A scientist from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) may be onto an ocean of discovery because of his research into a little sea creature called the mantis shrimp. The research is likely to lead to making ceramics – today's preferred material for medical implants and military body armour – many times stronger. These findings were published in last Friday's Science, the world's top scientific journal, and focused on the mantis shrimp's ability to shatter aquarium glass and crab shells alike. The common creature native to the Indo Pacific, has club-like 'arms' which ...

This enzyme is also involved in other conditions as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. University of Granada researchers have tested melatonin analogues in rats as it inhibits the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which is involved in the development of conditions as inflammatory bowel disease, septic shock or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic ...

Global climate change is expected to cause sea-level rise of approximately 1-2 meters within this century and studies are beginning to project the consequences for humans and global biodiversity. While the direct consequences of sea-level rise due to flooding and inundation ('primary effects') are beginning to be assessed, no studies have yet considered the possible secondary effects from sea-level rise due to the relocation of human refugees into the hinterland. Researchers from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, ...

Leading Mansfield dentists, Drs. Irving, Curtis and Stephenson, are taking steps to make sure every patient is comfortable when visiting Irving, Stephenson & Curtis DDS. To do so, Dr. Curtis, dentist in Mansfield, and his team of dental professionals are providing patients with easy online access to before-and-after photos via the practice website before making the decision to receive their individual treatment. Prior to their procedures, patients can visit the website for Irving, Stephenson & Curtis DDS to explore photos of previous procedures that have been ...

An international team of scientists have published the first continent-wide assessment of the Antarctic's biogeography, and propose that the landmass should be divided into 15 distinct conservation regions to protect the continent from invasive alien species. The team's findings are published in Diversity and Distributions, while the authors' proposals were outlined today at a lecture to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Hobart, Tasmania. The study, led by Australian Antarctic Division terrestrial biologist Dr Aleks Terauds, examined the geography, geology, ...

Theories of the primordial Universe predict the existence of knots in the fabric of space - known as cosmic textures - which could be identified by looking at light from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang. Using data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, researchers from UCL, Imperial College London and the Perimeter Institute have performed the first search for textures on the full sky, finding no evidence for such knots in space. As the Universe cooled it underwent a series of phase transitions, ...

Dr. Bryant Aiken, Cleburne family dentist, is now offering an educational library and videos via the practice's newly developed website. The library and videos were created to allow patients to access reliable dental information around the clock while encouraging exceptional dental care for healthier teeth and gums. Dental topics include tooth decay, periodontal disease, preventative care and oral surgery in Cleburne, among other topics. "It is important that our patients understand the care they are receiving before they come into our office. Through the educational ...

This application yields a prediction of urban noise levels using a dataset (street type, road conditions, average speed of the vehicles passing by, road works, etc), with a reliability of 95%. University of Granada researchers have designed a new software solution to determine noise levels in a street in the future. This new system predicts noise frequency and the type of noise that the inhabitants of a neighborhood will have to endure. This information is of great interest to people interested in buying a new house. This system is more accurate than the traditional ...

"Climate change and the associated change of water availability are facts and will require partly significant adaptation," emphasize Ha-rald Kunstmann and Christof Lorenz of Karlsruhe Institute of Tech-nology, who are the authors of the said study. "This is the reason why we have to better understand interactions of evaporation, clouds, and precipitation also on the regional level." To check the reliability of various global analyses, the hydrologists and climate researchers reevaluated three of the most modern global coupled atmosphere and ocean models with respect to ...

Today there is a great deal of confusion and frustration within the maritime industry about the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Accident Report (CG-2692) and the overall policy and procedures surrounding its use. Once a report is filed, a variety of consequences can ensue, not all of which are always appropriate to the case and which can cause unnecessary disruptions to commercial maritime operations. Mariners have also found uneven application of the report in different Coast Guard districts around the country. To address some of the biggest issues surrounding the policy ...

On June 22, Peter Hurth of Concurrency, Inc. will present an educational program titled "SharePoint Process Revolution" to share with Milwaukee-area IT and business managers how the integration of Microsoft's SharePoint enterprise content management platform with Kofax's business process management tools can improve business processes and decision-making. The event is sponsored in cooperation with Microsoft and Kofax and will be held at Microsoft's facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Peter Hurth is ECM Team Lead within Concurrency's Business Productivity practice. ...

Research led by the University of Leicester concludes that people newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes need ongoing advice from GPs sustained over a number of years rather than a one-off session when they are first diagnosed. Although a single programme for people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes mellitus shows sustained improvements in some illness beliefs at three years, there is no sustained difference in biomedical or lifestyle outcomes, finds the research published at bmj.com. The study, funded by Diabetes UK, was led by Professor Kamlesh Khunti, of the University ...

Children who are skilled in understanding how shapes fit together to make recognizable objects also have an advantage when it comes to learning the number line and solving math problems, research at the University of Chicago shows. The work is further evidence of the value of providing young children with early opportunities in spatial learning, which contributes to their ability to mentally manipulate objects and understand spatial relationships, which are important in a wide range of tasks, including reading maps and graphs and understanding diagrams showing how to ...

