Monthly Archives: June 2012

DNA Brands Expands Operations to Canada

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BOCA RATON, Fla., June 12, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DNA Brands, Inc. ("DNAX.OB"), the maker of DNA Energy Drink(R), the delicious and award winning energy drink and long-time favorite of the action sports community, announced today this it is expanding its distribution footprint outside of the United States through a mutually exclusive agreement with Titan Distributors.

Darren Marks, President and CEO of DNA, said, "We are extremely pleased with this mutually exclusive agreement that enables us to grow the DNA Brand in Canada. With Titan's long-standing retail relationships covering nearly all of Canada it is comforting to know that DNA Energy Drink will be the exclusive energy drink in their beverage portfolio." Marks continued, "We intend to support and grow the DNA name in Canada through conventional marketing initiatives including sampling programs, TV and radio, and by utilizing Titan's close relationships with premier athletes and celebrities to act as brand ambassadors and spokesmen." "An August launch is expected," concluded Marks.

David Coriaty, Titan's President and CEO, stated, "We at Titan are very pleased to have DNA and their delicious energy drinks as part of our portfolio. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with DNA's dedicated management team to first ensure a successful product launch and ultimately a huge success throughout Canada."

About DNA Brands, Inc.

DNA Brands makes DNA Energy Drink(R), the award-winning, best-tasting energy drink at the 2010 World Beverage Competition, and DNA Shred Stix(TM). DNA Energy Drink(R) is a proprietary blend of quality ingredients in four flavors Citrus, Lemon Lime, Sugar Free Citrus and CRANRAZBERRY. DNA is a proud sponsor of many action sport teams consisting of top athletes from Motorcross, Surf, Wakeboard and Skateboard and has received tremendous TV and media coverage.

Independent retailers throughout the state sell the DNA Brands products as well as national retailers including Walgreens, Race Trac and Circle K.

True to its actions sports roots, DNA Brands, Inc. has earned national recognition through its sponsorship of the DNA Energy Drink/Jeff Ward Racing team where it competes on a world-class level in Supercross and Motorcross, reaching millions of fans. DNA Energy Drink(R) can also be found in other action sports such as Surfing, BMX, Wakeboarding and Skateboarding and its athletes are recognized stars in their own right.

For more information about DNA Energy Drink, its athletes and sponsorships, please visit http://www.dnabrandsusa.com

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of the Company's development, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made.

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DNA Brands Expands Operations to Canada

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Surreal day with three exams – and a technology embargo

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The Irish Times - Wednesday, June 13, 2012

IZABELLE BALIKOEVA

EXAM BLOGGER:YESTERDAY WAS Russia Day. I celebrated with a 3-hour Russian exam, after a three-hour biology exam, after a 2-hour Irish exam. Yay!

I dont know if the State Exams Commission thought it would be nice to have the Russian exam on Russia Day, but I could have done without it.

There are days that can be described as character-building. Yesterday was such a day for me. I was born in Russia but have lived in Ireland all my life. As a result I took Russian, Irish and French for the Leaving, and yesterday was the day that two languages landed together, or would have, if a three-hour biology paper hadnt got in the way. Im up for most things, but sitting two papers at the same time is not one of them. So I finished a very long biology paper at 5pm, ate the lunch I didnt have time to eat after Irish, and finally fell out of the exam hall at sunset.

This timetabling quirk had a number of knock-on effects.

Trying to remember not to answer biology questions in Russian, for example. There was also the little matter of my technology embargo as I took Russian hours after everyone else (actually, there are quite a few of us taking Irish and Russian around the country), I was not allowed access to my mobile phone, laptop or anything that might plug me into the mainframe, in case I might find out what came up on the mornings Russian paper. With three exams back to back its hard to see what I could have done with any information it took me until 5pm to find a gap for lunch.

It was a surreal day. In fact, this whole process has been surreal.

Week one was like walking through a dream. It felt strange but I was excited to finally start and get it over with once and for all. The last days before the English exam everyone seems to brush up on their clairvoyance abilities and the predictions for the paper are inescapable. It was a tough paper. If only they gave us eight hours instead of three, the gold we could produce with more time! Writing in Russian is a different story. I have spoken the language at home all my life but over three hours of the Russian alphabet is quite another thing. Yesterday I spent a grand total of nine hours scribbling away on everything from Favellas in El Salvador in Irish to seashore ecology in biology to the past tense in Russian.

