A gene variation that appears to predict the rate at which Alzheimer's disease will progress has been uncovered by an international team of Alzheimer's disease experts, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Published in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, the findings help determine how rapidly Alzheimer's patients may develop full-blown dementia after their diagnosis. Alzheimer's disease, one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders, affects over 4.5 million people in the United States alone. Recent studies have found the presence of ...

Certain key ingredients of a diet designed to prevent high blood pressure can ward off kidney stones, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The results suggest how low-fat dairy products and/or plants may have potent kidney stone–fighting properties. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet—which is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, dairy products, and whole grains and is low in sweetened beverages and red and processed meats—effectively lowers blood pressure. ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Throughout their lives, Native Hawaiians have higher risks of death than white Americans, according to a University of Michigan study. The research is the first known study to assess mortality patterns among Native Hawaiians at the national level, including those living outside the state of Hawaii. The study is published in the November 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, online Sept. 16. It was funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health. "Native Hawaiians ...

Brussels, 16 September - More than 100 marine scientists, policy makers and members of industry unanimously call for action towards an integrated network of observatories monitoring Europe's seas, at the Marine Board-ESF Forum 'Towards a European Network of Marine Observatories'. This will give reliable, long-term data to underpin science and policy regarding the use of seas for fisheries, aquaculture, energy, shipping, as well as tourism and recreation. "We should not take for granted the wealth and well-being provided by the seas and oceans" said Lars Horn from the ...

A new research report published today suggests the police service may have a resource in private security that could contribute to savings of up to £1 billion through collaboration and new ways of working as challenged by the Audit Commission and HMIC. Interviews with police chiefs suggest that while many feel there is untapped potential in using private security as a resource in this testing climate; others feel that the private security sector lacks credibility and closer collaboration could damage the reputation of the police. Key findings include: Some police ...

AUDIO: For years, researchers have known that two key proteins tend to characterize Alzheimer's disease in the brain. Amyloid makes up the senile plaques that form in the brains of Alzheimer's... Click here for more information. An international team of Alzheimer's disease experts, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has uncovered a gene variation that appears to predict the rate at which Alzheimer's disease will progress. The investigators report ...

Health experts will today call for a greater prioritization and targeting of aid to save the lives of mothers, newborns, and children in poor countries. The amount of official development assistance (ODA) to maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in developing countries doubled between 2003 and 2008, but its ratio to overall aid for health remained static. The US, UK, EU, GAVI and the Global Fund have made the largest absolute increases, while Spain and a number of small bilateral donors including New Zealand and Belgium have made significant percentage increases, ...

SEATTLE –Women are advancing further in school than at any time in recent history, a trend that is having a tremendous impact on child mortality, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. Between 1970 and 2009, mortality in children under age 5 dropped from 16 million to 7.8 million annually, and IHME researchers estimate that 51% of the reduction can be linked to increased education among women of reproductive age. This means that 4.2 million fewer children died in 2009 because women received ...

Two popular supplements taken by millions of people around the world to combat joint pain, do not work, finds research published on bmj.com today. The supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin, are either taken on their own or in combination to reduce the pain caused by osteoarthritis in hips and knees. The researchers, led by Professor Peter Jüni at the University of Bern in Switzerland, argue that given these supplements are not dangerous "we see no harm in having patients continue these preparations as long as they perceive a benefit and cover the cost of treatment ...

Society's attitudes towards dying, death and bereavement need to change if we are to achieve a good death for all, say experts in a special series of articles published on bmj.com today in the first BMJ "Spotlight" supplement. By 2030 the annual number of deaths around the world is expected to rise from 58 million to 74 million, but too many people still die alone, in pain, without dignity, or feeling alienated. The articles aim to remedy this by exploring how lessons learnt from end of life care for cancer patients can be adapted for those dying from chronic conditions ...

The increasing commercialisation of science is restricting access to vital scientific knowledge and delaying the progress of science, claim researchers on bmj.com today. Varuni de Silva and Raveen Hanwella from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka argue that copyrighting or patenting medical scales, tests, techniques and genetic material, limits the level of public benefit from scientific discovery. For example, they found that many commonly used rating scales are under copyright and researchers have to pay for their use. Some genetic tests also carry patents, ...

CLEVELAND – September 16, 2010 – Menachem Shoham, PhD, associate professor and researcher in the department of biochemistry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has identified new anti-pathogenic drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease. Infections of MRSA are a growing public health problem causing 20,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. MRSA is the most prevalent bacterial pathogen in hospital settings and in the community ...

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 16, 2010 — UC Irvine researchers have deciphered how lowly fruit flies bred to rapidly develop and reproduce actually evolve over time. The findings, reported in the Sept. 15 online issue of Nature, contradict the long-held belief that sexual beings evolve the same way simpler organisms do and could fundamentally alter the direction of genetic research for new pharmaceuticals and other products. "This is actually decoding the key DNA in the evolution of aging, development and fertility," said ecology & evolutionary biology professor Michael Rose, ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Instead of heading to the coast for vacation, people are traveling to Tornado Alley. The number of people registering to get a closer look at tornadoes is growing as vacationers trade in their beach towels for a ride with storm chasers. Labeled "Tornado Tourists" by a University of Missouri research team, these travelers are searching for an experience beyond just thrills. Sonja Wilhelm Stanis and Carla Barbieri, associate professors in the School of Natural Resources Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism in the MU College of Agriculture, Food ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have reported the successful loading of biological molecules onto "nanosprings" – a type of nanostructure that has gained significant interest in recent years for its ability to maximize surface area in microreactors. The findings, announced in the journal Biotechnology Progress, may open the door to important new nanotech applications in production of pharmaceuticals, biological sensors, biomedicine or other areas. "Nanosprings are a fairly new concept in nanotechnology because they create a lot of surface area ...

