PASADENA, Calif.—We've all heard the predictions: e-commerce is going to be the death of traditional commerce; online shopping spells the end of the neighborhood brick-and-mortar store. While it's true that online commerce has had an impact on all types of retail stores, it's not time to bring out the wrecking ball quite yet, says a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Their investigations into how subjects assign value to consumer goods—and how those values depend on the way in which those goods are presented—are being published ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---In what could be a step toward higher efficiency solar cells, an international team including University of Michigan professors has invalidated the most commonly used model to explain the behavior of a unique class of materials called highly mismatched alloys. Highly mismatched alloys, which are still in the experimental stages of development, are combinations of elements that won't naturally mix together using conventional crystal growth techniques. Professor Rachel Goldman compares them to some extent to homogenized milk, in which the high-fat cream ...

St. Louis, MO, September, 8, 2010 – The government's role in improving the nation's nutrition is now firmly established with nutritional labeling for restaurant meals now mandated across the United States as part of HR 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act. An article in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association explains how state and municipal labeling laws developed and how the new national law will supersede these and replace them with a uniform standard. It also addresses the American Dietetic Association's (ADA's) involvement ...

BATON ROUGE – Gregory Stone, director of LSU's WAVCIS Program and also of the Coastal Studies Institute in the university's School of the Coast & Environment, disagrees with published estimates that more than 75 percent of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident has disappeared. Stone recently participated in a three-hour flyover of the affected area in the Gulf, where he said that subsurface oil was easily visible from overhead. "It's most definitely there," said Stone. "It's just a matter of time before it makes itself known again." Readings from WAVCIS indicate ...

Athens, Ga. – What if there were a way to predict when a species was about to become extinct—in time to do something about it? Findings from a study by John M. Drake, associate professor in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, and Blaine D. Griffen, assistant professor at the University of South Carolina, may eventually lead to such an outcome—and that is only the start. Their study also has implications for understanding drastic, even catastrophic, changes in many other kinds of complex systems, from the human brain to entire ecosystems. The paper, "Early ...

WASHINGTON—September 8, 2010—Research!America today called on Congress to take legislative action that will allow federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research to proceed, in light of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's refusal yesterday to lift his recent injunction on federally funded research using embryonic stem cells. Research!America strongly supports the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act (H.R. 4808) introduced in March 2010 by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Mike Castle (R-DE) that would allow federal funding for ethical research using human ...

In the midst of a difficult fire season in many parts of the world, the United Nations' (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization has launched a new online fire detection system that will help firefighters and natural hazards managers improve response time and resource management. The Global Fire Information Management System (GFIMS) delivers fire data from an imaging sensor aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites to generate daily fire maps and images through a freely accessible Web interface. The system also dispatches detailed email alerts of the quantity and coordinates ...

A portable, laser backpack for 3D mapping has been developed at the University of California, Berkeley, where it is being hailed as a breakthrough technology capable of producing fast, automatic and realistic 3D mapping of difficult interior environments. Research leading to the development of the reconnoitering backpack, was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Army Research Office under the guidance of program managers, Dr. Jon Sjogren (AFOSR) and Dr. John Lavery (ARO). The backpack is the first of a series of similar systems to work without ...

If your summer travels have taken you across the Rocky Mountains, you've probably seen large swaths of reddish trees dotting otherwise green forests. While it may look like autumn has come early to the mountains, evergreen trees don't change color with the seasons. The red trees are dying, the result of attacks by mountain pine beetles. Mountain pine beetles are native to western forests, and they have evolved with the trees they infest, such as lodgepole pine and whitebark pine trees. However, in the last decade, warmer temperatures have caused pine beetle numbers to ...

The potential for outbreaks of spruce and mountain pine beetles in western North America's forests is likely to increase significantly in the coming decades, according to a study conducted by USDA Forest Service researchers and their colleagues. Their findings, published in the September issue of the journal BioScience, represent the first comprehensive synthesis of the effects of climate change on bark beetles. "Native bark beetles are responsible for the death of billions of coniferous trees across millions of acres of forests ranging from Mexico to Alaska," said Barbara ...

As interest grows in feeding distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to growing pigs, many questions are being asked about the digestibility of this alternative feed option. "Previous research shows that while the amount of energy in DDGS is greater than that of corn, pigs have lower digestibility of energy in DDGS than in corn," said Hans H. Stein, U of I associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences. "Our goal was to find out why." Stein's team wanted to develop a greater understanding of the digestibility differences between DDGS and corn. He said ...

PHILADELPHIA — Postmenopausal women diagnosed with colon cancer may be at increased risk of death if they fail to maintain a healthy body weight before cancer diagnosis, according to a study published in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The researchers found that women considered "underweight" or "obese," or who had increased abdominal obesity prior to cancer diagnosis seemed to face a greater risk of mortality. "Maintaining a healthy body weight is beneficial for postmenopausal ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Chest compressions before defibrillation in patients with sudden cardiac arrest is equally successful as immediate treatment with an electrical defibrillator, according to a new study by the University of Michigan Health System. Few people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive. U-M physicians, along with a team of international experts, examined two promising rescue strategies: chest compressions first vs. defibrillation first. Their results, published online Thursday in BMC Journal, show that both timing strategies are effective, ...

