CHAMPAIGN, lll. — Does hearing that you are a member of an elite group – of chess players, say, or scholars – enhance your performance on tasks related to your alleged area of expertise? Not necessarily, say researchers who tested how sweeping pronouncements about the skills or likely success of social groups can influence children's performance. The researchers found that broad generalizations about the likely success of a social group – of boys or girls, for example – actually undermined both boys' and girls' performance on a challenging activity. The new study appears ...

Lupus is a devastating disease, the multitude of symptoms, the pain and suffering for those who have the disease, plus it's a challenge for the medical community to diagnose. Many times, someone with lupus will see upwards of 3 to 5 doctors before finally getting a correct diagnosis. And for many, a diagnosis will never come, and they will die with a disease they never knew existed. According to Molly's Fund Fighting Lupus - a Northwest based lupus awareness organization - lupus is one of the few diseases with a rising mortality rate. Only awareness, education, and faster ...

Ottawa, Ontario (23 April 2012) – Permafrost zones extend over 50% of Canada's land area. Warming or thawing of permafrost due to climate change could significantly impact existing infrastructure and future development in Canada's north. Researchers Jennifer Throop and Antoni Lewkowicz at the University of Ottawa, along with Sharon Smith with the Geological Survey of Canada, have published a new study, part of an upcoming special issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (CJES), that provides one of the first summaries of climate and ground temperature relations ...

On April 12 to April 15, Dennis and Nicki Goff were among the top level members invited to the first ProU Peak Mastermind experience. Held at the beautiful Hilton Papagayo Resort and Spa on the western coast of Costa Rica, this event brought together the experience and vision of world class leaders in marketing and coaching to this group of online entrepreneurs. Financial guru David Bach led the speaker line-up, followed by Chris Daigle, aka the Connector, Michael Force, ProU Marketing Partner Director, and ProU visionary founder Jay Kubassek. The formal sessions were ...

This press release is available in German. The lengthening of days in late winter is an important signal that stimulates the reproductive activity of many animals. Animals living in the milder climatic conditions of southern Europe usually begin breeding earlier in spring compared to animals living in colder habitats further north. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and colleagues have now discovered that day length affects gene activity differentially in the brain of great tit populations from central and North Europe. This is particularly ...

SAN DIEGO— Coronary artery disease continues to be a major cause of death in the U.S., killing hundreds of thousands of people per year. However, this disease burden isn't evenly divided between the sexes; significantly more men than women are diagnosed with coronary artery disease each year. The reasons behind this difference aren't well defined. Though some studies have shown that men's hearts become more constricted than women's during exercise, letting less blood flow through, women are more likely than men to have symptoms of heart trouble after emotional upsets. Searching ...

Dr. Theresa M. Jarmuz of Buckhead Facial Plastic Surgery is a plastic surgeon who specializes in face lift in Atlanta. She says the FaceTime Facelift, a procedure that specifically targets face and neck areas that appear flabby onscreen during video chats, is not often requested at her practice. A recent article from the The Huffington Post explains why some iPhone users are turning to cosmetic procedures to enhance their FaceTime images. According to the article, plastic surgeon in Northern Virginia developed the FaceTime Facelift to concentrate on areas that are ...

SAN DIEGO — Chronic fatigue syndrome, a medical disorder characterized by extreme and ongoing fatigue with no other diagnosed cause, remains poorly understood despite decades of scientific study. Although researchers estimate that more than 1 million Americans are affected by this condition, the cause for chronic fatigue syndrome, a definitive way to diagnose it, and even its very existence remain in question. In a new study, researchers have found differing brain responses in people with this condition compared to healthy controls, suggesting an association between a biologic ...

San Diego, CA— Chocolate, considered by some to be the "food of the gods," has been part of the human diet for at least 4,000 years; its origin thought to be in the region surrounding the Amazon basin. Introduced to the Western world by Christopher Columbus after his fourth voyage to the New World in 1502, chocolate is now enjoyed worldwide. Researchers estimate that the typical American consumes over 10 pounds of chocolate annually, with those living on the west coast eating the most. Wouldn't it be great if only chocolate were considered healthy? In fact, chocolate ...

San Diego, CA —Kids can be really mean – especially to other kids – and school-yard bullying can have serious immediate and long-term effects. One area of increasing concern in this regard is the possibility that overweight or obese children shoulder the brunt of bullying. With childhood obesity rates reaching unprecedented levels, this may translate into even more negative behavior being experienced by today's kids. It is also possible that children who are disliked by their peers may respond by becoming less active and more likely to overeat – compounding the issue even ...

Realityworks, Inc. recently published a case study following a joint project between the United Way of Greater Milwaukee (UWGM) and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The study, Teen Pregnancy Prevention in an Urban Area: The Milwaukee Project examines the joint actions of the community to make dramatic drops in adolescent pregnancies. In 2008 the City of Milwaukee Health Department declared a goal of reducing teen pregnancies by 46 percent. The UWGM took on the task of making this goal a reality. They partnered with several organizations including MPS to implement a ...

