It is safe to say that we are all guilty of these at some point in our day – stifling a yawn in the middle of the work day, eyelids growing heavy and having the strong urge for caffeine when 3pm rolls around. While most of us have experienced fatigue and lethargy on the job, spare a thought for those who hold the fate of people's lives in their hands. In recent weeks, there have been reports of air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job, from Miami to Knoxville to Washington, DC. There is even speculation that staff shortage and a lack of attention may have contributed ...

The 2011 Connecticut National Association of Social Workers Annual Conference celebrates the role of how "Social Workers Change Futures" and will be attended by social workers throughout the state. There are an estimated 8-10,000 social workers in Connecticut who are working to help people change and improve their lives as well as working on legislative initiatives and policy to help make such changes possible. Keeping with the theme of the annual conference that highlights social workers who "think outside the box" as they view problems from all ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Researchers at MIT have found a way to make significant improvements to the power-conversion efficiency of solar cells by enlisting the services of tiny viruses to perform detailed assembly work at the microscopic level. In a solar cell, sunlight hits a light-harvesting material, causing it to release electrons that can be harnessed to produce an electric current. The new MIT research, published online this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is based on findings that carbon nanotubes — microscopic, hollow cylinders of pure carbon — can enhance ...

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 25, 2011 - Call them the Jason Bournes of the bacteria world. Going "off the grid," like rogue secret agents, some bacteria avoid antibiotic treatments by essentially shutting down and hiding until it's safe to come out again, says Thomas Wood, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University. This surreptitious and elaborate survival mechanism is explained in the online April edition of Nature Chemical Biology, which details the research of Wood and his post doctoral student Xiaoxue Wang along ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 25, 2011 - Novel properties of ferroelectric materials discovered at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are moving scientists one step closer to realizing a new paradigm of electronic memory storage. A new study led by ORNL's Peter Maksymovych and published in the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters revealed that contrary to previous assumptions, domain walls in ferroelectric materials act as dynamic conductors instead of static ones. Domain walls, the separation zones only a few atoms wide between opposing states ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Amphibian declines around the world have forced many species to the brink of extinction, are much more complex than realized and have multiple causes that are still not fully understood, researchers conclude in a new report. The search for a single causative factor is often missing the larger picture, they said, and approaches to address the crisis may fail if they don't consider the totality of causes – or could even make things worse. No one issue can explain all of the population declines that are occurring at an unprecedented rate, and much faster ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mosquitoes make proteins to help them handle the stressful spike in body temperature that's prompted by their hot blood meals, a new study has found. The mosquito's eating pattern is inherently risky: Taking a blood meal involves finding warm-blooded hosts, avoiding detection, penetrating tough skin and evading any host immune response, not to mention the slap of a human hand. Until now, the stress of the hot blood meal itself has been overlooked, researchers say. Scientists have determined in female mosquitoes that the insects protect themselves ...

AMES, Iowa - Like people, plants experience stress. And also, like people, the response to that stress can determine success. People can exercise, or rest, or talk about the problem. For plants, ways to deal with stress are internal. And ISU researchers are trying to understand how they do it. Stephen Howell is a professor of genetics, development and cell biology and former director of the Plant Sciences Institute at ISU. His research is featured in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We've discovered a new arm of ...

AUSTIN, Texas-A new low cost test for acute pancreatitis that gets results much faster than existing tests has been developed by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin. The sensor, which could be produced for as little as a dollar, is built with a 12-cent LED light, aluminum foil, gelatin, milk protein and a few other cheap, easily obtainable materials. The sensor could help prevent damage from acute pancreatitis, which is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas that can lead to severe stomach pain, nausea, fever, shock and in some cases, death. "We've turned ...

Following a government backed business start-up scheme, search figures obtained by Google and Experian indicate a significant increase in people searching online for advice on business start-up. Bird and Co Creative, a graphic and web design company, has also experienced a rise in online leads relating to new business marketing. Traditionally, the close of the financial year brings a dip in online searches for terms relating to business start-up. However, this year the trend has changed dramatically - searches for 'business plan UK' were up 60pc and 'small business loan' ...

The formation of the new coalition government has brought with it numerous changes. The Equality Act 2010 is now under review with considerations to scrap it altogether. Following years of campaigning the act was finally put in place to unify the existing equality laws. The Institute of Equality and Diversity Practitioners (IEDP) are challenging the government's proposed changes and have called a number of emergency meetings to discuss their challenge. Scrapping the act will weaken their powers and void the hard work which has been put into promoting equality and diversity ...

VIDEO: University of Missouri veterinarians have changed the way veterinarians treat diabetes in animals by adapting a device used to monitor glucose in humans. Click here for more information. COLUMBIA, Mo. – Studies show the incidence of diabetes in dogs has increased 200 percent over the past 30 years. Now, University of Missouri veterinarians have changed the way veterinarians treat diabetes in animals by adapting a device used to monitor glucose in humans. Dogs are ...

