The Académie des sciences has just submitted its 21st science and technology report to the French government. The report looks at science in developing countries, particularly in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. It was coordinated by François Gros, and involved more than 35 contributors. CIRAD participated in the working group (P. Debré, M. Griffon, C. Freud) and in several chapters on Franco-African agricultural research (F. Maraux), food and nutrition (N. Bricas), animal resources and heal

Primary care physicians (PCP) care for basic health problems of the population and facilitate the referral to specialists, the second level of health care. That is to say, PCPs identify pathologies and help establishing a connection with the health system network. Dermatology is one of the public health areas where the ability of PCPs could contribute with more benefits. A study promoted by researchers of the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), in collabor

Duke-led team ran some 1,000 computer simulations, covering 1,000 years, to get a longer-range assessment

Duke-led team ran some 1,000 computer simulations, covering 1,000 years, to get a longer-range assessmentDURHAM, N.C. — Instrumental readings made during the past century offer ample evidence that carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere are warming Earth’s climate, a team led by Duke University scientists has reported. But by analyzing indirect ev

Playground taunts may seem like harmless child’s play, but bullying may keep overweight children on the sidelines, making it more difficult for them to shed pounds, University of Florida researchers say.

Most kids are bullied at some point in their lives, but overweight children are more often the targets of bullies’ slings and arrows. Now a new UF study reveals this frequently leads them to avoid situations where they have been picked on before, such as gym class and

Concerns about the use of letrozole, an easy-to-use and inexpensive drug for the treatment of infertility, appear to be unfounded, according to a major study co-authored by Dr. Togas Tulandi, Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jewish General Hospital, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University. Their findings, which are currently available in an early online edi

A new study from the Netherlands on preventive treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms shows higher costs for endovascular coiling than for treatment by surgical clipping, mostly because of the more expensive coils. The study is being published in the journal “Cerebrovascular Diseases”.

To determine in detail the costs of the two treatments, the University Medical Centre Utrecht assessed patients who were treated for an unruptured aneurysm between 1997 and 2003. Patients tre

Study generates genes, some previously considered, for further study

The findings of a meta-analysis of microarray data of several mouse models that differ in voluntary alcohol consumption highlight new neurobiological targets for further study and provide researchers a novel statistical approach for use in future microarray meta-analyses. Insight into the genetic differences in gene expression associated with different levels of drinking may lead to a better understanding

A new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, who are members of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), suggests that certain changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels may serve as surrogate endpoints for prostate cancer survival. Researchers looking to speed up the process of clinical trials have suggested that these biomarkers could be used to measure treatment efficacy.

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a

Are you losing sleep at night because you’re afraid that all life on Earth will suddenly be annihilated by a massive dose of gamma radiation from the cosmos?

Well, now you can rest easy.

Some scientists have wondered whether a deadly astronomical event called a gamma ray burst could happen in a galaxy like ours, but a group of astronomers at Ohio State University and their colleagues have determined that such an event would be nearly impossible.

Gamma ray b

Study interviewed people in 29 countries

Older couples who live in Western countries and who enjoy more equality between men and women are most likely to report being satisfied with their sex lives, according to a new study on sexual well-being, aging and health that was conducted in 29 countries by a University of Chicago research team.

In contrast, older people reported less satisfaction with the physical and emotional quality of their sex lives in countries where

Study warns of hazards for children and older adults

Mowing the lawn can be a weekly ritual of the spring and summer months for many Americans. However each year, nearly 80,000 Americans require hospital treatment from injuries caused by lawn mowers, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers also concluded that the number of injuries from lawn mowers is increasing, with the majority of injuries occurri

In four separate studies of mothers and their infants, preschoolers, kids and teens, a multi-university research team has shown, for the first time, that a simple test of a little drool can provide new insight into the role of social stressors, including relationships with parents and teachers, in child development.

The test monitors alpha amylase, an enzyme secreted by the salivary glands, that has been linked in adults to the sympathetic nervous system’s (SNS) fight or flight response.

Five proposals have been honoured in the subsidy programme ’Urbanisation and Urban Culture’. A total of 2.5 million euros has been awarded. From different perspectives all five projects are searching for an answer to the question: Which forces and phenomena are responsible for a town’s ongoing capacity for innovation and public services?

The programme ’Urbanisation & Urban Culture’ is divided into three thematic clusters: urban patterns of economic dynamics and so

Researchers at the Forsyth Institute have discovered a new mechanism responsible for early left/right patterning, the process by which organs locate themselves on the left or right side of the body. The discovery of this novel mechanism, garnered through the study of three different vertebrates (frogs, chickens and zebrafish), marks the first time that a single common mechanism has been identified in left-right patterning in three distinct species. Such a discovery may have far-reaching implicatio

The food that people eat is just as important as what kind of cars they drive when it comes to creating the greenhouse-gas emissions that many scientists have linked to global warming, according to a report accepted for publication in the journal Earth Interactions.

Both the burning of fossil fuels during food production and non-carbon dioxide emissions associated with livestock and animal waste contribute to the problem, the University of Chicago’s Gidon Eshel and Pamel

Patients who receive healthy hearts from donors 50 years of age and older appear to fare just as well as patients who receive younger hearts, and that may be good news for potentially expanding a small donor pool, a University of Alberta study has found.

A study published in the March/April 2006 issue Journal of Cardiac Surgery reviewed the outcomes of using heart donors 50 years of age and older and discovered that there were no differences in ICU or post-operative length of hosp