Northern Rock has further enhanced its mortgage website, less than six months after scooping a prestigious award for 'best use of digital', with the addition of a new video guide to help home-buyers through the exciting but sometimes daunting journey of buying their first property. Northern Rock's mortgage website was launched in April 2010, and in September won the 'best use of digital' accolade at Communicate Magazine's Digital Impact Awards 2010, held to celebrate excellence in digital stakeholder communications. The site was also named among the contenders for the ...

Debenhams has announced that as many diets and gym plans fall by the wayside, body conscious British men are snapping up shapewear in a bid to win the battle of the bulge, according to recent research. In recent weeks, sales of men's control pants and men's t-shirts have soared at Debenhams, with purchases of sculpting t-shirts up 317 per cent, sales of bum lifting pants up 238 per cent and elasticated waistbands going up by 340 per cent at Debenhams, post-party season. Of the 1,000 men surveyed*, 64 per cent were worried about the 7 pounds of weight they piled ...

Topshop has announced the launch of its new make-up collection for SS11. Sandstorm is a capsule trend collection which will capture warm tones and neon colours. With a palette of sorbet tones and sultry hues, Sandstorm contrasts metallic finishes with sun-bleached neons to create a versatile collection. Sandstorm captures a form of self-expression that embodies the spirit of Festival dressing. The capsule collection is a crossover of versatile products and formulas that blend and build from dusk until dawn. Matte rose-flushed packaging with metallic flecks references ...

The Portland hotel by Thistle has organized a gala lunch event to recognize volunteers in Greater Manchester who keep children's charity, Barnardo's running. Barnardo's corporate partner in Manchester, The Portland hotel by Thistle, organised the event for the 100-strong volunteer workforce as a celebration to mark the charity's vital work with and on behalf of children and young families in the area. The Portland by Thistle, supported by the hotel's suppliers, provided the volunteers with a three course meal, while resident DJ, Jeff Dunning, kept the guests entertained ...

New Hockey Recruiting and Hockey Scouting site Perfect Tool for Hockey Players and Hockey Scouts. What is the shortest distance between two points? Well, if you are talking math, the answer is a straight line. But if you are talking about stick-handling through the maze that is hockey scouting, with its bureaucracies and inefficiencies, then the answer is PuckProspect.com. It is the Internet's newest Hockey Recruiting and Hockey Scouting Service and it is unlike any other hockey recruiting or hockey scouting website available. PuckProspect.com gives hockey players ...

The Kneeling Bus released a special promo edition Digital 45 of their first single, "Coco," from their debut album, "All Hail! The Kneeling Bus," as a free download exclusively from their website, www.thekneelingbus.com, beginning today. The single features two remixes of "Coco" produced by Draper Marquez; who also serves as lead vocalist on the track. For a limited time, each download includes a digital teaser poster for "All Hail! The Kneeling Bus." The commercial single of "Coco," will be released as a Digital 45 and one-click download, in explicit and clean ...

The new coalition Government is keen to see an increased uptake in apprenticeships for young people within the Motor Trade. Vince Cable spoke on the issue recently and the government are targeting an additional 100,000 apprentices in UK businesses by 2014. Industry figures for the Motor Trade, recorded in excess of 11,000 apprenticeships during the past year. The trend towards apprenticeships and the government incentives offered are good news, for employers and potential employees at a time when youth unemployment is exceptionally high. Training and career opportunities ...

Families now have a myriad of one-of-a-kind choices from a new lodging provider in southeast Ohio's stunning Hocking Hills region. The recently opened 4 Seasons Hideaways offers four very distinctive upscale lodges: The Glass House, Beagle Hill Lodge, All Seasons Lodge and Butterfly Haven Lodge. Rates start at $509 per night in peak season and each home offers space for large multiple families, including some that sleep up to 14 guests. Each lodge features special family features, such as game rooms, jumbo TV with dozens of family movies, a hot tub and outdoor family recreation ...

When put in the very "uncomfortable" position of fighting head lice, you can always call in the pros. That's exactly what the producers of the upcoming film "I Don't Know How She Does It", starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Pierce Brosnan did. The Fairy LiceMothers, a head lice removal service based in Oceanside, NY, was asked to consult and appear in the film when some of the main characters battle head lice. The movie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2012 at which time you will see the Fairy LiceMothers at work on the silver screen!Fairy LiceMothers are ...

What do chocolates, flowers, jewelry, dining out and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic have in common? All of them will not prevent the demise of something that initially appears awesome and invulnerable. So says psychotherapist Charlette Mikulka, LCSW, author of Peace in the Heart and Home: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Creating a Better Life for You and Your Loved Ones. All she has learned has convinced her that, as time goes by, couples inevitably encounter dangerous waters. Her book is jam-packed with explanations, solutions and hope. Mikulka advises, "In order ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Amid concerns about the lagging math and science performance of American children, American adults are actually scoring higher than they did 20 years ago on a widely used index of civic scientific literacy, according to a University of Michigan researcher. In 1988, just 10 percent of U.S. adults had sufficient understanding of basic scientific ideas to be able to read the Tuesday Science section of The New York Times, according to Jon Miller, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). By 2008, 28 percent of adults scored high enough ...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – New studies on the screening and treatment of genitourinary cancers were released today in advance of the fourth annual Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, being held February 17-19, 2011, at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida. The results of three studies were highlighted in a media presscast (press briefing via live webcast): Large screening study shows reduced risk of prostate cancer death for men with low initial PSAs: A large prostate cancer screening study of middle-aged and elderly men showed that an initial Prostate-Specific ...

