www.Haven.com  AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, announces today that it has acquired OEST Associates, Inc.
OEST is an engineering and architecture firm headquartered in Portland, Maine, with a satellite office near Orlando, Fla.  Founded in 1982, the company now has more than 100 professionals serving clients in the private and public sectors.

OEST strengthens AMEC’s ability to provide mechanical, electrical and structural engineering and architecture services, which are strategic to the continued growth of AMEC’s business with the U.S. Federal government.  The acquisition also bolsters AMEC’s civil engineering design and sustainable design resources in the U.S. and provides additional Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) skills. The purchase is consistent with AMEC’s strategy of geographic and capacity expansion in its Earth and Environmental division and follows the acquisition of eight other consultancy businesses since January 2007.  

Roger Jinks, President of AMEC’s Earth and Environmental division said: “OEST is a great fit, geographically and strategically.  It doubles AMEC’s presence in New England and provides facility design and architectural skills necessary for many Federal contracts.  In the past we’ve often had to rely on subcontractors to provide design and architectural services.”

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www.gemsuncovered.com The Australian Jewellery Fair will be held at the Brisbane Exhibition Centre from March 15 – 16, 2009. Newly rebranded and repositioned, organisers say the fair is Australia’s only event with a dedicated focus on the future outlook of the jewellery industry. 
 New ranges will be launched, talented cutting-edge designers showcased, services introduced and trends revealed and interpreted for the Australian jewellery market.

The Design Promenade will feature two special collections – the 2008 Australian Jewellery Design Awards and The Emerging Talent Showcase. In addition to the Design Promenade, there will be a continuation of the ‘Outlook’ interactive panel discussion as well as presentations from leading trendsetters in the industry. The Fair will comprise a wide cross-section of content with more than 100 exhibitors showcasing a range of collections and important elements for the industry such as security, point-of-sale and merchandising.

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www.fashiontrail.com CLOTHES SHOW  LIVE, will be returning to Birmingham’s NEC from 5 - 10 December 2008 for its 20th year as the world’s leading fashion and beauty event. With over 500 leading, independent and up-and-coming fashion and beauty brands taking part, not to mention a host of celebrities in attendance, keep checking
THE SHOW

Offering a dazzling display of fashion, Clothes Show Live is divided into colour-coded zones to make your shopping experience simple. The Purple Zone is the place to be for high street fashion, competitions and urban streetwear, while The Red Zone offers the best in edgy and eccentric fashion.
The Black Zone will return as the home of the Designer Pavilion – showcasing top brands as well as amazing designers straight from London Fashion Week. The Blue Zone will be packed full of high-street chic and one-off vintage pieces - it’s a fashionista’s paradise!

Perfect your look and pamper yourself with the latest beauty products and hair care in the sassy Pink Zone. Don’t miss the Superdrug Hair & Beauty Stage where a whole team of make-up artists and hair stylists will be on hand to give you top tips on how to maintain your newly cut and styled hair right down to the streak-free spray tan just in time for the festive season! Discover complimentary therapies and tantalising spa treatments at the relaxing Wellbeing Zone, the perfect retreat for tired tootsies.

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www.canuaffordit.com  Vampire, seen by many as the sister of Munch's fabled painting The Scream, went under the hammer for the first time in New York after more than 70 years in the hands of a private collector.It fetched 38.2 million dollars (£24.3m), including the buyer's premium, and broke the existing Munch record of 30.8 million dollars (£19.6m), which was set by Girls on a Bridge in May, a Sotheby's spokesman said.

He added that the work represented love, sex and death" and that the "emotionally charged image numbers among the most iconic compositions in art history".It was also the subject of controversy when it was first unveiled, fuelling early-20th century fears about women's liberation.

Simon Shaw, senior vice president and head of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art department in New York, said: "Few paintings pack as hard a punch as Munch's Vampire."Like The Scream, it distills extraordinarily intense feelings into a simple, unforgettable motif.The lovers, locked in their dark embrace, evoke love's paradox as a source of tenderness and pain."

Emmanuel Di-Donna, head of Sotheby's Evening Sales in New York, added: "This painting could not have come on to the auction market at a better time."In the same auction, the 1916 work Suprematist Composition, by Russian Kazimir Malevich, sold for 60 million dollars (£38m).

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www.bestbuys101.com Worldwide sales of plasma panels in the third quarter rose to 4.2 million units in the third quarter of 2008, a 37% over the same quarter in 2007 according to research firm DisplaySearch.The firm says demand continues to be strong for plasma TVs worldwide due to attractive price points and increasing availability of high-definition content and predicts global plasma sales will reach 15.5M units for the year.

While unit sales were up 37% year over year, revenues were up a more modest 21% due to declines in the average selling price of plasma sets. The number one seller of plasma televisions was Panasonic which took in 39.8% of revenues followed by Samsung (29.4%), LGE (21.9%), Pioneer (4.7%), Hitachi (4.1%) and Orion (0.1%).

The 1080p share of plasma panel unit shipments remained over 20% with a record 856,000 units shipped in the latest quarter. Panasonic remained the dominant supplier of 1080p PDP plasma panels, accounting for 70% of units shipped.