San Diego, CA — Periodontitis, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the teeth, affects more than half of adults and is linked to an increased risk of stroke and other heart problems. To evaluate whether fish oil supplementation could be an adjunct therapy for periodontitis, Dr. Alison Coates from the University of South Australia and colleagues from the School of Dentistry at University of Adelaide in Australia reviewed evidence from eight unique studies that involved humans. Their review of these studies showed that improvements in clinical measures were common in ...

San Diego—Researchers at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine have shown that G protein-coupled receptor expression may predict the prognosis of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Their findings may identify new ways to treat such patients. The UCSD researchers, led by Paul A. Insel, M.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, will present their findings on April 24. A clinical problem for many diseases, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) the most common form of leukemia in adults, is the lack of tests or biomarkers that can predict ...

San Diego, CA — Oregano, the common pizza and pasta seasoning herb, has long been known to possess a variety of beneficial health effects, but a new study by researchers at Long Island University (LIU) indicates that an ingredient of this spice could potentially be used to treat prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. Prostate cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the prostate gland and usually occurs in older men. Recent data shows that about 1 in 36 men will die of prostate cancer. Estimated new cases and deaths from this disease ...

Dr. Sandeep Jejurikar says a newly approved silicone-gel-filled breast implant increases the variety of implants available to patients, and he explains the breast augmentation options available at his plastic surgery practice near Chicago. The new implant is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for female breast augmentation patients age 22 and older and for female breast reconstruction patients of any age. "It's great to see how safe choices for plastic surgery procedures are expanding," Dr. Jejurikar says. "Safety is the most ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Here's an anatomical packing list for making that historic trip from water to land circa 370 million years ago: Lungs? Check. Legs? Check. Patches of highly vascular bone in the skin? In a new paper, scientists propose why many of the earliest four-legged creatures that dared breathe on land carried bony skin features. The "dermal bones" within the skin, especially the bones covering the skull roof and forming part of the shoulder girdle, had a highly complex surface of ridges and furrows called "dermal sculpture." The authors suggest ...

Dr. Anna Petropoulos of The New England Facial & Cosmetic Surgery Center says changes she has seen in her Boston area BOTOX Cosmetic patients support the findings of a study recently published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The study found a positive correlation between the use of botulinum toxin to treat the glabellar region of the face and a temporary reduction in depression. Dr. Petropoulos says she sees similar results in some of her patients who receive treatment with BOTOX in the Boston area. "BOTOX, which was the first FDA-approved medication ...

UPTON, NY - Detailed studies of one of the best-performing organic photovoltaic materials reveal an unusual bilayer lamellar structure that may help explain the material's superior performance at converting sunlight to electricity and guide the synthesis of new materials with even better properties. The research, published in Nature Communications April 24, 2012, was conducted by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from Stony Brook University, Seoul National University in Korea, the Max Planck ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford University School of Medicine neuroscientists have demonstrated, in a study to be published online April 24 in Stroke, that a compound mimicking a key activity of a hefty, brain-based protein is capable of increasing the generation of new nerve cells, or neurons, in the brains of mice that have had strokes. The mice also exhibited a speedier recovery of their athletic ability. These results are promising, because the compound wasn't administered to the animals until a full three days after they had suffered strokes, said the study's senior ...

Etna Interactive, a dynamic Web services firm, will be a featured exhibitor at The Aesthetic Meeting 2012 in Vancouver. During The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) meeting, May 5-8 at the Vancouver Convention Center, board-certified plastic surgeons from around the world will engage with industry-related companies about their products and services. As a special bonus, Etna Interactive will be offering free half-hour website assessments, personalized Web marketing advice and a show guide handout with helpful tips for choosing reliable Web marketing ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Because a function of RNA is to be translated as the genetic instructions for the protein-making machinery of cells, RNA editing is the body's way of fine-tuning the proteins it produces, allowing us to adapt. The enzyme ADAR, which does this editing job in the nervous system of creatures ranging from mice to men, even edits itself. In a new study that examined the self-editing process and locked it down at two extremes in fruit flies, Brown University scientists found some surprising insights into how this "fine-tuning of the fine-tuner" ...

As part of their commitment to providing useful information in plain English, specialist niche insurance broker Cover4caravans.co.uk have added a fun and useful infographic to their website highlighting information you may not know from the caravan universe. For example: - it is estimated that there are a whopping 500,000 tourers on the road in the UK- with around 15-20% not insured; - the average cost of a claim is 19.25% more than cost of a caravan insurance policy; - the UK's most expensive static caravan in the UK is the Haulfryn Anniversary Lodge in Wales, that ...

CHICAGO – A text messaging intervention with education-related messages sent to parents increased influenza vaccination coverage compared with usual care in a traditionally hard-to-reach, low-income, urban, minority population of children and adolescents, although coverage overall remained low, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA. "Timely vaccination is the cornerstone of influenza prevention through vaccination of susceptible populations before illness becomes epidemic in communities. The effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in children and adolescents ...

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CHICAGO – Although botulinum toxin A ("Botox") injections are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for preventive treatment for chronic migraines, a review and analysis of previous studies finds a small to modest benefit for patients with chronic migraine headaches and chronic daily headaches, although botox injections were not associated with greater benefit than placebo for preventing episodic migraine or chronic tension-type headaches, according to an article in the April 25 issue of JAMA. "Migraine and tension-type headaches are common. Although up to 42 percent ...