University of Illinois researchers writing in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience report this week that chronic exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some cognitive functions. Rats exposed to a steady dose of estradiol were impaired on tasks involving working memory and response inhibition, the researchers found.

The researchers made the discovery when studying the effects of estradiol on activities mediated by the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is vital to working memory and to the ability to plan, respond to changing conditions and moderate or control one's behavior.

A bottle of Chateau Neuf De Pape wine from the Rhone region in France may include constituents of up to 13 grape varietals. Time-zones away, olive oil experts at U.C. Davis work with 100 olive varietals to create cutting-edge olive oil. After all, like wine, olive oil can be made up of multiple varieties of its base fruit.

While olive oil consumption has steadily increased over the past 30 years due to its healthful properties and popularity among celebrity chefs like Rocco DiSpirito, in California producers make keeping up-to-date into an art form.

COPENHAGEN, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Summary: Phase III Pivotal Study of Ofatumumab in Refractory CLL Meets Primary Endpoint

Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) and GlaxoSmithKline (LSE and NYSE: GSK) announced today positive top-line results from an interim analysis of the Phase III pivotal study evaluating ofatumumab (HuMax-CD20(R)) to treat two groups of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with high unmet medical need. At the interim analysis, the study met the primary endpoint in both populations and the results from the secondary endpoints also support the primary endpoint.

MUMBAI, India, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- PAT (Standalone) Expands 179% to Rs. 1,699 Million

- The Board Declared Interim Dividend of 200%

Financial Technologies (India) Limited today announced its reviewed unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.

Highlights:

- Total income increased by 146% to Rs. 2,540 million in Q1 2008-09. - PAT increased by 179% to Rs. 1,699 million. - Declared an interim dividend of 200%.

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- ATTN: North West Editors

Members of Unite, the UK's largest trade union, have agreed to step up action short of a strike and give notice of further strike action.

The decision to strike comes after the hospital trust are continuing to force low paid staff to wait three weeks for their pay by changing the payroll system.

Brian Nelson, Unite Regional Industrial Organiser, said: "We had hoped that the trust would see sense and continue with a weekly payroll. It is particularly frustrating for our members when the trust can continue weekly payment for other NHS staff across the Wirral.

NEW YORK, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Including embedded 4G technologies in mobile devices will change dealings between network operators and device suppliers, says Unstrung Insider

A major push to include embedded 4G technologies in a wide range of mobile and consumer devices will create a built-in market for anticipated 4G services such as mobile WiMax and LTE, but it also will force some fundamental changes in the mobile industry ecosystem, particularly in the relationships between network operators and device suppliers, according to the latest report from Unstrung Insider (www.unstrung.com/insider), a paid research service from TechWeb's Unstrung (www.unstrung.com) and Light Reading (www.lightreading.com).

SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Featured Case Study: Hawaii's Successful Produce Safety RFID Pilot

TechInsights announced the final agenda for the "Food Traceability: Securing the Food Supply Chain" workshop to be held during the RFID World 2008 conference in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, September 8-10 (http://www.rfid-world.com/2008). The workshop addresses recent food safety crises and includes a presentation of the results of an extensive produce traceability case study funded by the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii and administered by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Traffic Speed Forecasting Enables HGVs to Avoid Time-Based Congestion Patterns to Reduce Fuel Consumption

Journey Dynamics, a privately-owned provider of traffic intelligence (http://www.journeydynamics.com), today announces the availability of traffic speed data for Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) to forecast accurate speeds across the entire UK road infrastructure. This information, based on high quality floating vehicle data supplied by ITIS Holdings plc, will enable a new generation of HGV speed forecasting applications that are able to predict arrival times, improve journey confidence and minimise the fuel costs by avoiding time-based traffic congestion patterns.

NUREMBERG, Germany, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- NCP engineering GmbH, a leading provider of endpoint security and VPN solutions, today announced the release of its Secure Entry Client for Symbian OS-based mobile devices. The new IPSec VPN client can be used on mobile devices such as the Nokia Eseries, which run Symbian OS from V.9.0 on S60 3rd Edition.

BASINGSTOKE, England and PHILADELPHIA, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Shire Limited (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY) the global specialty biopharmaceutical company announces results for the three months to June 30, 2008.

Q2 2008 Financial Highlights - Product sales up 40% to $706m - Product sales excluding ADDERALL XR(R) up 64% to $409m - New product sales(1) $243m, 34% of product sales (2007: 18%) - Total revenues up 35% to $776m - US GAAP earnings per ADS: loss $0.44 (2007: loss $9.93) - Non GAAP earnings per ADS up 70% to $0.95 (2007: $0.56) - Revenue guidance upgraded - 2008 revenue growth now expected to be at least 20% (previous guidance: mid to high teens) (1) New product sales comprise DAYTRANA, ELAPRASE, FOSRENOL, LIALDA / MEZAVANT and VYVANSE