Author Archives: Guest Post

IBM Expands the Institute for Electronic Government in Washington to Focus on Advancements in Analytics and Cloud Computing

*Virtual Collaboratory to Connect Thousands of Government Leaders Globally*

WASHINGTON – 01 Mar 2011: IBM today announced a major expansion of its Institute for Electronic Government (IEG) in Washington, D.C., adding cloud computing and analytics capabilities for public sector organizations around the world. 

IBM has moved and expanded the facility in order to meet the growing demand from Government, Health Care and Education leaders who recognize the potential of cloud computing environments and business analytics technologies to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and tackle energy and budget challenges.     (more…)

Read More

New CU Study Shows Acupressure Effective in Helping to Treat Traumatic Brain Injury

A new University of Colorado Boulder study indicates an ancient form of complementary medicine may be effective in helping to treat people with mild traumatic brain injury, a finding that may have implications for some U.S. war veterans returning home.

The study involved a treatment known as acupressure in which one’s fingertips are used to stimulate particular points on a person’s body — points similar to those stimulated with needles in standard acupuncture treatments, said CU-Boulder Professor Theresa Hernandez, lead study author. The results indicate a link between the acupressure treatments and enhanced cognitive function in study subjects with mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI. (more…)

Read More

Language Patterns Are Roller-Coaster Ride During Childhood Development

Why, and when, do we learn to speak the way that we do? Research from North Carolina State University on African-American children presents an unexpected finding: language use can go on a roller-coaster ride during childhood as kids adopt and abandon vernacular language patterns.

“We found that there is a ‘roller-coaster effect,’ featuring an ebb and flow in a child’s use of vernacular English over the course of his or her language development,” says Dr. Walt Wolfram, William C. Friday Distinguished University Professor of English Linguistics at NC State and co-author of several recent papers describing the research. “This was totally unanticipated.” Vernacular English is defined here as culturally specific speech patterns that are distinct from standard English; in this case, the vernacular is African-American English (AAE). (more…)

Read More

Microsoft Announces Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge for Independent Game Developers

Developers from around the world compete for share of $75,000 (U.S.)

SAN FRANCISCO — Feb. 28, 2011 — Today Microsoft Corp. opened registration for the Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge, a contest sponsored by Microsoft to encourage independent game developers to create fun and innovative games using XNA Game Studio. Developers can register for the contest at https://www.dreambuildplay.com. Once registered, they have from May 17 to June 14, 2011, to submit their games to the contest. (more…)

Read More

Study Shows UMD Designed Fungi Can Combat Malaria, Lyme Disease & Other Bug-Borne Illnesses

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – New findings by a University of Maryland-led team of scientists indicate that a genetically engineered fungus carrying genes for a human anti-malarial antibody or a scorpion anti-malarial toxin could be a highly effective, specific and environmentally friendly tool for combating malaria, at a time when the effectiveness of current pesticides against malaria mosquitoes is declining.  (more…)

Read More

First Harmful Algal Bloom Species Genome Sequenced

*Brown Tide Culprit Uniquely Suited to Thrive in Environmentally Impacted Estuaries*

The microscopic phytoplankton Aureococcus anophagefferens, which causes devastating brown tides, may be tiny but it’s a fierce competitor.

In the first genome sequencing of a harmful algal bloom species, researchers found that Aureococcus’ unique gene complement allows it to outcompete other marine phytoplankton and thrive in human-modified ecosystems, which could help explain the global increases in harmful algal blooms (HABs). (more…)

Read More