PARIS, June 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- REYATAZ(R), Taken With Ritonavir, Provides an Additional Therapy Option in Treatment-Naïve HIV-1 Infected Adults in the European Union

The European Commission has granted marketing authorization for REYATAZ(R) (atazanavir sulfate 300mg once daily), administered with ritonavir 100 mg once daily and taken in combination with other antiretroviral medicinal products, in antiretroviral treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infected adults. The decision means that the use of REYATAZ(R) in antiretroviral treatment naïve patients is approved for marketing in the 27 countries of the European Union.

A study recently published in Social Science Quarterly finds that religious beliefs play a more significant role than church attendance or religious traditions in political participation.

Religious beliefs affected political participation more than other measures of religious behavior. In addition, different types of religious beliefs influence political participation differently.

Generalized, macro religious beliefs affected national political participation. Macro beliefs include religious beliefs that involve broad, worldly concerns. Narrow, individually experienced micro beliefs that are personal and affect individual concerns had no effect on national politics.

Scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have, for the first time, genetically programmed embryonic stem (ES) cells to become nerve cells when transplanted into the brain, according to a study published today in The Journal of Neuroscience.

The research, an important step toward developing new treatments for stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological conditions showed that mice afflicted by stroke showed tangible therapeutic improvement following transplantation of these cells. None of the mice formed tumors, which had been a major setback in prior attempts at stem cell transplantation.

The team was led by Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research Center at Burnham. Dr. Lipton is also a clinical neurologist who treats patients with these disorders. Collaborators included investigators from The Scripps Research Institute.

HONG KONG, June 24 /PRNewswire/ --

Buoyed on by the success of the previous Fashion Access (FA), the next event, scheduled 2 - 4 October 2008, will focus on the upcoming season under the slogan 'Let's Go Summer 2009'.

The earlier event, held at the end of March 2008, heralded the growing importance of the twice-a-year exhibition in determining trends across a wide range of lifestyle accessories for forthcoming seasons. It is a unique event that encompasses bags, footwear, travelware, leather goods and, of course, fashion accessories.

Fashion Access is now the 'must attend' event for exhibitors and buyers alike who have to stay in the fast lane of world fashion.

LONDON, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- BT (LSE:BT-A.L, NYSE:BT) has joined forces with Retalix Ltd. (NASDAQ: RTLX), to launch a range of products and services which will meet the entire in-store technology requirements of food and convenience retailers in the U.K.

The co-operation agreement, announced at Retail Solutions 2008, brings together Retalix's industry-established store technology platform with BT's team of retail experts, who have a track record of delivering successful store infrastructure implementations across a variety of retail store types. Combined with its capabilities in communications and networked IT, BT will be able to offer a new end-to-end grocery solution to the UK marketplace.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 23 /PRNewswire/ --

Biologists at Harvard University have determined that some African frogs puncture their own skin with sharp bones in their toes when threatened, using the bones as claws capable of wounding predators. It's not quite the X-Men's Wolverine (they can't cut through Magneto) but it's a nifty defensive mechanism.

"Most vertebrates do a much better job of keeping their skeletons inside," said David C. Blackburn, a doctoral student in Harvard's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. "It's surprising enough to find a frog with claws. The fact that those claws work by cutting through the skin of the frogs' feet is even more astonishing. These are the only vertebrate claws known to pierce their way to functionality."

Homer's Odyssey, be it history or fiction, had one potentially true part that has fascinated readers throughout the ages - namely whether Odysseus returned home to experience a total solar eclipse.

Total eclipses, when the moon briefly but completely blocks the sun, happen pretty rarely. In fact, they're so rare that if what Homer describes is truly an eclipse, it could potentially help historians date the fall of Troy, which was purported to occur around the time of the events described in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

After arguing about the point for hundreds of years, historians, astronomers and classicists finally agreed that there was no corroborating evidence and tabled the discussion. Now, Marcelo O. Magnasco, head of the Laboratory of Mathematical Physics at Rockefeller, and Constantino Baikouzis of the Proyecto Observatorio at the Observatorio Astronómico in La Plata, Argentina, believe they have found some overlooked passages that, taken together, may shed new light on the timing of an epic journey.

CHANGZHOU, China, June 23 /PRNewswire/ --

Niutang Chemical, a leading global manufacturer of food additives, pharmaceutical intermediates and curing agents, has recruited Alan Turner to lead its new office in the United Kingdom. As sales director of Niutang U.K. Ltd., Mr. Turner will spearhead all of Nuitang's sales and marketing in the U.K., including sweeteners and folic acid. He will particularly focus on the company's fast-growing businesses in aspartame and sucralose.

LONDON, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite, the UK's largest trade union, has criticised the Government for reneging on a proposal that would have given workers the right to paid time off for training.

Under new proposals outlined last week, from 2010, employees will be entitled to request time off work for training after six months in a job. However, Skills Minister David Lammy has stated that employers would not be obliged to pay an employee's salary while they were undertaking training, neither would they be obliged to organise or pay for the training.

Commenting on the minister's statement Graham Goddard, Deputy General Secretary of Unite, said;