GREENWICH, Conn., HOUSTON and LONDON, December 19 /PRNewswire/ --

A new brain imaging study by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows that cigarette cravings in smokers who are deprived of nicotine are linked with increased activation in specific regions of the brain.

Using a novel method of measuring brain blood flow developed by John Detre, MD, associate professor of Neurology at Penn, this study is the first to show how abstinence from nicotine produces brain activation patterns that relate to urges to smoke. The findings were published in the December 19, 2007 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience and make an important contribution to understanding smoking urges, a key risk factor for relapse, at the brain level.

Twelve healthy subjects in their 60s and 70s showed a different pattern of brain activations during thirst and satiation than did 10 healthy subjects in their 20s who drank the same amounts and underwent imaging with positron-emission tomography (PET). Dysfunction in activated neural regions could help explain why older adults show the dangerous tendency toward reduced drinking in response to dehydration.

San Antonio and Australian researchers reported the PET study of thirst in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition.

The team has conducted a series of studies to catalog brain activations to basic physiologic necessities such as thirst, body temperature regulation, air hunger and pain relief.

Chemical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have investigated supercritical methanol as a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel fuel. The new study also successfully converted tall oil fatty acid, a major by-product of the wood-pulping process, into biodiesel at a yield of greater than 90 percent, significantly advancing efforts to develop commercially viable fuel out of plentiful, accessible and low-cost feedstocks and other agricultural by-products.

“Major oil companies are already examining biodiesel as an alternative to petroleum,” said R.E. “Buddy” Babcock, professor of chemical engineering.

Mathematicians from the University of Exeter say they have solved the mystery of traffic jams by developing a model to show how major delays occur on our roads, with no apparent cause.

Many traffic jams leave drivers baffled as they finally reach the end of a delay only to find no visible cause for their delay. Now, a team of mathematicians state they have found the answer and published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.

The team developed a mathematical model to show the impact of unexpected events. Their model revealed that slowing down below a critical speed when reacting to such an event, a driver would force the car behind to slow down further and the next car back to reduce its speed further still.

NEW YORK and LONDON, December 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- Strategic Partnership Expands Linkstorm's Reach in European Market

Advertising technology company Linkstorm is ramping up its sales effort in the European online advertising business thanks to a new partnership with GMW Media, Ltd., a United Kingdom-based independent online media sales house.

GMW Media was founded in 2005 by Mark Wright, a veteran in online sales who has worked for companies such as Rivals.net, Sports.com, Teamtalk Media and Sportinglife. The company offers Linkstorm an extended sales team with local market know-how and contacts, thus raising Linkstorm's visibility with GMW's fast-growing network of advertisers and publishers.

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, December 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- Award Winners were Chosen for Leading Innovation Through Technology in all Aspects of Scientific Literature and Patent Publications

Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) and leading provider of information solutions to the worldwide research and business communities, today announced the winners of the 2007 Innovation Award, recognizing leadership in technology as it relates to all aspects of scientific literature and patent publications in India.

ALZENAU, Germany and CHERNOBYL, Ukraine, December 19 /PRNewswire/ -- NUKEM Technologies GmbH, Alzenau has handed over the Engineered Near Surface Disposal Facility at Chernobyl to the customer SSE Technocenter on 19 December 2007. By doing so, NUKEM as the first Western company, has successfully completed a plant for the treatment of radioactive waste on location Chernobyl up to the handover to the customer.

In the Engineered Near Surface Disposal Facility, short-life radioactive wastes accumulated in the nuclear power plant Chernobyl are stored following prior conditioning. The repository is situated 17 kilometres away from the power plant at the location VEKTOR within the 30-km zone.

SANTA CLARA, California, December 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- Marvell PXA 300 Application Processor Delivers Both Outstanding Multimedia and Optimal Business Applications Functionality

Marvell, (Nasdaq: MRVL), a leader in storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions, and Samsung, announced the availability of the Samsung SPH-M4650 PDA phone with the Marvell(R) PXA 300 application processor running on Korea's LG Telecom network. The Marvell PXA 300 application processor enables high-end graphics, gaming, and multimedia capabilities for the Samsung SPH-M4650 as well as delivering optimal business applications while consuming ultra-low levels of power. The Samsung SPH-M4650 runs on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional operating system.