While studying towards his doctorate of philosophy, Anders Jørgensen discovered a previously undescribed species of parasite that infects farmed fish and produces serious disease.

Single-celled parasites of the genus Spironucleus are known to produce serious illness in farmed and aquarium fish. In farmed salmon, these parasites create foul-smelling, puss-filled abscesses in muscles and internal organs. After the first outbreaks of this disease were described in farmed salmon in the late 1980’s, it was assumed that the cause was Spironucleus barkhanus, which is a fairly common parasite in the intestine of wild grayling and Arctic char. In these fish species, however, the parasite is benign.

As oceans warm and become more acidic, ocean creatures are undergoing severe stress and entire food webs are at risk, according to scientists at a press briefing this morning at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

Gretchen Hofmann, associate professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has just returned from a research mission to Antarctica where she collected pteropods, tiny marine snails the size of a lentil, that she refers to as the “potato chip” of the oceans because they are eaten widely by so many species. The National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs funded the expedition.

Farmers, food suppliers, policy-makers, business leaders and environmentalists are joining forces to confront the threat of the ‘forgotten greenhouse gas’ by taking part in an influential new forum at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Launched on February 22, the Nitrous Oxide Focus Group will engage with many influential organisations including the National Farmers Union, Marks & Spencer, British Sugar, Defra, the Country Land and Business Association and Unilever.

GLASGOW, Scotland, February 19 /PRNewswire/ -- A Dundee lass who found herself homeless at aged 15 is one of six young people to be honoured tomorrow (Wednesday 20th February) as a "Scottish Achiever of the Year 2008."

Now a full-time hairdresser, Julie Hardie slept on friends' floors until a local shelter helped her to find a flat. Training charity Rathbone then taught her life-skills and combed job pages until she found work.

Open to all 1300 trainees at Rathbone Centres across Scotland, the Achievers Awards honour those who have made significant progress through learning. They will be presented at a glittering ceremony at the Scottish Parliament.

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut and KORTRIJK, Belgium, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- Natural Supplement for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children Fulfills Growing Need Throughout Asia -

RHEI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a fully integrated specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on bringing proprietary medicines to the China market, and MethaPharma, part of then Vemedia Group, today announced that RHEI has licensed from MethaPharma the exclusive right to market and distribute Attental(R) throughout Asia. Attental is a nutraceutical currently commercially available in Europe for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.

NEW YORK, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Reseller Program Expands Options in WLAN Marketplace

Extricom, provider of enterprise-class wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure systems for converged voice (VoWLAN), data, video, and RFID services, today launched its PartnerAdvantage Partner Program. The PartnerAdvantage launch comes as solution providers and Value Added Resellers (VARs) of all sizes are searching for differentiated solutions that will enable them to take advantage of the multi-billion dollar opportunity the wireless LAN (WLAN) market represents.

SUNNYVALE, California and PARIS, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- New ILOG JRules 6.7 Adds New Platforms, Customization Options

PALO ALTO, California, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- DreamSpark offers millions of students access to professional-grade software developer and designer tools.

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates today will unveil a software giveaway that will ultimately provide millions of college and high school students around the world with access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge to unlock their creative potential and set them on the path to academic and career success.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

KARLSRUHE, Germany, February 18 /PRNewswire/ -- RapidSolution Software AG has released the new Windows program Audials on its website, Audials.com. Audials One is the result of several years of complex software development that combines three products that are already highly popular with music and video fans - and that have received a total of 32 rewards - Radiotracker, Tunebite and Videoraptor, with additional functions and technologies. The new program allows every user to access music and videos on the Internet legally and free of charge - all copy protection and file formatting problems are a thing of the past.

With Audials One, a music request is delivered every 25 seconds on average.