The press release
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Science4 Apr 2012

Increased Cost of Living: Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life Suits

Not too long ago, a Florida couple was eagerly awaiting the birth of their new baby. Like most couples, they were excited to bring their little bundle of joy into this world. The doctor and ultrasound technician who read the sonogram didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so the couple anticipated a healthy bouncing baby boy. Tragically, however, their son was born without any arms and only a single leg. The joy about their son's birth quickly shifted to concern and despair. In what is often called a wrongful birth suit, the couple sued their health care providers ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Darwin in the genome

A current controversy raging in evolutionary biology is whether adaptation to new environments is the result of many genes, each of relatively small effect, or just a few genes of large effect. A new study published in Molecular Ecology strongly supports the first "many-small" hypothesis. McGill University professor Andrew Hendry, from the Department of Biology and the Redpath Museum, and evolutionary geneticists at Basel University in Switzerland, studied how threespine stickleback fish adapted to lake and stream environments in British Columbia, Canada. The authors ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Lower GI problems plague many with rheumatoid arthritis, Mayo Clinic study finds

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Add lower gastrointestinal (GI) problems such as ulcers, bleeding and perforations to the list of serious complications facing many rheumatoid arthritis patients. They are at greater risk for GI problems and gastrointestinal-related death than people without the disease, a Mayo Clinic study shows. Researchers say their findings point out the need for new ways to prevent and treat lower GI disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients; the incidence of lower gastrointestinal complications is rising even as upper GI problems decrease significantly among rheumatoid ...

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Social Science4 Apr 2012

Inappropriate Teacher-Student Communication Online

Reports of teachers having inappropriate relationships with students seem to appear on the news with alarming frequency. The increase in teacher-student relationships may partly be explained by the expanding use of new technology, such as text messaging, email, or social media sites like Facebook. While these forms of communication may certainly make teaching easier or more appealing to students, they also present a problem for teachers and students alike when discussions veer from classroom topics. Online communications can quickly turn into the basis for allegations ...

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Energy4 Apr 2012

Algae biofuels: the wave of the future

Researchers at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have assembled the draft genome of a marine algae sequence to aid scientists across the US in a project that aims to discover the best algae species for producing biodiesel fuel. The results have been published in Nature Communications. The necessity of developing alternative, renewable fuel sources to prevent a potential energy crisis and alleviate greenhouse gas production has long been recognized. Various sources have been tried—corn for ethanol and soybeans for biodiesel, for example. But to truly ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Why is traumatic brain injury increasing among the elderly?

New Rochelle, NY, April 3, 2012—As the population ages in western countries, traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting mainly from falls is on the rise among the elderly, introducing new complications and treatment challenges, according to an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free on the Journal of Neurotrauma website. Nino Stochetti and colleagues from University of Milan and San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, and San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy, reported that one in five patients in a series of ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

Prenuptial Agreements: Not Just For Hollywood

From Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, prenuptial agreements abound in Hollywood. Although most people are not concerned with protecting millions of dollars, prenuptial agreements may be more important now than ever before. Prenups provide both people with protection, not only of personal assets but also from each other's debts. Two things have resulted in many people finding themselves with large amounts debt before walking down the aisle: the increasing age of people marrying and the current economic crisis. Many young professionals ...

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Environment4 Apr 2012

Advanced power-grid research finds low-cost, low-carbon future in West

The least expensive way for the Western U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to help prevent the worst consequences of global warming is to replace coal with renewable and other sources of energy that may include nuclear power, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, researchers. The experts reached this conclusion using SWITCH, a highly detailed computer model of the electric power grid, to study generation, transmission and storage options for the states west of the Kansas/Colorado border. The model will be an important tool for utilities ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

Effects of Drowsy Driving Similar to Those of Drunk Driving

Most drivers know when they have had too much to drink and should not get behind the wheel. But there is another dangerous driving habit that many drivers may be less aware of, drowsy driving or driving when they have not had enough sleep. The National Safety Council states that being drowsy can affect people similar to drugs and alcohol, including delayed reaction time, impaired judgment and decreased awareness. All these issues can lead to motor vehicle accidents. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) cites an Australian study that shows that drivers who have been ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

