Conception is a blessed event, be it a child's, or a new book. That is novelist Josie Brown's contention. She should know. The idea for her fourth novel, The Baby Planner [Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books]--about a childless woman who channels her nurturing instincts toward her pregnant clients--was born in the reception area of her mammogram center. "I picked up the only reading material available: a local parenting magazine," explains Brown, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. "My own children are older, so it wasn't necessarily something I felt might interest ...

Between 75 and 80 per cent of all volcanic activity on Earth takes place at deep-sea, mid-ocean ridges. Most of these volcanoes produce effusive lava flows rather than explosive eruptions, both because the levels of magmatic gas (which fuel the explosions and are made up of a variety of components, including, most importantly CO2) tend to be low, and because the volcanoes are under a lot of pressure from the surrounding water. Over about the last 10 years however, geologists have nevertheless speculated, based on the presence of volcanic ash in certain sites, that explosive ...

Last week, the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Associations (MCCA) announced it would be instituting a slight fee increase that will be passed on to policyholders in the state. Car insurance providers currently are required to pay the MCCA $143.09 per insured vehicle, which gets incorporated into the premiums of even the cheapest auto insurance companies in the state. That amount will be raised 1.3 percent starting in July. The fee revenue goes into an MCCA-administered fund that exists as a result of the unorthodox structure of Michigan's no-fault system. Unlike the ...

By taking a closer look at animal bones scattered across the wilderness landscape, a researcher at the University of Chicago has found a powerful tool for showing how species' populations have changed over decades or even a century. "The skeletons of long-dead animals lying on landscapes provide critical insight into our understanding of ecosystem history, especially how populations have changed," said the study's author, University of Chicago alumnus Joshua H. Miller, S.M.'05, PhD'09, a postdoctoral research fellow in biological sciences at Wright State University in ...

Lakewood-based HomeSphere, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a partnership with the American Sustainability Initiative (AmeriSus) to effectively manage manufacturer rebates with their BRI and AllTrack applications. Inspired by the Sears kit houses of the 1930s, AmeriSus manages all design, engineering, product and technology selections, procurement, logistics and scheduling for home builders, in order to deliver all materials necessary to construct an affordable, super-efficient homes for the end consumer. AmeriSus catalog homes are designed to fit into ...

For the first time, a virus that causes respiratory disease in humans has been linked to the deaths of wild mountain gorillas, reports a team of researchers in the United States and Africa. The finding confirms that serious diseases can pass from people to these endangered animals. The researchers are from the non-profit Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project; the Wildlife Health Center at the University of California, Davis; the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University; and the Rwanda Development Board. Their study, which reports the 2009 deaths ...

NEW YORK (March 28, 2011) -- Bariatric surgery should be considered earlier in the treatment of eligible patients to help stem the serious complications that can result from diabetes, according to an International Diabetes Federation (IDF) position statement presented by leading experts at the 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes in New York. The statement was written by 20 leading experts in diabetes and bariatric surgery who have made a series of recommendations on the use of weight-loss surgery as a cost-effective treatment option for ...

Just like snowflakes, no two people are alike, even if they're identical twins according to new genetic research from The University of Western Ontario. Molecular geneticist Shiva Singh has been working with psychiatrist Dr. Richard O'Reilly to determine the genetic sequencing of schizophrenia using identical or monozygotic twins. The study is published in this month's PLoS ONE. Singh looked at about one million markers of identical twins (and their two parents) where only one twin had schizophrenia. "The most informative feature of schizophrenia is that it sometimes ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – How exactly bacterial pathogens cause diseases in plants remains a mystery and continues to frustrate scientists working to solve this problem. Now Wenbo Ma, a young plant pathologist at the University of California, Riverside, has performed research on the soybean plant in the lab that makes major inroads into our understanding of plant-pathogen interactions, a rapidly developing area among the plant sciences. Her breakthrough research can help scientists come up with effective strategies to treat crops that have succumbed to disease or, when used ...

Total Mortgage Services, LLC, a leading mortgage lender, announced today that it has received its District of Columbia Mortgage Lender License from Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking and can now originate residential mortgage loans in the District of Columbia. Total Mortgage is licensed as a mortgage lender in District of Columbia and holds Mortgage Lender License NMLS2764. "We are excited about now being able to help borrowers throughout Washington DC with their current purchase and refinancing needs," commented John Walsh, President of Total Mortgage. ...

MadCap Software, Inc. (http://www.madcapsoftware.com), the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft XPS, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded MadCap a patent for its "Visual Document Structure Indicator" technology. The patented design provides the basis of the Structure Bars in MadCap Flare, MadCap's flagship XML-based software for single-source multi-channel publishing, which give users unprecedented ease in creating and publishing structured content. Structure ...

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that patients with Alzheimer's disease have lower glucose utilization in the brain than those with normal cognitive function, and that those decreased levels may be detectable approximately 20 years prior to the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. This new finding could lead to the development of novel therapies to prevent the eventual onset of Alzheimer's. The study is published online in the journal Translational Neuroscience. Using mice modified to develop Alzheimer's disease, the research team found that ...

Icebergs cool and dilute the ocean water they pass through and also affect the distribution carbon-dioxide-absorbing phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean, according to a team of researchers from UC San Diego and the University of San Diego. The effects are likely to influence the growth of phytoplankton in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean and especially in an area known as "Iceberg Alley" east of the Antarctic Peninsula. Enhanced phytoplankton growth would increase the rate at which carbon dioxide is removed from the ocean, an important process in the carbon ...

