Taiwanese investigators have found that there can be a significantly higher risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurring in the year following a shingles, or herpes zoster, attack. The findings, which support a long-held view on how MS may develop, are published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and now available online (http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/06/07/infdis.jir239.abstract). MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, leading to inflammation and nerve damage as the body's immune cells attack the nervous system. Possible ...

PORTLAND, Ore. — Women who receive a contraceptive known as an intrauterine device or IUD immediately following a first trimester abortion experience few complications and are less likely to have an unintended pregnancy than those who delay getting an IUD by several weeks, according to a new study at Oregon Health & Science University. The findings are published in the June 9 New England Journal of Medicine. Research has shown that IUDs are safe, highly effective, long-term reversible contraceptives that don't require active use once they've been inserted. IUDs are ...

Suffering from parental abuse as a child increases a person's chances of having poor sleep quality in old age, according to a research article in the current issue of the Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences (Volume 66B, Number 3). An analysis of data from 877 adults age 60 years and above found that early parental emotional abuse was associated with a higher number of sleep complaints in old age. It was specifically emotional abuse — rather than physical abuse or emotional neglect — that was tied to trouble in getting a good night's sleep. "A ...

WASHINGTON, June 8—Scientists today reported that the tiny light-sensing cells known as rods have been clearly and directly imaged in the living eye for the first time. Using adaptive optics (AO), the same technology astronomers use to study distant stars and galaxies, scientists can see through the murky distortion of the outer eye, revealing the eye's cellular structure with unprecedented detail. This innovation, described in two papers in the Optical Society's (OSA) open access journal Biomedical Optics Express, will help doctors diagnose degenerative eye disorders sooner, ...

Southwest Binding & Laminating, a St. Louis, MO based manufacturer and distributor of document finishing products is pleased to announce the launch of it's PSA Overlaminate (ProGuard) and Mounting Adhesives (ProBond) to service new and existing customers. "The Wide Format Printing market has seen tremendous growth and popularity," said Mark Mercer, President and CEO of Southwest Binding & Laminating. "PSA Overlaminates and Mounting Adhesives is a great addition to Southwest's product mix, in our continued efforts to better serve our customers."For ...

Like an opera singer hitting a note that shatters a glass, a signal at a particular resonant frequency can concentrate energy in a material and change its properties. And as with 18th century "musical glasses," adding a little water can change the critical pitch. Echoing both phenomena, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a unique fluid-tuned "metasurface," a concept that may be useful in biomedical sensors and microwave-assisted chemistry. A metasurface or metafilm is a two-dimensional version of a metamaterial, ...

The Rabine Group is proud to announce that its CEO and founder, Gary Rabine, was invited to speak at Crain's Fast Fifty Breakfast along with other successful entrepreneurs from Crain's Fast Fifty Growing Companies list. The event will be held on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at the Westin River North hotel in Chicago. The prestigious Fast Fifty Growing Companies list is an annual report published by Crain's Chicago featuring the fastest-growing public and private companies in the Chicagoland area based on five-year revenue growth. Last year, the Rabine Group ranked No. 12 with ...

Cell phone distractions account for more than 300,000 car crashes each year. As a result, most states have put laws in place to limit or prohibit the use of mobile devices while driving. But a new study led by Temple University finds a widening gap between the evidence on distracted driving and the laws being passed to address the problem. The new study, published this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is the first comprehensive collection and coding of state laws attempting to address the public health risk posed by distracted driving. Lead author ...

Depending on whom you ask, nanoparticles are, potentially, either one of the most promising or the most perilous creations of science. These tiny objects can deliver drugs efficiently and enhance the properties of many materials, but what if they also are hazardous to your health in some way? Now, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found* a way to manipulate nanoparticles so that questions like this can be answered. The team has developed a method of attracting and capturing metal-based nanoparticles on a surface and releasing ...

As the nation prepares to celebrate National Ice Cream Month this July, there's no place better to experience the creamy confection than Harrison County. Here, a trio of old-fashioned ice cream parlors and soda fountains draw sweet-toothed visitors of all ages to the southern Indiana town of Corydon. Palate-Pleasing Prescription Recently made famous with the wildly popular viral nature of their online commercial (http://bit.ly/cGNJuu), the classic soda fountain tucked inside Butt Drugs returns visitors to the laid-back days before cell phones and MP3s. Locals and out-of-towners ...

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers are working to reduce the uncertainty associated with climate-change measurements using a mobile temperature-sensing technology made for tracking delicate or perishable, high-value packages in transit. Developed by international shipper FedEx and tested with help from NIST, the device connects to cell phone networks to provide users with near real-time information on the package's precise location, temperature, humidity, pressure, acceleration, elevation and exposure to light. Senseaware tag Developed by ...

June 6, 2011 – (Rensselaer, N.Y., USA) – A new study may explain why only 50% of patients experiencing chronic nerve pain achieve even partial relief from existing therapeutics. The study, published in the June 6 online version of the international research journal PAIN, reveals that certain types of chronic pain may be caused by signals from the skin itself, rather than damage to nerves within the skin, as previously thought. A Medical Mystery For years, researchers have known that increased amounts of a molecule called Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) is ...

A VELUX America solar water heating system and Sun Tunnel skylight are included in the KB Home GreenHouse: An Idea Home Created with Martha Stewart, at the 2011 International Builders' Show in Orlando. The home is slated to be the first net-zero energy, single-family home in the Builder Magazine Concept Home series. The KB Home GreenHouse will also demonstrate to consumers that this environmentally friendly home not only saves energy and water through the use of solar and thermal systems and meeting EPA's WaterSense for new homes specifications, but can also save them ...

