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SMART And Roamware Partner To Deliver A Global Mobile Money Transfer Environment

SMART And Roamware Partner To Deliver A Global Mobile Money Transfer Environment

Nov 10 2008 | comment(s)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, MMT08, November 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Innovative Products and Services to Benefit International Migrant Workers

Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART), the leading wireless services provider in the Philippines announced today that it will partner with Roamware, a leading US-based roaming services provider, to create a global service environment for the deployment of international mobile financial services.

SMART and Roamware sealed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), agreeing to leverage existing network infrastructure, resources, expertise and international reach, to make Mobile Money Transfers available to mobile operators and financial institutions around the world.

Unique New Initiative By World-Recognized Specialists In Heart Disease And Diabetes To Reduce Residual Vascular Risk Launched Today

Unique New Initiative By World-Recognized Specialists In Heart Disease And Diabetes To Reduce Residual Vascular Risk Launched Today

Nov 10 2008 | comment(s)

NEW ORLEANS and LOS ANGELES, November 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Current Treatment Fails to Abolish Majority of Vascular Risk

- Residual Risk Reduction Initiative (R3i) Calls for Action to Reduce the Lipid-Related Residual Vascular Risk Unaddressed by Current Standards of Care in Millions of Patients With Heart Disease and Diabetes

Internationally recognized specialists from North America, Europe, Asia and Japan have come together today to launch the Residual Risk Reduction initiative (R3i) - a unique global program to evaluate and reduce the excess risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, kidney disease, loss of vision and non-traumatic limb amputation which exists in many patients with heart disease and diabetes despite optimal, currently available care.

Unique New Gel Combination Provides Relief For Distressing Scalp Condition

Unique New Gel Combination Provides Relief For Distressing Scalp Condition

Nov 10 2008 | comment(s)

LONDON, November 10 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, November 10 /PRNewswire/ --

A new, once-daily treatment gel is available on prescription today for the itching, flaking and soreness caused by the common condition scalp psoriasis. Xamiol(R) gel (pronounced zamiol), containing calcipotriol and betamethasone dipropionate, combines the effects of a Vitamin D-like ingredient to help normalise the speed at which skin cells are produced and a steroid to reduce inflammation.

Governments Should Do More To Protect Freedom Of Speech From Islamic Extremists, Says New Report

Governments Should Do More To Protect Freedom Of Speech From Islamic Extremists, Says New Report

Nov 10 2008 | comment(s)

Muslim reformers and critics of Islam around Europe are being silenced by Islamic extremists, according to a new report by the Centre for Social Cohesion. The report warns that unless European governments take urgent action to protect these individuals and their right to freedom of speech, Islamic extremists will be empowered and the evolution of a peaceful, tolerant 'European Islam' will never take place.

Victims of Intimidation: Freedom of Speech within Europe's Muslim Communities by Douglas Murray and Johan Pieter Verwey tells the stories of nearly 30 Europeans of Muslim background - some believing Muslims and others not - who have been threatened by Muslim extremists.

Platts Survey: October OPEC Oil Output Dropped To 32.26 Mil. Barrels Per Day

Platts Survey: October OPEC Oil Output Dropped To 32.26 Mil. Barrels Per Day

Nov 10 2008 | comment(s)

LONDON, November 9 /PRNewswire/ --

Platts -- The 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 32.26 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in October, according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials just released. This is a 210,000 b/d decline from the September level of 32.47 million b/d.

Excluding Iraq, production from the 12 members hitherto bound by output agreements fell by 220,000 b/d, to 29.96 million b/d from 30.18 million b/d, the survey showed.

When Indonesia, which will leave OPEC at year end is also excluded, the survey shows a 210,000 b/d drop in production from the so-called OPEC-11, to 29.11 million b/d in October from the previous month's 29.32 million b/d.

Unite Calls On Passengers To Lighten Up To Save Themselves GBPS - By Losing A Few Lbs

Unite Calls On Passengers To Lighten Up To Save Themselves GBPS - By Losing A Few Lbs

Nov 10 2008 | comment(s)

LONDON, November 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Britain's strongest men could face their toughest task yet when they attempt to persuade air travellers to pack lighter this Monday (10th November). The men will be on hand at two of the UK's busiest airports, Heathrow and Manchester, to help passengers to guess the weight of their luggage before they check-in as part of a three-pronged campaign by Unite, the UK's biggest union, to urge travellers to cut the weight of airport baggage to 23kg.

The Revenge of the Ground Sloth

The Revenge of the Ground Sloth

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Around 10,000 years ago, in the region of the United States now known as the Appalachians, lived one of the most impressive mammals ever to inhabit North American. With a height of over 8 feet, and weighing up to 800 pounds, the giant ground sloth ( Megalonyx jeffersonii to scientists) was a formidable sight. However, the ground sloth, like most large land mammals in North America, went extinct. Why is still a mystery to scientists - some believe that it may have been the result of a change in climate, others suggest that it may have been from predation by humans.
Flexible Charge Pump - AC Power Harvested Straight From The Environment

Flexible Charge Pump - AC Power Harvested Straight From The Environment

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Researchers have developed a new type of small-scale electric power generator able to produce alternating current through the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires encapsulated in a flexible plastic substrate with two ends bonded. 