A team of scientists has discovered that descendants of "exploratory" butterflies that colonized new habitats differ genetically from their more cautious cousins. The team, led by James Marden, a professor of biology at Penn State University, and Christopher Wheat, a post-doctoral scholar working at both Penn State and the University of Helsinki, has revealed some of the genetic bases for faster egg maturation, a higher rate of energy metabolism, and superior flight ability -- traits that provide an advantage to butterflies that stray from familiar territory to found new ...

Starting from the end of 2010 AdoreStudio Ltd has been working hard on elaborating new captivating casual games. Today the company releases their first full version of "Shooting Blocks" and invites casual game lovers to download it from the company's website www.adoregames.com. "Shooting Blocks" is a logical game which will fascinate lovers of brain teasers and those who enjoy solving challenging puzzles. Although the first levels are relatively easy, within every new level the difficulty grows, which lets the player brush up on his skills. Besides logical abilities ...

Wind is a much more powerful force in the evolution of mountains than previously thought, according to a new report from a University of Arizona-led research team. Bedrock in Central Asia that would have formed mountains instead was sand-blasted into dust, said lead author Paul Kapp. "No one had ever thought that wind could be this effective," said Kapp, a UA associate professor of geosciences. "You won't read in a textbook that wind is a major process in terms of breaking down rock material." Rivers and glaciers are the textbook examples of forces that wear down ...

For a long time, Amazon.com shoppers throughout the United States have found themselves constantly searching for promotional and discount codes for the products they wish to purchase or are interested in. Whilst there are many websites online which offer such codes, few (if any) focus solely on the Amazon market. This often results in inaccurate codes, untargeted deals and ultimately a waste of the browsers' time. Amazon Promotional Codes aims to fill this gap by providing promotional codes, vouchers, offers and news focused purely on Amazon.com. Users can search for ...

TORONTO, ON – With birds chirping and temperatures warming, spring is finally in the air. But for University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) environmental chemist Torsten Meyer, springtime has a dark side. "During the winter months, contaminants accumulate in the snow," says Meyer, an expert on snow-bound organic contaminants and a post-doctoral fellow at UTSC. "When the snow melts, these chemicals are released into the environment at high concentrations." In a specially designed, temperature-controlled laboratory at UTSC—which includes a homemade snow-gun and a chemical ...

Freedom Marathon Inc. (FMI), a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and help support the needs of veterans and their families through running events, welcomes Olympic greats to Freedom 8k Series. Jeff Galloway and Bill Rodgers have pledged to help raise funds through the Freedom 8k Series for the Wounded Warrior Project. "The inaugural Freedom 8k Series in conjunction with the Green Cove Springs Memorial Day RiverFest will be an exciting weekend full of patriotism and family fun," said Manny Cordero, CEO and Founder, Freedom Marathon, Inc. "Our ...

ATLANTA – Transplant and reconstructive surgeons from Emory University Hospital announced today at a news conference that they have successfully performed a rare complete hand transplant on 21-year-old Linda Lu, a college student from Orlando, Fla. This is a first for the Atlanta Hospital. The 19-hour surgery took place on Saturday, March 12 and involved multiple teams of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and operating room support staff. Two teams – one dedicated to the patient – and the other to the donor arm – successfully completed the surgery at approximately ...

Stigma against overweight people is becoming a cultural norm around the world, even in places where larger bodies have traditionally been valued. That's according to a cross-cultural study of attitudes toward obesity to be published in the April issue of Current Anthropology. Researchers from Arizona State University surveyed people in nine diverse locations around the world and found negative attitudes toward fat bodies in every one. The results suggest a rapid "globalization of fat stigma" in which overweight people are increasingly viewed as ugly, undesirable, lazy, ...

A researcher at Case Western Reserve University has detected tiny amounts of Iodine 131 from Japan in rainwater collected from the roof of a campus building. Gerald Matisoff, professor of geology, said the presence of the isotope presents no danger to human health. He estimated the level of radiation is about one-tenth that of natural background radiation. "In theory, the Iodine 131 could have come from any radioactive waste processing facility," Matisoff said. "But, we know it's from Japan. The isotope is being seen worldwide." Matisoff and graduate student Mary ...

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Galleria hotel, a premier Smyrna Georgia Hotel, offers convenient lodging to Spring Atlanta Home Show attendees. The 33rd annual event will take place from April 1 through 3, 2011 at the Atlanta Cobb Galleria Centre. The show will include exhibits from over 350 local companies offering the latest in home remodeling products and services. The Home Show Stage will feature appearances by many guest speakers including: - Walter Reeves and Dave Baker, with News/Talk WSB 750 - Joe Washington, HGTV's Ground Breakers - Tonya M. Williams, HGTV's ...

Labeling products with information on the size of the carbon footprint they leave behind could help both consumers and manufacturers make better, environmentally friendly choices. A Michigan State University professor and colleagues, writing in the April issue of the journal Nature Climate Change, said that labeling products, much like food products contain labels with nutritional information, could offer at least a short-term solution. "Even modest changes in the household sector could significantly reduce emissions," wrote Thomas Dietz, a professor of sociology who ...

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atlanta Perimeter Hotel North near Dunwoody, GA offers convenient accommodations to guests attending Atlanta Blooms! This event is taking place this March and April, 2011 at Atlanta Botanical Garden. Atlanta Blooms! features over 200,000 tulips and other bulbs in bloom including daffodils, hyacinth, and crocus. In addition to the bulbs, giant whimsical mosiaculture sculptures made of viola and other colorful annuals will display in the Garden. "Visiting Atlanta Botanical Garden is popular outing with our guests. Plus, the Garden is situated ...