WELWYN GARDEN CITY, England, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Phase II Study Demonstrates Impressive End-of Treatment Response - Providing Future Hope for Patients

Roche's investigational treatment for hepatitis C, R1626, has shown an impressive end-of-treatment response rate when given in combination with the current standard of care, pegylated interferon and ribivarin. R1626 belongs to a new class of oral antivirals called polymerase inhibitors that directly targets the hepatitis C virus and inhibits its replication. It is hoped that this innovative combination will increase the number of patients who manage to clear the hepatitis C virus, thereby curing them of a disease that can lead to liver cirrhosis, cancer and death.

BASEL, Switzerland, April 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- Roche Also Provides Comment on Results of "IDEAL" Trial

Roche today announced that compelling new data from three studies indicate that chronic hepatitis C patients who received PEGASYS(R) (peginterferon alfa-2a) plus COPEGUS(R) (ribavirin) had a greater chance of being cured of their disease than those who received combination therapy with another pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Results from the studies were presented this week at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) in Milan, Italy.

Ascione, et al: A Prospective, Randomised, Investigator-Initiated Head-to-Head Trial

BASEL, Switzerland, April 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- R1626 Also Shows a High Barrier to the Development of Resistance

Roche's investigational treatment for hepatitis C, R1626, has shown an impressive end-of-treatment response rate when given in combination with PEGASYS(R) (peginterferon alfa-2a) and COPEGUS(R) (ribavirin).

Evolutionary trees, or "phylogenies", are a major part of modern evolutionary science. They depict hypotheses regarding the relationships among taxa, and are therefore important in reconstructions of the historical path of evolution (Gregory 2008a,b).

Various approaches can be taken to formulating phylogenetic hypotheses, including analyses based on morphological, fossil, and/or molecular data. These methods often agree well, but sometimes one or another can throw up some surprises and challenge previous hypotheses about the relationships among groups of organisms.

Reconstructing the tree of life is a difficult and complicated process, and one should expect there to be significant refinements and revisions along the way. This is especially true of the deepest branches of the tree, which are often the most difficult to resolve.

Case in point, the Tree of Life Web Project gives the following summary of deep branches among major animal lineages:

An international team of scientists has detected that some of the glow of Earth’s aurora is polarized, an unexpected state for such emissions. Measurements of this newfound polarization in the Northern Lights may provide scientists with fresh insights into the composition of Earth’s upper atmosphere, the configuration of its magnetic field, and the energies of particles from the Sun, the researchers say.

If observed on other planets, the phenomenon might also give clues to the shape of the Sun’s magnetic field as it curls around other bodies in the solar system.

When a beam of light is polarized, its electromagnetic waves share a common orientation, say, aligned vertically, or at some other angle. Until now, scientists thought that light from energized atoms and molecules in planetary upper atmospheres could not be polarized. The reason is simple: in spite of the low number of particles at the altitudes concerned (above 100 kilometers (60 miles)), there are still numerous collisions between molecules and gas atoms. Those collisions depolarize the emitted light.

BASEL, Switzerland, April 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- No Nucleoside/Nucleotide Analogue Treatments Have Shown Similar Results

New data revealed today show that a significant number of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection who received PEGASYS(R) (peginterferon alfa-2a) treatment achieved clearance of a blood antigen known as hepatitis B s-antigen (HBsAg) (1). Clearance of this marker is associated with favourable clinical outcomes, and is as close to a cure as possible in this disease (1-4). HBsAg clearance shows that an individual's own immune system is able to control the infection. None of the nucleoside/nucleotide analogue treatments for hepatitis B virus (HBV) have shown such a result.

MILAN, April 26 /PRNewswire/ --

At today's sessions of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), experts reported advances in basic research that have important implications for the eventual treatment of people with chronic liver diseases.

MCKINNEY, Texas, April 25 /PRNewswire/ --

Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of US$.14 per share on all of the outstanding common stock of the Company held of record as of the close of business of the Company's transfer agent on July 7, 2008. The dividend will be paid on August 1, 2008.

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan, April 25 /PRNewswire/ --

RGIS announced today the Acquisition of PDSRS, a leading company in retail space planning software. PDSRS based in the UK is the developer of StorPlanner, a state of the art store optimization software application. StorPlanner, combined with RGIS's R-Map and Visual Retail applications, will provide a unique tool for every retailer to optimize the use of their store-space. With the addition of the PDSRS tools RGIS is now in a position to offer an unparalleled turn-key solution for store mapping services and an interface between the RGIS store mapping output to all commonly used analytical software applications.