CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers tracking the spread of Toxoplasma gondii – a parasite that reproduces only in cats but sickens and kills many other animals – have found infected wildlife throughout a 1,500-acre (600-hectare) natural area in central Illinois. The researchers also found dozens of free-ranging cats in the area, the Robert Allerton Park, near Monticello, Ill. Two years of tracking, trapping and motion-triggered night photography at eight sites in the park found no evidence of bobcats, but plenty of examples of feral or abandoned house cats, many of them infected ...

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering have created a new porous, three-dimensional carbon that can be used as a greatly enhanced supercapacitor, holding promise for energy storage in everything from energy grids and electric cars to consumer electronics. The findings of the group, led by materials science and mechanical engineering Professor Rodney S. Ruoff, will be published May 12 by Science magazine in its online publication ScienceXpress. The significance of the discovery by Ruoff's team, which included postdoctoral fellow ...

Since the notorious Black Friday of the online poker world, CarbonPokerRakeback.com has been working diligently to ensure that American players, as well as European and Canadian poker fans, are aware that Carbon Poker is not just a viable online poker option for each of these regions; the site has some of the most unique perks for members, including free poker training, a surfeit welcome bonus and 35% rakeback. Three short weeks ago, the US Department of Justice and FBI set off a string of virtual missiles that rocked the online poker industry to its core. The online ...

A report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded that a novel University of Colorado Boulder method of producing hydrogen fuel from sunlight is the only approach among eight competing technologies that is projected to meet future cost targets set by the federal agency. The process, which is being developed by Professor Alan Weimer's research team of CU-Boulder's chemical and biological engineering department, involves an array of mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays and create temperatures as high as 2,640 degrees Fahrenheit. The process consists ...

New data offer hints to why Parkinson's disease so selectively harms brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dopamine is involved in brain cell communications including the signals that control movement. As Parkinson's kills the dopamine-producing cells, patients begin to develop tremors, problems moving and other symptoms. The new research shows that a drug known to damage dopamine-producing nerve cells and mimic Parkinson's disease does so by rapidly damaging cellular energy generators ...

ARLINGTON, VA (May 3, 2011) – Cancer studies from Mercer University (Ga.) headline groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference (NBC). The conference takes place Monday, May 16 -Wednesday, May 18 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Developing an Oral Vaccine for Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the world . Two preventative vaccines are currently available, but are expensive, require complex storage, and trained personnel ...

This is the last of a six-part series on improving your writing style. Whether you write for business or academic purposes, there are a few golden rules that will help you sharpen up your prose. Part 6 - Adjust your style to fit your audience "Well, duh!", I hear you say; unfortunately this is not as obvious as it might seem. Basic rule of thumb: professional documents require a professional writing style whereas informal documents allow you to be more relaxed. That said, if an informal document is being written in a professional or business related environment, ...

Which is more efficient at harvesting the sun's energy, plants or solar cells? This salient question and an answer are the subject of an article published in the May 13 issue of the journal Science. Although both photosynthesis and photovoltaics harvest energy from the sun, they operate in distinctly different ways producing different fuels. It is not a simple task to find common ground between the two in order to compare energy conversion efficiency. "In order to make meaningful comparisons between photosynthesis (which provides stored chemical potential) and photovoltaic ...

Locust Capital Management is proud to announce the appointment of Henry J. Miller III, "Doc" as a Managing Director. Mr. Miller's responsibilities include Sales, Marketing, and Relationship Management for the firm. Prior to Locust Capital Mr. Miller was President of Miller & Company, LLC, a strategic Investment Consultant to institutional investors and Asset Management companies. Mr. Miller has held senior leadership positions with Wachovia Wealth Management, Neuberger Berman, Mellon Financial, CoreStates Bank, and Fidelity. Mr. Miller's Clients have included ...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A comprehensive report based on the National Survey of Children's Health conducted by children's health researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau finds insurance duration, consistency and adequacy, and the corresponding access to health care, are lacking for many U.S. children and have a detrimental effect on their health and well-being. The researchers cite a need for improvement in all states, with wide variations across states that can inform improvement efforts. The results especially support national ...

Athens, Ga. – In a time of transition for rural African-American young adults, natural mentors in the community help them stay focused on their goals and avoid potential difficulties associated with emerging adulthood, according to findings from an ongoing University of Georgia study. The study, published in the early online edition of American Journal of Community Psychology, is part of a broader research program called the Adults in the Making project, which is aimed at helping rural African Americans transition to adulthood. The researchers found that behaviors such ...

This press release is available in French. They may be uncomfortable talking about it, but it's definitely going on. A recent survey, led by McGill Psychiatry Professor and Senior Lady Davis Institute Researcher Amir Raz, reports that one in five respondents – physicians and psychiatrists in Canadian medical schools – have administered or prescribed a placebo. Moreover, an even higher proportion of psychiatrists (more than 35 per cent) reported prescribing subtherapeutic doses of medication (that is, doses that are below, sometimes considerably below, the minimal recommended ...

Pets Best Insurance says it has seen an alarming trend in the number of snakebite claims in the past few years--and the most notable claim of the season so far was for a dog who was bitten on the tongue by a rattlesnake in early April. Although this dog's owner had pet insurance, many owners end up incurring huge costs for snake bites. That's why the company wants to remind pet owners to practice caution when outdoors with pets this spring--as rattlesnake season is now in full swing. President and Founder of Pets Best Insurance, Dr. Jack Stephens, said the bites ...

