In March, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee launched an investigation into potential conflicts of interest in scientific panels that advise the Environmental Protection Agency on the human health effects of toxic chemicals.

The committee identified eight scientists that served as consultants or members of EPA science advisory panels while getting research support from the chemical industry to study the chemicals under review. Two scientists were actually employed by companies that made or worked with manufacturers of the chemicals under review.

Such conflicts, Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) noted, stand in stark contrast to the agency’s dismissal last summer of highly respected public health scientist Deborah Rice, an expert in toxicology, from a panel examining the health impacts of the flame retardant deca. The EPA fired Rice after the chemical industry’s trade group, the American Chemistry Council, complained that she could not provide an objective scientific review because she had spoken out about the health hazards posed by deca.

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland, May 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Re-using the existing device-network infrastructure, the Model 2172R transparently extends Ethernet up to 3,000 feet (900 meters) or more in industrial-automation environments

Patton -- the leader in business and carrier-class network access, connectivity and VoIP equipment -- is now taking orders for the Model 2172R 50-Mbps Ruggedized Ethernet Extender for industrial Ethernet applications.

By exploiting previously-installed twisted-pair infrastructure for long-reach Ethernet connections, Patton's 2172R eliminates the expense and disruption of installing fiber or CAT5e cable when linking Ethernet-based PLCs and other shop-floor equipment to the office LAN.

Women who breast feed for longer have a smaller chance of getting rheumatoid arthritis, suggests a study published online ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

The study also found that taking oral contraceptives, which are suspected to protect against the disease because they contain hormones that are raised in pregnancy, did not have the same effect. Also, simply having children and not breast feeding also did not seem to be protective.

The researchers compared 136 women with rheumatoid arthritis with 544 women of a similar age without the disease. They found that that those who had breast fed for longer were much less likely to get rheumatoid arthritis.

OAK PARK, Michigan, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Azure Dynamics Corporation (TSX: AZD, LSE: ADC & OTCQX: AZDDF) - ("Azure" or the "Company"), a leading developer of hybrid electric and electric powertrains for commercial vehicles today reported its first quarter financial results for the period ending March 31, 2008. The Company also provided an update on corporate and product development activities.

A goal that remained elusive for 25 years has now allowed astronomers to obtain the most precise measurement of the cosmic temperature at an incredible distance; in a well-hidden galaxy whose light has taken almost 11 billion years to reach us - about 80% of the age of the universe.

The only way this galaxy can be seen is through the imprint its interstellar gas leaves on the spectrum of an even more remote quasar [1]. “Quasars are here only used as a beacon in the very distant Universe. Interstellar clouds of gas in galaxies, located between the quasars and us on the same line of sight, absorb parts of the light emitted by the quasars. The resulting spectrum consequently presents dark ‘valleys’ that can be attributed to well-known elements and possibly molecules,” explains Raghunathan Srianand (Pune, India), who led the team making the observations.

NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ --

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), a leading U.S. music rights licensing organization, and RightsFlow, a provider of licensing and royalty services, announced today that they have entered a licensing arrangement for full-length, permanent digital downloads.

"We are very excited to begin this relationship with HFA," stated Patrick Sullivan, President and CEO of RightsFlow. "Our clients look to us to provide a turnkey outsourced solution for publishing licensing and royalty administration. Working with HFA is a key step that will allow us to license and account more swiftly and efficiently, allow our clients to get more product available for sale, and create a greater value for all."

WASHINGTON, May 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- African Heads of State, U.S Delegates to Convene in Arusha, Tanzania June 2 - 6

In less than 30 days, The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation will lead U.S. based delegates to Arusha, Tanzania for its 8th Summit scheduled June 2-6th. Ethiopian Airlines, the official carrier for the Summit, will use two 767 jets to transport the delegates to Tanzania. The first flight departs on May 28th and includes a two night stay in Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa. The second flight will depart on May 30th and will stop on Zanzibar Island for one night at Summit's end. Keeping in alignment with Reverend Sullivan's vision, both flights will arrive in Arusha on May 31st a few hours apart.

LONDON, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Welcoming the launch of the consultation on social care reform, Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the MS Society, said: "We're acutely aware that most people with MS feel the social care system is failing them. The criteria for access to funding are too tight - the funding shortfall isn't 20 years away, it's with us right now.

"This consultation is a once in a generation opportunity for the government to fix social care. We need to make sure the young and disabled aren't left out because current provision for them is pitiful."

Background

LONDON, May 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Top Tips for Healthy Teeth

- ATTN: Feature Editors

If you want a beaming smile but your all important brushing and flossing still leaves you frowning, take advice from Chief Dental Officer, Barry Cockcroft, on keeping your teeth and gums healthy.

Best brushing

In one year, we spend the equivalent of an entire day brushing our teeth - that's if you brush for the recommended two minutes, twice daily.

A toothbrush with a small head makes it easier to clean every part of your mouth, and a family strength toothpaste with a minimum of 1,000 parts per million of fluoride helps to prevent tooth decay.

600 million years of evolution has taken two unlikely distant cousins, turkeys and scallops, down very different physical paths from their common ancestor but a motor protein, myosin 2, remains structurally identical in both creatures.

Myosin molecules generate tension in smooth muscle by adhering to form a filament, which grabs hold of a neighbouring filament, and relaxes by letting go. When the muscle is in a relaxed state, myosin molecule folds itself up into a compact structure.

The discovery suggests that the tiny motor protein is much more important than previously thought – and for humans it may even hold a key to understanding potentially fatal conditions such as aneurisms.