An early type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that caused a global epidemic of infections in the 1950s has re-emerged as one of the community-acquired MRSA ‘superbugs’, according to a study published in this weeks issue of The Lancet.
This “re-equipping and re-emergence” of a clone that caused a pandemic 40-50 years ago could mean that community acquired MRSA will spread faster and be more widespread than previously expected, warns an international team of researchers who have
A novel high-tech microscope will be brought to the marketplace, giving laboratories everywhere fascinating new insights into living organisms. EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH (EMBLEM), the commercial entity of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), announced today that it has signed a licensing deal with technological leader Carl Zeiss to commercialise a new technology called SPIM (Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy).
“Microscopes have to evolve to keep up with t
There is currently not enough evidence to suggest that multivitamin and mineral supplements prevent infections in elderly people, finds a study published online by the BMJ today.
Ageing is associated with an increased risk of infection. So, as the number of elderly people in developed nations continues to rise, there has been great interest in the use of supplements to help prevent infections.
Researchers identified eight trials evaluating the effect of multivitamin
Nandapurkar: We welcome the chance to argue our case in Chicago
The fully-electronic futures and options exchange Eurex US has filed its second amended antitrust complaint against the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The amended complaint was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Eurex US had filed an antitrust action against the two exchanges on October 14, 2003 for repeated anticompetitive behavior and unla
With the new Leica M844 F40, Leica Microsystems introduces an ophthalmic surgical microscope that significantly improves visibility and working conditions for the surgical team during the eye surgery, while protecting the eyes of both surgeon and patient. Brilliant optics, outstanding illumination, perfect balance and easy of use: These are the highlights of the new premium-class microscope system from Leica Microsystems.
One microscope for all disciplines
As eye surgeons
The newest Fraunhofer developments in hydrogen technology can be seen at the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells Stand at the Hanover Trade Fair. The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Sintered Materials IKTS will display durable SOFC stacks with a power of 1 kWel. The fuel cells are intended for application in distributed power supplies and can be operated with either fossil fuels or biogas. In addition, an extremely thin Ag/Zn micro-battery for integration in sensor cards will be presented.
Long Beach hardest hit in economic scenario modeled at USC
A new University of Southern California study, which appears in the April edition of Civil Engineering magazine, finds that the potential damage from a tsunami in Southern California could range from $7 billion to as much as $42 billion.
The report is the first attempt to calculate possible losses from tsunamis, as opposed to earthquakes, in the Southern California area.
Entitled “Could It Happen Her
Researchers find that human eyes learn best in an uncluttered setting
If athletes, soldiers and drivers must perform every day in visually messy environments, common sense suggests that any visual training they receive should include distractions and disorder. New research from the University of Southern California and UC Irvine suggests common sense is wrong in this case.
The human vision system learns best in “clear display” conditions without visual noise, said co-aut
When people feel they’ve hit a roadblock in reaching a personal goal, such as losing weight, a change in perspective may give them the help they need to move forward, a new study suggests.
The research found that picturing memories from a third-person perspective – as if looking at one’s past self in a movie – can lead people to perceive more personal change in their lives. Picturing the past in first-person, through their own eyes, doesn’t always allow people to see how they’ve
Sleeping woes may explain why children with epilepsy are often so hyperactive, say researchers with the University of Florida’s Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute.
Characterized at its extreme by physical convulsions, epilepsy has long been thought to cause excitability and contrariness in children. But UF researchers writing in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior believe the real reason some of these children cannot sit still or pay attention is because they don
Scientists have discovered that a protein that was originally believed to be involved in tuberculosis antibiotic resistance is actually a “missing enzyme” from the biosynthetic pathway for an agent used by the bacteria to scavenge iron.
The research appears as the “Paper of the Week” in the April 8 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculos
Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland have discovered that urine actually helps a particular yeast stick to cells along the urinary tract. The finding might offer a new way to prevent or treat certain yeast and fungal infections, and the researchers’ work also provides an unexpected new role for some proteins already known to help hungry yeast live longer.
Writing in the March 18 issue of Science, the researchers report that the yeast Candida glabr
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a newly emerging illness, named staphylococcal purpura fulminans. The disease begins as a respiratory tract infection, which then is infected by Staphylococcus aureus. The infection then moves to the lungs, making superantigens (bacterial toxins that activate large numbers of T cells), often leading to death due to hypertension and shock. Purpura fulminans has been identified in five cases in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., metropolitan
The innumerable benefits provided by the Earth – everything from fresh water and clean air to productive soils, wild fisheries, and genetic resources – have been depleted at an unprecedented rate in the past 50 years, and in many cases humans are living on borrowed time unless they wake up, a group of scientific experts said today.
In presentations made jointly in 12 cities around the world, authors of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment delivered a major report on the grim sta
Up to 60 percent of “ecosystem services” that support life on earth, such as food, water and climate regulation, are crumbling at an unsustainable rate, members of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) project report here today (March 30). Designed to assist global policy-makers, MA is the first international study to appraise the status of Earth’s diverse ecosystems and their associated impact on human well-being.
Stephen Carpenter, a zoology professor at the University o
Scientists have identified a gene and mutation within it that causes a rare sleep behavior, in which individuals have a “fast” biological clock. The gene’s enzyme could lead to a therapeutic target for the disrupted sleep patterns seen in such groups as those facing jet lag or nighttime work shifts.
More broadly, the gene provides a probe for exploring the regulatory mechanisms of the body’s internal biological clock, or circadian rhythms — a waxing and waning of g
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