The world will need to make substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions below current levels over the next few decades if the worst impacts of dangerous climate change are to be avoided. This was a key conclusion from UK and US climate scientists at an international workshop on the UK AVOID program in Washington, DC exploring the most policy-relevant aspects of understanding dangerous climate change. Latest results from AVOID have shown that strong mitigation action to limit temperature rise to below 2 °C avoids many of the climate impacts, but not all of them. ...

A team of environmental engineers, who might better be called "archeologists of the air," have, for the first time, isolated aerosol particles in near pristine pre-industrial conditions. Working in the remote Amazonian Basin north of Manaus, Brazil, the researchers measured particles emitted or formed within the rainforest ecosystem that are relatively free from the influence of anthropogenic, or human, activity. The finding, published in a paper in the Sept. 17 issue of the journal Science, could provide crucial clues to understanding cloud formation, determining the ...

Berkeley — Girls in homes without a biological father are more likely to hit puberty at an earlier age, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health. The findings, to be published Sept. 17 in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that the absence of a biologically related father in the home predicted earlier breast and pubic hair development, but only for girls in higher income households. The findings held even after the girls' weight was taken into account. "The age at which girls are reaching ...

Kids Wish Network (http://kidswishnetwork.org) founder Shelley Breiner announces the Brad Paisley Corvette Dream Giveaway. Driven by his passion for kids and cars, Brad Paisley teams up with Kids Wish Network and their Corvette Dream Giveaway program to give away two Corvettes. Proceeds help benefit the Kids Wish Network's Hero program to bring joy to children in crisis nationwide. In addition to being passionate about helping children, Brad Paisley has always been passionate about cars, particularly Corvettes. So, when Kids Wish Network offered him the chance to combine ...

For every win after home running win, the song kept fans on the edges of their seats in Tropicana Field as they cheered their home team onto a captivating season. Now as the Rays battle with the New York Yankees for first place position, St. Petersburg native and lifelong Rays fan Cristol turns the momentum up to the maximum with "It's Our Season 2010 Remix" in hopes of stimulating the team back into the number one spot. Featuring fellow rappers Big Gill and Bay Boi, the newest version of the song is even more dynamic with added lead guitar riffs and amped-up production. "The ...

Users of popular Android phones now have the means to easily back-up and share their phone content with the PC thanks to a new software. FutureDial Incorporated announced today its launch of its FutureDial Suite PC Software for Android Phones. The new PC software is compatible with popular Android phone models like the Google Nexus One, HTC EVO 4G, HTC DROID Eris, HTC G1, HTC Hero, HTC DROID Incredible, HTC MyTouch 3G, Motorola BackFlip, Motorola Cliq, Motorola Cliq XT, Motorola DROID, Motorola Devour, Samsung Moment and Samsung Behold II. More phones are being added ...

Early exposure to reading comprehension questions and awareness of story details strengthens a child's ability to process what they read. Children become better readers as they practice making connections with what they read. A child does not automatically apply personal experiences and connect to prior knowledge when reading. The more a child practices reading comprehension skills the better prepared they will be to digest more complex subject matter with understanding. Reading discussions during the preschool years and beyond hone a child's active reading skills. It ...

Bachata Reno, LLC, a leading bachata event company owned by Rodney Rodchata Aquino and BB of Salsa Reno, is pleased to announce today, "Reno Is Bachata, " the 3rd Reno International Bachata Festival to be held at Silver Legacy Resort and Casino. "In celebration of 3-years of providing the best bachata events, and as well as the first in US history to organize a bachata festival, we are proud to announce that 3-times always a charm, and that's what the 3rd Reno International Bachata Festival is all about," said Rodney Rodchata Aquino, founder and co-owner of Bachata Reno. "The ...

CloudLinux is an operating system that integrates with a variety of service types. It is is designed to allow for user isolation in a shared hosting environment. This allows for a more efficient use of server resources. Additionally, PacificHost added Memcached which is a distributed memory object caching system. This speeds up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load. The CloudLinux software effectively creates a virtual environment for every hosting account. By doing this it prevents any specific user from using all the server resources at any one time. ...

The Bimini Boatyard (BBY) was first usher into the Fort Lauderdale dining scene scape in September of 1989. A lot has happened in the world since the time of its opening. Remember the fall of the Berlin Wall? The reins of this lengthy journey have been taken on by chef and cookbook author-Michael Bennett, once acknowledged by the American Culinary Federation as Chef of the Year -1995. Today the BBY is best-known for its exciting and wildly popular "Caribb-ican" menu, value-based wines and the best Happy Hour in Fort Lauderdale. Like BBY's menu, the wine list selections ...