The press release
archive.

Technology2 Sep 2011

Digital quantum simulator realized

Almost two years ago Rainer Blatt's and Christan Roos' research groups from the University of Innsbruck recreated the properties of a particle moving close to speed of light in a quantum system. They encoded the state of the particle into a highly cooled calcium atom and used lasers to manipulate it according to equations proposed by the famous quantum physicist Paul Dirac. Thereby, the scientists were able to simulate so called Zitterbewegung (quivering motion) of relativistic particles, which had never been observed directly in nature before. In the current work, the ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

New Free Spins Game at Casino-Mate

Casino-Mate has stepped up to the demand for a highly popular game to stand as the Welcoming Free Spins game for new players. This Australian Casino has nominated ThunderStruck 2 as the first stop for new players at the casino. The induction of ThunderStruck 2 Video Slot game as the introductory game for new players at the casino is set to show players the quality of games that they will be experiencing at the casino. All the games are powered by Microgaming , an online gaming creator and provider. There are, in total, over 550 games available at the online casino, ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Online activity grows in a similar pattern to those of real-life networks

The activity of online communities does not grow in line with the number of users, according to a model recently published in the European Physical Journal B. The Internet has given rise to its own sorting devices. Among these, tagging consists of assigning user-chosen keywords to a piece of information (such as a digital image) to facilitate searches. Lingfei Wu, a researcher at the City University of Hong Kong's Department of Media and Communication, used the tagging behaviour of social media application users to study the growth of online communities' activity. Wu ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Fibrous stroma associated with poor prognosis in lung squamous cell carcinoma

The nature of the connective tissue surrounding lung cancer nests can help predict the aggressiveness of squamous cell carcinoma, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide; its two major subtypes are adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC). Although many reports have described the prognostic markers for adenocarcinoma, less research ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Wrong Site Surgeries a Troubling Problem for Patients in North Carolina

Operating on the wrong side of a patient's body is a horrible mistake that should never happen. Unfortunately, it occurs more often than you think. Based on data submitted to the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, wrong site surgeries and procedures occur nearly 40 times per week across the U.S. The aftermath of wrong site and wrong side surgeries are devastating. In addition to the pain of additional surgery and a lifetime of disfigurement, these mistakes can leave lasting emotional scars. Victims of this type of error may have grounds for a surgery ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir

Microbes are omnipresent on earth. They are found as free-living microorganisms as well as in communities with other higher organisms. Thanks to modern biological techniques we are now able to address the complex communities and study the role of individual microorganisms and enzymes in more detail. Microbacterium arborescens is a bacterium, which can be found in the guts of herbivorous caterpillars. The Department of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology studies interactions between insects and microorganisms which live in their digestive ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Defense of Drug Possession and Drug Distribution Cases

Under Virginia law prosecutors bear the burden to prove each and every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In short, that means they bear the burden of excluding every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. In drug cases there are generally three prevailing defenses. Each defense is fact driven so although a defense may work in one case it may not actually work on all. The three prevailing defenses in drug cases are (1) search and seizure issues (2) possession issues and (3) whether the commonwealth can prove that the substance found is illegal. All searches ...

Read the release

Social Science2 Sep 2011

Perception of facial expressions differs across cultures

WASHINGTON — Facial expressions have been called the "universal language of emotion," but people from different cultures perceive happy, sad or angry facial expressions in unique ways, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. "By conducting this study, we hoped to show that people from different cultures think about facial expressions in different ways," said lead researcher Rachael E. Jack, PhD, of the University of Glasgow. "East Asians and Western Caucasians differ in terms of the features they think constitute an angry face ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Missouri Lawmakers Consider Comprehensive Driver Texting Ban

Distracted driving takes a horrible toll on innocent Missouri drivers every year. It does not matter whether the distraction comes from applying makeup, checking a map, talking to a passenger or changing a radio station; a moment's negligence, even at moderate speeds, is enough for a car or truck to miss a stop sign or veer into an opposing lane and cause a serious or fatal auto accident. Missouri personal injury attorneys are all too familiar with the horrific harm that such accidents can cause to injury victims and surviving family members. Personal electronic devices ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Faster diagnostics through cheap, ultra-portable blood testing

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1—Blood tests are important diagnostic tools. They accurately tease-out vanishingly small concentrations of proteins and other molecules that help give a picture of overall health or signal the presence of specific diseases. Current testing procedures, however, are expensive and time-consuming, while sophisticated test equipment is bulky and difficult to transport. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Toledo in Ohio has addressed all these drawbacks by developing a low-cost, portable technique that is able to quickly and reliably detect ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Dangers on Missouri Highways: Unsecured Truck Loads

It might seem like an accident that could only happen in a horror movie, but the reality of unsecured cargo is much more serious and more prevalent than most people assume. AAA reported that around 25,000 vehicle accidents and 80-90 deaths occur as a direct result of unsecured cargo per year. Unsecured cargo is essentially insufficient stability of the materials a trucker is transporting. Typically, materials transported by 18-wheelers include steel coils, lumber, auto parts and various construction supplies, but the list can also extends to liquid or hazardous materials ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Getting the Lead Out: Protecting Children From Dangerous Toys

How do you protect your child's safety when there are 30,000 tons of potentially dangerous toys pouring into the United States from foreign countries every year? These boatloads of foreign toys account for 95 percent of the toys sold in the U.S. every year -- and many of them cause serious injuries to children. Of course, American-made toys can cause children's injuries too. Regardless of their origin, toys should not put children at undue risk of injury. Trouble in Toyland Report That's why a leading consumer advocacy group, U.S. PIRG, tries to educate the public ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Lung cancer ALK rearrangement may predict pemetrexed efficacy, study shows

Patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) responded significantly better to pemetrexed (brand name: Alimta) than patients whose cancer did not show ALK translocation, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Lung adenocarcinoma can display genetic mutations, including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Knowing whether the tumor displays ...

