Emotion-sensing computer software that models and responds to students' cognitive and emotional states – including frustration and boredom – has been developed by University of Notre Dame Assistant Professor of Psychology Sidney D'Mello and colleagues from the University of Memphis and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. D'Mello also is a concurrent assistant professor of computer science and engineering. The new technology, which matches the interaction of human tutors, not only offers tremendous learning possibilities for students, but also redefines human-computer ...

Shark fins are worth more than other parts of the shark and are often removed from the body, which gets thrown back into the sea. To curtail this wasteful practice, many countries allow the fins to be landed detached from shark bodies, as long as their weight does not exceed five per cent of the total shark catch. New University of British Columbia research shows that this kind of legislation is too liberal. A study published this week in the journal Fish Biology analyzes the fin to body weight ratios for 50 different shark species. The authors find the average fin ...

DestinationPro.com is a solution allowing independent execution of events and incentive programs. If anyone needed to organize a corporate meeting, business trip, training, bonus (incentive) trip for employees, conference, etc., he/she usually took advantage of services provided by one of the specialized agencies (DMCs - Destination Management Company). Based on the client's specification, such agency proposed agenda and individual suppliers (accommodation, restaurants, venues, transportation, logistic, etc.), subsequently ensuring and executing the whole event. We ...

Philadelphia, PA, March 2, 2012 – Impaired social function is a cardinal symptom of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). One of the brain circuits that enable us to relate to other people is the "mirror neuron" system. This brain circuit is activated when we watch other people, and allows our brains to represent the actions of others, influencing our ability to learn new tasks and to understand the intentions and experiences of other people. This mirror neuron system is impaired in individuals with ASD and better understanding the neurobiology of this system could help ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 2, 2012 – Newly proposed asthma outcome measures will help standardize and improve results from the hundreds of millions of dollars the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spends annually to study asthma, according to the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN), the nation's only organization focused solely on childhood asthma. Even though years of research have led to groundbreaking improvements in better understanding and managing asthma, MCAN noted that the inability to compare results across many studies has hindered the nation's efforts ...

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- A scientific method paper and video by Loyola researchers has gone viral. The video demonstrates a laboratory technique used to study some aspects of mitochondrial dysfunctions in Alzheimer's disease and many other disorders. It has been accessed by more than 14,000 scientists around the world since it was published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments, a peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed journal that publishes biological and other scientific research in a video format. Senior author is Joanna C. Bakowska, DVM, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department ...

A consortium of federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations has published a report proposing a set of common measures and data-collection methods for use in asthma clinical research. Asthma Outcomes in Clinical Research: Report of the Asthma Outcomes Workshop, which appears as a supplement to the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, resulted from a meeting organized by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc., with additional support for the publication ...

As more organizations look for ways to manage the cost of employee healthcare, what better way to bring this message to your organization than to have your CEO enter a fitness challenge. Nancy Munro, CEO of KnowledgeShift was willing to take on this challenge offered to members of the Illinois Technology Association starting in November of 2011. The contest was sponsored by InerTrain, an online fitness company. Contestants had to evaluate their fit age before and after the contest. Each contestant worked with one of InerTrain's online virtual trainers with personalized ...

Scientists from PRBO Conservation Science and the Department of Fish and Game have completed an innovative study on the effects of climate change on bird species of greatest concern. This first-of-its-kind study prioritizes which species are most at risk and will help guide conservation measures in California. The study was published this week in the journal PLoS ONE. "What's most exciting about the study is that our unique approach is one that other scientists and resource managers can duplicate to help them conserve wildlife in the face of climate change," said PRBO ...

A University of Alberta research team has discovered that technology commonly used to decontaminate food industry equipment can also rid meat processing plants of lethal microbial material responsible for the human version of the ailment Mad Cow disease. U of A microbiology professors Mike Belosevic and Norm Neumann and engineering professor Mohamed Gamal El-Din demonstrated that infectious proteins found in the brain matter of cattle can be eradicated from water treated with ozone. The discovery could have applications in decontaminating wastewater in settings such ...

Athens, Ga. – In an emergency, minutes matter. With this knowledge, University of Georgia researchers developed a new method for determining where emergency vehicle stations should be located. The results of their work could improve ambulance response time for the 200 million Americans who dial 911 each year, according to the Federal Communications Commission. "If we can meet this critical time window [of 8 minutes], we can maximize benefits," said Ping Yin, a UGA graduate student studying geography who co-authored the paper. The model uses geographical information ...

A polymer is a mesh of chains, which slowly break over time due to the pressure from ordinary wear and tear. When a polymer is squeezed, the pressure breaks chemical bonds and produces free radicals: ions with unpaired electrons, full of untapped energy. These molecules are responsible for aging, DNA damage and cancer in the human body. In a new study, Northwestern University scientists turned to squeezed polymers and free radicals in a search for new energy sources. They found incredible promise but also some real problems. Their report is published by the journal Angewandte ...

Unionville Invisalign specialist Dr. Arun Rajasekaran and his staff are proud of the fact that clients routinely refer friends and family to Liberty Orthodontic Centre. Patient referrals are a vote of confidence in the practice, and Rajasekaran and his team enjoy seeing new patients who they can help to achieve an ideal smile, says Marketing Coordinator Laura Lindsay. Whether patients are searching for more general orthodontics and braces or a specific teeth straightening procedure such as Invisalign, referrals are an indicator of how well the office serves its patients, ...

