levels of ionizing radiation, cancer risks may not be directly proportional to dose. This contradicts the standard model for predicting biological damage from ionizing radiation - the linear-no-threshold hypothesis or LNT - which holds that risk is directly proportional to dose at all levels of irradiation. "Our ...

To kick off the 2011 holiday season, the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety and the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) launched their joint "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign to emphasize that driving impaired is dangerous and has legal consequences. MSHP Superintendent Ronald Replogle, said, "Our message is simple. No matter what you drive - a passenger car, pickup truck, sport utility vehicle or motorcycle - if we catch you driving impaired, we will arrest you." The campaign's goal is to prevent tragedies like the death of 31-year-old ...

After the sudden death of a loved one, families face serious hardship. An already emotionally difficult time can be made even worse as medical bills and funerary expenses render making ends meet nearly impossible, particularly when the deceased was the family's primary breadwinner. No matter what the cause of death - be it a motor vehicle accident, bicycle accident, motorcycle accident, or construction site accident - debt concerns impact families of lost loved ones when they are least able to afford it. At one time, the common law did not allow the families of those ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Forest thinning to help prevent or reduce severe wildfire will release more carbon to the atmosphere than any amount saved by successful fire prevention, a new study concludes. There may be valid reasons to thin forests – such as restoration of forest structure or health, wildlife enhancement or public safety – but increased carbon sequestration is not one of them, scientists say. In research just published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Oregon State University scientists conclude that even in fire-prone forests, it's necessary to treat ...

In 2003, under the Bush administration, the number of hours a commercial truck driver could drive in a day was increased from 10 to 11. Furthermore, truck drivers are allowed to drive as much as 77 hours in a 7-day period, with 34 hours off before they return to work. While truck safety has improved in recent years, thousands of people still die in accidents with trucks every year. In 2009, some 3,600 people died in accidents with large trucks, and another 74,000 were injured. Public safety advocates were concerned that this increase in hours would worsen the problem ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When one tiny circuit within an integrated chip cracks or fails, the whole chip – or even the whole device – is a loss. But what if it could fix itself, and fix itself so fast that the user never knew there was a problem? A team of University of Illinois engineers has developed a self-healing system that restores electrical conductivity to a cracked circuit in less time than it takes to blink. Led by aerospace engineering professor Scott White and materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos, the researchers published their results in the ...

The most pressing issue any newly arrested person has is the earliest possible release from jail. And knowing how to minimize the cost and bother! The first step is to call a lawyer who is a Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Law. They compromise less than 1 percent of the lawyers in Texas and are easily the best-qualified criminal lawyers. He will know the bondsmen who will negotiate for the best deal, and the judges who have the power (and perhaps the inclination) to reduce the bond amount and, overall, how to end up with the best terms and conditions of release. ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells - and cause disease - by manipulating a natural cellular process. Purdue University biologists led a team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates. Zhao-Qing Luo, the associate professor of biological sciences who headed ...

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was providing forecasters with the rate in which rainfall was occurring in Tropical Storm Washi over the last week, and now TRMM data has been compiled to show rainfall totals over the devastated Philippines. Washi, known locally in the Philippines as Sendong, began as a tropical depression on December 13, 2011 in the West Pacific Ocean about 2150 km (~1333 miles) due east of the southern Philippines. Washi only intensified slightly and never exceeded tropical storm intensity as it tracked due west towards the ...

With approximately 70,000 people living in each of its 23 square miles, millions of daily commuters and other visitors, a massive public transportation system, 20 hospitals, thousands of ongoing construction projects and more hustle and bustle than anywhere else in the United States, serious accidents are a staple of life in Manhattan. At Simon Eisenberg & Baum, our Manhattan personal injury lawyers understand that a serious personal injury can turn anyone's life upside down in a New York minute. If you or your family is going through something like this right now, ...

Skeletons don't lie. But sometimes they may mislead, as in the case of bones that reputedly showed evidence of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492. None of this skeletal evidence, including 54 published reports, holds up when subjected to standardized analyses for both diagnosis and dating, according to an appraisal in the current Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. In fact, the skeletal data bolsters the case that syphilis did not exist in Europe before Columbus set sail. "This is the first ...

Atlanta tree services company Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts is happy to share some tips on how to choose a Christmas tree and keep it healthy during the holiday season. "If you haven't bought your tree yet, there is no need to be concerned," assures Gary Robertson, owner of Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts. "Many lots will still have a good selection of trees available, and the shorter amount of time left before the holidays means that less effort will be required to keep the tree in good condition before the big day." When choosing a tree, it is important ...

TORONTO, ON., Dec. 20, 2011—Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease, new research has found. The majority of women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer have a mutated form of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which normally suppress the growth of breast and ovarian tumours. Dr. Subodh Verma, a cardiac surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital, said his research team was surprised to discover the genes also regulate heart function. Following a heart attack, mice with the mutated BRCA1 gene had a three-to-five times higher rate of ...

A Mediterranean diet with large amounts of vegetables and fish gives a longer life. This is the unanimous result of four studies to be published by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg. Research studies ever since the 1950s have shown that a Mediterranean diet, based on a high consumption of fish and vegetables and a low consumption of animal-based products such as meat and milk, leads to better health. Study on older people Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy have now studied the effects of a Mediterranean diet on older people in Sweden. They have ...

Confused.com has announced it will unveil a new promotion with Nectar, the UK's largest loyalty programme. Customers will receive 1,000 Nectar points for every car insurance policy they buy through Confused.com. The promotion is running from 12 December 2011 until 31 March 2012. Confused.com's Nectar Points promotion will be supported by a 30 second TV advert and radio advert running from 23 December. The adverts will feature animated logo Cara singing 'YMCA', with some unique wording added to highlight the Nectar promotion. Will Shuckburgh, Nectar Client Development ...

Papillary thyroid cancer accounts for the majority of all thyroid malignancies, which primarily impact women. A new study indicates that routinely removing lymph nodes in the neck in these cancer patients may help prevent the disease from coming back. When thyroid cancer metastasizes, lymph nodes in the neck may be affected, but these lymph-node tumors can be tiny and may not be detected by ultrasounds done before surgery to remove the diseased thyroid — or even during the procedure itself. In an international academic study published in the December issue of ...