Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 714-765-2012 (Meeting, March 27-31) 202-872-6042 (Before March 27) Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 714-765-2012 (Meeting, March 27-31) 202-872-6293 (Before March 27) American Chemical Society From crankcase to gas tank: New microwave method converts used motor oil into fuel This release is also available in Chinese on EurekAlert! Chinese. ANAHEIM, March 28, 2011 — That dirty motor oil that comes out of your car or truck engine during oil changes could end up in your fuel tank, according to a report ...

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 714-765-2012 (Meeting, March 27-31) 202-872-6042 (Before March 27) Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 714-765-2012 (Meeting, March 27-31) 202-872-6293 (Before March 27) American Chemical Society Potential new medicines show promise for treating colon cancer, asthma ANAHEIM, March 28, 2011 — In what they described as the opening of a new era in the development of potentially life-saving new drugs, scientists today reported discovery of a way to tone down an overactive gene involved in colon cancer and ...

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 714-765-2012 (Meeting, March 27-31) 202-872-6042 (Before March 27) Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 714-765-2012 (Meeting, March 27-31) 202-872-6293 (Before March 27) American Chemical Society Mimicking Mother Nature yields promising materials for drug delivery and other applications ANAHEIM, March 28, 2011 — Mimicking Mother Nature's genius as a designer is one of the most promising approaches for developing new medicines, sustainable sources of food and energy, and other products that society needs ...

When the recent decision was made to merge the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) into a yet unnamed institution, there were a lot of questions as to how, and even why, it needed to be done. A commentary piece to be released in the April 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, which is currently available at Early View, explores that subject in great detail to analyze its problems and present possible solutions. One of the main issues, according to leading alcohol researchers who ...

Shortly after experiments on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland began yielding scientific data last fall, a group of scientists led by a Syracuse University physicist became the first to observe the decays of a rare particle that was present right after the Big Bang. By studying this particle, scientists hope to solve the mystery of why the universe evolved with more matter than antimatter. Led by Sheldon Stone, a physicist in SU's College of Arts and Sciences, the scientists observed the decay of a special type of B meson, ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. –Any possible pain relief that marijuana has for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be outweighed by the drug's apparent negative effect on thinking skills, according to research published in the March 29, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Some clinical trials have reported a mild benefit of marijuana on pain, bladder dysfunction and spasticity in MS, an auto-immune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. The researchers studied two groups of 25 people each between the ages of 18 ...

BrianGeary.com has posted a list of tie-in ideas for April news release topics. The April tie-ins are available for free to all website visitors. Businesses seeking ideas for April news releases are encouraged to review the list to see which topics might be most appropriate to tie-in with their product or service news release. "Writing news releases that tie-in with current or cultural events," explains company spokesman Brian Geary, "have always been effective ways to attract viewers to read your news release." The effectiveness of the tie-in, however, is directly ...

Patients living in Ladera Ranch now have a dentist to call their own. Your Ladera Ranch Dentist is a family dental office that provides affordable dentistry and cosmetic dentistry services for adults and children of any age. Your Ladera Ranch Dentist is a member of the 7 Day Dental group of dental practices. 7 Day Dental, as the name suggests, is open 7 days per week, 365 days a year and that means that Your Ladera Ranch Dentist is open all the time and there are even emergency dentistry services for those after hour dental crises. Your Laguna Ranch Dentist also provides ...

Your Anaheim Dentist is offering a discount promotion for patients who lack dental insurance. That is a savings of $180 and the promotion is held from Monday through Friday from 9AM to 3PM. The promotion is another opportunity for the 7 Day Dental group practice member to fulfill the company mission, which is to provide the most modern yet affordable dental care to as many patients as possible, regardless of those patients' means. Your Anaheim Dentist, which is one of four 7 Day Dental offices in Orange County, is headed by Dr. Jim Shen. Dr. Shen graduated from the University ...

When influenza pandemics arrive, the specter of disease spread through person-to-person contact can mean that schools close, hand sanitizer sales rise, and travellers stay home. But is severing social and business interactions with our neighbors really better than taking a chance on getting sick? "Infectious disease can mean making trade-offs between the risks and rewards of meeting others," says Eli Fenichel, an Arizona State University scientist. "It's critical that we more clearly understand the role that human decisions play in transmitting disease." Fenichel, a ...

The freshly built website of Seattle's Affordable Washington Backflow Testing went live today throughout the World Wide Web. WashingtonBackflowTesting.com is poised to extend their commitment to protecting public safety through education, dedicated service and local philanthropy. The new site is aimed to be a resource for the citizens of Puget Sound, and Washington at large, who value the water safety of their homes and communities. The new web design incorporates striking colors and images and features rich media. "Public awareness is critical in ensuring that our ...

Conventional antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines often administered to nursing home residents are no safer than atypical antipsychotics and may carry increased risks, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101406.pdf. Psychotropic medications are often used to manage behavioral symptoms in seniors, particularly people with dementing illnesses, with up to two-thirds of dementia patients in nursing homes prescribed these medications. However, the effectiveness of these ...

Psychological problems experienced during childhood can have a long-lasting impact on an individual's life course, reducing people's earnings and decreasing the chances of establishing long-lasting relationships, according to a new study. Analyzing information about large group of British residents followed for five decades from the week of their birth, researchers found that family income was about one-fourth lower on average by age 50 among those who experienced serious psychological problems during childhood than among those who did not experience such problems. In ...

