Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, has presented research into the mechanism by which copper exerts its antimicrobial effect on antibiotic-resistant organisms at the World Health Organization's first International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control (ICPIC). 'New Insights into the Antimicrobial Mechanisms of Copper Touch Surfaces' observes the survival of pathogens on conventional hospital touch surfaces contributes to increasing incidence and spread of antibiotic ...

If a person were to climb a towering redwood and take a sample from the top and bottom of the tree, a comparison would show that the DNA are different. Christopher A. Cullis, chair of biology at Case Western Reserve University, explains that this is the basis of his controversial research findings. Cullis, who has spent over 40 years studying mutations within plants, most recently flax (Linum usitatissimum), has found that the environment not only weeds out harmful and useless mutations through natural selection, but actually influences helpful mutations. Cullis published ...

College Park, Md. (July 1, 2011) -- Ever since an ordinary office inkjet printer had its ink cartridges swapped out for a cargo of cells about 10 years ago and sprayed out cell-packed droplets to create living tissue, scientists and engineers have never looked at office equipment in quite the same way. They dream of using a specialized bio-inkjet printer to grow new body parts for organ transplants or tissues for making regenerative medicine repairs to ailing bodies. Both these new therapies begin with a carefully printed mass of embryonic stem cells. And now there's progress ...

DALLAS – July 1, 2011 – Surgery and all its implications can be scary, especially so for pediatric patients and their parents who dread sometimes disfiguring scars. Now a UT Southwestern Medical Center urologist has developed a new "hidden" minimally invasive procedure that makes scarring virtually invisible yet is just as effective as more common surgical methods. "Currently used incisions, even with minimally invasive surgery, leave the child with up to three scars that are visible any time the abdomen is exposed. The new technique of hidden incision endoscopic surgery ...

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have discovered the first of an entirely new class of antiangiogenesis drugs – agents that interfere with the development of blood vessels. In a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/Early Edition, the investigators describe how a compound derived from a South American tree was able, through a novel mechanism, to interfere with blood vessel formation in animal models of normal development, wound healing and tumor growth. "Most of the FDA-approved antiangiogenesis drugs inhibit the pathway controlled ...

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have filled an important gap in the study of tunicate evolution by genetically sequencing 40 new specimens of thaliaceans, gelatinous, free-swimming types of tunicates. Their study was featured on the cover of the June issue of the Journal of Plankton Research. Tunicates are a phylum of animals closely related to vertebrates, with a firm, rubbery outer covering called a tunic, from which the name derives. "Thaliaceans have been poorly represented in previous studies of tunicate evolution," said Annette Govindarajan ...

DETROIT – Wayne State University researchers believe medical practitioners can help reduce the number of breast cancer deaths among low-income African-American women by more effectively educating their patients about the importance of mammography screening. In a study published this month in the Journal of Cancer Education, Rosalie Young, Ph.D., associate professor; Kendra Schwartz, M.D., M.S.P.H., interim chair; and Jason Booza, Ph. D., assistant professor, all from the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences in WSU's School of Medicine, examined clinical, ...

Patients with a form of pulmonary fibrosis often do not get referred to a tertiary care center quickly. Delayed access is associated with a higher death rate. Better methods of early detection would shorten time from first symptoms to referral. (NEW YORK, NY, July 1, 2011) – Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)―scarring and thickening of the lungs from unknown causes―is the predominant condition leading to lung transplantation nationwide. Columbia University Medical Center researchers confirmed that delayed access to a tertiary care center for IPF is associated ...

Washington, D.C., June 30, 2011 –A citywide study published online in today's issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association demonstrates racial disparities in the use of clot-busting drugs to treat acute ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke. According to the study's results, significantly fewer black patients receive the drug tPA than whites because of delays in seeking emergency care and the presence of medical conditions that exclude them from receiving the treatment. On the other hand, racial bias in doctors' treatment decisions do not appear ...

RALEIGH, NC—Each year, a wide variety of new cut flower cultivars and species are evaluated in trials administered by North Carolina State University and the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. The research, conducted at about 50 locations in the United States and Canada, provides valuable production and marketing information. John M. Dole and a research team from North Carolina State University undertook a multiyear study designed to identify patterns of postharvest responses to commercial hydrator and holding floral preservatives among 121 cultivars from 47 ...

QUEBEC—A new, versatile strawberry has been introduced for home gardeners. 'Roseberry' is predicted to be very popular as an ornamental addition to gardens. The strawberry features attractive pink blooms and produces sweet, aromatic fruit all summer long. Because it produces flowers and fruits on stolons before they root, 'Roseberry' works equally well in hanging baskets and when planted as groundcover. 'Roseberry' premiered in HortScience. According to scientist Shahrokh Khanizadeh, corresponding author of the report, 'Roseberry' (Fragaria xananassa Duch.) plants are ...

CHASE, LA—Sweetpotato is gaining popularity in the United States, where health-conscious consumers have created increased demand for the tasty, versatile food. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, per capita consumption of the crop increased over 24% from 1998-2008 and the value of the U.S. sweetpotato crop in 2009 exceeded $400 million. Production costs for sweetpotato crops are high, requiring that commercial growers optimize their production techniques and quality to keep up with consumer demand. Because sweetpotato is vegetatively propagated, viruses ...

