Domestic violence is a sensitive, yet prevalent issue that continues to effect families regardless of race, region or economic class. In 2008 more than 70,000 domestic violence incidents were reported to police, resulting in over 21,000 arrests. Aside from police protection, domestic violence victims in New Jersey have a number of resources available to them through legal remedies, advocacy agencies and community organizations. This article highlights the steps victims can take to protect themselves and assert their legal rights. At the outset, it must be understood ...

A child too often becomes a pawn in a game between separating parents and can suffer more than anyone else involved if not properly protected. Ideally, a child should be kept out of the courtroom to alleviate emotional scarring as a result of his or her parents' legal battles. One means of doing so is by negotiating an out of court child custody agreement. What Is a Child Custody Agreement? A "custody agreement" or "parenting agreement" is a written settlement between parents that addresses issues such as living arrangements, visitation rights (for each parent and ...

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, news reports were full of travel horror stories from airport security lines. Travelers were faced with a choice of two evils: a full-body pat-down, which some compared to sexual assault, or a trip through a scanner which reportedly allows the technician to essentially see what a person looks like naked. Amongst all the hoopla and cries of "Don't touch my junk!" an important question remains unanswered: just how safe are these scanners? Airline pilots, in particular, are concerned that if they repeatedly pass through these advanced scanners, ...

The state of Pennsylvania takes drunk driving very seriously and has a set of very aggressive DUI laws to prove it. Pennsylvania has adopted a three-tier DUI penalty system that punishes drivers based on the amount of alcohol in their system at the time of arrest and the number of prior DUI convictions they have: - General impairment DUI (.08 to .099% BAC) - High BAC DUI (.10 to .159% BAC) - Highest BAC DUI (.16% and higher BAC) Under this system, a person convicted of a first time general impairment DUI can expect to receive up to six months probation and a $300 ...

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Galleria Hotel, an affordable Smyrna Georgia hotel, is the perfect place for travelers to stay who are planning to see the Broadway Series national tour of the classic American musical Oklahoma! at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Oklahoma! is being preformed from January 6 - 9, 2011 with the following show times: - Thursday, January 6 at 8:00pm - Friday, January 7 at 8:00pm - Saturday, January 8 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm - Sunday, January 9 at 2:00pm The musical Oklahoma! launched the songwriting collaboration of Richard Rodgers and ...

TNT will be premiering Steven Spielberg's epic new television series, FALLING SKIES, June of 2011. The ten-week television event opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. Falling Skies is about an epic battle that pits humans against the alien force that has invaded our world. Outnumbered and outmatched, it's up to a group of everyday heroes to band together and triumph against a mysterious invading force. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major ...

Big Cat Rescue's CEO Carole Lewis Baskin declines comment and would claim no wrongdoing. Mindy Harrell of Odessa, Texas was attacked by a leopard through its cage. Harrell, 46, received 451 stitches to her right arm after she got to close to the animals cage and it removed skin from her elbow to her wrist. Carole Lewis Baskin, CEO of the sanctuary denied any wrongdoing in response to the Federal charges brought on by the United States Department of Agriculture, and claimed the inspector was biased against her. Mrs. Lewis Baskin, has posted on her current website, ...

Time really flies! The footstep of another new year is approaching. For the next 365 days, we are going to be bound closely to the number, 2011. May we be blessed with prosperity and happiness! Upon the arrival of every New Year, it is a common scene that everywhere is brimming with life and happiness. Everyone is surely exhilarated at the thought of making wishes for a brand new year. What is your special wish for the year of 2011? Great Sun, the author of the Super Life Secret Codes, has very perspicacious insight regarding 2011. Rather than being a prophesy, Super ...

The International Academy of Baby Planner Professionals is pleased to announce its' recent expansion with the International Maternity Institute, an online educational portal for maternity and childbirth professionals. "Even in a down economy, we are seeing an increased demand for certified baby planners and childbirth professionals," said Mary Oscategui, founder of The International Maternity Institute (IMI). "The International Maternity Institute was specifically designed to meet that demand and equip those interested in or already working in a maternity, childbirth ...

Adoption.com's registry is the #1 online adoption reunion registry available today. People across the United States have successfully found and reunited with children, parents, and siblings by creating and searching through our search and reunion profiles. Adoption.com extends help and support to all members of the adoption triad and to search angels assisting individuals in their searches for family members or pertinent information. Launched in 1998, Adoption.com's Search and Reunion Registry was designed with the intent to help birth families reconnect. As the years ...

Reducing stress, developing healthy habits and saving money are among the top ten New Year's resolutions for 2011, according to the U.S. Government's Office of Citizen Services and Communications, but less than 50 percent of Americans will maintain those resolutions beyond six months. While many consumers focus on weight loss as part of their healthy goals, good dental hygiene is an important aspect of healthy living that may affect cardiovascular and other health conditions over the long term.  To help consumers keep resolutions to maintain healthier lifestyles, Plackers, ...

CiCi's Pizza's fastest and most accurate pizza makers will compete for the title of "Ultimate Pizza Artist" in CiCi's first-ever Pizza Throwdown finals. In addition to a year's worth of bragging rights, CiCi's team members from across the nation will compete for cash, the coveted crystal pizza cutter, a flat screen TV and gaming consoles. The contest began in November with more than 300 contestants and eight regional competitions to determine four finalists who will compete in the Throwdown finals in Frisco, Texas on January 10. To be named the Ultimate Pizza Artist, ...

Thermafiber, Inc. announces the official launch of SafingPaks, fire stop insulation designed for plumbers, electricians, HVAC and telecommunication installers. SafingPaks are precut pieces of the UL and Intertek (OPL) listed/tested Safing Insulation, packaged in a unique bag that offers a resealable opening and an easy-grip handle. SafingPaks are a new evolution in the popular Safing Insulation product line. Thermafiber's Safing Insulation is engineered to provide life-saving fire protection in floor/ceiling and wall penetrations, construction joints, and other firestopping ...