Quebec City, September 9, 2010—Taking medications to treat insomnia and anxiety increases mortality risk by 36%, according to a study conducted by Geneviève Belleville, a professor at Université Laval's School of Psychology. The details of this study are published in the latest edition of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Dr. Belleville arrived at these results through analysis of 12 years of data on over 14,000 Canadians in Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey. The data includes information on the social demographics, lifestyle, and health of Canadians ...

WASHINGTON, DC: Synthetic biology—defined as the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems or re-design of existing natural biological systems for useful purposes—holds enormous potential to improve everything from energy production to medicine, with the global market projected to reach $4.5 billion by 2015. But what does the public know about this emerging field, and what are their hopes and concerns? A new poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Hart Research Associates and the Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center finds that ...

Xlibris Publishing's best selling author, Doris Washington, will have seven book signing activities before the month of September ends. Earlier this month, Doris Washington was seen signing copies of her book at Borders in 3515 Gettysburg Road Camp Hill, Pennsylvannia last Saturday, September 4. This Saturday, September 11, Xlibris Publishing author Doris Washington will have another book signing event at Borders 4420 Mitchellville Road Bowie, Maryland from 1:00pm- 5:00pm. The rest of this self published author's book signing activities for the rest of September will ...

Social Media Michigan, a Social Media Marketing Training firm based in Livonia, Michigan will be hosting a special live training on August 16th 2010 at the Eastern Michigan University in Livonia to help individuals learn how to measure ROI on Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Social Media Michigan is hosting "Measuring Social Media Success", taught by a guest host, and long time Internet strategy consultant, Sarah Worsham. "Most of the attention to date on Social Media has been about developing a message or persona to get people ...

64clicks, a Virginia-based digital marketing firm today announced the release of its Omnipresent Marketing Framework (OPM), a collection of blueprints and best practices designed to maximize the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. "The framework was a natural response to the dramatic shifts taking place in the field of branding and marketing today. We analyzed multiple trends and compiled data from diverse industry studies. The numbers were clear - customers were looking for a balanced and holistic approach to marketing. In addition, there was a need for a repeatable ...

Trafford Publishing, one of the leading independent book publishing companies today, provides authors the chance to increase their book's exposure through their September marketing services savings. With three high-profile media marketing opportunities, self published authors can customize their book marketing services for promotional clout. Miami Book Fair Gallery - This Trafford book marketing service allows authors to showcase their books in front of publishers, authors and book lovers at The Miami Book Fair Gallery on November 19-21. This is one of the year's most ...

September 9, 2010-Atlantic Coast UFO's, the creator of "The Kate Valentine UFO Show", which airs Fridays at 1PM on WVNJ am 1160, has launched it's second show "Viewpoints", which airs from midnight to 1am on WYNM am 970 "The Apple". Kate Valentine is at the helm on both UFO Talk Radio Shows, which can also be heard streaming live or by podcast at : http://www.atlanticcoastufos.com . Kate Valentine intensifies her "Journey For Answers" with the addition of Viewpoints. "We are taking the quest to finding answers and understanding the UFO phenomena to the next level," stated ...

Wrinkles are a huge problem facing an aging population today. Unfortunately, too much sun and not enough nourishment to the skin over the years can cause it to get a prematurely aged and wrinkled appearance. As the skin becomes dehydrated, sun damaged and less elastic, excessive contraction of facial muscles may cause visible, deep wrinkles between the eyebrows to form. There is a real new alternative to the surgical treatments that correct the deepest facial wrinkles- Skeyndor Corrective. Following intense research into surgical cosmetics (which took years and numerous ...

D & R Energy Services, Inc. is helping all commercial/industrial businesses to see a better return in a tough Michigan economy. With the poor economy we have here in Michigan it is getting harder and harder to keep costs under control. Deanna Craig, Chief Financial Officer of D & R Energy says, "Manufacturing costs have to rise because other costs rise too and then if sales suffer, where do you turn to save money? The normal was to cut back where you could and sometimes re-diversify the company. How about another option and help stimulate the Michigan economy and your ...

There's a lot to be said for helping the population of Canada's smallest province lose more than 65,000 pounds in only five years. Having facilitated so much weight loss, Rachelle Wood is practically a household name in Prince Edward Island. Now with her online weight loss program, SeeResults, this Registered Holistic Nutritionist is gaining much momentum across the rest of Canada. In fact, Wood has received three nominations for the first annual Best of Canada Awards for Natural Health practitioners. "I've been nominated for awards before, but these nominations mean ...

Today Out-U-Go! , pet care, opens its seventh location, the second in the Boulder-Denver area. Out-U-Go! was founded in 1996 and its growth is characterized by the fun entrepreneurial spirit they describe as "Awesome Pet Care". Recognized for its dedication to high-end professional care for both its pet and human clients, Out-U-Go! Boulder will provide local pet parents with peace of mind when they are on vacation, at work or simply on-the-go. "I have enjoyed working with Out-U-Go!'s founder for over a decade. When we say we provide awesome pet care we mean it." said ...

World-renowned love and relationship expert Dr. Patty Ann Tublin has helped thousands of couples to navigate the sometimes-rocky terrain of their relationships - and she helped Florida viewers to do the same during her appearance on Fox4 Morning Blend news show, where she shared 3 common relationship saboteurs, as well as strategies for rekindling the romance in any relationship - and how technology can wreak havoc. Download the link of the recording here: http://www.fox4morningblend.com Dr. Patty Ann is a sought-after psychotherapist and social worker who helps ...