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New compact microspectrometer design achieves high resolution and wide bandwidth
Science 2011-06-21

New compact microspectrometer design achieves high resolution and wide bandwidth

A new microspectrometer architecture that uses compact disc-shaped resonators could address the challenges of integrated lab-on-chip sensing systems that now require a large off-chip spectrometer to achieve high resolution. Spectrometers have conventionally been expensive and bulky bench-top instruments used to detect and identify the molecules inside a sample by shining light on it and measuring different wavelengths of the emitted or absorbed light. Previous efforts toward miniaturizing spectrometers have reduced their size and cost, but these reductions have typically ...
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Orlando Advertising Agency Technetium Launches Website Redesign
Science 2011-06-21

Orlando Advertising Agency Technetium Launches Website Redesign

Technetium, an Orlando-based advertising and branding agency, today announces the launch of its redesigned website, www.technetium.com. The new design allows for easier navigation, provides enhanced functionality, and encourages site visitors to explore the services offered by the firm through informative content, client work samples, news feeds and more. "Today, a large part of the agency search process is conducted online prior to or even in lieu of an official request for proposal," said Joe Forget, president and CEO. He continued, "Technetium's Internet ...
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UC research uncovers ancient Mycenaean fortress
Science 2011-06-21

UC research uncovers ancient Mycenaean fortress

A recent find by a University of Cincinnati archeologist suggests an ancient Mycenaean city was well protected from outside threats. That research, by UC's Gisela Walberg, professor of classics, will be presented at the annual workshop of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Center in Nicosia, Cyprus, on June 25, 2011. Since 2001, Walberg has worked in modern Cyprus to uncover the ancient city of Bamboula, a Bronze Age city that was an important trading center for the Middle East, Egypt and Greece. Bamboula, a harbor town that flourished between the 13th through ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Poorly coordinated care doubled risk of drug and medical errors in 7 countries

Patients who received poorly co-ordinated care or were unable to afford basic medical costs were much more likely to report medication, treatment or care errors, according to an international study published in the July issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. Researchers from the USA and Australia used data from the Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey to identify the key risk factors behind the errors reported by patients from Canada, USA, the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Eleven per cent of the 11,910 people ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

GPs missing early dementia -- new study

New research from the University of Leicester demonstrates that general practitioners (GPs) are struggling to correctly identify people in the early stages of dementia resulting in both missed cases (false negatives) and misidentifications (false positives). Researchers from the University of Leicester in the UK and National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, London, UK and the Department of General Practice, Dusseldorf, Germany examined 30 previous studies involving 15,277 people seen in primary care for cognitive disorders, including 7109 assessed for dementia. ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Researchers find CDT biomarker ineffective for identifying unhealthy alcohol use

(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that among HIV-infected adults with alcohol problems, measuring their carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) biomarker was a poor and inaccurate method for detecting unhealthy drinking. These findings currently appear on-line in AIDS Care. Unhealthy alcohol use is common in HIV-infected persons. It can interfere with HIV medication adherence, may lower CD4 cell count and can cause hepatic injury. Furthermore, HIV co-infection with viral hepatitis is common and both HIV and viral hepatitis ...
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PINC Solutions Announces That Yard Hound Is Now SAP Integrated And Certified
Science 2011-06-21

PINC Solutions Announces That Yard Hound Is Now SAP Integrated And Certified

PINC Yard Hound is now the first and only real-time yard management system (YMS) that has successfully integrated to SAP Extended Warehouse Management. For SAP customers, the integration of these two award winning applications gives them new and unprecedented supply chain visibility allowing them to see actual and up to the minute locations and status of shipments, inventory and trailer assets. - Delivering proven results to customers, Yard Hound integration with SAP Enterprise allows users to chart, view, analyze and model supply chain data retrieved directly from ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Diagnosed autism is more common in an IT-rich region

A new study from Cambridge University has for the first time found that autism diagnoses are more common in an IT-rich region. The Medical Research Council (MRC) funded study, published today in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, has important implications for service provision in different regions and for the 'hyper-systemizing' theory of autism. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC) at the University of Cambridge, led the study (which was conducted in the Netherlands) with Dr Rosa Hoekstra, a Dutch autism researcher ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Black heart attack patients wait longer for advanced treatment, University of Michigan study shows

