A new study suggests that older adults who wear multifocal contact lenses to correct problems with near vision, a very common condition that increases with age, may have greater difficulty driving at night than their counterparts who wear glasses. Age-related problems with near vision, medically termed presbyopia, usually occurs after the age of 40 and results in the inability to focus on objects up close. According to an article published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science ("The Effect of Presbyopic Vision Corrections on Nighttime Driving Performance"), ...

University of Illinois researchers have confirmed the first report of a potential new virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus in switchgrass, a biomass crop being evaluated for commercial cellulosic ethanol production. The virus is associated with mosaic and yellow streak symptoms on switchgrass leaves. This virus has the potential of reducing photosynthesis and decreasing biomass yield. Members of this genus have been known to cause severe yield losses in other crops. For example, Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV), a type member of the genus, has been reported to cause ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The results of a high-profile Fermilab physics experiment involving a University of Michigan professor appear to confirm strange 20-year-old findings that poke holes in the standard model, suggesting the existence of a new elementary particle: a fourth flavor of neutrino. The new results go further to describe a violation of a fundamental symmetry of the universe asserting that particles of antimatter behave in the same way as their matter counterparts. Neutrinos are neutral elementary particles born in the radioactive decay of other particles. The ...

New Haven, Conn. -- New applications of information and communication technology (ICT) that could save society significant amounts of energy and money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet are explored in a special issue of Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology. These applications exploit recent advances in ICT, such as social networking and Web 2.0, smart energy monitoring and geographic information systems, and are explored in depth in the special issue "Environmental Applications of ICT," published with support from the Leading Edge Forum ...

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite traveled over Tomas twice on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The second time was at 2005 UTC (4:05 p.m. EDT) when it was still classified as a tropical storm. During TRMM's second overpass, Tomas' center of circulation wasn't evident. Today, Nov. 3 that center is reforming. During the morning hours on Nov. 3, an Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft found no tropical storm force winds so Tomas was downgraded by the National Hurricane Center to a tropical depression. At 2 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3, Tomas was undergoing some changes, and ...

VIDEO: Two spiral galaxies undergo a protracted crash lasting two billion years, eventually merging into a single elliptical galaxy. Click here for more information. As scientists and engineers work to make NASA's James Webb Space Telescope a reality, they find themselves wondering what new sights the largest space-based observatory ever constructed will reveal. With Webb, astronomers aim to catch planets in the making and identify the universe's first stars and galaxies, yet ...

NEW YORK (Nov. 3, 2010) -- Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have taken an important step toward a better understanding of prostate cancer by uncovering evidence that it is not one disease, as previously believed, but rather several factors which can be measured and, in the future, destroyed by targeted therapy. The research team led by of Dr. Mark A. Rubin, the Homer T. Hirst Professor of Oncology in Pathology and vice chair for experimental pathology at Weill Cornell Medical College, identified secondary mutations that cause some types of prostate cancer ...

More than 30 million people in the United States travel to resource-limited areas of the world each year. This global mobility may contribute to the spread of infectious diseases – such as influenza, measles, and meningitis – and may also put individual travelers at risk for malaria, typhoid, dengue fever and hepatitis. Despite these potential risks, a recent study conducted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in the Journal of Travel Medicine found that 46 percent of travelers to resource-limited countries did ...

NEW YORK (Nov. 3, 2010) -- Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a type of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that accounts for approximately 40 percent of lymphomas among adults. If left untreated, it is fatal. The existing treatments have a cure rate that is slightly over 50 percent but destroy healthy cells along with the cancer cells. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have found a combination therapy that is more effective than traditional treatments and is able to kill the cancer cells without harm to surrounding tissues. In a paper published in the ...

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center have found that about one-third of chronic kidney disease patients who are prescribed therapies for high blood pressure do not often adhere to treatments. This report was published in the Nov. 2 online edition of the American Journal of Nephrology. The study, led by researchers at UC and the Cincinnati VA, showed that treatment of hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease continues to be a challenge in their care and that by simply improving ...

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that 98 percent of the U.S. population lives in communities within 60 minutes of a hospice provider, suggesting that disparities in use of hospice are not likely due to a lack of access to a hospice provider. The results are published in the current issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine. "Despite a significant increase in the availability of hospice services during the past decade, the majority of Americans die without hospice care," said Melissa D.A. Carlson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative ...

VIDEO: Video opens with footage of a common cornstarch and water experiment. Ian Oberst, a visiting student from Portland Community College who participated in the University of Oregon's UCORE program for... Click here for more information. Mix two parts cornstarch and one part water. Swirl your fingers in it slowly and the mixture is a smoothly flowing liquid. Punch it quickly with your fist and you meet a rubbery solid -- so solid you can jump up and down on a vat of it. It ...

Melt water flowing through ice sheets via crevasses, fractures and large drains called moulins can carry warmth into ice sheet interiors, greatly accelerating the thermal response of an ice sheet to climate change, according to a new study involving the University of Colorado at Boulder. The new study showed ice sheets like the Greenland Ice Sheet can respond to such warming on the order of decades rather than the centuries projected by conventional thermal models. Ice flows more readily as it warms, so a warming climate can increase ice flows on ice sheets much faster ...

