Climate change effect on release of CO2 from peat far greater than assumed Drought causes peat to release far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than has previously been realised. Much of the world's peatlands lie in regions predicted to experience increased frequency and severity of drought as a result of climate change- leading to the peat drying out and releasing vast stores of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. It's the very wetness of the peat that has kept the air out, locking in centuries of carbon dioxide that would normally be released from the ...

Treatment with dexpramipexole – a novel drug believed to prevent dysfunction of mitochondria, the subcellular structures that provide most of a cell's energy – appears to slow symptom progression in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Promising results of a phase 2 trial of dexpramipexole are receiving advance online publication in Nature Medicine. Some preliminary results of the study were presented at the 2009 International Symposium on ALS/MND and the 2010 American Academy of Neurology annual meeting. "Today there are only two FDA-approved ...

Athens, Ga. – Materials that emit visible light after being exposed to sunlight are commonplace and can be found in everything from emergency signage to glow-in-the-dark stickers. But until now, scientists have had little success creating materials that emit light in the near-infrared range, a portion of the spectrum that only can be seen with the aid of night vision devices. In a paper just published in the early online edition of the journal Nature Materials, however, University of Georgia scientists describe a new material that emits a long-lasting, near-infrared glow ...

The more often older married individuals engage in sexual activity, the more likely they are to be happy with both their lives and marriages, according to new research presented in Boston at The Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) 64th Annual Scientific Meeting. This finding is based on the 2004� General Social Surveys, a public opinion poll conducted on a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized English and Spanish-speaking person 18 years of age or older living in the U.S. The data analysis was conducted by Adrienne Jackson, PT, PhD, MPA, ...

A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's immune system in stem cell regeneration. The study, conducted at the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, examined how mice with genetic bone defects responded to infusions of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, or BMMSC. Under normal conditions, the mice's T-cells produced an inflammatory response ...

I have previously written about the potentially devastating consequences of the creation of the New York Medical Indemnity Fund in limiting access to care for children who have suffered severe brain disabilities as a result of proven medical malpractice at the time of their birth. (See: New York's Death Panel Lottery for Children Injured by Medical Malpractice at Birth; New York State To Ration Care to Brain Injured Victims of Obstetric Malpractice; Challenging the New York Medical Indemnity Fund). In summary even though the malpractice causing an injury has been established ...

We will only achieve the target of limiting global warming to safe levels if carbon dioxide emissions begin to fall within the next two decades and eventually decrease to zero. That is the stark message from research by an international team of scientists, led by the University of Exeter, published today (20 November) in the journal Nature Climate Change. The research focuses on the scale of carbon emission reduction needed to keep future global warming at no more than two degrees Celsius over average temperatures prior to the Industrial Revolution. This target is now ...

Caenorhabditis are usually thought of as soil nematodes, happily living in compost heaps. The famous (scientifically speaking) Caenorhabditis elegans has provided a wealth of information about developmental processes and cell death. These tiny worms have been at the forefront of three Nobel prizes and have even been sent into space! However all other known Caenorhabditis species are as distantly related to C. elegans as mouse is to man. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology looked at the relationship between the ten known ...

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important greenhouse gases and the increase of its abundance in the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning is the main cause of future global warming. In past times, during the transition between an ice age and a warm period, atmospheric CO2 concentrations changed by some 100 parts per million (ppm) – from an ice age value of 180 ppm to about 280 ppm during warm periods. Scientists can reconstruct these changes in the atmospheric carbon stock using direct measurements of atmospheric CO2 trapped in air bubbles in the depth ...

An international team of researchers from Leeds, London and Berlin has discovered more about the function of muscle stem cells, thanks to next-generation DNA sequencing techniques. The work, which was co-led from the University of Leeds' School of Medicine and the Charité, Berlin, is published this week in the journal Nature Genetics. The researchers investigated several families whose children suffered from a progressive muscle disease. The children developed severe weakness of the body's muscles and the diaphragm - the main breathing muscle - making them dependent ...

VIDEO: Click on the video above to see how the dots create a sense of moving forward straight ahead, to the right, and to the left. Click here for more information. The human brain is bombarded with a cacophony of information from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. Now a team of scientists at the University of Rochester, Washington University in St. Louis, and Baylor College of Medicine has unraveled how the brain manages to process those complex, rapidly changing, and often ...

A new study led by University of British Columbia researchers reveals how the effect of climate change can further impact the economic viability of current fisheries practices. "Fisheries are already providing fewer fish and making less money than they could if we curbed overfishing," says Rashid Sumaila, principal investigator of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at UBC and lead author of the study. "We could be earning interest, but instead we're fishing away the capital. Climate change is likely to cause more losses unless we choose to act." Partly supported ...

JUPITER, FL -- Inspired by natural products, scientists on the Florida campus of the Scripps Research Institute have created a new class of small molecules with the potential to serve as a rich foundation for drug discovery. Combining the power of synthetic chemistry with some advanced screening technologies, the new approach could eventually expand by millions the number of provocative synthetic compounds available to explore as potential drug candidates. This approach overcomes substantial molecular limitations associated with state-of-the-art approaches in small molecule ...

Attorney Daniel D. Horowitz III, a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend in Houston, Texas, recently spoke to students at the University of Texas (UT) on the dangers of hazing in the Greek community. As a member of the board of directors of UT's Silver Spurs Alumni Association, Mr. Horowitz returns every semester to UT to speak with the incoming and active members of the Silver Spurs. "The purpose of the meeting is to discuss hazing, alcohol consumption, individual responsibility and accountability, as well as becoming a leader of the ...

