The exchange of genetic material between two closely related strains of the influenza A virus may have caused the 1947 and 1951 human flu epidemics, according to biologists.

The findings could help explain why some strains cause major pandemics and others lead to seasonal epidemics. Until now, it was believed that while reassortment – when human influenza viruses swap genes with influenza viruses that infect birds – causes severe pandemics, such as the ‘Spanish’ flu of 1918, the ‘Asian’ flu of 1957, and the ‘Hong Kong’ flu of 1968, while viral mutation leads to regular influenza epidemics.

But it has been a mystery why there are sometimes very severe epidemics – like the ones in 1947 and 1951 – that look and act like pandemics, even though no human-bird viral reassortment event occurred.

HANNOVER, Germany and GENEVA, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Continental also unveils Microsoft-based infotainment prototype at CeBIT expo.

GENEVA, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

Pininfarina unveiled its innovative concept car, the Sintesi, featuring Nuvera's Quadrivium(TM) drive, at the Geneva Motor Show today in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Sintesi is powered by Nuvera's Quadrivium drive, which incorporates world-leading hydrogen generation technology with state-of-the-art fuel cells in four distributed wheel power modules. This diversion from traditional drive trains gave Pininfarina the freedom to design the car with the passenger in mind rather than the engine, resulting in a highly stylized car of the future.

AMSTERDAM, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Online Resource to Support Journal Editors Handling Publishing Ethics Issues

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today the launch of its Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) (http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethicskit).

Launching PERK at the Elsevier Editors' Conference in Singapore, Mark Seeley, Senior Vice President and General Legal Counsel, described PERK as being "a single point of access for information and guidelines on publishing ethics providing our Journal Editors with the support they need in dealing with issues of publishing ethics."

Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University have examined the complete genomes of viruses that infect the bacteria E. coli, P. aeruginosa and L. lactis and have found that many of these viral genomes exhibit codon bias, the tendency to preferentially encode a protein with a particular spelling.

Researchers analyzed patterns of codon usage across 74 bacteriophages using the concept of a "genome landscape," a method of visualizing long-range patterns in a genome sequence.

Their findings extend the translational theory of codon bias to the viral kingdom, demonstrating that the viral genome is selected to obey the preferences of its host.

PARIS, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- The International Transport Forum, 28-30 May in Leipzig Transport and Energy: The Challenge of Climate Change

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Unibioscreen S.A., the Brussels specialist oncology company, is pleased to announce that it has succeeded in the closing of a new financing round of EUR 5 million from existing shareholders (ING, Société Générale Asset Management, E-capital, Brustart, UFG-Group and business angels) and from Hunza Ventures. This round brings the total amount raised since the Company's inception to date to EUR 27 million.

It strengthens the company's balance sheet and allows the progression of Unibioscreen's two lead compounds, UNBS1450 and UNBS5162, into clinical trials in cancer patients by mid 2008. These two compounds present novel mode of action and will be developed respectively in Europe and in the US.

DUBLIN, Ireland, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

euNetworks (SGX: H23.SI), owner and operator of one of Europe's highest capacity fiber networks and provider of mission-critical communication infrastructure and services, today announced that it has expanded its IP|nex product range. The expansion will bolster the redundancy of its next generation suite of scalable, high-performance, Internet Protocol (IP) solutions through IP Transit provided by Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC).

A dietary supplement called NutraStem, also known as NT-020, is a proprietary formulation of blueberry, green tea, vitamin D3 and carnosine extracts - a combination of nutritional ingredients thought to be potent in protecting against brain damage.

“Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause for disability in the U.S. with two of every 1,000 adults experiencing their firsts stroke in any given year,” said Cesar V. Borlongan, PhD, of the Medical College of Georgia, lead author of a study that tested NT-020 post stroke effects in animal models. “We explored how increasing the nutritive diet through NT-020 supplementation might render a therapeutically potent neurogenesis following stroke.”

LONGMONT, Colorado, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Storage Veteran Ian Rothery Promoted to Vice President of International Sales

Rebit Inc., the company dedicated to relieving the burden of backup for PC users, today announced Ian Rothery has been promoted to vice president of international sales.

"Rebit's strategy to expand upon its current U.S. success internationally requires a solid, experienced sales leader," commented Charlene Murphy, executive vice president of sales and marketing. "Ian Rothery has made remarkable contributions to the success of many companies, and this well-deserved promotion reflects his strong focus, drive and dedication to Rebit."