Ernest Jones has launched a Facebook page allowing the high street jewellery brand to create a more interactive and personal relationship with its customers. By offering exclusive Facebook competitions and up to the minute trend stories that are not on the current website, Ernest Jones is allowing consumers into an exclusive group. In return Ernest Jones will incentivise consumers with competitions to share their comments and ultimately improve the relationship between retailer and consumer. The current Ernest Jones retail website features seasonal promotions such as ...

Botrytis bunch rot, a disease caused by the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea, can devastate grape vineyards. Yet other plants can repel the invader and protect themselves by mounting a form of chemical warfare against the fungi through the production of antimicrobial substances, called phytoalexins. Scientists at the University of Missouri report on a discovery in a key component in the signaling pathway that regulates the production of phytoalexins to kill the disease-causing fungus Botrytis cinerea. "When the mustard plant Arabidopsis detects the fungus Botrytis ...

Montreal April 19, 2011 – Lapses in memory occur more frequently with age, yet the reasons for this increasing forgetfulness have not always been clear. According to new research from Concordia University, older individuals have reduced learning and memory because their minds tend to be cluttered with irrelevant information when performing tasks. Published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, these findings offer new insights into why ageing is associated with a decline in memory and may lead to practical solutions. "The first step of our study was to ...

As of April 15, 2011 Pokerstars has shut down to US players. They are still in full operation for non-US players at their Pokerstars.eu domain. However, if you attempt to visit their .com domain you will find a US DOJ and FBI seal along with a message regarding the seizure of the pokerstars.com domain. Regarding the recent events, Pokerstars has released the following statement: "We are reaching out to you in light of the recent developments in relation to our US business, following which PokerStars does not offer its services to US residents. Please note that ...

College Park, MD (April 19, 2011) -- Using well-known patterned media, a team of researchers in France has figured out a way to double the areal density of information by essentially cutting the magnetic media into small pieces and building a "3D tower" out of it. This greatly enhances the amount of data that can be stored in a magnetic storage device and provides a method to reach beyond a wall of physical limits that the currently used technology is hitting. The team presents their findings in the American Institute of Physics' Journal of Applied Physics. "Over the ...

ZyLAB, a leading eDiscovery and information management technology company today announced the release of its state-of-the-art ZyLAB Audio Search Bundle, a desktop software product used to quickly identify relevant audio clips from multimedia files and from ubiquitous business tools such as fixed-line telephone, VOIP, mobile, and specialist platforms like Skype or MSN Live. The intuitive software enables technical and non-technical users involved in legal disputes, forensics, law enforcement, and lawful data interception to search, review and analyze audio data with the ...

Jamie Tyler, assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, has been invited to speak at a Royal Society of London high level workshop on May 11-12 on the security implications of advances in neuroscience. The workshop is part of a four-part policy study on neuroscience and society called Brain Waves. This third module, entitled Neuroscience, conflict and security (http://royalsociety.org/brainwaves-security/), focuses on the international security implications ...

Chef Point Cafe is one Fort Worth Restaurant that will be serving up Easter dinner with flair this year. This gas station eatery has an Easter special menu just for Sunday with a limited version of it being served on Good Friday. The Grilled Australian Lamb Lollipops may go down as the Easter favorite but soups, salads and more will be available to tempt taste buds too. Celebrate the spring season with a special meal on a special day this Easter. What is Easter all about? Family? Friends? Forgiveness? At this Fort Worth restaurant, it is about all three. Celebrate the ...

Consumers decide whether to use mail-in genetic tests based on both rational and emotional reasons, a finding that adds to a growing body of health-care behavior research on information seeking and avoidance, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside. In a study of what motivates or discourages consumers from participating in direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, UC Riverside psychologists found that potential users of the tests were influenced by perceived benefits and barriers to testing, and anticipated regret over testing versus not testing. "We ...

NJIT Associate Professor Sergiu M. Gorun is leading a research team to develop biologically-inspired catalysis active, yet inert, materials. The work is based on organic catalytic framework made sturdy by the replacement of carbon-hydrogen bonds with a combination of aromatic and aliphatic carbon-fluorine bonds. Graduate students involved with this research recently received first place recognition at the annual NJIT Dana Knox student research showcase. http://www.njit.edu/news/2011/2011-101.php The newest focus of Gorun's research has been the cobalt complex as a ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Earth has 657 more barrier islands than previously thought, according to a new global survey by researchers from Duke University and Meredith College. The researchers identified a total of 2,149 barrier islands worldwide using satellite images, topographical maps and navigational charts. The new total is significantly higher than the 1,492 islands identified in a 2001 survey conducted without the aid of publicly available satellite imagery. All told, the 2,149 barrier islands measure 20,783 kilometers in length, are found along all continents except ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study published this month suggests that while younger Americans are more smitten with credit cards and debt than older Americans, the older generation helps enable their children by encouraging use of credit as a "safety mechanism." The findings were based on case studies conducted with 27 white, middle-class Americans in 2006. The researchers, Michelle Barnhart of Oregon State University and Lisa Peñaloza of Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales du Nord of France, wanted to explore some of the attitudes, perceptions and cultural meanings behind ...

