A new study has shed light on the genetic roots of obesity – a condition that is increasing dramatically in North America and has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer.

The new findings may also help to unlock the mystery of how our nervous systems control obesity.

Researchers at Queen's University and the University of Toronto teamed up to work with tiny, transparent worms that have similar neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit nerve impulses) as humans. They discovered that when a specific nerve receptor is deleted, the worms lose interest in foraging for food, become slow-moving and accumulate fat at a much higher rate than normal, non-modified, worms.

In discussions about the quality and equity of our educational system, one thing lost in political arguments about unions and ideological bias and No Child Left Behind is empirical data of what difference teachers make in actual education.

A special issue of Public Finance Review tackles the impact of teachers, focusing especially on the hiring and retention of qualified teachers, including in disadvantaged districts.

Some of the topics addressed:

LONDON, January 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr Judith Bryans, Director of The Dairy Council said: "We are pleased to see that the government report on obesity released today highlighted both food and physical activity. Very often the physical activity aspect of obesity is ignored, but in order to adequately address the issue of obesity both aspects must be given equal importance. Although food is part of the equation, we must be careful to ensure that the public is educated about portion sizes and the importance of eating from all of the food groups, including dairy, in order to stay healthy as well as achieve and maintain a healthy weight."

http://www.milk.co.uk

SAO PAULO, Brazil, January 23 /PRNewswire/ --

The Brazilian Sugar Cane Industry Association (UNICA) welcomes the proposal by the European Commission released today as a sensible approach to meet the ambitious binding targets agreed on by heads of government from the European Union last March. The draft directive paves the way for biofuels to make up at least 10% of transport fuels in Europe by 2020, which goes a long way towards the development and consolidation of a biofuels market in Europe.

It’s not always best to be first, finds a new study from the Journal of Consumer Research. The researchers examined how consumers evaluate new products and found that many products may actually benefit from having competition, entering the market as followers rather than as the first of their kind.

New types of products are constantly being developed and introduced. When a brand releases a product that has never been offered by any brand before, it is the “pioneer” product, and consumers can’t evaluate it in the same way they evaluate existing products, the researchers explain. For example, Clorox was the pioneer brand for disinfectant wipes.

Other brands that then release similar products are termed “followers.” Mr.

Some elections are tougher than others. If you like John Edwards, who would you reject if he drops out, Clinton or Obama? How we decide against candidates can tell us valuable things about how people make choices.

A new study from the February issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that sometimes asking people to reject an option – rather than choose an option – makes it easier for consumers to decide among options that they don’t particularly like.

“If both the alternatives are attractive, then both provide reasons to choose, and therefore are compatible with the choose task,” explain Anish Nagpal from the University of Melbourne) and Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy from the University of Houston.

2-3 percent of children are born with mental retardation. It can sometimes be attributed to external factors (such as a shortage of oxygen at birth) or to defects in the DNA but, in 80% of the cases involving DNA, scientists do not know which genes are responsible.

Researchers at VIB, the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, connected to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in collaboration with an Australian research team, have discovered that, in a portion of these patients, the mental retardation is caused by a twofold production of two proteins (HSD17B10 and HUWE1). This is the first time that scientists have found that duplication of a protein leads to mental retardation.

Baking soda is one of those wonder substances with useful applications far beyond simple baked goods. We all know we can open a box and leave it in our fridge to combat odors. But as a result of innovative work done by Skyonic Corporation in Texas, baking soda may become one of our greatest weapons against carbon emissions and global warming as well.

Skyonic has developed a “post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration technology that works with any large-scale stationary CO2 emitter” (e.g.- coal, natural gas or oil fired power plant). The process removes heavy metals, acid gasses, and carbon dioxide from conditioned at-temperature flue gas. The carbon emissions are then stored as stable sodium bicarbonate (better-than-food-grade baking soda) for long-term storage as land or mine fill. The clean flue gas is then returned to the plants stack for release.

BRUSSELS, January 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's Commission proposal for 20% renewable energy by 2020 paves the way for a massive expansion of wind energy in the 27 Member States and a new energy future for Europe. It proposes a stable and flexible EU framework in which Member States keep control of their renewable energy policies through successful national support systems. In addition, cross-border transfer of guarantees of origin can only take place where Member States have met or exceeded their interim targets. For the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), these two elements are crucial for maintaining investor confidence and encouraging substantial investments in green electricity.

HALIFAX, Canada, January 23 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunoVaccine Technologies Inc. (IVT) announced today that it has met with Health Canada's regulatory affairs division, the Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate, to discuss requirements for a Phase I clinical trial application. For Phase I human clinical trials, IVT plans to combine novel antigens with its vaccine-enhancement technology, the VacciMax(R) platform.

"We are seeing impressive pre-clinical results with the VacciMax(R) platform," said Dr. Randal Chase, president and CEO of IVT. "The comments from the Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate are much appreciated because they give us direction as we proceed with our clinical development in Canada," said Dr. Chase.