A type of plastic that exhibits metallic and semi-conductor-like properties will be described in an inaugural doctoral lecture at the University of Leicester on Wednesday June 4th(*).

In his lecture, Dr. M. A. Mohamoud will discuss a novel class of materials called “conducting polymers.” Conducting polymers are smart materials that can mimic biological systems and can be used as components of artificial nerves, electronic noses/tongues, drug-release-and-delivering systems, and artificial muscles.

They can also be used as energy storage devices in battery technology, electrochromic display devices (in smart window technology and light emitting diodes), and biological sensor technology.

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- Top-Tier Investors Rho Ventures, Genesis Partners, Cedar Fund and Others Demonstrate Confidence in Celtro and its Performance in the Burgeoning Mobile Backhaul Market

Celtro, a pioneer and leading global supplier of creative switching solutions for the mobile backhaul network, today announced the successful completion of a US $20 million financing round that will capitalize the company to profitability. The round was led by Rho Ventures, with the participation of existing investors Genesis Partners and Cedar Fund. The company will invest the proceeds to further expand international operations and to penetrate new markets.

LONDON, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Another top 10 Irish law firm, Mason Hayes+Curran, has appointed Solcara to provide an integrated search solution across its business, bringing together all primary legal resources in the Irish, UK and EU jurisdictions, as well as Interwoven's document management system.

Mason Hayes+Curran has implemented SolSearch to search internal and online legal content. SolSearch reduces the time to find information and improves productivity across the firm. The SolSearch integrated search solution is a favourite in Ireland, used by four of the top five legal firms.

Tony Burke, a Senior Partner at Mason Hayes+Curran said:

ARNHEM, The Netherlands, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- ARCADIS (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the international consultancy, design and engineering company, today announced that the Company's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 7, 2008 has appointed Mr. Maarten Schönfeld to the Company's Supervisory Board, replacing Mr. Thomas Cohn, who was not available for reappointment. The meeting also reappointed Mr. Jan Peelen to the board.

Satellites currently use radio waves to exchange data. Now the data rate has been increased a hundredfold in two test satellites by using lasers instead of radio signals.

The tests between German satellite TerraSAR-X and US satellite NFIRE, covering more than 5000 kilometers in space without any errors, was special in that the space tests recently performed by Tesat-Spacecom was that the data was transmitted by laser.

The bandwidth achieved in the test was a hundred times greater than during conventional communication by radio waves, enabling a data rate equivalent to roughly 400 DVDs per hour. This could make it possible to transmit large data packets between several satellites in the future, for instance to send image data from Earth observation satellites to a ground station. That has not been possible until now, as the bandwidth of radio waves is not large enough. Another advantage of this new form of communication is that lasers are easier to focus than radio waves, which means that data transmissions can be directed more accurately.

HONG KONG, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --

COPENHAGEN and STOCKHOLM, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Infor today announced that Patrik Svanström has been named Regional Manager in the Nordic region. Svanström is charged with managing Infor's sales strategy and operations in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, executing Infor's strategic growth plan for the EMEA region.

Svanström has an extensive background, spanning 20 years of sales in the software industry. He previously served as CEO of BayMind AB, a consulting company he created which evaluated go-to-market models, sales strategies and execution levels. Prior to founding BayMind, Svanström led technology sales for EMC and Selectica Nordics, as well as ERP sales for Oracle Corp. in the Nordic region.

LONDON, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fitness Industry Association (FIA) will pledge over GBP200 million of Health and Fitness Industry investment to deliver for the Government on its public health goals. The announcement will be made at the FIA's summit on Wednesday May 14.

The industry is pledging to triple any Government investment designed to 'get more Britons, more active more often' in an effort to tackle the nation's public health crisis head-on.

Andrew Lansley CBE MP, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Norman Lamb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary will also be at the summit to outline their response. Government minister to be confirmed.

BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- NetEconomy, the global leader in financial crime management and compliance solutions and a business unit of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), today announced that IBS Publishing has ranked NetEconomy as the top-selling provider of global anti-money laundering (AML) solutions. IBS determined the ranking by analyzing the AML market for the number of new name wins achieved in 2007.

"NetEconomy has had an exceptional year, leading the way with 38 new customer wins in the United States and Western Europe, putting it ahead of the rest of the field," said James Ling, sales league table editor of IBS.

REDMOND, Washington, May 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- New elements include platform updates and product road map for developers.