CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — DNA holds the genetic code for all sorts of biological molecules and traits. But University of Illinois researchers have found that DNA's code can similarly shape metallic structures. The team found that DNA segments can direct the shape of gold nanoparticles – tiny gold crystals that have many applications in medicine, electronics and catalysis. Led by Yi Lu, the Schenck Professor of Chemistry at the U. of I., the team published its surprising findings in the journal Angewandte Chemie. "DNA-encoded nanoparticle synthesis can provide us a facile but ...

A bonus payment to teachers can improve student academic performance — but only when it is given upfront, on the condition that part of the money must be returned if student performance fails to improve, research at the University of Chicago shows. The study showed that students gained as much as a 10 percentile increase in their scores compared to students with similar backgrounds — if their teacher received a bonus at the beginning of the year, with conditions attached. There was no gain for students when teachers were offered the bonus at the end of the school year, ...

Typhoon Haikui weakened to a tropical storm just before landfall in China. Eight hours after landfall, NASA's Aqua satellite still showed a strong and organized tropical storm moving inland. China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) said that Tropical Storm Haikui, made landfall in Zhejiang province on August 8 at 3:20 a.m. local time (19:20 UTC or 3:20 p.m. EDT/U.S., August 7), about 140 miles (225 km) south of Shanghai. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center's last official warning on Haikui was issued on August 8 at 0300 UTC (11 a.m. local time/Shanghai). At that time ...

NASA's TRMM satellite has been measuring the heavy rainfall in Ernesto, and some of the rainfall totals may reach one foot in Central America. NASA's Aqua satellite spotted a large area of the strong thunderstorms generating that heavy rainfall, wrapped around the storm's center. Ernesto made landfall in the Yucatan and is currently tracking west over land. At 11:15 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, August 7, Belize radar indicated Ernesto made landfall along the southern Yucatan coast near Mahahual, Mexico as a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 85 mph (140 ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A new University of Florida study shows the turkey, one of the most widely consumed birds worldwide, was domesticated more than 1,000 years earlier than previously believed. Researchers say discovery of the bones from an ancient Mayan archaeological site in Guatemala provides evidence of domestication, usually a significant mark of civilization, and the earliest evidence of the Mexican turkey in the Maya world. The study appears online in PLoS ONE today. The discovery of the turkey bones is significant because the Maya did not use a lot of domesticated ...

Geckos are remarkable little creatures, clinging to almost any dry surface, and Alyssa Stark, from the University of Akron, USA, explains that they appear to be equally happy scampering through tropical rainforest canopies as they are in urban settings. 'A lot of work is done on geckos that looks at the very small adhesive structures on their toes to really understand how the system works at the most basic level', says Stark. She adds that the animals grip surfaces with microscopic hairs on the soles of their feet that make close enough contact to be attracted to the surface ...

NEW YORK (August 9, 2012) -- Researchers have successfully developed and tested a new prostate cancer screening method that uses the combined power of a novel drug therapy and changes in PSA levels over time to identify men with a high PSA who are more likely to have aggressive prostate cancer despite negative biopsies. The new study by researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, published in the Journal of Urology, shows that PSA can be a much more effective marker for prostate cancer when an additional drug therapy is used than it can ...

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Manipulating a group of hormone-producing cells in the brain can control blood sugar levels in the body – a discovery that has dramatic potential for research into weight-loss drugs and diabetes treatment. In a paper published in the October issue of Genetics and available online now, neurobiologists at Wake Forest University examine how fruit flies (Drosophila) react when confronted with a decreased diet. Reduced diet or starvation normally leads to hyperactivity in fruit flies – a hungry fly buzzes around feverishly, looking for more food. That ...

Jamie Cawley, small business owner and author of over 39 books since 1999, has now set her cap at making self-publishers lives easier with her upcoming work "The Self Publishers Guide to Book Marketing: Step By Step Guide for Fiction and Non-Fiction Authors". "Like many self-published authors I found that promoting my books was far more difficult than actually writing them! After reading a colossal number of books and blogs over the years trying to cobble together a marketing plan I was disappointed to find that most guides were either not focused ...

Central Florida native son Famous Kid Brick has got to be one of the brightest rays of independent hip hop to glimmer and gleam from the Sunshine State today. With more than 2,500 BDS-registered radio spins of his runaway hit single "Im On It," 15,000 iTunes downloads and sold out shows throughout the Southeast, Hussch Boy Productions flagship artist Famous Kid Brick has been continually holding Florida captive. And he is set to give the rest of the world a dose of the radiant rays that our backyards have been soaking up for months with the release of his ...

According to Artist Revenue Streams, a research project examining how and why musicians' revenue streams are changing, 64 percent of musicians said it's more competitive than ever. The League Of Starz, a West Coast Team of Producers with Platinum Record Production Credits decided to collaborate with Creativity Ainta Side Hustle, a Los Angeles based website design studio to brand their company in the digital sphere and strengthen their market position. Tavon "Pun" Alexander, League Of Starz CEO, "Technology has leveled the playing field for musicians so it's ...

Today at the website http://www.OriginalRoyalty.com, a branch of Israel United in Christ Inc. is allowing their customers to download the first chapter of the book "Understandest Thou What Thou Readest?" You may claim your download once you subscribe to our website's newsletter. You can find the purple subscription box to the left of the webpage. "In the last days the United States of America is the most powerful super power on Earth; however there is no scriptural mention of them according to the world's Christian leaders. Why? Society as a whole has ...

Novel Fashion Organizers Will be Unveiled to the Retail Gift Trade at Stand #5238 at the Javits Center Whittier, CA Lori Leigh Designs Inc. President and Founder Lori Torline announced today that her Fashion Accessory firm will introduce the novel Earring Chalets at the upcoming New York Gift Show at the Javits Center in New York City. This is one of the largest premiere gift industry trade shows in the world. "The Earring Chalets were first introduced at trade shows in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and the retail buyer's response was overwhelming", said Mrs.Torline. ...