The new site, designed in line with the current World Wide Web Consortium accessibility guidelines, features a whole new look with clean and clear icons and colours. However, the visual improvements are merely the tip of the iceberg with many changes made to the usability and navigation having been made. The MBNA Irish credit card site has been redesigned with a focus on being easier to use and more accessible for customers and visitors. This has been achieved through clearer labeling of sections and easy to see and use buttons that take users to the various areas of ...

Pelican Brands announced today as part of their long-term strategic agreement with Schwartz Olcott Imports (SOI Wines), that they will import and manage the national sales & marketing rollout of (oops) Wines following a successful limited test market. (oops) is the first wine brand from Chile to capture the history and romance of Carmenere, "The Lost Grape of Bordeaux", discovered in 1994. Carmenere, one of the six noble grapes of Bordeaux, was thought lost forever after phylloxera, a nasty root louse, destroyed the great vineyards of Europe in the 1800s. (oops) Wines ...

Taking a leaf from animals like dolphins and pilot whales that are known to have anti-fouling skins, researchers from A*STAR's Industrial Consortium On Nanoimprint (ICON) are using nanotechnology to create synthetic, chemical-free, anti-bacterial surfaces. The surfaces can reduce infections caused by pathogens such as S. aureus and E. coli and can be used on common plastics, medical devices, lenses and even ship hulls. Conventional methods for preventing bacterial surface attachment may use potentially harmful metal ions, nanoparticles, chemicals or UV-radiation. Nanoimprint ...

The BIOMICs Group, based at the Lucio Lascaray building in the Álava/Araba campus of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), is specially known for overseeing the SGIker DNA Bank, not only undertaking this task, but also feeding data into the gene research bank and making good use of it for their own lines of research. Led by Doctor Marian Martínez de Pancorbo, BIOMICs has numerous research specialists in diverse areas of genetics (neurodegenerative, cancer, forensic, and so on), and works jointly with Basque hospitals and universities as well as with centres worldwide. The ...

Tel Qudadi, an ancient fortress located in the heart of Tel Aviv at the mouth of the Yarkon River, was first excavated more than 70 years ago ― but the final results of neither the excavations nor the finds were ever published. Now, research on Tel Qudadi by archaeologists at Tel Aviv University has unpeeled a new layer of history, indicating that there is much more to learn from the site, including evidence that links ancient Israel to the Greek island of Lesbos. "The secrets of this ancient fortress are only beginning to be revealed," Dr. Alexander Fantalkin ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Researchers have overcome a fundamental obstacle in developing breath-analysis technology to rapidly diagnose patients by detecting chemical compounds called "biomarkers" in a person's respiration in real time. The researchers demonstrated their approach is capable of rapidly detecting biomarkers in the parts per billion to parts per million range, at least 100 times better than previous breath-analysis technologies, said Carlos Martinez, an assistant professor of materials engineering at Purdue who is working with researchers at the National Institute ...

As people on Earth celebrate the holidays and prepare to ring in the New Year, an ESA/NASA spacecraft has quietly reached its own milestone: on December 26, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) discovered its 2000th comet. Drawing on help from citizen scientists around the world, SOHO has become the single greatest comet finder of all time. This is all the more impressive since SOHO was not specifically designed to find comets, but to monitor the sun. "Since it launched on December 2, 1995 to observe the sun, SOHO has more than doubled the number of comets ...

JUPITER, FL, December 28, 2010 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a molecular interaction between a structural hepatitis C virus protein (HCV) and a protein critical to viral replication. This new finding strongly suggests a novel method of inhibiting the production of the virus and a potential new therapeutic target for hepatitis C drug development. The study was published in the January 2010 issue (Volume 92, Part 1) of the Journal of General Virology. These new data underline the essential role of the viral protein ...

LEXINGTON, KY – Polyethylene mulches, used widely in commercial vegetable production to improve crop yields and produce quality, have distinct disadvantages. Disposal options are limited, and plastic mulches often end up in landfills, being burned, or disposed of illegally. Recycling polyethylene mulches is also a challenge; the mulches used in large-scale vegetable production are contaminated with too much dirt and debris to be recycled directly from the field in most power plants and incinerators. Timothy Coolong from the University of Kentucky's Department of Horticulture ...

QUEBEC, CANADA – A study in HortTechnology featured a new technology that improved greenhouse climates by reducing solar heat radiation and temperatures during the hot summer season. The study, published by a team of Canadian researchers, was the first investigation into the effects of application of the liquid foam technology as a shading method. Results showed that the technology improved greenhouse and plant microclimates and decreased air temperature more than conventional shading curtains traditionally used by greenhouse growers. Excess temperature, solar radiation, ...

CORVALLIS, OR – Diseases caused by a species of fungus called Phytophthora syringae are responsible for significant economic losses on a wide range of plants, including pear. In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, disease occurs during the winter in nursery stock, especially on trees that are harvested and stored in coolers or in outdoor sawdust beds. Recent field observations by growers suggest that increased nitrogen content in nursery trees resulting from foliar sprays with urea in the autumn increases tree susceptibility to infection by Phytophthora syringae. ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned why changes in a single gene, ROP18, contribute substantially to dangerous forms of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The answer has likely moved science a step closer to new ways to beat Toxoplasma and many other parasites. In a study published in Cell Host & Microbe, scientists show that the ROP18 protein disables host cell proteins that would otherwise pop a protective bubble the parasite makes for itself. The parasite puts the bubble on like a spacesuit by forming a membrane around itself ...