CHICAGO, September 17, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ –

- Le Sanford Guide du diagnostic et traitement de l’hépatite maintenant disponible en application mobile

Le Sanford Guide, reconnu comme la référence absolue en matière de traitement des maladies infectieuses, a aujourd’hui annoncé le lancement du Sanford Guide du diagnostic et du traitement de l’hépatite à la 51e Conférence inter-science sur les agents antimicrobiens et la chimiothérapie (ICAAC). Il s’agit de la première application mobile du genre pour le traitement de l’hépatite, ce qui permettra aux professionnels de la santé partout dans le monde de voir instantanément les plus récentes directives de traitement.  

L’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a récemment identifié l’hépatite comme un problème d’importance globale qui touche près d’une personne sur trois dans le monde. L’OMS a organisé une journée mondiale de l’hépatite en août pour souligner la portée globale de cette maladie de plus en plus répandue. Le nouveau Sanford Guide, rédigé par les experts les plus renommés en maladies infectieuses au monde, vient en aide aux professionnels de la santé spécialisés dans les soins et la prise en charge des patients atteints d’hépatite, ou qui voient de plus en plus de ces patients, en leur offrant un accès pratique aux informations cruciales sur le lieu d’intervention.

« Une révolution est en marche dans le traitement des infections virales par l’hépatite C, d’une ampleur comparable aux transformations rapides du traitement du VIH dans les années 1990 », a déclaré Jeb Sanford, directeur de la rédaction. « Une différence essentielle entre les traitements du VIH et de l’hépatite C est que les patients peuvent guérir d’une infection par l’hépatite C. De nouveaux médicaments approuvés en 2011 transforment actuellement les approches thérapeutiques du traitement de l’hépatite C, et bien d’autres médicaments sont en cours de développement. »

Le Sanford Guide du diagnostic et du traitement de l’hépatite couvre :

• Diagnostic de l’hépatite C, épidémiologie, histoire naturelle, présentation clinique, cadre du traitement et traitement
• Traitement des infections aiguës hépatite A
• Traitement des infections chroniques hépatite B, gestion de l’exposition, prophylaxie chez les patients greffés
• Recommandations d’immunisation contre l’hépatite
• Informations détaillées sur les médicaments agents anti-HCV, notamment usage, posologie et ajustement posologique, effets nocifs, pharmacologie et interactions principales avec d’autres médicaments

L’application mobile pour ce guide est disponible dans le App Store d’Apple et le Marché Android. Parmi les avantages associés à l’application mobile plutôt qu’à un livret imprimé, on note la facilité de navigation et l’usage d’outils de recherche et de liens au matériel pertinent et aux sources de référence. Des mises à jour régulières refléteront les nouveaux médicaments, les variations des types de réponse ainsi que la disponibilité et l’efficacité variables des traitements anti-infectieux. L’édition Web du Sanford Guide et la 20e édition à paraître du Sanford Guide au traitement du VIH/Sida offriront également une meilleure couverture de l’hépatite.

À propos du Sanford Guide

Le Sanford Guide offre des guides de référence absolue en matière de traitement de maladies infectieuses pour les prestataires de soins de santé sur le « lieu d’intervention ». Le Sanford Guide offre des recommandations pratiques et complètes pour le traitement et la prévention des infections bactériennes, fongiques, virales, rétrovirales, parasitaires et mycobactériennes. Il propose également des recommandations quant à la prophylaxie chirurgicale ainsi que des renseignements complets sur les médicaments anti-infectieux. Toutes les informations sont soutenues par les commentaires d’experts et par des références factuelles. Antimicrobial Therapy, Inc., l’éditeur des Sanford Guides, appartient à la famille Sanford depuis 1969. Pour en savoir plus, consultez  http://www.sanfordguide.com.

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Le Sanford Guide lance un nouveau guide sur l’hépatite | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

UIC is receiving $3.2 million from the National Science Foundation over the next five years to form an IGERT – an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program – where doctoral students in a variety of fields will tackle electronic security and privacy matters from business, engineering, legal and social science perspectives.

“Technological expertise is a necessity to fight these threats, but technological solutions divorced from human, social, economic and legal considerations all too often fail,” said Robert Sloan, professor and head of computer science and a principal investigator of the IGERT grant.

Lead principal investigator Venkat Venkatakrishnan, associate professor of computer science, has been a pioneering researcher of online security and privacy issues since his own days as a doctoral student. Venkatakrishnan headed up efforts to secure the IGERT grant with the aid of more than a dozen researchers at UIC and other universities.