Graphite Design, maker of some of the most widely played premium golf shafts on the PGA TOUR, announced today that the winner of the Web.com Cox Classic presented by Lexus of Omaha played a Graphite Design Tour AD DI shafts in his driver. This win marks the 17th professional tour victory in 2012 by players who have used Graphite Design shafts. "This player is making a name for himself on the Web.com Tour by becoming the first player in Tour history to make his first two professional starts victories" said Tak Yamada, President, Graphite Design, "We are ...

Rapid protect (http://www.rapidprotect.com ) updated its "Driver safety and No Texting apps" to support the life safety of a driver. These no texting driver safety apps are provided under the names of "Road Safe Driver", "Driving Control", Speed App", and "Speed Control App",. The apps are available on Android and Blackberry platforms. The use of a cell phone can be a major distraction while driving. Research has shown that countless accidents could have been avoided if the driver was not distracted while driving. There is ...

Reducing the Stress of Divorce on Children: Strategies in Co-Parenting Children cope with their parents' separation or divorce in different ways, and they work through their related thoughts and emotions differently as they age and mature. According to a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics from the Baylor College of Medicine, children of divorce go through a grieving process that may repeat itself as they continue to adapt and develop towards adulthood. Though there is worry that children of divorce face long-term difficulties in academics, employment, relationships ...

It is common for home stagers to use blogs to market their businesses, but not everyone considers the ramifications of posting duplicate content across multiple websites. In an article on the Home Staging Business Report blog, home staging expert Debra Gould provides advice for optimizing web content while maintaining search engine rankings. "We all want to spend less time writing new articles online to support our home staging business, but we also need to be careful about being penalized by Google for duplicate content" Gould writes. "No one truly knows ...

Read what happens when a six-year-old girl meets an angel, and in doing so, discovers her own magical inner world. One night Alessandra asks her mother if she can stay up for "only five more minutes." Then she gets a wonderful surprise: her guardian angel, Angelisse, comes for a visit. The angel looks so much like a child that it is easy for Alessandra to relate to her. The angel explains how very important every person is and teaches Alessandra many other magical things such as the power of visualization. This uplifting story teaches kids that they are ...

A new website has been launched with a comprehensive article base aimed at home owners, professional and do-it-yourself landscapers. The articles will specialize in do-it-yourself projects, product reviews on a variety of outdoor subjects and other informational topics in an easy to navigate web site interface. Current topics include shading solutions such as shade sails for the yard, patio, and garden. Also included are backyard landscaping projects that can be utilized by both professionals and do-it-yourselfers. Last but not least there are categories on all-weather ...

The National Business (NBM) Show is making its way to the West Coast on August 16 -18, 2012. FASTSIGNS International Inc., the worldwide franchisor of FASTSIGNS visual communications, signage and graphics centers, will be exhibiting to educate attendees about franchise opportunities with the company. The show, which will be held at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, is designed to educate attendees on the latest in sign making, digital printing, apparel decorating, engraving, personalization, promotional products and more. FASTSIGNS Senior Vice President ...

Lawyers Mutual board member and Charlotte attorney Ronald L. Gibson was selected by the State Bar's Nominating Committee to stand for election to the office of vice-president of the North Carolina State Bar. The election will take place in October at the State Bar's annual meeting. Gibson is a proud alumnus of Davidson College and he went on to earn his law degree from the University Of North Carolina School Of Law. His experience includes serving as a law clerk to US District Court Judge James B. McMillan and serving in private law practice with Chambers, Stein, Ferguson ...

Eric Post of Better Homes & Gardens Realty Partners, Inc, has been honored with a recognition by Portland Monthly in its selection of "2012 Portland Top Agents for Service and Overall Satisfaction." Eric Post commented on the recognition: "It's always an honor to be recognized for hard work. However, past success doesn't guarantee future success. I will continue to evolve with the changing market to exceed the expectations of my clients." Eric has worked for 10 years in the Portland Real Estate market. He has constantly been at the top of the ...

Bible Publisher Thomas Nelson and digital Bible maker Immersion Digital announced today that they are coming together to launch three new apps for iPhone and iPad that will pair the trusted New King James Version (NKJV) Bible translation with the award winning Glo Bible engine. The new apps include The NKJV Study Bible, The MacArthur Study Bible and the NKJV Bible App, available today in the US & Canada App store for iPad and iPhone. Built upon Glo Bible's digital platform, these new Bible apps include 360-degree virtual tours, photos, animated maps, videos, social ...

Prosperity Financial Group, Inc., A Bay Area Financial Advisory Firm, Announces participation in Friends of Camp Concord Golf Tournament Camp Concord will present the 16th Annual Friends of Camp Concord Golf Tournament at Roundhill Country Club in Alamo. The goal is to raise $60,000 to provide scholarships and support funding to send underprivileged children/families and special needs communities to experience Camp Concord Summer Camp in South Lake Tahoe. For more information please visit the following websites. http://www.friendsofcamp.com http://www.ci.concord.ca.us/recreation/camp/.Prosperity ...

Known as the retail pet industry innovator, SuperZoo attracts over 12,000 pet pros each year, with more than 850 exhibitors, the latest products and trends, spectacular live animal displays, industry-leading education, international grooming contests, and high-energy networking events. Each year the industry evolves, fueling potential stories about consumer trends, government regulation, new product launches and so much more. We invite qualified working media to cover them all with a complimentary press badge. Contact Jacquelyn Clair-Wells at Jacquelyn@marketingdesigngroup.com ...