Following the recent paperwork issues -- specifically "robo-signing" documents without reading them -- that plagued the banking industry's handling of foreclosures, the last thing the financial sector needs is another scandal. However, yet another black eye has appeared in the ongoing foreclosure saga: bank break-ins. A bank break-in occurs when bank representatives enter a property, thinking they have the right to enter the property, when in reality they do not. There are legitimate reasons for a bank to enter property. Most often, banks send representatives to properties ...

A serious car and truck accident on I-95 involved four vehicle and seven people, leaving a trail of twisted wreckage and two dead in Palm Bay. A semi-truck struck two cars and a pick-up as the vehicles slowed for a lane change caused by road construction. Highway patrol on the scene stated that the truck never applied any brakes until it struck the first car, then a second car, and finally the pickup, which caught fire. An off-duty police officer with a fire extinguisher, who was working traffic control for the construction company, rescued the driver of that vehicle. The ...

California is showing the way for the rest of the nation in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, having set an ambitious goal to reduce these emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. Given that energy demand is projected to double by 2050, experts agree that the state will have to dramatically overhaul its energy systems to achieve its greenhouse gas emission goals. At the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, some of the specific challenges and issue ahead were discussed in a session titled "Portraits ...

When people hear the words "Social Security", they generally think of three things: retirement benefits, survivor benefits and disability benefits. Under the disability category, there are two distinct programs to assist people who are unable to work due to a medical condition: Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The basic distinction between SSDI and SSI eligibility is based on the applicant's work history, and therefore whether the person has been a sufficient contributor to the Social Security system. Eligibility for ...

An important discovery has been made with respect to the possible inventory of molecules available to the early Earth. Scientists led by Sandra Pizzarello, a research professor at Arizona State University, found large amounts of ammonia in a primitive Antarctic asteroid. This high concentration of ammonia could account for a sustained source of reduced nitrogen essential to the chemistry of life. The work is being published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper is titled, "Abundant ammonia in primitive asteroids and the case ...

Domestic violence allegations are treated with extreme seriousness under New Jersey law. If a present or former spouse, domestic partner, co-parent or dating partner makes accusations of physical assault, harassment, stalking, terroristic threats or ten other criminal offenses, the court can immediately issue a restraining order that prohibits certain types of conduct and is backed by serious legal consequences. Whether you feel the need to seek legal protection or you face accusations, you should understand your legal rights and options. New Jersey's Prevention of Domestic ...

University of California, Berkeley, chemists have engineered bacteria to churn out a gasoline-like biofuel at about 10 times the rate of competing microbes, a breakthrough that could soon provide an affordable and "green" transportation fuel. The development is reported online this week in advance of publication in the journal Nature Chemical Biology by Michelle C. Y. Chang, assistant professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley, graduate student Brooks B. Bond-Watts and recent UC Berkeley graduate Robert J. Bellerose. Various species of the Clostridium bacteria naturally ...

The dangers of distracted driving are well established at this point. When drivers choose not to devote their full attention to the road, whether because they are sending text message or fiddling with the radio, the likelihood of car accidents increases. However, drivers are not the only people who can cause car accidents while distracted. When pedestrians and cyclists are not paying proper attention while crossing the streets, they can pose a risk to themselves and others. According to 2009 statistics from the Illinois Department of Transportation, more than 5,300 car ...

A promising new way to inhibit cholesterol production in the body has been discovered, one that may yield treatments as effective as existing medications but with fewer side-effects. In a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, a team of researchers from the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences - led by Associate Professor Andrew Brown – report that an enzyme - squalene mono-oxygenase (SM) - plays a previously unrecognised role as a key checkpoint in cholesterol production. The team included doctoral students Saloni Gill and Julian Stevenson, ...

A multinational study has identified a key gene mutation responsible for type 2 diabetes in nearly 10 percent of patients of white European ancestry. The study, which originated in Italy and was validated at UCSF, found that defects in the HMGA1 gene led to a major drop in the body's ability to make insulin receptors – the cell's sensor through which insulin tells the cell to absorb sugar. This drop in insulin receptors leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, according to the paper. Findings appear in the March 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical ...

Metal-on-metal artificial hips are producing complications and injuries not seen with their plastic or ceramic predecessors. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has drawn attention to the problems of these specific prostheses. Total hip replacement systems consist of a ball and socket just like an organic hip. When both the ball and cup are made of metal, in the course of normal movements, such as walking or running, the metal ball and metal cup slide against one another. If the design is imperfect, complications can arise. Excessive friction, excessive looseness, ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research suggests that ibuprofen may offer protection against developing Parkinson's disease, according to one of the largest studies to date investigating the possible benefits of the over-the-counter drug on the disease. The study is published in the March 2, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that causes tremors and difficulty with movement and walking. It affects about one million people in the United States. "Our results show that ibuprofen may ...

The current clinical trial process in the United States is on shaky ground. In this era of personalized medicine, as diseases are increasingly defined by specific genetic and biologic markers and treatments are tailored accordingly, patient populations for new therapies grow smaller and smaller. Coupled with skyrocketing costs and expanding regulatory requirements, the completion of trials that are essential in bringing new and effective therapies to patients is no easy task. Change is needed. Today, in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of renowned researchers ...

