Deferoxamine (DF), originally used to treat iron poisoning, can significantly boost the body’s own ability to heal and re-grow injured bones, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The researchers injected deferoxamine into injured mouse bones. They found DF triggered the growth of new blood vessels, which in turn kicked off bone re-growth and healing.

In the study, bone density surrounding the injury more than doubled to 2.6 cubic millimeters in treated bones compared to 1.2 cubic millimeters in untreated bones, the researchers said.

The motion, formation, and recycling of Earth’s crust—commonly known as plate tectonics—have long been thought to be continuous processes but new research by geophysicists suggests that plate tectonic motions have occasionally stopped in Earth’s geologic history, and may do so again.

The findings could reshape our understanding of the history and evolution of the Earth’s crust and continents.

Synthesizing a wide range of observations and constructing a new theoretical model, researchers Paul Silver of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and Mark Behn of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have found evidence that the process of subduction has effectively stopped at least once in Earth’s past.

MARINA DEL REY, California, January 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- ICANN Board believes that JPA Responsibilities are being met

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers today made its formal submission to the Midterm Review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between ICANN and the United States Department of Commerce.

The submission's main point is that the conclusion of the JPA would be a further step in the transition envisioned since ICANN was established -- one of moving the Domain Name System to private-sector co-ordination.

If you’re worried about high cholesterol levels and keeping heart-healthy as you get older, don’t push aside bacon and eggs just yet. A new study says they might actually provide a benefit.

Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered that lower cholesterol levels can actually reduce muscle gain with exercising. Lead investigator Steven Riechman, assistant professor of health and kinesiology, and Simon Sheather, head of the Department of Statistics, along with colleagues from The Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, have recently had their findings published in the Journal of Gerontology.

Bottom line: Before you have that second helping of oatmeal, it’s very possible that cholesterol may not be the mean Mr.

LONDON, January 10 /PRNewswire/ --

Millions of Brits could be playing Russian Roulette with their health buying prescription-only medicines from rogue internet sites, according to research conducted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

In response to this growing online danger, the RPSGB today rolls out the Internet Pharmacy Logo, a visual tool to help the public identify if a website is being operated by a bona fide pharmacy in Britain.

LONDON, January 10 /PRNewswire/ --

The MS Society has responded to the Health Select Committee's report on Session 2007-08 of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), to be published at 00.01am on Thursday 10 January.

MS Society chief executive, Simon Gillespie, said: "Five years ago this same Select Committee said NICE had to improve relationships with patient groups and there is still precious little evidence of this. We support calls to make the drug approval process more transparent and streamlined, and welcome proposals to ensure guidance is carried out more effectively by PCTs but there is still a long way to go."

For more information on the MS Society, visit http://www.mssociety.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

AMHERST, Massachusetts, January 9 /PRNewswire/ --

The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association(R) (CAIAA), an independent, not-for-profit international organization that provides a charter program for professionals in alternative investments, will be giving introduction seminars on the CAIA educational program in Cape Town and Johannesburg on 22 and 24 January.

The event in Cape Town will run from 5 - 6:30 p.m. on 22 January and will be hosted by Investec Prime Broking, 36 Hans Strijdom Avenue, Foreshore. It will be followed by an event in Johannesburg, also hosted by Investec Prime Broking, 100 Grayston Drive, Sandton.

DALLAS, January 9 /PRNewswire/ --

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE: ACS) today announced that it has acquired Syan Holdings Limited, a U.K.-based provider of information technology outsourcing (ITO) services and one of the United Kingdom's largest IBM Business Partners, for approximately US$60 million (30.5 million pounds Sterling). Syan's trailing twelve-months revenue was approximately US$75 million. The transaction will be funded entirely with existing cash on hand.

The acquisition strengthens ACS' global ITO presence by adding a solid base of U.K. operations, including two data centers, and expanding its reach into the United Kingdom. It also enhances the company's position as a leading provider of IT solutions to global FORTUNE 1000 clients.

Hundreds of millions — or even billions — of years after planets would have initially formed around two unusual stars, a second wave of planetesimal and planet formation appears to be taking place, UCLA astronomers and colleagues believe.

"This is a new class of stars, ones that display conditions now ripe for formation of a second generation of planets, long, long after the stars themselves formed," said UCLA astronomy graduate student Carl Melis, who reported the findings today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas.

One of the roadblocks for electric motor technology is that as operating temperatures go up, the magnets in the motors get weaker, resulting in a drop in power. Ames Laboratory Researcher Iver Anderson and his team have developed a new magnetic alloy that maintains its strong magnetic properties even at high operating temperatures approaching 400 degrees F.

The Ames Lab senior metallurgist and Iowa State University adjunct professor of materials science and engineering is playing a major role in advancing electric drive motor technology to meet the enormous swell in consumer demand expected over the next five years.