The search is on for insects, mites, microbes or nematodes that could be used in a biologically based approach to controlling silverleaf nightshade, an invasive weed from the Americas that has spread to southern Europe, Africa, India, Australia and elsewhere. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Walker Jones, the perennial weed, Solanum elaeagnifolium, is being targeted for its ability to outcompete native plants, reduce crop yields and diminish pasture productivity. Its orange, toxin-producing berries can also poison livestock. Severe infestations ...

London, UK, 24 November 2010 – Research from the Laboratory of Psychiatry and Experimental Alzheimers Research (http://www2.i-med.ac.at/psychlab/) at the Medical University Innsbruck (Austria) demonstrated that chronic high fat cholesterol diet in rats exhibited pathologies similar to Alzheimer's disease. The results were published in Molecular Cellular Neuroscience (45(4):408-417, 2010) with lead author Dr. Christian Humpel. The study was co-authored by PhD students, Celine Ullrich and Michael Pirchl, from the same Laboratory. Alzheimer's disease is a severe neurodegenerative ...

Mildew infections not only cause unsightly vegetable patches, they can also result in extensive crop failure. Interestingly, the processes involved in infections with this garden pest are similar to those involved in fertilisation. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne and the University of Zurich have identified two proteins in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana that are necessary for both fertilisation and infection with powdery mildew. This explains why mildew-resistant plants, in which these genes are mutated, are ...

Leading experts from the European Society on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) have published a timely position paper on the association between subtrochanteric femoral (upper thigh bone) fractures and long-term treatment with bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates are the most common drug therapy for osteoporotic fracture prevention, prescribed to millions of people around the world. Concern among doctors and patients has arisen following recent media reports that cite a possible association ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In a new study to be published in the Nov. 25 issue of Nature, MIT cancer biologists show that restoring the protein p53's function in mice with lung cancer has no effect early in tumor development, but restoring the function later on could prevent more advanced tumors from spreading throughout the body. Cancer researchers have known since the 1980s that p53 plays a critical role in protecting cells from becoming cancerous. P53 is defective in about half of all human cancers; when it functions correctly, it appears to suppress tumor formation by preventing ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The long, anxious wait for biopsy results could soon be over, thanks to a tissue-imaging technique developed at the University of Illinois. The research team demonstrated the novel microscopy technique, called nonlinear interferometric vibrational imaging (NIVI), on rat breast-cancer cells and tissues. It produced easy-to-read, color-coded images of tissue, outlining clear tumor boundaries, with more than 99 percent confidence – in less than five minutes. Led by professor and physician Stephen A. Boppart, who holds appointments in electrical and computer ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Some of the universe's most massive galaxies may have formed billions of years earlier than current scientific models predict, according to surprising new research led by Tufts University. The findings appear in the Astrophysical Journal published online Nov. 24 in advance of print publication on Dec. 10, 2010. "We have found a relatively large number of very massive, highly luminous galaxies that existed almost 12 billion years ago when the universe was still very young, about 1.5 billion years old. These results appear to disagree with ...

Children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods are more likely to succeed if they participate in a community-based prevention program, according to findings released recently from a multi-year research study based at Queen's University. Children participating in the Better Beginnings, Better Futures (BBBF) project showed improved social and academic functioning. The project also impacted positively on families and on neighbourhoods. "The results from our study indicate that the project has been a success," says Queen's psychology professor emeritus Ray Peters, the ...

Electrical engineers generated short, powerful light pulses on a chip – an important step toward the optical interconnects that will likely replace the copper wires that carry information between chips within today's computers. University of California, San Diego electrical engineers recently developed the first ultra compact, low power pulse compressor on a silicon chip to be described in the scientific literature. Details appeared online in the journal Nature Communications on November 16. This miniaturized short pulse generator eliminates a roadblock on the way to ...

A new chemical analysis technique developed by a research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses the shifting ultrasonic pitch of a small quartz crystal to test the purity of only a few micrograms of material. Since it works with samples close to a thousand times smaller than comparable commercial instruments, the new technique should be an important addition to the growing arsenal of measurement tools for nanotechnology, according to the NIST team. As the objects of scientific research have gotten smaller and smaller—as in nanotechnology ...

Suspicious packages and powders have triggered more than 30,000 responses by U.S. law enforcement agencies across the country since 2001. These events are expensive, time-consuming and potentially dangerous. To help first responders at all levels of government deal safely and more effectively with suspected biothreat agents, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a broad team of federal, state and local agencies and other organizations worked together to update an existing standard for sample collection and develop overall guidance for when to collect ...

As the cholera epidemic in Haiti continues to rage, public health workers are focusing their efforts on treating the tens of thousands who have already been hospitalized with cholera-like symptoms and providing clean water and adequate sanitation to control the disease's spread. Could the United States be doing more to help the situation? In an editorial published in the November 24, 2010, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, vaccine and infectious disease specialists Matthew Waldor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Peter Hotez of George Washington University ...

In the scorching summer heat of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwest Texas, air temperatures can hover around 97°F (36°C) while at the surface of the soil temperatures can exceed 158°F (70°C). Encountering these extreme temperatures, plants must utilize creative methods to not only survive but thrive under these difficult and potentially lethal conditions. This new work by Dr. Gretchen North and colleagues, published in the December issue of American Journal of Botany (http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/reprint/ajb.1000286v1), sheds light on how one desert resident, the cactus ...

