LONDON, October 1 /PRNewswire/ -- New research into consumer views about online shopping have been compiled by PriceRunner.co.uk, the UK's most comprehensive and impartial price comparison service. The research has shown that reviews of products and companies on websites are rated more highly (98%) than recommendations from friends (88%), and that the brand name is just as important as the product price.

The company invited 2,100 of its users to give an insight into their purchasing habits and to find out which factors are important to them during the buying process.

The “birth rate” for stars is certainly not easy to determine. Distances in the universe are far too great for astronomers to be able to count all the newly formed celestial bodies with the aid of a telescope so it is fortunate that emerging stars give themselves away by a characteristic signal known as “H-alpha” emissions.

The larger the number of stars being formed in a particular region of the firmament, the more H-alpha rays are emitted from that region.

More newborn stars are apparently emerging around the universe than previously assumed, say researchers at Bonn University who published a paper in “Nature” explaining that a systematic error in the method of estimation has resulted in a lower number.

Countries with strict social rules and behavioral etiquette may foster unruly drinking cultures and characteristic bad behavior, according to a new report on alcohol and violence released today by International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP). The report also lists 11 cultural features that may predict levels of violence such as homicide and spousal abuse.

And the culprit is, of course, not just alcohol, but men.

We cannot change the male propensity for aggression, but we can channel it into appropriate and socially acceptable forms. In particular, we need rites of passage for young people that offer challenge and a route to adult status and recognition. The aim should not be to completely suppress male aggression, but to utilize and channel it constructively.

But alcohol and men together make things worse. Apparently, lacking big animals to hunt, a night at the bar starts to resemble gay porn.

PRINCETON, New Jersey, October 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Consultants from Scientific Update, LLP to Host Roundtable Discussions Centered on Organic Chemical Scale-up, Process R&D and Process Optimization, at InformexUSA, January 27, 2009

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA, October 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Each Report uses Market Intelligence and Competitive Analysis from Thomson Reuters to Highlight Developments on the International Pharmaceutical Pipeline

Thomson Reuters, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, has announced the availability of three Pharma Matters reports covering the time period April - June 2008. The quarterly Pharma Matters reports cover all aspects of the pharmaceutical pipeline, leveraging strategic intelligence and competitive analysis from Thomson Pharma(R), Newport Horizon Premium(TM) and the Thomson Messaging Mapping System(SM).

HERNDON, Virginia and SUNNYVALE, California, October 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Spirent SR5500 Test Solution Contributes to Successful Rollout of WiMAX Services in North America

WiMAX World 2008 Spirent Booth # 63 -- Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT), a global provider of performance analysis and service management solutions, today announced that it has been selected by AT4 wireless to provide RF channel emulation capability to AT4 wireless' WiMAX interoperability lab. The lab will use Spirent SR5500 Wireless Channel Emulators to test the interoperability between commercial WiMAX infrastructure and WiMAX mobile devices.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080909/CLTU016LOGO )

HALIFAX, Canada, October 1 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunoVaccine Technologies' (IVT) patented depot vaccine formulation, DepoVax(TM) is showing positive pre-clinical results, with single-dose efficacy achieved in therapeutic cancer and several infectious disease vaccine models. The results of this research will be presented October 4th at the Ehrlich II conference in Germany. Collaborators from the University of Miami will also be reporting on the capabilities of IVT's depot formulations for delivery of DNA and SiRNA in vivo.

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Rewards Innovative Concepts for the Targeted Development of New Medicines

- Merck Serono is Involved in Two of the Three BMBF-Sponsored Consortiums

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is among the proud winners of the BioPharma strategy competition. In this competition organized by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of its Pharmaceuticals Initiative, a total of 100 million Euros in grants was offered for innovative concepts for the development of new medicines from research to production. The three winners, who will share this award, include two consortiums to which Merck Serono belongs.