A drug approved to treat certain types of cancer has shown promising results in the treatment of patients with scleroderma, according to results from an open-label Phase II trial. While the drug's efficacy must be demonstrated in a Phase III trial, the gold standard for testing a drug, researchers are optimistic that Gleevec™ (imatinib) could potentially be a weapon against the chronic connective tissue disease for which a treatment has remained elusive. "This trial showed Gleevec has acceptable safety and tolerability, and there are hints of efficacy or suggestions the ...

Making a video about a scientific experiment rather than writing up a presentation poster leads to better learning and clearer understanding of the concepts underpinning the experiment according to science educators in Australia. Writing in the International Journal of Innovation and Learning, the researchers explain how preparation and rehearsals for video production also helped with learning. Geoff Hilton of the School of Education, at the University of Queensland in Brisbane asked two groups of year 7 students (one class with 21 students, one with 22) of mixed ability ...

Harris James Associates, a market leader in Financial Services aims to dispel the fear that Initial Public Offerings (IPO's) are riskier than normal investments. For potential investors to understand more about IPO's, here is a guide that could hopefully eliminate the jargon. HJA New York is committed in offering access to most up-to-date and widest range of financial services to clients. We are aware that deciding on the right investment, right product and right strategy is not that easy to do especially nowadays. So whether you need financial or investments planning, ...

If common anticonvulsant drugs fail to manage epileptic seizures, then perhaps the anti-inflammatory* route is the way to go. That's according to Mattia Maroso and colleagues from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, who found that giving mice repeated doses of a specific enzyme inhibitor significantly reduced both chronic epileptic activity and acute seizures. Their findings, published online in the Springer journal Neurotherapeutics, open up the possibility of a new target system for anticonvulsant drug intervention, to control epileptic ...

All medications have side-effects from common aspirin to herbal remedies and from standard anticancer drugs to experimental immunosuppressants. However, predicting important side effects, serious adverse drug reactions, ADRs, is with current understanding almost impossible. However, a neural network technology trained with past data could give drug companies and healthcare workers a new tool to spot the potential for ADRs with any given medication. Writing in the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, at team from the University of Medicine and ...

VIDEO: A UC team is unveiling groundbreaking research on the agroforestry and water-management practices of the Maya over a 1,500-year period. See this flyover of the Tikal site developed by the... Click here for more information. Thousands of international researchers will attend the March 29-April 3 Society for American Archaeology (SAA) annual meeting in Sacramento, Calif., presenting research at more than 250 special sessions and forums dedicated to specific topic ...

What is 'The Truth'? For The Mick Donovan Band, it's both a song and a testament to their commitment to music. These boys from the San Francisco Bay Area are adamant about staying afloat in the music business, bringing their brand of adult contemporary/hard rock sensibility to listeners always wanting something new. Who is The Mick Donovan Band (MDB)? First up, Mick Donovan: the band's lead vocals who also plays the guitar and piano. The singer-songwriter graduated with a music degree and in 2001, he moved to San Francisco to start his musical career. He joined a ...

New insights into why and how nanowires take the form they do will have profound implications for the development of future electronic components. PhD student Peter Krogstrup from the Nano-Science Center at the University of Copenhagen is behind the sensational new theoretical model, which is developed in collaboration with researchers from CINAM-CNRS in Marseille. One of the most important components in future electronic devices will likely be based on nanocrystals, which are smaller than the wavelength of the light our eyes can detect. Nanowires, which are extremely ...

Secureway Network Distributors, along with its vendor partners, Sourcefire and Lumension , is organising an IT Security seminar for its customers and partners at the Intercontinental Hotel Riyadh on March 28th, 2011. Pat Clawson, the Chairman and CEO of Lumension, and senior global executives of both companies, will address a wide range of IT security issues at the event that will be attended by CIOs, IT Managers and senior managers of leading Saudi companies. The seminar will cover a diverse set of IT security topics that include Key Security issues in today's world, ...

Fast, low-energy memory for MP3s, smartphones and cameras could become a reality thanks to a development by scientists. Researchers have created a tiny device that improves on existing forms of memory storage. Conventional methods use electronic devices to convert data into signals that are stored as binary code. This latest device uses a tiny mechanical arm to translate the data into electrical signals. This allows for much faster operation and uses much less energy compared with conventional memory storage tools. The device records data by measuring the current ...

Optimism about studies that show a drop in the black percentage of crime may be dampened by demographic trends and statistical aberrations, according to a group of criminologists. The rise in the U.S. Hispanic population and the sharp jump in black violent crime during the late 1980s and early 1990s may skew statistics from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey that appear to show a recent drop in black violence, said Darrell Steffensmeier, professor, sociology, and crime, law and justice, Penn State. The researchers, who released ...

During a large-scale study of the socioeconomic costs of this neurodegenerative disease, Danish researchers, some from the University of Copenhagen, discovered that very early symptoms of Parkinson's disease may be revealed in dream or REM sleep. Parkinson's disease is a brain disease best known for the trembling it causes. It is an incurable, chronic disease and gradually affects the muscles and mental capacity, seriously afflicting the lives if the patient and his or her immediate relatives. "In the study we saw that eight years before diagnosis, Parkinson's sufferers ...

In a market with numerous home foreclosures and real estate-owned (REO) homes, opportunities for purchasing inexpensive properties abound. To determine the value of such properties in Southern California, Appraisal Evaluations, Inc., a Los Angeles Property Appraiser, has begun focusing on assisting their clients' Loss Mitigation departments with REO Appraisals. Foreclosure REO homes have gone through foreclosure, repossession and offered unsuccessfully for sale at auction. The mortgage holder typically tries to sell the home for the balance of the original mortgage. ...

