Atmospheric protection is a big challenge for the 21st century. In teaching scientists to design outputs that become the stuff of hard policy, the impact of EUROTRAC-2 is far-reaching.
Nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and aerosols, major contributors to atmospheric pollution, do not respect national borders. But thanks to EUREKA project E! 1489 EUROTRAC-2, the EU’s largest ever study on atmospheric pollution, we know much more about where such pollutants were created, under what chemical di
The recently created “Photovoltaics Technology Research Advisory Council” will meet for the first time on 4 December 2003 in Brussels. The initiative of the European Commission involves 18 members representing all the major players in this technology.
Europe is now the world’s second largest manufacturer of photovoltaics, accounting for more than 24% of overall production, behind Japan (44%) and ahead of the USA (22%). Current forecasts show large potential for solar electricity produc
Medical Research Council (MRC) researchers have unlocked the mysteries of the nervous system responsible for proper formation and function of the gut. This new understanding has implications for treating Hirschsprung’s disease, a common disorder in newborns that requires corrective surgery in order for food to pass through the bowel and the colon.
The study shows that two important molecular switches work together to regulate the movement of crucially important cells, that will eventually b
Researchers at the University of Durham are helping to preserve major historical sites.
Led by Professor Robert Allison under NERC’s Urban Regeneration and the Environment (URGENT) Programme, the scientists have developed a novel method of monitoring and testing archaeological sites uncovered by developers. Their research has involved a wide range of sites in central London.
St Mary Spital is one of the most important archaeological finds of our time. Archaeologists unco
Neutron star pairs may merge and give off a burst of gravity waves about six times more often than previously thought, scientists report in today’s issue of the journal Nature [4 December]. If so, the current generation of gravity-wave detectors might be able to register such an event every year or two, rather than about once a decade – the most optimistic prediction until now.
Gravity waves were predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Astronomers have indirect evidence of thei
When retroviruses like HIV infect cells, they take over the cell’s machinery to manufacture new copies of themselves. Research published this week in the top-tier open access journal, Journal of Biology, shows that to escape from cells, retroviruses may once again hijack cellular components, in this case molecules normally used to engulf material from the cell’s surroundings in a pocket formed from cell membrane. The findings, offer new insights into how viruses propagate and cause disease,
While women with breast cancer who have used hormone-replacement therapy are known to have better survival odds than those who’ve never taken hormones, the advantage is due, most likely, to more-frequent mammography screening rather than the effect of the hormones on tumor biology, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
“Most of the good prognostic factors that have been ascribed to HRT – such as smaller tumor size and earlier cancer stage a
Walt Scacchi of the University of California, Irvine, and his colleagues are conducting formal studies of the informal world of open-source software development, in which a distributed community of developers produces software source code that is freely available to share, study, modify and redistribute. They’re finding that, in many ways, open-source development can be faster, better and cheaper than the “textbook” software engineering often used in corporate settings.
In a series of
The Thermal Engineering group of researchers at the Public University of Navarre is working on the design of a domestic thermoelectric refrigerator. Unlike the conventional system of producing a cold environment – by vapour compression – the thermoelectricity used in the design of this refrigerator allows the manufacture of more compact and quieter units which respect the environment more.
This first prototype of the thermoelectric domestic refrigerator, commissioned by the multinational BSH
Comprehensive Approach to HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention – New AIDS Medicine and Diagnostics Service – Simple Treatment Regimens Published – Training Tens of Thousands of People to Support AIDS Treatment and Prevention
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS today release a detailed and concrete plan to reach the 3 by 5 target of providing antiretroviral treatment to three million people living with AIDS in developing countries and those in transition by the end of 2005. T
Using qualitative modelling, the risk of earthquakes due to gas extraction can be determined more clearly. “This is done by using three dimensional modelling software to calculate and simulate the forces and movements around geological faults deep under the ground,” says Frans Mulders who, on 3 December, will defend his PhD thesis at TU Delft. “Currently, the KNMI determines the probability of earthquakes primarily through statistical data,” says Mulders. “It is important to complement that data wit
Mars Express, ESA’s first probe to Mars, still has some challenges to face.
The spacecraft has successfully come through its first power test after the gigantic solar flare on 28 October.
Since 17 November the on-board software has been ’frozen’ after several updates and the spacecraft is now quietly proceeding to its destination. The next major task, starting on 19 December, will be to safely release the Beagle 2 lander.
Separation
To del
Doppler ultrasound performed in early pregnancy can accurately identify embryonic congestive heart failure and subsequent risk of miscarriage, according to research being presented today at the 89th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“The chances the pregnancy will continue are very high, about 95 percent, when Doppler ultrasound confirms normal embryonic heart function at six weeks,” said the study’s author Jason C. Birnholz, M.
Echinacea is not effective in shortening the duration or decreasing the severity of upper respiratory tract infections in children, according to a study in the December 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) are a significant health burden in childhood, according to background information in the article. The average child has six to eight colds each year, each lasting seven to nine days. While children are frequently give
Patients with diabetes who received a solitary pancreas transplant appeared to have worse survival than patients on the transplant waiting list who received conventional therapy, according to a study in the December 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
According to background information in the article, pancreatic transplantation is a therapeutic option for patients with complicated diabetes mellitus. The American Diabetes Association supports the procedure for
Hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease had similar outcomes when they took a beta-blocker therapy or a calcium antagonist-based therapy, according to a study in the December 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
According to background information in the article, despite conclusive evidence of the effectiveness of medications to treat high blood pressure in patients with hypertension in general, safety and efficacy of antihypertensive medications in
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