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Seed-eating Mammals Increase Tree Species Diversity

Seed-eating Mammals Increase Tree Species Diversity

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

Tropical forests are immensely species-rich. The question of what causes this diversity is a perennial one in tropical biology. In the 1970s Daniel Janzen and Joseph Connell independently came up with the same explanation - if the seeds or seedlings of more common species have a higher probability of being killed by a pest or pathogen (what is known as density-dependent mortality), then less common species will be favoured. If the organisms that are responsible for most seed and seedling mortality are specialists - if they focus on just a few plant species - then the pathogens and seed predators that specialise on common tree species should be more abundant (since there’s more food for them). Janzen was able to demonstrate this with a few species of beetle whose larvae fed on (and killed) seeds. When seeds of the Hog Plum (Spondias mombin) were abundant, female bruchid beetles laid their eggs on (and ended up killed) well over 90% of the seeds. When the seeds were scattered, mortality rates were reduced. Unfortunately, while there were several good anecdotes, there was little evidence of density-dependent mortality playing a role at the community level. In fact, there was evidence that trees were more likely to be clumped than scattered, a finding which was not in keeping with Janzen and Connell’s hypothesis.
NET-A-PORTER.COM Announces New Partnership With ASMALLWORLD

NET-A-PORTER.COM Announces New Partnership With ASMALLWORLD

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

NEW YORK, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

NET-A-PORTER.COM, the world's leading luxury online fashion retailer, has partnered with ASMALLWORLD to allow members of the exclusive social networking site to access and shop directly from the latest international designer collections.

From today, ASMALLWORLD's 'invitation only' community will be able to log on to www.asmallworld.net and enter a unique NET-A-PORTER micro-site, that will showcase must-have products and key looks from the runway from over 200 top fashion brands including Chloe, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney.

The site will be updated each week and will feature NET-A-PORTER's most-coveted items as well as a definitive Gift Guide to help shoppers find the perfect present.

BRCA1 Mutation Discovery Explains Why Women With It Have 85 Percent Risk Of Breast Cancer

BRCA1 Mutation Discovery Explains Why Women With It Have 85 Percent Risk Of Breast Cancer

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

A new study may explain why women with a mutation in the BRCA1 gene face up to an 85 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer; researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that BRCA1 plays a role in regulating breast stem cells, the small number of cells that might develop into cancers.

The study, in mice and in human breast cancer cells, found that BRCA1 is involved in the stem cells differentiating into other breast tissue cells. When BRCA1 is missing, the stem cells accumulate unregulated and develop into cancer.

“Our data suggest that an important reason women with BRCA1 mutations get breast cancer is that BRCA1 is directly involved in the regulation of normal breast stem cells. In these women, loss of BRCA1 function results in the proliferation of breast stem cells. Since we believe that breast cancer may originate in these cells, this explains why these women have such a high incidence of breast cancer,” said senior study author Max S. Wicha, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Oncology and director of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Who's 'Greener', Democrats Or Republicans?

Who's 'Greener', Democrats Or Republicans?

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

Political party affiliation has little bearing on the number of “green” actions people take, a new study by Porter Novelli and George Mason University shows.

According to the survey of more than 11,000 American adults and nearly 1,000 of their children, Democrats and Republicans differ only slightly when it comes to taking actions to protect the environment, despite great differences in their perceptions of danger related to global warming.

While Democrats were almost twice as likely as Republicans to believe that global warming is a serious problem and a threat to all life on the planet, on average they perform only about 15 percent more “green” actions than Republicans. For example, 65 percent of those surveyed who always vote Republican and 71 percent of those who always vote Democrat said they are actively reducing energy use in their homes.

Passionata Puts On A Show At The Crazy Horse!

Passionata Puts On A Show At The Crazy Horse!

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

PARIS, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- On 24 January, in the course of an extraordinary show, Passionata unveiled its new image and the highly glamorous advertising campaign devised by David LaChapelle. A hot spectacle presented by Alain Prost, General Director of Chantelle's Group, and Adeline Desjonqueres, International Director of Passionata's brand : four Crazy Horse mythical scenes and an original creation staging the latest Passionata Lingerie sets worn by gorgeous creatures endowed with stupendous figures and knowing smiles...