Sloan, along with Chicago-Kent College of Law professor Richard Warner, has successfully taught courses on privacy and security to a mix of computer science and law students. It convinced him of the benefits to multidisciplinary instruction.

Other co-PIs on the grant include Ranganathan Chandrasekaran, associate professor of information and decision sciences, who will focus on the economics of information security and risk analysis. Steven Jones, professor of communication, will focus on user attitudes towards security and privacy technologies. Annette Valenta, professor of biomedical and health information sciences, will focus on healthcare electronic security and privacy – a major concern as health records increasingly become digitalized.

Between 25 and 30 doctoral students will receive $30,000 annual stipends plus tuition for two years. The first students are likely to start the program in the fall, 2012 semester. Student eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship or a Green Card.

While IGERT participants will earn their Ph.D.s from various academic departments, Sloan said each will take a required set of five multidisciplinary courses. Each student will write a dissertation on a topic related to electronic security and privacy.

“We anticipate creating a new concentration in electronic security and privacy, so a student will graduate with a Ph.D. in, for example, communications, electrical and computer engineering or computer science with a concentration in electronic security and privacy,” he said.

NSF IGERT programs aim to broadly educate graduate students in a range of disciplines, training them to become future leaders in education, research and other professional positions. This is UIC’s third IGERT program, the second whose lead investigator is from computer science.

Sloan stressed that the time is right for the new IGERT.

“Malware and cyber-attack losses are estimated to run into at least the billions of dollars a year,” he said. “Simultaneously, we face increasing loss of control over our personal information which can be stolen by cyber-attacks or made public through social media.”

For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu

UIC Wins $3.2 Million Grant for Electronic Security and Privacy Study | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

NORTHBROOK, Ill., Aug. 17, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — UL is notifying consumers and retailers that the heat gun identified below bears unauthorized UL Marks for the United States and Canada. These heat guns have not been evaluated by UL to the appropriate Standards for Safety for the United States and Canada, and are not authorized to bear the UL Mark. It is unknown if these heat guns comply with the United States or Canadian safety requirements.

Name of Product: Heat Gun, Model 40411

Number of Units: Unknown

Manufacturer: Unknown

Date of Manufacture: Unknown

Identification:

On the product: The product bears an unauthorized UL mark on the heat gun body.  

Sold at: These products are known to be sold on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/) and may have been sold by other retailers.

About UL

UL is a premier global safety science company with more than 100 years of proven history. Employing more than 6800 professionals in over 96 countries, UL is evolving the future of safety with five distinct business units – Product Safety, Environment, Life & Health, Verification and University–to meet the expanding needs of customers and the global public. Additional information about UL can be found at UL.com or Safetyathome.com. 

SOURCE UL

http://www.UL.com

UL Warns of Heat Guns With Unauthorized UL Mark | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Teachers prepare students for the exercise, then essentially referee the action. Keeping track of which students do what and what is being learned by whom can prove quite a task for teachers.

“The role of teachers has changed dramatically with the move toward science inquiry where kids conduct their own investigations,” said Tom Moher, a University of Illinois at Chicago associate professor of computer science, learning sciences and education.

Moher has worked for about a decade with upper-level elementary school teachers in developing classroom science environments that simulate such things as natural ecosystems, sudden earthquakes and other natural phenomena, which set students scrambling to gather data that may answer questions about what is happening and why.

Aided by a new four-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Moher is working with James Slotta, the Canada Research Chair in education and technology at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, on ways that teachers can use well-placed high-tech tools to do a better job of supervising a large class of active students doing hands-on science.

The two researchers will work with and study grade school kids, mostly in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, IL, and Toronto.

Moher said the research has three key components.

First is keeping close track of what students are doing. “We don’t want kids to miss out on opportunities or to specialize in only one component of a task, or to just opt out and not get involved.” Various tracking technologies will be tested. “We’re looking for relatively inexpensive ways of monitoring activity that don’t get in the way of the kids’ activity,” Moher said.

Second, the researchers want to devise methods teachers can use to determine what Moher calls student “fidelity of scientific practice” in carrying out scientific investigations. Science discoveries can take a lot of time. If students carry out investigations that are heading in the wrong direction, at what point should teachers intervene to suggest a new course of action? Tablet computers and other portable devices could be programmed to flag teachers in real time to possible student problems. Teachers may then “take more subtle remediation without undermining student autonomy,” Moher said — an approach that promotes learning.