If the Leaving Cert is designed to mould us into flesh and blood Wikipedia sites, job done. However, something tells me that as soon as I open Facebook, it will all be forgotten.

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Surreal day with three exams - and a technology embargo

The First Day of Development–a Window to Successful Pregnancy

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire -06/12/12)- An article published in F1000 Biology Reports (http://f1000.com/reports/b/4/11/) discusses recent important advancements in the development of alternative methods of embryo evaluation and selection that could lead to improvements in the reliability of IVF treatments.

The success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures still remains relatively low, at only around 30%. The high emotional, health and financial costs associated with having to undergo the procedure multiple times has driven the need to develop more efficient methods of assessing the development potential of embryos to ensure that only those with the highest potential are selected for IVF treatment.

In their article Advances in embryo selection methods for F1000 Biology Reports, F1000 Faculty Member in Development Biology Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, and her Associate Faculty Member Anna Ajduk, compare the various methods currently used for assessing embryonic viability and discuss novel procedures based on advanced time-lapse imaging techniques. These new methods show signs of promise for increasing the efficiency and success of IVF treatments.

The authors argue that by developing more reliable methods of assessing embryonic quality, single embryos can be selected for transfer, which could reduce emotional costs, limit the impact on the health of mothers-to-be and improve the overall efficiency of the procedure. The authors say that reliable selection of high quality single embryos can be achieved by combining current screening methods with non-invasive time-lapse imaging techniques.

Commenting on her findings, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz said: "This is a very effective, rapid and non-invasive way of assessing the health of mammalian embryos. I would be delighted if it can save the lives of human embryos, and I believe it should when applied in the IVF clinic."

Evidence of improvement in live birth outcomes still has to be determined by testing these methods in a clinical environment and subjecting them to randomized controlled trials; however, they offer great hope for more reliable assessment of embryonic quality and more efficient IVF treatments.

For more information, visit http://f1000.com.

About Faculty of 1000

Faculty of 1000 (http://f1000.com) is a post-publication review service in Biology and Medicine that identifies and evaluates the most interesting and important papers published worldwide. The core of our service is our 10,000 Faculty Members and Associates, who cover some 350 defined specialty sections and collectively contribute around 1300-1500 article evaluations per month. These evaluations are published immediately on F1000 and constitute an up-to-date and comprehensive guide to the best of the scientific literature.

Author Information

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The First Day of Development--a Window to Successful Pregnancy

A 'lovely' paper with an exotic surprise

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The Irish Times - Wednesday, June 13, 2012

LOUISE HOLDEN

LEAVING CERT BIOLOGY HIGHER AND ORDINARY LEVEL:AN EXOTIC question on ecology came as a surprise to Leaving Cert biology students yesterday in what was otherwise regarded as a lovely higher paper.

More than 30,000 students took biology at higher and ordinary level yesterday and the response was very positive.

My students were quite happy with this paper, said Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland subject representative Ciara OShea. There was plenty of choice in the long question section. The experiment section demanded a great depth of knowledge but the students seemed able to handle it. They needed to know seven different experiments to answer just one question in this section.

A graph question in section 12 also demanded a bit of thought, teachers commented. Overall, however, the questions were well-scaffolded, leading students to check their answers as they went along, said Teachers Union of Ireland subject representative Margaret ONeill.

Every aspect of the syllabus was covered, said teachers, and the biology course is famous for its breadth.

Even the brain and nervous system came up, and this is a topic that teachers are stretched to get to within the teaching cycle, said Ms ONeill. Every element of the syllabus was examined, as usual.

Biology is the most popular elective subject on the Leaving Cert curriculum after French. Despite annual complaints about the amount of material that students and teachers have to cover, numbers taking the subject remain high. More than twice as many girls take biology as boys.

The higher paper featured flowering plant reproduction, genetic engineering and the function of motor neurons in the brain. A question on the introduction of exotic species to an ecosystem was considered unusual. The ecology question was a little difficult and might have thrown a few students, said Ms ONeill from Gorey Community School in Wexford.

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A 'lovely' paper with an exotic surprise

'Prometheus' has 'Alien' biology hard-wired by Blade Runner soul

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June 12, 2012 | 8:00 a.m.

