Science Education & Policy

LONDON, February 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Europe's Largest XML Publishing and Component CMS (CCMS) Conference announces leading XML solutions provider JustSystems will be Gold Sponsor of X-Pubs 2008 and provide attendee reception and Sunday Content Workshop - June 22-24 London, UK JustSystems and the XMetaL Product line have been leaders in the XML and Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) authoring market for years. JustSystems and IBM experts recently co-authored, the DITA Maturity Model which defines the industry's first graduated, step-by-step methodology for successfully implementing…

For countries without their own environmental monitoring systems, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) can be useful for working out where there is a need for action in environmental policy making, but otherwise there are already better ways of getting results, says the conclusions of a study conducted by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). According to the study authors, Germany, for example, already has more accurate and appropriate instruments than the 2008 EPI – such as the European Environment Agency´s State of the Environment Report and the Federal Environmental…

One thing has long been clear. Not thinning forests has been a disaster for the environment. Groups normally at loggerheads have reached a consensus on responsible forest management and it identifies the potential volume of wood resources available from more than 2 million acres of Arizona forests, representing the first major agreement among groups typically at odds over the issue of forest thinning. The “Wood Supply Analysis” report identifies a potential supply of up to 850 million cubic feet of wood and 8 million tons of biomass from branches and timber residue for such commercial uses…

On Feb. 13, 2008, the president signed a $168 billion stimulus package designed to give $300, $600 or $1,200 checks to more than 100 million Americans. It was the second time in seven years that lawmakers agreed to return additional tax money in hopes that people would spend it to stimulate a sluggish economy. A key question: Will those receiving checks spend enough to have the desired effect? Economic theory says "yes" -- give people money and they will spend it. But Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, says the actual…

LONDON, February 28 /PRNewswire/ -- - Travel, Career, Tax, and Real Estate Sites Experience Gains in the New Year - Moneysupermarket.com up 79 Percent to 6.6 Million Visitors comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its January rankings of the largest and fastest-growing Internet properties and site categories in the U.K. based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. The month saw increases to travel, career, tax, and real estate sites as U.K. Internet users took stock of the past year and made plans for 2008.…

LONDON, February 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Europe's Largest XML Component CMS (CCMS) Conference announces structured content giant PTC will be running a workshop on creating useable document and learning content, and taking on Platinum Sponsorship - June 22-24 London, UK PTC has been a sponsor at X-Pubs 3 years running, each year at a higher level. This year they will be running a free Sunday workshop on easily creating usable document and learning content, as well as presenting a 'DITA for Training Materials' case study, based on their use of the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), to…

In the 1980s and 90s, Scotland was known for its alarmingly high suicide rate. But since 2000, suicide rates have fallen sharply. A study published in the online open access journal BMC Public Health found this reduction is associated with a significant drop in hangings as a means of suicide. Dr Cameron Stark led the research team from the Department of Public Health, NHS Highland. The research team based the analysis on routinely collected information for the period 1980-2004 from the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The data showed a 42% reduction in suicide rates among 15-29…

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, February 28 /PRNewswire/ -- - Thomson Research Award Ceremony Celebrates the Best in Australian Research During an Event to be Held at the National Press Club on 2 April Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) and leading provider of information solutions to the worldwide research and business communities, today announced it will honor Australia's preeminent researchers at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, 2 April, 2008. "These Global Research Days are hosted by Thomson Scientific to recognize research excellence in…

Children who under-achieve at school may just have poor working memory rather than low intelligence according to researchers who have produced the world's first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom. The researchers from Durham University, who surveyed over three thousand children, found that ten per cent of school children across all age ranges suffer from poor working memory seriously affecting their learning. Nationally, this equates to almost half a million children in primary education alone being affected. However, the researchers identified that poor working memory is rarely…

PARIS, February 26 /PRNewswire/ -- With a 40% increase in software sales, a tripling of results, and a profitability of over 20%, SynerTrade, a specialist in consultancy and producer of Purchasing Function software solutions, announces a record 2007 fiscal year. 2007 has been the best financial year in SynerTrade's history to date since the creation of the two original companies, SynerDeal and Trade2B. "2007 results have tripled compared to the previous financial year and we foresee a 40% increase in the number of orders for the new financial year", says Eberhard Aust, SynerTrade's Chief…