London, UK (PRWeb UK/PRWEB ) November 17, 2009 -- Xlibris, the global leader in the self-publishing industry, has recently announced its entry into the UK publishing market, introducing its popular brand of book publishing and marketing services to the United Kingdom. Xlibris Publishing UKTo celebrate this event, the self-publishing company is giving British writers and authors another reason to get excited about this expansion to the UK. For a limited time only, Xlibris is offering a £600 price cut off its Premium Publishing Package.

Enlarge Image Obama\'s Climate Question and an Answer for Global HealthScienceNOW Daily News 17 November 2009 Here\'s a rundown of some of the stories we\'ve been following on Science\'s policy blog, ScienceInsider: On 18 December, the last day of the Copenhagen climate meeting, what will President Barack Obama tell the world that the United States is prepared to do?

Enlarge Image Medical history. An Egyptian mummy moments before a CT scan and a mummy heart with calcium buildup (inset), a sign of heart disease. Credit: Egyptian Antiquities Commission Curse of the Mummy? Could be Heart DiseaseBy Sam Kean ScienceNOW Daily News 17 November 2009 Pharaohs and their followers were revered as something close to gods, but their hearts were all too human.

Your own stem cells can treat heart diseaseTransplanting people\'s own stem cells into heart lessens pain, improves ability to walkCHICAGO --- The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ability to walk. The transplant subjects also experienced fewer deaths than those who didn\'t receive stem cells.

Oscar Pistorius\' artificial limbs give him clear, major advantage for sprint runningConclusion of lead scientists of Pistorius\' appeal studyThe artificial lower limbs of double-amputee Olympic hopeful Oscar Pistorius give him a clear and major advantage over his competition, taking 10 seconds or more off what his 400-meter race time would be if his prosthesis behaved like intact limbs.

When East meets West: Why consumers turn to alternative medicineAlternative health remedies are increasingly important in the health care marketplace. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores how consumers choose among the many available remedies. "Examples of the wide array of health remedy options available to consumers include drugs, supplements, acupuncture, massage therapy, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (to name a few).

Emulating Western lifestyles: Consumption and carbon footprints in less industrialized countriesIn recent decades, a new global middle class has exploded, with a total population exceeding one billion people. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores the consumption attitudes of some of these members of the "new class." "Our primary interest with this new class concerns climate change," write authors Tuba Üstüner (Colorado State University) and Douglas B. Holt (University of Oxford).

Talking to ourselves: How consumers navigate choices and inner conflictFrom simple decisions like "Should I eat this brownie?" to bigger questions such as "Should my next car be a hybrid?" consumers are involved in an inner dialogue that reflects thoughts and perspectives of their different selves, according to the authors of a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Study shows family caregivers, simple touch techniques reduce symptoms in cancer patients November 13, 2009, New York, NY. Family caregivers can significantly reduce suffering in cancer patients at home through use of simple touch and massage techniques. These findings were recently reported at the 6th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

Comforted by carpet: How do floors and distance affect purchases?Consumers who stand on carpeted flooring feel comforted, but they judge products close to them to be less comforting, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. In the study, authors Joan Meyers Levy (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), Rui (Juliet) Zhu, and Lan Jiang (both University of British Columbia) explored the feelings evoked by the two most common flooring types in retail environments: hard vinyl tile and carpet.

To eat or not to eat? Mental budgets help control consumptionIf you feel like you\'re in a losing battle with a triple-chocolate cake, a "mental budget" can help, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "There are some behaviors that consumers try to limit but have trouble doing so," write authors Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy (University of Houston) and Sonja Prokopec (ESSEC Business School, France). "Even as one aims to curtail consumption of sugars and fat, one ends up consuming the tiramisu or the triple-chocolate cake.

People work harder when expecting a future challenging taskConsumers will work harder on a task if they\'re expecting to have to do something difficult at a later time, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. In today\'s fast-paced world, consumers frequently undertake unrelated tasks in a sequence. An individual might make a grocery list, decide whether to take out a home improvement loan, search the Internet for a vacation spot, and choose a dinner location—all before preparing lunch.

Small optical force can budge nanoscale objectsITHACA, N.Y. - With a bit of leverage, Cornell researchers have used a very tiny beam of light with as little as 1 milliwatt of power to move a silicon structure up to 12 nanometers. That\'s enough to completely switch the optical properties of the structure from opaque to transparent.

