“In Denmark, 67 per cent of mothers of children under 16 are in full-time employment; in the Netherlands the proportion is only 11 per cent.”
New ESRC research highlights the diversity of employment patterns in the European Union. The study, specially commissioned to be presented at the ESRC’s sixth national social science conference was prepared by Richard Berthoud and Maria Iacovou, of the Essex University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER). It is largely
On 14 November ECSITE has launched BIONET (www.bionetonline.org), a European collaborative project to present for public debate controversial ethical, legal and social issues in contemporary Life Sciences.
Based on a multi-lingual website and a programme of linked events, BIONET has been developed by 8 European science centres and museums with funding from the European Commission.
The website introduces 6 current Life Science issues that raise profound ethical, legal and social dile
Aspirin conclusively reduces the risk of a first heart attack by 32%, according to a new report by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute. The findings were presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
Charles H. Hennekens, MD, co-director of Cardiovascular Research, published the first randomized trial of aspirin in primary prevention. Under his direction, Rachel S. Eidelman, MD, a cardiology fellow, performed a detaile
Morphochem AG, a leader in novel chemistries for small molecule drug discovery, has announced that one of its leading programmes, inhibitors of blood coagulation Factor Xa, led to the identification of novel, orally available anti-thrombotics in preclinical studies. Details of these preclinical studies will be presented at a meeting of investment analysts and pharmaceutical executives to be held in Basel on 21st November.
Commenting on the Factor Xa programme, Dr Lutz Weber, CEO of Morphochem sa
The first pictures from the new Swedish solar telescope on La Palma, Canary Islands, are presented in an article in the prestigious science journal Nature from November 14. The images of the sun are the most detailed ever seen. One of the most sensational discoveries is a previously unknown detailed sunspot structure.
The impact of this discovery is now capturing the attention of solar researchers, and it won`t be long before new and revised theories are formulated.
The solar tele
The earlier the smoke in a forest will be detected, the easier it would be for firemen to stop the fire from spreading. The problem of forest fires have always been one of the most difficult and dangerous problems. Russian scientists from MULTITECH Ltd. have developed an equipment, which can help solving the problem.
Right now the equipment is not of much use, because autumn rains have already quenched forest and turf fires. However, if the scientists put their invention to industria
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have successfully transplanted specialized cells that are critical to sperm development in mice, restoring sperm production in once-infertile animals.
The research, reported on the Web site of the journal Biology of Reproduction, may give scientists a better understanding of how Sertoli cells — which surround spermatogenic stem cells — nourish sperm production and the survival of stem cells.
“Spermatogen
Nicotine isn’t all bad, despite its addictive qualities and its presence in tobacco products, increasingly taboo in these health-conscious times. As a chemical compound, nicotine even has beneficial properties. It’s used around the world as a relatively cheap, environmentally friendly insecticide, repelling bugs that attack tobacco and other plants, and – contrary to popular misconceptions – it is not a carcinogen.
Take a nicotine molecule and snip off a methyl group, though, and y
From ultraviolet radiation to food carcinogens, our bodies are bombarded with stuff that can make a normal cell go haywire, multiplying out of control and turning cancerous. Thanks to a set of tumor suppressor genes, however, we can defend against this daily onslaught.
Goaded into action, these genes push cells into a kind of molecular menopause, called senescence. The cells remain healthy, but they stop reproducing.
Researchers often assume that we need our tumor suppressor genes
American Heart Association meeting report
Researchers have built mechanically sound blood vessels out of tissue from human skin cells, according to a study reported today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2002. The technique involves tissue engineering, an emerging science that takes cells from the body, manipulates them in the laboratory to create functional tissue, and puts the new tissue back into the patient.
The goal is to produce healthy, fun
American Heart Association meeting report
Preliminary findings of a study in rats suggests that a person’s own cells might one day replace artificial pacemakers, researchers reported today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2002.
Studies conducted at Children’s Hospital Boston tested the ability of immature skeletal muscle cells to interconnect with heart cells and spread the electrical impulses that keep the heart beating properly.
American Heart Association meeting report
Researchers safely transplanted 16 patients’ skeletal muscle cells into their own severely damaged hearts in the first human testing in the United States, according to a study reported today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2002.
“We have been able to regenerate dead heart muscle, or scar tissue, in the area of heart attack without increasing risk of death,” says lead author Nabil Dib, M.D., director o
A paper published in the December, 2002 issue of Infection and Immunity by a research team at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center in New Orleans provides clear evidence that the lethal toxins of such infectious bacteria as Pseudomonas and anthrax can be blocked by a drug developed at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. The compound, called D6R (hexa-D-arginine), is a potent, stable, small molecule inhibitor of furin.
Bacteria produce a number of toxins whic
A research team of the Department of Applied Chemistry of the University of the Basque Country has been studying the reproduction of funguses. In the laboratory of Unai Ugalde, they have studied and identified a molecule that is essential in the growing of fungus.
It is already known that funguses grow in several places, but the factors that affect their growing are still unknown. Funguses grow through hypha, that is, small filamentous. However, in certain situations they produce spores tha
It is already possible for PC users to switch off simply by winking their eyes, but it is expected this will soon be possible wirelessly! Now in its start-up phase, the Academy of Finland’s Research Programme on Proactive Information Technology or PROACT includes a project dedicated to the development of wireless technology. One of the applications is a PC interface controlled by eye movement.
All five Academy research programmes launched during 2002 will benefit from international funding.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute report
Professor Richard A. Lerner, M.D., Associate Professor Paul Wentworth, Jr., Ph.D., and a team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is reporting that antibodies can destroy bacteria, playing a hitherto unknown role in immune protection. Furthermore, the team found that when antibodies do this, they appear to produce the reactive gas ozone.
“[Ozone] has never been considered a part of biology before,” say
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