It is the concentration of a few signaling molecules that determines the fate of individual cells during the early development of organisms, say a team of molecular biologists writing in Current Biology.   Pia Aanstad of the University of Innsbruck and colleagues report that a variety of molecular mechanisms accounts for the interpretation of the concentration of the signaling molecule Hedgehog. 

The development of an organism is a complex process to which a dozen or hundreds of signaling molecules contribute. Some of these molecules have dozens of functions in the fruit fly and in humans alike.

LONDON, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Player Wins $100,224 on WinADay.com's Wheeler Dealer Slot Machine

One lucky online slot machine player is glad she took her friend's advice and tried the free games at WinADay.com. She ended up winning a progressive jackpot of over $100K and became the third big jackpot winner at the new three-dimensional online casino site operated by Slotland.com.

My friend convinced me to try WinADay.com, said the 3D casino's latest jackpot winner. I tried out all the games in Free Play and then, after I'd found my favourite games and learned how to play, I switched to real money.

Click here to view video clip of WinADay jackpot games: http://www.winaday.com/?p=72276780_19

STOCKHOLM, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Over EUR7,000,000 in Progressive Jackpots to be Won at Boss-Powered Online Casinos

Boss Media's Aladdin's Lamp EUR5 progressive jackpot has just topped EUR2 million and is now one of the biggest progressive jackpots available at any online casino. Casinos powered by Boss Media now have the biggest total jackpot pool available anywhere, currently over EUR7 million.

Aladdin's Lamp EUR5 has only been hit once before and that was last summer for just over EUR1.7 million, said Mery Blomqvist, Head of Marketing PR at Boss Media, one of the world's leading independent software providers of complete online gaming entertainment solutions. It's hard to predict just how high this jackpot will soar before it's won.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

Increased sales of netbooks over the next three to five years will result in higher demand for mobile broadband services, driven by the emerging trend of bundling the low-end computers with mobile data services from specific network operators, according to the latest report by Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Last Tuesday CDF announced their own discovery of the Omega_b baryon, a measurement which creates a controversy with the competing experiment at the Tevatron collider, DZERO. That is because DZERO had already claimed discovery for that particle, almost one year ago, and because the two measurements disagree wildly with each other. Just browse through my past few posts in this column and you will find all the information you need (how lazy can one be with links?).

HIV/AIDS has left its mark on mankind.   Millions of people have been lost to a disease that seems so uniquely designed to tear down our defenses and ruin us, the Barbarians to our Roman Empire. An almost unrivaled effort in the scientific community has been bent on cracking the code of HIV since the 1980’s, and although we have discovered much about the virus, and its action inside the body, we have yet to develop a vaccine or adequate long term treatment.

The difficulty with HIV is multifaceted, but there are a few that hinder our progress most significantly. HIV is a rapidly mutating virus, and therefore there are countless strains of HIV which makes one vaccine, with broad action protection, nearly impossible to formulate.

In exploring some of the biological issues surrounding selfishness and altruism, invariably the philosophical issue of selfishness surfaces. Ayn Rand has argued that selfishness is a virtue because it is the rational and principled concern with one’s own well-being and is necessary to lead a healthy, purposeful, and fulfilling life. It isn’t my intent to deal with Ayn Rand, but rather to examine the sense that many people have regarding these concepts.



The only problem with Ayn Rand’s definition is that the meaning of “selfishness” was manipulated to become “self-interest”. According to the dictionary definition, “selfishness” is “extreme or exclusive self-interest” which is also the commonly understood form of the word.

BARCELONA, Spain, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- German Medical Device Manufacturer AMG International GmbH announced the submission of its proprietary Itrix Stent Technology using its patented biodegradable drug coating.

Erik Weihenmayer wears sunglasses often. He was wearing them to protect his eyes when he reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in 1997. He had them on when he completed the 2003 Primal Quest, the world's toughest multi-sport adventure race. And, he put on a pair during a recent visit to the National Eye Institute (NEI).

But this last set is no ordinary pair of Oakley sunglasses. 

Weihenmayer looks through them, peering down at a white note card on a table. He silently moves his head back and forth, up and down. After a few moments, he says, "Is that a 12?"

MOSCOW, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Rail network uses IBM hardware and software to manage freight and passenger operations

Russian Railways, one of the largest railway operators in the world, is working with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to help optimize its IT infrastructure and is using new technologies to improve its freight and passenger management systems.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )