Athens, Ga. – Researchers at the University of Georgia and Yale University have discovered a compound with the potential to be more effective than existing agents in treating the very painful blisters known as shingles—a condition that affects up to 30 percent of Americans, mostly elderly, and for which no specific treatment exists. Most adults remember the fever, itchy blisters and possibly tiny scars they experienced as children when they had chickenpox, which is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, or VZV.Unfortunately, that memory can come back—with a vengeance—when ...

North Carolina Appeals Court Reverses Workers' Compensation Award A recent North Carolina Court of Appeals opinion took a close look issues of medical causation and liability in North Carolina workers' compensation cases. The case, Gross v. Gene Bennett Co., involved a claim for workers' compensation benefits from a welder and steel fabricator who injured his back after falling through a suspended ceiling over ten feet to a concrete floor. The plaintiff initially missed about two months of work after receiving medical treatment and occupational therapy and receiving ...

April 21, 2011 -- (Bronx, NY) -- Transplanting cells from healthy adult livers may work in treating a genetic liver-lung disorder that affects millions of people worldwide, according to an animal study in the April 18 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Jayanta Roy-Chowdhury, M.D. , professor of medicine and of genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, is the study's senior author. The genetic disorder, alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, is the most common potentially lethal hereditary disease among Caucasians, affecting ...

UCLA researchers have redefined the concept of a microscope by removing the lens to create a system that is small enough to fit in the palm of a hand but powerful enough to create three-dimensional tomographic images of miniscule samples. The advance, featured this week in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, represents the first demonstration of lens-free optical tomographic imaging on a chip, a technique capable of producing high-resolution 3-D images of large volumes of microscopic objects. "This research clearly ...

High-Profile California Cases Draw Attention to Employee Misclassification Recent lawsuits filed in California courts against Franklin American Mortgage Company, Raytheon, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Ecolab are highlighting the oft-ignored issue of employee misclassification. The intentional -- or even accidental -- misclassification of employees can make them ineligible for payment of overtime benefits, mandatory rest periods, covered meal times, uniform reimbursement and other employee perks. California Overtime Payment Laws California has some of the most employee-friendly ...

New research on mice has shown that pulmonary administration of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) significantly reduces flu symptoms and prevents death after a lethal dose influenza virus. While GM-SCF therapy for humans as a flu prophylaxis or treatment may be years away, the study results were striking: All of the mice treated with GM-SCF survived after being infected with the influenza virus, whereas untreated mice all died from the same infection. "Such unique and unambiguous results demonstrate the great potential of GM-CSF and may be the ...

Scotland's first fully protected marine reserve, and only the second in the UK, is already providing commercial and conservation benefits, according to new research. After only two years in operation, it is already showing positive signs for both fishermen and conservationists, according to a study by the University of York and the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST). The research, published in the journal Marine Biology, shows that commercially valuable scallops and several species of algae known to promote biodiversity are much more abundant in the marine reserve, ...

Delivering the News: How to Tell the Kids You Are Getting a Divorce Choosing to get a divorce can be a difficult decision, especially if you and your spouse have children. However, communicating the facts of your decision and simply explaining how the children's lives will change -- and how they will stay the same -- can make the transition a better experience for them. To deliver the divorce news in an understandable and kid-friendly way, Lynn Louise Wonders, a licensed professional counselor who works with children and families going through divorce, offers the ...

PHOENIX, Ariz.-- April 22, 2011-- A gene called PVT1 may help reduce the kidneys ability to filter blood, leading to kidney disease, kidney failure and death, according to a study published today by researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). The TGen team found PVT1 expression levels increased up to 5-fold in response to hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, a condition that often accompanies diabetes. But by knocking down or reducing the expression of the PVT1gene, TGen researchers lowered the amount of proteins associated with the excessive ...

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology (RCAI) has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells. The finding establishes a role for the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in B cell differentiation, a key step toward the development of B cell-targeted drugs for treatment of autoimmune diseases and allergies. As the only cells in the body that produce antibodies, B cells play an essential role in the immune system's ...

Dallas Man Petitions Texas Supreme Court for Review of Gay Divorce Case Texas is one of several states that have amended their constitutions to limit legal recognition of marriage to one man and one woman. Same-sex couples who want to formalize certain aspects of their relationship can explore Texas domestic partnership solutions, including adoption, cohabitation agreements and designation of end-of-life rights. But given that other states have formally recognized gay marriage, many Texans have traveled to places like Iowa and Massachusetts to obtain a legal marriage. If ...

PHILADELPHIA--During embryonic development, cells migrate to their eventual location in the adult body plan and begin to differentiate into specific cell types. Thanks to new research at the University of Pennsylvania, there is new insight into how these processes regulate tissues formation in the heart. A developmental biologist at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine, Jean-Pierre Saint-Jeannet, along with a colleague, Young-Hoon Lee of South Korea's Chonbuk National University, has mapped the embryonic region that becomes the part of the heart that separates the outgoing ...