Read the release

Technology2 Sep 2011

The quantum tunneling effect leads electron transport in porphyrins

Porphyrins are organic molecules that appear in the central region of macromolecules such as chlorophyll and hemoglobin, and have a metal atom at their center that determines their specific function. The importance of these molecules in the field of molecular electronics lies in their "ease of transfer electrons from one region to another" explains the responsible of the work at the Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research Center (a joint research center of the CSIC, the University of Oviedo and the Government of the Principality of Asturias) Víctor Manuel García. ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Federal Study Determines Causes of Trucking Accidents

Commercial tractor-trailers are involved in an increasing number of serious, and often fatal, accidents. To learn why, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS). This study provided vital information, including the reasons behind serious crashes involving large trucks. Researchers reviewed 120,000 crashes that occurred between April 2001 and December 2003 and selected a nationally representative sample of 963 accidents. These accidents, ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Decrease in smoking reduces death rates within months

A study by the University of Liverpool has found that a decrease in smoking rapidly reduces mortality rates in individuals and entire populations within six months. Research by Professor Simon Capewell and Dr Martin O'Flaherty at the Institute of Psychology, Health and Well-being, examined evidence from clinical trials and natural experiments. They found that a reduction in smoking has a positive impact on mortality rates in both individuals and populations within six months. Likewise, dietary improvements get very positive results within one to three years. Professor ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Sight fails when defective eye cells cripple renewal

In a rare eye disease, the retina degenerates because light-receiving cells fail to regenerate, research led by a student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine shows. The researchers include Dr. Samuel G. Jacobson's group at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Andreas Engel's group at University of Basel, Switzerland. They found that when the natural renewal process fails, metabolites are locked in, build up and turn toxic, killing cells over time in Enhanced S-Cone Syndrome. A description of their work is online and will be published in print in ...

Read the release

Environment2 Sep 2011

Hubble movies reveal solar-system-sized traffic jams

When it comes to big-budget action movies, Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan prefers Hubble to Hollywood. Using Hubble Space Telescope images collected over 14 years, Hartigan has created time-lapse movies that offer astronomers their first glimpse of the dynamic behavior of stellar jets, huge torrents of gas and particles that spew from the poles of newborn stars. An analysis of the movies that was published in The Astrophysical Journal is forcing astronomers to rethink some of the processes that occur during the latter stages of star birth. And in an effort ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Distracted Driving Still a Problem Despite Cell Phone Ban

With more than 22 million drivers on its roads, California became the largest state to enact formal distracted driving laws in 2008. Sections 23123 and 23124 of the California Vehicle Code prohibited use of cell phones without a hands-free device, which enables drivers to dial phone numbers or complete calls without taking their hands from the steering wheel. The law also prohibited all drivers under age 18 from using cell phones behind the wheel. Proponents of the new law suggested that hands-free devices provided the safety and convenience drivers needed to make calls ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Living with parents in adult life can prolong family conflict

"We have worked with young people, in this case, in the family environment, to see what happens during the 'full nest syndrome', i.e., when children reach 18 years of age and they continue living at home," explained Beatriz Rodríguez, researcher from the University of La Laguna and co-author of the study. Researchers classified adolescents into three stages: early teens (12 and 13 years), mid-teens (14 and 15), and late teens (16-18). Those 18-25 were called 'emerging adults'. In Spain, given the country's social, economic and cultural characteristics, children leave ...

Read the release

Science2 Sep 2011

Using less water to grow more potatoes

This press release is available in Spanish. Research conducted in part at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed that in some production systems, planting potatoes in flat beds can increase irrigation water use efficiency. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) agricultural engineer Bradley King, who works at the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Kimberly, Idaho, was one of the scientists who led these studies. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA commitment to enhancing ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Increased resistance training does not benefit cardiac rehabilitation patients

Philadelphia, PA, September 1, 2011 – For patients undergoing rehabilitation following cardiac events, aerobic exercise training (AT) is widely recommended. Resistance training (RT) has also been shown to be beneficial because it enhances muscular strength and endurance, functional capacity and independence, and quality of life, while reducing disability. In a study scheduled for publication in the October issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, researchers compared two RT regimens of different intensity in combination with AT. They determined that ...

Read the release

Engineering2 Sep 2011

Truck Mounted Boom Collapses Into a Brooklyn Building, New York Construction Accident Lawyer Comments

A truck-mounted boom tipped and hit a Brooklyn brownstone, but as New York construction accident lawyer David Perecman is happy to note, the construction workers all escaped injury. According to the New York Daily News, the non-injury construction accident in New York occurred while a construction crew was adding a third-story extension on the Cobble Hill building. The weight of the sheetrock and plywood was apparently too much and the boom collapsed, leaving the truck on a 45-degree angle. No one was injured in the New York construction accident. The construction ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Mapping a model: International research on plant species appears in journal Nature

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Two Kansas State University researchers have been collaborating on an international project involving genomes of a model plant species that can offer insights into other plants. Christopher Toomajian, assistant professor of plant pathology, and Katie Hildebrand, doctoral student in plant pathology, Stafford, are researching genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant that has a short life cycle, making it one of the best model species for scientific study. For some of their latest research, they have worked with researchers ...

Read the release

Medicine2 Sep 2011

Hospitals encouraged to consider value-added service of hospital-based radiology groups

Hospital executives should consider the value-added services of hospital-based radiology groups before allowing radiology departments to be taken over by teleradiologists or other specialists, according to an article in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Although imaging has become an increasingly important cornerstone in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, hospital-based imaging is now often read by other specialists or via teleradiology rather than hospital-based radiologists. "These problematic situations ...

Read the release