TORONTO, Ont., March 14, 2011 -- Some physicians are prescribing opioids such as OxyContin 55 times as often as others, according to a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The study found most opioid-related deaths occur among patients treated by physicians who frequently prescribe opioids, suggesting doctors who prescribe a lot of opioids may not be doing so safely. "We found that the 20 per cent of family doctors who are frequent prescribers wrote 55 times as many prescriptions as the 20 per cent of family ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research reveals why people read fitness and fashion magazines featuring photos of impossibly thin or muscular models -- models whose appearance highlight the readers' own flaws. Many previous studies have found that people who are unhappy with their physical appearance feel even more dissatisfied when they are shown photos of models who have "ideal" bodies. "So you have to wonder: why do we still buy those magazines and watch those television programs when they should just make us more dissatisfied?" said Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor ...

Providing clues into why the severity of a common parasitic infection can vary greatly from person to person, a new Johns Hopkins study shows that each one of three strains of the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii sets off a unique reaction in the nerve cells it invades. Past research suggests that the parasite, estimated to infect 25 percent of people worldwide, can trigger or exacerbate psychotic symptoms and schizophrenia in genetically predisposed people. The findings of the new study, published in the March issue of the journal Infection and Immunity, help explain ...

New research by Chongsuk Ryou, researcher at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics in the UK College of Medicine, may shed light on possible treatments for prion diseases. Prion diseases, which include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow" disease) in cattle, are caused by prions — unconventional pathogens composed of infectious protein particles and resistant to conventional sterilization procedures. Presently there is no known agent or procedure that can halt ...

New Rochelle, NY, March 14, 2011–Adolescents and young adults are neither children nor adults and those affected by cancer require targeted care that crosses the boundaries between pediatric and adult oncology, according to several pioneers in this still-developing field of adolescent and young adult oncology. An illuminating roundtable discussion by these experts will be published in the premier issue of Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The Roundtable has been published ...

The so-called cellular slime mold, a unicellular organism that may transition into a multicellular organism under stress, has just been found to have a tissue structure that was previously thought to exist only in more sophisticated animals. What's more, two proteins that are needed by the slime mold to form this structure are similar to those that perform the same function in more sophistical animals. Shortly after an animal embryo forms, it develops a single layer of cells that, shaped like a hollow ball, is empty at its center. Acting as a kind of "man behind the curtain" ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study suggests that combining two experimental anticancer peptide agents might simultaneously block formation of new tumor blood vessels while also inhibiting the growth of tumor cells. This early test of the two agents in a breast cancer model suggests that the double hit can stifle tumor progression, avoid drug resistance and cause few side effects, say researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) who developed the agents and evaluated ...

HILO, Hawaii—A team of scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology and the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) has developed new, more accurate methods for mapping carbon in Hawaii's forests. Their research appears in an online issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The growing market for private and public entities to purchase carbon offsets has led to a need to find better monitoring techniques to accurately quantify the amount of carbon (C) held in our nation's forests. Combining ...

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe to unprecedented accuracy. The universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate. Some believe that is because the universe is filled with a dark energy that works in the opposite way of gravity. One alternative to that hypothesis is that an enormous bubble of relatively empty space eight billion light-years across surrounds our galactic neighborhood. If we lived near the center of this void, observations ...

The massive rain storm that stretched from New York to Florida last week dropped some record rainfall and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite measured that rainfall from space. Those rainfall totals were assembled in a "rain map" created at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Although the heaviest rainfall last week was in the southern United States, flooding was reported in states from Louisiana to northern New York. A rainfall analysis was created made by merging precipitation data from multiple satellites. This Multisatellite ...

SALT LAKE CITY, March 15, 2011 - University of Utah researchers built "spintronic" transistors and used them to align the magnetic "spins" of electrons for a record period of time in silicon chips at room temperature. The study is a step toward computers, phones and other spintronic devices that are faster and use less energy than their electronic counterparts. "Electronic devices mostly use the charge of the electrons - a negative charge that is moving," says Ashutosh Tiwari, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Utah. "Spintronic ...

Young adults whose parents monitor their social interactions may be less likely to display impulsive behavior traits and to have alcohol-related problems, a new study suggests. The level of monitoring is linked to parenting style, and the link is stronger with the parent of the opposite gender. This study is one of the first to explore the link between parenting style and parental monitoring, as well as to explore the monitoring style of each parent individually, says Julie A. Patock-Peckham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Baylor University ...

(Washington, DC) New research published in Language, the journal of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) firmly establishes that language learning goes well beyond simple imitation, and in fact that language learners are quite creative and remarkably smart. Not only are learners able to generalize grammatical restrictions to new words in a category – in this case, made-up adjectives – but they also do not learn these restrictions in situations where they can be attributed to some irrelevant factor. This point is driven home in an article, "Learning what not to say: ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A nursing home industry is booming in China as a rapid increase in the proportion of its elderly population forces a nationwide shift from traditional family care to institutional care, according to new research by Brown University gerontologists. The study, led by Zhanlian Feng, assistant professor of community health, and published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is the first systematic documentation of the growth and operation of nursing homes in Chinese cities. The demographics driving the trend, however, ...