Patients newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, and their families, need better guidance from their physicians on how to plan for the patient's progressive loss of ability to handle finances, according to a study led by a physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. "When a patient is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, the chance that their physician will discuss advance planning for finances is miniscule," said lead author Eric Widera, MD, a geriatrician at SFVAMC. "And yet when family ...

Singapore - Nantes (France) – February 15, 2011 (SGT) - The Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), an institute of the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and VIVALIS (NYSE Euronext: VLS), a French biopharmaceutical company, announced today the discovery of two new fully human monoclonal antibodies which could battle Chikungunya, a disease that currently has no available vaccine or specific treatment. The international team of scientists, coordinated by Dr Lucile Warter of SIgN, has published their groundbreaking discovery in the Journal of Immunology. Chikungunya ...

In fact, according to new research from Johns Hopkins, the fusion of muscle cells is a power struggle that involves a smaller mobile antagonist that points at, pokes and finally pushes into its larger, stationary partner using a newly identified finger-like projection. In a report published Nov. 29 in the Journal of Cell Biology, the researchers described experiments using fruit fly embryos to identify an invasive projection propelled by the rapid elongation of actin filaments as the main player in the cellular power struggle. "We found that two muscle cells don't simply ...

Seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing, a study by Johns Hopkins and National Institute on Aging researchers suggests. The findings, the researchers say, could lead to new ways to combat dementia, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide and carries heavy societal burdens. Although the reason for the link between the two conditions is unknown, the investigators suggest that a common pathology may underlie both or that the strain of decoding sounds over the years may overwhelm ...

In an opinion piece published Feb. 10 in the journal Science, a team of scholars led by a Johns Hopkins bioethicist urges the scientific community to act collectively to stem the negative effects of the patenting and privatizing of stem cell lines, data and pioneering technologies. This means grappling with the ambiguity of several fundamental distinctions typically made in ethics, law and common practice, the experts insist. The team, led by Debra Mathews, Ph.D., M.A., of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, says failures to properly manage the widespread ...

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers have found that blue-green algae may be responsible for producing an estrogen-like compound in the environment which could disrupt the normal activity of reproductive hormones and adversely affect fish, plants and human health. Previously, human activities were thought solely responsible for producing these impacts. Theodore Henry, an adjunct professor for UT Knoxville's Center for Environmental Biotechnology and faculty at the University of Plymouth, and his colleagues looked into blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, and ...

STANFORD, Calif. — A recently discovered biomarker could help doctors diagnose a common type of knee injury, according to a new study. A team of researchers led by Gaetano Scuderi, MD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and an orthopaedic surgeon at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, has confirmed that a particular protein complex appears in patients with painful meniscal tears. The finding, to be published Feb. 16 in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, could be used to prevent needless surgery and to save billions ...

A 22-year study of abnormally short individuals suggests that growth-stunting mutations also may stunt two of humanity's worst diseases. Published in Science Translational Medicine, part of the Science family of journals, the study raises the prospect of achieving similar protection in full-grown adults by other means, such as pharmaceuticals or controlled diets. The international study team, led by cell biologist Valter Longo of the University of Southern California and Ecuadorian endocrinologist Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, followed a remote community on the slopes of the ...

Messier 78 is a fine example of a reflection nebula. The ultraviolet radiation from the stars that illuminate it is not intense enough to ionise the gas to make it glow — its dust particles simply reflect the starlight that falls on them. Despite this, Messier 78 can easily be observed with a small telescope, being one of the brightest reflection nebulae in the sky. It lies about 1350 light-years away in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter) and can be found northeast of the easternmost star of Orion's belt. This new image of Messier 78 from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope ...

A high proportion of patients with high blood pressure are failing to take their medication properly and would benefit clinically from a course of 'adherence therapy', according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). High blood pressure – or hypertension – is one of the major cardiovascular diseases worldwide. It leads to stroke and heart disease and costs more than $300 billion each year. Around a quarter of the adult population is affected – including 10 million people in the UK. Around half of patients with hypertension fail to reduce their blood ...

DETROIT – Biopsies using ultrasound fusion imaging for detecting bone and soft tissue cancers are safe, effective and just as accurate as conventional biopsy methods, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. Researchers found that the ultrasound fusion imaging technique guides a needle biopsy with precise accuracy and ease, while making the biopsy experience more convenient for patients. Ultrasound fusion merges real-time ultrasound images with previously acquired computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans, providing physicians with high resolution, life-like ...

DETROIT – While the choices of knee implants are plentiful, the success of total knee replacement surgery still is dependent on the surgeon's skill, Henry Ford Hospital researchers say. Researchers found that utilizing a series of common but nuanced surgical techniques is far more important to customizing the fit of a patient's implant than the implant's design. The findings will be displayed at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Feb. 15-18 in San Diego. "Customized knee implants will not replace the need for precise, methodical surgical ...

Almost 600 million years ago, before the rampant evolution of diverse life forms known as the Cambrian explosion, a community of seaweeds and worm-like animals lived in a quiet deep-water niche under the sea near what is now Lantian, a small village in Anhui Province of South China. Then they simply died, leaving some 3,000 nearly pristine fossils preserved between beds of black shale deposited in oxygen-free waters. Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Virginia Tech in the U.S., and Northwest University in Xi'an, China report the discovery of the fossils ...