Third, Moher and Slotta want to find an effective way to capture and use collective observations that students make during their scientific investigations. Moher said that while modern gadgets can make the “capture” part easy, “the hard part is figuring out how to organize and effectively mine this growing ‘community knowledge base.’” What is useful to both the students and teachers are questions Moher and Slotta will try to answer.

Moher hopes his findings lead to new teaching methods that help upper-elementary and middle-school kids learn and experience science more the way scientists do. Some students already enjoy such instruction. But many teachers have limited experience with supporting kids in these kinds of complex investigations and need some help. Moher and Slotta hope their methods will fill that gap.

For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu

Technology Tools Provide Grip on Grade School Science Teaching | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to make sure they have an up-to-date University identification card to maintain after-hours access to campus buildings, as new electronic card readers are activated this month on the Main Quadrangle.

During the month of May, card readers and camera systems will go into use in Swift, Haskell, Foster, Kelly, Green, Beecher, Eckhardt, Mandel and Pick halls, Jones and Ryerson labs, the Reynolds Club, and the Social Science Research Building. Faculty and staff who currently have after-hours access to their building will keep that access; the only noticeable difference is that they will use their Chicago Card ID to gain entry instead of turning a key.

People who already have the UChicago Card, which the University introduced in 2008, can use their IDs with the new card readers. But anyone who has an older form of University identification, or no ID at all, will need a UChicago Card to open exterior doors after hours. Keys will no longer work at building entrances once they switch to the card reader system.

Building hours will not change. The new readers and the new cards are part of the University’s efforts to heighten security around campus by ensuring proper access to its buildings. The first phase of the project was completed in fall of 2010 and included the Administration, Classics, Cobb, Gates-Blake, Goodspeed, Harper, Rosenwald, Stuart, Walker and Wieboldt buildings.

How to get an updated Chicago Card

Updating the Chicago Card takes less than 10 minutes if avoiding peak hours like lunchtime. The new card is free with the return of the old card; otherwise the fee is $20. To get a new card, please visit the Identification & Privileges Office in the lobby of Regenstein Library, 1100 E. 57th St. A remote card station also will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., May 3-6 in Room 020 of Stuart Hall. For questions, contact IPO at (773) 702-3344 or card@uchicago.edu or visit its website.

The new Chicago Card can be easily identified by its vertical orientation, maroon stripe on top and skyline picture of the University below. Unlike the old magnetic stripes, this technology has a much higher “first-read” reliability, and is not affected by weather or wear. It also eliminates the need to swipe the card; to gain access to a building, tap the card on the small, black card reader. A light on the reader will change from red to green will indicate when the door is unlocked.

For troubles accessing a building after hours, please contact the UC Communications Center at 773-702-8181.

Updated UChicago card needed to maintain after-hours access to Quad buildings | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – April 11, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today recognized students from 28 Illinois high schools for their participation in the Illinois Innovation Talent Program. Through the program, students team up with private sector companies or public agencies to compete and collaborate on real world, problem-based learning challenges. The program is designed to improve student achievement and increase college and career readiness.

“Innovation is key to ensuring our state’s long-term economic growth. This program is challenging Illinois businesses to be more innovative, while getting our future workforce ready for college and careers,” said Governor Quinn. “Through the Innovation Talent Program, we’re helping to enhance the learning environment in Illinois and preparing Illinois students to compete in today’s global economy.”

The state developed the Illinois Innovation Talent Program to help students be able to compete in the global marketplace. The initiative promotes innovation-centered education and increased student achievement in math, science and engineering. Under this unique program, Illinois high schools are paired with industry, government and community organizations to critically examine and solve complex problems. Students participate as members of diverse, interdisciplinary teams utilizing cutting-edge information technology tools.

Students compete and collaborate in a diverse set of fields, including: agriculture, healthcare, energy efficiency, renewable energy, finance and transportation. Illinois Innovation Talent also demonstrates one of the critical work-based learning functions of the proposed Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Learning Exchanges described in the State of Illinois’ Race to the Top proposal.

Students from the 28 schools worked on 10 challenges through the duration of the program. Participating schools received $5,000 stipends to cover project related costs. Students met at the District 214 Forest View Education Center in Arlington Heights today to present their final projects in front of their peers and challenge sponsors. A list of participating schools is attached.

The Innovation Talent Program is administered jointly by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), with support from the state Department of Transportation and the Illinois Math and Science Academy. DCEO and ISBE contributed a combined $165,000 in federal Workforce Investment Act funds in support of the program.

