Sauna has long been a cottage industry in Finland and the entire Northern hemisphere, with Scandinavians and Russians claiming to have used saunas for cleansing and relaxation for over 2,500 years.

Saunas are the new Prius, with various studies claiming a positive influence on general health.

A recent study(1) conducted in 41 healthy volunteers and presented in Dermatology says that regular sauna also has a positive effect on skin physiology.

Anyone who has ever tried smoking probably remembers that first cigarette vividly - it likely brought either a nasty coughing fit or a rush of pleasure - a "buzz."

A new study links those first experiences with smoking, and the likelihood that a person is currently a smoker, to a particular genetic variation.

The new finding also adds to growing suspicion surrounding the role of a particular nicotine-receptor gene in smoking-related behaviors and in lung cancer. Other researchers have already linked variations in the same genetic region to smokers' level of dependence on nicotine, to the number of cigarettes smoked per day and to a far higher risk of lung cancer — the ultimate outcome of a lifetime of smoking.

Fingerprints don't get a lot of respect on television shows like CSI these days - but they are about to make a comeback.

A new technology developed at Purdue University can detect trace amounts of explosives, drugs or other materials left behind in fingerprints and can even distinguish between overlapping fingerprints left by different individuals - a difficult task for current optical forensic methods.

A team led by R. Graham Cooks, Purdue's Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry, has created a tool that reads and provides an image of a fingerprint's chemical signature. The technology can be used to determine what a person recently handled.

A newly discovered function for a hormone in melons suggests it plays a role in how sexual systems evolve in plants.

Scientists from several French institutions, led by Abdel Bendahmane of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), isolated the melon sex determination gene and determined its function. As part of this collaborative effort, New York University biologists Jonathan Flowers and Michael Purugganan, who are part of NYU's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, conducted the evolutionary analysis of the study.

Because plants' sexual systems are varied—species may possess various combinations of male, female, or hermaphrodite systems—their evolution has long been of interest to scientists. This is especially the case in melons, whose sexual system—andromonoecy—carries both male and bisexual flowers and appears to have evolved recently. In this study, the researchers sought to understand what determines the recent formation of melons' new sexual system.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, August 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Total facilities management market estimated to reach to AED 2.11 billion by 2012 - Fountain

Boosted by the boom in commercial, retail and residential sectors and a strong demand for total facilities management (TFM), the regional market for bundled and total facilities management in the Middle East is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.3% to cross AED 2.11 billion* according to UK's CMPi, organizers of Working Buildings Middle East, which is scheduled to take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on 17th and 18th November 2008.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, August 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- 'Energy demand in the GCC States is spiraling' - Fountain

Germany's Techem Energy Services, an International leader in wireless metering technology, announced that they will be showcasing their range of energy conserving solutions to the Middle East region at Working Buildings Middle East, which is scheduled to take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on 17th and 18th November 2008.

For dogs, just as for people, the saying “you are what you eat” applies. But modern pet foods are a far cry from the old fashioned chicken-bone based foods of yesterday.

Many of today’s pet foods are a combination of meat protein mixed with grains and most are mixed with flavor enhancers. Leading flavor enhancement companies including AFB International and the French based company SPFare continually doing research into what makes dogs go bow wow.

At AFB International experts have been testing flavors of ingredients that go into pet food in order to ensure companies that these household friends will find their food appetizing.

HEILBRONN, Germany, August 8 /PRNewswire/ --

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today that it supports a new text-based information service for digital broadcasting, called Journaline(R), which will be integrated into several shuttle vehicles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. This service delivers passengers and drivers live news in a ticker format. Users can access current news information and track live sporting results directly from an in-car module with text-to-speech presentation or from a portable receiver with text presentation.

HAIKOU, China, August 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Latest Classic Menu for Office 2007 v3.93a Brings Back Classic Office Icons, While Providing a Gentle Transition for the Upgraded Standard MS Office 2007 Interface for Word, Excel, Access, Outlook and PowerPoint

Addintools announces today Classic Menu for Office 2007 v3.93a, an update version for the popular tool that enables smooth transitions from MS Office 2003 to MS Office 2007, by providing an interface with menu lists and toolbars of the old Office. Users can wither position Office 2003 interface along with the new one, or completely hide the latter. Frequently used commands can be assigned to the toolbar, or have all the menus under a single pull-down list.

ESPOO, Finland, August 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Joikusoft, the mobile software development house, maker of the mobile Wi-Fi HotSpot software JoikuSpot, announces a collaboration with FON, the world's largest WiFi community. FON and Joikusoft are releasing an exclusive version of Joikusoft's mobile hotspot solution, named FonSpot. FonSpot turns a mobile phone into a Wi-Fi HotSpot, enabling any laptop, iPod Touch, internet tablet or other Wi-Fi device to connect to the Internet using any compatible mobile phone as a secure high speed Internet gateway.