Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville N

Ricciardi.Twice now in two weeks Seattle has bested Toronto.Both Brandons boasted early promise as prospects. Battling through injuries, both pitchers have outperformed their salaries by at least $4 million League a little more. Both men remain relatively inexpensive and are under team control for some time Morrow a little more. Yet these two middling dealers' paths appear diverging, and Mr. League is taking "the road less traveled."Morrow's dollar value has outstripped his salary throughout his Major League career, but that's common, if not essential, for good young players. After a sterling 2006 season, League sustained a shoulder injury that caused significant regression in 2007.However, since that sophomore slump of sorts, League has posted steadily improving statistics, including 2009 three-year bests in K/9, BB/9, WHIP and innings pitched 9.16/2.53/1.25/74.2.If one considers the importance of League's 2009 RAR (10) and WAR (1.0) to his career numbers of 15.4 and 1.5, respectively, one cannot ignore League's slow-building surge. These numbers aren't outliers; rather, the guy's just getting better.Jack Zduriencik strikes again.The real question is who Zduriencik has in mind for that rotation spot. It's a little soon to promote one of the youngsters, so he may consider bringing back Joel Pineiro for a more developed encore.. MOORESVILLE, N.C., Jan.

6 /PRNewswire/ Lowe's Companies, Inc.(NYSE: LOW) announced today the appointment of Marshall A. Croom to seniorvice president and Chief Risk Officer (CRO), effective January 31 He willreport to Chairman and CEO Robert A. Niblock.(Logo: http:// )In his new role, Croom will provide oversight and direction for themanagement of all material risks across the company, including Enterprise RiskManagement, Workers Compensation, Loss Prevention, Safety, Internal Audit,Quality Assurance and Global Trade Services."Marshall is a seasoned leader and will do an outstanding job overseeingthis important function for Lowe's," said Niblock. His prior Lowe's experience also includes SVP of finance,treasurer and assistant treasurer.

Croom joined the company in 1997, followingan 11-year career with Ernst & Young. He received a bachelor's degree inaccounting from Appalachian State University.With fiscal year 2007 sales of $48.3 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is aFORTUNE(R) 50 company that serves approximately 14 million customers a week atmore than 1,625 home improvement stores in the United States and Canada.Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second-largesthome improvement retailer in the world. Escalon(R) Medical Corp. (NasdaqCapital Market: ESMC) announced that on December 31, 2008 pursuant to an AssetPurchase Agreement it completed the previously announced acquisition of thehematology business of Biocode Hycel, the French subsidiary ofImmunodiagnostic Systems plc, a provider of in vitro diagnostic products.

Theacquired hematology business will continue to operate under the name BiocodeHycel and has operations near Rennes, France.The acquired hematologybusiness had 2008 annual revenues of approximately Euro 4,200,000, orapproximately $5,800,000. The seller-provided financing requires payment overfour years as follows:the first interest-only payment is due in December of 2009;thereafter, every six months, an interest payment is due at an annualinterest rate of 7;after 18 months a principal payment of Euro 800,000 is due;after 30 months a principal payment of Euro 1,000,000 is due;after 36 months a principal payment of Euro 1,000,000 is due; andafter 48 months a principal payment of Euro 1,375,000 is due.The payment amount in United States Dollars will be determined on the paymentdue date, based upon the then current exchange rate between the United StatesDollar and the Euro.Strong Strategic Fit for Drew Richard J DePiano, Jr. President, commented, "This acquisition of hematologyassets from Biocode Hycel is a natural extension of Drew's business model andprovides an immediate and significant presence in the French diagnosticmarket.Furthermore, the addition of proprietary hematology equipment,technology, and reagent formulas strategically broadens Drew's well recognizedproduct offering and enhances our strategy to leverage cross-selling andrevenue growth opportunities."Founded in 1987, the Company ( http://) develops markets anddistributes ophthalmic diagnostic, surgical and pharmaceutical products aswell as vascular access devices. Drew Scientific, which operates as a separatebusiness unit, provides instrumentation and consumables for the diagnosis andmonitoring of medical disorders in the areas of diabetes, cardiovasculardiseases and hematology, as well as veterinary hematology and blood chemistry.The Company seeks to utilize strategic partnerships to help finance itsdevelopment programs and is also seeking acquisitions to further diversify itsproduct line to achieve critical mass in sales and take better advantage ofthe Company's distribution capabilities, although such partnerships oracquisitions may not occur.