A quarter of all people with MRSA in Sweden between 2000 and 2003 were infected abroad. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases reveals that the number of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in Sweden nearly doubled between 2000 and 2003. The study also shows that 25% of all cases came from abroad. This highlights the threat posed by international transmission of MRSA to countries in which incidence of MRSA infection is still relatively lo
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered that so-called flesh-eating “Strep” bacteria use a specific enzyme to break free of the body’s immune system, a finding which could potentially lead to new treatments for serious infections in human patients.
The research, reported in the February 21, 2006 issue of the journal Current Biology, focuses on the major human pathogen group A Streptococcus. Among the most important of al
On Dec. 16, 1811, residents of New Madrid, Mo., were wrested from sleep by violent shaking and a deafening roar. A short time later, church bells hundreds of miles away in Boston began to ring. It was the first of three massive earthquakes that rocked the central United States between December 1811 and February 1812, even changing the course of the Mississippi River in their aftermath.
“A big earthquake in the same region as the 1811-1812 earthquakes would have devastating consequences
The landscape is changing in East Africa, and quickly. A migrating and growing population, emerging economies and an increase in agricultural production are leaving their mark on the region’s environment.
Jennifer Olson, a visiting assistant professor of geography at Michigan State University, is co-coordinator of LUCID: Land Use Change, Impacts and Dynamics, an international effort to examine and discover links to how East Africa’s economic and social progress is infl
On Dec. 27, 2004, scientists detected the largest gamma-ray burst ever recorded. It came from a magnetar–a neutron star with an enormous magnetic field–50,000 light years away. Its powerful rays penetrated deep into the ionosphere, the electrically conductive layer encircling Earth. On Feb. 19 in St. Louis at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Stanford electrical engineering Professor Umran Inan will describe what scientists learned from thi
If mastering flight is your goal, you can’t do better than to emulate a dragonfly.
With four wings instead of the standard two and an unusual pitching stroke that allows the bug to hover and even shift into reverse, the slender, elegant insect is a marvel of engineering.
Z. Jane Wang, professor of theoretical and applied mechanics at Cornell University, presented her research on flying systems and fluid dynamics today (Feb. 19) at the annual meeting of the America
A study of 68 randomly selected weblogs produced by teenagers aged 13 to 17 finds that teen bloggers often willingly reveal their actual names, age and offline locations, putting them at risk for cyberstalking and cyberbullying.
David Huffaker, a Northwestern University researcher working in the technology and social behavior program with Northwestern Professor Justine Cassell, will present his study findings within the context of other studies of teenage Internet behavior a
Adults often express fear that young people spend too much time online and, as a result, are losing a sense of the importance of social interaction, civic involvement and participation in social communities.
A Northwestern University researcher who for seven years has been studying a remarkable online community of 3,000 youngsters aged 10 to 16 disagrees.
“The involvement of youngsters in online communities today is qualitatively, not quantitatively, different than i
A tool for examining hovering flight of insects and birds could allow researchers to study other matters pertaining to locomotion, Stephen Childress, a professor at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, demonstrated at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in St. Louis. The findings were part of a symposium, “How Insects Fly,” which also included researchers from Cornell University and the California Institute of Technology.
Protective kelp forests found near many early coastal archaeological sites
If humans migrated from Asia to the Americas along Pacific Rim coastlines near the end of the Pleistocene era, kelp forests may have aided their journey, according to research presented today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting.
Until recently, the “coastal migration theory” was not accorded much importance by most scholars. However, new discoveries ha
The tendency to use drugs depends on each individual person. Not all those who have access to drugs become addicts, therefore there may be personality characteristics that influence their use. One such characteristic is the pursuit of new sensations found in people that like looking for risk at all times. Although some studies have already suggested a link between these people and a higher probability of becoming drug addicts, shopaholics or gambling addicts, until now no study has objectively fou
Laboratory testing of agricultural produce in the wake of the food scares of the 1990s has made the food on European dinner tables safer than ever before. But, say a team of researchers, an even better job could be done by taking the laboratory to the farm, slaughter house or processing plant.
The GoodFood project aims to do just that by using micro and nanotechnology to develop portable devices to detect toxins, pathogens and chemicals in foodstuffs on the spot. Food samples w
A natural compound could become the starting molecule for the design of drugs for the prevention of human aging-related diseases
A new study provides evidence that resveratrol, previously shown to extend lifespan in non-vertebrate organisms, can also do so in at least one vertebrate species. The findings support the potential utility of the compound in human aging research.
The development of drugs able to retard the onset of aging-related diseases and improve quality
The L-9202 locomotive, baptised as the Virgen del Buen Camino, has successfully finalised its track trials. This is the first variable-gauge locomotive arising from the TRAV-CA project. It has been designed and developed by TALGO and the Grupo Ingeteam company (TEAM).
TEAM developed the electrics and traction equipment while TALGO was charged with designing and building the structure. The company Indar, belonging to Grupo Ingeteam, took part in the project as well, supplying four as
The British are a nation of shopkeepers, Napoleon observed. But the traditional British small shopkeeper is an endangered species. Corner shops are disappearing at a rate of nearly 40 a week, according to a new all party parliamentary report. Now, a leading academic says urgent action is needed if one of Britain’s great institutions is to be saved.
Ian Clarke, a professor at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) who has spent the last four years researching the plight of the UK’s in
A University of Sussex-led team of scientists is ahead in the race to solve one of the biggest mysteries of our physical world: why the Universe contains the matter that we’re made of.
In a paper submitted to Physical Review Letters, the team has just announced the results of a ten-year project to make one of the most sensitive measurements ever of sub-atomic particles. Theories attempting to explain the creation of matter in the aftermath of the Big Bang now have to be tun
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