Eastern and Oriental medicine practitioners have long said that Ashwagandha, an herb commonly used in the 5,000-year old practice of Ayurvedic medicine, helps fight disease when used in combination with a liquid known as anupana. Anupana may be derived from many different substances, from olive oil, to beer, to ghee.

Each liquid is thought to have different properties, so an Ayurveda practitioner selects an anupana that has the qualities that best fit a given situation. Traditionally, one method of administering Ashwagandha and milk was to boil them together.

A team of American researchers is examining whether drinking whole cows’ milk with the herb can increase the body’s white blood cells, which help boost immunity. They have found that it does.

In the first statewide study of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) in the United States, California officials have identified 18 cases of the dangerous and difficult-to-treat disease between 1993 and 2006, and 77 cases that were one step away from XDR TB. The study appears in the August 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

California reports almost 3,000 cases of tuberculosis annually, the largest number of TB cases of any U.S. state. California has also led the nation since 2002 in the number of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) cases—those that are resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, the two antibiotics that form the backbone of TB treatment. XDR TB is resistant to even more classes of antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones and one of three injectable second-line drugs. The authors of the new study evaluated drug susceptibility data of MDR TB cases identified by the California TB Registry between 1993 and 2006, looking for cases that fit the XDR TB definition.

An apple peel powdering process developed at Cornell University to fortify foods has made its first appearance in the Olympics Games. Six thousand 32-gram tubes of “Applebooster" an organic applesauce fortified with dried apple peel powder were given to approximately 750 U.S. Olympic athletes and 250 coaches as they boarded their flights to China earlier this month.

The company says their process enhances the nutritional value of foods by reintroducing ground apple peel into the manufacturing process.

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, August 13 /PRNewswire/ --

The Scientific business of Thomson Reuters today announced the addition of new features to the Citation Impact Center -- a Web-based resource devoted to scholarly resources and discussion about the many facets of citation-based evaluation.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080424/NYTH069LOGO )

REHOVOT, Israel and JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, August 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Rosetta Genomics (Nasdaq: ROSG), today announced it will release first quarter financial results on August 19, 2008, before the U.S. markets open. Rosetta Genomics will host a conference call with a simultaneous webcast to discuss these results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, August 19.

To access the live conference call, U.S. and Canadian participants may dial 1-866-966-5335; international participants may dial +44-20-3023-4460. To access the 24-hour audio replay, U.S. and Canadian participants may dial 1-866-583-1035; international participants may dial 44-20-8196-1998. The access code for the replay is 181543#. The replay will be available until August 26, 2008.

LONDON, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

Platts -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) 13 members boosted their collective crude oil production by 300,000 barrels per day (b/d) in July to average 32.77 million b/d over the month, according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials just released.

Excluding Iraq, the 12 members bound by output agreements produced an average 30.31 million b/d in July, or 330,000 b/d more than June's 29.98 million b/d and 637,000 b/d in excess of their 29.673 million b/d target, the survey showed.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

Following the decision of the Icelandic government to start tendering exclusive licences in January 2009 for oil exploration in the Dreki area (in the Atlantic, northeast of Iceland on the Jan Mayen Ridge, between Iceland and Jan Mayen Island), an international conference has been announced in Reykjavik on 4-5 September. The Icelandic National Energy Authority and the Ministry of Industry have organized the conference, which is entitled Iceland Exploration Conference 2008.

NEWBURY, England, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Speed-Trap Launches New 'Zero-Touch' Deployment Software That Removes the Need to add Tags to Websites and Delivers Complete Client-Side Data Capture Accuracy

Speed-Trap, the online customer insight specialist, today launches new 'zero-touch' deployment for its suite of customer insight software - Speed-Trap 6.1. The software captures complete, accurate, detailed, real-time information from every user, visitor or customer of 'instrumented' on-line applications and web sites.

Customer Data for CRM and Targeted Marketing Applications

PHILADELPHIA, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Shunra VE Application Performance Analysis Solution Provides the Tools Needed to Quickly Identify Specific Transactions Which May Negatively Impact Performance on the Live Network.

Shunra Software, the world's leading provider of network emulation solutions, today announced the release of Shunra VE Application Performance Analysis Package, a software solution available through both the hardware and software WAN emulation solutions offered by the company. This new package delivers a highly integrated solution for performance testing applications in a real-world network environment, identifying business transactions with performance issues and analyzing those transactions to guide performance improvement.

LONDON, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Number10TV Launches to Provide Public Access to Exclusive Video of the Prime Minister's Speeches, Press Conferences, Media Appearances and News Archives

Brightcove today announced that the British Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, will use the company's online video platform to increase the availability of video content through the official government website, Number10.gov.uk. As part of this initiative, 10 Downing Street will also launch a new website channel, Number10TV ( http://www.number10.gov.uk/number-10-tv), which will provide public access to exclusive video of the Prime Minister's speeches, press conferences, media appearances, and news archives.