LONDON, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- The First Public Private Partnership Signed by the Department of Children, Schools and Families

- With Photo

Microsoft today signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), to better connect parents with their children's education, use technology to re-engage disengaged students and improve teaching standards and career development through innovative teachers and coaching programmes. This is the first Public Private Partnership signed by the DCSF.

MOSCOW, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces the consolidation of its ferroalloy assets on the bases of its Oriel Resources subsidiary.

In the spring of 2008, Mechel OAO purchased Oriel Resources Company, which comprised of Tikhvin Smelting Plant ZAO (St. Petersburg region), Voskhod Chrome Deposit and Shevchenko Nickel Deposit (Kazakhstan). Among the enterprises representing the ferroalloy business at Mechel are Southern Urals Nickel Plant OAO (Orenburg region) and Bratsk Ferroalloy Plant OOO (Irkutsk region).

ELMSHORN, Germany, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- Faster Yet With the Same Low Power Consumption

Shuttle Inc., the market leader in the Mini-PC segment and the manufacturer of multi-form-factor solutions now presents the successor to the successful market introduction of its first Nettop Barebone. The Shuttle Barebone X27D is the first Shuttle barebone to have an Intel Atom 330 Dual-Core processor working inside.

LONDON, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- How a High Technology Company in South India Helps Publishers in 35 Countries Reduce Costs and Increase Revenues in the Current Economic Downturn

LONDON, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Newspapers are continuing to feel the pinch of the impending recession with redundancies affecting national, regional, paid-for and free titles. The cost of energy, paper and printing has risen dramatically in the last year, forcing some newspapers to close and save money. Circulation has been shrinking, and advertising sales have fallen greatly in the last year causing many Publishers to re-think their economic models.

MINNEAPOLIS, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

AGA Medical Holdings (AGA Medical, AGA) announced today its determination to appeal a recent ruling from The Patent Court in the Netherlands related to a proceeding brought by Occlutech GmbH, headquartered in Jena, Germany. The lawsuit sought invalidity and/or non-infringement declarations related to AGA Medical's claim that Occlutech had infringed on one of its European patents for intravascular occlusion devices and the method of forming or manufacturing these medical devices. The company also announced its intention to file a new suit against Occlutech for infringement of a recently issued European patent.

The 5,300 year old human mummy dubbed Öetzi (or ‘the Tyrolean Iceman’)  is highly unlikely to have modern day relatives, according to new research published today by a team of scientists from Italy and the UK.

They have sequenced Öetzi’s entire mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome, which is passed down through the maternal line, and found that he belonged to a genetic lineage that is either extremely rare or has died out.

The research has generated the oldest complete Homo sapiens mtDNA genome to date, and overturns previous research conducted in 1994 on a small section of Öetzi’s mtDNA, which suggested that relatives of Öetzi may still exist in Europe.

PARIS, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Watchdata, a well-established and recognized pioneer in smart card and contactless technology solutions will be participating and showcasing its latest smart card products at the 2008 Cartes tradeshow in Paris, France from 4th to 6th of November.

Watchdata offerings include SIMpass(TM) mobile payment solution, digital signature and authentication solutions, embedded security access module and the award winning TimeCOS(R) operating system that is widely used in the fields of cashless payment, e-commerce, health and social services, and telecommunication. The company will be presenting exciting and exclusive solutions based on smart card technology during the show.

Can't get enough of The Beatles?   Two days ago we disclosed that a mathematician using Fourier transform had unlocked the secret of the 'mystery' chord in "A Hard Day's Night" and now The Beatles are back again - in a video game.

Apple Corps, along with EMI Music, Harrisongs Ltd, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, have agreed to present The Beatles music in an interactive video game format, to be published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix.

TORONTO, Canada and DRESDEN, Germany, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- Spatial View's New 3D Plug-in Allows its Customers to Easily Create and Edit Astounding 3D Film and Video Clips for Glasses-Free Stereoscopic 3D Displays; a Market First.

Spatial View Inc., a leading developer of 3D image processing and display technologies, today announced the availability of its new Stereo 3D Editing 2.0 for Adobe(R) After Effects(R) users without the need to alter one's existing design workflows.

By expanding our portfolio of 3D content creation plug-ins to include After Effects, we will continue to enable artists and directors to easily and readily push their boundaries well into 3D, said Jason King, head of sales at Spatial View.

BRITISH COLUMBIA, Canada, October 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- CEO Morhet to Discuss Continued Expansion of DXL(TM) Patent Protection at 7th Annual BIO Investor Forum -