New Haven, Conn.—While sorting through hundreds of galaxy images as part of the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project two years ago, Dutch schoolteacher and volunteer astronomer Hanny van Arkel stumbled upon a strange-looking object that baffled professional astronomers. Two years later, a team led by Yale University researchers has discovered that the unique object represents a snapshot in time that reveals surprising clues about the life cycle of black holes. In a new study, the team has confirmed that the unusual object, known as Hanny's Voorwerp (Hanny's "object" in ...

Positive psychological changes that occur during meditation training are associated with greater telomerase activity, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, San Francisco. The study is the first to link positive well-being to higher telomerase, an enzyme important for the long-term health of cells in the body. The effect appears to be attributable to psychological changes that increase a person's ability to cope with stress and maintain feelings of well-being. "We have found that meditation promotes positive ...

LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, NOVEMBER 3, 2010—Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory have fabricated transparent thin films capable of absorbing light and generating electric charge over a relatively large area. The material, described in the journal Chemistry of Materials, could be used in development of transparent solar panels. "Potentially, with future refinement of this technology, windows in a home or office could generate solar power," said Hsing-Lin Wang, a co-corresponding author of the paper ...

Older Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts, but they live as long or even longer than their English peers, according to a new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. Researchers found that while Americans aged 55 to 64 have higher rates of chronic diseases than their peers in England, they died at about the same rate. And Americans age 65 and older -- while still sicker than their English peers -- had a lower death rate than similar people in England, according to findings published in the journal ...

A large population-based study revealed that multiple antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used by pregnant women to control seizures may cause poor school performance in their teenagers. The research team from Karolinska University Hospital and the University of Lund in Sweden confirmed that exposure to AEDs in utero may have a negative effect on neurodevelopment. Their findings now appear online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy. Prior studies suggest that exposure to AEDs in utero may cause permanent ...

Chevy Chase, MD—Today, The Endocrine Society released a new clinical practice guideline for the nutritional and endocrine management of adults after bariatric surgery, including those with diabetes mellitus. The guideline features a series of evidence-based clinical recommendations developed by an expert task force. The guideline is published in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society. Between 1999 and 2004, obesity rates in the United States increased by 24 percent. Bariatric surgery ...

WASHINGTON, DC: A new report from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars explores a variety of voluntary options available for the oversight of nanotechnology products and processes. The report, Voluntary Initiatives, Regulation, and Nanotechnology Oversight: Charting a Path, by Dr. Daniel Fiorino, Director of the Center for Environmental Policy at American University, provides a historical overview of voluntary approaches to environmental protection and assesses their applicability to the emerging field of ...

A single injection of morphine to fight persistent pain in male rats is able to strongly reduce the hormone testosterone in the brain and plasma, according to a new paper published in Molecular Pain. The study, led by Anna Maria Aloisi, M.D., of the Department of Physiology – Section of Neuroscience and Applied Physiology at the University of Siena, Italy, Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, University of Siena, and the Human Health Foundation in Spoleto, Italy, showed that opioids had "long lasting genomic effects ...

Long Point Eco Adventures http://www.lpfun.ca in St. Williams, Ontario, Canada is best known for its Zip Line Canopy tour involving eight zip lines, two suspension sky bridges and a 40' rappel at the end of the course. However, thanks in part to a powerful back office reservation system, the company has set an aggressive course for expansion. Steve Martin, manager, reflected that the success of his operation is due in great part to an affiliation with Resmark Systems http://www.resmarksystems.com, a reservation and marketing software company he enlisted when Long Point ...

For the second year in a row, The Sacramento Business Journal has named Paramount Equity the 'A+ Employee Choice Award' winner in the large employer category. Paramount Equity received the prestigious award based on high marks from the company's employees in a regional, anonymous survey. "This is by far the most gratifying award we receive," said Hayes Barnard, owner and president of Paramount Equity. "The dedication and hard work of our employees is a big reason why we have been able to sustain our business through this economy. This is a great group of individuals ...

Frederick Friedel's latest film "A Dog's Life" is a poignant drama about a homeless deaf mute who loses the dog she can't live without. Says Friedel, "The film is basically a love story that brings together the world of the homeless and the forgotten dogs in our animal shelters. It's very touching and we hope it helps raise awareness about both of these important issues." In the film, Suarez introduces an original song written by Jill Jaxx, her sister Jan Bunker and Friedel called "Every Day Is Paris". "A Dog's Life" is being released by Friedel's production company Angels ...

International wake boarder's are making Thailand a common stopover thanks to the stunning backdrops, fun nightlight and abundance of wake parks to enjoy. Not only is the recognition growing internationally but also with locals and expats taking up this amazing sport. Wake Up! Wakeboarding is a wakeboarding operator on the island of Koh Phangan run by professional wakeboarders. Wake Up! Wakeboarding offer the latest equipment and the best boat on the market for wakeboarding - Mastercraft XSTAR for the best possible wakeboarding conditions. Wakeboarding in Koh Phangan ...