Tag Archives: site

Understanding the Risk and How to Manage Contaminated Property

Buying property is a major undertaking, especially for a business.  If you are considering buying or leasing a property in the near future, it is of the utmost importance that you do the environmental due diligence in a timely manner, preferably early if possible.   This is because it is common that sites are contaminated, and you want to be sure of what you are getting with your potential property.  It is likely that if the property you are looking into has been developed in the past, then there is a risk of contamination.  Contamination is even more common is downtown or industrial areas.

There are three common risks associated with buying or leasing contaminated property. These three risks are cleanup risk, damages risk, and business risk.  This article will discuss these risks in further detail, as well as how to manage the contaminated property.  This article is important to you if you are considering purchasing or developing a piece of property in the near future. (more…)

Read More

Legacy Soil Pollution: Higher lead levels may lie just below surface

A study of data from hundreds of soil samples taken around six old water tower sites in southern Rhode Island finds that even when lead levels on the surface are low, concentrations can sometimes be greater at depths down to a foot. The findings inform efforts to assess the effect of lead paint from old water towers on surrounding properties.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A newly published analysis of data from hundreds of soil samples from 31 properties around southern Rhode Island finds that the lead concentration in soil at the surface is not always a reliable indicator of the contamination a foot deeper. The study, led by Brown University Superfund Research Program researchers at the request of the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), informs ongoing efforts to assess the impact of the state’s legacy of lead-painted water towers. (more…)

Read More

Predicting hotspots for future flu outbreaks

This year’s unusually long and rocky flu season would be nothing compared to the pandemic that could occur if bird flu became highly contagious among humans, which is why UCLA researchers and their colleagues are creating new ways to predict where an outbreak could emerge.

“Using surveillance of influenza cases in humans and birds, we’ve come up with a technique to predict sites where these viruses could mix and generate a future pandemic,” said lead author Trevon Fuller, a UCLA postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability’s Center for Tropical Research. (more…)

Read More

New Study on Physician Online Behaviors Shows Health Care Professional Sites Reach 4 out of 5 Physicians, While Electronic Medical Records Show Highest Engagement

More Than Half of Physicians Show Interest in Using Mobile Devices and Tablets at Work

RESTON, VA, December 3, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released new findings from a study based on data generated by the comScore/Symphony Health Care Professional (HCP) Measurement Solutions offering, which provides insight into the actual online behavior of physicians with regard to health-related categories, and the Physician Mobile Survey, a survey of physicians’ attitudes toward mobile devices and tablets in the workplace. Based on a longitudinal study of a permission-based panel of 1,000 U.S. physicians, the study showed that HCP Content websites such as Medscape.com, which provide content or services catering specifically to physicians, reached the highest percentage of physicians (81 percent) in comparison to other types of health sites. However, Electronic Medical Records sites such as Allscripts.com showed higher engagement as physicians have begun to use these sites to replace paper record-keeping. The study also revealed that although computers are still the most often used device to go online at work by physicians, more than half of physicians expressed interest in using mobile phones and tablets in the workplace. (more…)

Read More

China and the Internet

Internet bringing change to Chinese society, China Forum speaker says

The Internet is affecting every facet of Chinese life and shaping public opinion, according to Sanjiu Yan, the guest speaker at the inaugural China Forum, held Friday, Oct. 26, at the University of Delaware.

Yan, a former journalist who is now the dean of the College of Communication at East China Normal University in Shanghai, presented the first talk in the China Forum, a new monthly lecture series hosted by the Confucius Institute at UD. (more…)

Read More

The Relationship between Consumer Behavior and Facebook

We spend a lot of time on Facebook. No joke, right? So it should really come as no surprise that companies have turned to Facebook to appeal more directly to consumers. But how much does business marketing on Facebook affect us?  Recently Chadwick Martin Bailey, a custom market research company, teamed up with Constant Contact to conduct a study on the relationship between Facebook and consumer behavior, polling 1,491individuals 18 and older.

According to some of the highlights from the study:

1. 52% of Americans over 18 spend at least an hour on Facebook each week. That 52% can be further broken down into 29% spend 1-5 hours on the site each week, 11% spend 6-10 hours there, 6% spend 11-20 hours perusing the site, and 6% log 21+hours on Facebook each week. That’s a lot of time on Facebook! (more…)

Read More

comScore Releases September 2012 U.S. Online Video Rankings

Maker Studios Inc. Climbs Into #3 Position in YouTube Partner Channels Ranking

RESTON, VA, October 29, 2012– comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 181 million U.S. Internet users watched more than 39 billion online content videos in September, while video ad views totaled 9.4 billion.

Top 10 Video Content Properties by Unique Viewers

Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in September with 150.3 million unique viewers, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 57.4 million, AOL, Inc. with 53.8 million, VEVO with 50.3 million and Facebook.com with 46.4 million. More than 39 billion video content views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 13.1 billion, followed by AOL, Inc. with 741 million. Google Sites had the highest average engagement among the top ten properties. (more…)

Read More

Beyond Bieber: Twitter Improves Student Learning

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Twitter, best known as the 140-character social-networking site where Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga chit-chat with fans, has become a new literary format that is improving student learning, a new study argues.

Christine Greenhow, assistant professor of education at Michigan State University, found that college students who tweet as part of their instruction are more engaged with the course content and with the teacher and other students, and have higher grades.

“Tweeting can be thought of as a new literary practice,” said Greenhow, who also studies the growing use of social media among high-schoolers. “It’s changing the way we experience what we read and what we write.” (more…)

Read More