CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, October 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- Robust Organic Growth, Revenue up 5.4%

Essilor International, the world leader in ophthalmic optics, today announced its consolidated revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2008.

Consolidated revenue - nine months

EUR millions 2008 2007 % change % change (9 months) (9 months) (reported)* (like-for-like) Consolidated revenue 2,277.8 2,200.3 +3.5% +5.4% Europe 1,022.6 987.2 +3.6% +2.7% North America 945.1 932.4 +1.4% +6.3% Asia-Pacific 211.6 200.9 +5.3% +8.8% Latin America 98.5 79.8 +23.5% +20.1%

*Changes in scope of consolidation added 3.9%; the currency effect was a negative 5.8%.

Research that has provided a deeper understanding into the centre of planets could also provide the way forward in the world's quest for cleaner energy.

An international team of scientists, led by the University of Oxford, working alongside researchers at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Central Laser Facility, has gained a deeper insight into the hot, dense matter found at the centre of planets and as a result, has provided further understanding into controlled thermonuclear fusion.

What does it take to build a car capable of going 1,000 MPH, 30% faster than any car that has gone before?  Richard Noble of Swansea University and lead of the aerodynamics team for the BLOODHOUND SSC (super sonic car) Project, intends to find out by 2011.

The University of New South Wales ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence says they have set a new standard by creating the first silicon solar cell to achieve 25 percent effiency, surpassing their previous record of 24.7 percent.

Enjoying your HD TV?  Nitrogen trifluoride is one of several gases used during the manufacture of liquid crystal flat-panel displays, thin-film photovoltaic cells and microcircuits. Many industries have used the gas in recent years as an alternative to perfluorocarbons, which are also potent greenhouse gases, because it was believed that no more than 2 percent of the NF3 used in these processes escaped into the atmosphere.

Oops.  Turns out it is at least four times more prevalent in the atmosphere than previously estimated, according to a team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. 

University of Cincinnati scientists say that a recent scientific study of a now-closed uranium processing plant near Cincinnati has identified a second, potentially more significant source of radon exposure for former workers.   That source—six silos filled with uranium ore in the production area—resulted in relatively high levels of radon exposure to 12 percent of the workers. More than half (56 percent) of the workers were exposed to low levels of radon while working at the site. 

A powerful antioxidant in green tea may prevent or delay the onset of type 1 diabetes, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

Researchers were testing EGCG, green tea's predominant antioxidant, in a laboratory mouse with type 1 diabetes and primary Sjogren's syndrome, which damages moisture-producing glands, causing dry mouth and eyes. 

Amoebas glide toward their prey with the help of a protein switch that controls a molecular compass, biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered.    Their finding is important because the same molecular switch is shared by humans and other vertebrates to help immune cells locate the sites of infections.

From pacemakers constructed of materials that so closely mimic human tissues that a patient's body can't discern the difference to devices that bypass injured spinal cords to restore movement to paralyzed limbs, the possibilities presented by organic electronics read like something from a science fiction novel.

Those who worship a higher power often do so in different ways. Whether they are active in their religious community, or prefer to simply pray or meditate, new research out of Temple University suggests that a person's religiousness – also called religiosity – can offer insight into their risk for depression. 

Lead researcher Joanna Maselko, Sc.D., characterized the religiosity of 918 study participants in terms of three domains of religiosity: religious service attendance, which refers to being involved with a church; religious well-being, which refers to the quality of a person's relationship with a higher power; and existential well-being, which refers to a person's sense of meaning and their purpose in life.