Pharmacy At Front Line Of Obesity Battle

Pharmacy At Front Line Of Obesity Battle

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

LONDON, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to news today that 1 million prescriptions per year are now made for obesity drugs, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has called for more awareness about the role played by community pharmacy.

Pharmacists are expert healthcare professionals and have a major role to play in public health - they are based in every community and offer advice, support and clinical treatment for a range of conditions, including obesity.

David Pruce, The RPSGB's Director of Practice and Quality Improvement, says:

WCC Smart Search And Match Announces Collaboration With Secugen

WCC Smart Search And Match Announces Collaboration With Secugen

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

UTRECHT, Netherlands, and RESTON, Virginia, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Multi-Modal Fusion Platform to Include Leading Fingerprint Technology

WCC Smart Search & Match, a leading provider of high-performance search and match software, today announced its collaboration with SecuGen, a leader in optical fingerprint recognition technology for biometric identification and authentication. SecuGen has developed fast, rugged and accurate fingerprint readers and software, which will provide enhanced identification and authentication for WCC's ELISE ID - The Platform for Multi-Modal Fusion.

Ecological Society Of America Strategy: Don't Restore Old Ecosystems, Make Current Ones Resilient

Ecological Society Of America Strategy: Don't Restore Old Ecosystems, Make Current Ones Resilient

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

Traditional ecosystems in which communities of plants and animals have co-evolved and are interdependent are increasingly rare, due to human-induced ecosystem changes. As a result, historical assessments of ecosystem health are often inaccurate.

A team of scientists present a new approach to management efforts in a paper posted this week on Frontiers e-View. The researchers suggest that such efforts should focus less on restoring ecosystems to their original state and more on sustaining new, healthy ecosystems that are resilient to further environmental change.

Timothy R. Seastedt (University of Colorado at Boulder), Richard J. Hobbs (Murdoch University in Australia) and Katharine N. Suding (University of California at Irvine) looked at ecosystem management studies from the past 12 years to develop a new approach to managing ecosystems in the face of increasing human impacts.

Understanding Hot Spot Volcanism

Understanding Hot Spot Volcanism

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

Most of the Earth’s listed active volcanoes are located at the borders between two tectonic plates, where upsurge of magma from the mantle is facilitated.

When these magmatic uprisings occur at a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate plunges under another, they give rise to volcanic massifs such as the Andes cordillera. Other volcanic chains are formed along oceanic ridges, submarine regions of ocean-floor extension.

However, some volcanoes are governed by a completely different mechanism: intraplate volcanism. As their name suggests, these volcanic constructions appear in the very centre of tectonic plates. Scientists now know that some of them, such as the Hawaii-Emperor archipelago or Reunion Island, result from magmatic upsurges generated at the boundary between the Earth’s core and mantle situated 2 900 km deep.

Others, such as those of the central Pacific, display different characteristics. They are anomalous, in their simultaneously high number, unusually high concentration and short life-span and prompt scientists to look for hypotheses other than a deep-mantle plume to explain the causes of intraplate volcanism.

ACS Awarded Contract To Provide Contactless Ticketing System In Riga, Latvia

ACS Awarded Contract To Provide Contactless Ticketing System In Riga, Latvia

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

DALLAS, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE: ACS) today announced it will provide a contactless ticketing system to the city of Riga, Latvia, with the municipality's wholly owned transit operator, Rigas Satiksme. No financial details were disclosed for the 13-year contract.

ACS will design and implement a smart card-based ticketing system using contactless cards and tickets for Rigas Satiksme's fleet of 460 buses, 322 trolleys, and 252 tramway cars. ACS and Rigas Satiksme will then operate the system under the city's oversight.

Kiadis Pharma Announces Successful Completion Of Rhitol(TM) Phase II Clinical Study

Kiadis Pharma Announces Successful Completion Of Rhitol(TM) Phase II Clinical Study

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

AMSTERDAM, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncology focused biopharmaceutical product development company Kiadis Pharma announced today that it has successfully finalized its Rhitol(TM) Phase II clinical trial with the last patient completing its six month treatment cycle. Rhitol(TM) is evaluated as treatment for patients with extensive chronic Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) intolerant or resistant to standard immunosuppressive treatment.

