PARIS, June 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- Rheumatoid Arthritis is the Leading Cause of Work Disability in Europe

CARLISLE, England, June 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Published today, The Pattern Recognition Theory of Humour, by Alastair Clarke, answers the eternal question about the nature of humor. Clarke explains how and why we find things funny and identifies the reason humor is common to all human societies, its fundamental role in the evolution of humans and its continuing importance in the cognitive development of infants.

Clarke explains: "For some time now it's been assumed that a global theory of humour is impossible. This theory changes thousands of years of incorrect analyses and mini-theories that have applied to only a small proportion of instances of humour. It offers a vital answer as to why humour exists in every human society."

PARIS, June 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Seven-year rheumatoid arthritis (RA) data from open-label extension studies show that treatment with Abbott's HUMIRA(R) (adalimumab) resulted in clinical remission among long-standing RA patients when used in combination with methotrexate (MTX). The percentage of patients achieving clinical remission continued to increase after two or more years of continuous treatment with combination therapy. These data were presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) annual meeting in Paris.

PARIS, June 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Abbott announced new data from the open-label extension of the ATLAS (Adalimumab Trial Evaluating Long-Term Efficacy and Safety in AS) phase III clinical trial, which showed HUMIRA(R) (adalimumab) reduced the signs and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) for up to three years of treatment among 74 percent of patients tested. AS is a type of arthritis that primarily causes inflammation of the spine and the spinal joints. These data were presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) annual meeting in Paris.

AMSTERDAM, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (Euronext: AMT), a leader in the field of human gene therapy, announced today that it has concluded enrollment and treated the last patient in the pivotal trial for it's lead product AMT-011 (Glybera(R)) for Hyperlipoproteinemia, a seriously debilitating and potentially lethal disease. After recent preparatory meetings with the rapporteur countries Germany and the United Kingdom of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), AMT expects to file the Marketing Authorization Dossier with EMEA not later than the fourth quarter of 2008.

Practice makes perfect, but a question that still remains a mystery is why it is so difficult to transfer learning from a trained to an untrained task? Why are we no better at remembering faces when we have been training our memory for words? Scientists at Umeå University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now show in the journal Science that the answer lies in the brain areas activated by each task.

The scientists studied the brain activity of healthy subjects as they performed a task that was part of a training program and two untrained tasks. Their performance on the trained task and one of the untrained tasks improved. What these two tasks had in common was the activation of the striatum, a cluster of neuronal nuclei in midbrain.

University of Florida mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor Subrata Roy has submitted a patent application for a circular, spinning aircraft design reminiscent of the spaceships seen in countless Hollywood films. Roy, however, calls his design a “wingless electromagnetic air vehicle,” or WEAV.

The proposed prototype is small – the aircraft will measure less than six inches across – and will be efficient enough to be powered by on-board batteries.

Roy said the design can be scaled up and theoretically should work in a much larger form. Even in miniature, though, the design has many uses.

New research from the American Museum of Natural History says that global warming is forcing species to move up tropical mountains. Christopher Raxworthy, Associate Curator in the Department of Herpetology, predicts that at least three species of amphibians and reptiles found in Madagascar's mountainous north could go extinct between 2050 and 2100 because of habitat loss associated with rising global temperatures.

These species, currently moving up-slope to compensate for habitat loss at lower and warmer altitudes, will eventually have no place to move to. The mountains can only go so high.

In a paper published this month in Global Change Biology, Raxworthy and colleagues found overall trends for elevation changes among 30 species of amphibians and reptiles. Uphill movement is a predicted response to increased temperatures, and other studies, including that of J. Alan Pounds in Costa Rica, have provided some empirical evidence of how tropical animals respond to climate change.

LONDON, June 13 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, June 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photos

The Toyota Yaris has been named Green Car of the Year 2008 by the Environmental Transport Association. The least green car is the Dodge SRT-10 sports car. The announcements come ahead of the start of Green Transport Week (14th - 22nd June)

The Environmental Transport Association has looked at over 1300 models of car currently on sale in Britain and examined their power, emissions, fuel efficiency and even the amount of noise they produce to create the definitive guide to buying the greenest vehicle.

REDMOND, Washington, June 12 /PRNewswire/ --

Microsoft Corp. today issued the following statement:

"In the weeks since Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire Yahoo!, the two companies have continued to discuss an alternative transaction that Microsoft believes would have delivered in excess of US$33 per share to the Yahoo! shareholders. This partnership would ensure healthy competition in the marketplace, providing greater choice and innovation for advertisers, publishers and consumers.

"As stated on May 3rd and reiterated on May 18th Microsoft was not interested in rebidding for all of Yahoo!. Our alternative transaction remains available for discussion."

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