New benchmark research from Ventana Research finds that just 15 percent of technology businesses have the highest Innovative level of maturity in their use of analytics, despite being part of the industry that has the more direct knowledge of the technology to advance people, process and information readiness in an organization. With business people in the technology sector under increasing pressure to operate more efficiently and make better decisions, it is important they comprehend the full potential of business analytics and how to best take advantage of them. This ...

Dr. Michael A. Bogdan urges people to take adequate time to evaluate their options when choosing among the many plastic surgeons in Dallas. This comes as a result of multiple stories that have emerged in the media about unsatisfied cosmetic surgery patients who discovered that their surgeons did not actually specialize in plastic surgery. Dr. Bogdan notes that when people generalize about "good" and "bad" doctors, their opinions are often based on misinterpreted information. "People are frequently told that they need to find a board-certified ...

One of the biggest reasons businesses should consider SaaS based Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) solutions is simply because they are cheaper to run, maintain and purchase. Unlike traditional software which is sold conventionally with a user license and a purchasing fee, SaaS applications are usually priced on a subscription basis which can either reoccur at a monthly or yearly basis. However, unlike traditional software the upfront costs of running a SaaS based ITSM solution is lower than that of enterprise software. Often, the price is based on a number ...

FraudAssets.Com, a BIN database solution provider, is launching one of the largest BIN checker on the Internet. The BIN database can be downloaded in CSV format, or accessed via remote API. Why is there are need for a BIN database? Many business owners want to raise their businesses to the next level by going into e-commerce. That is, they want to enable credit and debit card payments on their website in order to increase market share and sales. This sounds like a great idea as the Internet has experienced tremendous growth and a website looks like the perfect platform ...

The U.S. Commerce Association (USCA), a New York based organization funded by local businesses, has awarded Bleep Models the 2011 Best of New York City award in the Model/Talent Management category. This prestigious recognition has been reserved for exceptional success achieved by local businesses. Awards are given based on information collected from internal sources and other third parties. President of Bleep Models, Kyle Aviance Quandel is quoted as saying, "We are honored to be the recipient of this coveted award. The USCA's acknowledgement underscores our ...

Studies of bacteria first found in Yellowstone's hot springs are furthering efforts at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center toward commercially viable ethanol production from crops such as switchgrass. The current production of ethanol relies on the use of expensive enzymes that break down complex plant materials to yield sugars that are fermented into ethanol. One suggested cheaper alternative is consolidated bioprocessing, a streamlined process that uses microorganisms to break down the resistant biomass. "Consolidated bioprocessing is like a one-pot ...

The models used to understand how Earth's climate works include thousands of different variables from many scientific including atmospherics, oceanography, seismology, geology, physics and chemistry, but few take into consideration the vast effect that microbes have on climate. Now, a new report from the American Academy of Microbiology, "Incorporating Microbial Processes into Climate Models", offers a plan for integrating the latest understanding of the science of microbiology into climate models. "Climate scientists and microbiologists usually work in isolation from ...

VIDEO: Cardiologist Dr. James White of Western University has demonstrated the benefits of performing cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in cases where patients have been resuscitated after sudden cardiac death or... Click here for more information. New research from Western University, Canada, has demonstrated the benefits of performing Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) in cases where patients have been resuscitated after Sudden Cardiac Death or enter hospital ...

When rabbis from the Orthodox Union started finding worms in cans of sardines and capelin eggs, they turned to scientists at the American Museum of Natural History to answer a culturally significant dietary question: could these foods still be considered kosher? Using a technique called "DNA barcoding" at the Museum's Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, researchers identified the species and life cycles of the parasitic worms to determine whether the food's preparation violated Jewish dietary laws. The results, which were recently published online in the Journal ...

Cyclone Giovanna made landfall in eastern Madagascar very early on February 14 and continues tracking in a southwestern direction toward the Mozambique Channel. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image when Giovanna's center was close to the capital city of Antananarivo, and NASA's TRMM satellite saw powerful towering thunderstorms around its center before it made landfall. According to BBC News, Giovanna made landfall near the eastern port city of Toamasina with winds gusting to 120 mph (194km). Giovanna brought heavy rain, and its strong winds flattened trees. Storm ...

We like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, absorbing information, weighing it carefully, and making thoughtful decisions. But, as it turns out, we're kidding ourselves. Over the past few decades, scientists have shown there are many different internal and external factors influencing how we think, feel, communicate, and make decisions at any given moment. One particularly powerful influence may be our own bodies, according to new research reviewed in the December issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological ...

Tropical Cyclone Jasmine is still lingering near the island nation of Tonga in the South Pacific and was captured in an infrared image from NASA's Aqua satellite. Jasmine is bringing gusty winds and heavy rainfall to some of Tonga's islands. When Aqua flew over Cyclone Jasmine on February 14, 2012 at 1241 UTC (7:41 a.m.), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured an infrared image of its clouds. The image showed the strongest thunderstorms and heaviest rainfall appear to be on the northeastern quadrant of the storm. A gale warning ...

Known as a leader in the field of allergy bedding, AchooAllergy.com's Allergy Armor bedding line has been featured on the award-winning television show The Doctors and is recommended by over 4000 physicians annually. Extending this innovative line of bedding, AchooAllergy now offers another product aimed at improving the lives of allergy sufferers - the Allergy Armor Organic Cotton Blanket. Specially designed and crafted for individuals with asthma, allergies, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), the Allergy Armor organic cotton blanket is made with un-dyed, organically ...