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Black patients having a heart attack wait longer at hospitals than white patients to get advanced procedures that will restore blood flow to their hearts, according to a University of Michigan Health System study. The differences in care may be explained by hospital quality, rather than the race of individual patients. Black patients were much more likely to go to slow hospitals than were whites, and as a result waited six hours longer to get life-saving procedures. Most elderly black patients received care in a small number of hospitals that take ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Abnormal brain structure linked to chronic cocaine abuse

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have identified abnormal brain structures in the frontal lobe of cocaine users' brains which are linked to their compulsive cocaine-using behaviour. Their findings were published today, 21 June, in the journal Brain. Led by Dr Karen Ersche, the Cambridge researchers scanned the brains of 120 people, half of whom had a dependence on cocaine. They found that the cocaine users had widespread loss of grey matter that was directly related to the duration of their cocaine abuse (i.e. the longer they had been using cocaine, the greater ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Scientists develop first ever drug to treat 'Celtic gene' in cystic fibrosis sufferers

An international research team led by Queen's University have developed a ground breaking treatment for Cystic Fibrosis sufferers. The new drug will benefit sufferers who have the 'Celtic Gene', a genetic mutation which is particularly common in Ireland. The study, which was carried out by scientists at Queen's University Belfast, the University of Ulster, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and teams of researchers in Europe, USA and Australia found significant improvement in lung function, quality of life and a reduction in disease flare ups for those receiving ...
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Natural Alzheimer's weapon suggests better treatment
Medicine 2011-06-21

Natural Alzheimer's weapon suggests better treatment

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scientists have shown a molecular chaperone is working like a waste management company to collect and detoxify high levels of toxic amyloid beta peptide found in Alzheimer's disease. It was known that the molecular chaperone, HspB1, was present in the hallmark plaque of Alzheimer's patients but its role remained a mystery. "What we have found is HspB1 is a protective mechanism that tries to get rid of the toxic oligomers or aggregates of amyloid beta that occur in Alzheimer's," said Dr. Anil G. Cashikar, Biochemist at Georgia Health Sciences University's ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Urinary incontinence doubles risk of postpartum depression

Hamilton, ON (June 20, 20122) - Women with urinary incontinence after giving birth are almost twice as likely to develop postpartum depression as those without incontinence, according to a new study led by Wendy Sword, a professor in McMaster University's School of Nursing. Postpartum depression negatively affects the mother, child, partner, and other children in the family. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, up to 20 per cent of new mothers experience postpartum depression and an estimated 10 to 35 per cent of women will experience a recurrence of postpartum ...
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Medicine 2011-06-21

Improving access to essential medicines through public-private partnerships

(Baltimore, MD) – A report released today by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health asks why products like Coca-Cola can reach remote villages in developing nations while essential medicines like antibiotics cannot always be found. The report, entitled Improving Access to Essential Medicines Through Public-Private Partnerships documents the poor availability of essential health products (EHPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa and explores how to improve EHP distribution via collaborations with the private sector. Focusing ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Anti-smoking policies for adults also reduce kids' smoking

When governments use comprehensive, well-funded tobacco control programs to reduce adult smoking, they also reduce smoking among adolescents. This bonus effect is an important factor to consider as policymakers face pressure to reduce spending on anti-smoking programs. The most effective elements of a tobacco control program include taxes on tobacco, well-funded adult-focused tobacco control programs, well-funded anti-smoking mass media campaigns, and strong indoor smoking restrictions. Comprehensive programs like this generally take a long time to implement and are ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Wild Zipine Safari to Open June 27

The Wilds and Hocking Hills Canopy Tours today announced their partnership, creating a totally new and thrilling zipline adventure: "Wild Zipline Safari." Wild Zipline Safari opens June 27. Reservations and complete visitor information available at www.thewilds.org or www.zipthewilds.com, or by calling 740.638.5030 ext. 2947. This tour takes visitors on a unique 2.5-hour aerial tour of The Wilds, led by two professionally trained guides and features 10 breathtaking ziplines and a rappel built on a series of observation platforms. This professionally guided ...
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Parents prefer media content ratings system to age-based ratings in new national study
Science 2011-06-21

Parents prefer media content ratings system to age-based ratings in new national study

