LONDON, September 4 /PRNewswire/ --

In the most recent Petplan Pet Census, an annual study of pet ownership in the UK, 97% of vets reported that a lack of funds had led to owners choosing euthanasia over treatment.

As many households start to feel the financial pinch, there is greater concern than ever that pets with treatable conditions are at risk. Whilst some cases are the result of one-off 'emergency' treatment, manageable long-term conditions are often at the root of much unnecessary euthanasia because owners simply cannot afford the cost of ongoing treatment. Reported increases in pet obesity and diabetes, arthritis and behavioural problems have all been cited in the Pet Census as common causes of increased and ongoing vet bills.

Astronomers have taken the closest look ever at the giant black hole in the center of the Milky Way. By combining telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, and California, they detected structure at a tiny angular scale of 37 micro-arcseconds - the equivalent of a baseball seen on the surface of the moon, 240,000 miles distant. These observations are among the highest resolution ever done in astronomy.

Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a team of astronomers led by Doeleman employed an array of telescopes to study radio waves coming from the object known as Sagittarius A* (A-star). In VLBI, signals from multiple telescopes are combined to create the equivalent of a single giant telescope, as large as the separation between the facilities. As a result, VLBI yields exquisitely sharp resolution.

The Sgr A* radio emission, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, escapes the galactic center more easily than emissions at longer wavelengths, which tend to suffer from interstellar scattering. Such scattering acts like fog around a streetlamp, both dimming the light and blurring details. VLBI is ordinarily limited to wavelengths of 3.5 mm and longer; however, using innovative instrumentation and analysis techniques, the team was able to tease out this remarkable result from 1.3-mm VLBI data.

LONDON, September 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fresh Prepared Salads Producer Group (FPSPG), which supplies washed and ready to eat salad packs to all the major UK supermarkets, supported by the CFA and FSA, completely refutes suggestions in the press that prepared salads are unsafe to eat.

At the same time, Prof. Bill Keevil, professor of environmental health care at the University of Southampton, who was at the conference in Aberdeen where the salad research which sparked the stories was presented, said: "I was extremely disappointed by the quality of the data presented and its interpretation. We have known for a long time the various mechanisms that bacteria can use to attach itself to a range of surfaces, including plants. This is not new."

NEW YORK, September 3 /PRNewswire/ --

Tech Briefs Media Group, (TBMG), a leading B2B publisher of content for engineering and technical professionals announced today the sixth annual National Nano Engineering Conference 2008 (NNEC), the premier event focused on current and future developments in engineering innovations at the nanoscale, as well as the commercialization of nanotechnology. The event is now open for registration. Limited press badges will also be available. For more information, please visit www.nasatech.com/nano.

NEW YORK, September 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- TraderTools enables Germany's leading private bank to aggregate FX liquidity, from pricing through dealing and order management to execution

TraderTools LLC (TraderTools), a provider of business solutions, software and services to financial institutions trading in FX, announced today that BHF-BANK (BHF), one of the largest private banks in Germany, has licensed TraderTools' Liquidity Management Platform (LMP) to facilitate FX trading. Headquartered in Frankfurt, BHF manages large FX trading volumes every day and intends to use TraderTools' LMP as the core front-office system for its Currency Trading Department.

If you are on vacation in the Mediterranean basin and happen upon a person gnawing on a pine tree, fear not – the person is likely treating one of a myriad of inflammatory symptoms. While Western medicine tends to eschew traditional or “natural” therapies, the alternative movement is winning more and more converts as people seek to reduce health care costs and invest in a more organic lifestyle. The latest example of non-traditional medication comes to us from the lovely western Mediterranean, home to the Pinus pinaster , more commonly known as the maritime pine.

NEW YORK, September 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Business Unit Recently Launched First-Ever Multi-Touch Surface Computing Collaboration Solution for Telepresence

Teliris(R), (www.teliris.com) the leading provider of telepresence solutions since 1999, announced today the formal charter of the Teliris(R) Telepresence Research Labs as its newest business unit with the critical purpose of delivering the next-generation of immersive telepresence and immersive collaboration technologies.

MALVERN, England, September 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- Radical New Platform Designed From the Ground Up Delivers Intelligent Rheology Solutions

Malvern Instruments has today launched Kinexus, the radical new rotational rheometer platform whose development has been shaped by extensive market research and a fresh approach to addressing the real needs of users.

Designed entirely from the ground up, Kinexus redefines the rheometer. It enables users to spend less time learning how to interact with their system and more time investigating ways to characterize and enhance a material's performance.

LIVERPOOL, England, September 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- Attention: News, Industrial and Energy Correspondents

Unite members employed at Sellafield in Cumbria have voted overwhelming for industrial action in a dispute over pay.

88% of the workers have voted in favour of strike action after management failed to increase a pay offer of 2% on basic rates previously rejected by 90% of workers.

Unite is urging Sellafield management to improve the offer and get back around the table with trade unions in a final attempt to settle the dispute and avoid industrial action.

Unite Regional Officer Alan Westnedge, said: "We are extremely disappointed that the company are not prepared to move from a 2% offer on basic rates when inflation is at 5% and rising.

NAPA, California, September 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- AGENCY CHOSEN FOR LAUNCH OF PYRATINE-6(TM)