How would you like to store all the films ever made on a device the size of an I-phone? Magnets made of just a few metallic atoms could make it possible to build radically smaller storage devices and have also recently been proposed as components for spintronics devices. There's just one obstacle on the way. Nano-sized magnets have only been seen to work at temperatures a few hairs above absolute zero. Now a chemistry student at the University of Copenhagen has demonstrated that molecular magnets using the metals ruthenium and osmium retain their magnetic properties ...

Acclaro (http://www.acclaro.com), a premier localization and translation firm, announces a live, one-hour webinar "Take Your Mobile App Global", which will review mobile app strategy, mobile app trends, and mobile app translation and globalization. Webinar: "Take Your Mobile App Global" Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Time: 9 a.m. PT / Noon ET Pre-registration at: http://www.acclaro.com/webinars/mobile-app-software-translation-ws Cost: Complimentary Presenters: Lydia Clarke and Jon Ritzdorf of Acclaro This live, one-hour webinar looks at how to prepare a mobile ...

The addition of extremely small crystals to solid electrolyte material has the potential to considerably raise the efficiency of fuel cells. Researchers at TU Delft in the Netherlands were the first to document this accurately. Their second article on the subject in a very short time was published in the scientific journal, Advanced Functional Materials. Electrolyte The researchers at the Faculty of Applied Sciences at TU Delft were concentrating their efforts on improving electrolyte materials. This is the material between two electrodes, for example in a fuel cell ...

Pembrokeshire's Torch Theatre is preparing to stage Flowers from Tunisia, a play by Welsh dramatist Laurence Allan. Running from Thursday May 5th to Saturday May 14th, the production will be the first run of shows overseen by the Milford Haven venue's new associate director Simon Harris. Described by the theatre as "a delightful, touching and thoroughly absorbing play with flowing dialogue", Flowers from Tunisia was praised by critics when first performed in 2005. It tells the story of Reah, a woman experiencing the early stages of dementia who shocks her ex-serviceman ...

University of Cincinnati research is investigating why a highly sophisticated civilization decided to build large, bustling cities next to what is essentially swampland. The research by UC Geography Professor Nicholas Dunning, a three-year, interdisciplinary project including David Lentz, professor of biological sciences, and Vern Scarborough, professor of anthropology, will be presented April 1 at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Sacramento, Calif. This annual meeting draws more than 3,000 researchers from around the world to present research ...

LEXINGTON, Ky., (March 28, 2011) – University of Kentucky plant pathologists recently discovered a metabolite that plays a critical role early on in the ability of plants, animals, humans and one-celled microorganisms to fend off a wide range of pathogens at the cellular level, which is known as systemic immunity. This mode of resistance has been known for more than 100 years, but the key events that stimulate that resistance have remained a mystery. The findings of the UK College of Agriculture researchers, led by Pradeep Kachroo and Aardra Kachroo, were published online ...

Trumpeter and composer Matthew Halsall will bring his acclaimed jazz repertoire to the Norwich Arts Centre on Wednesday April 20th. The Manchester-based musician won plaudits for his debut album Sending My Love, which received the approval of influential DJ Gilles Peterson following its release in October 2008. Since then, Halsall has continued to build his reputation by working with the likes of saxophonist Nat Birchall and multi-instrumentalist Nitin Sawhney, as well as recording several acclaimed sessions at the BBC's Maida Vale studios. He released his second ...

This release is available in Spanish. The performance took place on March 15 at the María Guerrero Theatre in Madrid, where the play "Woyzeck," by Georg Büchner could be enjoyed in the version by Juan Mayorga, under the direction of Gerardo Vera. This accessible staging has been promoted with the collaboration of the CESyA and the CDN, which for the first time ever in their theatres programmed a subtitled function for hearing impaired individuals, thanks to technological support from UC3M though a subtitling system, UC3MTitling.. This system carries out subtitling ...

Fans of Paul Rodgers can see the rock veteran perform at the Bournemouth International Centre next month. The former Free and Bad Company vocalist is due to play the south coast venue as part of his latest solo UK tour on Sunday April 24th. Rodgers, now more than four decades into his music career, has recorded over 30 albums and shared a stage with some of the biggest names in rock music. Dubbed The Voice by his fans, the Middlesbrough-born singer remains one of the genre's most captivating showmen and continues to perform his hits to audiences around the world. Having ...

This release is available in German. Whether calculating routes, finding your vehicle, tracking products or simply knowing where you are at the moment, drivers and sailors currently use satellite navigation as a matter of course and rescue personnel and logistics providers have also already discovered the potential it affords them. Up to now, the applications have mainly been based on the direction signals of the military's publicly available Global Positioning Systems (GPS). When the first four of a total of 30 satellites of the European Global Navigation Satellite ...

SciFi Sydney offers science fiction fans the chance to meet recreations of some of their favourite film characters while raising money for charity. Visitors will have the chance to get their pictures taken with the likes of Darth Vader, R2D2, a Dalek and K9. All models and outfits have been created by the Sydney Robot Workshop and Novus Ordo Star Wars Costuming groups. People can also get behind the wheel of a Star Wars Droid or climb inside a Dalek and drive it around the hall. The event takes place on April 9th 2011 at the Dougherty Community Centre in Chatswood, ...

Some of Australia's most talented and creative musicians will play at the 2011 Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival (MJFF) next month. The line-up consists of 80 performers who will take the stage at venues across the city over ten days and nights. Melbourne's Recital Centre Salon hosts the event's opening night concert on April 29th, featuring a recital of Place by the Andrea Keller Quartet with Strings. The 60-minute piece was commissioned by the Four Winds Festival and is inspired by the area surrounding Bermagui in New South Wales. Tickets are priced at AU$30 and ...