BARCELONA, Spain, February 13 /PRNewswire/ --

China Mobile announced today that it is set to join LTE (Long Term Evolution) trials already being carried out by Vodafone and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone.

The resultant three-way operator trials will focus on LTE FDD (the Frequency Division Duplex version of LTE) for use with paired spectrum allocations and TD-LTE (the Time Division Duplex version of LTE) as an evolution of current TD-SCDMA technology to enable the exploitation of unpaired spectrum globally.

BARCELONA , Mobile World Congress, February 13 /PRNewswire/ -- When used as an LTE protocol tester, the R&S CMW500 delivers multiple benefits to chipset and wireless device manufacturers - in every phase of UMTS LTE-compliant protocol development. Benefits include significant cost reductions for the entire development of UMTS LTE wireless devices because the protocol stack can be checked at an early stage. Furthermore, the protocol tester reduces time to market since hardware and software can be co-developed, tested and fine-tuned simultaneously.

Contrary to some reports, the epilepsy drug oxcarbazepine does not appear to prevent migraine, according to research published in the February 12, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The nearly five-month study involved 170 men and women at clinics across the United States with half of the group receiving a daily dose of oxcarbazepine; the other half took placebo. Both groups included people who had three to nine migraine attacks within a month.

Researchers found no difference between the oxcarbazepine and placebo groups in the change in the number of migraine attacks from the beginning to the end of the study.

A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims to have solved this scientific riddle by analysing the genomics of primitive living fishes such as sharks and lampreys and their spineless relatives, such as the sea squirts.

Vertebrates - animals such as humans that possess a backbone - are the most anatomically and genetically complex of all organisms, but explaining how they achieved this complexity has vexed scientists since the conception of evolutionary theory.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, February 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Production

In 2007, the production of crude steel (slabs, blooms and billets) totaled 17.9 million tonnes, an increase of 13.6% as compared to 2006. This increase in volume is partially due to the improvement in the operations of the several regions in which Gerdau operates and also the consolidation of new companies acquired during 2007.

The production of rolled products reached 15.2 million tonnes, 18.4% greater than the production in 2006.

Sales

NEW YORK, February 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- Awardees Set Example for Innovation in Developing Countries and the Academic Workplace

The Elsevier Foundation has announced today that it has committed a total of US$594,000 in grants to thirteen institutions from around the world in support of initiatives that promote the work of libraries and scholars in science, technology and medicine. The recipient programs were selected from over 150 applicants worldwide for their innovation and potential for impact in the developing world and the academic workplace.

LUGANO, Switzerland, February 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Helsinn Healthcare SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical group, today announced that it has signed a Distribution and License Agreement for Aloxi(R) (Palonosetron hydrochloride) and Gelclair(R) in Germany with Riemser Arzneimittel AG, a medium-sized pharmaceutical group engaging in research, headquartered in the West Pomeranian town of Greifswald - Island of Riems, Germany.

LONDON, February 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- BA renews MedAire medical service contract

British Airways (http://www.ba.com) will continue to offer its passengers an added level of medical safety and security through MedLink, a ground-to-air medical advisory service provided by MedAire (http://www.MedAire.com). Any time an in-flight medical situation arises, British Airways' pilots and flight attendants can use a radio to directly contact MedAire's 24/7 MedLink Global Response Center.

New research from the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute shows that an interaction between fetal brain cells and maternal antibodies could be linked with the repetitive behavior – also called stereotypies – that is characteristic of autism. While additional studies are needed to confirm the outcome, this result leads investigators to suspect that brain-directed antibodies during the prenatal period could be a causal factor for the disorder. The study appears online now and will be published in a future issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

The study builds on recent research led by UC Davis immunologist Judy Van de Water (to be published in the March 2008 issue of Neurotoxicology) showing that IgG antibodies from the blood of mothers of children with autism react against fetal brain proteins. The outcome was predominant with IgG samples from mothers of children with the regressive form, rather than the early onset form, of the disorder. Her outcome raised the possibility that some cases of autism may be linked to antibody transplacental transfer during pregnancy which, in turn, affects the growing brain.

Ahhhh, Valentine's Day. Bad food, shoddy restaurant service - and you have no choice about it. The Soviet Union had toilet paper lines but they didn't force Valentine's Day on its people. Really, anyone who is unsure what mandates accomplish only needs to look at ethanol for a modern comparison of why things suffer when you force a solution on people.

But all is not lost. There's science in love, you know, and that means there's science in Valentine's Day. Science on Valentine's Day is like cold fusion instead of ethanol. Completely wonderful. And we have it all right here.