Lions, bears, monkeys, crocodiles, parrots and iguanas may seem inoffensive at first glance when they're behind bars in zoos. But some exotic species can escape and become invasive species. This has been confirmed by a scientific team that has checked 1,568 animal houses in 63 Spanish zoos. Birds are the animals most likely to escape. "As zoos house a large number of exotic (non-indigenous) species, they could become an entry channel for these species if they escape, with the potential environmental risk that this implies", María C. Fàbregas, lead author of the study ...

(Boston) – Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have demonstrated that commensal species of the genus Neisseriae are low inducers of human airway epithelial cell responses as compared to the pathogenic species. Specifically, the study indicates that a Neisserial outer membrane component appears to play a differential role in the host inflammatory responses via interaction with a receptor on the surface of human airway epithelial cells. Paola Massari, an assistant professor in the section of infectious diseases at BUSM, is lead author of this ...

The venus flytrap plant captures its prey when it senses the presence of an insect on the tips of its leaves. An amphiphilic molecule designed by chemists at The City College of New York acts in a similar manner by changing its structure when heated slightly and, then, reverting to its original form when cooled. The finding, reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, points toward the possibility of designing adaptive soft materials in the lab that take their cues from how nature responds to stimuli, said Dr. George John, associate professor and corresponding author. Professor ...

In a cross-sectional study from the 2004 and 2007 Australian National Drug Strategy Household (NDSH) surveys, respondents were questioned about their current and past drinking, the presence of formal diagnosis for specific diseases (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer, anxiety, depression) and self-perceived general health status. The sample sizes for the 2004 and 2007 NDSH surveys were 24,109 and 23,356, respectively. The authors report that respondents with a diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, or anxiety were more likely to have reduced or stopped ...

The brain is forever chattering to itself, via electrical impulses sent along its hard-wired neuronal "Ethernet." These e-messages are translated into chemical transmissions, allowing communication across the narrow cleft separating one neuron from another or between neurons and their target cells. Of the many kinds of molecules involved in this lively chemical symposium, acetylcholine is among the most critical, performing a host of functions in the central and peripheral nervous system. This delicate cholinergic design however is highly vulnerable. It can fall victim ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Crop diversification with shrubby legumes mixed with soybean and peanuts could be the key to sustaining the green revolution in Africa, according to a Michigan State University study. The study, which appears in the Nov. 22 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states that diversifying crops would boost production of nutrient-enriched grain by 12 percent to 23 percent, said Sieglinde Snapp, a crop and soil scientist at Michigan State University's Kellogg Biological Station. Malawi has been called the cradle of Africa's green ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 23, 2010 -- A systematic study of phase changes in vanadium dioxide has solved a mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Scientists have known that vanadium dioxide exhibits several competing phases when it acts as an insulator at lower temperatures. However, the exact nature of the phase behavior has not been understood since research began on vanadium dioxide in the early 1960s. Alexander Tselev, a research associate from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have developed a new type of software that enables people to use large visual displays and touch screens interactively over the Internet for business and homeland security applications. Tabletop touch-operated displays are becoming popular with professionals in various fields, said Niklas Elmqvist, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University. "These displays are like large iPhones, and because they are large they invite collaboration," he said. "So we created a software framework that allows more ...

Vancouver residents and visitors set records for sustainable travel during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, more than doubling the number of trips typically taken by public transit, biking or walking, according to a University of British Columbia study completed for the City of Vancouver. The Host City Olympic Transportation Plan Downtown Monitoring Study looked at how people got around during the February 12-28 Winter Games, and compared the findings to previous transportation monitoring efforts conducted by the City of Vancouver and its partners. On an average Olympic ...

Some people always know which way is north and how to get out of a building. Others can live in an apartment for years without knowing which side faces the street. Differences among people that include spatial skills, experience, and preferred strategies for wayfinding are part of what determines whether people get lost in buildings—and psychological scientists could help architects understand where and why people might get lost in their buildings, according to the authors of an article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association ...

Making fuel cells practical and affordable will not happen overnight. It may, however, not take much longer. With advances in nanostructured devices, lower operating temperatures, and the use of an abundant fuel source and cheaper materials, a group of researchers led by Shriram Ramanathan at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are increasingly optimistic about the commercial viability of the technology. Ramanathan, an expert and innovator in the development of solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), says they may, in fact, soon become the go-to technology ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have found evidence that an environmental pollutant may play an important role in causing multiple sclerosis and that a hypertension drug might be used to treat the disease. The toxin acrolein was elevated by about 60 percent in the spinal cord tissues of mice with a disease similar to multiple sclerosis, said Riyi Shi, a medical doctor and a professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering in Purdue University's Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Center for Paralysis Research and Weldon School of ...

Clouds play a major role in the climate-change equation, but they are the least-understood variable in the sky, observes a Texas A&M University geoscientist, who says mid-level clouds are especially understudied. The professor, Shaima Nasiri, is making those "in-between" clouds the focus of her research, which is being funded by NASA. Mid-level clouds are so understudied, Nasiri says, that scientists have yet to develop a common nomenclature for them. "We do not have a unified definition, so the scientific community can't look at the statistics with a shared level of ...

Boulder, CO, USA - Geology presents evidence that today's C4 plants grew 14 million years earlier than previously thought; a 3-D view of ocean floor "rivers"; swarm seismicity and a Yellowstone tree-ring core; mysterious rock layers containing the petrified remains of bizarre early life-forms, complete with eyes, guts, and muscles; cohabiting bacteria in a 3.4 billion-year-old beach-like environment; and deep-cave stromatolites in Spain. GSA Today calls for and details the use of geoinformatics to transform science data to knowledge. Representatives of the media may obtain ...

