Web applications such as Google Mail, Facebook and Amazon are used every day. However, so far there are no methods to test them systematically and at low cost for malfunctions and security vulnerabilities. Therefore, computer scientists from Saarland University are working on automatic methods of testing, which check complex web applications autonomously. For the first time, they will present this work at exhibition booth F34 in hall 26 at the computer fair Cebit. The trade show will take place from March 6 to 10 in Hannover. "Ineffective and inefficient" is Valentin ...

People like to keep a safe distance from explosive substances, but in order to analyze them, close contact is usually inevitable. At the Vienna University of Technology, a new method has now been developed to detect chemicals inside a container over a distance of more than a hundred meters. Laser light is scattered in a very specific way by different substances. Using this light, the contents of a nontransparent container can be analyzed without opening it. Scattered Light as a "Chemical Fingerprint" "The method we are using is Raman-spectroscopy", says Professor Bernhard ...

This study is part of broader research that these scientists are carrying out on the imbalance of the sexes in China and its potential consequences. This phenomenon started to be noticed during the nineteen eighties and can currently be seen in the birth rate of approximately 120 boys for every 100 girls born in the People's Republic of China. The objective of this research is precisely to analyze the effects that this disproportion can have on this society and to attempt to prevent the possible negative results it may produce. The researchers estimate that approximately ...

New research has shown that visual alerting methods are still considered to be the most trustworthy, as compared to auditory or tactile alerts. This is shown by research conducted by a team of scientists at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, USA. The research Alert Characteristics and Identification of Avatars on a Virtual Battlefield by James P. Bliss, Rachel Liebman and J. Christopher Brill is published in the current issue (6:2) of the journal Intelligent Decision Technologies. Most research to date has been limited to the visual or auditory signal modality. ...

Why is it that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can cause tuberculosis with as little as 10 cells, whereas Vibrio cholerae requires the host to ingest up to tens of millions of cells to cause cholera? This is the question that two research teams, from the Pasteur Institute, in France, and the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia and the University of Lisbon, in Portugal, answer in the latest issue of the journal PLoS Pathogens. The researchers show that bacteria that are able to invade and/or destroy cells of the host's immune system have higher infectivity, whereas those that are ...

Washington D.C., February 27, 2012 – In a study published in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Katherine Rice and colleagues, from the Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine, used eye-tracking technology to measure the relationship between cognitive and social disability in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the ability of children with ASD to pay attention to social interactions. The study is the largest to date to observe children with ...

A collaboration between scientists in Trinity College Dublin and the United Kingdom has identified new processes that lead to the development of a novel cell implicated in allergies. The discovery has the potential for new strategies to treat asthma and other allergic diseases. The research findings have just been published in the leading international journal Nature Immunology. The work was performed by Professor Padraic Fallon, Science Foundation Ireland Stokes Professor of Translational Immunology of TCD's School of Medicine and Dr Andrew McKenzie of the Medical ...

PHILADELPHIA (February 24, 2012)— A new report from researchers at the Drexel University School of Public Health identifies patterns in the misuse of illicit drugs among young adults who also misuse prescription drugs. The report, "Misuse of Prescription and Illicit Drugs among High-Risk Adults" in Los Angeles and New York, was recently published in the first issue of the Journal of Public Health Research. This is the first report to compare patterns of prescription and illicit drug misuse among high-risk young adults who are already misusing prescription drugs. Dr. ...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27—A team of researchers in Germany has created a new way to overcome many of the issues associated with bringing high-speed digital communications across challenging terrain and into remote areas, commonly referred to as the "last mile" problem. The researchers developed a record-speed wireless data bridge that transmits digital information much faster than today's state-of-the-art systems. These unprecedented speeds, up to 20 billion bits of data per second, were achieved by using higher frequencies than those typically used in mobile communications—the ...

Researchers of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have shown that surface tension on a solid material is unconnected to the energy required to create a new surface. Consequently, surface tension on a solid does not exist in its conventional meaning. It is generally believed that an excess surface tension on a solid material exists, in similar manner to that on a liquid. This tension is described by the Shuttleworth equation, which was presented more than 60 years ago and is considered a fundamental equation of surface thermodynamics. It is believed to provide the ...

Cambridge, Mass. - February 27, 2012 - In 2009, when the United States fell into economic recession, greenhouse gas emissions also fell, by 6.59 percent relative to 2008. In the power sector, however, the recession was not the main cause. Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have shown that the primary explanation for the reduction in CO2 emissions from power generation that year was that a decrease in the price of natural gas reduced the industry's reliance on coal. According to their econometric model, emissions could be cut ...

No matter how health conscious Californians would like to be, injuries, accidents, and illnesses are a fact of life. These unfortunate mishaps can pop up without a warning and send even the healthiest of people into the emergency room or to a doctor. This has left millions of Californians unsure of where to turn for health coverage for them and their families. In an attempt to make this process just a little bit smoother, the leading provider for health insurance in California, Sofi Insurance, is now offering free consultations to all customers before they make that final ...