Cyclone Anja hits wind shear, weakens drasticallyIMAGE:The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite passed over Anja on November 15 at 0904 UTC. Anja had a well defined eye and was increasing in strength from a category 2... Click here for more information. This morning, Cyclone Anja was a powerful Category 4 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Wind shear has now giving Anja a strong "punch in the gut" as the storm has weakened to a Category 1 cyclone.

Study: Sea stars bulk up to beat the heatA new study finds that a species of sea star stays cool using a strategy never before seen in the animal kingdom. The sea stars soak up cold sea water into their bodies during high tide as buffer against potentially damaging temperatures brought about by direct sunlight at low tide. "Sea stars were assumed to be at the mercy of the sun during low tide," said the study\'s lead author, Sylvain Pincebourde of François Rabelais University in Tours, France.

Need for emergency airway surgery for hard-to-intubate patients reducedJohns Hopkins program offers model as more patients appear with hard to navigate airwaysBe prepared, that old Boy Scout motto, is being applied with great success to operating room patients whose anatomy may make it difficult for physicians to help them breathe during surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a new study.

Rice ties in race for atomic-scale breakthroughKillian lab creates Bose-Einstein condensate from strontiumEverybody loves a race to the wire, even when the result is a tie. The great irony is the ultraprecise clocks that could result from this competition could probably break any tie. The Rice lab of physicist Tom Killian published a paper online this month demonstrating the long-sought creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of strontium atoms.

Night beat, overtime and a disrupted sleep pattern can harm officers\' health BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A police officer who works the night shift, typically from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., already is at a disadvantage when it comes to getting a good "night\'s" sleep. Add frequent overtime to that schedule, and an officer may be climbing into bed as the sun comes up, setting the stage for short and unrestful slumber. A new study published in the current issue of Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health (vol.

Pushing the brain to find new pathwaysMU occupational therapy professor says recovery from brain injuries can last a lifetimeCOLUMBIA, Mo. – Until recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining abilities.

New neuroimaging analysis technique identifies impact of Alzheimer\'s disease gene in healthy brainsAmsterdam, November 17, 2009 – Brain imaging can offer a window into risk for diseases such as Alzheimer\'s disease (AD). A study conducted at the University of Kansas School of Medicine demonstrated that genetic risk is expressed in the brains of even those who are healthy, but carry some risk for AD. The results of this study are published in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer\'s Disease.

Coaches can shape young athletes\' definition of success Young athletes\' achievement goals can change in a healthy way over the course of a season when their coaches create a mastery motivational climate rather than an ego orientation, University of Washington sport psychologists have found. A mastery climate stresses positive communication between coaches and athletes, teamwork and doing one\'s best. An ego climate, typified by many professional sports coaches, focuses on winning at all costs and being better than others.

New study confirms exotic electric properties of grapheneFirst, it was the soccer-ball-shaped molecules dubbed buckyballs. Then it was the cylindrically shaped nanotubes. Now, the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire. Not only is this the thinnest material possible, but it also is 10 times stronger than steel and it conducts electricity better than any other known material at room temperature.

Highlights of NHLBI-supported research presented at American Heart Association\'s Scientific SessionsFindings shared on new strategies to control hypertension, link between air pollution and measures of vascular tone, comparison of surgical strategies to treat a heart defect in newbornsNew education strategies for better controlling hypertension and research suggesting a possible link between short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution and increased risk of constricted blood vessels are among the research highlights from studies...

Experts: Failure to focus on farming will undermine global climate agreement and increase hungerROME, ITALY (18 November 2009)— Alarmed by a substantial oversight in the global climate talks leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month, more than 60 of the world\'s most prominent agricultural scientists and leaders underscored how the almost total absence of agriculture in the agreement could lead to widespread famine and food shortages in the years ahead.

Canadians finding it tough to shake the salt habitCanadians know that too much salt isn\'t good for their diets, but half still continue to shake it on, according to a new study by University of Alberta researchers. In a survey of 890 people measuring knowledge and behaviours regarding sodium intake, U of A nutrition researchers Anna Farmer and Diana Mager discovered that the majority of Canadians believe they consume too much sodium and that most are aware that too much sodium can lead to health problems.