Science Education & Policy

PLEASANTON, California, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- - Innovative distance learning solution for on-demand, hands-on training launched by Citrix to train its worldwide channel partners and customers. Toolwire, a leading innovator of experiential distance learning solutions announces that Citrix Systems, Inc. has chosen Toolwire to deliver an on-demand and scheduled lab environment to train Citrix worldwide channel partners and customers on its application networking products, including Citrix(R) NetScaler(R), Citrix WANScaler(TM), Citrix Access Gateway(TM), and NetScaler Application Firewall…

GENEVA, Switzerland and HOUSTON, Texas, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. and WISeKey today announced that they were selected by the Regional Government of Biscay for the delivery of a comprehensive e-Government Citizen Services Platform. This EUR17.4 million project includes a leading-edge identity federation that enables the establishment of customized citizen portals adapted to the needs and the interests of each citizen in a real Web 2.0 environment. According to Mr. Jose Luis Bilbao, Deputy General of Bizkaia, Spain "BiscayTIK shall allow our citizens to benefit from leading edge…

In one of those odd uses of statistics, higher gasoline prices have been associated with fewer deaths from car accidents, says a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). An analysis of yearly vehicle deaths compared to gas prices found death rates drop significantly as people slow down and drive less. If gas remains at $4 a gallon or higher for a year or more, traffic deaths could drop by more than 1,000 per month nationwide, said Michael Morrisey, Ph.D., director of UAB's Lister Hill Center for Health Policy and a co-author on the new findings. This means if we raise the…

Therapies, rehabilitation and specialty medical care are just a few of the extra costs that parents face when raising children with special needs. In a new study that will be published in current issue of Pediatrics, Paul T. Shattuck, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis, found that families with similar demographics and nature of their children's special needs have different out-of-pocket health expenditures depending on the state in which they live. "This is one of the few studies that focuses on families' costs when caring for children with special needs,…

A third of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction, according to the first-ever comprehensive global assessment to determine their conservation status. The study findings were published today by Science Express. Leading coral experts joined forces with the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) – a joint initiative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Conservation International (CI) – to apply the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria to this important group of marine species. "The results of this study are very disconcerting,"…

Scientists and journalists get along much better than the anecdotal 'horror stories' would lead us to believe, according to new research published today in the journal Science, which has found that 57% of researchers were 'mostly pleased' with their media interaction, while only 6% percent were 'mostly dissatisfied'. Previous research as well as anecdotal evidence has tended to focus on the negative aspects of scientists' media interaction, but today's survey, based on the responses of 1354 scientists working in the high-profile research fields of epidemiology and stem cell research in the…

HAIFA, Israel, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- - Convenience Translation - Oil Refineries Ltd. (TASE: ORL.TA) ("ORL" or the "Company") announced that pursuant to the Securities Regulations (Transaction between a Company and Controlling Shareholder therein) - 2001, the Securities Regulations (Private Offer of Securities of a Listed Company) - 2000, and in accordance with Companies Regulations (Publication of a Notice of a General Meeting and a Special Meeting in a Public Company) - 2000, regarding the convening of a special general meeting of the Company's shareholders on August 13, 2008 at 10 a.m.…

AUSTIN, Texas, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Ringdale(R), Inc., a technology leader in network enhancing connectivity solutions, today announced the availability of FollowMe(R) 5.1, a significant update to its secure document output management solution. The FollowMe 5.1 release is comprised of the following new features for enhanced administrative and user capabilities: - Virtual Cash Register - Focused on the education market, this feature allows credits to be added or deducted from student users' accounts. Administrators can track users' credit additions and deductions from all other interfaces…

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in developing human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) from a single cell, or blastomere, of a 4-cell stage embryo, the 24th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today. Dr. Hilde Van de Velde, from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium, said that their research meant that it might be possible in the future to produce hESC lines at an earlier stage without destroying the embryo. Blastomeres are formed in the very early stages of embryonic development. About 24 hours after fertilisation…

TOYAKO, Japan, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- - One billion people suffer from preventable, treatable diseases around the world - Statement by Dr. Paul Antony, medical director Global Health Progress "The worldwide pharmaceutical industry is joining the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in calling on the G-8 to recognize the importance of neglected diseases as a global health threat and a major strain on the economic viability and educational development of communities worldwide. We urge the G-8 to finance successful treatment and prevention…