An emerging class of long-lasting flu vaccines could do more than just save people the trouble of an annual flu shot. Princeton University-based researchers have found that the "universal" vaccine could for the first time allow for the effective, wide-scale prevention of flu by limiting the influenza virus' ability to spread and mutate. Universal, or cross-protective, vaccines — so named for their effectiveness against several flu strains — are being developed in various labs worldwide and some are already in clinical trials. The researchers recently reported in the ...

One of the toughest parts about making that first appointment to a new dentist is wondering what is going to happen during the checkup and how much it will cost. New patients may be fearful of expensive procedures or health conditions in their mouth that may cause serious issues down the road. Unfortunately, this has kept many Southern California residents from picking up the phone. This is why the leading West Hollywood cosmetic dentist, Dr. Poneh Ghasri, is now offering a new patient special for dental exam and x-ray that will lead patients to the healthiest smile of ...

Researchers at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), the Museu de la Conca Dellà (MCD) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have published this week in the online edition of the journal Cretaceous Research the discovery and description of a turtle from the end of the age of dinosaurs. Josep Marmi, Angel Lujan, Angel Galobart from ICP, Rodrigo Gaete from MDC, and Violeta and Oms Oriol Riera from UAB have named this new species as Polysternon isonae, in recognition of the municipality of Isona I Conca Dellà (Catalonia, Spain), where the ...

Contrary to the common perception among physicians that poor people sue doctors more frequently, Ramon L. Jimenez from the Monterey Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Institute and his team demonstrate that socioeconomically disadvantaged patients, in fact, tend to sue physicians less often. Their work suggests that this myth may exist because of subconscious prejudices or stereotypes that affect thinking and decision making without doctors being aware of it - a phenomenon known as unconscious bias. Dr. Jimenez and his colleagues' work is published online in Springer's journal, ...

Tampa, Fla. (Feb 27, 2012) – Speaking at the Inaugural Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors ® (NAI), held Feb. 16-17 at the University of South Florida in Tampa, David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, spoke on changes and improvements at the USPTO since he was appointed director by President Barack Obama in August, 2009. "We're building out a dynamic IT infrastructure and we've been hiring more examiners to aggressively tackle our patent backlog," said Kappos. ...

Preventing Minnesota Snowmobile Accidents Now that the snow is finally falling across the region, Minnesotans are tuning up their snowmobiles and heading out on the trails. Before they enjoy this late winter weather, however, safety advocates and St. Paul snowmobile accident attorneys want to remind them of a few snowmobile safety tips. State snowmobile registrations topped a quarter of a million in 2010. That same year, there were almost half a million certified snowmobile students. With the swell in registrations and certifications, however, there was also an increase ...

A nationwide study of racioethnic representation between retail employees and their customers finds that mirroring a customer base improves consumer satisfaction and employee productivity – and contributes to nearly $100,000 in annual gains or losses per store. Analyzing data from 739 outlets of a major U.S. department store, the researchers found that representativeness improved customer satisfaction and increased annual productivity by $625 per employee. Given the study's average sample size of 150 employees per store, such a change amounts to about $94,000 per store, ...

WASHINGTON – Employees on sick leave with common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety fully returned to work sooner when therapy deals with work-related problems and how to get back on the job, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. Employees who received this therapy and returned to work sooner did not suffer adverse effects and showed significant improvement in mental health over the course of one year, according to the article, published online in APA's Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. "People with ...

New York City Bus and Subway Accidents: MTA Whether they take the train, subway or bus, New Yorkers put a great deal of trust into the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). They expect to get where they need to go -- work, school, the grocery store -- safely and on time. They expect that the MTA will frequently inspect trains and buses, and take other measures to ensure riders' safety. What happens when that trust is broken, when a bus or train accident causes serious injury? While the New York City subway and bus systems are generally safe, accidents ...

TAK-875, a new treatment for type 2 diabetes, improves blood sugar control and is equally effective as glimepiride, but has a significantly lower risk of creating a dangerous drop in blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, according to a new study. The results of the phase 2 randomized trial were published Online First Sunday in The Lancet. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes accounting for 90 percent of the 150 million people in the United States currently living with the disease. It is primarily caused by a lack of response to insulin which leads to high ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— In the past few years, the video game industry has grown from a niche market into a major part of mainstream media. This increase in popularity and use of technology has allowed video game developers to insert more detail and nuance into the storylines of their games. Many video games have begun incorporating religion as a key aspect to plot points and story lines. Greg Perreault, a doctoral student in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found that the many newer-generation video games equate religion with violence in the game narratives. Perreault ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Hispanics are enrolling in the higher education system at a greater rate than ever, yet they are less likely than their non-Hispanic peers to enter college or earn degrees, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. A new study by a University of Missouri researcher found that Mexican-American college students' family and peer attachments are associated with prosocial and physically aggressive behaviors that can affect their success in college. Gustavo Carlo, Millsap Professor of Diversity in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, found that ...

New Rule Aims to Decrease Truck Accidents Caused by Driver Fatigue Earlier in January 2012, a tractor-trailer overturned closing all southbound lanes on I-75 in Ohio. Though no one was hurt and the cargo was harmless, the accident created a significant traffic mess. Many other semi-truck accidents occur, or nearly occur, daily on America's roadways. Often, these can be attributed to driver error caused by fatigue. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, nearly 4,000 people die as a result of trucking accidents each year. Of those, about 500 can be directly ...