VERNON -- Dr. Dariusz Malinowski is seeing blue, and he is very excited. For four years, Malinowski, an AgriLife Research plant physiologist and forage agronomist in Vernon, has been working with collaborators Steve Brown of the Texas Foundation Seed and Dr. William Pinchak and Shane Martin with AgriLife Research on a winter-hardy hibiscus breeding project. The project was first a private hobby of the inventors and became a part of the strategic plan of the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon in 2009. The flower commercialization is a part ...

Researchers at Queen's University have found that people with Parkinson's disease can perform automated tasks better than people without the disease, but have significant difficulty switching from easy to hard tasks. The findings are a step towards understanding the aspects of the illness that affect the brain's ability to function on a cognitive level. "We often think of Parkinson's disease as being a disorder of motor function," says Douglas Munoz, director of the Queen's Centre for Neuroscience Studies and a Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience. "But the issue is ...

While vultures across Asia teeter on the brink of extinction, the vultures of Cambodia are increasing in number, providing a beacon of hope for these threatened scavengers, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other members of the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project. Researchers report that record numbers of vultures have been counted in Cambodia's annual vulture census, with 296 birds of three species found at multiple sites across the Northern and Eastern Plains of Cambodia by the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project, a partnership of conservationists ...

Afla-Guard®, a biological control used to thwart the growth of fungi on peanuts, can be used on corn as well, according to a study by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists who helped develop it. After extensive study and research trials in Texas, Afla-Guard® was registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use on corn, beginning with the 2009 crop. Recently retired Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Joe Dorner at the National Peanut Research Laboratory in Dawson, Ga., helped develop Afla-Guard®, a biological control for ...

The modern world -- with its ubiquitous electronic devices and electrical power -- can trace its lineage directly to the discovery, less than two centuries ago, of the link between electricity and magnetism. But while engineers have harnessed electromagnetic forces on a global scale, physicists still struggle to describe the dance between electrons that creates magnetic fields. Two theoretical physicists from Rice University are reporting initial success in that area in a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Their new conceptual model, which ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Phosphorus, a mineral element found in rocks and bone, is a critical ingredient in fertilizers, pesticides, detergents and other industrial and household chemicals. Once phosphorus is mined from rocks, getting it into these products is hazardous and expensive, and chemists have been trying to streamline the process for decades. MIT chemistry professor Christopher Cummins and one of his graduate students, Daniel Tofan, have developed a new way to attach phosphorus to organic compounds by first splitting the phosphorus with ultraviolet light. Their method, ...

PHILADELPHIA –- An international collaboration led by a University of Pennsylvania anthropologist has shown that environmental factors, like temperature and light, play as much of a role in the activity of traditionally nocturnal monkeys as the circadian rhythm that regulates periods of sleep and wakefulness. The study also indicates that when the senses relay information on these environmental factors, it can influence daily activity and, in the case of a particular monkey species, may have even produced evolutionary change. It is possible, according to the study results, ...

NASA satellite data has noticed that Tropical Storm Fiona is getting "longer." That is, the storm is elongating in almost a north-south direction, indicating that she's weakening and may not make it through the weekend. Meanwhile, forecasters are watching two other areas for development in the eastern Atlantic this weekend. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-13 captured an image of Fiona on Friday, Sept. 3 at 10:32 a.m. EDT and the visible image showed a weak circulation in Fiona's center. It also appeared that Fiona's clouds were "stretched" ...

NASA satellites and the International Space Station are keeping eyes on Hurricane Earl as it heads for New England. Watches and Warnings are posted in the U.S. northeast. Having felt the effects of both increasing wind shear and cooler waters, Hurricane Earl weakened to a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale with winds still powerful at 90 knots (104 mph) as it neared the North Carolina coast. It was at this time that the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured the data about TRMM's rainfall rates. The rainfall pattern associated with ...

MBL, WOODS HOLE, MA—One of the big, unsolved problems in explaining how life arose on Earth is a chicken-and-egg paradox: How could the basic biochemicals—such as amino acids and nucleotides—have arisen before the biological catalysts (proteins or ribozymes) existed to carry out their formation? In a paper appearing in the current issue of The Biological Bulletin, scientists propose that a third type of catalyst could have jumpstarted metabolism and life itself, deep in hydrothermal ocean vents. According to the scientists' model, which is experimentally testable, molecular ...

SAN ANTONIO, TX (Sept. 3) — A long-term study of women with a genetic predisposition for breast or ovarian cancer showed that those who elected major preventive surgeries had a significantly reduced risk of those cancers. The study, published Sept. 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, confirms the view of one of its researchers, Gail Tomlinson, M.D., Ph.D., interim director of the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Tomlinson said that for women with certain genetic mutations, ...

Something has been eating Charlie Kerfoot's doughnut, and all fingers point to a European mollusk about the size of a fat lima bean. No one knew about the doughnut in southern Lake Michigan, much less the mollusk, until Michigan Technological University biologist W. Charles Kerfoot and his research team first saw it in 1998. That's because scientists have always been wary of launching their research vessels on any of the shipwreck-studded Great Lakes in winter. But NASA's new Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project was giving scientists a safer way to ...

Summer is winding down, and Dr. Eric Mariotti (www.drmariotti.com) is now seeing an increase in consultation requests at his Walnut Creek area plastic surgery practice. With kids heading back to school, parents are finding that their schedules are freeing up and many are making more time for their cosmetic goals. "As a father myself, I understand how busy summers can get for parents," states Dr. Eric Mariotti. "Between watching the kids and working, it can be pretty hard to find time for yourself in the summer months. Early fall is when a lot of people start thinking ...

