MARK IV Builders (http://www.markivbuilders.com/), a Bethesda design build firm, is proud to announce that their Production Manager, Andrew Hannan, has contributed an expert opinion column to the June 2011 issue of Remodeling Magazine, published by Hanley Wood. His latest column for Remodeling Magazine is entitled "Laptop Benefits," and discusses his experience using a laptop in the field and what kind of positive impact it had upon the day-to-day work at various remodeling sites. In his column, Hannan explains "During the nine months that he [MARK IV ...

Today, Neptune has arrived at the same location in space where it was discovered nearly 165 years ago. To commemorate the event, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken these "anniversary pictures" of the blue-green giant planet. Neptune is the most distant major planet in our solar system. German astronomer Johann Galle discovered the planet on September 23, 1846. At the time, the discovery doubled the size of the known solar system. The planet is 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers) from the Sun, 30 times farther than Earth. Under the Sun's weak pull at that distance, ...

Research has shown that light is the key to getting our 'body clocks' back in sync and now a new study exploring the resynchronisation mechanism in insects has discovered a molecule essential to the process. Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London looked at the impact of light on the circadian clocks (commonly known as 'body clocks') of fruit flies. They identified a novel molecule, QUASIMODO (QSM), which was intrinsically involved in relaying light-information to the flies' inner clocks. Ralf Stanewsky, Professor of Neurobiology at Queen Mary's School of ...

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, July 13, 2011 – A new system using video and computer software to monitor a baby that could be used to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), as well as for telemedicine applications, has been developed by two students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). The new system called "BabyBeat" was developed by students in the BGU Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. It uses computer algorithms to convert video footage to pulses that represent a baby's heartbeat and skin tone. In the event that the system detects an ...

New York, NY, July 12, 2011 – A study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine, reports that among hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease, chronic self-reported use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was associated with an increased risk of adverse events during long-term follow-up. Long-term NSAIDs use is common for treatment of chronic pain. Researchers from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, College of Medicine and the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research, College of Pharmacy, University of ...

Describing the correlation of a reservoir and earthquake slip remains a great challenge. Professor SHI Yaolin and his group at the Key Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the College of Science of the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are attempting to solve this problem. On the basis of the laboratory's parallel central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware platform, the micro FDPNC model for UTP conditions was established and the ECFS criteria and anisotropic porosity and permeability ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Improving and maintaining health factors not traditionally associated with dementia, such as denture fit, vision and hearing, may lower a person's risk for developing dementia, according to a new study published in the July 13, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our study suggests that rather than just paying attention to already known risk factors for dementia, such as diabetes or heart disease, keeping up with your general health may help reduce the risk for dementia," said study author Kenneth ...

The limited time offer runs until 14th July and is available to new and existing customers who purchase standard, one man delivery items, and includes a wide range of branded ladies' fashion, homewares and electricals. Home shopping brand, isme.com is flying the flag for mature style-savvy shoppers. Aiming to redefine the shopping experience for Britain's mature female customer, isme.com is dedicated to delivering fashion that empowers, gives confidence and captures the key trends of the season with a style and fit created for today's mature woman. Isme.com carries ...

PHILADELPHIA — Stem cell therapy may restore cognition in patients with brain cancer who experience functional learning and memory loss often associated with radiation treatment, according to a laboratory study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Charles Limoli, Ph.D., a professor in the department of radiation oncology at the University of California, Irvine, said radiation therapy is the standard of care for most brain cancers, but the side effects can be devastating. "In almost every instance, people experience ...

Philadelphia — Short-term hormone therapy (androgen deprivation therapy: ADT) given in combination with radiation therapy for men with early-stage prostate cancer increases their chance of living longer and not dying from the disease, compared with that of those who receive the same radiation therapy alone, according to a Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) study published in the July 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. This largest randomized trial of its kind enrolled nearly 2,000 men at low and intermediate risk of prostate cancer progression and followed ...

BOSTON – Placebos are "dummy pills" often used in research trials to test new drug therapies and the "placebo effect" is the benefit patients receive from a treatment that has no active ingredients. Many claim that the placebo effect is a critical component of clinical practice. But whether or not placebos can actually influence objective measures of disease has been unclear. Now a study of asthma patients examining the impact of two different placebo treatments versus standard medical treatment with an albuterol bronchodilator has reached two important conclusions: while ...

A study examining the brain of a person with object agnosia, a defect in the inability to recognize objects, is providing a unique window into the sophisticated brain mechanisms critical for object recognition. The research, published by Cell Press in the July 14 issue of the journal Neuron, describes the functional neuroanatomy of object agnosia and suggests that damage to the part of the brain critical for object recognition can have a widespread impact on remote parts of the cortex. Object agnosia is caused by an injury to the brain that does not include damage to ...

Scientists have known for some time that the hormone leptin acts in the brain to prevent obesity, but the specific underlying neurocircuitry has remained a mystery. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the July 14 issue of the journal Neuron reveals neurobiological mechanisms that may underlie the antiobesity effects of leptin. "Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by fat cells and acts at its receptor in the brain to decrease food intake and promote energy expenditure," explains senior study author Dr. Bradford B. Lowell from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ...