"The sensor provides opportunities to make specific and detailed diagnostics for a particular patient and to tailor care based on very objective and quantitative measures," said Eric H. Ledet, PhD, Assistant Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "This highly unique sensor is very small (4 mm diameter and 500 microns thick), is wireless, batteryless, and requires no telemetry within the body. Its simplicity makes it less prone to failure and very inexpensive to produce," Dr. Ledet explained. The orthopaedic implant acts as a carrier for the sensor. The wireless ...

Although only 2 percent of the American population that undergo total joint replacement surgery will suffer an infection, half of those infections are from MRSA. The results of a MRSA infection after a total joint replacement can be devastating. Currently, there is no effective treatment for MRSA-infected implants. With the increasing incidence of total joint replacement surgeries, the prevalence of MRSA-infected implants is expected to rise. A team of investigators from the University of Rochester Medical Center has developed a vaccine that can prevent bacterial ...

MATERIALS -- Next-generation electronics . . . Changing the behavior of a material isn't big magic – it's nanoscale chemistry. Alejandro Lopez-Bezanilla used the computing power of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Jaguar supercomputer, America's fastest, to study the effects of adding oxygen, sulfur and hydrogen to nanoribbons made of boron nitride. The added elements changed the behavior of boron nitride – a good insulator – into that of a metal. That makes the material promising for faster computer chips and smarter cell phones. Stable, inexpensive boron nitride can ...

According to Timothy E. Hewett, PhD, FACSM, Director of Research, Ohio State University Sports Health and Performance Institute and Cincinnati Children's Sports Medicine Biodynamics Center, that injury occurs due to a tri-planar multi-dimensional combination of factors. "Sometimes in science we have a lot of clinical expertise and a lot of engineering expertise but we don't have much—what I call--'common sense-pertise'." "Is it just anterior translation that strains and tears the ACL? Is it just knee abduction or that inward motion that tears the ACL? Is it just ...

A person has a tumor removed from her femur. A soldier is struck by an improvised explosive device and loses a portion of his tibia. A child undergoes chemotherapy for osteosarcoma but part of the bone dies as a result. Every year, millions of Americans sustain fractures that don't heal or lose bone that isn't successfully grafted. But a study presented at the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) 2012 Annual Meeting in San Francisco offers new hope for those who sustain these traumas. Orthopaedic researchers with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), ...

In a first-of-its-kind study in Canada, Kevin Bainey of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry has discovered that South Asians who live in Alberta with coronary disease experience a lower quality of life. This adds to prior data that this group lives with more severe disease. Using the APPROACH registry, which captures information about all patients who undergo a coronary angiogram in Alberta, the research team analyzed data about quality of life and health status of this population. The validated survey results showed that South Asians' overall quality of life scored ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a potent regulator of sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. The new findings may help scientists find better treatments for type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems caused by the body's inability to properly regulate blood sugar. The research is published online Feb. 13 in PLoS ONE. Fat and muscle cells in patients with type 2 diabetes become resistant to insulin, which normally causes them to take in glucose from the blood. The protein studied ...

University of Melbourne researchers have found Wikipedia is the most highly rated website for accessing information on mental-health related topics. The researchers assessed a range of on-line and print material on mental health-related topics and found that in the majority of cases, Wikipedia was the most highly rated in most domains. Content about mental health was extracted from 14 frequently accessed websites, including Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica and a psychiatry textbook. Text providing information about depression and schizophrenia was assessed. The ...

NEW ORLEANS – Simple tests such as walking speed and hand grip strength may help doctors determine how likely it is a middle-aged person will develop dementia or stroke. That's according to new research that was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. "These are basic office tests which can provide insight into risk of dementia and stroke and can be easily performed by a neurologist or general practitioner," said Erica C. Camargo, MD, MSc, PhD, with Boston Medical Center. More ...

A new study has examined how smoking-cessation aide varenicline may reduce drinking. Results indicate that varenicline may reduce drinking by increasing alcohol's aversive effects. Specifically, varenicline may increase blood pressure, heart rate, as well as ratings of dysphoria and nausea. Varenicline is an effective smoking-cessation medication that may also reduce drinking. However, the means by which it might reduce drinking is unclear. A study of the effects of varenicline on subjective, physiological, and objective responses to low and moderate doses of alcohol ...

Alcohol abuse and dependence are common problems in the United States due to a number of factors, two of which may be social drinking by college students and young adults, and risk taking that may lead to heavier drinking later in life. A study of the neural underpinnings of risk-taking in young, non-dependent social drinkers has found that the caudate nucleus and frontal cortex regions of the brain show less activation in people who drink more heavily. Results will be published in the May 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently ...

Frequent drinking can establish changes in the processing of alcohol cues that can, in turn, facilitate renewed drinking unless the resulting impulse to drink is inhibited. A new study has looked at the interaction between automatically activated approach tendencies and adolescent ability and motivation to inhibit and reflect upon drinking behaviors. Results show that stricter parental rules about drinking are highly protective, especially for males. Frequent drinking can lead to changes in the processing of alcohol cues that can, in turn, facilitate renewed drinking ...