Governor Quinn remains committed to fostering an environment of innovation in the state. As part of his fiscal year 2012 budget, Governor Quinn called for creation of the Illinois Innovation Council. The Council will help ensure Illinois remains on the cutting-edge in the global economy and is creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Illinois that promotes innovation and intelligent risk-taking. The state is also helping promising entrepreneurs turn their innovative concepts and ideas into market successes while creating jobs through a wide range of programs and services supported by the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network.

Governor Quinn Recognizes Participants of the Illinois Innovation Talent Program – Students from 28 Schools Present Final Projects to Peers, Industry | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Ian Foster, director of the Computation Institute, a joint initiative between the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, has been named the recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s 2011 Tsutomu Kanai Award, which recognizes major contributions to state-of-the-art distributed computing systems and their applications.

Foster was acknowledged for his pioneering research in grid computing, integrating geographically distributed instruments, computers and data.

“I am extremely honored to receive this award,” said Foster. “Distributed computing is critical for solving complex system-level problems in a wide range of applications, from energy and climate to bioinformatics and molecular engineering, and continues to enable breakthroughs in research across the sciences.”

Foster is the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Computer Science at UChicago and an Argonne Distinguished Fellow at Argonne. He is considered one of the world’s foremost researchers in distributed, parallel and data–intensive computing technologies.

The primary focus of Foster’s research has been the acceleration of discovery in a networked world. In partnership with many others, notably Carl Kesselman of the University of Southern California and Steven Tuecke, formerly of Argonne, now with Univa, Inc., Foster developed and promulgated concepts and methods that underpin grid computing.

These methods allow computing to be delivered reliably and securely on demand, as a service, and permit the formation and operation of virtual organizations linking people and resources worldwide. These results, and the associated Globus open-source software, have helped advance discovery in such areas as high-energy physics, environmental science and biomedicine. Grid computing methods also have proved influential outside the world of science, contributing to the emergence of cloud computing.

Among recent projects, Globus Online seeks to outsource complex and time-consuming research management processes to software-as-a-service providers. The goal is to make the discovery potential of massive data, exponentially faster computers, and deep interdisciplinary collaboration accessible to every researcher, not just select “big science” projects.

Foster received a B.S. degree with first-class honors from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a Ph.D. from Imperial College, United Kingdom, both in computer science. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Computing Machinery and British Computer Society. His other awards include the Global Information Infrastructure Next Generation award, the British Computer Society’s Lovelace Medal, R&D Magazine’s Innovator of the Year and honorary doctorates from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand and CINVESTAV, Mexico. He co-founded Univa Inc., a company established to deliver grid and cloud computing solutions.

The award, which includes a $10,000 honorarium, will be presented at the Computer Society’s 2011 awards dinner on May 25, 2011 in Albuquerque, N.M.

About the Computation Institute

The Computation Institute is an intellectual nexus for scientists and scholars pursuing multi-disciplinary research, and a resource center for developing and applying innovative computational approaches. Founded in 1999, it is home to more than 100 faculty, fellows and staff who research complex, system-level problems in such areas as biomedicine, energy and climate, astronomy and astrophysics, computational economics, and molecular engineering. CI is home to CIM-EARTH and the new Center for Robust Decision Making on Climate and Energy Policy. The CI team also manages TeraGrid, the world’s largest, most comprehensive distributed cyberinfrastructure for open scientific research.

About the Computer Society

With nearly 85,000 members, the IEEE Computer Society is the world’s leading organization of computing professionals. Founded in 1946, and the largest of the 39 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Computer Society is dedicated to advancing the theory and application of computer and information-processing technology, and is known globally for its computing standards activities.

The Tsutomu Kanai Award was established in 1997 by a generous endowment from Hitachi Ltd., and named in honor of former Hitachi president Tsutomu Kanai. The award recognizes major contributions to state-of-the art, distributed computing systems and their applications.

Ian Foster to receive IEEE Computer Society’s Tsutomu Kanai Award | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO, March 15, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — Picking top stocks is not an exact science, but each of these top stocks has some crucial values that only the professionals in the stock market industry may know about. The best way to find top stocks to beat the market is to learn from stock market analysts who have done so time after time. Investors and brokerage houses have been following the Zacks Rank stock picking criteria to find the top stocks based on the recognized stock strategies of well known stock market analysts.

(Logo:  http://photos.CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO)

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.

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Zacks.com Announces the Top Stocks for the Focus List 100 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

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Jeanne Century shares award for research in science teaching | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

NORTHBROOK, Ill., Feb. 11, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — UL is notifying manufacturers that the transformer below bears an unauthorized UL Recognized Component Mark. This transformer has not been evaluated by UL to the appropriate Standard for Safety for the United States, and is not authorized to bear the UL Recognized Component Mark. It is unknown if this transformer complies with applicable safety requirements.

