Astronomers say they may have solved one of those classic chicken-and-egg problems, namely, which came first in the early Universe, galaxies or the supermassive black holes seen at their cores.

Chris Carilli, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), outlined the conclusions from recent research done by an international team studying conditions in the first billion years of the Universe's history in a lecture presented to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Long Beach, California.

NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands, January 6 /PRNewswire/ --

MedImmune, the global biologics unit of AstraZeneca, announced today that it has submitted a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for its nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), which is now being reviewed by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). The proposed indication in the MAA is for prevention of seasonal influenza.

The MAA submission for LAIV is based on data from 73 global clinical and U.S. post-marketing studies of more than 141,000 subjects ranging in age from 7 weeks to 97 years and conducted in 38 countries. Study objectives have included clinical safety and tolerability, clinical efficacy and effectiveness, and immunogenicity.

CHICAGO, January 6 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Signals Aggressive Expansion of Real-Time NAVTEQ Traffic to Europe

NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of digital map data for location-based solutions and vehicle navigation, has completed its previously announced acquisition of T-Systems Traffic, GmbH (T-Traffic), a leading provider of traffic services in Germany. The acquisition marks a significant step in NAVTEQ's program to expand its traffic offering in Europe.

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered 12 new gamma-ray-only pulsars and has detected gamma-ray pulses from 18 others. The finds are transforming our understanding of how these stellar cinders work.

"We know of 1,800 pulsars, but until Fermi we saw only little wisps of energy from all but a handful of them," says Roger Romani of Stanford University, Calif. "Now, for dozens of pulsars, we're seeing the actual power of these machines."

A pulsar is a rapidly spinning and highly magnetized neutron star, the crushed core left behind when a massive sun explodes. Most were found through their pulses at radio wavelengths, which are thought to be caused by narrow, lighthouse-like beams emanating from the star's magnetic poles.

SAN FRANCISCO, January 6 /PRNewswire/ --

- Digital Media Wire Recognizes blinkx CEO Suranga Chandratillake as Executive to Watch in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industry

blinkx, the world's largest and most advanced video search engine, today announced that CEO and Founder Suranga Chandratillake has been selected as one of Digital Media Wire's 25 Executives to Watch in Digital Entertainment. The annual list recognizes 25 of the most innovative, creative and forward-thinking executives in the digital media and entertainment industry.

MINNEAPOLIS, January 6 /PRNewswire/ --

AGA Medical Holdings, Inc. (AGA Medical or AGA) announced today that a German appeals court has ruled in its favor in a patent infringement proceeding against Occlutech GmbH, headquartered in Jena, Germany. The lawsuit was brought by AGA in 2006 in Dusseldorf, Germany seeking to enjoin Occlutech from infringing the German part of AGA's European patent (EP 0 808 138) and for damages resulting therefrom. The amount of damages and other remedies will be decided in enforcement proceedings in the near future.

LONDON, January 6 /PRNewswire/ --

The 2008 Frost Sullivan European Ultrasound Entrepreneurial Company Award is presented to SonoScape Co. Ltd. With a strong focus on developing highly sophisticated and ergonomically friendly ultrasound technologies at affordable prices, the company has been able to attract significant brand loyalty among small and large healthcare practitioners in both public and private settings. Backed by its pioneering S8 color Doppler system and its portfolio of cost-effective, portable and cart based ultrasound systems including the SSI-1000, the company has registered double digit growth in European markets since 2004.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO )

People have been making cheese for 8,000 years but it seems we still don't know all there is to know about the bacteria responsible for turning milk into cheese.   An international research team  has identified a new line of bacteria they believe adds flavor to some of the world's most exclusive cheeses.

The team used DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify eight previously undiscovered microbes in the French cheese Reblochon.

There are fossils of all shapes and sizes but we like dinosaurs because they're big and that means they could engage in terrific imaginary battles with other big things, like King Kong.

You don't see natural history museums vying for fossil skeletons of prehistoric kittens, it's the Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils everyone goes after, whereas non-science people tend to go for little  squeaky things they can fit in their laps while they drive and talk on the phone.  Earth's creatures come in all sizes, yet we all sprang from the same single-celled organisms that first populated the planet. So how on Earth did life go from bacteria to the blue whale?

Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study published by The American Physiological Society. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.

Sleep apnea is the most commonly diagnosed condition amongst sleep-related breathing disorders and can lead to debilitating and sometimes fatal consequences for the 18 million Americans who have been diagnosed with the disorder. This study identifies a mechanism behind stroke in these patients.