How Union Members Can Work With an SSD Advocate

Many labor unions have programs to help members who become disabled. They may have their own benefit programs, or they may help members apply for government disability benefits or benefits provided by an employer. Unions who help clients apply for government benefits from programs such as Social Security Disability (SSD) often look to external disability advocates to help them and their members obtain the benefits they need after a disability makes it impossible to work. The advocates, who are often attorneys and other specialists, are able to help disabled union members ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

Early warning system for seizures could cut false alarms

Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into a stubborn problem: too many false alarms, triggering unneeded treatment. To solve this, Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have devised new seizure detection software that, in early testing, significantly cuts the number of unneeded pulses of current that an epilepsy patient ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

Court Rules on 'Intent to Distribute' Question

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that an individual can be criminally charged with attempting to distribute marijuana even when the person is caught having less than an ounce. Voters approved an initiative to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. (Violators now face a $100 fine, as opposed to a misdemeanor). However, the court sought to clarify the law's application to people who sell drugs. According to a report by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the case originated from an incident in 2010, when a woman called police to report ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Eliminating the 'good cholesterol' receptor may fight breast cancer

CHICAGO— Removing a lipoprotein receptor known as SR-BI may help protect against breast cancer, as suggested by new findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2012 by Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center researchers. In vitro and mouse studies revealed that depletion of the SR-BI resulted in a decrease in breast cancer cell growth. SR-BI is a receptor for high-density lipoproteins (HDL) that are commonly referred to as "good cholesterol" because they help transport cholesterol out of the arteries and back to the liver for excretion. The ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Nanoscale magnetic media diagnostics by rippling spin waves

Memory devices based on magnetism are one of the core technologies of the computing industry, and engineers are working to develop new forms of magnetic memory that are faster, smaller, and more energy efficient than today's flash and SDRAM memory. They now have a new tool developed by a team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Maryland Nanocenter and the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden—a method to detect defects in magnetic structures as small as a tenth of a micrometer even if the region in question is buried inside ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Medical Malpractice and Birth Injuries

Childbirth is a medical miracle. Everyone marvels at how babies come into the world with so many of the basic survival skills and instincts we take for granted every day. However, childbirth is a complicated process that could have disastrous results when something goes wrong. According to birth statistics, six out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States suffer some type of birth injury. Mild injuries, such as a scratch or a bruise, can heal very easily. However, a number of severe injuries can have lifelong implications, such as: Erb's palsy - Because of ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

Leading Columbia SC Hotel Selects Preferred Photography Studio

The Hilton Garden Inn Columbia SC Hotel / Northeast announces the selection of Kirti Bassendine as their preferred photographer. Ms. Bassendine is the owner of Fine Focus Studio in metro Atlanta, GA. The Hilton Garden Inn Columbia Northeast is located off I-77 (Exit 19 / Farrow Road) and is just 15 minutes from downtown Columbia. A beautifully appointed 4-story interior corridor hotel with guestrooms, meeting facilities, a restaurant and more, it is a great benefit for the property to have a preferred vendor available for their hospitality photography needs. "Our ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

Online tool helps you assess your intellectual property awareness

A new online tool can help small companies and entrepreneurs evaluate their awareness of intellectual property (IP)—trade secrets, company data and more—and learn how to protect it. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) teamed up to create the IP Awareness Assessment, available at no charge at www.uspto.gov/inventors/assessment/. Intellectual property is a key concern of small businesses owners, who can secure significant competitive advantages by exercising ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Harmless human virus may be able to boost the effects of chemotherapy

A naturally-occurring harmless human virus may be able to boost the effects of two standard chemotherapy drugs in some cancer patients, according to early stage trial data published in Clinical Cancer Research. The paper titled: Phase I/II trial of carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy in combination with intravenous oncolytic reovirus in patients with advanced malignancies with first author Eleni M. Karapanagiotou from the ICR and The Royal Marsden was published in the print edition of Clinical Cancer Research on April 1. RT3D, trade name Reolysin, is a new drug ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

