With sexual activity among adolescents in the United States resulting in over 750,000 teenage pregnancies each year and reports of up to 25 percent of all female adolescents in the US having sexually transmitted infections, researchers and public health officials are looking for those factors that might increase sexual activity in teens. In an article published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers say that teenagers who preferred popular songs with degrading sexual references were more likely to engage in intercourse or in pre-coital activities. 

A team of scientists has used game theory to explain the bizarre behavior of a group of ravens.   Juvenile birds from a roost in North Wales have been observed adopting the unusual strategy of foraging for food in 'gangs.'   New research published in PLoS One explains how this curious behavior can be predicted by adapting models more commonly used by economists to analyse financial trends.

This is the first time game theory has been used to successfully predict novel animal behavior in the real world. The researchers believe this analysis could also shed light on the variation in feeding strategies in different populations in other species.

Women undertaking a ten week program of 75 minute Restorative Yoga (RY) classes gained positive differences in aspects of mental health such as depression, positive emotions, and spirituality (feeling calm/peaceful) compared to the control group. The study, published today in a special issue of Psycho-Oncology focusing on physical activity, shows the women had a 50% reduction in depression and a 12% increase in feelings of peace and meaning after the yoga sessions.

Richard Hawkins, Canada Research Chair in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, says there is no evidence that information technologies necessarily reduce our environmental footprint. His research will provide input into the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) initiative on IT and sustainability at the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark later this year.

"It was once assumed that there was little or no material dimension to information technology, thus, it should be clean with minimal environmental impact," says Hawkins who is also a professor in the U of C's Faculty of Communication and Culture. "However, we are finding that reality is much more complicated."

PUNE, India, DETROIT and LONDON, February 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Retraining of employees adds to work force stability

INCAT, a Tata Technologies company and a global leader in Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO) and Product Development IT services, today announced that the Company's worldwide work force has surpassed 4,000 employees.

INCAT employees work throughout India and the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and North America, providing engineering, design and enterprise solutions in SAP and Sibel CRM systems, as well as other consultancy services to the world's most ambitious automotive and aerospace manufacturers and their suppliers.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, February 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- NEW INTEGRATION ENABLES ESTIMATORS TO DRAW TAKEOFFS ON SCREEN

On Center Software, an industry-leading construction software producer, recently unveiled the Digital Takeoff Table solution at the World of Concrete industry tradeshow in Las Vegas, NV. The Digital Takeoff Table is the latest On Center Software solution integrating their On-Screen Takeoff(R) program with Wacom's interactive pen display. The solution is offered exclusively by On Center Software and it is another step toward a more productive takeoff method for estimators.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090223/DA74315)

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland, February 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- The micro-sized CopperLink(TM) Model 2110 Ethernet Booster cuts infrastructure costs and simplifies deployment of Wireless Access Points (WAPs), IP cameras and VoIP handsets by extending IEEE 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) up to 5 times the standard reach

Patton -- the leader in business and carrier-class network access, connectivity, Voice-over-IP and triple-play equipment -- announces their latest innovation in network extension -- the CopperLink(TM) Model 2110 Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) Booster series.

Patton's Ethernet Booster transparently extends 100-Mbps Ethernet traffic along with IEEE 802.3af PoE up to 200 meters (656 feet) -- twice as far as the 100-meter (328-feet) standard.

SUNNYVALE, California and MANSFIELD, Massachusetts, February 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- Exclusive NEM Technology Partnership Delivers Most Advanced Video Quality Test Suite Available

Spirent Communications plc (http://www.spirent.com) (LSE: SPT), the global leader in network testing and IneoQuest Technologies, Inc. (http://www.ineoquest.com), the leading global supplier video quality solutions today announced that they have entered into a technology agreement. This exclusive global partnership will offer the industry's only end-to-end video quality test suite that allows network equipment manufactures (NEMs) to ensure that their solutions provide the highest possible Quality of Experience (QoE).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080909/CLTU016LOGO )

Show Me The Science Month Day 20



Tumor cells wield the enzyme heparanase like a machete to cut a swath
through the dense forest of carbohydrates that make up the sticky
matrix that helps hold communities of cells into tissues. Aggressive,
metastatic tumor cells have to break free of the confines of this
extracellular matrix in order to both grow and colonize new parts of
the body. In humans, heparanase is expressed at high levels in tumor
cells, and it therefore makes an attractive drug target: knock out
heparanase, and tumor cells can't bushwhack their way out of the
confines of the extracellular matrix.

A group of Israeli researchers has discovered a defective form of heparanase in blind mole rats, animals which spend their whole lives underground and as a result have adapted to deal with low oxygen conditions that parallel conditions experienced by tumor cells. This defective form of heparanse could become a new tool in the cancer treatment toolbox.

Hurry! Don't let [random eBay item here] get away! Increase your max bid before someone else steals away your item.

There are a few ways in which the creation of eBay was absolute genius; it played upon the needs and wants of society as a whole, combining them and providing easy access to previously unavailable or difficult to find items.