A nearly four-hour cut of the ambitious biopic "Napoleon" will open the 12th edition of the Buffalo Film Seminars, a semester-long series of screenings and discussions sponsored by the University at Buffalo and the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center.

Workplace alcohol use and impairment directly affects an estimated 15 percent of the U.S. workforce, or 19.2 million workers, according to a recent study conducted at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) and reported in the current issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.

For diabetes patients, who can't produce their own insulin, human stem cell-based transplants that produce insulin would be a major breakthrough. But current laboratory methods of culturing human stem cells result in very limited quantities, far short of the quantities necessary for therapeutic applications. For that reason, Emmanouhl (Manolis) Tzanakakis, Ph.D., is striving to boost the numbers of stem cells produced in the laboratory, expanding the pool of cells that eventually can be differentiated into insulin-producing cells.

For the 10th year running, the University at Buffalo's Gender Institute will present an International Women's Film Festival as a way of highlighting both worthy artists and worthy issues often ignored in the mainstream of American culture.

It is estimated that one person in the United States commits suicide every 17 minutes. Three years ago, one of them was Anthony Barr, the 20-year-old brother of media artist Chris Barr, a student in the Department of Media Study at the University at Buffalo, who has produced a unique performance piece and video blog titled "17 Minutes," in which he invites visitors to consider one of the worst losses possible.

University at Buffalo President John B. Simpson will speak about a cause close to his heart -- improving public access to higher education -- on Jan. 19 as part of a lecture series sponsored by the UB Graduate School of Education.

The Jacobs Neurological Institute of the University at Buffalo has received a $1.8 million, five-year grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to establish at Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo one of six Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Centers of Excellence that it is creating in the United States.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Elisa Monte Dance at 8 p.m. on March 24 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Helikon Opera in "Die Fledermaus," at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The University at Buffalo School of Management, in partnership with BuffLink, the Health Care Industry Association and several other community resources, will present a three-day Pre-Seed Workshop, designed for people in the concept stage or early development of a technology company to help them move their ideas to the point where seed-level financing can be considered.

Computers and the Internet now permeate every aspect of the business world, and today's workplaces need tech-savvy communicators who can bridge the gap between people and technology. In response to industry demand, the University at Buffalo School of Informatics will offer a bachelor's degree in informatics, beginning in fall 2006, to provide undergraduates with training in both information technology and interpersonal skills.

Timothy Johnson has been a baseball fan all of his life, ever since he played the game as a kid growing up in New Hampshire. But music theorists don't often get to rub elbows with luminaries in the world of baseball, so it was a true honor for Johnson, visiting Frederick and Alice Slee Professor of Music Theory at UB, to receive The Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award from the Society for American Baseball Research.

From automatic jar openers to remote controls for washer and dryers, a new program at the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology Transfer at the University at Buffalo is helping major corporations produce next-generation consumer products that are "more usable and accessible to all," including persons with disabilities and the elderly.

The concert by Colm Wilkinson previously scheduled for 8 p.m. on March 25 in the Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo has been rescheduled to 8 p.m. on June 30 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The School of Dental Medicine at the University at Buffalo has received $3.3 million to participate in the first large-scale prospective clinical study of risk factors that contribute to the development of temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders.

An earthquake engineer at the University at Buffalo has developed a new "multi-hazard" design for bridges that will make them more resistant to terrorist attacks and earthquakes.

A Feb. 17 performance by world-renowned Canadian flutist and composer Robert Aitken will be among the highlights of the concert schedule to be presented by the Department of Music during February.

The Center for the Arts announces the spring 2006 television schedule for the Music is Art Live @ The Center Season Two television series celebrating Western New York's best contemporary musicians and visual artists. The fall 2005 series will air on UPN 23 WNLO Sundays at 10:30 p.m. starting Feb. 12.

Kathryn Bryk Friedman, Ph.D., an attorney with a background in public policy and international law and governance, is the new deputy director of the UB Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth effective Jan. 5.

The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University at Buffalo will present Zodiaque Dance Company: The Wonder of Dance, under the direction of Tressa Gorman Crehan, Feb. 16-19 and 23-26 in the Drama Theatre located in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. The media sponsor is WBFO-FM.

Public broadcasting talk show host Tavis Smiley will be the keynote speaker for the University at Buffalo's 30th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Event, to be held at 8 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Hundreds of children and their parents are expected to fill the dental clinics in the School of Dental Medicine at the University at Buffalo on Feb. 3 for the fifth annual "Give Kids a Smile" day.