NASHUA, New Hampshire, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- For software developers who are building diagram-based user interfaces for Microsoft.NET

Northwoods Software today announced the availability of GoDiagram(TM) 3.0, a newly updated version of their popular diagramming software for developers.

PLEASANTON, California, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- IdeaSpigit(TM) Recognized for Breakthrough Innovations in Social Networking Analysis for Enterprise

In Phylogenetic Fallacies: Early Branching Must Mean Primitive I focused on the misconception that an "early branching" lineage was necessarily "primitive" (i.e., very similar to a distant ancestor). This time, I want to discuss something slightly more subtle, but nonetheless important, with regard to interpreting phylogenies. Specifically, I want to note a problem with the very concept of one lineage "branching off from" another lineage. There can be a tendency to consider evolutionary trees as reflecting a main line with a series of "side branches". This is especially true when the tree is "unbalanced" (lineages are depicted with uneven amounts of diversity) and "ladderized" (the more diverse branches are placed on the same side of each node). The following is a general unbalanced, right-ladderized tree.

There has been greatly increasing attention given to the potential of ‘biochar’, or charcoal made from biological tissues (e.g., wood) to serve as a long term sink of carbon in the soil. This is because charcoal is carbon-rich and breaks down extremely slowly, persisting in soil for thousands of years.

This has led to the suggestion being seriously considered by policy makers worldwide that biochar could be produced in large quantities and stored in soils. This would in turn increase ecosystem carbon sequestration, and thereby counteract human induced increases in carbon-based greenhouse gases and help combat global warming.

PARIS, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Analysis of ASCOT-BPLA Data Identifies Major Predictors of NOD Among Hypertensives

A new analysis of data from the landmark Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial - Blood Pressure Lowering Arm (ASCOT-BPLA) published today in Diabetes Care has identified the major predictors of new-onset diabetes (NOD) in patients with hypertension. In particular, the data show that hypertensive patients allocated to amlodipine and the ACE inhibitor perindopril (Coversyl(R), Servier) were 34% (HR 0.64 95% CI 0.59 to 0.74) less likely to develop NOD compared with those allocated to a beta-blocker/diuretic combination (atenolol plus or minus thiazide).(1)

KENT, Washington, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

ARI Technologies, Inc., a leading waste management technology developer has signed an agreement granting exclusive licensing rights for its patented thermochemical conversion technology to Pectel Group; a leader in the asbestos removal industry in the UK and Ireland. This innovative technology was developed, patented and commercialized by ARI. It destroys asbestos fibers through a thermal and chemical process, producing an inert, non-toxic, recycled, construction aggregate. This ground-breaking technology is revolutionary in that it costs less than half that of other available processes that melt the waste.

LONDON, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Limited, the licence holder of Aricept(R) (donepezil hydrochloride) and Pfizer Limited, its co-promotion partner, welcomed today's landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal. The Court found that the process by which the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decided to restrict anti-dementia medicines for newly diagnosed patients with mild Alzheimer's disease was procedurally unfair.

HOUSTON and ABERDEEN, Scotland, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Leader in swellable elastomer expands into important new markets of North, South and Central America

Swellfix B.V., a leader in swellable elastomers for zonal isolation, announced today it has expanded its product and service offerings into the important new markets of North, South and Central America.

With its global base in Aberdeen, Scotland and its Americas headquarters in Houston, Swellfix provides a range of zonal isolation products and services, including cement assurance and other cost-effective swellable elastomer applications for the oil and gas industry. The overall global zonal isolation market is estimated at nearly US$4 billion.

In a series of mate choice experiments with Phintella vittata (the Chinese jumping spider), a group researchers has found that female spiders would rather mate with males that reflect ultraviolet B (UVB) rays than those that do not. This is the first evidence of an animal using UVB rays to communicate with other members of its species.

“It has long been recognized that solar UVB has direct deleterious effects on a wide range of living organisms; for example, it can cause skin cancer and damage the retinal tissues of the eyes of mammals,” said Daiqin Li of National University of Singapore, who is also an Adjunct Professor in Hubei University, China.

SAN DIEGO, May 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Molecular Technology Aids Hospitals in the Prevention of Vancomycin- Resistant Enterococci (VRE) Transmission and Infection

BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), announced today the CE marking of the BD GeneOhm(TM) VanR assay for the rapid detection of vanA and vanB genes, which are associated with vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE). BD will immediately begin commercializing this important new assay throughout Europe.