LONDON and NEW YORK, December 18 /PRNewswire/ --

Ecofin Ltd., a multi-billion dollar asset management firm, which invests in global utilities and infrastructure sectors, has gone live with the Execta(TM) Portfolio Management and Execution Management System ("EMS") from Tethys Technology, Inc. Ecofin has implemented Execta simultaneously in London and New York and plans to implement TotalTCA(TM), the pre-trade, real-time and post-trade transaction cost analysis offering from Tethys, in the near future.

People suffering from chronic mental or physical disabilities should not resort to a dolphin "healing" experience, warn two researchers from Emory University. Lori Marino, senior lecturer in the Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Program, has teamed with Scott Lilienfeld, professor in the Department of Psychology, to launch an educational campaign countering claims made by purveyors of what is known as dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT).

"Dolphin-assisted therapy is not a valid treatment for any disorder," says Marino, a leading dolphin and whale researcher.

On June 30, 1908 a stunning explosion rocked the forest near the Tunguska river in Siberia. Estimates were that an asteroid exploded in the air a few kilometers above the earth's surface with a force 1,000 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

A new Sandia supercomputer simulations suggests that the asteroid that caused such a blast was much smaller than previously thought, bringing new concerns; there are more small asteroids than large ones.

“The asteroid that caused the extensive damage was much smaller than we had thought,” says Sandia principal investigator Mark Boslough of the impact that occurred June 30, 1908. “That such a small object can do this kind of destruction suggests that smaller asteroids are something to consider.

A genetic mutation expands lesions in the aorta and promotes coronary atherosclerosis, more commonly known as hardening of the arteries, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine in Cell Metabolism.

The researchers found that mice engineered without the Akt1 gene and fed a high cholesterol diet had many more signs of aortic atherosclerosis compared to their littermates. And, surprisingly, their coronary lesions were similar to humans, say the scientists.

“About 20 percent of the mice died spontaneously, perhaps due to an acute heart attack,” said William Sessa, senior author of the study, professor of pharmacology, and director of Yale’s vascular biology and therapeutics program.

What are the defining discoveries and great developments that are shaping the way we use materials and technologies today? Materials Today magazine has compiled a list of the top ten most significant advances in materials science over the last 50 years.

The top ten includes advances that have altered all our daily lives. Some have completely changed the research arena, and others have opened up new possibilities and capabilities. They are:

1. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors
2. Scanning probe microscopes
3. Giant magnetoresistive effect
4. Semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes
5. National Nanotechnology Initiative
6. Carbon fiber reinforced plastics
7. Materials for Li ion batteries
8. Carbon nanotubes
9. Soft lithography
10.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, December 18 /PRNewswire/ --

This morning, the Government of Iceland approved Minister of Industry Ossur Skarphedinsson's proposal to offer exclusive licenses for oil and gas exploration and production in the Dreki Area (the Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, on the Jan Mayen Ridge, between Iceland and the island of Jan Mayen.) The tentative release date is 15 January 2009. International companies have expressed interest in the area.

Tiny copper structures with pores at both the nanometer and micron size scales could play a key role in the next generation of detonators used to improve the reliability, reduce the size and lower the cost of certain military munitions.

Developed by a team of scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Indian Head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the highly-uniform copper structures will be incorporated into integrated circuits – then chemically converted to millimeter-diameter explosives.

NEW YORK and AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, December 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- New adventure game set for release in Q2 2008

Playlogic Entertainment, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PLGC) -- an independent worldwide publisher of entertainment software -- has acquired the hack and slash adventure game "Dimensity" from Bulgarian developer Dagger Games. The latest addition to Playlogic's line up is set for release on PC in the second quarter of 2008. In total Playlogic expects to publish 6 to 8 new titles in Q1 of 2008.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071119/PLAYLOGICLOGO )

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvania, December 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- The SAP NetWeaver(R)-based application leverages SAP Environment, Health & Safety (SAP EH&S) to strengthen and support organizational compliance procedures and reduce exposure to legal risk and brand damage

Linx/AS LLC (www.linxas.com), a product lifecycle management (PLM) consulting firm and member of SAP's industry value network (IVN) for chemicals, announced the product release of WorkSafe Suite(TM) (www.worksafesuite.com). WorkSafe Suite is comprised of three complementary modules: WorkSafe HAZCON(TM) for hazardous substance control; WorkSafe EVENTS(TM) for incident/accident reporting and investigation; and WorkSafe CLAIMS(TM) for case management.

VICTOR, New York, December 18 /PRNewswire/ --

Kirtas Technologies, the leader in quality, high-speed book digitization, and LexisNexis, a leading provider of information services to professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government and academic markets, today announced LexisNexis will join the growing number of organizations utilizing the Kirtas solution for mass digitization of printed materials.