Barix Partners With Digigram On New EtherSound(TM) Initiative

Barix Partners With Digigram On New EtherSound(TM) Initiative

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

ZURICH, Switzerland, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Barix to implement Digigram ES-100/spkr solution into Exstreamer IP audio decoders, bringing EtherSound(TM) technology to new markets

Barix AG, a pioneer in IP-based audio, intercom, monitoring and control, today announced that it is partnering with Digigram to bring EtherSound(TM) technology, a widely-used digital audio transport technology developed by Digigram, to new markets including security, transportation and other public address applications. Digigram has recognized Barix as a launch partner for the technology, with Barix implementing Digigram's ES-100/spkr technology within its successful Exstreamer IP audio decoder and IPAM modules for OEM partnerships.

Laureate Announces Manufacturing Agreement With ARIUS For Trop-2 Targeting Antibody

Laureate Announces Manufacturing Agreement With ARIUS For Trop-2 Targeting Antibody

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

PRINCETON, New Jersey, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Laureate to Manufacture ARIUS' Product Candidate Trop-2 Signal Transduction Antibody

European Satellite Tracking Giant Masternaut Three X Arrives In Ireland

European Satellite Tracking Giant Masternaut Three X Arrives In Ireland

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Masternaut Three X, Europe's leading provider of satellite tracking and mobile working solutions has announced the opening of its new Irish headquarters at the prestigious Innovation Centre in Northern Ireland's Science Park, Belfast. Masternaut Three X already has an established customer base in Ireland. The new office provides a platform for further growth and the company will recruit 10 new employees in the first year.

Michael Cherney Funds Charities In Israel

Michael Cherney Funds Charities In Israel

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

TEL AVIV, Israel, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Ziv Neurim is an Israeli non profit organization, founded by former Israeli Navy Commandos in 2000, in honor of Ziv Levy, a commando who fell in the line of duty. Its aim is to encourage youth (aged 12-15) at risk to experience success rather than failure through participating in challenging marine activities. Today the organization works with 19 groups with the aim of operating 25 such groups across the country by the end of the year. The Michael Cherney (Mikhail Chernoy) Foundation provided assistance in operating one of the groups consisting of 15 (mainly immigrants from the Former Soviet Union) youths from Natanya.

Genmab's Financial Calendar For 2008

Genmab's Financial Calendar For 2008

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) announces its financial calendar for 2008 as follows:

EVENT DATE Publication of the Annual Report for 2007 Monday, March 31, 2008 Annual General Meeting 2008 Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Publication of the Interim Report for the Wednesday, May 28, 2008 first quarter 2008 Publication of the Interim Report for the Wednesday, August 27, 2008 first half 2008 Publication of the Interim Report for the Wednesday, October 29, 2008 first nine months 2008

Publication of the financial reports will be after market close on the date of the event.

About Genmab A/S

CyberTech Signs Global Contract With Major Financial Institution For Voice Recording Solution

CyberTech Signs Global Contract With Major Financial Institution For Voice Recording Solution

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

AMSTERDAM, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- CyberTech International, one of the fastest growing technology companies in the voice recording market, has announced that it has signed a global contract with one of the world's leading financial institutions. The contract, currently valued in the region of US$10 million, will see CyberTech supply, install and provide local support of their voice Recording Solutions at more than 80 locations world-wide. This financial institution will record all voice transactions in dealing rooms, call centres and other business areas.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers Reveals A Green, Sustainable Future

Fujitsu Siemens Computers Reveals A Green, Sustainable Future

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

MUNICH, Germany, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company First to Offer Complete Product Range Balancing Business Performance With Environmental Care

Fujitsu Siemens Computers executives outlined the company's strategic commitment to environmental sustainability in a podcast released today and available at http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/fujitsu-siemens/31527/.

Bernd Bischoff, chief executive officer, said: "I'm proud we're the first IT vendor with a complete range of environmentally sound products for the data centre, in the office, on the move and at home."

Green at heart

Hatstand Joins The Open MiFID Alliance

Hatstand Joins The Open MiFID Alliance

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. Proceeds To Full Enrolment In U.S. Phase II Sarcoma Clinical Trial

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. Proceeds To Full Enrolment In U.S. Phase II Sarcoma Clinical Trial

Jan 31 2008 | comment(s)

CALGARY, Canada, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced today that it has met the initial criteria to proceed to full enrolment in its U.S. Phase II trial to evaluate the intravenous administration of REOLYSIN(R) in patients with various sarcomas that have metastasized to the lung.