Social Security Administration data shows that Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications have more than doubled in the period from 2000 to 2009. There were 2,816,244 applications filed last year. Soaring disability claims in the midst of a plummeting economy has some questioning the legitimacy of claims. Unemployment and the Disabled Worker A recent disability advocate's study reflects that the unemployment rates for people with disabilities reached its highest quarterly rate in the third quarter of 2010. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates ...

New York's tough new law on drunk driving, Leandra's Law, has largely been in effect since December 2009. Leandra's Law increases penalties for offenders who are convicted of DWI with a child in the vehicle, in addition to heightening the requirements for driving after a DWI conviction. Since the law was passed, numerous New York drivers have been arrested and charged with felony DWI. Overview of Leandra's Law Leandra's Law, formally known as the Child Passenger Protection Act, was signed into law by New York Governor David A. Paterson in November 2009. The law ...

South Carolina passed a DNA preservation law two years ago to reduce the chance that evidence could be prematurely destroyed before a criminal defendant's legal appeals had been exhausted. But the strict wording of the law has caused Richland County's coroner to withhold cremation permits due to uncertainty, and he recently expressed worry that he may need to postpone burials. The use of DNA in criminal investigations is a popular feature of television crime shows, and it has had a profound effect on criminal investigations involving murder, assault, sex crimes and other ...

Elder abuse has become a growing problem nationwide. The government estimates that between one and two million Americans over age 65 have been injured or mistreated by caregivers. According to the Illinois Department of Aging, it is estimated that more than 76,000 Illinois residents over the age of 60 are elder abuse victims each year. This November the state closed the Orchard Court Nursing Home for failing to comply with safety regulations. The state may potentially revoke the licenses of six other long-term care facilities. The true scope of nursing home abuse ...

With more than 12,000 miles of sidewalk, 8.4 million residents and 47 million visitors each year, it should come as no surprise that slip-and-fall accidents are as common as pigeons in New York City. The extreme heat in the summer and cold in the winter wreak havoc on the city's sidewalks, creating holes, uneven surfaces, cracks and other hazards that can trip up even the most seasoned New York City pedestrians. In most American cities, the law holds municipalities responsible for maintaining the safety of public sidewalks - and this was the rule for years in New ...

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atlanta Perimeter Hotel North near Dunwoody, GA, which is part of Imperial Investments, LLC, recently named Pamela Haney their new Director of Sales. The premier Atlanta Perimeter hotel is pleased to welcome Ms. Haney to their management team. Haney is an experienced professional who has worked in the hospitality industry for the past 4 years with Hampton Inn and the Doubletree Alpharetta properties. Prior to that, she worked for Trammell Crow, a property management company. Haney has 20 years of experience in sales and customer relations. ...

Thistle Marble Arch's treasured head of housekeeping, Barbara Sheridan, is celebrating her new title of Housekeeper of the Year.  Barbara received the honour at the annual industry awards ceremony celebrating operational excellence within hotels; the Hotel Cateys 2010. Also shortlisted in the competition were housekeepers from London's Athenaeum Hotel, London's Park Plaza Riverbank and Manchester's Radisson Blu Hotel at Manchester Airport. Barbara gladly collected the sought-after award at a glamorous ceremony held in central London. Fondly regarded by the entire ...

Superbreak, the short break specialist, has announced the addition of several headline acts to its concerts and events break programme. The company has secured tickets to some of the most popular pop, rock and comedy acts currently touring including Kings of Leon, Bon Jovi and Peter Kay. Recently Superbreak has noticed a surge in demand for its event breaks as its hotel and ticket packages for Take That's Progress Tour went on sale and interest into other live events soared. The Yorkshire based tour operator has responded to current customer demands' for big name acts ...

2entertain has announced the release of Outnumbered series three on DVD. Fresh from its success at the 2009 British Comedy Awards, including the top prize of Best Comedy, the semi-improvised family-based sitcom Outnumbered returns for a third series. Written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins (creators of 'Drop the Dead Donkey') this critically acclaimed comedy puts three young children at the very centre of the story - and allows them to improvise. Series 3 introduces conspiracy theories, sex education, psychotherapy, colonoscopies, astrology and kangaroo saliva ...

Oculus Capital Group ("OCG"), an emerging multifamily and student housing owner and manager, has announced the acquisition of University Village at Slippery Rock (formerly known as "The Ivy" student apartments). University Village at Slippery Rock is a 632-bed, 200-unit property located less than a quarter of a mile from Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, PA. The property offers two-bedroom, two-bathroom and four-bedroom, four-bathroom units. All units are equipped with stainless steel appliances, leather furniture, full-size washer and dryer, and hardwood cabinetry. ...

Embvue Inc., a leading provider of certifiable embedded systems, network and testing products, and professional services for mission-critical, safety-critical and security-sensitive systems, announced today that it plans to enter into a strategic teaming agreement with Edgewood Ventures, an Indian-based technology accelerator focusing on high growth ventures for the Indian market. A memorandum agreement was signed by both companies on November 10, 2010. The memorandum agreement sets out the basic terms of the business relationship between the companies and sets a timetable ...