Regular preventative maintenance is necessary to keep a restaurant running efficiently and performing to its maximum capability. However, some restaurants may also experience unnecessary visits, which are visits that could be avoided by controlling one of the most common commodity items: water. Water not only affects a restaurant's utility bills, but it can also be the source of unnecessary maintenance. How often is a service company performing ice machine cleanings? Or descaling a piece of espresso or steam equipment? Controlling water quality can help to optimize ...

Monday, April 25, 2011 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Unintentional overdose deaths in teens and adults have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. In some 20 states in 2007 the number of unintentional drug poisoning deaths exceeded either motor vehicle crashes or suicides, two of the leading causes of injury death. Prescription opioid pain medications are driving this overdose epidemic. Opioid pain medications were also involved in about 36 percent of all poisoning suicides in the U.S. in 2007. In a commentary article released ahead of the print version in the April 19, 2011 ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Spicing up your daily diet with some red pepper can curb appetite, especially for those who don't normally eat the popular spice, according to research from Purdue University. "We found that consuming red pepper can help manage appetite and burn more calories after a meal, especially for individuals who do not consume the spice regularly," said Richard Mattes, distinguished professor of foods and nutrition who collaborated with doctoral student Mary-Jon Ludy. "This finding should be considered a piece of the puzzle because the idea that one small ...

If you want to keep your brain healthy, it turns out that visiting friends, attending parties, and even going to church might be just as good for you as crossword puzzles. According to research conducted at Rush University Medical Center, frequent social activity may help to prevent or delay cognitive decline in old age. The study has just been posted online in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. The researchers were especially careful in their analysis to try to rule out the possibility that cognitive decline precedes, or causes, social isolation, ...

NORMAN, Okla. – Faculty from the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology are leading the school's predictability research initiatives with multiple projects that could one day lead to more accurate forecasts of weather-related events, including landslides and tornadoes. In the Southern Plains region of the United States, people think of thunderstorms and tornadoes when severe weather is forecasted. However, the OU School of Meteorology is interested in a broad range of weather phenomena and its impacts. As an example of the breadth of OU's program, one of the researchers, ...

Red light ticket laws are creating more expensive tickets and citations for area drivers. The state of California constantly updates these laws and legislation to impose more fines and penalties when red light and speeding violations occur. Your Ticket Doctor is the gateway to a traffic ticket defense for residents that want to contest a speeding or red light ticket in a court of law. They have now launched a new website with informative information about all kinds of traffic tickets. Many people search the Internet for how to fight speeding tickets. There is a variety ...

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins may help clot-busting drugs treat strokes, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research involved 31 patients with ischemic stroke, a disorder when a clot blocks blood flow to part of the brain. In 12 patients who were already taking statins to control their cholesterol, blood flow returned to the blocked areas of the brain more completely and quickly. "We've known that patients on statins have better stroke outcomes, but the data in this study suggest a new reason why: Statins ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – American companies and organizations spend billions of dollars every year on leadership training for their managers. To improve job performance they ought instead to focus on what managers believe about their employees, a study by the University of California, Riverside shows. How leaders view their employees tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, concludes Thomas Sy, assistant professor of psychology at UC Riverside and a longtime business leadership consultant. In what he describes as the first study to examine leaders' conceptions of followers, ...

Westlake dentist, Dr. Philip Shindler, is now offering CariFree. CariFree is a line of dental products that help to prevent cavities and tooth decay more effectively than traditional dental products, and Dr. Shindler is proud to be able to offer CariFree to his patients. More Information about CariFree The reason modern people brush their teeth is to remove bits of food debris that become fodder for bacteria. The bacteria that feed on this debris can eventually spread and infect the teeth, leading to tooth decay. This bacterial infection is called dental caries, and ...

News Release Embargoed until Monday, April 26, 2011, noon EDT. Please credit CMAJ, not the Canadian Medical Association. CMAJ is an independent medical journal; views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of its owner, the CMA. The prevalence of frailty, which is linked to earlier death, increases throughout adulthood as people age and not just after age 65, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101271.pdf. Relatively good fitness levels at all ages were predictive of lower mortality ...

With the increase in numbers of overweight children and young adults, Canada and other developed countries are facing an obesity epidemic and legislative approaches are required to address this issue, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101522.pdf. Canadians have become heavier and less fit over the last three decades; people aged 20-39 years have the BMI (body mass index) that people aged 40 or older had thirty years ago. The 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey found more than ...

Minority races—especially Blacks—are more willing than Whites to expend personal financial resources to prolong life after being diagnosed with lung or colorectal cancer, even if it means using up all of their personal financial resources. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Delivering quality cancer care that is in accordance with patients' wishes requires a better understanding of the reasons for these differences in preference. Minority patients receive more aggressive care ...

Inspection of medical records, case files, and legal affidavits provides compelling evidence that medical personnel who treated detainees at Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) failed to inquire and/or document causes of physical injuries and psychological symptoms they observed in the detainees, according to a paper published this week in PLoS Medicine. Vincent Iacopino, Senior Medical Advisor for Physician for Human Rights, and Brigadier General (Ret) Stephen Xenakis, U.S. Army, reviewed GTMO medical records and relevant case files of nine individuals, looking for evidence of torture ...