How do you study a pathogen that can’t survive outside its host’s cells? In a new study published in the open access journal PLoS Biology, Hiroyuki Ogata and colleagues show that sequencing and analyzing the genome of the bacteria Rickettsia felis provide valuable insights into the biology and behavior of this intracellular pathogen. The researchers discovered that the parasitic bacterium has the standard large circular chromosome plus two unexpected plasmids, small circular pieces of
The use of antidepressants in patients who have suffered a heart attack appears to reduce the risk of recurrent events and cardiac death, according to a large, multi-center study conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The findings suggest that post-heart attack patients who suffer from depression should talk with their physicians about taking the medication.
“Our study provides much stronger evidence than we’ve ever had before that antidepressants are safe
In a study of third graders, children with a television in their bedrooms had lower scores on standardized tests while children with access to a home computer had higher scores, researchers report in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
U.S. households with children have an average of 2.8 television sets and 97 percent of those households have at least one video cassette recorder (VCR) or DVD player, according to backg
Few front-line medications exist for treating hospitalized patients with acute decompensated heart failure, a stage of heart failure marked by heightened severity and often-lengthy hospital stays with frequent readmissions. Now, a study suggests the list of preferred drugs for treating the disease might be even shorter.
In a study released today (7/5) in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers found that two particular drugs were associated with substantial
Obesity and diabetes seen as accelerated aging; research has broad implications in treating disease and new drug discovery
During the last decade researchers have made a number of important discoveries about the molecular mechanisms regulating aging. This research has suggested the exciting prospect that the rate of aging can be manipulated and slowed, leading to longer human lifespan. A major peer-reviewed article in the current issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery describes the
Scientists at the University of Nottingham are working with researchers in Mexico to develop new varieties of wheat that could combine the best characteristics of British and Mexican types to bring about a quantum leap in yield while increasing the sustainability of UK agriculture.
The researchers are collaborating with the International Centre for Wheat and Maize Improvement (CIMMYT), a relationship strengthened by a recent workshop in Mexico supported by the Biotechnology and
VLT First Images of Comet Tempel 1 After Impact
On the night of July 4, 2005, all ESO telescopes continued their extensive observing campaign of Comet Tempel 1. But this time, they were able to see the effect of the impact on the comet. The astronomers were clearly not disappointed.
The impact occurred at 07:52 CEST but because the comet has already set in Chile at that time, observers at the La Silla Paranal Observatory could only start observing several hours later. The
The test phase of the engine ANTLE (Affordable Near Term Low Emissions) has concluded. It consists of an experimental vehicle for aeronautic motorisation technologies at medium term. This vehicle has been developed within the EEFAE project (Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Aircraft Engine), the largest aeronautic research programme launched by the European Union in the area of propulsion. The company Industria de Turbo Propulsores, S.A. (ITP) has designed manufactured and assembled the Lo
Union representation in British workplaces has continued to decline since 1998, though the rate of decline has slowed compared with recent decades. There has also been a substantial increase in the availability of flexible working arrangements including home-working, term-time only working, flexi-time and job sharing.
These conclusions are based on a wealth of evidence from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (2004), which is co-sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, Eco
Doctors have become increasingly concerned by the problem of “super-bugs”—bacteria that have become resistant to standard antibiotics. It is well known that a high rate of antibiotic prescribing in hospitals contributes to the emergence of drug resistant bacteria. But for some antibiotics, an even more important factor contributing to such emergence, argues a team of researchers in the open access international medical journal PLoS Medicine, is the use of antibiotics in agriculture.
“Ev
Imagine a future where medical schools are answerable to shareholders, where patients decide how doctors should be trained, or where academics compete on TV game shows to win research grants …
This could be the future of academic medicine by 2025, according to members of the International Campaign to Revitalise Academic Medicine (ICRAM), launched by the BMJ and partners in November 2003.
Their vision for the future is published simultaneously today by the BMJ (www.bmj.com
Yorkshire Water has selected the University of Leeds to deliver much of its research requirement over the next five years. This exciting collaboration between the University and the country’s leading utility company gives researchers access to over £16m to bring even higher quality water and further improvements in services to the people of Yorkshire while protecting and enhancing the environment.
Leeds is one of only four universities selected as part of a strategic research partnership
A groundbreaking group of theoretical and experimental physicists is coming together to experiment with a phenomenon that disturbed Einstein and which could one day make super-fast quantum computers a possibility.
Centenary professor of quantum information science Vlatko Vedral (pictured) is an expert in the theoretical study of entanglement – a phenomenon Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’. Two ‘entangled’ particles are connected because the fate of one depends on the
G8 campaigning has raised awareness of the debt problems faced by African countries – but their inhabitants have also had to contend with severe climate change, with disastrous effects on water resources, agriculture and health. An international collaboration involving the University aims to discover what controls the volatile West African climate.
Dr Doug Parker believes that predictive global climate models will be ‘useless’ until detailed studies into the region’s tropospheric composit
Cornell University researchers have learned how a common fish found along the West Coast can hum and hear outside sounds at the same time.
The study marks the first time that scientists have found a direct line of communication between the part of a vertebrate’s brain that controls the vocal muscle system and the part of the ear that hears sound. The researchers believe that understanding the auditory system of the plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus ) — a 6- to 10
Images of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 taken by the Optical Monitor on ESA’s XMM-Newton observatory, from two minutes before impact and until seven minutes after impact.
The first two images were taken just before impact, and in the following images the brightening due to impact is visible.
These images were taken with the Optical Monitor blue filter, with which it is possible to measure the outcoming gas and dust. More images from the Optical Monitor are expected in the next hou
Feedback