WASHINGTON -- The exhaust fumes from gasoline vehicles contribute more to the production of a specific type of air pollution-secondary organic aerosols (SOA)-than those from diesel vehicles, according to a new study by scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) and other colleagues. "The surprising result we found was that it wasn't diesel engines that were contributing the most to the organic aerosols in LA," said CIRES research scientist Roya Bahreini, who led the ...

Our senses aren't just delivering a strict view of what's going on in the world; they're affected by what's going on in our heads. A new study finds that hungry people see food-related words more clearly than people who've just eaten. The study, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that this change in vision happens at the earliest, perceptual stages, before higher parts of the brain have a chance to change the messages coming from the eyes. Psychologists have known for decades that what's going on inside our ...

San Diego homebuyers seeking new, detached homes in uniquely desirable Tierrasanta can join the VIP interest list for Copperleaf, where a spring preview is planned ahead of the model grand opening. The preview period will feature guided "dusty shoe" tours of the model homes under construction, and additional opportunities to get a head start on purchasing a new Copperleaf home. For the latest information and updates, you can join the growing interest list at www.copperleafsd.com or you can call 858-535-9033. Buyers who pre-qualify on the website will automatically ...

PITTSBURGH—The origin of an important type of exploding stars—Type Ia supernovae—have been discovered, thanks to a research team at the University of Pittsburgh.Studying supernovae of this type helps researchers measure galaxy distances and can lead to important astronomical discoveries. A paper detailing this research has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Principal investigator Carlos Badenes, assistant professor of physics and astronomy in Pitt's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, detailed the ways in which his team used ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Freshwater ecosystems in northern regions are home to significantly more species of water fleas than traditionally thought, adding to evidence that regions with vanishing waters contain unique animal life. The new information on water fleas -- which are actually tiny crustaceans -- comes from a multi-year, international study that was published Feb. 24 in the journal Zootaxa. The researchers scoured the globe seeking the creatures and found them inhabiting northern lakes and ponds in locations from Alaska to Russia to Scandinavia. After analyzing ...

FitzDrake Search (FDS) has crafted a unique hiring solution for small to medium firms poised for growth. Managing Partner Bill Fitzgerald notes "It is clear that growth in the economy will be from small and medium sized businesses. They become incubators for new ideas and innovations that lead to job creation." However, many of these firms do not always have the internal recruiting infrastructure to find top candidates quickly and at a reasonable cost. The FDS approach helps clients manage risk and preserve cash flow. Unlike traditional retained or contingent ...

The University of Notre Dame's annual Bengal Bouts student boxing tournament's longtime mantra is "Strong Bodies Fight that Weak Bodies May Be Nourished." The unusual mantra is fitting for an unusual competition whose ticket sales proceeds benefit Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh, part of the ministry of the Congregation for the Holy Cross, Notre Dame's founding religious community. However, this year a large number of Bengal Bouts boxers are going even further to do good by volunteering to participate in post-bout concussion testing. James Moriarty, the University's ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A new power scheme for cardiac pacemakers turns to an unlikely source: vibrations from heartbeats themselves. Engineering researchers at the University of Michigan designed a device that harvests energy from the reverberation of heartbeats through the chest and converts it to electricity to run a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator. These mini-medical machines send electrical signals to the heart to keep it beating in a healthy rhythm. By taking the place of the batteries that power them today, the new energy harvester could save patients from repeated ...

VIDEO: This movie was created using GOES-13 visible and infrared satellite imagery. The 25 second movie runs from Feb. 29 at 1718 UTC (12:18 pm EST) through March 2 at 1740... Click here for more information. Another powerful weather system is moving through the central and eastern U.S., generating more severe weather. NASA created an animation of data from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite that shows the frontal system pushing east as it generated severe weather in Ohio, Kentucky, ...

Astronomers using data from NASA's Hubble Telescope have observed what appears to be a clump of dark matter left behind from a wreck between massive clusters of galaxies. The result could challenge current theories about dark matter that predict galaxies should be anchored to the invisible substance even during the shock of a collision. Abell 520 is a gigantic merger of galaxy clusters located 2.4 billion light-years away. Dark matter is not visible, although its presence and distribution is found indirectly through its effects. Dark matter can act like a magnifying glass, ...

Hollywood Sportsbook (www.hollywoodsportsbook.eu) a leading online entertainment gaming site since 1997, today announced it will offer a month long promotion allowing players to pick the winners of certain NBA and college basketball games all month long. Robert Evans, Hollywood's Director of Operations says, "Well here we are... the most exciting month for basketball. In addition to all the cool stuff we will have going on this month for the NCAA tournament, we hope this contest will float our players' boats as well..." For each coming weekend in March, ...

The AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite provided forecasters with an infrared look at what was happening "under the hood" of Tropical Storm Irina's clouds and saw two reasons why it temporarily weakened before moving into the Mozambique Channel and heading for landfall in Mozambique in a couple of days. WHY DID IT WEAKEN? NASA's Aqua satellite's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Irina over the Mozambique Channel on March 1, 2012 at 0130 UTC (8:30 p.m. EST, Feb. 29). At that time, the strongest thunderstorms ...