Ridley Scott on the set of Prometheus. (Kerry Brown / 20th Century Fox)

The topic has been making the rounds in cinaste circles, and on Thursday it reached the cafeteria at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. Three of the studios directors Oscar winners Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) and Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) and Oscar nominee Bob Peterson (Up) sat down for lunch and began chewing on a Hollywood mystery: the Ridley Scott Exception.

We started talking about it because Lee mentioned how he had just shown both Blade Runner and Alien to his teenage daughter and that she loved both of them, Stanton recalled later that day. Certainly story and character must be king for a movie to stand the test of time, but typically every [science fiction] movie, no matter how good it looks, is ultimately betrayed in the end by the limitations of whatever current technology was used.

But Alien and Blade Runner are the exceptions to the rule. On every level of aesthetics, they defy Father Time.

The riddle of Ridley is timely again with the release of Prometheus, Scotts 20th feature film but only his third set in a sci-fi universe. Its a somewhat familiar corner of the galaxy this time too: Prometheus is a quasi-prequel to Alien (1979), and both stories follow a human crew (accompanied by an android with an enigmatic agenda) to a planet that holds dark secrets that are coveted by the rapacious Weyland Corp.

Alien was Scotts international breakthrough and he followed it up with the futuristic film noir Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford as a retired L.A. cop hunting down a renegade cell of synthetic humans known as replicants. Blade Runner was a dud upon release, but now, as it reaches its 30th anniversary this month, the movie and its influence are more alive in the pop culture conversation than ever.

That influence can be traced through dozens of films, among them Terminator, The Matrix, Brazil and Inception and the upcoming Looper and a new Total Recall are also candidates for the list. Christopher Nolan cites Blade Runner as his favorite film and Duncan Jones (Source Code, Moon) has described his next movie as a valentine to the 1982 Scott film.

Then there are video games, TV shows and music videos, as well as echoes in fashion, advertising, design and architecture. One other place you can find Blade Runner? Its under the artificial skin and philosophical sinew of Prometheus. The new film is a hybrid of Scotts past sci-fi films, and it appears that he just might keep the laboratory open for business this time he says a Blade Runner sequel is moving forward in development and will again search the souls of creators and creations.

God is in the details, Scott said. Who bothered to create people who look like human beings? Why do that? Its really going into that and answering the big, broad strokes of it.

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'Prometheus' has 'Alien' biology hard-wired by Blade Runner soul

CareCapital Grp plc – Agreement with Varigen Technologies

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12 June 2012

CARECAPITAL GROUP PLC

("CareCapital" or "the Company")

Agreement with Varigen Technologies

Diagnosis and Treatment of Malignant Diseases Based on Genetic Testing, Initially Targeted at Women's Health Care

CareCapital (AIM: CARE) announces that it has signed a mutually exclusive agreement ("the Agreement") with Varigen Technologies ("Varigen") to use Varigen's expertise in the areas of genetic testing and its application to both the diagnosis and development of personalized medical treatments for patients with malignant diseases. Under the Agreement, the specialist services supplied by Varigen will initially be made available at CareCapital's planned medical centre in Folkestone (Berlin: FKO.BE - news) , dedicated exclusively to women's health. Varigen will be entitled to a share, after deduction of all operating costs, of 30% of revenues derived from the provision of the services, with CareCapital retaining the remainder.

Varigen is a company established by Mark Hoser, an expert in the field of genetic and medical diagnostics. Following the award of a PhD from St Thomas' Hospital in haematology and coagulation diagnostics, Mark subsequently held various management positions with large, international pharmaceutical companies before founding GeneForm Technologies in 2003 to exploit his patents in molecular diagnostics and pharmacogenomics. After a successful trade sale of GeneForm Technologies, he has continued his focus on personalized medicine and rapid, next generation diagnostics as well as genotyping technologies for the prediction of drug efficiency in oncology.

Commenting on the Agreement, Mike Sinclair, CareCapital's CEO, said,"The addition of Mark's expertise via this agreement with Varigen Technologies is exactly on strategy for us as we build and grow our specialist cancer services business. The services developed with Varigen will be first available at our dedicated women's health care facility but can then be rolled out more widely."

Mark Hoser of Varigen, added, "The personalisation of diagnosis and treatment are critical steps in the future of medical care and translate to best care and improved quality of life for the patient. Varigen is excited to contribute to CareCapital's endeavour's in making this a reality."