As the year end deadline looms for President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Galaxie Home Remodeling wants every Chicago Area Homeowner to take advantage of this Federal Tax Credit before it expires. As a further incentive to the federal tax credit, Galaxie is now offering free installation on it's replacement windows. The federal program says that qualifying 'Energy saving" purchases made before the end of this year, are eligible for a 30% credit off of the purchase price, up to $1,500. Galaxie, a full-service home remodeling serving the Greater ...

American Wave Machines, Inc. (AWM), an innovator in artificial wave technology, today announced that for the first time surfboards with fins have been ridden in a surf machine that includes a barreling standing wave. The machine debuted at the Himlabadet Municipal Aquatic Sports and Spa Facility in Sundsvall, Sweden. The machine is another first for AWM and the locals in Sundsvall turned out in force to ride SurfStream at the opening day event sponsored by Quiksilver and Red Bull. The event was a successful live demonstration of the newly patented barreling wave technology ...

Recently HomeschoolBlogger.com (HSB)—the largest and free homeschool blog site in the world—got a clean, fresh, new look with an exciting combination of new features, as a result of implementing an important software upgrade. According to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine publisher/owner Gena Suarez, "The plan behind the change is to tie great blogging in with the ever-expanding homeschool community to usher back in the 'blogging craze' that hit when HomeschoolBlogger was launched in 2005. It was a lot of work, we pushed forward, and now we're doing it. This is a major upgrade, ...

Nicknamed "St. Louis Animal Whisperer" by NBC TV-DSDK, Dr. Ava Frick is known as a miracle worker for her success in caring for animals. She was awarded by Hartz Mountain as the 2006 Veterinarian of the Year Runner-Up and given the Visionary Award by the Franklin County Humane Society. Her book "Fitness in Motion" created a stir among horse enthusiasts across the globe and she enjoys an excellent reputation for her success in rehabilitating animals. The Animal Fitness Center at 1841 Denmark Road Union, Missouri performs advanced therapy and treatments and with Dr. Frick's ...

Often women with children, single and destitute through domestic violence issues, find it near impossible to get back on their feet financially and support their family. Franklyn Scholar one of Australia's largest private education providers in conjunction with WIRE - Women' s Information, have joined forces to enable these women to receive training for a qualification at no cost. These mothers are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and all have the heavy burden of needing to provide for their families, many without any family support and all as a result ...

The new board held its first and elected David Souquet as the chairman. Mr Souquet is the CEO of the Geneva Business Council and also chaired the previous board since March 2009. The new Board includes shareholder representatives as well as independent directors. The independent directors are Jerome Alnier, Michel Ferrier, John Devore, Aizaz Sarfraz and William Joost.  GMEX is Geneva's commodities and futures exchange. It is also the first and only demutualised exchange in Switzerland and has a 100% institutional shareholding. It is regulated by the Securities and Exchange ...

As a children's book author, getting your book published in the knowledge that your story will be passed down from generation to generation is extremely rewarding. However, getting published in the traditional manner is no easy task. Taking the traditional publishing route requires a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment. Trafford Publishing, one of the leading "print on demand" companies, understands every author's needs. They provide top of the line professional book publishing services; the same services one would expect from a traditional publishing company. ...

PCWatch, http://www.pcwatch.com, was released by Spotmau Corporation as a platform for sharing IT information. Software reviews, latest PC news and useful PC computing articles are regularly updated here, keeping the pace with the development of this digital world. In this site you'll find comprehensive reviews on software to help you make an informed decision on which program is right for you. PCWatch has selected three pieces of software which stand out, and made detailed reviews on each of them. All you're interested in, such as license, price, strengths and features, ...

Attendees of the art auction at DirectBuy of Northern Colorado recently experienced otherwise, with members and guests saving more than $4,400 on artwork. West End Publishing conducted the live auction on Friday, August 20, 2010 featured 300+ pieces of art. West End Publishing is one of the fastest growing art publishers in the art world today, distributing and representing the artwork of internationally renowned artists such as Duaiv, Gary Benfield, Paula McArdle, and Sir Winston Churchill Fine Art Collection. Fifty DirectBuy of Northern Colorado members and their guests ...

Two of Austin's top real estate and finance experts will discuss the recent trends in the local and national real estate markets on Real Estate Radio. Aribitron recently rated KLBJ's Real Estate Radio as the highest rated hour of weekend programming just behind Kim Camando. David McMillan and Kenn Renner will talk about the great opportunities that are being offered in today's real estate market. They will discuss why Austin's market is different than the rest of the Nation. Although the current media trend is downplaying the ownership of real estate - they will discuss ...

TonerGreen, the e-commerce store that sells eco-friendly, U.S.-made and non-patent infringing ink and toner cartridges has recently forged partnership with EarthShare to support the latter's efforts to raise funds for its member charities. Founded in 1988 by its member charities, EarthShare is a convener organization that unites the most respected environmental and conservation organizations in the United States. A few of the famous members of EarthShare are World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club Foundation, and the National Wildlife Federation. EarthShare allows other companies ...

Paula Yakubik, managing partner of Nevada-based MassMedia Healthcare Marketing, a full-service public relations, advertising and marketing communications agency, announced today the company will host a strategic marketing workshop for members of the Medical Group Management Association at Desert Springs Hospital in Las Vegas on September 14 at 12pm. "How healthy is your practice online?" is a session designed to show medical professionals why managing web presence is vital to practice management. WHAT: MGMA Luncheon - "How healthy is your practice online?" WHEN: ...