Anyone with Internet access can generate online content and influence public opinion, according to popular belief. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the social Web is becoming more of a playground for the affluent than a digital democracy. Despite the proliferation of social media – with Twitter and Facebook touted as playing pivotal roles in such pro-democracy movements as the Arab Spring – the bulk of today's blogs, websites and video-sharing sites represent the perspectives of college-educated, Web 2.0-savvy users, the study ...

State Farm Agent Linda Allen is pleased to name Brooke Allen as the winner of the second annual Linda Allen State Farm Agency college scholarship. Brooke plans to attend Texas A&M in the fall with a major in bio-environmental science and research oceanography. A Texas University Interscholastic League Scholar, and Distinguished Texas Graduate, Brooke's Advanced Placement classwork helped her earn a 4.1 GPA and graduate in the top 10 percent of her class at Boswell High School in Saginaw, Texas. "I've been visiting college campuses since the fourth grade because ...

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered how to prime a second arm of the immune system to potentially boost influenza vaccine effectiveness. A combination of two adjuvants, chemicals used to boost the effectiveness of some vaccines, induced CD8, or killer, T cells to join antibodies in response to influenza infection. Since the killer T cells targeted a highly conserved protein that does not change from year to year, the adjuvant strategy suggests potential for a universal flu vaccine. "Most vaccines protect against disease by boosting antibody protection," ...

With autism affecting close to one percent of children in the U.S., the urgency to find some sort of explanation for the disorder has never been greater. This week, three studies published in the 9 June issue of Neuron offer a definitive vindication of the theory that spontaneous, or de novo, genetic mutations underlie the development of autism in many families with no history of the disorder. Two of the new papers, independent microarray studies of unprecedented scale, point to an array of genetic variants that are likely to increase the risk of developing an autism ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Older people who regularly exercise at a moderate to intense level may be less likely to develop the small brain lesions, sometimes referred to as "silent strokes," that are the first sign of cerebrovascular disease, according to a new study published in the June 8, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). "These 'silent strokes' are more significant than the name implies, because they have been associated with an increased risk of falls and impaired mobility, memory problems and even dementia, ...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are devastating developmental disorders characterized by altered social interactions and behavior. Although genetic risks are known to contribute to the development of ASDs, the genetic causes of the disease are not well understood. Now, three papers published by Cell Press in the June 9 issue of the journal Neuron provide new insight into the diversity of the genetic abnormalities that contribute to autism and represent a step towards the future design of treatments specifically targeted to different kinds of autism. To unravel the ...

HOUSTON (June 8, 2011) – Many roads can lead to the same place, often crossing over one another and sometimes passing the same landmarks. The interactome or protein interaction network for autism spectrum disorders developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital in collaboration with scientists at the Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute demonstrates how protein pathways converge, diverge and interact to arrive at the same devastating condition. In ...

Better control of cholesterol levels and blood pressure and a decline in smoking have contributed to a 74% drop in the risk of heart attack among nearly 10,000 civil servants working in London over a 20-year period, according to new research. However, the reduction would have been even greater were it not for the fact that more people became fatter during this time, and this rise in body mass index (BMI) accounted for an estimated 11% increased risk of heart attack over the same period. In a paper published online today in the European Heart Journal [1], researchers report ...

Salon and Spa Galleria adds yet another service to their list of specialties by offering massage services from certified massage technicians in Grapevine. The addition of more day spa services helps the salon accomplish their goal of better catering to their clients' needs. Eventually the salon wants to be a one stop shop for all health and beauty needs. "There is never a bad time for a massage," owner Ron Sturgeon said. "And with our location right in front of Grapevine Mills Mall we make the perfect place to stop by and relax after a long day of shopping. ...

Hundreds of small genetic variations are associated with autism spectrum disorders, including an area of DNA that may be a key to understanding why humans are social animals, according to a multi-site collaborative study led by researchers at Yale University. Published in the June 9 issue of the journal Neuron, the study reinforces the theory that autism, a disorder that develops in early childhood involving impairments in social interaction, language deficits and distinctive behaviors, is not caused by one or two major genetic defects, but by many small variations, each ...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a gene and a novel signaling pathway, both critical for making the first hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in developing vertebrate embryos. The discovery has implications for developing stem cell-based therapies for diseases like leukemia and congenital blood disorders. HSCs are multipotent stem cells that give rise to all blood cell types, including red blood and immune cells. Existing medical treatments using HSCs are hampered by cell shortages and finding compatible matches between ...

Contact: Vanessa Meadu ccafs.comms@gmail.com 44-777-219-5317 Jeff Haskins jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com 254-729-871-422 Burness Communications REDD+ strategies lack plan for agriculture Even as countries cite farm expansion as main cause of forest loss, research finds gap between climate 'promises' and farm policies BONN, GERMANY (8 JUNE 2011)—The majority of countries participating in a major global effort to reduce greenhouse emissions caused by forest destruction cite agriculture as the main cause of deforestation, but very few provide details on how ...

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – A clinically extensive and mathematically powerful study of 1000 families with one autistic child and one unaffected sibling has validated a controversial theory of autism's complex genetic causation. The study for the first time estimates the minimum number of locations in the human genome -- 250 to 300 -- where gene copy number variation (CNV) can give rise to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It also sheds new light on the long observed but little understood "gender bias" of autism, an illness that typically manifests by age 3 and affects about ...