Researchers at The Wistar Institute have found a new way to force cancer cells to self-destruct. Low doses of one anti-cancer drug currently in development, called Gamitrinib, sensitize tumor cells to a second drug, called TRAIL, also currently in clinical development as part of an anticancer regimen. Their findings, published in the April issue of the Journal for Clinical Investigation, show how this combination approach kills tumor cells in both mouse models of glioblastoma and human glioblastoma cells. Glioblastomas are the most common and aggressive form ...

What race best describes your background? That one question, which appears on most paperwork for health care, could leave entire groups of people underserved and contribute to racial health disparities, according to new research from Rice University published in the current issue of the journal Demography. Medical forms that ask patients to identify a single race can alter patterns of racial health disparities because some multiracial adults identify with single-race groups whose health experience is different from their own. The researchers found that placing multiracial ...

Lund Sweden — April 19, 2011 — NeuroVive Pharmaceutical and Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) today announced the enrollment and treatment of the first patient in the European multicenter trial of myocardial infarction (the CIRCUS study). NeuroVive's advanced CicloMulsion(TM) cremophor-free IV cyclosporine formulation is used in this study of 1,000 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction to examine cyclosporine's ability to protect cardiac tissue. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-initiated study is being ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif., April 19, 2011) -- Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, say they've figured out the cause of a problem that's made light-emitting diodes (LEDs) impractical for general lighting purposes. Their work will help engineers develop a new generation of high-performance, energy-efficient lighting that could replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. "Identifying the root cause of the problem is an indispensable first step toward devising solutions," says Chris Van de Walle, a professor in the Materials Department at UC Santa Barbara ...

An Ohio State biophysicist used a supercomputer to search thousands of molecular combinations for the best configuration to block a protein that can cause breast or prostate cancer. Chenglong Li, Ph.D., an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at The Ohio State University (OSU), is leveraging a powerful computer cluster at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) to develop a drug that will block the small protein molecule Interleukin-6 (IL-6). The body normally produces this immune-response messenger to combat infections, burns, traumatic injuries, ...

Corcentric, a leading provider of Accounts Payable automation solutions, today announced a live webinar: Separating Fact from Fiction: Can the Power of the Cloud Transform Accounts Payable? The one-hour webinar will take place on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 2:00 PM EDT / 11:00 AM PDT. The webinar's featured speakers are Henry Ijams, Founder and Managing Director, PayStream Advisors and Rob DeVincent, Vice President of Product Marketing, Corcentric. They will discuss the following topics, which will help AP professionals understand the facts about Software-as-a-Service ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells. The researchers found a way to make an "optical battery," said Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics. In the process, they overturned a century-old tenet of physics. "You could stare at the equations of motion all day and you will not see this possibility. We've all been taught that this ...

Millions of blogs are added to the Internet every month. This makes it possible for people to find exactly what they are looking for when they go online, but it also makes it difficult to sort through the nonsense and find what really works. One reason for this exodus is the emergence of people like Nancy Trace, Eat Breathe Blog 's newest author addition. Nancy is a mother and blogger who has been in the health insurance business for many years. Now that she is on maternity leave, Nancy has decided to take her knowledge and experience in the health insurance industry ...

Stibo Systems, the worldwide leader in the master data management (MDM), strategic information management, multichannel publishing, and product information management (PIM) market space, today announced its upcoming annual customer conference in May, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia. Attending this year's event will be some of the largest, most successful retailers, distributors and manufacturers in North America, many of which will be presenting on their use of Stibo Systems' strategic information management success systems, which are designed for growth-directed companies. Stibo ...

The third annual Banking Finance & Insurance Expo - "Exploiting Technology to Deliver Customised Financial Services" - took place in Kampala, Uganda at the Main Exhibition Hall Lugogo from 14-16th April. According to the organisers, the main objective of Banking Finance & Insurance Expo is to unlock the great potential that lies in Uganda's financial sector by giving the public access to financial information. deVere Group Area Manager for Kampala, Julie Crombie, therefore identified the Expo as the ideal opportunity to raise awareness of the deVere ...

A significant 50-person study shows that the new high-tech Electronic Vapor Kit is the answer for people looking to finally quit. This research was conducted on people ranging from the ages of 24 - 53 and was carried out over the course of 4 weeks. The breakthrough electronic vaporizer used for this study was a 2 piece model with the atomizer built into each refill cartridge. This technology is brand new and has only been around for the past 6 months. These newer version 2.0 eco-friendly products produce a much greater volume of vapor which gives the user the same exact ...

Expit announced today the general availability of the Arabic Portal 1.0 for System Center Service Manager, a plug-in for Microsoft SCSM 2010 that enables users to access the service desk portal provided by service manager in Arabic. Product details are available on Microsoft pinpoint at the following address: http://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-us/applications/self-monitoring-management-pack-for-microsoft-scom-12884906842, documentation and download instructions are available at the following address: http://expit.com/documents/expit_SCSM_Self-Service_Portal-Arabic_Configuration_Guide.pdf The ...

Radio Archives today announced a new series of audiobooks, based on favorite pulp novels of the 1930s and 1940s. The audiobooks will begin Radio Archives' new line of original audio productions based on classic pulp fiction. The first series of audiobooks will be the seven Doc Savage novels penned by pulp author and Doc Savage authority Will Murray, featuring covers by artist Joe DeVito. Future series will include the exploits of pulp heroes The Spider and Secret Agent "X", as well as other pulp fiction properties. The new audio productions will utilize the talents of ...