In the wake of the devastating loss of life in Japan, the urgent question is where the next big earthquake will hit. To answer it, geologist Prof. Zvi Ben-Avraham and his doctoral student Gal Hartman of Tel Aviv University's Department of Physics and Planetary Sciences in the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences are examining coral reefs and submarine canyons to detect earthquake fault zones. Working with an international team of Israelis, Americans and Jordanians, Prof. Ben-Avraham and his team are developing a new method to determine what areas in a ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A daily dose of safflower oil, a common cooking oil, for 16 weeks can improve such health measures as good cholesterol, blood sugar, insulin sensitivity and inflammation in obese postmenopausal women who have Type 2 diabetes, according to new research. This finding comes about 18 months after the same researchers discovered that safflower oil reduced abdominal fat and increased muscle tissue in this group of women after 16 weeks of daily supplementation. This combination of health measures that are improved by the safflower oil is associated with metabolic ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Saying a prayer may help many people feel less angry and behave less aggressively after someone has left them fuming, new research suggests. A series of studies showed that people who were provoked by insulting comments from a stranger showed less anger and aggression soon afterwards if they prayed for another person in the meantime. The benefits of prayer identified in this study don't rely on divine intervention: they probably occur because the act of praying changed the way people think about a negative situation, said Brad Bushman, co-author of ...

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- One of Kansas' most abundant natural resources may hold the key to preventing major power outages. A team of Kansas State University engineers is researching ways to use Kansas wind and other distributed energy sources to avoid cascading failures. Sakshi Pahwa, doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, India, explored the topic for her recently completed master's project, "Distributed Sources and Islanding to Mitigate Cascading Failures in Power Grid Networks." The project was a winner at the recent Capitol Graduate Research Summit in ...

Primary care doctors are less likely to refer short girls than short boys for diagnostic testing that can reveal underlying medical reasons for their short stature, according to a new study of an urban pediatric population in Philadelphia. Girls with medical conditions causing their short stature may go undiagnosed, or may be diagnosed later than boys, limiting timely treatment. Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia published their study online today in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics. The study team analyzed referral patterns for growth faltering ...

La manta "responsabilidad del edificio" abarca una amplia variedad de lesiones que occurren en la propiedad de otra persona. La propiedad puede ser propiedad de una pequena empresa, familia, corporacion gigante o municipio, pero independientemente, cada propietario tiene la obligacion de mantener sus tierras en condiciones razonablemente seguras para proteger a las personas que puedan entrar en el. Que es la Responsabilidad del Edificio? Como se ha senalado, el termino "responsabilidad del edificio" se puede utilizar para describir una serie de diferentes causas legales ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Engineers at Ohio State University have invented a lens that enables microscopic objects to be seen from nine different angles at once to create a 3D image. Other 3D microscopes use multiple lenses or cameras that move around an object; the new lens is the first single, stationary lens to create microscopic 3D images by itself. Allen Yi, associate professor of integrated systems engineering at Ohio State, and postdoctoral researcher Lei Li described the lens in a recent issue of the Journal of the Optical Society of America A. Yi called the lens a ...

Motorcycle riders nationwide are eagerly awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit in federal court in New York challenging motorcycle-only checkpoints. The lawsuit is the first in the country to raise constitutional objections to the law enforcement practice of setting up checkpoints to stop all motorcyclists traveling to or from popular motorcycle events. Police began using these checkpoints in New York State in 2008, using grant money from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. Recently, the federal government has begun funding motorcycle-only checkpoint initiatives in ...

New York, 21 March 2011 – Stress can change the balance of bacteria that naturally live in the gut, according to research published this month in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. "These bacteria affect immune function, and may help explain why stress dysregulates the immune response," said lead researcher Michael Bailey. Exposure to stress led to changes in composition, diversity and number of gut microorganisms, according to scientists from The Ohio State University. The bacterial communities in the intestine became less diverse, and had greater numbers ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds – less than 125 – lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, they will no longer exist. One University of Missouri researcher is trying to stop the birds' extinction by working with farmers and residents on the island inhabited by the kingfishers. "If we lose these birds, we lose 50,000 years of uniqueness and evolution," said Dylan Kesler, assistant professor ...

Austin-based writer Phil West has recognized the up-and-coming hard rock band, Whiskey Six, in his article on South by Southwest (SXSW) for the national news website, Huffington Post. SXSW is the largest annual showcase for the music industry and features a week of independent and flourishing artists in all genres of music. Industry honchos from all over the world attend SXSW hoping to discover the latest trends in music and fresh talent. The band was featured in the Texas Rockfest, a showcase specifically geared towards rock and heavy metal bands. In his review, ...

VIDEO: The most common ailment to affect a horse is lameness. A University of Missouri equine veterinarian has developed a system to effectively assess this problem using motion detection.... Click here for more information. The most common ailment to affect a horse is lameness. A University of Missouri equine veterinarian has developed a system to effectively assess this problem using motion detection. This system has been referred to as "Lameness Locator." Kevin ...

MIAMI – March 21, 2011 -- Marine biologists have solved a conundrum that has stumped them for years – how to count reef fish. It may sound simple, but the task is actually complex and critical in helping to evaluate the state of our oceans, coral reefs and the marine life that populate them. In an article published in the journal Fisheries Research scientists from the University of Miami (UM) and NOAA Fisheries Service have collaborated to create a framework that extends and increases the effectiveness of reef monitoring techniques. The new methodology uses a probabilistic ...

