Children between the ages of seven and 12 appear to be naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain, according to researchers at the University of Chicago, who used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to study responses in children.

The responses on the scans were similar to those found in studies of adults. Researchers found that children, like adults, show responses to pain in the same areas of their brains. The research also found additional aspects of the brain activated in children, when youngsters saw another person intentionally hurt by another individual.

"This study is the first to examine in young children both the neural response to pain in others and the impact of someone causing pain to someone else," said Jean Decety, Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Chicago, who reported the findings in the article, "Who Caused the Pain? An fMRI Investigation of Empathy and Intentionality in Children," published in the currrent issue of Neuropsychologia. Joining him as co-authors were University students Kalina Michalska and Yuko Aktsuki.

Millions of pounds of lead used in hunting, fishing and shooting sports wind up in the environment each year and can threaten or kill wildlife, according to a new scientific report.

Lead is a metal with no known beneficial role in biological systems, and its use in gasoline, paint, pesticides, and solder in food cans has nearly been eliminated. Although lead shot was banned for waterfowl hunting in 1991, its use in ammunition for upland hunting, shooting sports, and in fishing tackle remains common.

LONDON and FRANKFURT, Germany, July 11 /PRNewswire/ --

RTS Realtime Systems Group, a leading trading solutions provider, announced that the new 100MB high bandwidth, low latency LIFFE CONNECT(R) services will be operational from the Liffe Go-Live on Monday 14th July in its global data centres. The new services from Liffe(TM) deliver significant performance improvements and reductions in latency.

Benefits include a high-performance decompressed market data feed, dual 100Mbpc circuits, new higher specification gateways, full market depth on all products and Gigabit complaint routers for expansion.

In some ways, your body's thoughts and actions are like a complex series of water faucets but the spigots open or close in response to signals. Each thought or action sends a million electrical signals pulsing through your body.

At the heart of the process of generating these electrical impulses is the ion channel.

Ion channels belong to a special class of proteins embedded in the oily membranes of the cell. They regulate the movement of charged particles, called ions, into and out of the cell. Much like water faucets that can be controlled by turning a knob, channels open or close in response to specific signals. For instance, ion channels that open in response to pressure on the skin regulate our sense of touch.

Similar to the unique make-up of a human fingerprint, each artist has a technique inimitable to only them. Scientists have recently applied this idea to finding a new way of determining the authenticity of an art piece.

Using Van Gogh’s paintings and a digital analysis system, Penn State researchers James Z. Wang and Jia Li, are doing their part to help solve counterfeit painting schemes using computer science and engineering.

SAO PAULO, Brazil, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Favorable decision also includes the investment agreement between Braskem and Petrobras

Braskem (BOVESPA: BRKM3, BRKM5, BRKM6; NYSE: BAK; LATIBEX: XBRK), the leading company in the thermoplastic resins industry in Latin America and third-largest resin producer in the Americas, announces that Brazil's antitrust authority, CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica), today gave the final approval to the acquisition of the petrochemical assets of the Ipiranga Group by Braskem and Petrobras. The only recommendation made by CADE was to adjust the clause regarding non-competition by the sellers, which is limited to the markets where they operated.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --

GoCar, the original GPS-Guided Tour company that launched in April 2004 in San Francisco, has made the big leap from the USA into the European market with the addition of locations in Barcelona and Lisbon. The addition of EU locations takes the total number of GoCar locations to 5 across the globe; the others being San Francisco, San Diego and Miami.

PLEASANTON, California, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Innovative distance learning solution for on-demand, hands-on training launched by Citrix to train its worldwide channel partners and customers.

Toolwire, a leading innovator of experiential distance learning solutions announces that Citrix Systems, Inc. has chosen Toolwire to deliver an on-demand and scheduled lab environment to train Citrix worldwide channel partners and customers on its application networking products, including Citrix(R) NetScaler(R), Citrix WANScaler(TM), Citrix Access Gateway(TM), and NetScaler Application Firewall products.

LONDON, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Top Publisher Launches Slate of Games for iPhone & iPod Touch

Gameloft, a leading developer and publisher of mobile and console games, announced six games now available on the Apple App Store launching today. Games that are available include top sellers such as Brain Challenge, Bubble Bash, Chess & Backgammon Classics, Platinum Solitaire, Platinum Sudoku, and Diamond Twister. Each title capitalizes on iPhone's distinctive gaming features and offers a unique set of original characteristics and gameplay.

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GENEVA, Switzerland and HOUSTON, Texas, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. and WISeKey today announced that they were selected by the Regional Government of Biscay for the delivery of a comprehensive e-Government Citizen Services Platform. This EUR17.4 million project includes a leading-edge identity federation that enables the establishment of customized citizen portals adapted to the needs and the interests of each citizen in a real Web 2.0 environment.