Will polar bears survive in a warmer world? UCLA life scientists present new evidence that their numbers are likely to dwindle. As polar bears lose habitat due to global warming, these biologists say, they will be forced southward in search of alternative sources of food, where they will increasingly come into competition with grizzly bears. To test how this competition might unfold, the UCLA biologists constructed three-dimensional computer models of the skulls of polar bears and grizzly bears — a subspecies of brown bears — and simulated the process of biting. ...

Following a study of what is in effect a miniature galaxy buried inside a normal-sized one – like a Russian doll – astronomers using a CSIRO telescope have concluded that massive black holes are more powerful than we thought. An international team of astronomers led by Dr Manfred Pakull at the University of Strasbourg in France has discovered a 'microquasar' – a small black hole, weighing only as much as a star, that shoots jets of radio-emitting particles into space. Called S26, the black hole sits inside a regular galaxy called NGC 7793, which is 13M light-years away ...

A measure widely advocated as a means of assessing the health of marine ecosystems is an ineffective guide to trends in biodiversity, and more direct monitoring is needed, a new study has found. The findings – published this week in Nature – followed an examination of whether changes in fishery catches reflect changes in the structure of marine food webs, and therefore are a suitable guide to assess the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystem health. CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship scientist, Dr Beth Fulton, and Dr Sean Tracey from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries ...

Kaeng Raeng Inc, a nutraceutical company based in Silicon Valley, offers a less expensive alternative to luxury juice cleanses and is proud to announce its Cyber Monday free shipping promotion! On Nov 29, for one day only, all detox orders will receive FREE SHIPPING within the United States. Although luxury juice cleanses have received recent media attention, Kaeng Raeng all natural detox can provide similar results without the fasting or the price tag. Starting at just $14/day, Kaeng Raeng is packed with vitamins and nutrients, protein, and full servings of fruit and ...

The early 80's saw a boom in Renewable energy ideas. These ideas were great and many state and local governments offered incentives for people to install these ideas on their homes and businesses. Many companies jumped on the bandwagon and started manufacturing and installing these products but have since gone out of business or just don't offer service to their original customers. Robert Craig of D & R Energy Services states, "In talking with our clients we saw a need to offer complete restoration services for the older 1980's Air-Walls. Many of these units are still ...

The CIO Cloud Summit announced today that it is looking for qualified speakers and cloud computing experts to present at the upcoming event, April 10-13, 2011. Qualified speakers include senior-level IT executives or individuals with executive level experience and a direct technology focus. All speakers must represent large organizations. The CIO Cloud Summit brings together more than 50 CIOs, IT executives and technology thought leaders to network with their peers and discuss the latest cloud computing topics and trends. The event is an opportunity to connect with ...

The lasting power of any CPA firm rests in two areas: how your staff delivers for your clients and your ability to attract young talent. Founded in 1964, Needel, Welch & Stone, PC (NWS) has been able to sustain and grow its client base because it has been able to accomplish the former while consistently replenishing its staff with young accounting talent. That includes NWS's most recent additions, Carolyn Wilson and Lauren Rogers, as staff accountants. Originally from Merrimack, New Hampshire, Wilson graduated earlier this year with a bachelor's degree in accounting ...

Matthew Lloyd, managing director of the e-learning solutions provider, Omniplex, was one of the invited delegates to the European e-learning Summit, held in Sheffield, from 17th to 19th November. The European e-learning Summit delegates - drawn from Europe's top e-learning strategists, content and systems developers from the private and public sectors as well as academia - discussed the European and world markets for e-learning, identified industry trends and the key issues in e-learning today. The Summit was organised by Learning Light, the Sheffield-based company which ...

"Win a Day with Josh" is an online contest from WorkSafeBC, in partnership with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, to raise young people's awareness of workplace safety. B.C. residents between the ages of 15 and 24 are encouraged to hurry and enter online - before November 26 - for a chance to win a trip to Silver Star Mountain Resort in Vernon and spend a day skiing or snowboarding with Paralympian Josh Dueck. Entrants simply go to WorkSafeBC.com and click on "Win a ski adventure with Paralympian Josh Dueck!" The prize includes round-trip transportation to Vernon, ...

Sieena announced today the release of the first version of 365Kin , an Employee Self Service Portal designed to increase employee productivity and keep HR departments focused on their most important tasks. The Software as a Service (SaaS) HR SharePoint portal includes new modules for vacation and holiday tracking as well as one for personal data administration. HR personnel are constantly interrupted by holiday and vacation leave requests. While considered to be important to both employees and companies alike, these repetitive tasks are time consuming, decrease productivity, ...

Carrie Bell, Founder of MADCAPZ, announced today that ShapeYou.com, the powerful and innovative health and fitness website, has awarded MADCAPZ two 2010 GearAwards in the category of golf apparel. MADCAPZ visors have won the Great Gear Award and MADCAPZ hats have won a Seal of Excellence Award. MADCAPZ produces a line of fun, stylish, and colorful golf headwear. The MADCAPZ line includes baseball-style golf hats and visors. The MADCAPZ golf hats are designed specifically for women by a woman, with a low profile cap style, adjustable strap for an easy fit, and 100% cotton ...