Field emission devices, which produce a steady stream of electrons, have a host of consumer, industrial, and research applications. Recent designs based on nanotubes and other nanomaterials embedded in plastics show initial promise, but have a number of drawbacks that hinder their wide-scale application. The embedded nanotubes, which serve as the source for the electrons, also enable the normally inert plastic to conduct electricity. This has the desired effect of producing a versatile and easily manufactured field emission device. But since plastics are, by nature, poor ...

MONTRÉAL, November 21, 2011 – Natural selection has played a role in the development of the many skins patterns of the tiny Ranitomeya imitator poison dart frog, according to a study that will be published in an upcoming edition of American Naturalist by University of Montreal biologist Mathieu Chouteau. The researcher's methodology was rather unusual: on three occasions over three days, at two different sites, Chouteau investigated the number of attacks that had been made on fake frogs, by counting how many times that had been pecked. Those that were attacked the least ...

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- While the price of oil has risen in recent years, it has not affected the price of goods as much as in the past, according to research by two Kansas State University economists. More than that, the prices of many goods -- such as clothing or vacations -- are actually deflating instead of inflating because of improved technology and reduced energy costs. Lance Bachmeier, associate professor of economics, and Inkyung Cha, adjunct professor of economics, discuss oil shocks and inflation in an article titled "Why Don't Oil Shocks Cause Inflation? Evidence ...

Kazawest Services Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of a mixed-use development, located in the Victoria Drive district of Vancouver (http://www.vancouver.ca), to its strata management portfolio. The property consists of commercial retail units on the ground level with premium condominium residences above. Through its integrated real estate services, strength in customer service and deep knowledge of building operations, Kazawest is leading the property management sector in British Columbia. "We are pleased the strata council for this property has chosen ...

The brilliant blue wings of the mountain swallowtail (Papilio ulysses) easily shed water because of the way ultra-tiny structures in the butterfly's wings trap air and create a cushion between water and wing. Human engineers would like to create similarly water repellent surfaces, but past attempts at artificial air traps tended to lose their contents over time due to external perturbations. Now an international team of researchers from Sweden, the United States, and Korea has taken advantage of what might normally be considered defects in the nanomanufacturing process ...

A patient's viewpoint of the severity of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms can be influenced not only by physical symptoms of IBS but broader psychological problems, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. "Clinicians who face pressure to treat patients in a cost-effective manner within tight time constraints and at a satisfactory level are likely to find that patient-reported outcome data can increase their understanding of what patients mean when they describe how ...

Animals like foxes and raccoons are highly adaptable. They move around and eat everything from insects to eggs. They and other "generalist feeders" like them may also be crucial to sustaining biological diversity, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). McGill biology researchers have developed a unified, spatially based understanding of biodiversity that takes into account the complex food webs of predators and prey. "Biodiversity exists within a landscape. Predators and prey are continuously on the move as their ...

Carbon nanotubes, tiny cylinders composed of one-atom-thick carbon lattices, have gained fame as one of the strongest materials known to science. Now a group of researchers from the University of Michigan is taking advantage of another one of carbon nanotubes' unique properties, the low refractive index of low-density aligned nanotubes, to demonstrate a new application: making 3-D objects appear as nothing more than a flat, black sheet. The refractive index of a material is a measure of how much that material slows down light, and carbon nanotube "forests" have a low ...

MacTransco is one of South Africa's leading haulers of processed and unprocessed goods. Markus van der Merwe, Director of MacTransco, believes one of the company's key advantages lies in the location of its operations in Lephalale and Messina. He describes Messina, which is also where the company's head office is situated, as "the gateway to Africa" because of its continued development. "There is a lot of commodity coming through Messina into Africa in addition to large investments being made in the mines," explains van der Merwe. Van der Merwe stresses ...

Hydrodynamics of writing with ink Jungchul Kim, Myoung-Woon Moon, Kwang-Ryeol Lee, L. Mahadevan, and Ho-Young Kim Physical Review Letters (forthcoming) For millennia, writing has been the preferred way to convey information and knowledge from one generation to another. We first developed the ability to write on clay tablets with a point, and then settled on a reed pen, as preserved from 3000 BC in Egypt when it was used with papyrus. This device consisted of a hollow straw that served as an ink reservoir and allowed ink to flow to its tip by capillary action. A quill ...

Bokamoso Private Hospital, located just west of Gaborone in Botswana, has been operational since January 2010. The vision in setting up a brand new hospital was to provide specialist services and facilities not previously catered for in existing hospitals in Botswana. "One of our unique selling points is the range of specialist services that we provide," says Gontle Moleele, the Chief Medical Officer at Bokamoso Private Hospital. Services available at the hospital include neurology, cardiology, endocrinology, haemodialysis, sports medicine, pathology and gynecology, ...

The Powerhouse Clothing Company is one of South Africa's most flexible and innovative clothing manufacturers. The company is 100 percent dedicated to manufacturing solely in South Africa, despite a growing competition from companies in the East and cheap imports from outside SA being at all time high in the clothing industry. As a result of Powerhouse's aim to be a wholly South African company, its supply chain is one of its most important operating focuses. "If your supply chain is not working in tandem together then everything falls apart," notes Justin Mansfield, ...

