PARIS, April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- SAFRAN announced today that it has acquired 81% of GE Homeland Protection, a wholly owned affiliate of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). GE Homeland Protection is a leader in tomography-based detection systems for hazardous or illicit substances in baggage. Through this acquisition Sagem Sécurité, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAFRAN becomes a leading global player in airport security solutions.

HANOI, Vietnam, April 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- Harvey Nash Wins Coveted 'Sao Khue Awards'

 Deteriorating screws in bridges, fish that listen in the dark, medical devices that use sound to treat disease, the detected comeback of a long-gone whale, the sound of hyenas, cheese, and bagpipes, and what evolution can teach us about cowardice.

These are just a few of the topics that will be covered at the 157th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), which convenes from May 18-22 at the Hilton Portland&Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon. There, acoustical scientists and engineers will present more than 1,000 talks and posters related to acoustics, a cross-section of diverse disciplines devoted to architecture, underwater research, psychology, physics, animal bioacoustics, medicine, music, noise control, and speech.

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A new study challenges long-standing expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be more particular when it comes to choosing a mate. The research in Trends in Ecology and Evolution suggests that human mating strategies are not likely to conform to a single universal pattern and provides important insights that may impact future investigations of human mating behaviors.

SACRAMENTO, California, April 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- California Air Resources Board votes to recognize sugarcane ethanol's carbon reduction levels

Sugarcane ethanol passed a critical test today as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved its long-awaited, first-of-its-kind Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). While the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) continues to provide evidence that sugarcane ethanol's carbon intensity is even lower than initially calculated by CARB, today's decision means sugarcane ethanol will be in greater demand in California in the years to come.

Parasite infestations might have a good side. Wild mice from a Nottinghamshire forest have given experts at The University of Nottingham clues as to the importance of some parasites, such as lice, for the conditioning of a "natural" immune system.

Jan Bradley, Professor of Parasitology, said: "Our understanding of mammalian immunology is largely based on rodents reared under highly unnatural pathogen and stress-free conditions. Analysing the immune response in wild populations can give crucial insights into how the immune system functions in its natural context."

By way of the classical photoeffect, Einstein proved in 1905 that light also has particle character. However, with extremely high light intensities, remarkable things happen in the process, say scientists of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and colleagues at FLASH in Hamburg, the first free-electron laser (FEL) for soft X-rays worldwide.

Every brain has a soundtrack. Its tempo and tone will vary, depending on mood, frame of mind, and other features of the brain itself. When that soundtrack is recorded and played back -- to an emergency responder, or a firefighter -- it may sharpen their reflexes during a crisis, and calm their nerves afterward.

In trying to understand the role of prostaglandins – a family of fatty compounds key to the cardiovascular system – in blood pressure maintenance, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues discovered that mice that lack the receptor for one type of prostaglandin have lower blood pressure and less atherosclerosis than their non-mutant brethren. 

The results indicate that the normal role for the type of prostaglandin studied, PG F2-alphais to increase blood pressure and accelerate atherosclerosis, at least in rodents, and suggest that targeting this pathway could represent a novel therapeutic approach to cardiovascular disease. 

A preliminary study on the use of stem cells obtained from a patient's own adipose tissue in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promising results. The three case studies, described in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine support further clinical evaluation of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells in MS and other autoimmune conditions.