VELUX America has expanded its solar water heating product line in the U.S. to include packaged solar water heating systems for homeowners in all markets across the country. Jim Cika, manager, solar products for VELUX America, says VELUX has three major additions to the solar product line that will open the solar water heating market to U.S. homeowners. He says that the addition of gas backup solar systems, rack mounted collector systems, and smaller size, one-collector/60 gallon tank solar systems, will provide most homeowners with a solar thermal option to meet their ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Vaccines that save lives by preventing disease have been around for centuries. Now, new vaccines that treat cancer are being developed, but how they will be combined with existing treatments is not clear. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System recommend that a national strategy be developed for bringing therapeutic cancer vaccines to patient care, so that cancers with less effective treatment options are priority targets. "Vaccines that prevent disease have profoundly changed the lives of billions of people around the world," says ...

Research led by David Litchfield of The University of Western Ontario has identified how biochemical pathways can be "rewired" in cancer cells to allow these cells to ignore signals that should normally trigger their death. It's one way that cancer cells may become resistant to therapy. The findings are now published in Science Signaling (http://stke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sigtrans;4/172/ra30 ). "This work focused on understanding how cancer cells acquire a selective survival advantage, allowing them to avoid apoptosis, the process required for normal cell ...

Scientists at Rockefeller University and The Scripps Research Institute have developed the first genetically humanized mouse model for hepatitis C, an achievement that will enable researchers to test molecules that block entry of the hepatitis C virus into cells as well as potential vaccine candidates. The finding is reported in the June 9 issue of the journal Nature. While the hepatitis C virus can infect chimpanzees and humans, scientists have been unable to study the progression of the virus' life cycle or possible treatments in small animal models. The new mouse model ...

A very unusual partnership between the VELUX Group and the internationally acknowledged proponent of Green Design, Ross Lovegrove, wins this year's attractive red dot award "best of the best" for pioneering design. The sun tunnel by Lovegrove is a contemporary and smooth new product that spreads natural light through the roof to otherwise electrically lit rooms and is a supplement to the ordinary VELUX sun tunnel. The new design represents yet another innovative way to bring daylight into buildings. The "red dot" is a sought-after quality label worldwide. ...

Montréal, June 8, 2011 – Dr. Frédéric Charron, researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team have shown for the first time that a key molecule of the vascular system directs axons during the formation of neural circuits. This connection between the nervous system and the vascular system could be a good starting point for the development of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The discovery will be published tomorrow by Neuron, a scientific journal of the Cell Press group. "To properly form neural circuits, developing axons (long ...

An international team of scientists, with Spanish participation, has shed light on cannibalism and infanticide carried out by primates, documenting these acts for the first time in the moustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax). The mothers, which cannot raise their infants without help from male group members, commit infanticide in order to prevent the subsequent death of their offspring if they are stressed and in competition with other females. "Infanticide is an extreme behaviour, and in most species is used by males to eliminate competitors and make females become sexually ...

VELUX America is introducing a manual blackout shade for its Sun Tunnel tubular skylights. The new accessory utilizes magnets on the top, or non-visible side, of the ceiling diffuser trim ring. When the magnets are in place and the trim ring is reinstalled, a white, fabric-covered disk with a metal outer ring is attached to the diffuser trim ring. The center of the disk has a fitting that connects to a two-piece, 26.5" rod, which is inserted into the fitting and used to attach and remove the accessory shade disk. The accessory kit (ZTB designation) is available ...

A new University of Colorado Boulder study indicates the infestation of trees by mountain pine beetles in the high country across the West could potentially trigger earlier snowmelt and increase water yields from snowpack that accumulates beneath affected trees. Led by CU-Boulder geological sciences department doctoral student Evan Pugh, the study was undertaken near Grand Lake, Colo., adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park, an area that has been devastated by mountain pine beetle attacks in recent years. Mountain pine beetles have killed more than 4 million acres ...

Located in Doniphan, MO the Bureau of Prescription Health provides options for people of all ages in the USA who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions out-of-pocket. During this time of economic uncertainty, too many Americans live with the fear that they or a family member will not have access to medicines they need because they lack insurance or a drug benefit. Members of "Big Pharma" have collectively pledged, "No one in need of medications will do without them." The Bureau of Prescription Health, along with drug companies in the USA, are ...

This latest addition is the fifteenth office that the deVere Group has opened worldwide in the last two years, however it is the first established presence in the continent. Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group, said: "The deVere Group is already successful in every continent around the world. We are delighted to have been granted a license in this highly-regulated market. The USA has massive potential and we are very excited as a company to provide our services to clients there." deVere's global presence now extends to nearly 60 offices worldwide. With ...

Cambridge, Mass, June 8, 2011 - In the tomb of King Tutankhamen, the elaborately painted walls are covered with dark brown spots that mar the face of the goddess Hathor, the silvery-coated baboons—in fact, almost every surface. Despite almost a century of scientific investigation, the precise identity of these spots remains a mystery, but Harvard microbiologist Ralph Mitchell thinks they have a tale to tell. Nobody knows why Tutankhamen, the famed "boy king" of the 18th Egyptian dynasty, died in his late teens. Various investigations have attributed his early demise ...