A project launched at the University of Essex could lead to the development of drugs capable of reversing the effects of the anthrax bacteria.
Dr Metodi Metodiev has been awarded almost £62,500 by the National Institute of Health, USA, to investigate the deadly effects of the anthrax bacteria on human cells.
The aim is to create a screening platform by which scientists can select ’inhibitors’ capable of stopping the progress of anthrax.
Dr Metodiev said: ’Anth
An ambitious plan is under way in the ecological community to agree a set of standards for ecologically successful river restoration. The plan is being led by the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, which this month is publishing a special profile on river restoration. Opening the debate is a paper by 22 leading US river ecologists proposing five criteria for ecologically successful river restoration. Their aim is to arrive at an agreed set of standards which would e
A new research initiative tackles Scotland’s key demographic issues
Yesterday, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) announces the launch of a new two-year research initiative into the demographic trends which could transform the face of Scotland. Funded in partnership with the Scottish Executive, this £300,000 research investment will investigate three key aspects of Scotland’s demography: migration, fertility and the impact of an ageing population.
Scotlan
Major changes need to be made to the way ski pistes are managed if delicate alpine plants are to be protected, ecologists have warned. According to new research published today in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, machine grading and artificial snow production is causing significant changes in the number and type of plant species in the European Alps.
Sonja Wipf of the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF and colleagues
There is a lot of junk orbiting the Earth and the problem will worsen unless there are changes in how spacecraft operators operate. But it is not all doom and gloom. The first steps toward a comprehensive solution are already well underway including a European code of conduct for space debris mitigation.
According to Dr Ruediger Jehn, a space debris specialist working at ESA’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, there are several relatively simple measures that will help r
Parasitic nematodes of plants are microscopic soil-inhabiting organisms. Although they are present in all crop-growing areas, whether in the tropics or under temperate climes, it is predominantly in the tropical regions that these parasites perpetrate extensive damage and crop-yield losses. Market-garden produce, banana, sugar cane and rice are particularly prone to attack.
Chemical control strategies based on regular use of nematicides are to date still the usual recommended
A primitive star with extremely low iron content has been discovered by an international research team from Sweden, Japan, Germany, USA, Australia and Great Britain. The results are published in Nature online this week.
In 2001, the giant star HE0107-5240 was discovered among a large number of stars examined as part of the Hamburg/ESO* survey. Detailed studies revealed that the star had by far the lowest iron content ever recorded – 200 000 times lower than the Sun. Previously,
A new guide – the first of its kind in the world – which offers architects and other designers guidance on how they can reduce the vast amount of waste material created through standard design details is launched today (Friday April 15th).
The guide, on Detailing For The Deconstruction Of Buildings, has been compiled by Fionn Stevenson, Reader in Architecture at University of Dundee, and Chris Morgan, of Locate Architects, for the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA), fol
The rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, is cultivated in many humid tropical countries for the latex it produces, from which is extracted natural rubber mainly used by the tyre industry. Asia alone provides almost 95 % of the world production, where the first producer is Thailand whose rubber industry earns a regular income for 10 % of the population. However, a disease is attacking rubber trees that causes irreversible drying-up of latex flow, and can affect up to 30% of trees in African, Asian
University of California scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory have found that the successful use of bacteria to remediate environmental contamination from nuclear waste and processing activities may depend more upon how resistant the bacteria are to chemicals than to how tolerant they are to radioactivity. The results of a recent Laboratory study may help make bacterial bioremediation a more widespread method for cleaning up sites contaminated with actinides and other radionuclid
University of California scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory working with astronomers from around the world recently validated a computer model that predicts the rebirth and stellar burning and mixing processes of evolved stars. The discovery is a leap forward in our understanding of how stars like the sun evolve through violent outbursts during their evolution.
In research published recently in the journal Science, Laboratory astrophysicist Falk Herwig and his colleag
Decreased activity within the Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-beta) pathway is associated with increased breast cancer risk, according to a study published by researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center in today’s Cancer Research journal. This is the first study aimed at determining whether various combinations of two naturally-occurring variants of the TGF-beta pathway may predict breast cancer risk. It is also the
Detailed analysis of tissue chemistry could identify most appropriate treatment; more study needed
A new way of evaluating prostate tumors may help physicians determine the best treatment strategy. Using magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy, which provides detailed information on the chemical composition of tissue samples, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have shown that chemical profiles of prostate tissue can determine a tumor’s prognosis better than sta
A research team consisting of nurses, pharmacists and biomedical engineers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital recently published a study showing that while “smart pumps” are a necessary component to a safe medication system, they won’t generate meaningful improvements in patient safety until they are interfaced with other systems, such as the electronic health record, computerized provider order entry (CPOE), bar coded medication administration systems and pharmacy information systems. Smart pu
Contrary to what you might think, advanced age does not increase the risk of surgical-site infections, according to a large long-term study reported in the April 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. The study, which involved prospectively collected data on thousands of patients in multiple hospitals undergoing various surgical procedures, found that the infection risk increased by about 1 percent per year between the ages of 17 to 65 years but then decreased by a
Finding could lead to treatments for viral hemorrhagic fevers
Ebola virus reproduction in laboratory-grown cells is severely hampered by enzyme-inhibiting chemicals, and these chemicals deserve further study as possible treatments for Ebola virus infections in humans, report scientists supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The researchers, whose paper is published o
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