DURHAM, NC -- Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that a "fountain of youth" that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents is also believed to be present in the human brain. The existence of a vital support system of cells around stem cells in the brain explains why stem cells by themselves can't generate neurons in a lab dish, a major roadblock in using these stem cells for injury repair. "We believe these findings will have important implications for human therapy," said Chay Kuo, M.D., Ph.D., George Brumley Jr. assistant professor ...

Until recently, migration patterns, such as those adopted by birds all across the Amazonian rainforest, have not been thought to play an important role in the spreading of beneficial genes through a population. Researchers have now, for the first time, been able to predict the chance of a gene spreading when given any migration pattern, potentially providing an insight into the migration patterns of animals throughout history. Even more impressively, the concepts from these predictions can be applied to tracking the route of cancer through the body, and viruses or ...

At the heart of most, if not all, large galaxies lurks a supermassive black hole with a mass millions, or sometimes billions, times greater than that of the Sun. In many galaxies, including our own Milky Way, the central black hole is quiet. But in some galaxies, particularly early on in the history of the Universe [1], the central monster feasts on material that gives off intense radiation as it falls into the black hole. One unsolved mystery is where the material comes from to activate a sleeping black hole and trigger violent outbursts at a galaxy's centre, so that ...

Researchers have probed deeper into human evolution by developing an elegant new technique to analyse whole genomes from different populations. One key finding from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's study is that African and non-African populations continued to exchange genetic material well after migration out-of-Africa 60,000 years ago. This shows that interbreeding between these groups continued long after the original exodus. For the first time genomic archaeologists are able to infer population size and history using single genomes, a technique that makes fewer ...

A cancer cell may seem out of control, growing wildly and breaking all the rules of orderly cell life and death. But amid the seeming chaos there is a balance between a cancer cell's revved-up metabolism and skyrocketing levels of cellular stress. Just as a cancer cell depends on a hyperactive metabolism to fuel its rapid growth, it also depends on anti-oxidative enzymes to quench potentially toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by such high metabolic demand. Scientists at the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a novel compound ...

Contact: Christina DeAngelis christina.deangelis@case.edu 216-368-3635 Kevin Mayhood kevin.mayhood@case.edu 216-368-5004 Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve restores breathing after spinal cord injury in rodent model Study published in the online issue of Nature on July 14 CLEVELAND – July 13, 2011 –Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine bridged a spinal cord injury and biologically regenerated lost nerve connections to the diaphragm, restoring breathing in an adult rodent model of spinal cord injury. The work, which ...

STANFORD, Calif. — The addition of two particular gene snippets to a skin cell's usual genetic material is enough to turn that cell into a fully functional neuron, report researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding, to be published online July 13 in Nature, is one of just a few recent reports of ways to create human neurons in a lab dish. The new capability to essentially grow neurons from scratch is a big step for neuroscience research, which has been stymied by the lack of human neurons for study. Unlike skin cells or blood cells, neurons ...

PHILADELPHIA - Targeted therapies that are designed to suppress the formation of new blood vessels in tumors, such as Avastin (bevacizumab), have slowed cancer growth in some patients. However, they have not produced the dramatic responses researchers initially thought they might. Now, research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania might help to explain the modest responses. The discovery, published in the July 14 issue of Nature, suggests novel treatment combinations that could boost the power of therapies based on slowing blood vessel ...

A new study by investigators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has confirmed the existence of a "trial effect" in clinical trials for treatment of HIV. Trial effect is an umbrella term for the benefit experienced by study participants simply by virtue of their participating in the trial. It includes the benefit of newer and more effective treatments, the way those treatments are delivered, increased care and follow-up, and the patient's own behavior change as a result of being under observation. "Trial effect is notoriously difficult ...

Changing from running payroll by hand to computerized payroll can be quick and painless. Small business-focused payroll software developer Halfpricesoft.com announced the launch of new improved ezPaycheck payroll software and small business owners can get a free, 30-day trial by downloading ezPaycheck software from http://www.halfpricesoft.com/payroll_software_download.asp. This trial version contains all of the features and functions of the full version, except tax form printing, allowing customers to thoroughly test drive the product. Once customers are satisfied that ...

Tiny chemical particles emitted by diesel exhaust fumes could raise the risk of heart attacks, research has shown. Scientists have found that ultrafine particles produced when diesel burns are harmful to blood vessels and can increase the chances of blood clots forming in arteries, leading to a heart attack or stroke. The research by the University of Edinburgh measured the impact of diesel exhaust fumes on healthy volunteers at levels that would be found in heavily polluted cities. Scientists compared how people reacted to the gases found in diesel fumes – such as ...

(Chicago, July 13, 2011)– How influential are mass media portrayals of chimpanzees in television, movies, advertisements and greeting cards on public perceptions of this endangered species? That is what researchers based at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo sought to uncover in a new nationwide study published today in in PLoS One, the open-access journal of the Public Library of Sciences. Their findings reveal the significant role that media plays in creating widespread misunderstandings about the conservation status and nature of this great ape. A majority of study respondents ...