For further information, please visit http://www.carecapital.co.uk or contact:

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CareCapital Grp plc - Agreement with Varigen Technologies

UPDATE 1-Nanotechnology business boosts Oxford Instruments' profit

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* FY adj profit 42 mln stg vs 26.2 mln last year

* Rev up 29 pct to 337.3 mln stg

* Raises final div 12 pct to 7.23 pence

June 12 - High (Euronext: HCO.NX - news) -technology tools maker Oxford Instruments Plc said its full-year adjusted profit rose 60 percent on strong performance across its nanotechnology, industrial and services business.

The company said revenue from its nanotechnology business, which represents 44 percent of total revenue, rose 26 percent to 154 million pounds ($238.87 million).

Revenue from industrial products rose 28.5 percent to 129.1 million pounds while services business sales grew 32.5 percent to 56.3 million pounds.

Revenue rose 29 percent to 337.3 million pounds.

April-March adjusted pretax profit rose to 42 million pounds from 26.2 million pounds.

Order intake was up 23.5 percent at 337.8 million pounds.

Shares in the company, which raised its final dividend by 12 percent to 7.23 pence, closed at 1208 pence on Monday on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE.L - news) . ($1 = 0.6447 British pounds) (Reporting by Monika Shinghal in Bangalore;)

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UPDATE 1-Nanotechnology business boosts Oxford Instruments' profit

OSF teams up with medical school on training project

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June 11, 2012 Updated Jun 11, 2012 at 7:30 PM CDT

PEORIA,Ill --OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria is teaming up with the University of Illinois College of Medicine to enhance training and performance of health care professionals.

The partnership will bring a new Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center to the hospital campus.

On Monday morning, construction crews put the last beam in place on the 51million dollar facility. Officials are planning on training up to 30,000 healthcare professionals including doctors in the first year after its opening next April.

"This is a much safer environment than doing training out in the field. We can carefully control the circumstances and we can allow for training in an environment where no patient can ever receive an injury," said OSF Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Vozenilek

The six story building will include an education center, a virtual intensive care unit, and an innovation laboratory plus other training features.

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OSF teams up with medical school on training project

Medical school breaks ground on $5M expansion

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Medical school breaks ground on $5M expansionBy Molly RosbachYakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences is breaking ground this morning on a 22,000-square-foot expansion that's set to be completed by next summer.

The $5 million "Phase II" addition to Butler-Haney Hall has been planned since the university was first founded, and is being paid for by donors, like the rest of the school. The added space is required for the medical school to receive full accreditation and to expand its current 75-student enrollment by up to 60 students per class.

"Phase II was always planned, from the time we built Phase I. We probably would have built it much earlier, except for the economy changing," said Dr. Lloyd Butler, president of PNWU. "Now, we're in the wonderful position where the school and the community support are ready for us to complete this Phase II expansion in preparation for our request to increase our enrollment."

So far, about $1.5 million is paid for: $1 million from the Osteopathic Foundation of Central Washington and more than $500,000 from community donations. School officials expect to have the full cost of the building raised by August 2013.

The expansion is set to be finished next May followed by some separate remodeling on the interior of Butler-Haney Hall during the summer.

Loofburrow Wetch Architects worked on the building design for much of the past year, and the project went out to local contractors to bid in mid-April. In mid-May, G H Moen LLC was selected for the job.

In the addition, the school will have two new, 150-seat auditorium classrooms, which open up to form one 300-seat classroom. There will also be more office space for professors and support staff, a small prep kitchen and additional student spaces, such as an atrium, a food vending area and several bathrooms.

"This expansion will allow us to better meet our mission of producing primary care physicians for the Pacific Northwest," Butler said.

The added space will also make it easier for the university to host community functions and hold classes for continuing medical education, which all providers must take to stay up to date on new and developing medical procedures and technologies.

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Medical school breaks ground on $5M expansion

OU to open med-school branch near Cleveland

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By Encarnacion Pyle

The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday June 12, 2012 6:58 AM

People who want to attend medical school in the Cleveland area soon will have another choice.

Ohio University and the Cleveland Clinic announced yesterday that they are teaming up to open a $49.1 million medical-college campus in the Cleveland suburb of Warrensville Heights to fill a growing need for primary-care doctors in northeastern Ohio.

The extension campus will be developed in a building of the Cleveland Clinics South Pointe Hospital, a 179-bed, acute-care community teaching hospital that has served the citys southeastern suburbs since 1957. Ohio University and the Cleveland Clinic have worked together to train physicians for the past 35 years, and this agreement will build upon that relationship, officials said.