The new "flexible charge pump" generator is the fourth generation of devices designed to produce electrical current by using the piezoelectric properties of zinc oxide structures to harvest mechanical energy from the environment, the authors write in Nature Nanotechnology.
Killer T-Cell 'Bionic Assassin' Sees Through HIV Disguises

Killer T-Cell 'Bionic Assassin' Sees Through HIV Disguises

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

HIV is a master of disguise, able to rapidly change its identity and hide undetected in infected cells. But now, in a long-standing collaborative research effort partially-funded by the Wellcome Trust, scientists from Oxford-based Adaptimmune Limited, in partnership with the Universities of Cardiff and Pennsylvania have engineered immune cells to act as "bionic assassins" that see through HIV's many disguises. 
Zooming Into Solar System Formation

Zooming Into Solar System Formation

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Planet formation, as we all know (and don't know), is chaotic. It is like a lorenz Attractor constructable in computational astrophysics labs. When I was working on my astronomy project at Harvard this summer, I realized that there was a way to zoom into this complex, utterly random phenomenon to get a glimpse of the precise conditions of the proto-planetary disk as it evolved into the 'solar system'.

So what is that 'way' anyway?
Teenage boys say it is acceptable to pressure girls into sex

Teenage boys say it is acceptable to pressure girls into sex

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

So says a Daily Telegraph news item, reporting on a recent article in Journal of Clinical Nursing [1].  This brought to mind a programme from 2004 on Channel 4 (nicate?) called Sex Before 16: How the Law Is Failing,  in which the journalist Miranda Sawyer argued that the age of consent in the UK be reduced.  I still remember my reaction to this, particularly because I see science an
Study Showed Prevention Of Heart Attacks Within Three Months After Hospitalization Significantly Averted Future Heart Attacks And Death

Study Showed Prevention Of Heart Attacks Within Three Months After Hospitalization Significantly Averted Future Heart Attacks And Death

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

ATHENS, Greece, November 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- Long-term benefits of preventing heart attacks highlighted in new study presented at global health outcomes meeting

Reverse Drafting - Why Sometimes The Leader Of The Pack Has Less Drag

Reverse Drafting - Why Sometimes The Leader Of The Pack Has Less Drag

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

From the Tour de France to NASCAR, competitors and fans know that speed is only part of the equation. Strategy, including the ability to use elements like aerodynamic drafting, which makes it easier to follow closely behind a leader than to be out in front, is also critical.

But in some cases, drafting happens in reverse: It's the leader of a pack who experiences reduced drag, while the followers encounter more resistance -- and have to expend more energy to keep up.
Three Chromosome Segments Implicated In Higher Risk Of Brain Aneurysms

Three Chromosome Segments Implicated In Higher Risk Of Brain Aneurysms

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Researchers have taken the first critical steps in unraveling the mysteries of brain aneurysms, the often fatal rupturing of blood vessels that afflicts 500,000 people worldwide each year.
Raising The Veil Of Evolution - Turning Annuals Into Perennials

Raising The Veil Of Evolution - Turning Annuals Into Perennials

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Annual crops grow, blossom and die within one year. Perennials overwinter and grow again the following year. The life strategy of many annuals consists of rapid growth following germination and rapid transition to flower and seed formation, thus preventing the loss of energy needed to create permanent structures. They germinate quickly after the winter so that they come out before other plants, thus eliminating the need to compete for food and light. The trick is basically to make as many seeds as possible in as short a time as possible. 
MatrikonOPC Support And Training Now Available Locally In The Middle East

MatrikonOPC Support And Training Now Available Locally In The Middle East

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

CALGARY, Canada, November 9 /PRNewswire/ -- MatrikonOPC(TM), the world's largest supplier of OPC connectivity products, has recently expanded its global footprint by adding a new regional office in Bahrain.

Building close relationships with our customers allows a true understanding of their business and helps realize the full potential of their operations from a technical and business perspective.

We take great pride in our customer service. To better serve our clients in the Middle East we knew we needed to have a local presence, said Sean Leonard, Vice President of MatrikonOPC. We've been doing business in this region for many years now, but with a local office we are able to reinforce and strengthen our existing ties in the Middle East, adds Leonard.

Potassium Levels May Be As Important As Sodium In High Blood Pressure, Says Study

Potassium Levels May Be As Important As Sodium In High Blood Pressure, Says Study

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

As a risk factor for high blood pressure, low levels of potassium in the diet may be as important as high levels of sodium—especially among African Americans, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sleep Creep: Feeling Sleepy? Then Parts Of Your Brain Already Are

Sleep Creep: Feeling Sleepy? Then Parts Of Your Brain Already Are

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

By the time you feel sleepy, parts of your brain are actually already asleep, according to a new theoretical paper by sleep scientists at Washington State University.   Contrary to conventional wisdom, they  say there’s no 'control center' in your brain that dictates when it’s time for you to drift off to dreamland. Instead, sleep creeps up on you as independent groups of brain cells become fatigued and switch into a sleep state even while you are still (mostly) awake. Eventually, a threshold number of groups switch and you doze off.
Erosion Linked To Monsoon Intensity In Himalayas

Erosion Linked To Monsoon Intensity In Himalayas

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Throughout history, the changing fortunes of human societies in Asia have been linked to variations in the precipitation resulting from seasonal monsoons. A new paper published in the British journal Nature Geoscience suggests that variations in monsoon climate over longer time scales also influenced the evolution of the world's highest mountain chain, the Himalaya.
Your IPod Is No Problem, But Headphones Could Interfere With Pacemakers, Says Study

Your IPod Is No Problem, But Headphones Could Interfere With Pacemakers, Says Study

Nov 09 2008 | comment(s)

Headphones for MP3 players placed within an inch of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) may interfere with these devices, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

An MP3 player is a popular digital music player. Earlier this year an FDA report concluded that interactions between MP3 players, such as the popular iPod®, and implanted cardiac devices are unlikely to occur.

Researchers investigated the effects of MP3 player headphones, most of which contain the magnetic substance neodymium, on the operation of implanted cardiac devices (abstract P662).