On August 1, a total solar eclipse was visible in parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China. The eclipse swept across Earth in a narrow path that began in Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut and ended in northern China’s Silk Road region.

Though the eclipse was not visible in most of North America, NASA TV and the Exploratorium made streaming video of the event available online. The following images are taken from that video, shot from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China near the Mongolian border. The sun appears differently in some of the images because of the different filters used to capture the event. Times listed are ET and approximate.

New knowledge points to the fact that a genetically induced lack of filaggrin, a key protein of the skin barrier, plays a decisive role in the origin of allergies.

In a large study on more than 3000 school-children scientists of the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technische Universität München found that about 8% of the German population carry variations of the filaggrin gene, which raise the risk to develop atopic dermatitis more than threefold. In addition, these genetic variations predispose to hay fever and asthma in those with atopic dermatitis.

Creatine, a popular nutritional supplement renowned for enhancing athletic performance and muscle strength, does not improve exercise outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study. The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study provided the most powerful evidence to date that the effect of creatine (Cr) supplementation was negligible at best among these patients.

"We have evidence to suggest Cr uptake into muscles [in COPD patients] but are unable to explain why an increase in muscle Cr did not enhance training," wrote the study's lead author, Sarah Deacon, M.D., specialist registrar at the Institute for Lung Health at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, England.

The results were published in the first issue for August of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine by the American Thoracic Society (ATS).

University of Illinois researchers writing in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience report this week that chronic exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some cognitive functions. Rats exposed to a steady dose of estradiol were impaired on tasks involving working memory and response inhibition, the researchers found.

The researchers made the discovery when studying the effects of estradiol on activities mediated by the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is vital to working memory and to the ability to plan, respond to changing conditions and moderate or control one's behavior.

COPENHAGEN, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Summary: Phase III Pivotal Study of Ofatumumab in Refractory CLL Meets Primary Endpoint

Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) and GlaxoSmithKline (LSE and NYSE: GSK) announced today positive top-line results from an interim analysis of the Phase III pivotal study evaluating ofatumumab (HuMax-CD20(R)) to treat two groups of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with high unmet medical need. At the interim analysis, the study met the primary endpoint in both populations and the results from the secondary endpoints also support the primary endpoint.

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- ATTN: North West Editors

Members of Unite, the UK's largest trade union, have agreed to step up action short of a strike and give notice of further strike action.

The decision to strike comes after the hospital trust are continuing to force low paid staff to wait three weeks for their pay by changing the payroll system.

Brian Nelson, Unite Regional Industrial Organiser, said: "We had hoped that the trust would see sense and continue with a weekly payroll. It is particularly frustrating for our members when the trust can continue weekly payment for other NHS staff across the Wirral.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Featured Case Study: Hawaii's Successful Produce Safety RFID Pilot

TechInsights announced the final agenda for the "Food Traceability: Securing the Food Supply Chain" workshop to be held during the RFID World 2008 conference in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, September 8-10 (http://www.rfid-world.com/2008). The workshop addresses recent food safety crises and includes a presentation of the results of an extensive produce traceability case study funded by the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii and administered by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

NUREMBERG, Germany, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- NCP engineering GmbH, a leading provider of endpoint security and VPN solutions, today announced the release of its Secure Entry Client for Symbian OS-based mobile devices. The new IPSec VPN client can be used on mobile devices such as the Nokia Eseries, which run Symbian OS from V.9.0 on S60 3rd Edition.

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- YouTube has been criticised by MPs, who say it must do more to vet its content - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7533543.stm.

Martin Warner (http://www.Martinwarner.com) is a new media expert and will be available today for analysis and comment relating to this story. In particular Martin can discuss:

- The consequences

- What it actually means for YouTube and similar websites

- What it means for uploaders

- What is likely to happen following this announcement

Press enquiries to Vicky Lyons and Kully Dhadda +44(0)207-233-7578 mb +44(0)7884246858, kully@flamepr.co.uk