CT scans of fossilized primate skulls or skull fragments from both the Old and New Worlds may shed light on how these extinct animals moved, especially for those species without any known remains, according to an international team of researchers. The researchers looked at the bony labyrinth in fossil remains and compared them to CT scans previously obtained from living primate species. The bony labyrinth of the inner ear is made up of the cochlea -- the major organ of hearing -- the vestibule and the three semicircular canals which sense head motion and provide input ...

When it comes to childhood obesity, it typically comes down to two culprits: inactivity and junk food. For the young generation of couch potatoes, television, video games and computers have all been pointed to by experts as a cause for rising health risks among youth. A recent US News article observes the actions of Disney, one of the most major family-oriented media companies. The leading media outlet is preparing to tackle the issue by rebranding itself to promote healthier diets among its young audience. Nutrition expert, Matthew Vettese is proud of the company for taking ...

Seeking ways to change cancer patients' perceptions and negative attitudes towards clinical trials participation, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center conducted a study offering two different kinds of intervention to two groups of adults with cancer who had not previously been asked to participate in clinical trials. They found a multimedia psychoeducational intervention to be more effective in changing patients' perceptions and negative attitudes toward clinical trials than standard educational literature. The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical ...

BOSTON (June 13, 2012)—We've all seen them in the waiting room of the doctor's office—pens, notepads, magnets, and clipboards adorned with the logos of brand-name drugs. These freebies may seem inconsequential, but a large and compelling body of evidence shows that even these small gifts may influence which drug a doctor prescribes. "What most people haven't seen is many of the other giveaways that pharmaceutical and medical-device companies routinely provide to doctors, ranging from elaborate meals in local restaurants to expensive resort travel in the form of continuing ...

President Obama's health care law has consistently been attacked by GOP officials throughout recent years, but now, Democrats and Republicans may be acting against it together. According to an article in The Washington Times a law could be passed in January that calls for a 2.3 percent tax increase "on the sales of manufacturers that produce x-rays machines, medical monitors, life-support equipment and other devices." If the repeal goes forward it will mark the 30th GOP attempt to "poke holes" in Obama's health care initiatives. Many experts believe, ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- No matter how much time you've spent training your brain to multitask by playing "Call of Duty," you're probably no better at talking on the phone while driving than anybody else. A study by the Visual Cognition Laboratory at Duke University wanted to see whether gamers who have spent hours in front of a screen simultaneously watching the map, scanning doorways for bad guys and listening to the chatter of their fellow gamers could answer questions and drive at the same time. The finding: not so much. "It doesn't matter how much you've trained your ...

'Modern' fathers have been around for far longer than we think, but they have only recently started to change nappies according to research from the University of Warwick. In a new paper published on the History & Policy website today, Dr Laura King from the University of Warwick's Centre for the History of Medicine said the assumption that fathers have only become more involved in looking after their children over the past 20 years is not true. However, statistics show it has taken longer for dads to get to grips with dirty nappies. Figures from a 1982 study showed ...

Throughout the United States, there are 79 people serving sentences of life without parole for crimes they committed when they were 14 years old or younger. Many have decried this practice, arguing that it is unjust to impose such harsh punishments on the acts of children, many of whose brains were not fully developed enough to appreciate the consequences of their actions. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws allowing the death penalty as punishment for juvenile crimes and abolished life without parole for non-homicide juvenile offenses. However, in many ...

Wolozin's group also pursued the observation that some of the RNA binding proteins bind to tau protein, and tested whether one of these proteins, TIA-1, might contribute to the disease process. Previously, scientists have demonstrated that TIA-1 spontaneously aggregates in response to stress as a normal part of the stress response. Wolozin and his colleagues hypothesize that since TIA-1 binds tau, it might stimulate tau aggregation during the stress response. They introduced TIA-1 into neurons with tau protein, and subjected the neurons to stress. Consistent with their ...

Each year in the United States about $135 billion is spent in training employees — but those billions do not always improve the workplace because the skills often do not transfer to the actual job. "Learning is a way of life in organizations," says Eduardo Salas, a psychological scientist from the University of Central Florida. "Everyone gets training. But what matters? What works? What influences learning and skill acquisition?" In a new report published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Salas and ...

Although mammograms are often a life-saving tool for women, according to a study published the Annals of Internal Medicine, the frequency that women undergo these tests should be customized to each patient -- based on the woman's age, breast density and her family's history of breast cancer. Although the American Cancer Society suggests that women begin receiving annual mammograms at age 40, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Forces advises women to be screened every other year from age 50 to 74, John Schousboe of Park Nicollet Health Services in Minneapolis and his ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- MIT engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again. The fuel cell, described in the June 12 edition of the journal PLoS ONE, strips electrons from glucose molecules to create a small electric current. The researchers, led by Rahul Sarpeshkar, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, fabricated the fuel cell ...