The Royal Mint Marks 100th Anniversary of the Titanic with Commemorative GBP5 Coin

The Royal Mint has released the Titanic GBP5 coin in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the historic ships' maiden voyage in 1912. Designed by Royal Mint engraver, Lee Robert Jones, the coin commemorates a maritime legend. The Titanic coins depict the instantly recognisable profile of RMS Titanic with the goddess Thane looking down on the ship as it sails through the Atlantic Ocean. Erected on 26th June 1920 as a memorial to all those who died, the marble figure of the goddess stands in Belfast, home of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, the biggest in the world at ...

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Earth Science4 Apr 2012

Lithosphere posts new research in California, Nevada and the Tibetan Plateau

Boulder, Colo., USA – New Lithosphere research about Earth's crust and upper mantle presents what may be the best-documented ancient sedimentary record of subduction initiation along a continental margin in the El Paso Mountains region of California; an integrated approach to understanding the Karakoram Fault Zone, Tibet; and back-and-forth exchanges between field-based observations and lab analyses and modeling that lead researchers to 40-year-old interpretation of the geologic history of the Walker Lane belt, Nevada. Stratigraphic record of subduction initiation ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

'Positive stress' helps protect eye from glaucoma

Working in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a treatment that prevents the optic nerve injury that occurs in glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of blindness. Researchers increased the resistance of optic nerve cells to damage by repeatedly exposing the mice to low levels of oxygen similar to those found at high altitudes. The stress of the intermittent low-oxygen environment induces a protective response called tolerance that makes nerve cells — including those in the eye — less vulnerable ...

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Space4 Apr 2012

NASA infrared image sees a stronger Tropical Storm Daphne

Tropical Storm Daphne strengthened overnight and was captured in an infrared image from NASA's Terra satellite. Daphne moved away from the Fiji islands and remains north of New Zealand in the South Pacific on April 3, 2012. NASA's Terra satellite passed over Daphne at 1014 UTC (6:14 a.m. EDT or 10:14 p.m. local time, Auckland, New Zealand), and used infrared imagery from the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument to visualize its cloud extent. Like the infrared goggles used to see at night infrared satellite imagery can see cloud cover of tropical cyclones ...

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Engineering4 Apr 2012

Corcentric to Exhibit at AmeriQuest Transportation Services' 2012 Industry Symposium

Corcentric, a leading provider of SaaS-hosted Accounts Payable automation solutions, today announced they will host a booth at AmeriQuest Transportation's 2012 Industry Symposium. This conference will take place April 12-13, 2012 in Orlando, Florida at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes. Corcentric is a leader in providing organizations with financial process automation solutions, specializing in Accounts Payable automation, PO requisitioning and imaging, and Accounts Payable workflow solutions. Corcentric's solutions enable companies to maximize ease of use and minimize ...

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Science4 Apr 2012

VSS Announces New Companies: LOGIC Solutions Group & Information Insights

VSS, a leading IBM Premier Business Partner and acknowledged information technology leader, is pleased to officially announce the formation of LOGIC Solutions Group ("LOGIC") and the acquisition of Information Insights. The formation of LOGIC includes seasoned personnel from VSS, combined with industry professionals from other global tier 1 software and consulting companies. LOGIC is focused on delivering strategic consulting and enterprise business solutions enabled by industry leading software solutions and methodologies. As LOGIC is welcomed into the VSS ...

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Medicine4 Apr 2012

Legal review concerning the use of health impact assessments in non-health sectors

WASHINGTON— A report released today finds that a wide variety of existing laws offer important opportunities to improve Americans' health. The first comprehensive study of its kind found an unexpectedly large number of laws that facilitate the consideration of health effects, in fields such as transportation, energy, and agriculture. Many of these legal requirements may be satisfied by conducting health impact assessments (HIAs), a type of study that helps decision makers identify and address the potential and often unrecognized health risks and benefits of their decisions. ...

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