Roller Compaction Process Optimization using FBRM Particle Characterization In roller compaction, particle distribution is recognized as one of the most critical parameters affecting downstream process performance and product quality. The particle distribution affects the following unit operations: (graphic) A roller compaction process is designed to yield consistent downstream tablet compression resulting in uniform dissolution and content uniformity. A successful process produces a granule with consistent particle size distribution, density and porosity control. ...

Limitless, a paranoia-fueled action thriller about an unpublished writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret smart drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film. "This was a great opportunity for me and my manager Mathew Steele to secure a spot in a film such as Limitless" states Prophit. "I'm learning the importance of building relationships with the right people in this business", he further states. In ...

Lighthouse for the Blind-Saint Louis, a not-for-profit corporation that assists legally blind people maintain dignity and independence by offering Employment, Education and Support Services, announces a partnership agreement with Zep, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, and Envision, Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, to manufacture a new line of co-branded aerosol metered air freshener products. John Thompson, President, Lighthouse for the Blind-St. Louis, said, "This new partnership with Zep, Inc. and Envision should have a profound impact on our ability to grow our business and expand ...

DIG Coaching Practice presents Attention Talk Radio with host, Jeff Copper, attention coach, and Dr. Michael Linden on quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) in the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dr. Linden addresses the pitfalls of diagnosing ADHD based only on symptoms and the advantages of using QEEG to accurately diagnose ADHD. Dr. Michael Linden is a licensed clinical psychologist, marriage, family and child therapist, and a BCIA Fellow and nationally certified neurofeedback and biofeedback therapist since 1984. He is the director ...

Blog Family Media, a new on the scene media group, forged together in the idea of giving moms the advantage and power when it comes to purchases; has created a classified website and exclusive networking site. These two sites give moms the venue for posting their own classified, seeking a classified and connecting with other moms âEUR" without the âEURœickâEUR factor of most mainstream sites. Moms 4 Sale (www.moms4sale.com) is your standard issues classified listing website but with one major component âEUR" âEURœ4 Moms, By MomsâEUR. Moms 4 Sale gives moms a safe venue ...

MyCUsurvey.com (www.mycusurvey.com), a new online, low-cost, phone and web-based member research tool designed specifically for the credit union industry, today revealed the results of its first national survey of credit union member satisfaction nationwide. The survey of 5,000 credit union members across the country was conducted in late fall 2010 and is designed to provide a benchmark against which MyCUsurvey.com customers can gauge their own credit union's performance. The most recent survey reveals three key factors that show credit unions are at risk and need to dramatically ...

This week marks the official launch of National Plan a Vacation Week, a new nationally registered annual event. Dana Williams of Williams Travel and Cruises is one of the select travel agents to participate in this travel agent extravaganza, which showcases the best vacation experiences during this important travel booking window. Williams Travel and Cruises has their own personal micro-website as part of the event: http://www.planavacationweek.com/williamstravel. National Plan a Vacation Week enables anyone looking forward to planning their vacations access to great ...

Author and Coach, Catherine Cardinal, has been a relationship expert on numerous radio and tv shows and is now making available her relationship repair secrets in a 10 week class series. Learn the skills you need to meet great people and have relationship success. Catherine helps people shift their relationships from unhealthy to 'healthy and HAPPY' and with her wealth of experience, she has created this unique and dynamic course. The bad news - the divorce rate in California is at 60% and 50% nationwide. The good news - with proper guidance, marriages can be saved. ...

Direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania, wins the 2011 United States Postal Service Creative Business Solutions award for the Southwest Area. The award is bestowed on "postal customers who use the mail in new and different ways ... with mail that stands out and gets results," according to the USPS website. "We're so honored that the Post Office chose us for this award," says Joy Gendusa, Founder and CEO of PostcardMania. "It's very exciting to continue our partnership with them to increase small business marketing nationwide." To qualify for the award, a company ...

Every Tuesday evening at 7:03 PM eastern time, you can listen to Wellness, Wholeness & Wisdom radio with host Psychologist Parthenia Izzard, CNHP. The program is archived within minutes of the live broadcast on the internet and rebroadcast Saturday mornings at 9:03 AM eastern time. On your computer go to http://www.amtherapies.com and click on the Radio link to listen to the show live online or on your phone! Program topics range from authors like Bishop Jordan, James Redfield, Immaculee Ilibagiza, and William Tiller to owners of products like Rishi Teas, and Dr. Kracker. ...

Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence Ltd (HSPSE), the Leader in Putting Instruction on the European PGA Tour, today announced the company has reached an agreement with DXP Tech LLC, Garland, Tx, a leader in golf tempo training aid development, to incorporate DXP Tech's technology into its international network of certified golf putting instructors and schools. "We are excited to incorporate this technology into our ongoing work with European PGA Tour Pros as well as our amateurs in our putting instruction schools worldwide," said Phil Kenyon, Director of Instruction ...