A curious twist in a family of plant proteins called chalcone-isomerase recently was discovered by Salk Institute for Biological Studies scientist Joseph Noel and colleagues at Iowa State University led by Eve Wurtele. Pursuing basic scientific discovery, they found three similar proteins that could soon translate into positive results for bio-renewable fuels, commodity chemicals like plastics, food security and nutrition and biomedicine. The findings, reported May 13 in advance online publication of the journal Nature, may lead to higher-yield crops and quantities of ...

Philadelphia, PA, May 14, 2012 – Health professionals commonly say, "Don't look and it won't hurt" before administering an injection, but is there any scientific basis for the advice? A group of German investigators has found that, in fact, your past experience with needle pricks, along with information you receive before an injection, shape your pain experience. Their research is published in the May issue of Pain®. "Throughout our lives, we repeatedly experience that needles cause pain when pricking our skin, but situational expectations, like information given by ...

INDIANAPOLIS — A new study from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University has found that, at time of death, individuals with dementia are more likely to be living at home than in a nursing home. This contradicts the commonly held view that most individuals with dementia in the United States eventually move to nursing homes and die there. "Transitions in Care for Older Adults With and Without Dementia" appears online in advance of publication in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Most individuals with dementia, even advanced ...

A study by a team of university and government scientists led by a Kansas State University researcher, indicates that genes responsible for seed shattering -- the process by which grasses disseminate their seeds -- were under parallel selection during sorghum, rice and maize domestication. The study, "Parallel domestication of the Shattering1 genes in cereals," was published May 13 in the online version of the journal, Nature Genetics. In order to identify the molecular basis underlying seed shattering in sorghum, which is the world's fifth major crop, the researchers ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Letting autoworkers sit while they reach into a car's interior could help prevent shoulder and back strain - but another solution might be to tilt the entire car so that workers can stand up. That's the finding of two recent studies, which tested two ways to protect autoworkers from injury. Sitting on a cantilevered chair reduced the stress on the workers' backs and shoulders for three common installation tasks. But a different strategy - tilting a car sideways on a carriage so that workers could access the interior while standing - reduced the stress ...

AMES, Iowa – Research groups from Iowa State University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have uncovered the function of three plant proteins, a discovery that could help plant scientists boost seed oil production in crops, thereby benefitting the production of food, biorenewable chemicals and biofuels. The analysis of gene activity (by the Iowa group) and determination of protein structures (by the Salk group) independently identified in the model plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) three related proteins that appear to be involved in fatty-acid metabolism. ...

The Solebury Club (http://www.thesoleburyclub.com), which is co-owned by Rob DeAngelis, now has an exciting offer for new members. Those who decide to join will get the first month free and the initiation fee will be waived. The Solebury Club, which prides itself on its nationally ranked instructors, professional staff and expertly maintained premises, provides those in the Doylestown, PA, region a full range of gym-related activities supported by the latest workout equipment and much more. This premiere health club includes group instruction in kickboxing, karate, dance, ...

Look Ventures LLC, a website development and management Company is pleased to announce the launch of their all new Universal Search Engine and Home Page Portal, Website http://www.prefrd.com. Prefrd.com offers a number of exciting and innovative new website features claims developer and CEO of Look Ventures, Cliff Livingstone. In particular, for the first time ever Prefrd.com allows viewers to search the Internet in their own Mother Tongue. Not even Google or Yahoo can do that. Prefrd.com's search capacity is alos very capable, offering many additional search related ...

Broward SCORE (http://www.broward.score.org) hosts a wide variety of workshops on the financial needs of small businesses in South Florida. The workshops help business owners find financing, manage their cash flow, budget and more. The workshops are held from 5 - 8 p.m. throughout the year at different venues in Broward County such as Best Buy, Comerica Bank, IKEA, Hispanic Unity of Florida among others. Workshop facilitators are SCORE volunteers with expertise in finance and business management. Facilitators include Paul Bosley of First Financial; Carla Dorsey ...

URBANA – A new University of Illinois study shows that human milk oligosaccharides, or HMO, produce short-chain fatty acids that feed a beneficial microbial population in the infant gut. Not only that, the bacterial composition adjusts as the baby grows older and its needs change. Even though HMO are a major component of human milk, present in higher concentration than protein, many of their actions in the infant are not well understood. Furthermore, they're virtually absent from infant formula. The scientists wanted to find out what formula-fed babies were missing. "We ...

DocVerify has today announced the release of their powerful new Easy Sign System, designed to allow website owners the ability to integrate electronic signatures into their sites with no programming or HTML knowledge required. This offers website owners searching for a complete answer to their contract management or document management needs a simple, powerful, effective solution. The new Easy Sign System is designed to work with any website, and requires no HTML or coding knowledge from the website owner. According to DocVerify, "Easy Sign has been designed to ...

A male robin will be more diligent in caring for its young if the eggs its mate lays are a brighter shade of blue. Queen's University biology professor Bob Montgomerie has been studying robins on and off for 25 years and has a particular fascination with the bright blue colour of their eggs. To test a theory on the purpose of bright egg colouration, Dr. Montgomerie and MSc student Philina English, working at the Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) and other sites around Kingston, replaced the real eggs in robins' nests with artificial eggs of different shades ...

