(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– To David Cleveland, a professor of environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara, it seemed as though Santa Barbara County would be a great example of what many are advocating as a solution to the problems of a conventional agrifood network –– a local food system. Santa Barbara County ranks in the top 1 percent of counties in the United States in value of agricultural products, with 80 percent of that value in fruits and vegetables. Farmers here grow some of the best fruits and vegetables in the country, and organic practices, farmers markets, and ...

NEW HYDE PARK, NY -- Radiation oncologists took a blow in a series of front-page newspaper stories published last year on injuries that occurred nationwide in the delivery of radiation treatment. Radiation oncologists at North Shore-LIJ Health System responded to the public charge with a series of steps that will ensure that patients are protected at all points in the treatment process. Louis Potters, MD, North Shore-LIJ's chairman of radiation medicine, and his colleagues designed a new program that seeks to improve the quality of complex processes by identifying and ...

Just like intelligence agents watching for the real terrorists threatening to attack, monitoring healthcare worker adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols via hand-washing squads in hospitals can go a long way to stop outbreaks of the opportunistic C. diff bacteria, says Irena Kenneley, an infection prevention and control expert and assistant professor of nursing from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. Kenneley consulted on an analysis of a national hospital practices survey for the Association for Professionals in Infection ...

PASADENA, Calif.—A team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the University of Louisville have used a stimulating electrode array to assist a paralyzed man to stand, step on a treadmill with assistance, and, over time, to regain voluntary movements of his limbs. The electrical signals provided by the array, the researchers have found, stimulate the spinal cord's own neural network so that it can use the sensory input derived from the legs to direct muscle and joint movements. Rather ...

DURHAM, N.C.—Strobe-like eyewear designed to train the vision of athletes may have positive effects in some cases, according to tests run by a team of Duke University psychologists who specialize in visual perception. The eyewear has lenses that alternate between clear and opaque states, producing a strobe experience. Nearly 500 people participated in more than 1,200 training sessions and had their visual abilities tested before and after they wore the eyewear. They completed visual-motor tasks, such as catching and throwing a ball, as well as computer-based tests. Once ...

It sounds like hype from a late-night infomercial: It can twist and bend without breaking! And wait, there's more: It could someday help you fend off disease! But in this case it's true, thanks to scientists from several institutions including the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They derived atomic-scale resolution structures of the cell's protein-making machine, the ribosome, at key stages of its job. The structures, developed primarily at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, reveal that the ribosome's ability to rotate an incredible ...

Recent updates to MovingOffCampus.com and the continued integration of new property partner listings has led to a fast, easy to use college apartment search engine for college students and parents with the largest database of available student apartments, condos and even homes for rent featured by school campuses, city and neighborhoods. "The site can be incredibly useful for college student and parents, whether they're trying to get an idea of what the available housing is like after Freshmen year, or for students who are a little behind in finding the perfect ...

How you think about death affects how you behave in life. That's the conclusion of a new study which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Researchers had people either think about death in the abstract or in a specific, personal way and found that people who thought specifically about their own death were more likely to demonstrate concern for society by donating blood. Laura E.R. Blackie, a Ph.D. student at the University of Essex, and her advisor, Philip J. Cozzolino, recruited 90 ...

Travelers can enjoy nature's own fireworks, as they spend an evening around the campfire or sitting on the rooftop garden gazing skyward toward a dazzling star-filled sky. The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls today announced a special Big Bang Fireworks Package for the 4th of July. Guests will enjoy an unforgettable Independence Day during this three-night getaway in a deluxe guestroom overlooking the Inn's gardens and spectacular views of southeast Ohio's Hocking Hills. Reservations and additional information are available at www.innatcedarfalls.com or (800) 653-2557 (1-800-65-FALLS). Guests ...

New York, NY, May 19, 2011 – The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) legislation required a core set of recommended health care quality measures to be identified for voluntary use by State Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), which together cover almost 40 million American children and adolescents. In a special Supplement to Academic Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Pediatric Association, noted authorities present critical insights into the issues surrounding the initial core set and key concepts for ...

New York City, NY (May 19, 2011) — Researchers at the University of Florida and Metagenics Inc. today announced that a program consisting of a breakthrough medical food combined with a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style diet is almost twice as effective as one of the best diets alone for lowering risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. In addition, the medical food UltraMeal® PLUS 360° is 40 percent more likely to resolve metabolic syndrome, a condition affecting one-third of all American adults that increases the risk for heart ...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft and a European Southern Observatory ground-based telescope tracked the growth of a giant early-spring storm in Saturn's northern hemisphere that is so powerful it stretches around the entire planet. The rare storm has been wreaking havoc for months and shooting plumes of gas high into the planet's atmosphere. Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument first detected the large disturbance, and amateur astronomers tracked its emergence in December 2010. As it rapidly expanded, its core developed into a giant, powerful thunderstorm. The ...

A team of scientists at the University of Louisville, UCLA and the California Institute of Technology has achieved a significant breakthrough in its initial work with a paralyzed male volunteer at Louisville's Frazier Rehab Institute. It is the result of 30 years of research to find potential clinical therapies for paralysis. The study is published today in the British medical journal The Lancet. The man, Rob Summers, age 25, was completely paralyzed below the chest after being struck by a vehicle in a hit and run accident in July 2006. Today, he is able to reach a ...

