Most people who find a seashell during their summer holiday on the coast will probably not be aware that they have found a unique record of the climate. For paleontologists, those hard calcium shells provide a profound insight into the history of our earth and especially into the climate of the past.

Shells are a unique climate archive. The shells have clearly delineated growth patterns that show changing nutritional conditions, temperature fluctuations and environmental pollution. Shells are found all over the world, in the polar regions and at the equator, on land and in the ocean, in deeper waters and on ocean shelves, in tidal zones and in rivers, streams and lakes. "Shells are simply everywhere and, depending on their location, they provide us with important information about climatic developments.

They serve as records of volcanic eruptions in Iceland or the occurrence of a hurricane in Florida; they can, for example, even tell us whether the early Indian tribes on the western coast of Canada collected mollusks during full moon, crescent moon or new moon periods," states Schöne. Even though many types of shell are durable and survive for thousands of years, the mollusks themselves are extremely sensitive: In the presence of environmental pollution, they respond by lowering their rate of shell growth, which is why they can also be used for longer-term monitoring of water quality.

MAIDENHEAD, England, July 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Dosing Option Provides Greater Flexibility and Convenience for Patients to Effectively Control the Debilitating Symptoms of their Condition(1)

The European Commission announced today a new 50 mg Enbrel(R) (etanercept) once weekly dosage regimen as an alternative to the currently approved 25 mg Enbrel(R) twice weekly regimen for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Based on the outcome of the extensive European 318 study in adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, the European Commission issued the marketing authorisation for the European Union for a once weekly 50mg Enbrel(R) dosing.(1)

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, July 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- While European and North American Banks are Struggling on Security Issues, a Korean Software Company Successfully - for Many Years Already - Delivers Online Security for Banking, e-Commerce and Governments in Asia and Latin America.

NEW YORK, July 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- KYC 3.2 addresses financial sector's rising budgetary concerns

The latest customer due diligence technology just released by Fortent helps banks, brokerages, credit unions, and insurance companies take on the #1 concern faced by financial firms today: cutting costs.

OTTAWA, July 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- Free Software Update Offers New Features, Enhanced VoIP Service Provider Integration, and Extended Diagnostics to Simplify Installations

TalkSwitch(R), the leader in the design and manufacture of innovative telephone systems for small and multi-location businesses, and its United Kingdom distributor Intramation, today announced the release of TalkSwitch management software 6.10 in the UK & Ireland.

The free software update offers TalkSwitch users new features for enhanced call handling flexibility and increased productivity, including the ability to integrate with multiple Internet Telephony Service Providers, with fail-over to PSTN for added security, plus more extensive diagnostic capabilities to simplify VoIP deployment.

WAALWIJK, The Netherlands, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial Automation Integrators (IAI) B.V. in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, a subsidiary of DOCDATA N.V. in Waalwijk, the Netherlands, will supply two BookMaster One systems to AB Svenska Pass in Tumba, Sweden. The BookMaster One systems will be used for the personalisation of the Swedish passport.

BookMaster One systems perform the entire personalisation of a passport in one pass through the machine, including a quality verification of all processing done. Thus, the system is able to turn blank passports offered to the machine, into fully personalized passports ready for issuing. Due to its high degree of integration, each BookMaster One system can replace several existing personalisation systems.

OXFORD, England, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- t+ Medical is delighted to announce the acquisition of Vivatec Ltd. Following a period of rapid expansion including a successful launch of t+ Clinical into the clinical trial market, the purchase of Vivatec will allow t+ Medical to aggressively expand by offering an integrated solution covering medical devices, communication technology and nurse call centres to its customers.

t+ Medical is the leading global supplier of mobile phone based technology for capturing patient data for long term condition management and clinical trials. t+ Medical's clinically validated solution offers a unique combination of simplicity and effectiveness which delivers impressive economic and healthcare returns for its customers.

Hidden away in museums for more that 100 years, some recently rediscovered flatfish fossils have filled a puzzling gap in the story of evolution and answered a question that initially stumped even Charles Darwin.

All adult flatfishes--including the gastronomically familiar flounder, plaice, sole, turbot, and halibut--have asymmetrical skulls, with both eyes located on one side of the head. Because these fish lay on their sides at the ocean bottom, this arrangement enhances their vision, with both eyes constantly in play, peering up into the water.

After taking a fresh look at an old fossil, John Flynn, Frick Curator of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues determined that the brains of the ancestors of modern Neotropical primates were as small as those of their early fossil simian counterparts in the Old World. This means one of the hallmarks of primate biology, increased brain size, arose independently in isolated groups—the platyrrhines of the Americas and the catarrhines of Africa and Eurasia.

"Primatologists have long suspected that increased encephalization may have arisen at different points in the primate evolutionary tree, but this is the first clear demonstration of independent brain size increase in New and Old World anthropoids," says Flynn of the paper that appeared in the Museum's publication Novitates this June. Encephalization is the increase in brain size relative to body size. Animals with large encephalization quotients (E.Q.'s) are those with bigger brains relative to their body size in comparison to the average for an entire group. Most primates and dolphins have high E.Q.'s relative to other mammals, although some primates (especially apes and humans) have higher E.Q.'s than others.

While it's true that the attractiveness of orthodontic braces is related to less metal, according to a recent survey, the least attractive ones remain the most effective. It's that old form versus function issue.

Study findings published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics found that the public's attitude about the attractiveness of various styles of braces indicates that the types of dental appliances with no visible metal were considered the most attractive. Braces that combine clear ceramic brackets with thin metal or clear wires were a less desirable option, and braces with metal brackets and metal wires were rated as the least aesthetic combination.