It may not be an ever popular artificial sweetener like NutraSweet, or have the crystalline texture of pure sugar, but the herb, which is commonly found at Trader Joes when it isn’t in its natural South American setting is sweeter than its sweetener counterparts—and calorie free.

The once banned herb stevia, which is 300 times the sweetness of sugar, is safe to consume in the U.S. as a dietary supplement, but pronounced unsafe by the Food and Drug Administration if used in food.

NEW YORK, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Ranking, In Its 7th Year, To Be Unveiled At 3rd Annual Top 250 Global Energy Companies Asia Leadership Awards Dinner

Platts, the world's leading energy information provider and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), will announce its annual Platts Top 250 Global Energy Companies in Singapore on October 20, 2008.

The Platts Top 250 Global Energy Companies ranking, now in its seventh year, measures corporate leadership by examining each company's performance and tracks the changes in ranks of regional energy companies as they increasingly assume a greater role in global energy sustainability.

New York, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

Editors are advised that an updated photo is available to accompany the news release, NYW052, Gwyneth Paltrow Announced as EIF Ambassador to Saks Fifth Avenue's 2008 KEY TO THE CURE Campaign, issued Wednesday, July 30, 2008 by Saks Fifth Avenue.

Caption: Gwyneth Paltrow models the 2008 KEY TO THE CURE limited edition T-shirt by Karl Lagerfeld designed exclusively for Saks Fifth Avenue in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation. $35 from the sale of every T-shirt will benefit EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund. (PRNewsFoto)

Members of the media may download the photo at no charge from the following online archives:

SAN MATEO, California, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Report Finds Siperian Best-in-Class for Market Vision, Implementation & Technology Partnerships, And Advanced Feature Sets

WELLESLEY HILLS, Massachusetts, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

Joseph F. Finn, Jr., C.P.A. ("Finn") announced today that the assets of Spherics, Inc. ("Spherics") had been assigned to him on July 28, 2008 for the benefit of creditors. An Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors is a common law procedure, wherein Finn will liquidate the assets, which consist primarily of pharmaceutical IP, by means of a sealed bid auction on October 10, 2008.

Persons interested in bidding must sign a Confidential Disclosure Agreement ("CDA") obtained from Finn's office. They will then receive a bid package and access to the Spherics electronic data room.

About Spherics

LONDON, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

The most valuable business asset that you and your sports and leisure facility could own this year will cost you nothing more than your time. Because a ticket to Sports Development Week (SDW, 23-25 September, Birmingham NEC), the UK's primary annual event focused on participation, infrastructure and performance in sport, is completely free when you pre-register at www.sdwshow.co.uk (and avoid the 15 pounds Sterling entry fee when registering at the show).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/NYM092 )

AUSTIN, Texas, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Version of Software Empowers Users to Take Advantage of Multicore, FPGA and Wireless Technologies

NIWeek -- National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced LabVIEW 8.6, the latest version of the graphical system design software platform for control, test and embedded system development. Building on the inherent parallel nature of graphical programming, LabVIEW 8.6 delivers new tools to help engineers and scientists take advantage of the benefits of multicore processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and wireless communication.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/LAM510)

FRAMINGHAM, Massachusetts, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

Everything Channel (formerly CMP Channel), the leader in accelerating global technology sales channels, today announced that it will name the VARBusiness Annual Report Card (ARC) award winners at an event at XChange '08 on Monday, August 18 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Dallas.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080505/NYM117LOGO-a )

LONDON, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photos

Successful results and growing sales of Michelson Diagnostics Ltd's (MDL) Optical Coherence Technology (OCT) systems have encouraged investors to place a further GBP600K into the business to help develop the in vivo technology. The capital injection forms part of a new funding round of almost GBP600k into pioneering MDL, with Catapult Venture Managers investing a further GBP250k, London Seed Capital a further GBP50k and the balance of the money coming from private investors. The money will be used to complete development of its hand-held OCT probe for applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/316330-a )