A software package designed to minimize the potential risks of synthetic biology for the nation's defense and security is now available to the gene synthesis industry and synthetic biology community in an open-source format. Virginia Tech has licensed GenoTHREAT, a software tool that helps detect the use of synthetic DNA as bioterrorism agents. Developed as an open-source project by a team led by Jean Peccoud, associate professor at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, it is being released using the Apache License Version 2.0 to ensure broad accessibility. ...

A joint study by local oyster growers and researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that moving farmed oysters into saltier waters just prior to harvest nearly eliminates the presence of a bacterium that can sicken humans. The findings—reported by VIMS professors Kim Reece and Howard Kator, and local oyster growers Thomas Gallivan, A.J. Erskine, and Tommy Leggett—may offer a relatively low-cost solution to a controversial change in FDA regulations that many growers believe will eventually affect the oyster industry in Chesapeake Bay. The Food and ...

Washington, D.C., 21 March, 2011 – Alcohol use during pregnancy is common and is associated with significant threats to the health and development of exposed offspring. Despite warnings from the Surgeon General to limit alcohol use if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, a recent survey by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study(1) found that nearly one-third of women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, with one-fourth of the women surveyed having drunk during the first trimester. Heavy use of alcohol during pregnancy may lead to fetal alcohol syndrome ...

A new study by Baylor University geology researchers shows that Native Americans' land use nearly a century ago produced a widespread impact on the eastern North American landscape and floodplain development several hundred years prior to the arrival of major European settlements. The study appears on-line in the journal Geology. Researchers attribute early colonial land-use practices, such as deforestation, plowing and damming with influencing present-day hydrological systems across eastern North America. Previous studies suggest that Native Americans' land use in ...

Jimmie Lee aka The Jersey Outlaw's new explosive single "I'm All In" is capturing the emotion of poker players across the country. The newest tune from the Jersey Outlaw channels the emotions of what poker players feel when they're waiting for that crucial card. The song is unique in the fact that it combines rock with crossover country and just a dash of rap. Insiders say that I'm All In will chart soon and become an anthem for the world of poker. Super Model Cindy Margolis commented, "The only thing hotter than Jimmie's song...is Jimmie himself!" The airplay of the ...

Princeton researchers have invented an extremely sensitive sensor that opens up new ways to detect a wide range of substances, from tell-tale signs of cancer to hidden explosives. The sensor, which is the most sensitive of its kind to date, relies on a completely new architecture and fabrication technique developed by the Princeton researchers. The device boosts faint signals generated by the scattering of laser light from a material placed on it, allowing the identification of various substances based on the color of light they reflect. The sample could be as small ...

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that between 2002 and 2003, more than 40 million people changed residences. That's a lot of furniture being moved and a lot of moving vans and trucks being rented to transport it all. Even though changing residences can, for many, be an incredible hassle that couldn't be over soon enough, there are many administrative tasks that need to be given proper attention. When it comes time to rent a vehicle to move all of one's belongings, the person moving should know whether they have or need insurance for it before they reach the rental counter. ...

Monash University researchers have found the number of years individuals live with obesity is directly associated with the risk of mortality. The research shows that the duration of obesity is a strong predictor of mortality, independent of the actual level of Body Mass Index (BMI). As the onset of obesity occurs earlier and the number of years lived with obesity increases, the risk of mortality associated with adult obesity in contemporary populations is expected to increase compared with previous decades. Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, 5209 participants ...

A report into the legal risks associated with the use of social networking sites (eg. Facebook, myspace) has found that while 95 per cent of Victorian students in years 7 to 10 use social networking sites, nearly 30 per cent did not consider social networking held any risks. The project was established to investigate the legal risks of social networking as experienced by Victorian secondary school students, teachers and parents. Survey and interview data was gathered from over 1000 Victorian middle school students (years 7-10), 200 teachers and 49 parents. The report, ...

The first set of findings from the survey are based on data from more than 22,000 individuals and show that people with degrees are 25% more likely, on average, than people with no education qualifications to adopt pro-environmental behaviours, at least in terms of paying more for environmentally-friendly products. However, they are less likely to turn off the TV overnight or to use public transport. Overall the survey, which will follow 40,000 UK households over many years, found that 60% of people believed that a major environmental disaster is pending if things continue ...

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Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method for studying gene regulation, by employing a jumping gene as an informant. Published online today in Nature Genetics, the new method is called GROMIT. It enables researchers to systematically explore the very large part of our genome that does not code for proteins, and which likely plays a large role in making each of us unique, by controlling when, where and to what extent genes are turned on, or expressed. Thanks to GROMIT, scientists can also create mouse ...

New research has revealed that prenatal exposure to nicotine increases the vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice. The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with prenatal nicotine exposure are more likely to start smoking earlier than their peers and that they are also more susceptible to the addictive effects of nicotine, especially as a result of stress and peer pressure. The study performed with mice is part of a project researching the behavioural and molecular mechanisms of nicotine addiction. The research project was carried out ...