Didriks - www.didriks.com - announces the availability of exciting new outdoor furniture designs for 2011 from British manufacturer Barlow Tyrie.   The popular Equinox stainless steel furniture collection has added a visually striking new table design using high pressure laminate tops (HPL) in slate grey. The stunning circular table model, features an integral Lazy Susan accented by inlaid stainless steel ridges. Teak furniture design has been the foundation of Barlow Tyrie's offerings since the 1920s, and for 2011 Barlow Tyrie returns to their roots to offer a new ...

After a gradual decline from 1990 to 2004, a new study published online in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care finds that United States births occurring at home increased by 20 percent between 2004 and 2008. The 28,357 home births in 2008 represent 0.67 percent of the approximately 4.2 million births in the United States, the highest reported proportion since 1990. This change was largely driven by a 28 percent increase in home births for non-Hispanic white women, for whom more than 1 percent of all births now occur at home. Rates of home birth for non-Hispanic black (0.30%), ...

A recent study of significant research value carried out at the State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China-Research, and published in the May 2011 issue of Science China Life Sciences (Issue 54) described a novel method using FoldX force field based protein modeling that can be applied in zinc finger nucleases design. Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) can actively introduce a double-strand break (DSB) at target loci in eukaryotic genomes and this can improve the efficiency of gene knock-out or knock-in by several orders ...

Hohai University in Nanjing has established a research tradition in hydraulic engineering over the last 95 years. During this time, Hohai has become a first class institution of higher education that focuses on a wide range of engineering subjects including civil engineering and water resources, which are of particular interest. China's hydropower development occurs mainly in the high mountains and canyons of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in the southwestern provinces. Because of long term geological movement, these areas are subject to high levels of geostress with complex ...

The way that clinicians report outcomes of surgery for a traumatic nerve injury involving the arm is not standardized, and it is thus difficult to compare the efficacy of different surgical treatments, according to a study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York. In a second HSS study, investigators say they have developed a tool to measure outcomes that they hope can be refined and used worldwide. Both studies will be presented at the International Symposium on Brachial Plexus Surgery, which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, May 19-21. "There ...

The annual Father's Day problem solved. Now, hundreds of affordable Father's Day gifts are available from Collections Etc., the leading online retailer and catalog company that specializes in affordable gifts, home decor and garden products. Shoppers will find unusual gifts and gadgets as well as traditional items for Dad with most for $14.99 or less. "Whether the Dad in your life is a sports fan, BBQ grill man or likes to organize the garage, we've got a great selection of unique and affordable gifts," said Todd Lustbader, Founder and CEO of Winston Brands, ...

Poetry is heart and soul put to paper, spewed by sincere mouths in the hope of affecting its recipients. Such is Gray Joel (aka Aaron J. Gray) and his affinity with the type of music called spoken word. How have words shaped Gray's life and why will it continuously forever be part of him? Gray Joel was born and raised in downtown Los Angeles, California. He never knew his father who died while he was still an infant. His mother and grandmother took care of him the best they can, even when gang wars and crack cocaine surrounded them. Instead of getting his feet wet in ...

The new telit2market magazine, the international M2M magazine from Telit Wireless Solutions, is now available to download from http://www.telit.com/ebook. The line-up of featured experts in this year's edition ranges from political heavyweights like the European Commission and the Korean Communications Commission to telco giants like China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom or Sprint Nextel and global consultants like Beecham Research or Booz & Co. Topics include the entire spectrum of the M2M world: the latest technology trends, current market reports and a multitude of colorful ...

Blog Talk Radio's World of Ink Network Show: The Writing Mama with hosts VS Grenier, Marsha Casper Cook and J.D. Holiday will be chatting with author Karin Lefranc about her recent book, A Quest for Good Manners and is it really possible for children to be polite. Manners teacher and author, Karin Lefranc has four children of her own—all under 10 years old—and understands the never ending quest for parents to teach their children to say 'please' and 'thank you'. Her book, A Quest for Good Manners will be out June 1, 2011 and features rude Princess Rosalind and her ...

Three Tree Tea Company has been a leader in providing unique latte powder blends, incorporating only the highest quality tea with pure cane sugar to make simple, delicious tea latte blends that satisfy the need of customers looking for specialty coffee alternatives. It all started in 2002 when Ippuku Matcha Latte Powder was created. Today, Ippuku Matcha Latte Powder is sold in coffee shops, tea shops and Asian groceries across the U.S. A. Rooibos, or red bush tea, is a cherished herb in South Africa. It is said to help relieve insomnia, nervous tension, indigestion and ...

GlobalStar Travel Management today announces at its 9th Annual Conference in Hotel Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove Miami the appointment of CCRA Travel Solutions as the preferred hotel supplier for its global partner network and HotelStar product. Under this new agreement, CCRA's Negotiated Hotel Rate Program becomes the preferred GDS hotel program for GlobalStar partners -linking potentially over 3,300+ office locations worldwide to the CCRA negotiated rates in the GDS. CCRA will also develop GlobalStar's branded hotel reservations system, "HotelStar," which will ...

The fenced-in lot with rough asphalt and dilapidated wood/metal ramps that Woodland Park's skateboarders and BMX bike riders used to call home, will soon be no more. Thankfully they will have a new place to go - a bigger, more challenging and more aesthetically-pleasing place in fact. Since 2008, California-based Spohn Ranch worked hand-in-hand with the City of Woodland Park, Colorado to develop a state-of-the-art facility which would replace the cramped and outdated metal ramp park built by a local contractor in the late '90s. After assisting City officials with a Colorado ...