Costs for second-generation ethanol processing, which will ease the stress on corn and sugarcane, are unlikely to be competitive until 2020, according to a unique Queen's University study. "This study really lays out in black and white where we are and where we are going," says Warren Mabee, an assistant professor in the School of Policy Studies and Department of Geography. "It should prompt companies to reassess (their processes going forward)." The researchers found that building large scale facilities for second-generation ethanol production will be more costly than ...

Only a few decades ago, scientists discovered the existence of "sprites" 30 to 55 miles above the surface of the Earth. They're offshoots of electric discharges caused by lightning storms, and a valuable window into the composition of our atmosphere. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University say that sprites are not a phenomenon specific to our planet. Jupiter and Saturn experience lightning storms with flashes 1,000 or more times more powerful than those on Earth, says Ph.D. student Daria Dubrovin. With her supervisors Prof. Colin Price of TAU's Department of Geophysics ...

Although JP Pretorius, Dealer Principal and Director of Autohaus Windhoek, admits customer service is very important, a quality product portfolio like Audi, VW and MAN gives the company a unique and strong selling point. "We try to innovate and put our customers first, but we also have some fantastic products to back-up our service. Accolades and recognitions from its vehicle manufacturers have also reinforced Autohaus Windhoek's standing as a premiere distributor. "In the last three years we have received 14 VW and Audi South Africa awards, which includes ...

MADISON – Hydrogen peroxide isn't just that bottled colorless liquid in the back of the medicine cabinet that's used occasionally for cleaning scraped knees and cut fingers. It's also a natural chemical in the body that rallies at wound sites, jump-starting immune cells into a series of events. A burst of hydrogen peroxide causes neutrophils, the immune system's first responders, to rush to the wound to fight microorganisms, remove damaged tissue and then start the inflammation process. University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers now have discovered the molecular ...

SJM Flex is a major player in the automotive industry, manufacturing flexible couplings for vehicle exhaust systems. SJM Flex SA has all the necessary and required accreditations for it to operate on a global scale. Its TS 16949, ISO 9000 and ISO 9002 accreditations ensure its operating and production process are of the highest quality and are continuously improving, while its OHSAS 18001 certification guarantees occupational health and safety. Meanwhile, it's ISO 14001 qualification recognises its sustainable and environmentally friendly operating initiatives. "If ...

Genetically modified animals are designed to contain the spread of pathogens. One prerequisite for the release of such organisms into the environment is that the new gene variant does not spread uncontrollably, suppressing natural populations. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, have now established that certain mutations are maintained over an extended period if two separate populations exchange individuals with one another on a small scale. The new gene variant may remain confined to one of the two populations. The migration ...

Electronic pop duo Junior Boys are set to perform at Barcelona's Sala Razzmatazz next month.   Their show in the Catalan capital on Tuesday December 20th will be the penultimate date on the Canadian duo's current tour of Europe, with the final gig taking place in Madrid the following night.   Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus won critical acclaim for their latest album It's All True, which was released by Domino Records earlier this year.   Their music is known for mixing dancefloor-friendly disco, house and techno influences, although many of the duo's songs also ...

A new model developed by scientists of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) allows the potential presence of bluefin tuna to be tracked through daily updated maps, helping to protect endangered stocks and fight illegal fishing. The model, based on satellite remote sensing data, provides for the first time an overall view of the preferred bluefin tuna habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their changes over time. Satellite-based habitat mapping can help identify more precisely areas to be inspected or to be closed for fisheries and it can also help ...

FAIRFAX, Va., November 21, 2011—People who believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about global warming tend to be less certain that global warming is happening and less supportive of climate policy, researchers at George Mason, San Diego State, and Yale Universities report in a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. A recent survey of climate scientists conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois found near unanimous agreement among climate scientists that human-caused global warming is happening. This new George Mason ...

Can dementias and mild cognitive impairment be influenced in their course by diseases and risk factors? This is the subject of a study reported by Thorleif Etgen and co-authors in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2011; 108[44]: 743-50). Increasingly larger numbers of people are affected by mild cognitive impairments and even dementia, which means that early detection of possible precursors as well as diagnosis and therapy of risk factors that can actually be influenced are gaining in importance. The term "mild cognitive impairment" ...

NEW YORK (Nov. 21, 2011) -- Older adults receiving home health care may be taking a drug that is unsafe or ineffective for someone their age. In fact, nearly 40 percent of seniors receiving medical care from a home health agency are taking at least one prescription medication that is considered potentially inappropriate to seniors, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has revealed. The study's researchers, led by Dr. Yuhua Bao, assistant professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, found that home health care patients aged 65 and over ...

A collection of dramatic ice sculptures will be seen on the streets of York next month, when the city's Festival of Angels returns for 2011.   Held during the run-up to Christmas each year, the event is a popular winter celebration that also includes snow showers, street entertainment, shopping stalls and plenty of food and drink.   This year's festival is due to take place on Saturday December 10th and Sunday December 11th.   The ice sculptures are the main attraction of the event, which has been held in York since 2000.   Illuminated by the city's Christmas lights, ...

Financial incentives work for doctors. Could they work for patients, too? Could they encourage them to change unhealthy behaviors and use preventive health services more? In some cases, yes, according to Dr. Marita Lynagh from the University of Newcastle in Australia, and colleagues. Their work, looking at why financial incentives for patients could be a good thing to change risky health behaviors, indicates that incentives are likely to be particularly effective at altering 'simple' behaviors e.g. take-up of immunizations, primarily among socially disadvantaged groups. ...