For some people, the glass is always half full. Even when a football fan's team has lost ten matches in a row, he might still be convinced his team can reverse its run of bad luck. So why, in the face of clear evidence to suggest to the contrary, do some people remain so optimistic about the future? In a study published today in Nature Neuroscience, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL (University College London) show that people who are very optimistic about the outcome of events tend to learn only from information that reinforces their rose-tinted ...

Could controlling cell-membrane fat play a key role in turning off disease? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago think so, and a biosensor they've created that measures membrane lipid levels may open up new pathways to disease treatment. Wonhwa Cho, distinguished professor of chemistry, and his coworkers engineered a way to modify proteins to fluoresce and act as sensors for lipid levels. Their findings are reported in Nature Chemistry, online on Oct. 9. "Lipid molecules on cell membranes can act as switches that turn on or off protein-protein interactions ...

Often, in this economy, it is easy to get behind. You know you owe taxes to the IRS, but every day bills and financial obligations begin to take priority in order to maintain a reasonable standard of living. This is the situation Michael (Tecumseh, Kansas) found himself in when he called the offices of Blue Tax in desperation looking for some guidance on how to get the IRS to cease sending him threatening letters about levies and garnishments, knowing that he owed back taxes. Michael's goal in retaining Blue Tax's services was to protect him from possible collection ...

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers – along with collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals – have found a way to block, in an animal model, the damaging inflammation that contributes to many disease conditions. In their report receiving early online publication in Nature Biotechnology, the investigators describe using small interfering RNA technology to silence the biochemical signals that attract a particular group of inflammatory cells to areas of tissue damage. "The white blood cells known as monocytes ...

One of the most successful strategies in pest control is to endow crop plants with genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, which code for proteins that kill pests attempting to eat them. But insect pests are evolving resistance to Bt toxins, which threatens the continued success of this approach. In the current issue of Nature Biotechnology, a research team led by UA Professor Bruce Tabashnik reports the discovery that a small modification of the toxins' structure overcomes the defenses of some major pests that are resistant to the natural, ...

Aircraft Management Group, Inc., branded as AMG Jets, is pleased to announce the expansion of its team to include two new members. These members include Shannon Pennypacker, appointed as Director of Marketing and Sales; and Lynne Cone, appointed as a private aviation specialist. This expansion is in response to the increasing demand level and sales growth last year. "We have experienced consistent growth year after year," said President John Sieckowski. "The increase in our team will help us to keep up with the growing demand of our wide range of services." Shannon ...

An international team of researchers has discovered the first DNA faults linked to melanoma - the deadliest skin cancer - that are not related to hair, skin or eye colour. Cancer Research UK scientists at the University of Leeds, together with a team from the GenoMEL consortium*, scanned the genes in blood samples from almost 3000 Europeans with melanoma, and compared these with samples taken from the general population. Their findings are published in Nature Genetics today.** Known risk factors for melanoma include fair skin, blue or green eyes, blond or red hair, ...

The world's thinnest, strongest and most conductive material, discovered in 2004 at the University of Manchester by Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov, has the potential to revolutionize material science. Demonstrating the remarkable properties of graphene won the two scientists the Nobel Prize for Physics last year and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has just announced plans for a £50m graphene research hub to be set up. Now, writing in the journal Nature Physics, the University of Manchester team have for the first time demonstrated how graphene ...

The genomic analysis technologies enable the study of genetic factors related to numerous diseases. In few areas this researches brought such a big and useful volume of information as in the case of melanoma. A study published in Nature Genetics, promoted by the GenoMEL consortium, consolidates the results obtained in previous whole-genome analysis and identifies three new chromosomal regions implicated in susceptibility to melanoma. The GenoMEL consortium is funded by the European Commission and the National Institutes of Health (USA) to increase the understanding of genetic ...

MADISON – An ongoing lack of sleep during adolescence could lead to more than dragging, foggy teens, a University of Wisconsin-Madison study suggests. Researchers have found that short-term sleep restriction in adolescent mice prevented the balanced growth and depletion of brain synapses, connections between nerve cells where communication occurs. "One possible implication of our study is that if you lose too much sleep during adolescence, especially chronically, there may be lasting consequences in terms of the wiring of the brain," says Dr. Chiara Cirelli, associate ...

New York University biologists have identified a new mechanism for regulating color vision by studying a mutant fly named after Frank ('Ol Blue Eyes) Sinatra. Their findings, which appear in the journal Nature, focus on how the visual system functions in order to preserve the fidelity of color discrimination throughout the life of an organism. They also offer new insights into how genes controlling color detection are turned on and off. Many biologists study how different cells develop to acquire their fate. The NYU research team, headed by Claude Desplan, a professor ...

All cells in our body have a system that can handle cellular waste and release building blocks for recycling. The underlying mechanism is called autophagy and literally means "self-eating". Many cancer cells have increased the activity of this system and the increased release of building blocks equip the cancer cells with a growth advantage and can render them resistant towards treatment. "We have discovered a small molecule that can block autophagy in different cancer cells and specifically, this molecule can increase the sensitivity of breast cancer cells towards one ...

24-7PressRelease.com announces today that it has reached a milestone, having distributed 175,000 press releases to date. "The news is exciting for the company," said Michael Iwasaki, Managing Partner with 24-7PressRelease. "We continue to expand and grow in popularity with marketing, PR and communications companies looking for excellent value combined with excellent customer service. The economy is still in extreme turmoil. We are continually receiving positive feedback." The company also offers website owners the option to add their top news ...