It's bad enough for a business owner to be re-assessed taxes for a company that he owns, imagine being re-assessed for a company that you no longer own! That's exactly what happened to Mark (Panama City, FL) who came to the office of Blue Tax upon receiving a tax re-assessment notice for $25,000 from the IRS for a business he had already sold. Naturally, the greatest challenge for the Blue Tax team was in finding out why Mark was being assessed for a business he was no longer apart of. The Blue Tax team of attorneys set the goal for themselves to resolve the issue and ...

NEW YORK (Mar. 21, 2011) -- A new study published by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of California, Davis, foresees improvements in patient outcomes after a major earthquake through more effective use of information technology. A control tower-style telemedicine hub to manage electronic traffic between first responders and remote medical experts could boost the likelihood that critically injured victims will get timely care and survive, according to the team's computer simulation model. "Since its introduction in the 1970s, telemedicine ...

MIAMI – March 21, 2011 -- As the North Brazil Current (NBC) moves northward along the northeastern coast of Brazil, it draws water from the South Equatorial Current and the freshwater outflow from the Amazon River, providing a source for warm, nutrient-rich water. Just northwest of Brazil, part of the NBC banks a hard right and flows east along the equator. Occasionally, the turn is especially sharp and the current loops around, pinching off an independently- traveling parcel of warm water. This portion travels northwest with a clockwise rotation, moving through the ocean ...

Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf…they may be bad for your arteries, but according to an upcoming study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, they're good for your heart and emotions. The study focuses on "comfort food" and how it makes people feel. "For me personally, food has always been big in my family," says Jordan Troisi, a graduate student at the University of Buffalo. The study came out of the research program of his co-author Shira Gabriel, which has looked at social surrogates—things that make people ...

MIG BANK, the first Forex broker to have obtained a Swiss banking license in December 2009, has announced today it has been granted the Securities Dealer License by the FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Regulatory Authority. Since its foundation in 2003, MIG BANK has been offering online Forex trading services to private and institutional clients and has become, within a short period, one of the global leaders in the area of online Forex trading. Swiss financial institutions are required to have the Securities Dealer License in order to offer securities trading facilities ...

WASHINGTON -- Recent research aboard the Space Shuttle is giving scientists a better understanding of how infectious disease occurs in space and could someday improve astronaut health and provide novel treatments for people on Earth. The research involves an opportunistic pathogen known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the same bacterium that caused astronaut Fred Haise to become sick during the Apollo 13 mission to the moon in 1970. Scientists studying the bacterium aboard the Shuttle hope to unlock the mysteries of how disease-causing agents work. They believe the research ...

Dr. Hilton Becker, a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and international specialist practicing Reconstructive, Cosmetic and Corrective Surgery in Boca Raton, Florida, recently presented studies and technical data about Spectra to the Brazilian medical community. Dr. Becker spoke at the 47th Brazilian Congress of Plastic Surgery in Vitoria in the State of Espiritu Santo on November 14. Dr. Becker is the inventor of Spectra, the first adjustable aesthetic breast implant, which is considered ideal for women with breast asymmetry. Spectra's unique feature is its innovative ...

A paper announcing a breakthrough discovery in the fight against Niemann-Pick Type C, coauthored by Olaf Wiest and Paul Helquist of the University of Notre Dame's Department Chemistry & Biochemistry and Frederick Maxfield, Chair of Biochemistry at Cornell University Weill College of Medicine, appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week. The paper shows how use of a histone deacetylase inhibitor correct the damage done by the genetic disorder and allowed once-diseased cells to function normally. Niemann-PickType C (NPC) involves a genetic flaw ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Monday, March 21, 2011 – For a patient at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), keeping up with what pills to take at different times of the day can be tedious. Window sills lined with prescription bottles – a pill for cholesterol, another for blood pressure, and an aspirin to keep blood thin and flowing – the list can get quite long and, as a result, many people, especially the elderly, often forget doses or take the wrong pill at the wrong time. But what if there was a single pill that had all the benefits of multiple medications in one dose? ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Patients who've been hurt in car or bike crashes, been shot or stabbed, or suffered other injuries are more likely to live if they arrive at the hospital on the weekend than during the week, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the March 21 issue of Archives of Surgery. The findings, which also showed that trauma patients who present to the hospital on weeknights are no more likely to die than those who presented during the day, contrast with previous studies showing a so-called "weekend effect" in which patients ...

The James Webb Space Telescope has a unique shield to protect its sensitive instruments from the heat and light of the sun. The sunshield is like an umbrella popping open on the shores of the cosmos that allows the instruments beneath it to see far into the universe. Like a beach umbrella protects people from the sun's heat and ultraviolet radiation, the sunshield protects the telescope and the sensitive infrared instruments that fly beneath the Webb telescope's sunshield from our sun's heat and light. "Each of the five layers of the shield is less than half the thickness ...

Three days of NASA infrared satellite imagery provides a clear picture to forecasters of the effect wind shear has had on former Cyclone Cherono. Wind shear increased near Cyclone Cherono this weekend and weakened it down to a remnant low pressure area in the Southern Indian Ocean. Today, March 21, Cherono's remnants are moving away from Mauritius and still causing ocean swells. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over former Tropical Cyclone Cherono each day over the last three days and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured the effects of the increased ...