LONDON, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Two-thirds of UK doctors are opposed to the legalisation of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, according to research set to be published on Wednesday 25 March in Palliative Medicine.

A change in the law to legalise euthanasia is supported by 34% of doctors (general public: 82%), with 35% backing physician-assisted suicide (general public: 62%). The questions mirror those asked in the British Social Attitudes survey in 2007, making this the first direct comparison between members of the public and doctors.

More than 3,700 doctors replied to the survey, which was commissioned by a group of UK charities in response to the House of Lords' 2005 select committee report on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill.

ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced the initiation of the next phase of the ABSORB clinical trial to evaluate the safety and performance of the company's fully bioabsorbable drug eluting coronary stent. This second phase of the ABSORB clinical trial will enroll approximately 80 patients at 10 centers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and will incorporate device enhancements designed to improve deliverability and vessel support. The first patient was enrolled into the second stage of the ABSORB clinical trial at Onze Lieve Vrouw Ziekenhuis Hospital in Aalst, Belgium, by Bernard De Bruyne, M.D., Ph.D.

SOUTHAMPTON, England, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- VA106483 Completes Phase IIa Trial and VA111913 Completes Phase I Dosing

Vantia Therapeutics, a company focusing on first-in-class therapies for unmet medical needs, announces further clinical trial progress with its two lead development compounds, VA106483 for nocturia associated with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and VA111913 for dysmenorrhoea. The Phase IIa trial of VA106483 has completed, while dosing is complete in the Phase I trial of VA111913. With this news and developments in Vantia's preclinical pipeline, the company is continuing to generate value from its extensive library of small molecule antagonists of hormones and proteases.

LONDON, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Conference Attendees Will Have Access to the Latest Information on Communication Technologies From 29 Leading Component Manufacturers

SUNNYVALE, California, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced details of technology expected to revolutionize the speed of diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) and the resistance to common drug treatment for the disease.

The new test technology, developed in partnership with Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), and funded by the National Institute of Allergy Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will leverage the power of Cepheid's GeneXpert(R) System to deliver a highly accurate diagnosis of the disease in less than two hours.

MT. LAUREL, New Jersey, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Sir Richard Dearlove to help drive the global growth of leader in Video Lifecycle Management surveillance solutions

TimeSight Systems(TM), the industry leader in Video Lifecycle Management (VLM), today announced that Sir Richard Dearlove has joined the TimeSight Strategic Advisory Board. With a distinguished career of over 40 years at Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6) that includes five years as the agency's head, Sir Richard brings his extensive knowledge and renowned background to TimeSight Systems as the company continues to grow and evolve worldwide.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Sustainable Productivity Solutions Now Available to South African Manufacturers

Shoplogix, the developer of Plantnode(R), the real-time performance management solution that enables sustainable continuous improvement programs, is pleased to announce that Leading Edge Solutions (Pty) Ltd., a leading provider of business consulting and implementation services has signed up to distribute Shoplogix solutions in South Africa.

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STOCKHOLM, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Context-Aware Mobile Platform Supplier Wins Top Accolade From Logica

Logica announced today that Appear was this year's winner of the Global Innovation Venture Partner Programme (GIVPP) 2009, a key global event that occurred across eight countries, where Logica sought to identify the best Innovation Partner after reviewing 520 technology companies around the world.

LONDON, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Precise, the leading provider of media intelligence data, today announced the launch of its new social media monitoring service.

Whilst Precise has been involved for some time in monitoring social media content on behalf of its clients, the new service is a breakthrough in terms of genuinely addressing the issues of identifying and tracking influence.

LONDON, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

The Healthcare Group at Frost Sullivan is pleased to announce its 2009 Quarterly Analyst Briefing Presentation on the European Remote Patient Monitoring Market to be held on Tuesday, 31st March 2009, at 2 p.m. GMT.

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The world is facing an ongoing healthcare crisis along with the global economic slowdown. The timing could not be any worse: mounting costs, a steady increase regarding the ageing population, dysfunctional reimbursement policies, limited access, an ever impending physician shortage and concerns over quality of care are just some of the concerns.