About UL

UL is a premier global safety science company with more than 100 years of proven history. Employing more than 6800 professionals in over 96 countries, UL is evolving the future of safety with five distinct business units – Product Safety, Environment, Life & Health, Verification and University–to meet the expanding needs of customers and the global public. Additional information about UL can be found at UL.com or Safetyathome.com. 

SOURCE UL

http://www.UL.com
http://www.Safetyathome.com

UL Warns of Flyback Transformer With Unauthorized UL Mark | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

With his busy career in movies taking off, here’s hoping the multitalented Justin Timberlake is good at getting well soon.

The ‘Social Network’ star has reportedly been hurt this week on the set of a new science fiction thriller he’s shooting, according to People.com.

But the setback isn’t very serious — in fact, he’s still set to appear at a press junket soon to promote his role in the animated feature ‘Yogi Bear.’

A spokesperson for the production on which Timberlake got hurt — which co-stars Amanda Seyfried — confirms that the film is on a hiatus to give Timberlake time to recover from a muscle injury to his calf, sustained during filming.

There has been no comment from the Grammy winner about the report.

Originally reported by PopEater.com. Read the original article here.

Justin Timberlake Injured on Movie Set | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

JD Pirtle, 35, held a paintbrush up to his chin, and like a traditional painter, contemplated what he was going to paint that day.

But he wasnt using any paint and he wasnt even using a canvas.

Instead, he just walked up to a wall comprised of HD screens. With a flick of the wrist and a light stroke, he began painting a sunflower on the virtual wall.

I like to call it 20-foot canvas, said Pirtle, who is earning his masters degree in fine arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is the lead artist on the paint project.

Students have built a wall out of 18 HD screens with an astounding number of pixels: 8160 x 2304. A comparable single screen comprises 1920 x 1080 pixels. But wait, it gets better. This summer, a group of five students made the wall touch-enabled and created an application for the iPad that allows more than one person to paint on the virtual wall.

Electronic Visualization Laboratory nurtures the partnership between artists and computer scientists specializing in advanced visualization and networking technologies.

Think back a long time ago 1977 in a galaxy far, far away EVL worked on the computer animation used in the creation of Star Wars.

One of the reasons I came to this university is because it has a collaboration between engineers and artists, said Pirtle.

Arthur Nishimoto, 23, is a graduate computer science student at EVL. Having worked a great deal with TacTile, a touch-enabled table composed of one HD screen, Nishimoto served as an advisor on making the wall touch sensitive.

EVL is known for developing new technologies using already available products. And the touch-enabled wall is no different. We took our own ideas and adapted them to commercial devices, Nishimoto said.

The team used touch overlay technology a frame that one places around the outside of an LCD or plasma display which then makes the screen touch sensitive. When the team got the touch frames, it was Nishimotos responsibility to evaluate the technology.

One challenge was getting the hardware to work, Nishimoto said.

While TacTile operates based on optical technology cameras track the touches the wall works a bit differently he said. The wall uses infrared light that is emitted and detected to recognize touches. When a finger or any other object interferes with the infrared light rays, the wall acknowledges a touch.

While Nishimoto has even developed videogames that can be played on the wall, most recently he, Pirtle and undergraduate computer science student Philip Pilosi, 22, have been working on 20-foot canvas, an unofficial name for the unnamed paint project.

Pirtle designed an application for the iPad that turns it into a painters palette. The wall picks up 32 touches simultaneously, which allows for the creation of a mural. But at the moment, the single holder of the iPad controls the color that is painted on the wall.

The painters palette that Pirtle designed allows the user to choose between 16 different colors and even mix them to come up with custom colors just as a traditional painter would. Also, one can choose their tool of choice, a pencil or a paintbrush, depending on the artistic requirements of the masterpiece to-be.

But how does the information on the iPad reach the wall? Thats where Pilosi came in. The iPad and the wall are connected over a wireless network he said. It takes the color and breaks it into a string of characters and sends it over the wireless network to the wall.

The touch overlays were supplied by PQ Labs, a Silicon Valley-based company that provides multi-touch solutions. Wei Liu, vice president of business development for PQ Labs said that the way EVL has assembled the screens is unlike anything hes seen.

Its a revolutionary solution for the large size, he said. I think its a great project.

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Originally reported by Chicago Journal. Read the original story here.

UIC researchers paint on 20-foot electronic canvas | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

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Originally reported by Yahoo. Read the original story here.