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www.kidzmoviez.com Aside from the title's geographic confusion how do you escape to somewhere you already are? — Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa delivers what is expected from a sequel to a so-so animated hit, and occasionally is better.DreamWorks didn't imagine that 2005's critter flick Madagascar would deserve a sequel, or else this movie would have been made first. Paying more attention to the original's happy accidents — especially Julien, the hyperactive lemur king, and a feisty Jewish bubbe — makes Escape2Africafaster and funnier.The movie begins with a flashback to Alex the lion cub's childhood in Africa, with themes cribbed from. The Lion King, including Hans Zimmer's music. Alex's wise father and pride leader, Makunga (voice of Alec Baldwin), faces competition from shifty Zuba (the late Bernie Mac). Hunters lure Alex into captivity, and fate takes him to New York, where Part One began.

By the first movie's end, Alex (Ben Stiller), his zebra buddy Marty (Chris Rock), hip hippo Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) and hypochondriac Melman (David Schwimmer) accidentally migrated to Madagascar. Escape 2 Africa picks up their quest to return to New York in an antique airplane renovated by those crafty penguins and commandeered by Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen).

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www.disneybar.com MICKEY Mouse will be casting his magic wand over the Trent FM Arena next year when Disney returns to the venue with a brand new production.Mickey's Magic Show will feature buddies Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Daisy Duck and a host of world class magicians at the venue for four shows on March 24 and 25.

The interactive theatrical event will include moments from legendary Disney films such as Cinderella, Aladdin and Fantasia.The highlight of the show will be when Master Magician Mickey makes Disney Princesses Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White appear out of thin air.

"This one-of-a-kind show gives parents and children the power to see magic everywhere," says producer Kenneth Feld, who has also worked on the Siegfried & Roy shows."We take them on an inspirational journey with the Disney characters where they learn to find the magic within and all around them. At the same time, families will see world-class illusions that will truly take their breath away."Tickets go on sale from Friday November 7 priced at £15.50 and £19.50 for adults and £13 and £17 for children.

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/www.organicdine.com Local beer folks are all in agreement that the San Diego Brewer’s Guild Festival, happening this Saturday at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park, is the best beer fest in town, both for brewers and drinkers. All San Diego breweries are confirmed to be at the event, which starts at 7 p.m., including AleSmith Brewing Company which just won Small Brewing Company of the Year and Brewer of the Year at the recent Great American Beer Festival. The $25 pre-sale ticket gets you 10 tasters of rare and specialty beers, plus free food samples from beer pubs and beer-centric restaurants including The Linkery, Hamilton’s Tavern and O’Brien’s. There will be live music and free parking, too.

 Eclipse Chocolat is celebrating its first year in business this Saturday, Nov. 8 from 7 to 10 p.m. with a complimentary wine-and-truffle tasting. The shop recently got its wine and beer license, and will be offering three featured wines paired with three artisan truffles, including the new Vanilla Bean Sassafras truffle. You’ll also be able to sample some savory chocolate dishes from upcoming tasting dinners, save 10 percent off all retail chocolates and receive a two free truffles with every box of 10 you purchase.  Eclipse also recently added a weekday happy hour, from 4 to 7 p.m., when every beer or wine purchase includes a free truffle. 2121 El Cajon Blvd., North Park.

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www.Ice Creams.com  Your favourite might be a whippy in a cone. There is every chance you like a bit of Neapolitan. But then few things beat plain old vanilla. And do you favour sprinkles or squirty sauce? Whatever your palate, Harrogate in North Yorkshire is the place to be as the Ice Cream Alliance is holding its annual trade exhibition, showcasing the latest flavours, ice cream machines and even the vans that pound the streets in summer.

Ice cream purveyors from all over the UK and Italy will wow the crowds with all sorts of delicious treats. New flavours being unveiled this year include rhubarb, bubble gum, stollen (just in time from Christmas), apple pie and even cheese. Just imagine, two courses in one at your next dinner party. A credit crunch-tastic winner, surely?  Balsamic vinegar Paulo, who comes from Parma in Italy every year for the exhibition, said: "With ice cream you can have unusual savoury flavours on a lot of occasions. "

For instance, I come from Parma and I make Parmesan ice cream. "It's not something you could sell in an ice cream cabinet but as a special entree in a restaurant, why not, especially if you use balsamic vinegar dressing."

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www.healthyjunkie.com Vitamin B supplements have no effect in preventing cancer in women, a U.S. study suggests.In Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Shumin Zhang of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and her colleagues studied 5,442 U.S. female health professionals with an average age of 63.

"This study shows that supplementation with the combined B vitamins provided no beneficial effect and no harmful effect," said Zhang."So in terms of cancer risk, this may not be an effective approach."In the study, researchers randomly assigned women with cardiovascular disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure to take a daily supplement of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid or a placebo between April 1998 and July 2005.

"A total of 379 women developed invasive cancer (187 in the active treatment group and 192 in the placebo group)," the study's authors wrote."Compared with placebo, women receiving the active treatment had similar risk of developing total invasive cancer, breast cancer, or any cancer death."

 Leafy greens for folate
Among women 65 and older, those taking B vitamins daily were 25 per cent less likely to develop cancer and 38 per cent less likely to get breast cancer.It's not clear whether the effect was simply due to chance, Zhang said, noting the study was not designed to look at age differences. More research is needed to determine whether B vitamins help in cancer prevention among older women.

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