Super 8 Monroe North Carolina Hotel offers convenient lodging to alumni, parents and guests attending the annual Wingate University Choirs Christmas Concert: Behold the Star. The event will take place at 7:30pm on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at the 554-seat Hannah Covington McGee Theater in The George A. Batte, Jr. Fine Arts Center. Admission is free. Conducted by Dr. Kenney Potter, director, Behold the Star will include four university choirs: University Singers, Chamber Choir, Women's Choir and Men's Choir. Their holiday concert will feature many seasonal favorites ...

Archaeologists typically record and analyse the traces of past human activities. The caves of Lascaux in southern France are celebrated as a place where early humans made their marks on cave walls. The cave is now protected, and an exact replica is what the public now encounter. But a new study by archaeologists has been examining marks made much more recently -- graffiti by the Sex Pistols now discovered on the walls of the flat the punk group rented in London in the mid-1970s. The authors of a paper in the latest issue of the journal Antiquity argue that both are pieces ...

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A novel antibacterial protein targeted against E. coli O157:H7 may offer a way to prevent or treat serious food-borne bacterial infections, as demonstrated in a study published in the December issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Results in an animal model of E. coli infection showed that the orally administered protein, developed by AvidBiotics, Inc., could prevent or treat E. coli O157:H7-induced diarrhea and intestinal inflammation when administered either on a preventative basis or after the onset of diarrhea. Moreover, animals ...

Hampton Inn Spartanburg Hotel - North I-85, offers close lodging to holiday shoppers attending the Gaffney Premium Outlets After-Thanksgiving Sale. Their biggest sale of the year, the event will take place, Friday, November 25 - Sunday, November 27, 2011 and will include: - Outstanding holiday savings - Extended holiday hours - Midnight Madness -- most stores open their doors at midnight right after Thanksgiving - Select stores opening at 10 and 11pm on Thanksgiving Day - Holiday Concert Series Presented by Coca-Cola on Sunday, November 27 Gaffney Premium Outlets ...

Hampton Inn Hotel Gaffney offers convenient lodging to visitors attending 2011 Christmas festivities at Limestone College in historic downtown Gaffney, South Carolina. An old fashioned Christmas celebration, the event will begin on Friday, December 2 at 5pm with Christmas on Limestone. This includes the lighting of the City Christmas Tree, candlelight tours, live music at the Michael Gaffney Log Home, caroling, sidewalk art, and youth and adult choir performances. Then, on Saturday, December 3 at 5pm guests can enjoy Christmas on Campus. Christmas on Campus is a 27th ...

Nobody likes a bully. Especially when that bully is the Internal Revenue Service! If you have unpaid taxes, the IRS has the power to not only levy your bank accounts but also to attach wage garnishments and levies against your employer and clients if you are self-employed. Talk about adding insult to injury! Carl (Escondido, California) was in this exact predicament when he finally made a desperate call to Blue Tax to ask for help. Carl had an IRS balance of roughly $30,000 for 2006 and 2008, not to mention three attached client invoice garnishments. Additionally, Carl's ...

eloquii by The Limited is a full-figured clothing line that celebrates a woman's sense of style, respects her curves and offers uncompromising fit, quality and comfort. eloquii unveiled their denim collection earlier this month, with the fundamental belief that every woman deserves great fashion. This line has been created to give plus size women the fashionable jeans with a perfected fit that they have been longing for. Each silhouette in the eloquii by The Limited denim collection has been designed from start to finish complementing a woman's body type, with careful ...

Cyber-Duck, an award-winning digital agency has been awarded the top honour in the Travel/Tourism category at the Interactive Media Awards for the design and build of The Far Horizons website, launched earlier in the year. Tours offered by the company give tourists the opportunity to enjoy quality wildlife and community tourism experiences in Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, such as tracking Mountain Gorillas, rafting the River Nile or seeing Lions and Elephants in their natural habitat. The award was presented as 'Best in Class' and scored a highly impressive 481 points ...

ChristmasHoliday2011.com just made Christmas shopping easier for everyone this year with a new Facebook page for the Christmas Holiday 2011 season. The new Facebook page contains news articles, shopping tips, best gift ideas, Christmas recipes, hottest gifts and decorating ideas to help make this Christmas the best ever. ChristmasHoliday2011.com has so far received excellent reviews with most people enjoying the Christmas shopping stories on the page, such as the story about a Christmas fairy who was fired after cursing on the job. The woman claimed that she cursed out ...

Cruise.com, one of the Internet's largest cruise sellers, is offering its annual Black Friday Cruise Sale, featuring exceptional values on many of the major cruise lines to favorite destinations worldwide. The special sale is scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM on Friday, November 25th. Space for these deals is limited and will be offered on a first come first serve basis. To book these deals call 866-401-0895. Cruise.com's special Black Friday Cruise Sale features some of the best cruise deals to many exciting places such as the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska and South America ...

Two proteins conspire to promote a lethal neurological disease, according to a study published online this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that results in progressive loss of motor function and ultimately death. More than 90% of ALS cases have no known genetic cause or family history. However, in some patients, spinal cord cells contain unusual accumulations of a protein called TDP-43. Jean-Pierre Julien and colleagues at ...