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CHICAGO AND DEERFIELD, IL, October 28, 2010 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — A new national survey released today shows large percentages of science teachers and parents strongly agree that demonstrating real-life applications in science (87 percent and 72 percent, respectively) can help make science education more interesting for U.S. students. Almost all science teachers (99 percent) and nine in ten parents (90 percent) feel that science education is important, if not very important for a child’s future, but that it needs to be more engaging to capture the attention of children in America today (97 percent and 96 percent, respectively). The survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of iBIO Institute and Astellas Pharma US, Inc. (“Astellas”) included a sample of 235 science teachers and 300 parents with school-age children in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“It is important that students today understand that science is more than what they read in a text book,” said David Miller, president and CEO of iBIO Institute. “As educators, parents and mentors it is our responsibility to take science beyond the pages of a book. By developing creative and innovative lesson plans that demonstrate the cause and effect of science, we have the opportunity to bring science to life for our children.”

To spur student interest in science, the survey also shows science teachers and parents feel very strongly that using outside mentors (46 percent and 51 percent, respectively) and leveraging technology resources like the Internet (73 percent, 56 percent) can play an important role. In fact, almost all science teachers and parents agree that the Internet should be used more to make interesting science education materials available to teachers (97 percent and 92 percent, respectively), to provide support for mentoring efforts (99 percent, 96 percent), and that it can be a great tool for parents to engage in their child’s education (96 percent, 98 percent).

“In this technologically advanced and competitive world, a solid science education is vital to the future of our children,” said Seigo Kashii, president and CEO of Astellas Pharma US, Inc. “We need to rekindle their natural curiosity about science, and the best way to do that is to make sure our science teachers have the resources and the mentoring opportunities they need to inspire a life-long love of science in their students. At Astellas, we are dedicated to making this a reality through programs like Science WoRx.”

Earlier this year Astellas launched Science WoRx, a mentoring program and online resource network designed to help science teachers inspire the next generation of scientists. Astellas is pleased to expand its mentoring efforts to science teachers and students across the U.S. through a program called the Virtual Science Pro. Through video lessons and online resources like Skype, teachers can bring a real-world scientist into their classroom to work with their students and conduct grade-level appropriate experiments that demonstrate the impact of science. Parents can use the video lessons as well to help their child get excited about science at home. The Virtual Science Pro can be found at www.youtube.com/AstellasUS or www.ScienceWoRx.org.

The survey of science teachers and parents explored their overall attitudes on science education in the U.S. including parental involvement and the role of technology. The other major findings of the survey include:

• Two-thirds of parents (68 percent) say they are either involved or very involved in their child’s science education and 95 percent have done at least one science-related activity with their child.
• However, a majority of science teachers (70 percent) feel strongly that parents should be more involved in their child’s science education. Also, two-thirds of science teachers (67 percent) would like parents to be more involved, compared to only 27 percent of parents who express a strong desire to be more involved.
• Additionally, science teachers are almost three times more likely than parents to say that parents often don’t understand their child’s science lessons (94 percent of science teachers vs. 32 percent of parents).
• Almost all science teachers (91 percent) and parents (85 percent) agree that technology is not being used as much as it should be in science education today.
• Large majorities of science teachers and parents agree that internet access (89 percent and 78 percent, respectively), films/videos (88 percent, 78 percent), computer stations (86 percent, 74 percent) and smartboards (85 percent, 60 percent) are technology resources that should be used in the science classroom.
• Over nine in ten science teachers and parents also say that science is very important or important to the future of the U.S. (100 percent and 92 percent, respectively).
• Almost all science teachers (96 percent) and parents (95 percent) agree science education needs to be improved; in fact, over three in five science teachers (62 percent) strongly agree with this.
• Virtually every science teacher (98 percent) says there is a critical need for more resources in science education today; over three quarters (77 percent) strongly agree. Only 22 percent of science teachers feel they have the resources needed to conduct hands-on experiments.

Survey Methodology

The survey of parents and science teachers was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of iBIO Institute and Astellas Pharma US, Inc. between July 22 and August 4, 2010 among 300 parents (18 and older) of children in grades K-12 and 235 K-12 science teachers (18 and older). The results were weighted age, sex, race, education, household income, number of children under 18 (for parents only) and region to bring them into line with the actual proportions in the U.S. population of parents who have at least one child in grades K-12 and K-12 science teachers aged 18 years and above. Additionally, propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Respondents include those who opted to participate in Harris Interactive surveys and are weighted to reflect the composition of their respective populations. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated since the sample is based on respondents who agreed to participate.

