Remote lochs along the west coast of Scotland are turning up new evidence about the origins of life on land. A team of scientists exploring rocks around Loch Torridon have discovered the remarkably preserved remains of organisms that once lived on the bottom of ancient lake beds as long as a billion (1000 million) years ago. These fossils illuminate a key moment in the history of evolution when life made the leap from tiny, simple bacterial (prokaryote) cells towards larger, more complex (eukaryotic) cells which would make photosynthesis and sexual reproduction possible. The ...

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a non-steroid based strategy for improving the lung's innate immune defense and decreasing inflammation that can be a problem for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a study published in the April 13 edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine, the Johns Hopkins researchers targeted the Nrf2 pathway using sulforaphane, an ingredient that is present in broccoli in a precursor form, to enhance the Nrf2 pathway in the lung that mediates the uptake of bacteria. ...

California's temperate climate, long stretches of highway and sunny days make it a motorcyclist's dream. Riders can take to the streets all year long, feeling the wind in their hair and enjoying the freedom that can only be felt on a bike. Of course, as gas prices and temperatures continue to climb, more and more motorcycles will be on the road. Before summer riding season gets in full swing, though, it is important for California motorcyclists to know the rules of the road, including two laws unique to motorcycles. What Is Different for Motorcycles Versus Passenger ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A just released study on the relationship between multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic cerebral venous insufficiency (CCSVI), a narrowing of the extracranial veins that restricts the normal outflow of blood from the brain, found that CCSVI may be a result of MS, not a cause. The study, conducted by University at Buffalo researchers, appears in the current issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and president of ...

Today, there is increasing exposure of individuals to a public audience. Television shows and the internet provide platforms for this and, at times, allow observing others' flaws and norm transgressions. Regardless of whether the person observed realizes their flaw or not, observers in the audience experience vicarious embarrassment. For the first time, such vicarious embarrassment experiences as well as their neural basis have been investigated in research published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. The research was led by Sören Krach and Frieder M. ...

What's the difference between stealing a CD from a music store and ripping off music online? The music industry and law enforcers say that there is none: Theft is theft, whether it's physical or digital. College students participating in a newly published study, however, said that while they were unlikely to shoplift and viewed that behavior as immoral, they were not exactly motivated to follow the laws governing digital music piracy -- a finding that underscores the difficulties of enforcing such laws and to find new ways to discourage the theft of all types of digital ...

TUCSON, Ariz. and TROY, N.Y. (April 13, 2011) -- A team of researchers from the University of Arizona and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have increased the toughness of ceramic composites by using graphene reinforcements that enable new fracture resistance mechanisms in the ceramic. The research, lead by Assistant Professor Erica L. Corral from the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Professor Nikhil Koratkar from the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ...

Considering the long expanses of picturesque roads and highways in Southern California, it's no surprise that California streets, roads and highways beckon to motorcyclists and their passengers. But the same roads and highways can be gruelish during heavy traffic. To get through traffic jams more quickly, some motorcyclists lane share -- that is, they use the same lane as cars and trucks that are stopped in traffic. Others bikers sometimes resort to lane splitting -- driving between traffic lanes to pass stopped vehicles. Lane splitting and lane sharing by bikers ...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently reinstated a retaliation case where a woman's fiance was fired after she had filed a discrimination claim with the EEOC. The Court had to decide if the firing was retaliation and if the fiance was permitted to file a case under Title VII. The Justices answered yes to both questions. The Retaliation Claim The Supreme Court had to analyze the facts to determine if the firing was, in fact, retaliation. The Court described the facts as follows: "Until 2003, both petitioner Eric Thompson and his fiancee, Miriam Regalado, were employees ...

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have pioneered a new needle-free test to take the sting out of medicine testing in premature babies. The research will not only lead to greater accuracy in prescribing, but will also significantly reduce the trauma of such tests for newborn infants and their families. In the first published research project worldwide on this new approach to testing medicines in children, the findings were announced in leading US medical journal Pediatrics. The study, which involves the use of blood spots obtained from a simple heel-prick, took ...

Park Ridge, IL (April 13, 2011) – This week at Experimental Biology (EB) 2011 in Washington, D.C., long-standing beliefs about dietary cholesterol intake and cardiovascular disease risk were examined as part of a scientific symposium and a variety of poster presentations. Experts from leading institutions discussed existing and emerging science regarding dietary cholesterol intake and its association with heart disease risk, dispelling some commonly heard myths. Established research has shown that saturated fat intake may be more likely to raise a person's blood cholesterol ...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are chemicals that have been widely used as flame retardants and are now classified as persistent organic pollutants. Health concerns in humans have arisen based primarily on studies with laboratory animals exposed to high levels of PBDEs. Three commercial mixtures of PBDEs have been manufactured in or imported into the United States which include penta-, octa-, and deca-brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs). Of particular concern has been the penta-BDEs used primarily in foams in computers, televisions, mattresses, pillows, carpets, ...

If HIV-infected adults in San Francisco began taking antiretroviral treatments as soon as they were diagnosed, the rate of new HIV infections among men who have sex with men would be cut by almost 6o percent over five years, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco. In San Francisco, men who have sex with men comprise more than three quarters of the population of people living with HIV and more than three quarters of new HIV infections occur in this group. The study looked specifically at the impact of treatment upon rates ...