Scientists have discovered an amazingly simple way that cells stabilize their machinery for forcing apart chromosomes. Their findings are reported Nov. 25 in Nature. When a cell gets ready to split into new cells, this stable set-up permits its genetic material to be separated and distributed accurately. Otherwise, problem cells – like cancer cells— arise. The human body contains more than a trillion cells, and every single cell needs to have the exact same set of chromosomes. Mistakes in moving chromosomes during cell division can lead to babies being born with ...

Merrill Corporation (www.merrillcorp.com), a leading global provider of technology-enabled services, today announced its Lextranet Certification Program for contract attorney reviewers. Lextranet is a single, secure and scalable online review and hosting platform that provides on-demand access for easy review of small or large document collections. The program will enhance Merrill's integrated hosting and review offering by ensuring that reviewers have the knowledge and skills necessary to maximize the features built into Lextranet. "As a result of the training, document ...

The Brainchild Group, a collection of marketing professionals and foodies, is excited to announce the launch of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing campaigns for food trucks around the world. You asked for it, and it's finally here. The Brainchild Group is best known for implementing revolutionary, catchy online marketing campaigns for a variety of businesses ranging from mom-and-pop shops to top restaurants to Fortune 500 companies. Such expertise is combined with a true passion for food to produce marketing campaigns that connect and interact ...

All Crib Mattresses is pleased to announce the launch of a new website devoted to helping parents choose a safe crib mattress. Daniela Kelly, owner of the site, says, "A large portion of crib mattresses are unsafe and can even cause death. This is why I started this site, to help parents make a better decision." The website offers information about different types of mattresses for cribs and breaks them down into price groups that make it easier for parents to select a high quality, affordable crib mattress. It even makes recommendations for the best crib mattress on ...

Kent Station celebrates the 2010 holiday season with the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus this Saturday, November 27. The jolly couple will welcome shoppers and visitors at 10 a.m. at the Fountain Stage outside Kent Station's AMC Theatres. Following their official welcome, Santa and Mrs. Claus will hold court at the Hip Santa House where children and well-behaved pets may have their photos taken, and adults can take Santa's patented "naughty or nice" test. Photos are offered at a discount in exchange for donations of nonperishable food items and new, unwrapped toys for ...

This workshop is designed for physicians that see patients who suffer from Dizziness, Vertigo, Unsteadiness and Propensity to Fall. As a greater segment of the U.S. population grows, doctors are likely to see many more of these types of patients in the future. In fact, Medicare estimates the cost to treat patients who suffer injuries related to falls will reach $20 billion dollars by 2020. Dizziness, disequilibrium, and vertigo are often poorly localizing symptoms and are difficult for patients to describe and therefore difficult for physicians to successfully diagnose ...

The National Christmas Tree in Washington DC, is scheduled to be illuminated on Thursday, December 9, 2010 and NBC continues to roll out the holiday festivities on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) with The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York NY, one of the season's most treasured traditions, the 78th annual tree lighting extravaganza dates back to the Great Depression. Bringing the holidays home, June Blunt of Aruntx.US Premium Shopping, a division of Aruntx Publishing Company, in a recent interview stated "consumers are increasingly using the online ...

After years of engineering and development, KVA STAINLESS is introducing its new, patented, custom-made stainless steel bicycle tube sets for high-performance bicycle frame applications. Next year, the company plans on introducing bike tube sets for mountain bikes. You can purchase on-line or give the company a call... Already proven by KVA STAINLESS in other industries, patented KVA STAINLESS martensitic stainless structural tubing can now be integrated into high performance bicycle frames to reduce weight, increase strength and stiffness, at a significant cost savings ...

Source Capital Funding, Inc., a San Diego-based private real estate lender, continues to achieve record results in 2010, as the company finishes the month of October having closed 42 loans and funded $8.975MM in loans, year-to-date. The firm has seen business triple over the course of the year as prospective borrowers look to take advantage of attractive real estate price. Source Capitals and its investors are investing in low-risk first trust deeds with solid monthly returns. Source Capital Funding has a strong reputation in the community, as well as the knowledge and ...

Equestrian Style author Vicky Moon brings her lyrical writing touch and her expansive eye to the world of possibilities the game of golf has inspired with her new book, Golf Style: Homes and Collections Inspired by the Course and the Clubhouse (Clarkson Potter, on sale December 7, 2010). With more than 500 photos and in-depth stories about the characters, the courses, the clubhouses, the traditions, the innovations, and the historical moments that make up the stuff of legend, Golf Style is the most comprehensive book ever for lovers of the sport and its iconic style. Whether ...

The economic crisis in 2008 gave an extra impulse to companies implementing 'green' data center practices, with reduced energy consumption leading to lower bills, cites a November 3rd article in "The New York Times" titled, "Data Centers Tighten Energy Belts." The hostile economic climate turned out to be a catalyst for green information technology, the article said. This worldwide initiative of implementing 'green' technology for financial savings is not the only benefit, indicates market research firm SBI Energy in the study, "ICT Energy Efficiency: Commercial and ...

As the economic landscape still looks barren, more families will be turning to charities for support during the holidays. One organization is making a difference for children and families served by Hillsides, a Pasadena foster care charity that serves 6,900 children and families living in Los Angeles County. The National Charity League Chapter of Pasadena is making Thanksgiving dinner a reality for Hillsides Family Center clients. The National Charity League members collected food baskets and grocery scrip and delivered them to Hillsides. These baskets, arranged with ...