Together, we are striving to be the best at what we do, and we think this will help both of us do just that, OU President Roderick J. McDavis said.

The campus is expected to open with 32 students in July 2015.

Instead of having to take their first two years in Athens, students will be able to complete all four years of their medical education in northeastern Ohio, said Dr. Jack Brose, dean of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

It makes sense for the university to expand into northeastern Ohio because more than a quarter of its medical-school applicants come from the Cleveland area, Brose said. About 80percent of the schools graduates practicing primary care in the area also are trained there.

OU is working on a similar, $24 million medical college campus in Dublin with OhioHealth.

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OU to open med-school branch near Cleveland

Ohio University to operate medical school at Cleveland Clinic's South Pointe Hospital

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WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio -A new medical school, an extension of Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, will open at Cleveland Clinic's South Pointe Hospital.

The Clinic and OU, which announced the affiliation Monday, will invest a combined $49 million to address the growing shortage of primary care doctors in Ohio.

The agreement builds upon a long-standing relationship between the Clinic and the Athens-based medical school, which have partnered to train physicians for the past 35 years. South Pointe Hospital is one of the largest osteopathic teaching hospitals in the state and OU students have done third- and fourth-year clinical rotations there for decades.

The school also further enhances the reputation of northeast Ohio as one of the nation's leading medical centers.

The first class of 32 medical students is scheduled to begin August 2015, assuming approvals by the American Osteopathic Association Council on Osteopathic College Accreditation and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.

Osteopathic physicians and medical doctors both attend four years of medical school. They complete their training during the same residency programs and pass the same licensing exams. The difference is in the teaching style and focus during medical school.

Osteopathic schools instruct students to look at the whole patient, not just symptoms, an approach now embraced by medical schools. Osteopathic students also are educated in osteopathic manipulative treatment, which involves manual diagnosis and treatment. Not all osteopathic physicians use that in their practice.

Most osteopathic doctors specialize in family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics, OU officials said.

OU will spend $36 million, which includes renovating 60,000 square feet in a clinical and office building on the South Pointe Hospital campus and hiring faculty and staff. The Clinic's contribution of $13 million will go toward building renovations as well as medical education support. That amount includes $5 million from the private, non-profit Brentwood Foundation, which is dedicated to the advancement of osteopathic medicine. The foundation is also providing a $6 million grant for graduate medical education.

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How to Get to the Top…and Stay There

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I have always been intrigued by what sets top performers and leaders aside from those who dont make it to the top. More recently, Ive become especially interested in what enables them to stay at the top when they get there. Sustainability and longevity as a leader, in particular, has never been in more jeopardy.

Tony Weller | Getty Images

However, there are many examples of people who have reached the top and stayed there for a long time. Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan

So what can be learned from those top leaders, athletes and performers in any domain who are able to deliver success time and time again, rather than succumbing to the demands of being highly visible and accountable?

Having observed top performers at very close quarters in a variety of arenas over several years, I have come to realize that they possess a form of wisdom, know-how or intelligence. It is very evident among the worlds best athletes and I have also witnessed it among the best leaders and performers in work and military settings. Since this intelligence is about delivering superior performance on a consistent basis, it seemed natural to call it 'Superior Performance Intelligence' (SPI).

I have conducted a study of SPI with top performers and leaders from the worlds of business, sports, military, performing arts and medicine which will be published in the scientific literature later this year. The study identified SPI as, "A common critical awareness and know-how that top performers, from business leaders to cardiologists to athletes to performing artists to military leaders to entrepreneurs, possess to apply their minds, skills, techniques, strategies and tactics to the same high standard every time they perform".

SPI has three core know-hows:

Being smart in all of the know-hows is crucial in sustaining success, as reinforced by a CEO Ive worked closely with. Her smartness in 'knowing how to maximize your potential' was evident in a self-knowledge and ability to self-regulate which enabled her to thrive on the visibility of being under the spotlight.

She was also hungry to develop a deep awareness of the key principles of 'knowing how to deliver top performance' on a sustainable basis. And she recognized that she could not do it on her own. 'Knowing how to work with your environment' was a high priority and she ensured that she found different ways of soliciting feedback on her peoples morale and engagement.