Immigration debates are often fueled more by rhetoric than by actual facts and figures. Fortunately, the non-partisan Pew Research Center (which does not take positions on policy issues) offers objective statistics on immigration in their annual survey of national and state trends in immigration, as published by the Pew Hispanic Center. The national highlights from Pew's 2010 immigration report include: - Unauthorized immigrants make up about 3.7 percent of the nation's population --approximately 11.2 million persons. That number is statistically unchanged from last ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a potential target to treat an aggressive type of prostate cancer. The target, a gene called SPINK1, could be to prostate cancer what HER2 has become for breast cancer. Like HER2, SPINK1 occurs in only a small subset of prostate cancers – about 10 percent. But the gene is an ideal target for a monoclonal antibody, the same type of drug as Herceptin, which is aimed at HER2 and has dramatically improved treatment for this aggressive type of breast cancer. "Since SPINK1 ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — What makes a man? His clothes? His car? His choice of scotch? The real answer, says Brown University biologist Erica Larschan, is the newly understood activity of a protein complex that, like a genetic power tool, gives enzymes on the X-chromosome an extra boost to increase gene expression. The process is described in the March 3, 2011, issue of the journal Nature. Women have two X-chromosomes in their genomes while males have an X and a Y. Gender is defined by that difference, but for men to live, the genetic imbalance must be remedied. ...

The recent sentencing of a 28-year-old Gaston County man for multiple sex offenses, including second-degree sex offense of a child and one count of indecent liberties with a child, reveals the severe consequences that a conviction or guilty plea can bring. Marcus Stephen Archer pleaded guilty to two of six counts and faces up to ten years in prison as well as lifetime registration as a sex offender. He will also be required to submit to satellite monitoring after his release from prison. Archer admits not remembering the events due to heavy drug use during the time the ...

With the steep decline in populations of many animal species, from frogs and fish to tigers, some scientists have warned that Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction like those that occurred only five times before during the past 540 million years. Each of these 'Big Five' saw three-quarters or more of all animal species go extinct. In a study to be published in the March 3 issue of the journal Nature, University of California, Berkeley, paleobiologists assess where mammals and other species stand today in terms of possible extinction, compared with the past 540 ...

Thousands, if not millions of people worldwide, use Tylenol or Tylenol-related products with the active ingredient Acetaminophen each week. The over-the-counter drug is labelled as an effective treatment method to reduce a fever and relieve minor aches and pains. While it is considered safe by medical professionals in some circles, new information about the risks of prolonged use, overuse and even common use have raised red flags for medical professionals. It is well-known that excessive use of Acetaminophen (may be abbreviated as APAP on drug labels), such as an accidental ...

Physicists and mathematicians from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain are putting paid to the theory that two languages cannot co-exist in one society. Analysing the pattern of populations speaking Castilian, the most common language spoken in Spain, and Galician, a language spoken in Galicia, the North West autonomous community of Spain, the researchers have used mathematical models to show that levels of bilingualism in a stable population can lead to the steady co-existence of two languages. The research, published today, Thursday 3 March 2011, in ...

(March 2, 2011—Toronto, ON and Helsinki, Finland) Dr. Andras Nagy's laboratory at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Dr. Timo Otonkoski's laboratory at Biomedicum Stem Cell Center (University of Helsinki), as well as collaborators in Europe and Canada have identified genetic abnormalities associated with reprogramming adult cells to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The findings give researchers new insights into the reprogramming process, and will help make future applications of stem cell creation and subsequent use safer. The study ...

Atlanta SEO company Cardinal Web Solutions takes a proactive approach in its client's SEO and Internet marketing campaigns. While the recent announcement from Google of an updated search engine algorithm has shaken up the SEO industry, Cardinal Web Solutions sees these changes as a reinforcement of the company's focus on quality. Cardinal Web Solutions is a leading Atlanta SEO company that provides search engine optimization and internet marketing. In February, Matt Cutts of Google described on the company's blog what he called a "pretty big algorithmic improvement" ...

Ordinary human cells reprogrammed as induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) may ultimately revolutionize personalized medicine by creating new and diverse therapies unique to individual patients. But important and unanswered questions have persisted about the safety of these cells, in particular whether their genetic material is altered during the reprogramming process. A new study – published in the March 3 issue of the journal Nature and led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego in collaboration with other leading stem cell research groups – finds ...

Boston, MA – A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers shows that adults who regularly take ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), have about one-third less risk of developing Parkinson's disease than non-users. "There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, so the possibility that ibuprofen, an existing and relatively non-toxic drug, could help protect against the disease is captivating," said senior author Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at HSPH. The study will be published online March 2, 2011, in ...

Climate researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association (AWI) expand a prevalent theory regarding the development of ice ages. In the current issue of the journal Nature three physicists from AWI's working group "Dynamics of the Palaeoclimate" present new calculations on the connection between natural insolation and long-term changes in global climate activity. Up to now the presumption was that temperature fluctuations in Antarctica, which have been reconstructed for the last million years on the basis of ice cores, ...