A leading fungi expert has accidentally stumbled upon a new species in Scotland – as he walked home from work. Dr Andy Taylor, from Aberdeen’s Macaulay Institute, noticed the Xerocomus bubalinus growing near a lime tree in the city’s Albyn Place. This very rare fungus was only described for the first time in 1991 in the Netherlands, and has not previously been recorded before in Scotland.

As well as his city centre find, Dr Taylor, a professional mycologist, also recently discovered a species (Russula vinososordida ) not found in the UK before, and another very rare species (Buchwaldoboletus lignicola) in the very grounds of the Macaulay Institute where he works.

Dr Taylor said: “I couldn’t quite believe it that I had found this species, which isn’t supposed to occur here in Scotland, and that it was living right here under our noses.”

Creatine, a popular nutritional supplement renowned for enhancing athletic performance and muscle strength, does not improve exercise outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study. The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study provided the most powerful evidence to date that the effect of creatine (Cr) supplementation was negligible at best among these patients.

"We have evidence to suggest Cr uptake into muscles [in COPD patients] but are unable to explain why an increase in muscle Cr did not enhance training," wrote the study's lead author, Sarah Deacon, M.D., specialist registrar at the Institute for Lung Health at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, England.

The results were published in the first issue for August of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine by the American Thoracic Society (ATS).

Sleep-disordered breathing (also known as sleep apnea) is associated with an increased risk of death, according to new results from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, an 18-year observational study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers found that adults (ages 30 to 60) with sleep-disordered breathing at the start of the study were two to three times more likely to die from any cause compared to those who did not have sleep-disordered breathing. The risk of death was linked to the severity of sleep-disordered breathing and was not attributable to age, gender, body mass index (an indicator of overweight or obesity), or cardiovascular health status.

University of Illinois researchers writing in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience report this week that chronic exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some cognitive functions. Rats exposed to a steady dose of estradiol were impaired on tasks involving working memory and response inhibition, the researchers found.

The researchers made the discovery when studying the effects of estradiol on activities mediated by the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is vital to working memory and to the ability to plan, respond to changing conditions and moderate or control one's behavior.

A bottle of Chateau Neuf De Pape wine from the Rhone region in France may include constituents of up to 13 grape varietals. Time-zones away, olive oil experts at U.C. Davis work with 100 olive varietals to create cutting-edge olive oil. After all, like wine, olive oil can be made up of multiple varieties of its base fruit.

While olive oil consumption has steadily increased over the past 30 years due to its healthful properties and popularity among celebrity chefs like Rocco DiSpirito, in California producers make keeping up-to-date into an art form.

COPENHAGEN, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Summary: Phase III Pivotal Study of Ofatumumab in Refractory CLL Meets Primary Endpoint

Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) and GlaxoSmithKline (LSE and NYSE: GSK) announced today positive top-line results from an interim analysis of the Phase III pivotal study evaluating ofatumumab (HuMax-CD20(R)) to treat two groups of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with high unmet medical need. At the interim analysis, the study met the primary endpoint in both populations and the results from the secondary endpoints also support the primary endpoint.

MUMBAI, India, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- PAT (Standalone) Expands 179% to Rs. 1,699 Million

- The Board Declared Interim Dividend of 200%

Financial Technologies (India) Limited today announced its reviewed unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.

Highlights:

- Total income increased by 146% to Rs. 2,540 million in Q1 2008-09. - PAT increased by 179% to Rs. 1,699 million. - Declared an interim dividend of 200%.

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- ATTN: North West Editors

Members of Unite, the UK's largest trade union, have agreed to step up action short of a strike and give notice of further strike action.

The decision to strike comes after the hospital trust are continuing to force low paid staff to wait three weeks for their pay by changing the payroll system.

Brian Nelson, Unite Regional Industrial Organiser, said: "We had hoped that the trust would see sense and continue with a weekly payroll. It is particularly frustrating for our members when the trust can continue weekly payment for other NHS staff across the Wirral.

NEW YORK, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Including embedded 4G technologies in mobile devices will change dealings between network operators and device suppliers, says Unstrung Insider

A major push to include embedded 4G technologies in a wide range of mobile and consumer devices will create a built-in market for anticipated 4G services such as mobile WiMax and LTE, but it also will force some fundamental changes in the mobile industry ecosystem, particularly in the relationships between network operators and device suppliers, according to the latest report from Unstrung Insider (www.unstrung.com/insider), a paid research service from TechWeb's Unstrung (www.unstrung.com) and Light Reading (www.lightreading.com).

SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Featured Case Study: Hawaii's Successful Produce Safety RFID Pilot

TechInsights announced the final agenda for the "Food Traceability: Securing the Food Supply Chain" workshop to be held during the RFID World 2008 conference in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, September 8-10 (http://www.rfid-world.com/2008). The workshop addresses recent food safety crises and includes a presentation of the results of an extensive produce traceability case study funded by the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii and administered by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.