Researchers using two abundant and relatively inexpensive elements, titanium and silicon, have grown wires into a two-dimensional network of branches that resemble flat, rectangular netting, Boston College assistant professor of chemistry Dunwei Wang and his team report in the international edition of the German Chemical Society journal Angewandte Chemie.

By creating nanonets, the team conquered a longstanding engineering challenge in nanotechnology: creating a material that is extremely thin yet maintains its complexity, a structural design large or long enough to efficiently transfer an electrical charge.

The grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is a widely cultivated crop that has been subjected to intensive breeding since the Neolithic period (from ~10,500 to ~6,000 years ago). The domestication of grapevine has undergone a selection for traits important for its cultivation and usage.

The recent publication of the complete grapevine genome has opened the possibility for an in-depth analysis of its content. This sequencing has shown that genes constitute only a very small proportion of complex genomes, with repetitive sequences and (in particular) mobile genetic elements or transposons making up a much larger part. Although transposition is a highly mutagenic event and genomes have developed very efficient mechanisms to control it, transposons have played a major role in the evolution of complex genomes.

Slim Fast, Atkins, Weight Watchers - you've heard of them all. Some people get rich selling books on losing weight, others get rich selling books on how diet plans are bad for you.

A new scientific analysis published in Nutrition Journal says all of the popular programs accomplish their goals (fewer calories) without sacrificing nutrients.

Helen Truby worked with a team of academics from United Kingdom universities who studied the different diet plans. She described how the randomised controlled trial "provides reassuring and important evidence for the effectiveness and nutritional adequacy of the four commercial diets tested."

Researchers from Oregon State University say they have resolved a controversy that cellular biologists have been arguing over for nearly 50 years, with findings that may aid research on everything from birth defects and genetic diseases to the most classic "cell division" issue of them all – cancer.

The exact mechanism that controls how chromosomes in a cell replicate and then divide into two cells, a process fundamental to life, has never been completely pinned down, researchers say. You can find the basics in any high school biology textbook, but the devil is in the details.

DALLAS, September 2 /PRNewswire/ --

With the conclusion of the CONNECTIONS(TM) Europe Summit in Berlin, event host and international research firm Parks Associates announced today the next Summit will take place in Nice, France, on March 31, 2009.

CONNECTIONS(TM) Europe Summit ended on August 29 following a day of strategic sessions with speakers, sponsors, and attendees representing over 60 companies, organizations, and media firms. Parks Associates analysts moderated all sessions, which focused on growth opportunities for new media and entertainment products, services, and applications.

AMSTERDAM, September 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Avantium announced today that it has entered into a master services agreement with Chevron Energy Technology Company for the application of high-throughput technologies in the development of catalysts in the oil and gas field.

Avantium specializes in high-throughput methodologies that enable scientists to conduct parallel experiments on a very small scale, under industrial conditions and at a very high speed.

This agreement allows Chevron Energy Technology Company to access high-throughput methodologies as part of the suite of tools used in the development of catalysts.

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colorado, September 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- Terje Laugerud to Assume Global SAP Responsibility

CIBER, Inc. (NYSE: CBR), today announced that Terje Laugerud, CEO of its European and Eastern Asia/Pacific operations, will assume full responsibility for CIBER's SAP Practices on a global basis.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010927/CBRLOGO)

MADRID, Spain, September 2 /PRNewswire/ --

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced that Luis Torres has joined the company as managing director, market development southern Europe. In this newly created role, he is responsible for working with public policy officials, industry colleagues and solar advocates to grow solar markets throughout southern Europe.

Scientists have designed, developed and tested new molecular tools for stem cell research to direct the formation of certain tissue types for use in drug development programmes.

A collaborative team of scientists from Durham University and the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) have developed two synthetic molecules which can be used to coax stem cells to 'differentiate' - that is, transform into other forms of tissue.

Their use could also help reduce the number of animals used in laboratory research. The team's results are published in the current issue of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry.

CALGARY, Canada, September 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced today that following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, the Company is initiating a U.S. Phase 2 clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN(R) in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with K-RAS or EGFR-activated tumours. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Miguel Villalona-Calero, Professor Division of Hematology/Oncology and Department of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.