A gap or weakness in any of the know-hows will jeopardize longevity at the top. For example, the CEO of a company which had been acquired by a much larger organization had consistently hit the numbers and so was good at 'knowing how to deliver top performance'. And he had risen quickly through the organization, demonstrating strength in 'knowing how to maximize your potential'.

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How to Get to the Top…and Stay There

2 new studies show connection between sleepiness and pro-athlete careers

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Public release date: 12-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Doug Dusik ddusik@aasmnet.org 630-737-9700 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

DARIEN, IL Coaches, owners and fantasy-league traders take note: Sleep researcher W. Christopher Winter, MD, has uncovered a link between a pro athlete's longevity and the degree of sleepiness experienced in the daytime.

Winter is presenting two studies today at SLEEP 2012 that associate the career spans of baseball and football players with their voluntary answers on a sleepiness questionnaire. The results show that less sleepy football players tended to remain with their drafting NFL teams after college. In addition, attrition rates for sleepier baseball players trended higher than MLB averages.

"A team's ability to accurately judge a prospect or a potential trade in terms of the value they will get for that player is what makes or breaks many professional sport teams," said Winter, principal investigator of the studies and the sleep advisor for Men's Health magazine. "These studies demonstrate that a simple evaluation of sleepiness may be a powerful tool to add to the list of tests athletes already undergo, such as the Wonderlic Cognitive Abilities Test and the 40-yard dash."

The football study looked at 55 randomly selected college players who landed in the NFL, finding that sleepier athletes only had a 38 percent chance of staying with the team that originally drafted them. In comparison, 56 percent of the less sleepy players were considered a "value pick" because they did stay with the original team. The baseball study analyzed the sleepiness scale of 40 randomly selected baseball players and found that players who reported higher levels of daytime sleepiness also had attrition rates of 57 percent to 86 percent, well above the 30 - 35 percent MLB average.

Winter said measuring sleepiness could do more for a team than help it decide who to draft. "Addressing sleepiness in players and correcting the underlying issues causing sleepiness may help to prolong a player's career," he said.

Winter and his colleagues at Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center and CNSM Consulting in Charlottesville, Va., used the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), a short questionnaire that can be helpful in detecting excessive daytime sleepiness. EDS is a common symptom of many sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea.

The abstracts "Sleepiness as a predictor of draft value in the National Football League" and "Sleepiness as a predictor of player longevity within Major League Baseball" are being presented today at SLEEP 2012, the 26th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) in Boston.

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2 new studies show connection between sleepiness and pro-athlete careers

Newcastle University scientists welcome ethics council backing for IVF gene switching

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Newcastle University scientists welcome ethics council backing for IVF gene switching

8:00am Tuesday 12th June 2012 in News By Barry Nelson, Health Editor

WORLD-BEATING North- East scientists have welcomed the findings of an independent report that makes it more likely they will be able to resume controversial, but potentially life-saving, research.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said the technique, sometimes described as threeparent IVF, would be an ethical treatment option for families affected by mitochondrial diseases if it could be shown to be safe and effective.

Alison Murdoch, professor of reproductive medicine at Newcastle University, said: We welcome the findings of the Nuffield Council report. It is very reassuring that they support our aims and we hope the Government will also give support.

In 2010, scientists from the university proved it was possible to use a form of IVF to prevent a group of deadly inherited diseases being passed to the next generation.

The discovery was hailed by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign as a ray of hope for families who fear they might pass on mitochondrial disease to their children.

However, some campaigners are concerned at the technique, which involves taking part of a human egg donated by a healthy individual to replace the faulty mitochondria of the affected mother.

About one in every 6,500 children born in the UK has severe mitochondrial disease.

Mitochondria are located in every human cell and provide the energy for cells to function.

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Newcastle University scientists welcome ethics council backing for IVF gene switching

4 hospitalized after breathing high school chemistry fumes

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Two students and two staff memberhave been taken to hospitals after a chemistry experiment gone wrong sent fumes into the air and forced a North Hollywood high school to evacuate the campus.

Students were released from their East Valley High gymnasium at 3:22 p.m. Monday at normal dismissal time, according to Los Angeles Unified spokeswoman Monica Carazo. She said the entire student body of 900was evacuated and four people were taken to hospitals as a precautionary measure.

The students and staff members who were hospitalized hadcomplained of dizziness, headaches and respiratory irritation, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. The victims included the chemistry teacher, he said, awoman in her 30s.