The statistic is breathtaking: "More Americans filed for bankruptcy last year in the United States than in the entire decade of the 1960s," reports an article on MSN Money. The slowness of the recovery combined with the mountain of debt has put more people in the position of filing for bankruptcy than ever. With the recession, more people have had problems paying their bills, in part, due to the fact they have more debt. From 1990 to 2003, credit card lending increased from $173 to $683 billion. Much of the lending was for subprime credit cards, which grew even faster ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Children were the victims in more than half of the emergency room visits for eye injuries related to aerosol cans between 1997 and 2009, according to a new study by researchers at Brown University. More could be done, they said, to prevent injury from the pressurized and often harsh chemical contents of the common products. The youngest children, ages 0 to 4, were the most likely to be hurt with an estimated 2,830 emergency room visits during the study timeframe, according to the study published in advance online March 30 in the American ...

"Preparing a coffee in a drip coffee maker is not the same as making one in an espresso machine or from capsules, because these give rise to differing levels of furan", Javier Santos, a professor at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Barcelona and lead author of the study, tells SINC. Concern has risen over recent years about the presence of this compound in foods, because of its toxic and carcinogenic effects in animals, as well as the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed it as a possible carcinogen in humans. Against ...

The stigma of a sex crime is something that can follow someone around for years, if not a lifetime. If a conviction results, many different punishments may be handed down. Not only may there be extensive prison time, but offenders will also be required to demonstrate that they have been rehabilitated. Additionally, those convicted will also need to register as a sex offender. Once someone is on this list it becomes very difficult to be removed. Some sexual offenses require lifetime registration. All of this costs a lot of money for states. Many jurisdictions have embraced ...

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed software that helps Android smartphone users prevent their personal information from being stolen by hackers. "There are a lot of concerns about potential leaks of personal information from smartphones," says Dr. Xuxian Jiang, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. "We have developed software that creates a privacy mode for Android systems, giving users flexible control over what personal information is available to various applications." The ...

A Los Angeles Superior Court trial judge has rejected a motion for a new trial in a case against defendants Paul Revere Life Insurance Company and UNUM Group involving a disability insurance policy. The jury had previously found the defendants liable for bad faith and breach of an insurance disability contract before awarding $4.2 million in damages to the insured. The plaintiff, a dental hygienist, first purchased an individual disability insurance policy from Paul Revere in 1988. After she began to suffer from several disabling medical conditions in 1996, including ...

The United States Department of Justice continues its vigorous efforts to open up foreign secret bank accounts. In its latest move, the United States Department of Justice, on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service has filed suit in San Francisco, California against HSBC India to require the disclosure of United States tax payers accounts. The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all US tax payers meet their obligations to declare and pay taxes on foreign bank accounts. The IRS has announced that it is continuing to focus its attention on international tax evasion. The ...

Tel Aviv — Human beings are well aware that hindsight is 20/20 — and the product of this awareness is often what we call "regret." Could this hindsight be programmed into a computer to more accurately predict the future? Tel Aviv University computer researchers think so — and the Internet giant Google is anxious to know the answer, too. Prof. Yishay Mansour of Tel Aviv University's Blavatnik School of Computer Science launched his new project at the International Conference on Learning Theory in Haifa, Israel, earlier this year. His research will help computers minimize ...

Animal cell membranes are a bilayer of phospholipids (charged fat molecules) made up to various degrees of fatty acids that must be acquired from the diet. The essential polyunsaturated fatty acids have been shown to be important in resistance to a variety of diseases and in coping with changes in body temperature. It is generally believed that mammals are unable to alter the proportions of essential fatty acids in their cell membranes except by changing their diets. Furthermore, mammals are unlikely candidates for extensive temperature-induced alteration, known to occur ...

BOSTON (April 13, 2011) — In the first study investigating the origins of a little-known condition called chronic ulcerative stomatitis (CUS), researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine provide evidence that an autoimmune response contributes to the painful oral sores that characterize the disease. The study findings support the classification of CUS as a new autoimmune disease. Chronic ulcerative stomatitis is characterized by painful, recurring sores in the mouth. Thus far, it has been diagnosed most frequently in white women in their 40's and 50's and ...

High school graduation ceremonies are typically called "commencement" for a good reason. Life goes on after high school. The pomp and circumstances marks an end, but also a beginning. A transitional moment like this involves more than just putting on a nice reception. It is a good time for parents to review the status of their graduates' health care arrangements. This starts with making sure there is coverage under an appropriate insurance policy. But you should also realize that, once your child turns 18, you will not have the same ability to direct his or her medical ...

This release is available in Spanish and French. Women feel their emotions more intensively than men when a conflict arises within the couple. Conversely, it is men –who mostly express "powerful emotions" as wrath or despise– who cause conflicts more frequently. This is the conclusion described in an article published in the journal Intervención Psicosocial prepared by professors from the Department of Social Psychology of the University of Granada, Inmaculada Valor Segura, Francisca Expósito y Miguel Moya. This study analyzed the type of interpersonal emotions than ...