Go Cocktails! Sugar Free Cocktail Mixers company has launched a fundraising drive that will benefit Japan earthquake + tsunami victims through the charity GlobalGiving.org. The product's parent company has allocated, for the next month until April 20th, 50% of their profits from product sales (on their website at http://www.gococktails.com and their Amazon store) and 100% of proceeds from custom designed t-shirts for the Global Giving charity's efforts on the ground in Japan. The custom designed t-shirts are being hosted by CafePress.com which is also donating 10% ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Physical pain and intense feelings of social rejection "hurt" in the same way, a new study shows. The study demonstrates that the same regions of the brain that become active in response to painful sensory experiences are activated during intense experiences of social rejection. "These results give new meaning to the idea that social rejection 'hurts'," said University of Michigan social psychologist Ethan Kross, lead author of the article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "On the surface, spilling a hot cup of coffee ...

Reducing cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and being overweight could potentially reduce more than half of all cases of atrial fibrillation, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. More than 2 million Americans live with atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heart rhythm that occurs when the heart's two upper chambers beat erratically, causing the chambers to pump blood rapidly, unevenly and inefficiently. Blood can pool and clot in the chambers, increasing the risk of stroke or heart ...

Inspirational speaker and keynote speaker Joe Roberts motivated and encouraged the members of Chilliwack's Stó:lō Nation at the Day of Healing Conference last week with his inspiring "More to you than you can see - Finding your Brilliance" presentation. The event took place at The Stó:lō Nation on 7201 Vedder Road, Chilliwack, BC, Canada on March 16th -2011. Roberts' presentation "Finding your Brilliance" inspired the Aboriginal Group to overcome adversity and use their talents and knowledge to better the world around them. "Your story that resonates with ...

A third of patients thought to have resistant hypertension had "white coat" hypertension during 24-hour ambulatory monitoring, in a large study reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. In ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, the patient's blood pressure is checked at regular intervals under normal living and working conditions. Resistant hypertension occurs when a patient's blood pressure remains above treatment goals, despite using three different types of drugs at the same time. In "white coat" hypertension, a patient's blood pressure ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Bariatric surgery may provide an added benefit to severely obese patients besides weight loss: it can also help alleviate the excruciating pain of migraine headaches, according to new research from The Miriam Hospital, published in the March 29, 2011 issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers say obese patients who had suffered painful and debilitating migraines before bariatric surgery reported improvements in headache frequency, severity and disability just six months after surgery. At that point, most ...

Inspirational speaker and keynote speaker Joe Roberts motivated and encouraged the administrators and members of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta 14th Annual Transportation Conference last week with his motivating "Skid Row CEO - Discovering your Brilliance" presentation. The event took place at the Capri Hotel and Conference Center, at 3310 - 50 Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada on March 13th - 14th, 2011. Roberts' presentation "Skid Row to CEO" highlighted his unique "rags to riches" personal life story, which inspired his audience of Alberta Engineers to overcome ...

Brain growth in babies is linked to the amount of time and energy mothers 'invest', according to new research published today. The study of 128 mammal species, including humans, shows that brain growth in babies is determined by the duration of pregnancy and how long they suckle. The Durham University research concludes that the longer the pregnancy and breastfeeding period in mammals, the bigger the baby's brain grows. The researchers say the findings reinforce the suggestion that breast is best for brain development and add further weight to the World Health Organisation's ...

Working with Professor Jeremy Harvey and Professor Adrian Mulholland of Bristol's School of Chemistry, Dr Julianna Olah, an EU Marie Curie Fellow in Bristol at the time, studied a class of enzymes – cytochromes P450 – which play an important role in removing drug molecules from the body. When a tablet of medicine is taken, the active molecules get absorbed into the bloodstream through the gut and make their way around the body, including to the cells in which they are intended to act; however, it's important they don't stay in the body forever. Enzymes (biological catalysts) ...

Premiere Tree Service of Charleston Offers Advice on Tree Roots Damage. Something that many property owners may not realize is that tree roots can create some really big problems they may not be aware of. Some of these problems can quickly lead to expensive repair work for an unwary property owner. Roots from trees and water lines often grow into buried pipes such as waterlines, sewer lines, drainage pipes and culverts. If these pipes are old and rusty or made of materials such as clay or brick roots can break through and interfere with them. "This can end up costing ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Heart transplant recipients and their physicians are likely more concerned with the function of the donated organ than with the donor's DNA sequences that tag along in the new, healthy tissue. However, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that an increase in the amount of the donor's DNA in the recipient's blood is one of the earliest detectable signs of organ rejection. The finding implies that a simple blood draw may soon replace the regular surgical biopsies that are currently used to track the health of the donor ...

Canadians have always seen themselves as separate and distinct from their American neighbours to the south, and now they have geological proof. New research published in April's edition of Geology shows that rock formations roughly along the same political boundary as the two North American countries formed as early as 120 million years ago. Dr. Andrew Leier, of the Department of Geoscience at the University of Calgary, set out to prove what he thought was the obvious: because the mountains are continuous between the U.S. and Canada, the ancient river systems that flowed ...