Fire officials responded to a call about 12:52 p.m. after the teacherapparently mixed two substances incorrectly, authorities said.

Officials said the teacher had performed the experiment in her third-floor chemistry class in the morning and it had gone well. In the afternoon, however, she mixed nitric acid and sugar rather than the intended sulfuric acid and sugar. The misstep caused reddish-brown clouds to form, prompting the evacuation, Carazo said.

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4 hospitalized after breathing high school chemistry fumes

Chemistry Software helps users understand SAR and design.

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Welwyn Garden City, UK -- Cresset, innovative provider of software and services for molecule designers launches forgeV10 a powerful computational suite to understand SAR and design. forgeV10 gives computational chemists control and insight into activity data enabling the planning and direction of projects with confidence. ForgeV10 uses the shape and electrostatic character of molecules to create qualitative and quantitative 3D models of activity that are visually stimulating and easy to communicate.

ForgeV10 takes advantage of Cresset's patented ligand comparison method to align, score and compare molecules from a biological view point. Cresset's technology has been tried and tested in hundreds of projects from virtual screening to compound design. ForgeV10 is used to: decipher complex SAR and communicate the results; design better molecules based on predictions which can be trusted; prepare detailed pharmacophores; virtually screen 10,000 compounds on the desktop; and generate ADME and off-target activity profiles. The powerful capabilities afforded the user by forgeV10 are available through locally installed software or through Cresset Consultancy Services.

Meeting the needs of computational and medicinal chemists, Cresset's new suite of next generation chemistry software comprises: forgeV10 a powerful computational suite to understand SAR and design; torchV10 an intuitive design and 3D SAR tool for medicinal chemists; torchV10lite a free 3D molecule viewing, editing and drawing tool; blazeV10 an amazing ligand based virtual screening tool; sparkV10 an exciting and powerful way of generating novel and diverse structures.

Cresset CEO, Dr Robert Scoffin said, "We are excited to bring to market these powerful tools to help companies maximize the potential of their projects. Some of the applications have simply been renamed but others have changed significantly and now include exciting new features. The release of forgeV10 as the lead off application in the Cresset pro v10 suite is a milestone in the provision of excellence in computational chemistry software."

Scientists interested in Cresset's next generation software can download free demos from the company's website.

For further information on the complete range of software and services available from Cresset, please visit http://www.cresset-group.com, follow Cresset on Twitter (@cressetgroup) or join the LinkedIn group.

About Cresset Group Ltd Cresset develops software for calculating and comparing the molecular Field characteristics of chemical compounds. Field technology uses the surface properties of molecules to evaluate their activities and properties, rather than relying on 2D structure similarity, which enables Cresset's users to find more interesting, novel and relevant results than other methods. Cresset's Fields provide a smarter, structure independent way of hit-finding, lead switching and lead optimization in drug discovery and other chemistry-based research projects. Cresset's Field technologies have been successfully applied to a very wide range of target classes, with and without structural information, on over 100 projects for major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. http://www.cresset-group.com

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Chemistry Software helps users understand SAR and design.

American Chemistry Council Applauds Linde on Responsible Care® Achievements

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MURRAY HILL, N.J. & NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Linde North America has received a commendation by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) for its role in helping ACC meet industry-wide safety and product stewardship targets through its Responsible Care Performance Award program. ACC recognized Linde at its 21st annual Responsible Care Conference, which highlights the industrys world-class environmental, health, safety and security performance initiative.

Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is an association of producers, manufacturers and suppliers of chemical products. Since 2008, Linde North America has received certification at 21 of its operations facilities, as well as at its corporate headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey, under ACCs Responsible Care program.

Responsible Care is a globally recognized management system aimed at helping companies improve performance in areas such as safety, health, environment and security. Certification is mandatory for all ACC member companies, which must undergo headquarter and facility audits by an independent, accredited auditor to verify that they have a structure and system in place that manages and measures performance. Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) is Lindes independent auditor.

Patrick Murphy, president of Linde North America, which has been a member of ACC for over 60 years, said, We are extremely proud to receive this recognition from the ACC. We are committed to the Responsible Care program and retaining our membership in the American Chemistry Council. While it is a painstaking process to meet all the criteria for these awards, it is a very rewarding experience. Working toward and receiving Responsible Care certification falls right in line with our goals as a high performance organization and our vision to be the leading gases and engineering company.

