There is a lot of indirect evidence that microbial infections can initiate and/or worsen autoimmune disease. Autoantibody production during infection results from activation of low-affinity autoreactive B cells. But how this could lead to autoimmune disease is not clear.
In a study appearing online on July 21 in advance of print publication of the August 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Thierry Martin and colleagues from INSERM show in vivo that an experimental infectious
It is difficult to find out whether animals in the wild have enough food, but research suggests that they are hungry most of the time, according to a new paper published in the American journal, Science, on Friday 22 July.
Researchers at the University of Reading also argue that this surprising conclusion could provide valuable new insights into animal behaviour.
The researchers undertook an analysis of a huge data base, the Global Population Dynamics Database (1),
Researchers from the Université de Montpellier II (France), the Institute of Geology of China, and the ESRF have been able to identify enigmatic fossils from Devonian (about 400 million years) as fructification of charophyte algae. Charophytes are land plants living in fresh water that still exist nowadays. This breakthrough allows researchers to better understand the evolution of these very old plants of the Paleozoic era and to have an improved overview of the climate at this period. The use of p
Saving large mammals such as elephants and rhino from extinction could be made more effective by focusing efforts on individual species as well as their habitats.
Scientists at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology (IoZ) and Imperial College London have identified fundamental new approaches to improve the success of large mammal conservation. Published today in the journal Science, the largest study of its kind analyses key factors linked to the extinction of mam
The Earth’s magnetic field is strong enough for some kinds of analyses – this opens up new opportunities for carrying out examinations under difficult conditions
Where x-rays no longer manage to see, magnets allow us to look inside. Patients know what that means: they lay down in the “tube” surrounded by an enormous electromagnet, the so-called MRI scanner. Such large pieces of equipment artificially create strong magnetic fields which enable doctors to take the pictures inside
Geothermal heat from a depth of 4,000 metres to generate power in the future
Why roam far afield, when the good is so close at hand? Humankind burns coal, gas and oil to generate energy. It splits atoms, converts sunlight into electricity and tries to capture the wind. Yet, the earth beneath our feet contains energy enough to satisfy even the greatest demand, because 99% of the Earth is hotter that 1000°C, while 99% of the rest is actually hotter than 100°C. Only the Earth’s surf
Ames Lab Researchers Modify Old Technique to Make 3-D Multilayered Structures
Achieving a first in the world of novel optical materials, researchers at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory are making 3-D photonic band gap crystals four millimeters square (approximately one-eighth of an inch square) and 12 layers high without benefit of a “clean room” environment or the multimillion dollar equipment traditionally required to create such structures. The fundamental res
If you’ve ever used a loofah in the shower, you’ve stirred up some stem cells. As the outer layer skin of sloughs off, stem cells in the dermis rush to repair and replace those buffed away.
Now imagine a tiny loofah that works in much the same way inside the corridors of the human heart. As it scrubs, it alerts heart stem cells to rush to the site of dying cells to begin renewal and repair of cardiomyocytes – cells that pump blood through the heart.
While a heart
A study published in the recent issue of Journal of Marriage and Family examines the effectiveness of in-hospital paternity establishment for babies born to unwed parents. The research shows that though establishing paternity at any time increases the amount of formal and informal child support and the amount of father-child visits, in-hospital establishment is associated with better outcomes. Analysis of interviews conducted a year after the baby’s birth with mothers who remained single show
Scientists at The University of Manchester have discovered a new class of materials which have previously only existed in science fiction films and books.
A team of British and Russian scientists led by Professor Geim have discovered a whole family of previously unknown materials, which are one atom thick and exhibit properties which scientists had never thought possible.
Not only are they ultra-thin, but depending on circumstances they can also be ultra-strong, highl
Scientists have found that a star that exploded in 1979 is as bright today in X-ray light as it was when it was discovered years ago, a surprise finding because such objects usually fade significantly after only a few months.
Using ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory, a team of astronomers has discovered that this supernova, called SN 1979C, shows no sign of fading. The scientists can document a unique history of the star, both before and after the explosion, by studying rings o
NASA satellites improve understanding of urban effects on climate and weather
Just how does society’s desire to live in densely populated areas have the potential to change our Earth’s climate? According to a new paper, satellites can help us answer that question.
“More and more people live in cities. This means that cities will grow rapidly over the next several decades. Evidence continues to mount that cities affect the climate,” said J. Marshall Shepherd, Deputy
Physicists have created the state of matter thought to have filled the Universe just a few microseconds after the big bang and found it to be different from what they were expecting. Instead of a gas, it is more like a liquid. Understanding why it is a liquid should take physicists a step closer to explaining the earliest moments of our Universe.
Not just any old liquid, either. Its collective movement is rather like the way a school of fish swims ‘as one’ and is a sign that the flu
The intense mechanical testing period is finally over for the CryoSat satellite, and with launch just a couple of months away – the very last checks are being made before the spacecraft is packed up and shipped to the launch site in Plesetsk, Russia.
During the last 12 months the satellite has been undergoing stringent mechanical and environmental tests at the Space Test Centre at IABG (Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH) in Ottobrunn, Germany. Unfortunately, some concerns w
The journal Nature publishes this week a study of electronic dynamics (“Direct observation of electron dynamics in the attosecond domain”). The participants of this study, together with other researchers, have been professors Daniel Sánchez-Portal and Pedro Miguel Etxenike from the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC).
A researcher group of various German laboratories has done the experimental part of the study, and the theoretical explanation based on quantum physics
Novacel, a world leader in innovative industrial surface protection solutions, has launched Novacel 9377, the first adhesive film without solvent for the protection of car bodies during transport and storage. Through the launch of Novacel 9377, the French company is underpinning its commitment to a sustainable development policy.
Novacel 9377 features a 60µm adhesive film with a polyolefines basis, white in colour, and makes it possible to successfully protect car bodies against exte
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