World-renowned authority on philatelic matters to use STEP Master Data Management system to underpin the development of its online publishing business and to deliver its strategic goal of providing an online trading community for stamp traders globally. AIM listed Stanley Gibbons Group plc, the world's leading name in philately, has selected the STEP master data platform from Stibo Systems, to help develop its online publishing business and achieve its vision of becoming the global hub for philatelic trading by improving its product information management for stamps ...

BELECTRIC Trading GmbH has signed a three-year contract with Solar Frontier to sell and install Solar Frontier's proprietary CIS modules at a volume in the three-digit megawatt range, which will be produced primarily at Solar Frontier's new gigawatt-scale facility in Miyazaki, Japan. Solar Frontier's CIS modules have the competitive advantage of combining economical production with an intrinsically ecological technology. In combination with the Solar Frontier specialist sales and support team, BELECTRIC Trading will be able to apply its extensive expertise in planning and ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---People who demonstrated a stronger brain response to certain brain regions when receiving individually tailored smoking cessation messages were more likely to quit smoking four months after, a new study found. The new University of Michigan study underscores the importance of delivering individually tailored public health messages to curb unhealthy behaviors, said principal investigator Hannah Faye Chua, who led the study as a research assistant professor at the U-M School of Public Health. It also begins to uncover the underlying neural reasons why ...

Jerusalem, February 27, 2011 -- Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the US have discovered the mechanism whereby dangerous mercury eventually finds its way into the fish we eat from the open seas and oceans. The researchers, Prof. Menachem Luria from the Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University and Dr. Daniel Obrist of the University of Nevada, found that "passive" mercury normally found in the atmosphere is converted into an "active," oxidized form in the presence of bromine. The passive mercury is generally ...

Medical and scientific experts propose a global framework for the safe production and use of the medicinal plant Kava, including further clinical testing In Australia. The South-Pacific plant has been traditionally used to reduce stress and anxiety but is restricted in some countries. Leading world Kava experts Dr Jerome Sarris from the University of Melbourne, Australia; Professor Rolf Teschke from Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany; and Dr Vincent Lebot from CIRAD, Port-Vila, Vanuatu, have proposed a six-point plan that is intended to become the framework ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Results from a new study contribute to growing evidence that if one of your parents has Alzheimer's disease, the chances of inheriting it from your mother are higher than from your father. The study is published in the March 1, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "It is estimated that people who have first-degree relatives with Alzheimer's disease are four to 10 times more likely to develop the disease themselves compared to people with no family history," said study author Robyn Honea, DPhil, of ...

BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2011 – In the first study to make head-to-head comparisons between tenofovir gel and oral tenofovir – two promising approaches for preventing HIV in women – researchers found that daily use of the vaginal gel achieved a more than 100-times higher concentration of active drug in vaginal tissue than did the oral tablet, while, compared to the gel, the tablet used daily was associated with a 20-times higher active drug concentration in blood. Results of the Phase II trial, which examined differences in drug absorption as well as women's preferences for each ...

BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2011 – A gel developed to protect against HIV during vaginal sex produced a strong antiviral effect when used in the rectum, according to an early-phase study presented today at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). The results, based on rectal tissue biopsies sampled from HIV-negative men and women who used the product daily for one week, provide the first-ever evidence that tenofovir gel could help reduce the risk of HIV from anal sex, even though the vaginal gel formulation may not be optimal for rectal use. Tenofovir ...

Heart attack patients with a history of depression presenting at emergency departments were less likely to receive priority care than people with other conditions, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100685.pdf. Several studies indicate that people with heart attacks and depression have worse outcomes than people without, although emergency department care has not been looked at as a possible contributor. In the United States, more than six million patients with mental health issues ...

A medical journal's revenue source can affect drug recommendations, with free journals positively recommending specific drugs while journals funded solely by subscriptions usually recommending against the use of the drugs, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100951.pdf. Little is known about corporate influence on educational medical journals, although physicians rely heavily on journals for continuing medical information. Many of these journals, which rely solely on advertising ...

A small difference in DNA sequence predicts the degree of disability after a stroke, according to a paper published online on February 28 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Stroke, the consequence of disturbed blood flow to the brain, can impair speech, movement and vision, but it is currently difficult for clinicians to predict the severity of these side effects or the long-term prognosis. Strokes result in the death of brain cells called neurons. Angeles Almeida and co-workers found that variations in a gene known to control cell death—Tp53—influence ...

Doctors should transition their patients from pediatric to adult medical care for congenital heart disease during early adolescence, experts recommend in a scientific statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. "It's not as simple as getting the name of a new doctor and going to see them when a patient turns 18," said Craig Sable, M.D., co-chair of the statement committee and director of echocardiography and cardiology fellowship training at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "There are multiple steps associated ...

Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages such as fruit drinks are associated with higher blood pressure levels in adults, researchers report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the International Study of Macro/Micronutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP), for every extra sugar-sweetened beverage drunk per day participants on average had significantly higher systolic blood pressure by 1.6 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure higher by 0.8 mm Hg. This remained statistically significant even after adjusting for differences ...

STANFORD, Calif. — A pediatric brain tumor that causes gruesome suffering is finally yielding its secrets. For the first time, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have cultured human cells from this cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, and used those cells to create an animal model of the disease. Their discoveries will facilitate research on new treatments for DIPG, a tumor of school-aged children that is now almost universally fatal. The advances come thanks to the parents of young cancer victims, who donated their deceased children's brain ...

BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2011 – A change in the formulation of tenofovir gel, an anti-HIV gel developed for vaginal use, may make it safer to use in the rectum, suggests research presented today at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). In laboratory tests of rectal tissue, researchers from the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) found the reformulated gel was less harmful to the lining of the rectum than the original vaginal formulation, and just as effective in protecting cells against HIV. Researchers are now testing the reformulated gel in ...

TEMPE, Ariz. – A team of researchers from Arizona State University, Stanford University and Carnegie Institution for Science has found that converting large swaths of land to bioenergy crops could have a wide range of effects on regional climate. In an effort to help wean itself off fossil fuels, the U.S. has mandated significant increases in renewable fuels, with more than one-third of the domestic corn harvest to be used for conversion to ethanol by 2018. But concerns about effects of corn ethanol on food prices and deforestation had led to research suggesting that ...

Using underwater speakers to play noise at levels similar to those produced by recreational speedboats, the researchers found that three-spined sticklebacks exposed to even brief noise playback made more foraging mistakes and were less efficient at consuming the available food compared to those in quiet conditions. Dr Julia Purser, the study's lead author, said: "The fish appeared to be distracted by the addition of noise to their environment. Much as you or I might struggle to concentrate on a difficult assignment when faced with loud construction noise, these stickleback ...

The first findings from the world's largest study of households are now published. The Understanding Society publication reveals a comprehensive snap shot of UK households. Starting in 2009, the year when Britain officially entered recession for the first time since 1991 and the Copenhagen climate summit ended in more questions than answers, the study offers an unprecedented insight into 40,000 UK households as they respond to regional, national and international change. The publication offers a window into British society in the 21st century. With data on our working ...

Increased hospital spending at high-cost hospitals does not appear to be associated with better short-term survival rates for patients with sepsis, according to a report in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Sepsis affects approximately 750,000 patients each year in the United States and is in many ways a model condition for examining the relationship between hospital spending and patient outcomes and for identifying potential opportunities to improve the value of hospital care," the authors write as background ...

Older patients are willing to take medications for cardiovascular disease prevention, but only if the drug has much more benefit than risk, according to a report published online first by the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The paper will be published in the June 27, 2011 print issue of the journal. "Quality-assurance and pay-for-performance initiatives increasingly encourage adherence to evidence-based guidelines for the prevention or management of particular diseases," the authors provide as background information in the article. "However, ...

Many patients, especially those with limited literacy, may self-administer prescription medications more times a day than is necessary, which may lead to missed or incorrectly administered dosing, according to a report in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "According to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the average adult in the United States fills nine prescriptions annually, while adults older than 65 years fill on average 20 prescriptions a year," the authors write as background information in the article. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research that reveals how maternal antibodies block an immune response to the measles virus is a first step toward improving current childhood vaccination practices, scientists say. Maternal antibodies are passed to fetuses during pregnancy and to newborns in their mothers' milk. The antibodies protect infants against disease in the first months of life, but that protection comes at a cost: Their presence also interferes with the generation of a natural immune response to vaccination. As a result, most babies receive measles immunizations at the age ...

CHICAGO --- Many older patients, who take an average of seven medicines a day, are so confused by the vague instructions on prescription bottles that they don't realize they can combine their medications to take them more efficiently. A new Northwestern Medicine study shows patients thought they had to take seven medicines at least seven and up to 14 separate times a day. "A complex and confusing regimen means people are less likely to take their drugs properly, and that means they are not getting the full benefits of their medicine," said Michael Wolf, associate professor ...

Physicians can have an influence on their overweight and obese patients by counseling them to prevent further weight gain and by helping patients to have a more realistic perception of their weight, which may lead to behavioral changes, according to two reports in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In background information in the articles, the authors comment that the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity is now a worldwide problem that is associated with higher risk of death, and the development of certain ...

Faced with the risk of developing side effects, even ones as mild as fatigue, nausea and fuzzy thinking, many older patients are willing to forego medications that provide only average benefit in preventing heart attack, according to a report by Yale School of Medicine researchers. "These patients are willing to take medications for cardiovascular disease prevention, but only if they are not linked to what are generally considered to be acceptable side effects," said first author Terri R. Fried, M.D., professor of internal medicine/geriatrics at Yale School of Medicine, ...