The superior colliculus has long been thought of as a rapid orienting center of the brain that allows the eyes and head to turn swiftly either toward or away from the sights and sounds in our environment. Now a team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has shown that the superior colliculus does more than send out motor control commands to eye and neck muscles.

Two complementary studies, both led by Richard Krauzlis, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Systems Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute, have revealed that the superior colliculus performs supervisory functions in addition to the motor control it has long been known for. The results are published in the Aug. 6 and Sept. 17 issues of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"Beyond its classic role in motor control, the primate superior colliculus signals to other brain areas the location of behaviorally relevant visual objects by providing a 'neural pointer' to these objects," says Krauzlis.

It used to be that 'eating like a pig' was an insult. A new scientific finding may put that old saying to rest.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute have successfully suppressed the appetite of pigs by removing the blood vessel that allows secretion of that pesky ghrelin hormone.

“There's no major surgery," says Aravind Arepally, M.D., of the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, using a new-ish procedure called GACE (gastric artery chemical embolization). In this procedure, blood vessels connecting the stomach and the fundus are disintegrated by a chemical known as sodium morrhuate. The removal of this blood vessel interferes with the creation of ghrelin since, without a constant blood supply, the fundus can no longer produce the appetite-inspiring hormone.

NEW YORK and LONDON, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Named Patient Programmes Yield ROI, Additional Benefits for Pharmaceutical Organizations

Eularis today announced the release of a first-ever study on the ROI of named patient programmes (NPP), also known as compassionate use programs. The paper, "Implementing a pre-launch named patient programme -- evidence of increased market share," provides pharmaceutical companies with insight and mathematical justification into the cash market share and revenue impact of pre-launch NPPs on brands, while outlining the benefits and challenges that they create.

One of Britain's best-known species of seabird is increasingly attacking and killing unattended chicks from neighboring nests due to food shortages.

Researchers at the University of Leeds and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology observed a dramatic increase in the number of adult guillemots deliberately attacking chicks of the same species in the last year. Hundreds of such attacks occurred, and many were fatal, with chicks being pecked to death or flung from cliff ledges.

These disturbing findings, published online today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, indicate that social harmony – even in long-established colonies – can break down when conditions get tough, for example if starvation looms. The study highlights a previously unsuspected parental dilemma: should both leave their chick unattended and spend more time feeding, or should one of them remain to protect the chick from attacks from neighboring birds even if it gets less food?

Imagine taking a picture of your favorite hockey team as a child and then again as an adult today. Looking back over a quarter of century, the changes you'd see are significant.

Researchers in the University of Alberta Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation looked at an NHL team over a 26-year cycle and discovered players have become bigger ... and fitter.

They studied 703 players from a Canadian-based NHL team from 1979 to 2005. The physiological profile derived from their research shows that over the 26 seasons, defensemen became taller and heavier as body mass increased; forwards got younger and had higher peak aerobic power outputs for cardio-respiratory endurance, while goalies were shorter and more flexible and had lower peak aerobic power outputs. All players combined (defence, forwards and goaltenders) increased body mass, height and anaerobic power over the 26 years.

A team of researchers at Michigan Technological University is harnessing the computing muscle behind the leading video games to understand the most intricate of real-life systems.

Led by Roshan D'Souza, the group has supercharged agent-based modeling, a powerful but computationally massive forecasting technique, by using the graphic processing units which drive the spectacular imagery beloved of video gamers. In particular, the team aims to model complex biological systems, such as the human immune response to a tuberculosis bacterium.

Agent-based modeling simulates the behaviors of complex systems. It can be used to predict the outcomes of anything from pandemics to the price of pork bellies. It is, as the name suggests, based on individual agents: e.g., sick people and well people, predators and prey, etc. It applies rules that govern how those agents behave under various conditions, sets them loose, and tracks how the system changes over time. The outcomes are unpredictable and can be as surprising as real life.

OTTAWA, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Serious Developers of Telephony and Speech Applications Discover the Latest Benefits, Power and Ease of use of VBVOICE With the Release of VBVoice 5.6.

GREENWICH, Connecticut, HOUSTON, LONDON and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

CHC Helicopter Corporation ("CHC") (TSX: FLY.A, FLY.B) (NYSE: FLI) and First Reserve Corporation ("First Reserve") are pleased to announce that the Plan of Arrangement (the "Arrangement") between 6922767 Canada Inc., an affiliate of funds managed by First Reserve, and CHC was completed today. The Arrangement was overwhelmingly approved by CHC's shareholders at a special meeting held on April 29, 2008, and was approved by the British Columbia Supreme Court on May 1, 2008. Under the Arrangement, 6922767 Canada Inc. acquired all of CHC's outstanding Class A Subordinate Voting Shares and Class B Multiple Voting Shares for cash consideration of CDN$32.68 per share.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- To Provide Clients With Best-in-Class Document Review Services CPA's Discovery Team Passes Stringent Applied Discovery Certification Standards

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

FRIMLEY, England, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Findings Provide New Evidence for Potential Role of Zometa(R) to Help Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer Returning

New data from three clinical trials show Zometa(R) (zoledronic acid) reduced the risk of local and distant recurrence in pre- and post-menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer. Investigators reported on the studies this week in Stockholm at the 33rd Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the primary European professional organization representing medical oncologists.