INDONUSA Esa Unggul University is a leading private university in Jakarta, founded by Kemala Foundation. Today, the university has successfully maintained its position as one of the best in Indonesia. For the future, INDONUSA Esa Unggul University will utilize its valuable resources in order to achieve the vision of the university: "Becoming a world-class university based on intellectuality, creativity and entrepreneurship which is powered by the quality management in delivering Tridharma." The vision will be achieved through three purposeful missions: 1. Develop ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---African American and Native American teens who do well in school suffer from a higher "nerd penalty" than white, Asian, and Hispanic youth, according to a new analysis. "The negative social consequences of getting good grades were particularly pronounced for black and Native American students in high-achieving schools with small proportions of students similar to themselves," said University of Michigan developmental psychologist Thomas Fuller-Rowell, the lead author of the study. The analysis of a nationally representative sample of more than 13,000 ...

CHICAGO - Testing for 11 specific genetic variations in hundreds of people with no history of heart disease provided information that led to revision of their estimated heart attack risk, say Mayo Clinic researchers. In a study presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago, the researchers say that using a genetic score like the one they tested may provide added information to help cardiologists better estimate risk of heart attack in their patients and treat them accordingly. "The method we have been using for decades to predict ...

Dire or emotionally charged warnings about the consequences of global warming can backfire if presented too negatively, making people less amenable to reducing their carbon footprint, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. "Our study indicates that the potentially devastating consequences of global warming threaten people's fundamental tendency to see the world as safe, stable and fair. As a result, people may respond by discounting evidence for global warming," said Robb Willer, UC Berkeley social psychologist and coauthor of a study to ...

New University of Arizona research indicates that leaf vein patterns correlate with functions such as carbon intake and water use – knowledge that could help scientists better understand the complex carbon cycle that is at the heart of global climate warming. "Leaves have very different networks of veins. They have different shapes, different sizes, different thicknesses," said Benjamin Blonder, a doctoral student in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology. "The really interesting question is how a leaf with a certain form produces a certain function." Blonder ...

Orangutans threatened with extinction could be brought back from the brink with help from a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) statistician. Professor Kerrie Mengersen, from the School of Mathematical Sciences, is part of a study to guide efforts for saving the Indonesian primate whose name means "person of the forest". Professor Mengersen said the study had found a quarter of villagers who lived side-by-side with orangutans did not know it was illegal under Indonesian law to kill the primates, and five per cent admitted to killing 1000 orangutans last year. Professor ...

Arlington, Va. — New research being presented at the 2010 FIP Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress in association with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting and Exposition will highlight a targeted inhalable dry powder vaccine that may prove preferable in terms of needle avoidance and expected lower cost than the current commercial human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine used throughout the world. HPV is the number one cause of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in women around the globe. According to the World Health ...

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more than doubles a veteran's risk of death from any cause and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010. PTSD is more than a psychological disorder, and the study suggests that physicians should provide early and aggressive evaluation and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with PTSD, said Naser Ahmadi, M.D., M.S., and Ramin Ebrahimi, M.D., co-principal investigators of the study. PTSD is a cluster of symptoms ...

9 a.m. Abstract 20649 – Some ICD recipients may not get optimal medical therapy Guidelines recommending optimal medical therapy are not always followed for patients receiving implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), a new study found. Researchers examined optimal medical therapy — beta blocker and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)/angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) at discharge — among ICD patients with ejection fractions below 35 percent. Of the 231,725 patient stays analyzed, 73.1 percent of the patients received optimal medical therapy at ...

Cardiac stem cells — even in elderly and sick patients — could generate new heart muscle and vessel tissue and be used to treat heart failure, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010. Scientists surgically removed tissue from the muscular wall of the heart's chambers in 21 patients. They then isolated and multiplied the cardiac stem cells (CSCs) found there. Most of the patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy (enlarged and weakened muscle due to coronary artery disease). Eleven also had diabetes. The average age of patients ...

San Diego -- Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center's departments of neuroscience, pharmacology, physiology, biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and the interdisciplinary program of neuroscience will present more than 50 research abstracts at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience Nov. 13th through the 17th in San Diego. Modulation of temporal relationships between default mode and task-positive networks by the dopamine transporter genotype during working memory and the resting state Session: Imaging Human Memory Function Abstract/Poster: ...

Two separate discoveries by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) offer potential for development of a first-ever pharmacological treatment for cocaine addiction. In one study, a common beta blocker, propranolol, currently used to treat hypertension and anxiety, has shown to be effective in preventing the brain from retrieving memories associated with cocaine use in animal-addiction models, according to Devin Mueller, UWM assistant professor of psychology and a co-author with James Otis of the research. The work was presented today at the annual ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Exposure to even dim light at night is enough to cause physical changes in the brains of hamsters that may be associated with depression, a new study shows. Researchers found that female Siberian hamsters exposed to dim light every night for eight weeks showed significant changes in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. This is the first time researchers have found that light at night, by itself, may be linked to changes in the hippocampus. These alterations may be a key reason why the researchers also found that the hamsters exposed to dim ...

Widely prescribed for their cholesterol-lowering properties, recent clinical research indicates that statins can produce a second, significant health benefit: lowering the risk of severe bacterial infections such as pneumonia and sepsis. A new explanation for these findings has been discovered by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, who describe for the first time how statins activate the bacterial killing properties of white blood cells. The research is published in the November ...