Mortgage Fraud and the Financial Crisis In Oregon and across the country, the fallout from the subprime mortgage collapse and the ensuing financial meltdown has still not ended. This fallout does not only include depressed housing values and the seemingly endless waves of foreclosures that have affected so many lives. It also includes the unfairness of bringing mortgage fraud cases against people who were rank-and-file players in the deregulated mortgage industry. Mortgage fraud is a serious charge that often requires a vigorous federal criminal defense. Systemic ...

Michigan Crime and Punishment for Reckless or Drunk Driving Two fiery Michigan crashes lead to very different charges. In 2009, Robert Gorter crashed his car into a truck in a construction zone on I-196. Authorities say he was driving too fast for the conditions when he struck the truck. Both the car and the truck caught fire and the truck was pushed down an embankment. Gorter's 83-year-old wife and the 70-year-old driver of the truck were killed instantly. In 2010, Lauraetta Carey pursued her boyfriend and his female companion at speeds of up to 100 mph before he ...

Humans are not born as blank slates for nature to write on. Neither are they behaving on genes alone. Research by Lee A. Thompson, chair of Case Western Reserve University's Psychological Sciences Department, and colleagues found that the link between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and academic performance involves a complex interaction of genes and environment. Genetic influence was found to be greater on reading than for math, while shared environment (e.g., the home and/or school environment the twins shared) influenced math more so than reading. ...

The University of Connecticut and California State University researchers found that seafloor communities in a restricted fishing area in NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary showed indications of recovery from chronic fishing gear impacts but is not fully stable. The finding is significant because bottom trawlers, dredges and certain gillnets, for example, can alter the ocean floor and benthic ecosystems that provide food and shelter for fish and other marine species. The Western Gulf of Maine habitat closure area overlaps 22 percent of the sanctuary and ...

The exponentially increasing amount of digital information, along with new challenges in storing valuable data and massive datasets, are changing the architecture of today's newest supercomputers as well as how researchers will use them to accelerate scientific discovery, said Michael Norman, director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In a presentation during the 3rd Annual La Jolla Research & Innovation Summit this week, Norman said that the amount of digital data generated just by instruments such as DNA ...

The Long Term Effects of Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS) Only recently have the serious consequences of concussions become generally understood. Muhammad Ali and his Parkinson's disease is a popular and extreme case of someone living with a brain injury from a (or a series of) sports related concussion. However, research shows that even non-professional athletes can suffer unseen injuries from common accidents that may last a lifetime. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury generally caused by a blow to, or the rapid back and forth movement of, the head. While ...

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Atmospheric scientists trying to pin down how clouds curb the amount of sunlight available to warm the earth have found that it depends on the wavelength of sunlight being measured. This unexpected result will help researchers improve how they portray clouds in climate models. Additionally, the researchers found that sunlight scattered by clouds — the reason why beachgoers can get sunburned on overcast days — is an important component of cloud contributions to the earth's energy balance. Capturing such contributions will increase the accuracy of climate ...

Divorce Concerns Evolve As We Age Divorce in each stage of life presents its own unique challenges. For instance, divorce in your mid-twenties is very different from divorce as you near or are in retirement. Life circumstances make the issues and concerns of divorce as an older adult different from divorce as a younger adult. As a younger adult we most likely have fewer assets and small children, making child custody and support key issues. Whereas, those of retirement age presumably have many more assets and grown children, making the division of assets more of a ...

Alexandria, Va., USA – The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) have published two studies about oral health inequalities in older people and low income individuals. These articles, titled "Income-related Inequalities in Dental Service Utilization by Europeans Aged 50+" by Stefan Listl, and "Income Inequality and Tooth Loss in the United States" by Eduardo Bernabe and Wagner Marcenes, are published in the Journal of Dental Research, the official publication of the IADR/AADR. The study by Barnebe and Mercenes explores the relationship ...

The owners of ChecknGold are so convinced that now is the best time to sell silver coins, gold and jewelry, they are willing to reward you with up to a $100 bonus gas card just for bringing your valuables to one of their locations. You can even sell your old silver coins. In fact, they are excited to talk to anyone who wants to sell jewelry or coins and take advantage of the recent spike in precious metal prices. Record-setting gold and silver figures have made this the perfect opportunity to unload what you don't use for instant ready cash that you can spend on bills ...

"We read to know we are not alone," wrote C.S. Lewis. But how do books make us feel we are not alone? "Obviously, you can't hold a book's hand, and a book isn't going to dry your tears when you're sad," says University at Buffalo, SUNY psychologist Shira Gabriel. Yet we feel human connection, without real relationships, through reading. "Something else important must be happening." In an upcoming study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Gabriel and graduate student Ariana Young show what that something is: When we read, ...

Thalmann Commodities (www.thalmanncommodities.com), a leading Independent Broker Dealer based in Zurich announced that its flagship strategy, the Hard Currency Fund (HCF), reached $150 million euro in assets, after reaching $100 million just three months earlier. The Fund, which was launched in December, 2010, is a no-load, open-end mutual fund that seeks to protect against the fall of the dollar relative to other currencies. "We are pleased to have reached this milestone because it demonstrates the demand for hard currency diversification," said Walter Mayerbach, ...

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