About Science WoRx

Science WoRx is a mentoring program and online resource network to support science teachers’ needs in and outside the classroom. Created by Astellas Pharma US, Inc., the program seeks to increase understanding of the role that science plays in human health and medicine, and to inspire the next generation of scientists. Science WoRx is supported by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and iBIO Institute, the education arm of Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO). For more information, visit www.ScienceWoRx.org or join our community on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ScienceWoRx and on Twitter (@ScienceWoRx). To access Virtual Science Pro resources go to: www.youtube.com/AstellasUS.

About iBIO Institute

The mission of the iBIO Institute is to provide education, training and research to members of the business and educational communities and to the general public. Our goal is to help create a globally recognized biotechnology center in Chicago, Illinois, and the surrounding Midwest region. Our educational programs support development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental breakthroughs. To learn more about the iBIO Institute and its programs, visit www.ibioinstitute.org.

About Astellas

The Astellas culture and brand is committed to building community, helping others, encouraging integrity and inspiring people to make a difference, today, tomorrow and every day. Astellas Pharma US, Inc., located in Deerfield, Illinois, is a U.S. affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. The organization is committed to becoming a global category leader in focused areas by combining outstanding R&D and marketing capabilities. In the U.S., Astellas markets products in the areas of Anti-Infectives, Cardiology, Dermatology, Neuroscience, Transplant, and Urology. For more information about Astellas Pharma US, Inc., please visit our website at www.astellas.us or follow us on Twitter (@AstellasUS).

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what’s next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

New Survey Shows Real-World Activities Can Help Reinvigorate Student Interest in Science Education | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

BERLIN – Bayer AG’s third-quarter earnings rose 12 percent as sales of farm products and high-tech materials boosted revenue at the pharmaceutical and chemical company, helping balance out slower growth at its drug division.

Bayer on Thursday reported net earnings of euro280 million ($386 million) for the July-September period — up from euro249 million a year earlier. Total revenue rose 16 percent to euro8.58 billion from euro7.39 billion.

The crop science segment saw revenue increase by 18 percent to euro1.34 billion and the MaterialScience unit, which produces high-tech materials such as polycarbonates and polyurethanes, reported a 31 percent increase to euro2.67 billion.

Bayer said revenue at its core HealthCare division rose 8.5 percent to euro4.27 billion.

The pharmaceutical business expanded strongly in emerging markets, but Bayer reported “negative consequences” from health care reform efforts in various countries and said business was down sharply in North America as sales of Yaz oral contraceptives suffered from competition from generic drugs.

However, Bayer said it saw a strong increase in sales of the birth control implant Mirena, while Aspirin Cardio, a drug to prevent heart attacks, and the erectile dysfunction drug Levitra also performed well.

Third-quarter earnings were hit by charges totaling euro436 million stemming from litigation in the U.S. — up from a set-aside of euro191 million a year earlier.

Bayer said its crop science division accounted for most of the charges, with euro386 million set aside mostly to deal with a planned settlement program for litigation concerning genetically modified rice.

A further euro50 million was set aside to deal with “anticipated defense costs” in connection with the contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin, the company said.

Still, Bayer said its tax expenses in the third quarter shrank to euro4 million from euro135 million a year earlier due to the regional distribution of its earnings.

The company confirmed its full-year forecast for core earnings per share to improve by more than 15 percent and for currency- and portfolio-adjusted sales growth of more than 5 percent.

Bayer’s third-quarter pretax earnings, excluding special items, came in a little above analysts’ expectations at nearly euro1.66 billion — a 10.5 percent increase from a year earlier.

The quarterly results “indicate a recovery at CropScience and solid growth at MaterialScience, which supports the positive share price trend,” said Andreas Heine, an analyst at UniCredit. On the health care front, upcoming news on products in the pipeline also should help the stock, he added.

The set-aside for litigation “is a negative disappointment, but a one-time issue,” he said.

Bayer shares were up 0.6 percent at euro55.21 in morning Frankfurt trading.

The company’s net earnings for the first nine months were up 24 percent to euro1.5 billion from euro1.21 billion. Revenue rose 12 percent, climbing to euro26.08 billion from euro23.3 billion.

Bayer 3rd quarter earnings up 12 percent (AP) | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Innovative New Building Envelope Company SYNTHEON Inc. Chooses Greenbuild® 2010 for Official Launch | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SEATTLE – Apple Inc. is challenging a federal jury’s order that it pay $625.5 million in damages for violating a small technology company’s patents.

If upheld, the verdict would be one of the largest in a patent lawsuit.

