New Rochelle, NY, October 6, 2010—The introduction of a new, fully characterized viral vector for use as reference material to help standardize gene therapy protocols in research applications and human clinical trials is described in an article in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The article, which is published online ahead of print, is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/hum The growing popularity in the gene therapy community of using recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors as vehicles ...

LA JOLLA, CA – October 6, 2010 – For Immediate Release – Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have developed the first screening method that rapidly identifies individuals with active river blindness, a parasitic disease that afflicts an estimated 37 million people. The test could change the current strategy of mass treatment in areas where river blindness, also known as onchocerciasis, is suspected. The study was published online on October 5, 2010, by the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. "A sensitive and reproducible diagnostic test for this disease ...

AMES, Iowa -- The nation's poverty rate climbed to 14.3 percent -- the highest level since 1994 -- according to the Census Bureau's annual report on the economic well-being of U.S. households. That means one in seven Americans now live in poverty, and that may have an especially depressing effect on people living in bad neighborhoods, according to two Iowa State University researchers. Daniel Russell, an Iowa State professor of human development and family studies; and Carolyn Cutrona, professor and chair of psychology, presented "Stressful Effects of Where You Live: ...

A University of Delaware researcher is helping to design instruments for a robotic space probe that will go where no other has gone before: the sun. William Matthaeus, professor of physics and astronomy at UD, is involved in NASA's Solar Probe Plus project, which is slated to launch by 2018. The unmanned spacecraft, the size of a small car, will plunge directly into the sun's atmosphere to help uncover answers to perplexing mysteries about the fiery ball of plasma at the center of our solar system. "The experiments selected for Solar Probe Plus are specifically designed ...

AMES, Iowa -- Murder takes an obvious toll on society in terms of the loss of human life, but what does it actually cost each time there's a murder? It's about $17.25 million according a recent Iowa State University study. Matt DeLisi, an ISU associate professor of sociology and director of the criminal justice program, led a team of five Iowa State graduate students on the study of 654 convicted and incarcerated murderers. Expanding upon earlier monetization estimates, they calculated the costs of five crimes -- murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and burglary ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The discovery of a hormone acting like molecular glue could hold a key to bolstering plant immune systems and understanding how plants cope with environmental stress. The study, which is featured in the Oct. 6 issue of Nature, reveals how the plant hormone jasmonate binds two proteins together – an emerging new concept in hormone biology and protein chemistry. The study also identifies the receptor's crystal structure to provide the first molecular view of how plants ward off attacks by insects and pathogens. In short, the work explains how a highly ...

Patients who cannot discuss their diabetes with a doctor in their own language may have poorer health outcomes, even when interpreter services are available, according to a new study by researchers at UCSF and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study found that, among Latino diabetes patients with limited English skills, those seen by non-Spanish speaking doctors were nearly twice as likely to have poor control of their blood sugar than those whose doctors spoke Spanish. Findings will appear in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of General Internal ...

Forty-three percent of patients scheduled to undergo orthopaedic surgery have insufficient levels of vitamin D and two out of five of those patients had levels low enough to place them at risk for metabolic bone disease, according to a study published this month in the October 6th issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and is essential for bone growth and bone remodeling. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle or misshapen. People can obtain ...

STONY BROOK, NY, October 6, 2010 - A first-of-its-kind study that tracked the oceanic migrations of adult Atlantic sturgeon that were caught and tagged in the Hudson River discovered that these fish move vast distances in the Atlantic Ocean, traveling as far south as Georgia and as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada. The findings indicate that recovery of Atlantic sturgeon fisheries will need to address long-range oceanic threats to the species in addition to local measures closer to spawning grounds. These results are particularly timely given the announcement on October ...

NASA wrapped up one of its largest hurricane research efforts ever last week after nearly two months of flights that broke new ground in the study of tropical cyclones and delivered data that scientists will now be able to analyze for years to come. While the 2010 hurricane season has been a rather quiet one for coastal dwellers, the churning meteorology of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea seemed to cooperate well with the science goals of Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment. Those goals were designed to answer some of the most fundamental ...

DALLAS – Oct. 7, 2010 – Keeping blood pressure at a low level in African-Americans with kidney disease may slow the progression of the condition in patients with proteinuria, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found in a national study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. In the African-American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension, or AASK, trial of 1,094 patients, researchers found that keeping blood pressure readings at about 130/80 mm Hg reduced the risk of disease progression by 27 percent for patients with protein in the urine (proteinuria), ...

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers at Kaiser Permanente have found that patients with a very early form of breast cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS) who have higher mammographic density may be at increased risk for subsequent breast cancer, especially in the breast opposite to the one with the initial cancer. These study results are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Mammographic density refers to the proportion of the breast that appears dense on a mammogram; it is one of the strongest ...

Computer-modelled comparison of online football gamblers' behaviour during play and during half-time shows distinct real-time differences, begging the question what motivates betting behaviour when play is not underway? Research published today, Thursday 7 October 2010, in New Journal of Physics (co-owned by the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society), details how researchers from Trinity College Dublin have analysed data and identified betting trends during the 2007-08 Champions' League Tournament. Using a complete dataset from Betfair.com, drawn from bets ...