A new study has found that an osteoporosis drug protects against the bone damaging side effects of certain breast cancer medications. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that some breast cancer patients could take zoledronic acid in addition to their anti-cancer medications to maintain bone health. Drugs called aromatase inhibitors stop the production of estrogen in postmenopausal women and therefore make less estrogen available to stimulate the growth of certain breast cancer cells. Many postmenopausal ...

KINGSTON, R.I. -- October 10, 2011 -- While the cause of the mass extinction that occurred between the Permian and Triassic periods is still uncertain, two University of Rhode Island researchers collected data that show that terrestrial biodiversity recovered much faster than previously thought, potentially contradicting several theories for the cause of the extinction. David Fastovsky, URI professor of geosciences, and graduate student David Tarailo found that terrestrial biodiversity recovered in about 5 million years, compared to the 15- to 30-million year recovery ...

VIH. Ross Ford, president and CEO of TCN Worldwide, is pleased to announce The Bradco Companies as the newest member to join the international real estate services organization. The Bradco Companies/TCN Worldwide is a full-service real estate firm specializing in the acquisition and disposition of raw land, commercial and industrial land projects for developers and investors as well as in the leasing and sales of commercial, industrial and office properties throughout Southern California's High Desert Regions, including Palmdale; Lancaster; Adelanto; Hesperia; Barstow; ...

Boulder, CO, USA - Long before whales, the oceans of Earth were roamed by a very different kind of air-breathing leviathan. Snaggle-toothed ichthyosaurs larger than school buses swam at the top of the Triassic Period ocean food chain, or so it seemed before Mount Holyoke College paleontologist Mark McMenamin took a look at some of their remains in Nevada. Now he thinks there was an even larger and more cunning sea monster that preyed on ichthyosaurs: a kraken of such mythological proportions it would have sent Captain Nemo running for dry land. McMenamin will be presenting ...

The clean energy economy of the future hinges on a lot of things, chief among them the availability of the scores of rare earth elements and other elements used to make everything from photovoltaic panels and cellphone displays to the permanent magnets in cutting edge new wind generators. And right out of the gate trouble is brewing over projected growth in demand for these minerals and the security of their supplies. Last year, for instance, China restricted the export of neodymium, which is used in wind energy generators. The move was ostensibly to direct the supplies ...

Handlink Technologies Inc., the guestWiFi account generator and WiFi subscriber gateway vendor has today announced the appointment as Newegg marketplace seller in North American region. Handlink is a leading company in providing commercially advanced and innovative WiFi hotspot authentication and billing solutions to the Small Office and Home Office (SOHO), Enterprise, Small and Medium Business (SMB), Hotel, Hospitality, Government and Education markets. "We are very delighted that we can list our products for sales on the Newegg.com in the US" said David ...

Every parent wants their children to survive that enviable attack by the brain-eating legions of the undead. But parents can't exactly plop their kids down to watch Night of the Living Dead if they expect to get any sleep for the next few weeks. So, what's the right age to start preparing you kids for the invading masses of walking dead? The magic age is ten, according to MJ Ware, author of the just released book: SUPER ZOMBIE JUICE MEGA BOMB (ISBN #978-1466355019). "I wanted to write a book that would be suitable for the widest age range possible," says ...

San Diego Self Storage announced their host sponsorship of the 18th Annual International Relief Teams (IRT) "Gifts of Hope Gala" that will be held on October 22, 2011, at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina from 6:00 to 11:00 pm. Proceeds will benefit a special appeal during the gala earmarked, "Medicines for Children" a special fund that provides medicine for underprivileged children in developing countries. Additional proceeds will be directed toward fulfilling the mission of IRT that includes providing shelter for the homeless, medical training ...

Burbank based AlphaDogs Post Production has announced completion of post services for Extreme Drug Smuggling, a documentary that explores the underground world of drug smuggling and the extreme measures that are taken by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs into the United States. The show aired on the Discovery Channel in September. Post Producer, Scott Young has been a long time client of AlphaDogs Post Production. Young called on the AlphaDogs team once again knowing that he could be assured of seamless on time delivery, even with a challenging turnaround time of just ...

US based IT company QuorumLabs has brought a new award winning disaster recovery solution to the Australian market through distribution and sales agent IT Consult. QuorumLabs was spun out of Themis Computer in 2008 to pursue commercial applications leveraging Themis' powerful Distributed Computing Resource Management (DCRM) IT automation platform. The QuorumLabs solution named QuorumLabs onQ is an end-to-end and consolidates all aspects of a business DR into one appliance and has been stated as being "engineered from the ground up to provide enterprise level business ...

ImmunoSite Technologies (IST), LLC, a leading provider of immune monitoring services, has entered into a strategic agreement with Immudex, the sole proprietor of MHC DextramerTM technology. Dextramers are superior reagents for the detection of antigen-specific T cells, having the ability to interact simultaneously with multiple receptors on a single T cell with unsurpassed avidity. The increased avidity of Dextramers compared to conventional MHC multimer reagents enhances resolution and signal-to-noise ratio providing a more accurate assessment of the T cell response, ...

Blitz Credit Management has today announced the opening of its new debt collection centre, at Level 1, 251 Hay Street, Perth. "Our new premises have been purpose-built to support our growing business" says Natalie Walker, Managing Director of Blitz Credit Management, "The new East Perth office location allows convenient access for our clients and partners". The new office coincides with Blitz Credit Management's recent deployment of technologies including cloud computing and VOIP call-centre systems. "Our company is committed to exploring ...