Introducing increasing amounts of foods that contain baked milk into the diets of children who have milk allergies helped a majority of them outgrow their allergies, according to a study conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine's Jaffe Food Allergy Institute. The data are reported in the May 23 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Researchers studied 88 children, ages 2 to 17 years old, who were diagnosed with milk allergy, evaluating their tolerance to foods containing baked milk, such as muffins, waffles and cookies. The high temperatures used ...

New research on how birds can fly so quickly and accurately through dense forests may lead to new developments in robotics and auto-pilots. Scientists from Harvard University trained pigeons to fly through an artificial forest with a tiny camera attached to their heads, literally giving a birds-eye view. "Attaching the camera to the bird as well as filming them from either side means we can reconstruct both what the bird sees and how it moves," says Dr. Huai-Ti Lin, a lead researcher for this work who has special insight into flying as he is a remote control airplane ...

Any number of accidents might end up in a lawsuit against a municipality-perhaps the very city, town or village where you live. BEWARE! Rules that apply to such cases, or lawsuits involving many governmental agencies such as public hospitals and transportation systems, schools and government owned utilities, have strict special requirements that do not apply in other cases. To ignore those rules is very likely to prevent you from bringing a lawsuit no matter how meritorious or serious your case! In New York, as in most jurisdictions, governmental entities are entitled ...

Observation of a scientific rule being broken can sometimes lead to new knowledge and important applications. Such would seem to be the case when scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) created artificial molecules of semiconductor nanocrystals and watched them break a fundamental principle of photoluminescence known as "Kasha's rule." Named for chemist Michael Kasha, who proposed it in 1950, Kasha's rule holds that when light is shined on a molecule, the molecule will only emit light (fluorescence or ...

This year as you are waving your American Flag you should wave down a cab because The Sawaya Law Firm is offering free cab rides. This is the 4th year the Colorado personal injury law firm is offering the "Holiday Free Cab Ride Program" for those who have celebrated a little too much. It's about celebrating the Fourth of July and still being safe according to the Sawaya Law Firm's managing partner, Michael Sawaya. Michael G. Sawaya, the firm's founder, invests in this program as a way to save lives and reduce injuries from drunk drivers. The program works like ...

July 1, 2011 – (Bronx, NY) – A longstanding medical mystery – why so many people with HIV experience memory loss and other cognitive problems despite potent antiretroviral therapy – may have been solved by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings are published in the June 29 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Even though antiretroviral treatment suppresses HIV replication and slows the progress of HIV disease, between 40 and 60 percent of HIV-infected people eventually develop mild-to-moderate neurological deficits, ...

NASA's Aura Satellite has provided a view of nitrogen dioxide levels coming from the fires in New Mexico and Arizona. Detecting nitrogen dioxide is important because it reacts with sunlight to create low-level ozone or smog and poor air quality. The fierce Las Conchas fire threatened the town and National Laboratory in Los Alamos, while smoke from Arizona's immense Wallow Fire and the Donaldson Fire in central New Mexico also created nitrogen dioxides (NO2) detectable by the Ozone Measuring Instrument (OMI) that flies aboard NASA's Aura satellite. An image showing nitrogen ...

The federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program began in March, 2009, and it is expected to help 1.2 homeowners before the program expires at the end of 2012. In April, 2009, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a companion program to HAMP: the Second Lien Modification Program, which is also called 2MP. Both of these programs aid homeowners in reducing the amount of their monthly mortgage payments. Government Mortgage Modification Programs Homeowners who are employed but struggling to make ...

The question of why there are so many species in the sea and how new species form remains a central question in marine biology. Below the waterline, about 30% of Hawai'i's marine species are endemic – being found only in Hawai'i and nowhere else on Earth – one of the highest rates of endemism found worldwide. But where did this diversity of species come from? Hawai'i is famous for its adaptive radiations (the formation of many species with specialized lifestyles from a single colonist) above the water line. Still, spectacular examples of adaptive radiations such as Hawaiian ...

Divorce agreements between separating spouses are generally final once entered by a judge. However, some areas of divorce agreements, such as child support, can be modified over time as circumstances and needs change. Courts alone make and modify child support orders; in Illinois, those orders last forever. Parenthood brings with it the responsibility to provide financially for the child(ren). When parents do not live together, child support seeks to balance the financial responsibility by legally requiring regular contributions from the non-custodial parent. According ...

Bankruptcy can be a valuable tool to help Americans alleviate the burden of overwhelming debt. For many, bankruptcy conjures images of forced sales and the forfeiting of personal property. Liquidation, the defining process of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, does involve the sale of valuable assets. However, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is an entirely different animal, and may be a much more desirable option for those with significant equity in their home, a steady income or other property. How It Works In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding, debts are restructured to make repayment ...

The Florida juvenile justice system is one of the busiest in the nation. Even so, many kids are falling through the cracks of a system designed to spot abuse, abandonment, delinquency and neglect, turning to a life of crime to get by. Florida's current tendency towards incarcerating juveniles and adults alike is slowly giving way to alternative programs that emphasize diversion, distraction and meeting children's needs in lieu of putting them on lockdown. Current Alternative Justice Programs Florida -- particularly Broward County -- is home to several groundbreaking ...

Access Legal from Shoosmiths has announced it has joined the Institute of Customer Service, making it the first top 30 legal services firm to do so. The national law firm believes that becoming a member of the Institute of Customer Service will help support its key strategic aim of delivering the highest levels of client and customer service. Access Legal provides a variety of services including personal injury claims, and considers customer service to be extremely important. The team at Access Legal aim to be friendly, supportive and caring and treat each client ...