SUNNYVALE, California, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Unique GeneXpert(R) System Capabilities Enable Powerful New TB Diagnostic Tool

Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced the release of Xpert(R) MTB/RIF as a CE IVD Mark product under the European Directive on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices. For the first time, European clinicians will have access to a rapid test that can simultaneously identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and resistance to rifampicin (RIF), a common first-line drug for treatment of the disease and a reliable surrogate marker of strains that are multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB).

The art of haiku poetry originated in Japan, with roots stretching back to the ninth-century or earlier. According to the US Census of 2000, people of pure Japanese descent make up 16.7% of the population of Hawaii. Residents of Hawaii annually consume nearly seven million cans of SPAM, or about six cans per capita.

If you do the math, it leads you inevitably to the work of Keola Beamer, the Hawaiian slack-key guitar player and leading advocate of SPAM haiku, who graciously contributed the following, deeply moving verses:

Silent, former pig
One communal awareness
Myriad pink bricks   

Twist, pull the sharp lid
Jerks and cuts me deeply but
Spam, aaah, my poultice

In mud you frolicked

Houston, Texas, hometown of both Roger Clemens and Walter Cronkite (and, errr, David Khoresh if we're being comprehensive) is a bellweather city for the US, says a researcher who happens to live in Houston - in that it is now more Democrats than Republicans and minorities are the majority.    According to the data, if this trend continues and it's really indicative of a nationwide trend as claimed, Houston (and therefore all of America) could be hispanic gay men by 2030.

HONG KONG, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --

NetDragon Websoft Inc., a leading game developer and operator in the PRC (NetDragon with its subsidiaries collectively known as the Group, stock code: 777) announced that The Warlords, the English version of Tou Ming Zhuang Online, entered its open beta testing on April 24. The Warlords is a 2.5 D MMORPG game jointly created by NetDragon and China Film Group, sharing the same story as the film titled The Warlords. It exhibits traditional Chinese martial arts through complicated stories set in the late Qing Dynasty.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090427/CNM002 )

LONDON, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Precise, the leading media intelligence provider, announces the launch of its broadcast monitoring service.

Whilst Precise has monitored and analysed the impact of print and online media coverage on behalf of leading corporate, financial, PR and public sector clients for a number of years, the company is now able to seamlessly integrate broadcast content into its range of monitoring and analysis services.

Commenting on the service, Keir Fawcus, Managing Director at Precise said We have responded to client demand for a service that is fast, accurate and delivered in a simple to use format. Because the impact of broadcast news can be immediate we update our clients as news breaks.

HONG KONG, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Wireless Power Consortium pursues universal wireless power to fulfill consumer need

Citing syndicated and proprietary international market research from sources including Ipsos Vantis, AcuPOLL(R), and Frost Sullivan, the Wireless Power Consortium (the Consortium) continues to drive toward an interoperable wireless power standard for consumer devices requiring up to 5 Watts of power. The studies, conducted in 2007 and 2008, focused on teens, adults, and seniors from around the world and illustrate a very strong demand for a power solution that converges with the growing international wireless lifestyle.

LONDON, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Europe (http://www.ricoh-europe.com) is offering businesses increased opportunities to achieve cost savings, increase productivity and reduce environmental impact, with the expansion of its Managed Print Services. The enhanced services are available as a global or local implementation and stand out in the market by offering a full lifecycle approach to document management. The holistic solution can be embedded into the workflow of an organisation to meet its unique and specific needs. It includes consultancy, hardware, software, maintenance, management services, office solutions and document process outsourcing throughout the entire document lifecycle.

LONDON, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Frost Sullivan to Host Analyst Briefing on Biometrics Market on Thursday, 7 May 2009, at 16.00 BST

In 2008 biometric vendors witnessed massive growth; however the same downturn that affected banking, construction industry and retail stores since the end of 2008 also affected some biometric vendors. This said, with the ongoing demand for more integrated security solutions from vertical sectors such as education, law enforcement, government, healthcare and manufacturing facilities, 2009 is anticipated to be a steady uphill year for the market.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

ROSH-HA'AYIN, Israel, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Kornit Digital, a leading-edge company that develops, manufactures and markets high-speed industrial digital inkjet printers, superior pigmented ink and unique chemistry solutions for the garment apparel decorating industry, today announced that it will exhibit its comprehensive solution for dark polyester printing at Fespa Digital Europe 2009 Show on May 12-14, 2009 in Amsterdam. Kornit will be located in Hall 1, Booth H70.

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellectricon, a leading provider of automated screening solutions for drug discovery, today announced its collaboration with BioFocus DPI, a contract research organization with leading expertise in ion channel screening. BioFocus DPI will utilize Cellectricon's Dynaflow(R)HT, a fully automated patch clamp (APC) system, to further increase its electrophysiology-based screening capacity, particularly for fast ligand-gated ion channels.