Last Friday, the jury in Tyler, Texas, found that Apple infringed on three patents held by Mirror Worlds LLC, a company founded by Yale University computer science professor David Gelernter to commercialize his ideas.

The patents cover characteristic features on Apple’s Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones. The technologies include Cover Flow, which lets users flip through album covers and other content as if through a stack of cards; Time Machine, which performs automatic backups; and Spotlight, which is software for searching computer hard drives.

Over the weekend, Apple asked the U.S. District Court to hold off on imposing the jury award, saying there were still issues that needed to be addressed. Among other things, Apple objects to the way the damages were calculated.

Apple has not commented further on the case. Lawyers for Mirror Worlds did not return requests for comment.

In 1991, before access to the World Wide Web was mainstream, Gelernter published a book called “Mirror Worlds: or the Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox…How it Will Happen and What it Will Mean.” The volume laid out a vision of the future in which people can access and interpret unprecedented volumes of real-time, real-world data using a computer.

A decade later, Gelernter’s Mirror Worlds Technologies Inc. launched its first and only product, Scopeware, which could organize all sorts of information on a timeline or “lifestream.” It looked like a cascade of index cards on the screen, each representing a unique piece of e-mail, a Web page, spreadsheet or other document, updated constantly as new items arrive. From descriptions at the time, Scopeware had a similar look to and functionality as Apple’s Cover Flow, which is built into the company’s Mac OS X operating system and the software that runs on iPods and other devices.

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STOCKHOLM – Two Russian-born scientists shared the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for “groundbreaking experiments” with the thinnest, strongest material known to mankind — a carbon vital for the creation of faster computers and transparent touch screens.

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two professors at the University of Manchester in Britain, demonstrated the exceptional properties of graphene, a form of carbon that is only one atom thick, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Experiments with graphene could lead to the development of new superstrong materials and innovative electronics, the academy said in announcing the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award.

“Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today’s silicon transistors and result in more efficient computers,” the academy said in the citation. “Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels and maybe even solar cells.”

Geim, 51, is a Dutch national while Novoselov, 36, holds British and Russian citizenship. Both are natives of Russia and started their careers in physics there.

Novoselov is among the youngest winners of a prize that normally goes to scientists with decades of experience. The youngest Nobel laureate to date is Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 when he shared the physics award with his father William Bragg in 1915.

In a telephone interview with reporters in Stockholm, Geim said he was shocked by the announcement but planned to go to work as usual on Tuesday. He said he wasn’t among the Nobel Prize winners who “stop doing anything for the rest of their life.”

Geim last year won the prestigious Korber European Science Award for his discovery of two-dimensional crystals made of carbon atoms, particularly graphene, which “has the potential to revolutionize the world of microelectronics,” the University of Manchester said.

“This was a well-deserved award,” said Phillip F. Schewe, spokesman for the American Institute of Physics in College Park, Maryland.

“Graphene is the thinnest material in the world, it’s one of the strongest, maybe the strongest material in the world. It’s an excellent conductor. Electrons move through it very quickly, which is something you want to make circuits out of,” Schewe said.

He said graphene may be a good material for making integrated circuits, small chips with millions of transistors that are the backbone of all modern telecommunications. Its properties could also lead to potential uses in construction material, Schewe said, but added it would take a while “before this sort of technology moves into mainstream application.”

The 2010 Nobel Prize announcements started Monday with the medicine award going to British researcher Robert Edwards for work that led to the first test tube baby, an achievement that helped bring 4 million infants into the world and raised challenging new questions about human reproduction.

The chemistry prize will be announced on Wednesday, followed by literature on Thursday, the peace prize on Friday and economics on Monday Oct. 11.

The prestigious awards were created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel and first given out in 1901. The prizes are always handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.

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One hostage has been taken by a man with a handgun at the Discovery Channel headquarters building in suburban Washington, Montgomery County police told ABC television on Wednesday.

Police Corporal Dan Friz said the building in Silver Spring, Maryland, was on lockdown but he could not confirm gunshots were fired as a Discovery employee had told the local ABC television affiliate.

Police were watching the suspect on the building’s closed-circuit security system and Discovery employees posted updates on the situation on Twitter.

Discovery employee Lisa Lucas told ABC that the building was being evacuated and children were allowed out.

Roads in the normally busy urban center at the intersection of Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue on the edge of Washington were closed and police cars and emergency vehicles blocked access. Witnesses said SWAT teams and law enforcement from several areas were at the scene.

Discovery Communications said it reaches 1.5 billion subscribers in more than 180 countries with the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel and Planet Green networks.

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