The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft is now back in operation after a malfunction, reported a few months ago.
The instrument had been successfully investigating the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere since the beginning of 2004, when Mars Express began orbiting the Red Planet.
PFS is a very sensitive instrument, capable of measuring the distribution of the major gaseous components of the atmosphere, the vertical distr
20-year collaboration between UC Davis and Finnish researchers led to new drug
A tamoxifen-like drug developed by UC Davis and Finnish researchers, now in clinical testing as a treatment for vaginal atrophy, may also help to prevent breast cancer, two preliminary studies suggest.
The studies, based on research in a mouse model of human breast cancer, will be published in the November issue of the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Decem
Researchers at Oregon State University have made a major discovery in basic plant biology that may set the stage for profound advances in plant genetics or biotechnology.
The scientists have identified for the first time a protein that can cross plant cell membranes, where it functions as a toxin to kill the cell. It had been known that viruses and bacteria can penetrate cell wall barriers and disrupt plant cells, but never before has a protein been found that could do this by it
While searching for new targets for malaria drugs and vaccines, a team including a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) medical student fellow reached a fundamental insight about evolution: different species make use of similar sets of proteins in different ways.
“We’ve observed that organisms may share many similar proteins and yet retain very little parallel function among them,” said Taylor Sittler, a medical student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School i
Research has implications for improving detection and treatment of bacterial vaginosis and other infections with multiple bacterial sources
Despite being one of the most common infections among women, scientists and doctors know little about the causes of bacterial vaginosis (BV), a usually benign disease that is also linked to serious health problems including pelvic inflammatory disease, an increase in the viral load of HIV from infected women and a two-fold increase in risk f
If humans continue to use fossil fuels in a business as usual manner for the next several centuries, the polar ice caps will be depleted, ocean sea levels will rise by seven meters and median air temperatures will soar 14.5 degrees warmer than current day.
These are the stunning results of climate and carbon cycle model simulations conducted by scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. By using a coupled climate and carbon cycle model to look at global climate and
The most deadly malaria parasite has protein ’wiring’ that differs markedly from the cellular circuitry of other higher organisms, a finding which could lead to the development of antimalarial drugs that exploit that difference
Researchers at UCSD have discovered that the single-cell parasite responsible for an estimated 1 million deaths per year worldwide from malaria has protein “wiring” that differs markedly from the cellular circuitry of other higher organisms, a finding which
Studies in monkeys and women suggest that unlike traditional estrogen therapy, a diet high in the natural plant estrogens found in soy does not increase the risk of uterine cancer in postmenopausal women, according to Mark Cline, D.V.M., Ph.D., an associate professor of comparative medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
“These findings give us some confidence that dietary soy doesn’t promote uterine cancer and, in fact, may offer a protective effect in some cas
New study moves sinusitis into top three reasons for chronic cough
In a new Mayo Clinic study, researchers found that more than one-third of chronic cough patients given a CT scan had sinusitis, inflammation of the sinuses. Findings will be presented at the American College of Chest Physicians CHEST 2005 meeting in Montreal.
“This study suggests that sinusitis is more common than we had previously thought in people with chronic cough,” says Kaiser Lim, M.D., lead rese
Scientists at the University of Sussex are working with local communities in Ecuador to help save one of the world’s rarest species of monkey – and the endangered rainforest where it lives.
The Brown-headed Spider Monkey (Ateles fusciceps) is “critically endangered”, which means that without urgent action to protect the 50 known breeding pairs still in the wild, the species could become extinct. The spider monkey – unusual in that it is exclusively a fruit-eater – is under threat
The prognosis of pancreatic cancer is poor but new therapies such as gemcitabine have contributed to improving the outcome for patients. Data presented at the 13th European Conference (ECCO) revealed that using the combination of gemcitabine and capecitabine increased overall survival in some patients.
Between May 2003 and January 2005, 533 patients with previously untreated or cytological proven locally advanced/metastatic carcinoma of the pancreas were randomised to receive e
Liverpool researchers have found that a garlic supplement could help beat Britain’s biggest killer.
New scientific evidence shows that aged garlic extract (AGE) can significantly reduce the chances of heart attacks in patients with existing coronary problems. British Heart Foundation* statistics shows that cardiovascular disease kills one in three people in the UK, totalling 233,000 deaths in 2003. Researchers from Liverpool John Moores University have discovered that
Having vital location or map-based information at their fingertips could make the difference between life and death for rescue workers and emergency services working at the scene of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
A research centre is being launched at The University of Nottingham to look at how the latest advances in computer software and mobile communications could help agencies to prepare for a major event, such as the 2012 Olympic Games, and plan their response should a
The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft is now back in operation after a malfunction, reported a few months ago.
The instrument had been successfully investigating the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere since the beginning of 2004, when Mars Express began orbiting the Red Planet. PFS is a very sensitive instrument, capable of measuring the distribution of the major gaseous components of the atmosphere, the vertical distribution
Can it be that the stress on the use of antiseptics and antibiotics in hospitals is actually putting patients at a greater risk of suffering fatal bacterial infection?
Yes, argues Mark Spigelman, a visiting professor at the Sanford F. Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Medicine. Prof. Spigelman points to a recent BBC report on the poor record of bacterial infections in patients (the worst in Europe) i
The amounts of health promoting compounds in fruit and vegetable products vary so much that the possible beneficial health effects from these products is far from optimal. Simulations done by researchers at Wageningen University predict about a 45% reduction in the risk of colon cancer (2700 cases per year in the Netherlands) if the entire food production chain can see to it that the average quality of healthy substances in fruit and vegetable products increases by a factor of 3.
Fu
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