WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire/ --

April 21 Media Conference Call

On April 21, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, and Grammy award-winning artist Shakira will participate in a media conference call to discuss the state of global education and out-of-school children in developing countries. This corresponds with the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Action Week that will take place from April 21-27, 2008. Brown, Zoellick, and Shakira will join with GCE's coalition in 120 countries to call on government leaders to support a basic education for all children, including the 72 million young children and 226 million older youths who are out of school around the world.

A Yale University senior named Aliza Shvarts ignited the blogosphere with outrage yesterday, April 17, when the Yale student newspaper announced that Shvarts had artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" over the past nine months and then periodically induced "miscarriages," all toward the goal of developing a "performance art" project in the School of Art at Yale. But there may be students on my campus who perform a similar type of "art" every week without much fuss.

It may all come down to the meaning of words.

The cost of providing a safety net for at-risk youth is $5,000 per year; the cost of housing a San Quentin inmate is $60,000 per year. Which would you prefer? -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- What's your reaction when you see a young person begging for money, living in a park or under a freeway? Do you think, "Why don't you just get a job? In and Out Burgers pays $11.00 an hour. I'm not buying your beer." I admit to my own uneasiness and temptation to judge, and I also wonder what has happened to this young person that made them drop out? Who crushed their spirit? In 2003, M. Wald and T. Martinez conducted the Stanford University study "Connected by 25: Improving the Life Chances of the Country's Most Vulnerable 14-24 year olds." In that mouthful of study, they concluded that, "In our society, almost all youth require support until they have connected successfully with the labor force, which generally does not occur until the mid-twenties." Stanford also found that high school dropouts, those in the juvenile justice system and incarcerated youth are unlikely to reach age 25 without becoming homeless.

Data from the ESA/NASA spacecraft SOHO shows clearly that powerful starquakes ripple around the Sun in the wake of mighty solar flares that explode above its surface. The observations give solar physicists new insight into a long-running solar mystery and may even provide a way of studying other stars.

The outermost quarter of the Sun’s interior is a constantly churning maelstrom of hot gas. Turbulence in this region causes ripples that criss-cross the solar surface, making it heave up and down in a patchwork pattern of peaks and troughs.

LONDON, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite the union today announced that industrial action at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland will begin on 27th April.

Unite National Secretary, Phil McNulty said "Ineos have refused to withdraw the proposal to reduce the value of our members' pensions so industrial action is now inevitable.

"Ineos makes up to GBP3 million per day from this plant as a result of the hard work and skill of our members and the company is proposing to reward their efforts with a reduction in the terms and conditions.

GRANGEMOUTH, Scotland, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- INEOS, the owner of the Grangemouth oil refinery, has today been told by the Unite trade union that its members will not provide safety cover during a planned strike from April 27th to 29th. Unite also told the company that it had just ten days to remove all oil and gas from the plant and make the site safe - a physical impossibility. INEOS is deeply concerned about the Union's cavalier approach to safety at one of the country's largest oil refineries. Tom Crotty, Grangemouth CEO said, "I have written to Mr Tony Woodley, Unite's joint general secretary, expressing our concerns. INEOS has always prioritised site safety, and I'm deeply concerned that the Union is putting other issues ahead of safety."

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that the restless movement of oxygen atoms heals radiation-induced damage in the engineered ceramic yttria-stabilized zirconia.

This may lead to development of radiation-resistant materials for nuclear power plants and waste storage.

Scientists Ram Devanathan and Bill Weber modeled how well that ceramic and other materials stand up to radiation. "If you want a material to withstand radiation over millennia, you can't expect it to just sit there and take it. There must be a mechanism for self-healing," said Devanathan.

BEIJING, April 18 /PRNewswire/ --

BioDuro & The National Center for Safety Evaluation of Drugs (NCSED, the "Center") in Beijing announce their receipt of full AAALAC accreditation. BioDuro and the Center collaborate to offer preclinical toxicology and large animal DMPK for clients worldwide.

Dean Rodwell, BioDuro's Vice-President of Toxicology stated "Although we have been operating under this standard for over a year, it is exciting to receive this important, internationally recognized official accreditation. BioDuro is now working closely with the Center to attain US FDA GLP certification and expects to be operating at this level by the third quarter of 2008."

LONDON, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Manpower Software plc, a leading provider of workforce optimisation solutions, is pleased to announce that the new P&O cruise ship, Ventura, will be using MAPS Maritime Suite to provide operational efficiencies across crew scheduling.

Ventura is the latest addition to the P&O Cruise fleet and will launch its service this week in Southampton. The Ventura will set a new standard in 21st century cruising introducing new features, more choice and new experiences for her passengers. Weighing in at 115,000 tonnes, with a 3,600 passenger capacity, it is the largest superliner built for the British market.