New research from The University of Western Ontario reveals how the brain processes the 'rewarding' and addictive properties of nicotine, providing a better understanding of why some people seemingly become hooked with their first smoke. The research, led by Steven Laviolette of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry could lead to new therapies to prevent nicotine dependence and to treat nicotine withdrawal when smokers try to quit.

The researchers found one brain pathway in particular uses the neurotransmitter 'dopamine' to transmit signals related to nicotine's rewarding properties. This pathway is called the 'mesolimbic' dopamine system and is involved in the addictive properties of many drugs of abuse, including cocaine, alcohol and nicotine.

HOUSTON, August 5 /PRNewswire/ --

ALTRINCHAM, England, August 5 /PRNewswire/ --

- Business Marketers Set to Enjoy Increased Return on Investment

LBM today announces the launch of a new strategic partnership and a new service that will enhance the campaign ROI for all UK B2B marketers.

The online service, developed in conjunction with the country's leading credit risk data specialist Graydon UK, will offer direct marketers the opportunity to download pre-vetted B2B mailing lists ( http://www.lbm.co.uk/news) including details of over 1.3 million businesses and decision makers across the UK. This will help firms ensure they avoid targeting prospects lacking in financial strength and likely to heighten risk exposure and increase bad debt, as the current "credit crunch" takes hold.

University of Minnesota researchers have answered a key question as to why antiretroviral therapy isn't effective in restoring immunity in HIV-infected patients.

Once a person is infected with the virus, fibrosis, or scarring, occurs in the lymph nodes – the home of T cells that fight infection. And once fibrosis occurs, T cells can't repopulate the lymph nodes when HIV therapy begins, said Timothy Schacker, M.D., professor of medicine and principal investigator on the study.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, August 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (Euronext: AMT), a leader in the field of human gene therapy, today announced that it will release its financial results for the first half year of 2008 on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at noon Central European Time (CET). To discuss these results, the company will conduct a conference call at 2:00 p.m. CET. Netherlands dial in: 0800-949-4517 (toll free); US dial in: +1-866-291-4166 (toll free); UK dial in: +44-207-107-0611. To listen to the conference call live via the internet, visit the investor relations portion of the AMT website at http://www.amtbiopharma.com. Please go to the website 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download and install the necessary audio software.

SYDNEY, Australia, August 5 /PRNewswire/ --

- Assessment Based on Customer Ratings, Regional Presence and Investment in Innovation

Verizon Business received a "Strong Positive" rating from Gartner, Inc. in its inaugural "MarketScope for Managed Security Services in the Asia Pacific Region" report.(1)

To be rated Strong Positive, companies must demonstrate their continued investments in innovation and facilities in multiple countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This is in addition to receiving either a "Good" or "Excellent" rating from participants of the research -- all of whom are customers of managed security services providers.

Globular star clusters, dense bunches of hundreds of thousands of stars, contain some of the oldest surviving stars in the Universe. A new international study of globular clusters outside our Milky Way Galaxy has found evidence that these hardy pioneers are more likely to form in dense areas, where star birth occurs at a rapid rate, instead of uniformly from galaxy to galaxy.

Astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to identify over 11 000 globular clusters in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, most of which are more than 5 billion years old. Comprised of over 2 000 galaxies, the Virgo cluster is located about 54 million light-years away and is the nearest large galaxy cluster to Earth. Along with Virgo, the sharp vision of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) resolved the star clusters in 100 galaxies of various sizes, shapes, and brightness – even in faint, dwarf galaxies.

You may have laughed when you read in history books that in years gone by maggots were used to cure disease.

Laugh no more. It’s not uncommon for someone to suffer from chronic infected wounds for 18 months, despite all sorts of conventional treatment, but when maggots are applied to the same wound they can often begin to clear infection in just a few days. They have even been known to save people from having limbs amputated.

MRSA infections cause suffering, amputations and death, not to mention the estimated £1 billion cost to the NHS. Between 2002 and 2006, 6,201 deaths in England and Wales involved MRSA and 15,683 deaths in England and Wales involved C. difficile. The rapid rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria means that scientists urgently need to find a solution.

A study published in the International Journal of Obesity says that eating two eggs for breakfast, as part of an overall reduced-calorie diet, helps overweight adults lose more weight and feel more energetic than those who eat a bagel breakfast of equal calories.(1) This study supports previous research, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, which showed that people who ate eggs for breakfast felt more satisfied and ate fewer calories at the following meal. (2)

BELLEVUE, Washington and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, August 5 /PRNewswire/ --

- Deal marks first for Jumeirah Group with an online travel company

Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE), the world's leading online travel company, today announced it has signed a long term global agreement with Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, the dynamic, luxury hospitality management company. Under the agreement, Jumeirah hotels will be available on all Expedia(R) -- and hotels.com(R) -- branded points of sale globally.