A team of researchers at Michigan Technological University is harnessing the computing muscle behind the leading video games to understand the most intricate of real-life systems.

Led by Roshan D'Souza, the group has supercharged agent-based modeling, a powerful but computationally massive forecasting technique, by using the graphic processing units which drive the spectacular imagery beloved of video gamers. In particular, the team aims to model complex biological systems, such as the human immune response to a tuberculosis bacterium.

Agent-based modeling simulates the behaviors of complex systems. It can be used to predict the outcomes of anything from pandemics to the price of pork bellies. It is, as the name suggests, based on individual agents: e.g., sick people and well people, predators and prey, etc. It applies rules that govern how those agents behave under various conditions, sets them loose, and tracks how the system changes over time. The outcomes are unpredictable and can be as surprising as real life.

OTTAWA, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Serious Developers of Telephony and Speech Applications Discover the Latest Benefits, Power and Ease of use of VBVOICE With the Release of VBVoice 5.6.

GREENWICH, Connecticut, HOUSTON, LONDON and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

CHC Helicopter Corporation ("CHC") (TSX: FLY.A, FLY.B) (NYSE: FLI) and First Reserve Corporation ("First Reserve") are pleased to announce that the Plan of Arrangement (the "Arrangement") between 6922767 Canada Inc., an affiliate of funds managed by First Reserve, and CHC was completed today. The Arrangement was overwhelmingly approved by CHC's shareholders at a special meeting held on April 29, 2008, and was approved by the British Columbia Supreme Court on May 1, 2008. Under the Arrangement, 6922767 Canada Inc. acquired all of CHC's outstanding Class A Subordinate Voting Shares and Class B Multiple Voting Shares for cash consideration of CDN$32.68 per share.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- To Provide Clients With Best-in-Class Document Review Services CPA's Discovery Team Passes Stringent Applied Discovery Certification Standards

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

FRIMLEY, England, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Findings Provide New Evidence for Potential Role of Zometa(R) to Help Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer Returning

New data from three clinical trials show Zometa(R) (zoledronic acid) reduced the risk of local and distant recurrence in pre- and post-menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer. Investigators reported on the studies this week in Stockholm at the 33rd Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the primary European professional organization representing medical oncologists.

NEW YORK, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

IODA, the global leader in digital distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for the independent music and film industry, and RightsFlow, a provider of licensing and royalty services, announced today that IODA will utilize RightsFlow's Outsourced Music Licensing system ("FLOW") to handle mechanical & DPD licensing. IODA will now offer label clients integrated back-end accounting and business management services for all mechanical licensing needs.

SANTA MONICA, California, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Los Angeles-Based US Renewables Group, Founding Investor of SolarReserve, Participates in US$140 Million Second Round Funding

Today SolarReserve, a developer of utility scale solar power plants, announced that it has closed a second round of funding totaling US$140 million. The financing was led by the renewable energy private equity group within Citi Alternative Investments, Sustainable Development Investments (SDI), and Credit Suisse's Customized Fund Investment Group. Other investors include US Renewables Group, the founding investor in SolarReserve, Good Energies, PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund and Nazarian Enterprises.

CHISWICK, England, September 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a large surge in demand and in sales over the past 12 months (2007/08), Couponstar, the leader for interactive printable-coupon solutions, has announced its expansion into Europe. Couponstar is already supporting multi-national brands including Hills Pet (Colgate Palmolive), Baileys (Diageo) and Huggies (Kimberly-Clark) on European campaigns spanning the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Couponstar's European capabilities, including localised features and multi-lingual user interfaces, now enable brands to extend their campaigns or devise new programmes that effectively target the growing number of online consumers searching for printable coupon offers.

LONDON, September 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lung Cancer Journalism Awards' mission: to raise global awareness of the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.

Winners receive: Global showcase recognising their prize-winning work GBP2,000 research grant Enter to win in 3 different categories: Best Medical Article Best Consumer Article Best Broadcast Report

Requirements:

The entry must have been published or broadcast between 1 September 2007 and 1 September 2008.

Closing Date for entries: 24 October 2008

For more information: visit http://www.lungcancercoalition.org to download an application form, or email glcc@roycastle.org.

OOSTERHOUT, The Netherlands, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- CheapTickets.nl Becomes First Ticket Provider to Include Environmental Awareness in its Products