HOUSTON, December 22 /PRNewswire/ --

Hercules Offshore, Inc. (Nasdaq: HERO) today announced that it has closed the previously announced sale of its fleet of nine land drilling rigs and related assets to Petrex Sudamerica Sucursal de Venezuela S.A. and Saipem Perfuracoes e Construcoes Petroliferas Lda. for approximately US$107 million. Simmons & Company International served as financial advisor to Hercules Offshore on this transaction.

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Record-breaking amounts of ice-free water have deprived the Arctic of more of its natural "sunscreen" than ever in recent summers. The effect is so pronounced that sea surface temperatures rose to 5 C above average in one place this year, a high never before observed, says the oceanographer who has compiled the first-ever look at average sea surface temperatures for the region.

Such superwarming of surface waters can affect how thick ice grows back in the winter, as well as its ability to withstand melting the next summer, according to Michael Steele, an oceanographer with the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory. Indeed, since September, the end of summer in the Arctic, winter freeze-up in some areas is two months later than usual.

HORSHAM, Pennsylvania and KENILWORTH, New Jersey, December 21 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, December 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- It's Official, Festive Hangovers are Actually a Thing of the Past - Literally.

Scenes such as this one, from the caricature collection at the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, prove that the Christmas hangover is in no way a new phenomenon.

First published on 12 December 1825, this image was created by Alfred Crowquill and etched by George Cruikshank. It is one of over 200 historical prints in the Museum's collection.

The caricature depicts a pale, unshaven man who is worse for wear after too many Christmas celebrations. There are dinner invitations strewn under the table and small figures and demons arresting a drunk depicted in the caricature.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, December 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Investor Partnership Co-led by Founder and CEO Dennis Gillings, Bain Capital and TPG

Quintiles Transnational Corp. today announced the formation of a new investor partnership to support the company's continued growth under the leadership of current Chairman and CEO Dennis Gillings, CBE, and the management team. Gillings and global private investment firms Bain Capital and TPG Capital are the lead investors in the partnership, with 3i also becoming a significant investor. Temasek Holdings remains an investor in Quintiles.

CALGARY, Canada, December 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC) (NASDAQ:ONCY) has completed patient enrolment in its Phase Ia/Ib U.K. clinical trial investigating the intratumoural delivery of REOLYSIN(R) in combination with radiation to treat patients with advanced cancers. A total of 23 patients received a range of two to six intratumoural doses of REOLYSIN(R) at escalating dosages up to a maximum of 1x10(10) TCID(50) with a constant localized radiation dose of either 20 Gy or 36 Gy. The treatment appears to have been well tolerated by the patients and results in both local and remote anti-tumour activity in patients with a variety of advanced cancers.

ZUG, Switzerland, December 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AmVac AG has a new executive officer on board - Dr. Wolfgang Schmidt agreed to join the company in early December to lead its operational business.

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, December 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Consistent Continuation of Globalisation Path and Extension of Product Offerings

Hydrogen is the fuel of the future. Unfortunately, one problem remains: Hydrogen is a gas and cannot easily be pumped into a tank like gasoline. Storage in the form of solid hydrides, chemical compounds of hydrogen and a metal or semimetal, are good storage materials in principle, but have not been well suited to automotive applications.

An American research team at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn and the University of California, Los Angeles, has now developed a novel hydride that could be a useful starting point for the development of future automotive hydrogen-storage materials.

LONDON, December 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Prenatal Omega 3 Supplementation has Long-Term Health Benefits for Unborn Babies

A new longitudinal study has shown that the benefits of prenatal omega 3 supplementation extend to the child's motor function in later life(1). The study, conducted in the Netherlands over 7 years, followed 300 children and related their motor abilities back to umbilical blood samples, which showed the levels of omega 3 essential fatty acid, Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) at the time of birth.