In a randomized controlled study based in Los Angeles, California, encouraging African-American women aged 60 or over to exercise, in conjunction with scripture reading and group prayer, led to a 78% increase in steps per week, equivalent to about three extra miles. This increase was four times greater than in the control group who were also encouraged to exercise but with no faith based interventions. The results are published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Older African-American women are the least physically active race-sex subgroup in the ...

VIDEO: University of Chicago Professor Scott Allard talks about the problems the poor face in getting help in the suburbs. Click here for more information. Poverty has grown in America's suburbs during the recent economic downturn, but poor people in many suburban communities are finding it hard to get the help they need, a report by University of Chicago researchers shows. "Many suburbs have seen significant expansion in the number of poor persons over the last several years, ...

A higher rate of diabetes seen among adult Americans when compared to peers in England is explained primarily by a larger waist size rather than conventional risk factors such as obesity, according to a new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation, University College London and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. Researchers say the findings offer more evidence that accumulating fat around the mid-section poses a health risk and suggests that studies of diabetes risk should emphasize waist size along with traditional risk factors. "Americans carry more ...

New York, NY, October 7, 2010—The United States continues to lag behind other nations when it comes to gains in life expectancy, and commonly cited causes for our poor performance—obesity, smoking, traffic fatalities, and homicide—are not to blame, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study published today as a Health Affairs Web First. The study, by Peter Muennig and Sherry Glied at Columbia University, looked at health spending; behavioral risk factors like obesity and smoking; and 15-year survival rates for men and women ages 45 and 65 in the U.S. and 12 other ...

G.Sran is pleased to announce the http://www.DVDLink.ca shipped its 300,000 disc on September 23, 2010. The phenomenal popularity and growth of DVDLink since its inception in 2008, has made it one of the largest online Movies and Games rental providers in Canada. When interviewed Mr. G.Sran stated, "I am extremely proud that we have shipped 300,000 discs today! DVDLink.ca serves over 11,000 customers all over Canada. I want to thank our 11,000+ and growing customers for making us one of the top rental company in Canada. Our goal remains focused on the needs and desires ...

Roxy, today is a way of life for many. The brand has always been associated with surf culture. This year, we saw Roxy take advantage of its successful surfing clothes and come up with a number of products that included flip flops and even bed linen. The fall/winter collection also saw the latest in hoodies and sweaters. Their clothes as we all know range from the basic surf wear for sport and style to even vintage inspired sport wear. "This year's surf expo was a huge success. We're super excited about the upcoming surf clothing lines for 2011. The Roxy clothing ( http://www.ripyard.com/m-11-roxy.aspx ...

As part of its commitment to providing high quality yet affordable pet products, Petitude, the FUN and VALUE online pet store is off to launch fresh selections of dog kennels, rabbit hutches and chicken coops that Australia-based pet owners will surely love. One of the best ways that pet owners can show their love to their pets is to provide them the best shelter. For dog owners, being able to find the most comfortable and secured dog kennel for their precious pooch is a must. Not only can they ensure the safety of their dog buddy but they can also make their "best friend" ...

Maxi View, the world's best blind spot mirror offers a solution to a problem we all face; the dangerous blind spot. Maxi View Mirrors, as featured on QVC, experienced rave reviews and over 1 million dollars in mirror sales! Maxi View Mirrors dramatically increase driving safety to fleets, passenger cars, SUV's, trucks, and motorcycles. More than 400,000 vehicle accidents occur each year due to vehicle blind spot related mishaps. Lane change accidents damage more than 800,000 vehicles and injure or kill more than 160,000 people each and every year! Maxi View Mirrors ...

InSomnis Enterprises today unveiled the newly designed CMS driven infinityli.com. Infinity Windows of Long Island provides state-of the-art replacement windows, doors, siding and expert installation. They offer top quality products that make homes more energy efficient. Serving all of Long Island, New York and New York City they are the premier replacement window, door and siding contractor. Infinity Windows of Long Island came to InSomnis looking for an updated, clean and stylish redesign of their existing site, as well as a complete restructuring of their content and ...

Do a little research about the reasons so many parents with special needs children are choosing to educate their children at home, and you'll discover that most are doing so out of a sense of desperation rather than religious convictions or the pursuit of higher academic achievement. "Parents of children with special needs often turn to homeschooling only as a last resort," according to Lisa Rivero, author of The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family. And the popularity of this trend is not limited to families with disabled kids; parents ...

Amputees from around the world have lost limbs to accidents and disease but do not have access to the upper extremity prosthetic devices that could help restore functionality to their lives. In addition to funding concerns, it is difficult to transport prosthetic devices to third world countries. A group of engineering students at the University of Illinois is working to remedy this. The mission of Illini Prosthetics is to provide affordable prosthetic arms to amputees in the developing world. Originally a group of independent students, Illini Prosthetics has evolved ...

Lauren Luna launches "The Se7en Deadly Sins" official runway event displaying a series of tantalizing fashion pumps originated from The Worlds Seven Deadly Sins. The one of-a-kind, star-studded fashion show brings together on the runway, Lauren Luna LTD in conjunction with The Columbus College Of Art and Design. Proven to be an eclectic showcase of upscale designs. Made possible by Utrecht Art Supplies, including sponsors such as WS2, Phia Salon, The Perfect Image PR and Sugar Ray, in benefit to raise 5000.00 for The Simon Kent Council and Boys Scouts Of America. The ...