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 ...

Alberta's oilsands have water challenges. Oilsands development uses a vast amount of water and even though it's recycled multiple times, the recycling concentrates the toxins and metals leftover from extracting and upgrading the bitumen, resulting in tailings ponds that are both a lightening rod for controversy and a significant risk to the environment. A research project underway between biologists at the University of Calgary and engineers at the University of Alberta to help resolve the water issue is making rapid progress toward that goal. Two years into the research, ...

Clarke, a brand of Nilfisk-Advance, Inc., introduces the latest addition to the company's line of carpet extractors, the BEXT Pro Portable Extractor. Delivering instant, continuous heat of 212 degrees Fahrenheit solution, the BEXT Pro effectively attacks tough carpet stains. The BEXT Pro is available in two pressures--100 psi and 400 psi--in addition to models with heated and non-heated performance, providing operators with the ultimate cleaning flexibility to satisfy applications ranging from light duty cleaning to deep extraction requirements. With a durable, user-friendly ...

From improving food security to their use as biotechnology power horses, Trichoderma fungi are increasingly being exploited by industry. Current advances in the field are brought together and highlighted in a special issue of Microbiology published online on 27 December. Trichoderma are free-living fungi widely used in agricultural biotechnology. Some species of Trichoderma are specifically used as biocontrol agents to control plant pathogens including Fusarium species. Their success is partly due to mycoparasitism – a lifestyle where one fungus is parasitic on another ...

It is vital that the body's own immune system does not overreact. If its key players, the helper T cells, get out of control, this can lead to autoimmune diseases or allergies. An immune system overreaction against infectious agents may even directly damage organs and tissues. Immune cells called regulatory T cells ("Tregs") ensure that immune responses take place in a coordinated manner: They downregulate the dividing activity of helper T cells and reduce their production of immune mediators. "This happens through direct contact between regulatory cell and helper cell," ...

New research hopes to explain premature births and failed inductions of labour. The study by academics at the University of Bristol suggests a new mechanism by which the level of myosin phosphorylation is regulated in the pregnant uterus. The researchers, Dr Claire Hudson and Professor Andrés López Bernal in the School of Clinical Sciences and Dr Kate Heesom in the University Proteomics Facility and the School of Biochemistry, have discovered that phosphorylation of uterus proteins at specific amino acids have a key role in the regulation of uterine activity in labour. A ...

Has the packet been properly filled? Are there impurities in the chocolate? Have the plastic seams been welded correctly? Is there a knife hidden in the parcel? Answers to all these questions are provided by SAMMI, short for Stand Alone MilliMeter wave Imager. The millimeter-wave sensor is able to see through all non-transparent materials. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR in Wachtberg have developed the device, whichat 50 centimeters wide and 32 centimeters high is no larger than a compact laser printer. SAMMI can ...

Advance introduces the newest addition to the company's upright vacuum product line with the Spectrum 12H Single Motor Upright Vacuum. With high-quality dirt pickup and filtration capabilities, the Spectrum 12H is designed to withstand the demanding environmental conditions and the unique operational needs found in the hospitality market. "The hospitality industry requires continuous cleaning and carpet maintenance to ensure excellent guest satisfaction," said Bob Abrams, Product Manager for Nilfisk-Advance. "The Spectrum 12H meets these requirements with ...

Murphy's Law is a useful scapegoat for human error: "If something can go wrong, it will." But, a new study by researchers in Canada hopes to put paid to this unscientific excuse for errors by showing that the introduction of verification and checking procedures can improve structural safety and performance and so prevent the application of the "law". Engineer Franz Knoll of Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltd., based in Montreal, Quebec, writing in the International Journal of Reliability and Safety explains that faults and flaws in any industrial product almost always originate ...

A lack of infrastructure in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas, often ensures that healthcare provision is absent. Research published in the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management by a team at Howard University in Washington DC suggests a solution to this insidious problem involving the development of telemedicine. Ronald Leach and colleagues describe a highly asynchronous service model for healthcare delivery. The approach is much cheaper to implement than direct medicine and even less expensive than other approaches to telemedicine ...

Researchers from the University of Southampton have contributed to a major international United Nation's (UN) report into the current status of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture. Dr Craig Hutton, Professor Mike Clark, both from the University's GeoData Institute, and demographer Dr Fiifi Amoako Johnson contributed as authors as well external editors to the recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation publication, 'State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture' (SOLAW). The report notes that with the task ...

TORONTO, Ont. -- Hospitals vary greatly in the number of patients who see an internal medicine specialist before major non-cardiac surgery, with rates ranging from five per cent of patients to 90 per cent, new research has found. The findings are important because they suggest there are no commonly agreed upon standards for which patients should have such consultations, said Dr. Duminda Wijeysundera, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). As a result, some patients may be ...

Every year millions of people make new years resolutions to lose weight, shine in their career, improve their relationship, and find more balance in their lives. However, every year millions of these resolutions are never met...why? People make these resolutions with good intentions and a desire to change. So what happens? What goes so wrong? Simply put, the person does not have the precise skills, encouragement, and direction necessary to make their resolutions a reality. This is the reason both men and women today are hiring a professional life coach for assistance! ...