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USAID nominee visits Capitol Hill

President Barack Obama's nominee to head USAID, Rajiv Shah, "made the rounds" on Capitol Hill Thursday, which included a meeting with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair John Kerry (D-Mass.), Politco's Laura Rozen reports on her foreign policy blog. Rozen also examines this week's markup of the Kerry-Lugar foreign aid reform bill and quotes a Hill staffer saying that there is a "fundamental disagreement between what USAID should look like and what it should do between the administration and Congress."

20 Nov 2009

SCF founder Sabrina Cohen recognized as a WebMD 2009 Health Hero

Sabrina Cohen, founder of The Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research (SCF), was just recognized as a WebMD 2009 Health Hero. She will receive national media attention with a full-page article about her personal story of triumph and courage, and shares the spotlight with celebrity movie-star, Scarlett Johansson and other Health Heroes in the November/December issue.

20 Nov 2009

Image of a water flea wins top prize in the 2009 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition

A glowing, eerily beautiful image of a water flea with its radiant green "crown of thorns" took top prize in the 2009 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®, the world's foremost forum for showcasing microscope photos and movies of life science subjects. Dr. Jan Michels, a zoologist at the University of Albrecht, Kiel, Germany, took top honors for the image of a water flea, with its defensive "crown of thorns" to protect it against predators. The image reveals not only the exoskeleton, but also interior detail down to the nuclei within its cells, seen as tiny, glowing blue dots. This

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 20 Nov 2009

Salvation Army seeks donations through its direct mail program

Desperate times equal desperate measures, says, Captain John Murray of The Salvation Army as reports of a "Salvation Army Santa", an unauthorized individual going door-to-door trying to collect donations in North York, Ontario has been reported. "In tough economic times, people will resort to all means of trying to make a buck and some prey on the kindness of unsuspecting individuals in our community."

20 Nov 2009

NJIT engineer explains the theory behind spontaneous dispersion of particles on liquid surfaces

Even if you are not a cook, you might have wondered why a pinch of flour (or any small particles) thrown into a bowl of water will disperse in a dramatic fashion, radiating outward as if it was exploding. Pushpendra Singh, PhD, a mechanical engineering professor at NJIT who has studied and written about the phenomenon, has not only thought about it, but can explain why.

20 Nov 2009

Dutch researcher discovers how sulfate groups can be protected during molecule construction

Sulfate groups are crucial building blocks for many molecules but are difficult to handle. Dutch researcher Martijn Huibers has discovered how sulfate groups can be protected during the construction of a molecule. Thanks to his method new molecules, which could be used for the production of medicines, can now be constructed far more easily.

20 Nov 2009

Study: U.S. lagging behind other nations on adopting policies that support workers and families

A major new study by researchers at Harvard and McGill Universities - the largest ever to look at working conditions worldwide - finds the United States far behind other economically successful nations in terms of adopting policies that support workers and families.

20 Nov 2009

Arcadia Biosciences and Vilmorin collaborate to develop and market NUE wheat

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural technology company focused on developing technologies and products that benefit the environment and human health, and Vilmorin, the world’s fourth-largest seed company and the global leader in wheat genetics and seed, today announced that they have reached an agreement for the development and commercialization of Nitrogen Use Efficient (NUE) wheat.

20 Nov 2009

Companies, individuals and academic organizations recognized with GCOI awards

The Arizona Technology Council in partnership with the Arizona Department of Commerce today announced the winners of the 2009 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) awards.

20 Nov 2009

Seminar highlights concerns about food, eating and indigestion

Professor Stephen Mennell of University College, Dublin, will deliver a visiting speaker seminar on the 'Fear of Food and Fear of the Sociology of Food' on Thursday 26 November at 3pm. The free public lecture has been organised by the University's Department of Media and Communication.

20 Nov 2009

FDA completes IIWA to curb illegal actions involving medical products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today completed a coordinated, weeklong, international effort, called the International Internet Week of Action (IIWA), intended to curb illegal actions involving medical products.

20 Nov 2009

Maja Mataric' to evaluate robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages

Maja Mataric', who directs the University of Southern California Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems, will lead an effort to evaluate robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages, with a particular focus on the elderly.

20 Nov 2009

Scientists identify and characterize different antioxidant compounds from foods

Scientists at the University of Granada have identified and characterized for the first time different antioxidant compounds from foods such as olive oil, honey, walnuts and a medicinal herb called Teucrium polium.

20 Nov 2009

Tax on cosmetic surgery opposed by AACS

As negotiators on Capitol Hill try to find ways to fund a health care overhaul, a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery has been introduced on Nov. 18 as part of the Senate's proposed health reform bill, introduced by US Senator Harry Reid (D-NV).

19 Nov 2009

For World Toilet Day, news outlets examine poor sanitation conditions around world

In light of World Toilet Day Thursday, several news outlets examine the impact of poor sanitation on health.

19 Nov 2009

World Summit on Food Security wraps up

The U.N. World Summit on Food Security ended Wednesday in Rome with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) head Jacques Diouf calling for the global community to shift the fight against global hunger from "words to action," Agence France-Press reports. Diouf said, "We must do this to have a more prosperous world, fairer, more equitable and more peaceful. But above all we must do this fast: the poor and starving can not wait" (11/18).

19 Nov 2009

Fruitful and delicious recipes for holiday season

Mott's is getting sneaky this holiday season by teaming up with The Sneaky Chef, Missy Chase Lapine, to sneak Mott's into classic holiday meals. As many Americans tend to skimp on fruits and vegetables during this time of year, Mott's and The Sneaky Chef have responded with a list of holiday recipes that provide fruitful and delicious meals for both kids and adults to enjoy.

19 Nov 2009

New online tool launched to encourage donations and fight global hunger

Mercy Corps is challenging Americans to put the "giving" back in Thanksgiving by matching the amount they spend on a meal this Thanksgiving Day with a donation that fights global hunger.

19 Nov 2009

Air pollution: An important health concern for people living near regional airports

Scientists are reporting evidence that air pollution - a well-recognized problem at major airports - may pose an important but largely overlooked health concern for people living near smaller regional airports.

19 Nov 2009

Expansion of Excelyte manufacturing plant completed at Midland

Integrated Environmental Technologies, Ltd. announces that Benchmark Performance Group, Inc., its exclusive worldwide distributor serving the oil and gas industry, has completed the expansion of its Excelyte® manufacturing plant at its Midland, Texas facility.

19 Nov 2009