Archive Systems, Inc., a leading provider of records and document management services, today announced that it has launched a new business records facility serving the Washington DC metro area. The facility offers advanced solutions to help companies go paperless along with traditional records management services such as business records storage, document destruction and offsite data protection. "We are thrilled to be opening another new location in 2011 as we continue to increase our national footprint. This growth is a testament to our vision for the future of ...

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) is the latest telescope to be added to ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is housed in an enclosure immediately adjacent to the four VLT Unit Telescopes on the summit of Cerro Paranal under the pristine skies of one of the best observing sites on Earth. The VST is a wide-field survey telescope with a field of view twice as broad as the full Moon. It is the largest telescope in the world designed to exclusively survey the sky in visible light. Over the next few years the VST and its camera OmegaCAM will make ...

Boden, the multichannel retailer of apparel and accessories, emerged victorious as the CRM/Loylty category winner of Marketing Week's second Engage Awards. Announced at a glittering ceremony at the Grosvernor House Hotel in London, members of the Boden team were delighted by the recognition by judges and peers for their innovative CRM efforts. The award-winning "Love Story" campaign featured personalised mailing, addressed to a customer's first name with a J Loves logo at the front. A fold-out spread was completely unique to each customer based on their shopping ...

MADISON – A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has solved a 25-year mystery that may lead to better treatments for people with learning deficits and mental retardation. Synaptophysin is the first protein and most abundant ever found on the membranes surrounding the tiny sacs that carry chemical messengers to synapses, the gaps where communication between nerve cells occurs. But even though the loss of synaptophysin has recently been linked to learning deficits and mental retardation, scientists have been unable for more than a quarter-century to explain what ...

The planet's soils are under greater threat than ever before, at a time when we need to draw on their vital role to support life more than ever, warns an expert from the University of Sheffield today (9 June 2011) in the journal Nature. Professor Steve Banwart from the University's Kroto Research Institute, will be helping to tackle this challenge as part of a new programme of international research, called Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs), funded initially by the USA National Science Foundation and the European Commission. In some parts of the world, losses due ...

Clothing retailer Boden reported a doubling of response on its latest enquirer conversion campaign in Summer 2011. Investment in an integrated multichannel approach to enquirer mailings with high level of personalisation paid off with improved ROI compared to past campaigns. In May, Boden mailed Royal Wedding themed postcards to its enquirers, each featuring a personalised URL leading to a tailored micro site. Visitors were able to enter a competition to instantly win GBP1,000 worth of Boden clothing. Those that weren't lucky enough to scoop the prize were awarded with ...

A new treatment for colon cancer that combines a chemotherapy agent approved to treat breast cancer and a cancer-fighting antibody is ready for clinical trials, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. More than 150,000 cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed each year, and about 50,000 people die from colorectal cancer yearly. Currently there are limited chemotherapy treatments for colorectal cancer with little that has been in the pipeline in recent years. Wafik S. El-Deiry, M.D. Ph.D., American Cancer Society Research Professor and Rose Dunlap Professor ...

Air and water meet over most of the earth's surface, but exactly where one ends and the other begins turns out to be a surprisingly subtle question. A new study in Nature narrows the boundary to just one quarter of water molecules in the uppermost layer – those that happen to have one hydrogen atom in water and the other vibrating freely above. Such molecules straddle gas and liquid phases, according to senior author Alexander Benderskii of the University of Southern California: The free hydrogen behaves like an atom in gas phase, while its twin below acts much like ...

The League for Innovation in the Community College has announced that two exciting workshops will be offered in conjunction with the 2011 STEMtech conference being held October 2-5, at the JW Marriott Indianapolis. Educators, industry leaders, and others will gather to discuss increasing student access into and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and careers. The 2011 STEMtech conference will also help educators explore the strategic use of information technology to better serve their students, campuses, and communities. Complete conference ...

PASADENA, Calif.-They're bright and blue-and a bit strange. They're a new type of stellar explosion that was recently discovered by a team of astronomers led by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Among the most luminous in the cosmos, these new kinds of supernovae could help researchers better understand star formation, distant galaxies, and what the early universe might have been like. "We're learning about a whole new class of supernovae that wasn't known before," says Robert Quimby, a Caltech postdoctoral scholar and the lead author on a paper to be ...

June 8, 2011 — (Bronx, NY) — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a key player in the spread of breast cancer. The findings, published today in the online edition of Nature, identify a critical molecule that helps cancer spread beyond the primary tumor. The research highlights a potential new strategy against metastatic disease. The study's senior author is Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D., professor of developmental and molecular biology and of obstetrics & gynecology and women's health at Einstein. He also holds the Louis Goldstein ...

This week it was announced that a dark matter detector about 700 meters below the ground in a Minnesota mine has recorded a seasonal modulation in staggeringly faint electrical pulses. One possible reason: this could be the result of dark matter particles called WIMPs that envelope the Milky Way galaxy and collide with atoms in the detector's germanium crystal. This seems possible because the results are consistent with modulation in signals first recorded more than a decade ago by the DArk MAtter/Large sodium Iodide Bulk for RAre processes (DAMA/LIBRA) experiment at ...