A new study from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University sheds light on why smokers' intentions to quit “cold turkey” often fizzle out within days or even hours.

If a smoker isn't yearning for a cigarette when he makes the decision to kick the habit-and most aren't-he isn't able to foresee how he will feel when he's in need of a nicotine buzz.

Published in the September issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the study, “Exploring the Cold-to-Hot Empathy Gap in Smokers,” bolsters the theory that smokers not in a state of craving a cigarette will underestimate and underpredict the intensity of their future urge to smoke.

SANDVIKA, Norway, August 25 /PRNewswire/ --

Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) is pleased to announce Becancour, Quebec as the site of choice for the next phase of silicon materials expansions. The site will be developed in stages and could potentially hold four production units similar in size of the factory currently under completion in Moses Lake, Washington, USA.

REC has today decided to establish its next silicon materials manufacturing expansion in Becancour, Canada and has simultaneously signed agreements with Hydro Quebec, and Societe du Parc industriel et portuaire de Becancour. The agreements outline both the terms and conditions related to the development of a new production site and other commercial conditions.

WELLESLEY HILLS, Massachusetts, August 25 /PRNewswire/ --

Joseph F. Finn, Jr., C.P.A. ("Finn"), Assignee of the assets of Spherics, Inc. ("Spherics") for the benefit of creditors, announced today that all pharmaceutical intellectual property will be sold at a sealed bid auction on October 10, 2008.

SRx-501 is an extended release formulation of Levodopa-Carbidopa that is the current gold standard treatment for Parkinson's disease, with global sales estimated at approximately US$250 million. Significant PK issues with the currently available product include erratic absorption, high inter-subject variability and a steep wearing-off rate under its three+ times daily dosing regimen.

Spherics has developed a multi-layer tablet allowing

PLAINVIEW, New York, and TORONTO, August 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Talfazat to Stream Top-Rated Live and On-Demand Arabic TV Content

JumpTV Inc. (TSX/AIM: JTV) and NeuLion Inc., leading providers of live and on-demand international and sports programming over the Internet, announced today the launch of a new online service -- www.talfazat.com -- that delivers the largest selection of live and on-demand Arabic television content available anywhere. Talfazat.com offers Arabs worldwide an opportunity to tune into their favorite live television channels or on-demand programs with a simple Internet connection.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080825/NYM047LOGO )

MADRID, August 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- The "Awareness Campaign" Visualises Daily Challenges Faced by People With Parkinson's as Revealed by New European Research

The European Parkinson's Disease Association (EPDA) today urged European decision makers and politicians to end inequalities in care and treatment access for people with Parkinson's disease.

The plea was made during the launch of EPDA's latest campaign, 'Parkinson's is visible, make it livable', intended to visualise the daily challenges faced by those with Parkinson's, increase people's knowledge and understanding of the disease and influence decision makers.

FINDLAY, Ohio and NUREMBERG, Germany, August 25 /PRNewswire/ -- FLABEG, global leader in high-tech glass and mirror applications, is to establish production capacity for high-precision parabolic mirrors which are used to help generate electricity at large-scale solar power plants. The new 209,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will be build in the Clinton Commerce Park near Pittsburgh International Airport. Pennsylvania's Gov. Ed Rendell delivered a US$9 million grant to help pay for the US$30 million project. The company expects to generate as many as 300 jobs in the facility. It will be the company's first US facility of this type. FLABEG's other facility in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, manufactures mirror glass for automobiles.

OAK BROOK, Illinois and LONDON, August 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Increasingly, Companies are Moving Employees from Emerging Markets to Developed Countries to Gain Corporate Knowledge While at the Same Time, to Cut Costs

Emerging markets are increasingly presenting significant challenges for high-tech companies when it comes to relocating employees, according to a survey by GMAC Global Relocation Services (http://www.gmacglobalrelocation.com) and the Centre for Performance-Led HR at Lancaster University Management School in the United Kingdom.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071024/CLW122LOGO )

HAMBURG, Germany, August 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Cremer Care Ensures European Distribution-Rights for the Cosmetics Raw Materials Organic Glycerine and Soap-Noodles

Since July, 1st, 2008 Cremer Care has become the exclusive distributor of organic products from the renowned Daabon group of Colombia for the European cosmetics market. A long tradition in bio-production and the special social commitment of the South-American producer fits perfectly with the principles of the North German supplier of cosmetics ingredients - expressed in Cremer Care's motto 'Inspired By Nature'.

Is sleep essential? The answer seems obvious, since we all have to do it, but to a sleep scientist, the question of what constitutes sleep is so complex that scientists are still trying to define the essential function of something we do every night.

The search for the core function of sleep can seem as elusive as the search for the mythological phoenix, says Chiara Cirelli, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.

Some scientists argue that sleep is merely a way to impose a quiet, immobile state (rest), and isn't important by itself in mammals and birds. This is the so-called "null hypothesis," and Cirelli and co-author Giulio Tononi reject it.