A new set of buoys in Alaska waters will help scientists understand how climate change may be affecting the pH level of northern seas. Researchers placed the first buoy last month. "This is the first dedicated ocean acidification mooring to be deployed in a high-latitude coastal sea," said Jeremy Mathis, principal investigator for the project and an assistant professor of chemical oceanography at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "Other moorings have been deployed with ocean acidification sensors, but this is the first complete package in Alaska." The first buoy is ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers have identified characteristic patterns of molecules called microRNA (miRNA) in the blood of people with lung cancer that might reveal both the presence and aggressiveness of the disease, and perhaps who is at risk of developing it. These patterns may be detectable up to two years before the tumor is found by computed tomography (CT) scans. The findings could lead to a blood test for lung cancer, according to a researcher with the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research ...

A little bit of home is always special when you're far away, but for the 100,000 plus troops serving overseas in Afghanistan, a little bit of home is a big morale booster. The World's Largest Brat Fest, which takes place over Memorial Day weekend every year in Madison, Wisconsin, was recently contacted by a squadron in Afghanistan who wanted to attend Brat Fest this year but are unable to due to their deployment. They asked for a poster to hang up to help them celebrate the event a half a world away. Brat Fest organizers, however, wanted to give them more than just ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – There is no practical, economic way to build structures that could stand up to the savagery of EF5 tornadoes like those that ripped through the South in late April, experts say, but damage from lesser storms could be reduced by better building practices and better enforcement of existing codes. Researchers with a rapid assessment team supported by the National Science Foundation say that much of the damage could be linked to inadequate connections between building members, especially trusses, roof rafters and walls. And even though modern codes are generally ...

What if you were told you carried a gene that increases your risk for Alzheimer's disease? And what if you were told this gene starts to do its damage not when you're old but when you're young? Brace yourself. Scientists know there is a strong genetic component to the development of late-onset Alzheimer's. In 1993, researchers discovered a gene known as ApoE4 — carried by about a quarter of us — that triples the risk for getting Alzheimer's. In 2009, three more risky genes were discovered, and one of them, called clusterin, or CLU, was found to up the risk of getting ...

Around one in 20 men is infertile, but despite the best efforts of scientists, in many cases the underlying causes of infertility have remained a mystery. New findings by a team of Australian and Swedish researchers, however, will go a long way towards explaining this mystery. According to their research published in Science this week, a small set of genes located within the power-plants of our cells – the mitochondria – are crucial to unravelling the secrets of male infertility. Most of our genes are subjected to a rigorous quality-control process that prevents ...

Engineers investigating "listener fatigue"-- the discomfort and pain some people experience while using in-ear headphones, hearing aids, and other devices that seal the ear canal from external sound -- have found not only what they believe is the cause, but also a potential solution. In two separate papers and a presentation at the 130th Audio Engineering Society convention in London on May 14th, 2011, Stephen Ambrose, Robert Schulein and Samuel Gido of Asius Technologies of Longmont, Colo., describe how sealing a speaker in the ear canal dramatically boosts sound pressures ...

Lombard, IL, May 13, 2011 – Dynamic chest compression occurs during spinal manipulation. While dynamic chest compression has been well studied in events such as motor vehicle collisions, chest compression forces have not been studied during chiropractic manipulation. In a study published online today in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, researchers quantified and analyzed the magnitude of chest compressions during typical as well as maximum chiropractic manipulation and have found them to be well under the threshold for injury. "Results from ...

The Iowa Driver's Rights Cards are small, but they are making a BIG impact on a person's preservation and protection of their Constitutional and Statutory Rights, the evidence obtained during an investigation and the final outcome if charges are filed. What are Iowa Driver's Rights Cards? The Iowa Driver's Rights Cards, developed by the attorneys at Gourley, Rehkemper & Lindholm, PLC (GRL Law) of Des Moines, Iowa, are two cards: one card for your key chain with GRL's 24x7 telephone number on it, and the other card to hand to a police officer investigating you as ...

New research shows that elevated levels of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) or I (cTnI) in patients who had angioplasty indicate a higher risk of all-cause mortality and long-term adverse events such as heart attack. Routine monitoring of these protein levels following nonemergent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) could improve long-term outcomes for these patients. Details of the analysis are available online in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a peer-reviewed journal of The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). More than ...

Researchers compared hospitalization rates and rehospitalization rates of patients admitted for heart attack and for heart failure. Heart attack admissions are considered non-discretionary, whereas, heart failure admissions are considered more discretionary. Hospitalization after heart attack is mandated in treatment guidelines, so physicians have little or no room for discretionary decisions. Researchers examined Medicare claims data in 306 regions between 2007 and 2009. The results showed no relationship between heart attack hospitalization rates and readmission rates. ...

[EMBARGOED FOR MAY 13, 2011] Canadian investigators have shown that a species of ebolavirus from Zaire that is highly virulent in humans can replicate in pigs, cause disease, and be transmitted to animals previously unexposed to the virus. The findings are published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and are now available online. (Please see below for a link to the embargoed study online.) In order to prevent human outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, it is important to identify animal species that replicate and transmit the virus to other animals and, potentially, ...