The Responsible Care Performance Award recognizes companies with significant achievements in occupational safety and product safety communications. These companies are leading the ACC membership in improved safety performance and public communications about the safety of chemical products, said Debra Phillips, managing director of ACCs Responsible Care Program. We are pleased to recognize Linde North America for its commitment and dedication to the health, safety and security of their workers, their facilities, and the communities in which they operate.

The Responsible Care management system offers an integrated, structured approach for driving continual improvement in seven key areas: community awareness and emergency response; security; distribution; employee health and safety; pollution prevention; process safety; and product stewardship.

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 50,500 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2011 financial year, it achieved sales of EUR 13.787 bn (USD 18.1 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The Group is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

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American Chemistry Council Applauds Linde on Responsible Care® Achievements

Research and Markets: Company Study of Walvax Biotechnology Co, Ltd.,2012

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rddx98/company_study_of_w) has announced the addition of the "Company Study of Walvax Biotechnology Co, Ltd.,2012" company profile to their offering.

Walvax Biotechnology Co, Ltd., founded in 2001, specializes in research & development, production and marketing of bio-pharmaceutical vaccines. In September 2010, it went public on the Shenzhen's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), with the approval of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Walvax Biotechnology employs about 863 people, including 161 for research and development. It has a new-type vaccine research & development center and pilot base at Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (located in Kunming, Yunnan province) as well as vaccine production bases at Yuxi Hi-Tech & New Industrial Development Zone (located in Yuxi, Yunnan province) and Taizhou National Medical Hi-Tech Development Zone (located in Taizhou, Jiangsu province). In addition, its marketing network covers 30 provinces or cities and more than 2000 regions or counties throughout China

Key Topics Covered:

1 Profile

2 Operation

3 Revenue Structure

4 Gross Margin

5 Client and Supplier

6 R&D and Investment

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Research and Markets: Company Study of Walvax Biotechnology Co, Ltd.,2012

Research and Markets: Comprehensive Chiroptical Spectroscopy, 2 Volume Set

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/psxwcg/comprehensive_chir) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Comprehensive Chiroptical Spectroscopy, 2 Volume Set" to their offering.

This two-volume set provides an introduction to the important methods of chiroptical spectroscopy in general, and circular dichroism (CD) in particular, which are increasingly important in all areas of chemistry, biochemistry, and structural biology.

The set can be used as a text for undergraduate and graduate students and as a reference for researchers in academia and industry, with or without the companion volume in this set.

Experimental methods and instrumentation are described with topics ranging from the most widely used methods (electronic and vibrational CD) to frontier areas such as nonlinear spectroscopy and photoelectron CD, as well as the theory of chiroptical methods and techniques for simulating chiroptical properties.

Each chapter is written by one or more leading authorities with extensive experience in the field.

Key Topics Covered:

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 ON THE INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MOLECULES: PATHWAYS TO THE THEORETICAL INTERPRETATION OF CHIROPTICAL PHENOMENA

2 MEASUREMENT OF THE CIRCULAR DICHROISM OF ELECTRONIC TRANSITIONS

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Research and Markets: Comprehensive Chiroptical Spectroscopy, 2 Volume Set

Cameron Diaz writing nutrition book

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People News

Jun 12, 2012, 10:02 GMT

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz is writing her first book.

The 39-year-old star is penning a tome about the importance of nutrition and staying healthy for young girls after gaining inspiration from her friend Gwyneth Paltrow's weekly lifestyle journal Goop!, which sees the US actress provide wellness tips, recipes and fashion advice.

A publishing source said: 'Cameron has become very close to Gwyneth and it's been very interesting for her to see what Gwyneth is doing with Goop!.

'She's been inspired by Gwyneth and the way she uses her fame to influence and help people. Now Cameron wants to do the same.'

The 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' actress started to think more about living healthily following the death of her father 58-year-old father Emilio Diaz from pneumonia in 2008 - but the blonde beauty is keen to ensure the book - which will feature advice from celebrity pals Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth - is not perceived as a diet guide.

The insider explained to E! Online: 'Everything changed for Cameron after her father died. She realised what is important and started to think more and more about her health.

'This book isn't about her. And it's not a diet of any kind. Of course, it's her own journey that has helped her realise what's important, but she wants the book to appeal to everyone, and not just be about her own food choices.'

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Cameron Diaz writing nutrition book