AMES, Iowa -- Although parents appreciate having media ratings systems to help protect their kids from questionable content in movies, video games and television, the current age-based system doesn't meet their needs, according to a new study led by Iowa State University's Douglas Gentile. The study found that parents would prefer media ratings that focus on detailed content information. A national sample of 2,392 parents were surveyed by independent research firms -- Harris Polls and Research Now -- in the study "Parents' Evaluation of Media Ratings a Decade After Television ...
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Care Management Journal Profiles UroMed Catheter Supplies Founder Bert Burns & Spinal Cord Injury
Medicine 2011-06-21

Care Management Journal Profiles UroMed Catheter Supplies Founder Bert Burns & Spinal Cord Injury

The July 2011 issue of Care Management, the bimonthly journal of the Academy of Certified Case Managers, features an article that profiles UroMed founder Bert Burns and his recovery after a car accident caused him to become a quadriplegic. The article, "Managing the Care Complexity of Spinal Cord Injury," is approved for 4 hours of CEUs by the Commission for Case Manager Certification and the Certification of Disability Management Specialists Commission. Read the article at: http://www.uromed.com/Clinicians/ContinuingEducation "We are humbled that the ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Probing the secrets of the ryegrasses

Chemists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich led by Professor Dirk Trauner have developed a concise and efficient method for the synthesis of the alkaloid loline and related compounds. Loline alkaloids are a biologically interesting group of natural products, which have unusual physicochemical and pharmacological characteristics, but are as of yet poorly understood. They are produced by fungal symbionts that infect weeds and forage grasses, and act as deterrents of insects and other herbivores. Some of the agents synthesized by endophytic fungi are toxic to grazing ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Improving LED lighting

CORAL GABLES, FL (June 20, 2011) — University of Miami professor at the College of Engineering, Jizhou Song, has helped design an light-emitting diode (LED) light that uses an array of LEDs 100 times smaller than conventional LEDs. The new device has flexibility, maintains lower temperature and has an increased life-span over existing LEDs. The findings are published online by the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." Incandescent bulbs are not very efficient, most of the power they use is converted into heat and only a small fraction of the power gets converted ...
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Social Science 2011-06-21

Learning from mom boosts low-income kids' school readiness

Previous research says on average, children living in poverty are less well prepared to start school than children from middle-income homes. Now, new research says home learning experiences may help low-income children's school readiness. "Our findings indicate that enriched learning experiences as early as the first year of life are important to children's vocabulary growth, which in turn provides a foundation for children's later school success," said Eileen T. Rodriguez, survey researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Rodriguez, the study's lead author, conducted ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Stopping foreclosure delay will bring housing improvement, Kansas State study says

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- As housing prices in the United States continue to drop, a Kansas State University professor says the best way to help the market is to stop delaying foreclosures. While negotiations continue between state attorneys general and banks over a settlement that looks at foreclosure practices, some of the settlement proposals may backfire and do more harm than good, according to two recent studies co-authored by Kansas State finance professor Eric Higgins. Higgins co-authored the studies with Charles Calomiris, a professor at Columbia Business School, and ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Inducing labor is not associated with higher rates of cesarean sections

A new study published in the international Nordic journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica (AOGS) reveals that inducing labor in the weeks around term, or from week 39 to week 41, is not connected with higher rates of cesarean section compared with waiting for a later spontaneous or induced labor. There has been much debate about this in recent years with a concern that induction as opposed to expectant management might lead to a higher risk for the woman to end up with emergency cesarean section, rather than to deliver normally. Ole Bredahl Rasmussen, MD, ...
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Science 2011-06-21

Hollywood Beach Becomes a True South Florida Wedding Destination

Situated apart from the busy strip of tourist areas near Fort Lauderdale, you will find an emerging destination that is ideal for South Florida Weddings or any event where your wish is to be on the beach. Hollywood, Florida has really been buzzing across the land as the hottest spot when looking for a hometown, beachtown experience. Brides and grooms rant and rave throughout the world wide web via blogs and social sites that Hollywood has all the ingredients as that perfect experience for a Florida Wedding. Wedding venues become harder and harder to choose from, since ...
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Device could improve harvest of stem cells from umbilical cord blood
Medicine 2011-06-21

Device could improve harvest of stem cells from umbilical cord blood

Johns Hopkins graduate students have invented a system to significantly boost the number of stem cells collected from a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta, so that many more patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders can be treated with these valuable cells. The prototype is still in the testing stage, but initial results are promising. The student inventors have obtained a provisional patent covering the technology and have formed a company, TheraCord LLC, to further develop the technology, which may someday be used widely in hospital maternity units. ...
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