WASHINGTON – A drug that has been shown to prevent HIV infection in a significant number of cases must be combined with behavioral approaches if the U.S. health care establishment is to succeed in reducing the spread of the virus, according to the American Psychological Association. "Exclusive reliance on a drug to prevent HIV or any sexually transmitted disease could actually result in a worse outcome if those at risk don't understand how their own behavior affects treatment," said Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, chair of APA's Committee on Psychology and AIDS. "We know that ...

Check writer software saves users time and money on personal finance tracking. New updates to ezCheckPersonal, the popular check printing software from Halfpricesoft.com (http://www.halfpricesoft.com), include an updated user interface and installation package, which makes it easier for new users to set up this check writer, print personalized checks, manage checks and track expense. "Simple, easy and fast. That's what computer software should be," said Halfpricesoft.com founder Dr. Ge. "You shouldn't need a programming degree or accounting background ...

Young children of unmarried parents who live with their mother and receive court-mandated financial support from their father exhibit more aggressive behavior than those who don't get any formal support at all, according to a Rutgers University Study. In analyzing data from a study of nearly 5,000 children born between 1998 and 2000, Lenna Nepomnyaschy, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, also found that 5-year-old children have increased cognitive skills when their father provides cash support without being forced to do so by a legal agreement. The data ...

York Carnival returns to the city on Saturday June 16th this year, with plenty of live music and entertainment lined up for those in attendance. Organised by a committee of students from the University of York, the carnival will feature a colourful parade through the city headed by York Samba that begins at 12:15 BST. The event aims to integrate the activities of the university with members of the local community, so the many acts and performers who take part are drawn from both the campus and elsewhere in York. North Yorkshire-based rock band My Forever are also ...

Amber from Cretaceous deposits (110-105 my) in Northern Spain has revealed the first ever record of insect pollination. Scientists have discovered in two pieces of amber several specimens of tiny insects covered with pollen grains, revealing the first record of pollen transport and social behavior in this group of animals. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) dated 14-18 May 2012. The international team of scientists comprises: Enrique Peñalver and Eduardo Barrón from the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España in Madrid; ...

The Chieftains, one of Ireland's most popular traditional music acts, are due to play at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh next month. Fans of the group can see them perform in the Scottish capital on Sunday June 17th, when they are set to play songs from latest album Voice of Ages. Formed in Dublin during the early 1960s, The Chieftains are celebrating 50 years in the music business this year. They are now regarded as international ambassadors of traditional Irish folk music, having performed in huge venues around the world. Their distinctive sound is largely based ...

Singer-songwriter sensation Christina Perri will be bringing her popular brand of soulful anthems to Kuala Lumpur for a live show on June 7th 2012. To be held at KL Live, the show is set to begin at 20:30 local time and will see audiences treated to a performance by one of US music's biggest breakout success stories of recent years. Perri was catapulted from her previous life as a cafe manager to global superstardom in 2010 when her tender ballad Jar of Hearts was featured on the US TV show So You Think You Can Dance, becoming a million-selling smash hit. Since ...

Visitors to Macau will be able to see a spectacular yet thought-provoking dance show called Grasping the Floor with the Back of My Head in Macau this June. Performed by Denmark's Mute Comp. Physical Theatre, the show is being staged at the Centro Cultural Macau on June 29th and 30th at 20:00 local time. Debuting back in 2008 to critical acclaim and awards recognition, Grasping the Floor with the Back of My Head offers a discussion of the way in which so much of human existence involves people creating misery for themselves. This serious theme will be explored in ...

Pursuing a relatively untapped route for regulating the immune system, an international team of researchers has designed and conducted initial tests on molecules that have the potential to treat diseases involving inflammation, such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke and sepsis. The team started by creating a three-dimensional map of a protein structure called the C3a receptor, which sits on the surface of human cells and plays a critical role in regulating a branch of the immune system called the complement system. They then used computational techniques to design ...

Lovers of traditional Chinese performing arts will be well catered for in Hong Kong this summer when the 2012 Chinese Opera Festival is held. Commencing on June 15th, the event encompasses ten programmes showcasing different aspects of this unique art form, eventually drawing to a close on August 5th. This year, the elegant and sophisticated Kunqu performing style will take centre stage via a mentoring programme conducted by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre, which will teach two classic operas to young actors before staging a final performance. However, other styles ...

The Singapore Arts Festival 2012 will commence on May 18th and is set to treat visitors to dozens of thought-provoking and fascinating performances. Based around the title Our Lost Poems, the 16-day event runs until June 2nd 2012 and will aim to explore stories ranging from myths and legends to idle thoughts and enigmatic riddles, via a number of different artistic media. Participating artists hail from nations as diverse as India, China, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Canada and the UK, as well as Singapore itself. Highlights include Mark Chan's musical ...

Brick Marketing, a Boston full service SEO company, is now offering an affordable small business SEO solution for business owners that want to improve their search engine visibility but don't have the budget to pay a monthly service fee or commit to a contract. Brick Marketing small business SEO services are designed for business owners that want a strong SEO foundation for a onetime cost. The service includes all of the upfront work of an SEO campaign on a per project basis and includes a combination of elements of a full service SEO campaign and SEO consulting and ...

EUGENE, Ore. -- (May 14, 2012) -- Water could change the way we eat. That's the conclusion of new research by T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Oregon and Anna R. McAlister of Michigan State University. Their findings appear online this week ahead of regular publication by the journal Appetite. The paper featured separate studies. One involved a survey of 60 young U.S. adults (ages 19-23) about the role of food-and-drink pairings. The second involved experiments with 75 U.S. children (ages 3-5) to determine the role of drinks and vegetable consumption. The same ...