Durham, NH —March 21, 2011— According to a new study from the Journal of Management Studies, corruption, which is endemic in many countries, can benefit the performance of some companies. Without doubt, corruption stands as a corrosive influence on investment and economic growth, but the corrosive nature of corruption does not necessarily hamper all companies equally. Indeed, companies with an advantage in operating in corrupt countries are likely to be pre-disposed to protecting that advantage. Attempts to eliminate government corruption therefore must be mindful of ...

Recently, survivors of the Rwandan genocide shared their stories of healing and hope to participants of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It's a process that author Dan Green says is critical to healing the deep wounds left by decades of abuse and alienation amongst First Nations' and Metis people across Canada. The Residential School experience is one that left a heart-breaking legacy. Tens of thousands of Aboriginals and Metis were ripped from their families and put into state care, forced to forsake their culture and language and subjected to physical, ...

Monash University researchers are working on a vaccine that could completely cure asthma brought on by house dust mite allergies. If successful, the vaccine would have the potential to cure sufferers in two to three doses. Allergies to house dust mites is a leading cause of asthma and the respiratory condition affects more than 2 million Australians and costs more than $600 million in health expenditure each year. Currently, people allergic to house dust mites must continually clean their environments to remove the microscopic creatures from soft furnishings to avoid ...

SANTA FE, N.M. – Garbage mounds left by prehistoric humans might have driven the formation of many of the Florida Everglades' tree islands, distinctive havens of exceptional ecological richness in the sprawling marsh that are today threatened by human development. Tree islands are patches of relatively high and dry ground that dot the marshes of the Everglades. Typically a meter (3.3 feet) or so high, many of them are elevated enough to allow trees to grow. They provide a nesting site for alligators and a refuge for birds, panthers, and other wildlife. Scientists have ...

In the wake of the devastating loss of life in Japan, the urgent question is where the next big earthquake will hit. To answer it, geologist Prof. Zvi Ben-Avraham and his doctoral student Gal Hartman of Tel Aviv University's Department of Physics and Planetary Sciences in the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences are examining coral reefs and submarine canyons to detect earthquake fault zones. Working with an international team of Israelis, Americans and Jordanians, Prof. Ben-Avraham and his team are developing a new method to determine what areas in a ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A daily dose of safflower oil, a common cooking oil, for 16 weeks can improve such health measures as good cholesterol, blood sugar, insulin sensitivity and inflammation in obese postmenopausal women who have Type 2 diabetes, according to new research. This finding comes about 18 months after the same researchers discovered that safflower oil reduced abdominal fat and increased muscle tissue in this group of women after 16 weeks of daily supplementation. This combination of health measures that are improved by the safflower oil is associated with metabolic ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Saying a prayer may help many people feel less angry and behave less aggressively after someone has left them fuming, new research suggests. A series of studies showed that people who were provoked by insulting comments from a stranger showed less anger and aggression soon afterwards if they prayed for another person in the meantime. The benefits of prayer identified in this study don't rely on divine intervention: they probably occur because the act of praying changed the way people think about a negative situation, said Brad Bushman, co-author of ...

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- One of Kansas' most abundant natural resources may hold the key to preventing major power outages. A team of Kansas State University engineers is researching ways to use Kansas wind and other distributed energy sources to avoid cascading failures. Sakshi Pahwa, doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, India, explored the topic for her recently completed master's project, "Distributed Sources and Islanding to Mitigate Cascading Failures in Power Grid Networks." The project was a winner at the recent Capitol Graduate Research Summit in ...

Primary care doctors are less likely to refer short girls than short boys for diagnostic testing that can reveal underlying medical reasons for their short stature, according to a new study of an urban pediatric population in Philadelphia. Girls with medical conditions causing their short stature may go undiagnosed, or may be diagnosed later than boys, limiting timely treatment. Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia published their study online today in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics. The study team analyzed referral patterns for growth faltering ...

La manta "responsabilidad del edificio" abarca una amplia variedad de lesiones que occurren en la propiedad de otra persona. La propiedad puede ser propiedad de una pequena empresa, familia, corporacion gigante o municipio, pero independientemente, cada propietario tiene la obligacion de mantener sus tierras en condiciones razonablemente seguras para proteger a las personas que puedan entrar en el. Que es la Responsabilidad del Edificio? Como se ha senalado, el termino "responsabilidad del edificio" se puede utilizar para describir una serie de diferentes causas legales ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Engineers at Ohio State University have invented a lens that enables microscopic objects to be seen from nine different angles at once to create a 3D image. Other 3D microscopes use multiple lenses or cameras that move around an object; the new lens is the first single, stationary lens to create microscopic 3D images by itself. Allen Yi, associate professor of integrated systems engineering at Ohio State, and postdoctoral researcher Lei Li described the lens in a recent issue of the Journal of the Optical Society of America A. Yi called the lens a ...

Motorcycle riders nationwide are eagerly awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit in federal court in New York challenging motorcycle-only checkpoints. The lawsuit is the first in the country to raise constitutional objections to the law enforcement practice of setting up checkpoints to stop all motorcyclists traveling to or from popular motorcycle events. Police began using these checkpoints in New York State in 2008, using grant money from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. Recently, the federal government has begun funding motorcycle-only checkpoint initiatives in ...