ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- Japanese Pharmaceutical Company Establishes its own Turkish Subsidiary

- Important Step in Global Expansion

DAIICHI SANKYO, one of the world's leading research-driven pharmaceutical companies based in Japan, is establishing its own subsidiary in Turkey. The company, to be called DAIICHI SANKYO Ilaç Tikaret Ltd., will be headquartered in Istanbul and will initially focus on marketing the osteoporosis medication Evista (Raloxifen).

Long-term harmful effects of marijuana include risk for heart attacks and strokes in addition to impaired learning and memory.

The active chemical in marijuana, called delta-9-tetrahyrdocannabinol (THC), is believed to exert these effects by binding to cannabinoid (CB) receptors located on several cell types in various organs.

Scientists have found CB receptors in many organs including the brain, heart, liver, kidney, and spleen. In this study, researchers investigated if persistent heavy marijuana use might be associated with changes in different blood proteins in order to check if the abnormalities in the identified proteins might be related to other side-effects of marijuana.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --

WeatherBill (www.weatherbill.com) today announced that Jens Boening, a weather risk management industry leader, has been appointed as Managing Director, Europe and Asia for the company. Boening will be based out of WeatherBill's new United Kingdom branch office, and will be positioned to better serve the needs of WeatherBill's rapidly growing European and Asian client base of weather-sensitive companies. Boening will report directly to WeatherBill's CEO and Founder David Friedberg.

NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Johnson & Johnson today announced that Professor Marc Feldmann, FMedSci, FAA, FRS and Emeritus Professor Sir Ravinder N. Maini, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Imperial College London have been named the recipients of the 2008 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research by an independent selection committee of world-renowned scientists.

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."