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ChangeQuakes Of The Week

March 20, 2006

TOP CHANGEQUAKES OF THE WEEK
** Breakthrough In Diabetes Research Could End Insulin Injections
** Water Crisis Continues While Experts Meet To Discuss Solutions
** Mexico Reports Major Oil Find
** Study Links Antibiotics To Asthma
** Nanotechnology May Repair Damaged Brains

MORE CHANGEQUAKES TO WATCH

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TOP CHANGEQUAKES OF THE WEEK

Breakthrough In Diabetes Research Could End Insulin Injections

(DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Bioengineers at the Univ. of Calgary have successfully grown insulin-producing cells in a lab, marking a major breakthrough in diabetes research.

www.ctv.ca

Water Crisis Continues While Experts Meet To Discuss Solutions

(ECONOMIC CHANGEQUAKE) -- The numbers behind the world's water crisis are daunting. About 1.1 billion people lack clean drinking water, causing diseases that kill 3.1 million people a year. And 1.7 million deaths could be prevented with better sanitation.

news.yahoo.com

Related story: African Governments Struggle To Provide Clean Water
news.yahoo.com

Mexico Reports Major Oil Find

(ECONOMIC CHANGEQUAKE) -- Mexican President Vicente Fox has announced the discovery of a new deep-water oil field, which is believed to contain 10 billion barrels of crude.

news.bbc.co.uk

Study Links Antibiotics To Asthma

(DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Exposure to antibiotics in the first year of life may increase the risk of developing asthma later in childhood, researchers report. In fact, there may even be a higher risk with each additional course of antibiotics.

today.reuters.com

Nanotechnology May Repair Damaged Brains

(DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Rodents blinded by brain damage had their vision partially restored within weeks after being treated with nanotechnology developed by bioengineers and neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

www.physorg.com

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MORE CHANGEQUAKES TO WATCH

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKES

Amazon Launches Simple Storage Solution (S3)

Online retailer Amazon has added a new service for users: a low-cost virtual closet where people can put in and take out their data online, and pay for just what they store and transfer.

www.webpronews.com

Two-Thirds Of Online Users In U.S. Have Broadband

More than two-thirds of the U.S. online population is using broadband at home, dramatically increasing the amount of video watched and shared on the Web, according to a research firm.

www.internetweek.cmp.com

Company To Produce Dual-Format HD DVD/Blu-ray Player

Korea's LG Electronics plans to launch a next-generation DVD player that will bridge the gap between the two competing formats by playing both HD DVD and Blu-ray.

go.reuters.com


CORPORATE CHANGEQUAKES

Microsoft Expanding Online Presence, Competing For Ad Dollars

Microsoft plans to overhaul its Web presence, consolidating e-mail, instant messaging, online PC security and search at its Windows Live site along with new offerings like an online marketplace in order to increase traffic and create valuable space for advertisers.

informationweek.com

Related stories: Gates Sketches Out Vision For The Future
news.yahoo.com

Will Your PC Keep Pace With Vista?
news.com.com

Bill Gates Mocks MIT's $100 Laptop Project
today.reuters.com

Gartner: Microsoft 'Origami' Ultra-Mobile PC Two Years Away
www.personaltechpipeline.com

Google Wins Copyright Infringement Case Over Key Caching Practice

A lawsuit that sought to establish as illegal several core functions of Google's search engine has been dismissed, a boost to the company as it defends itself against similar allegations in other cases.

www.pcworld.com

Dell To Double Presence In India

Dell plans to double the number of its employees in India to 20,000 in three years, according Chairman Michael Dell, in what appeared to be moves by the world's largest personal computer maker to beef up its presence in one of the world's fastest-growing markets.

news.yahoo.com


REGULATORY CHANGEQUAKES

N.Y. Files $250 Million Fraud Suit Against H&R Block

New York state filed a $250 million fraud suit Wednesday against H&R Block, the nation's largest tax preparing service, charging the company fraudulently steered customers into a losing retirement account plan.
www.forbes.com

NYSE, SEC Fine Bear Stearns $250 Million

Bear Stearns Cos. has been fined $250 million by the New York Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraudulent market timing and late trading of mutual funds, according to regulators.

www.usatoday.com


ECONOMIC CHANGEQUAKES

Union: Wal-Mart A Drain On Medicaid

In a report issued last week, the AFL-CIO found that more workers at Wal-Mart stores than any other company in at least 19 states are relying on government healthcare assistance, and are a key contributor to states' exploding cost of Medicaid.

news.moneycentral.msn.com

Slowdown in Housing Sector to Hit the Job Market

With the allure of easy money, thousands of Americans flocked to jobs in the real estate industry during the boom years. However, with signs the housing market is starting its inevitable slowdown, job growth may also decelerate.

www.usatoday.com


FDA APPROVAL CHANGEQUAKES

FDA Looking For Ways To Streamline Drug Approval

Federal regulators, working with patients, academics and pharmaceutical companies, are listing dozens of potential research projects they believe would help shorten the time it takes for new drugs to reach patients.

www.cnn.com


DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKES

Doctors Make Breakthrough In Fight Against Heart Disease

Medical researchers at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary believe they have found a drug that could reverse the causes of some forms of heart disease.

news.bbc.co.uk

Bird Flu Found In Israel

Israel has confirmed its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. In a statement on its Web site, the Agriculture Ministry said the flu had been found in birds at two communal farms in southern Israel and at a farming community in central Israel.

news.yahoo.com

Related story: Hawaii Bracing For Bird Flu
www.honoluluadvertiser.com

Impulsive Behavior Linked To Parkinson's Drugs

Researchers are looking into the possibility that dopamine, which is associated with a host of addictive behaviors, may turn some Parkinson's patients into obsessive pleasure seekers.

www.msnbc.msn.com