Under the electron microscope, a coronavirus may resemble a spiny sea urchin or appear crownlike, (the shape from which this family of pathogens takes its name). Previously recognized as the second leading cause of the common cold in humans and for economically important diseases in many domesticated animals, a new disease form abruptly emerged as a major public health concern in 2002, when the SARS coronavirus (CoV) surfaced in Asia. The rapid spread of the virus caused significant social and economic disruption worldwide , infecting over 8000 people with Sudden Acute ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease caused by damage to myelin – the protective covering wrapped around the nerves of the central nervous system (CNS). Previous studies have shown that certain white blood (immune) cells, called leukocytes, infiltrate the CNS and play a significant role in causing the damage that contributes to MS symptoms. It has also been shown that these leukocytes enter the CNS with help from a family of molecules called MMPs. Using a mouse model, researchers have discovered that a molecular switch called EMMPRIN plays an important role in MS. The ...

Tampa, Fla. (Jan. 10, 2011) – Transplanting their own (autologous) bone marrow-derived stem cells into 48 patients with end-stage liver disease resulted in therapeutic benefit to a high number of the patients, report researchers publishing in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (19:11). Yet, the mechanism by which the infusion of CD34+ stem cells improves liver function remains elusive, they say. The study, carried out by a team of researchers in California and in Egypt, is now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. According ...

A team of chemists headed by Thomas Loerting from the University of Innsbruck and Hinrich Grothe from the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) in Austria have prepared and isolated gas-phase carbonic acid and have succeeded in characterizing the gas-phase molecules by using infrared spectroscopy. The results were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. In textbooks and other media the widespread belief still prevails that stable carbonic acid cannot be produced in pure form and is practically non-existent as it immediately decomposes to ...

Small children are capable of engaging in issues concerning sustainable development.Their interests and rights must be better safeguarded in rules and policy decisions that concern the education of the youngest groups of children within the EU. This is emphasised in the report "Taking children seriously – How the EU can invest in early childhood education for a sustainable future", which was presented at a seminar in Brussels on Friday 17 December. The body behind the report is the European Panel on Sustainable Development (EPSD), an independent research-based network ...

Berkeley — It will come as no surprise to dog owners that their four-legged friends have a flair for sniffing out the excrement of other animals. Now, biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, have trained dogs to detect the scat of other critters for the greater good – to conduct more accurate surveys of wildlife. "Wildlife detection dogs have been mostly used in airports to detect contraband, including endangered species and wildlife products, but in recent years, interest has grown in using the dogs to help scientists track biological targets in natural ...

One of the challenges of gene therapy - a set of methodologies aimed at treating several nucleic acid diseases (DNA or RNA) - is to assure that this material arrives directly to the nucleus of the cell without losing a substantial amount along the way and without producing any undesired side effects. With this aim, scientists experiment with the use of different types of vectors, molecules capable of transporting genetic material to the correct place. Presently, natural "deactivated" viruses are the most commonly used vectors in clinical trials, their side effects however ...

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed new methods for analysing medical databases that can be used to identify diagnostic markers more quickly and to personalise medication for allergic disorders. They could also reduce the need for animal trials in clinical studies. Published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, the study builds on data analyses of freely available medical databases representing studies of countless numbers of patients in the PubMed database, and microarray data in another major database. The use of microarrays is ...

In the winter months, the mountain ranges of central Europe attract thousands of tourists for skiing, snowboarding and other outdoor sports, but conservationists fear this annual invasion may threaten indigenous bird species, including the Capercaillie. The research, published in the journal IBIS, reveals how the growth of human recreation may be a key factor in the rapidly declining population of these iconic alpine birds. The Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), also known as the Wood Grouse, is the largest member of the grouse family and is renowned for its mating display. ...

Swedes drink less and less alcohol while at the same time the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly's sales are rising and statistics from Statistics Sweden show that alcohol consumption is on the increase. This has been the trend for a long period of time. Statistics from the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs, SoRAD, show that alcohol consumption fell continuously in the period from 2004 to 2009, whereas the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly's sales rose by 22% over the same period. The Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly's sales rose by 10% from 2008 to 2009, whereas ...

Women who have had chlamydia are at greater risk of an ectopic pregnancy because of a lasting effect of the infection. A new study provides evidence for the first time of how chlamydia can increase the risk of an ectopic pregnancy – which occurs when an embryo implants outside the womb, in the Fallopian tube. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that women who had had the sexually transmitted infection were more likely to produce a particular protein in their Fallopian tubes. Increased production of this protein – known as PROKR2 – makes a pregnancy more ...

The work carried out by these scientists has ranged from the initial design of an electronic architecture for gamma ray detectors to industry transfer of a complete scanner, after having adequately validated a prototype through experimental studies at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital. The results of this research, headed by professors Juan José Vaquero and Manuel Desco, from the Department of de Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering at UC3M, have been recently published in the journals IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (two articles) and Physics in Medicine and Biology ...

WASHINGTON -- Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before. Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed in a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), a brief burst produced inside thunderstorms and shown to be associated with lightning. It is estimated that about 500 TGFs occur daily worldwide, but most go undetected. "These signals are the first direct evidence that thunderstorms make antimatter particle beams," said Michael Briggs, a member of Fermi's ...

It remains an unresolved issue as to whether interstitial brachytherapy has advantages compared to other therapy options in men with localized prostate cancer, nor do newer studies provide proof in this respect. This is the result of a report published by the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) on 11 January 2011. In this report IQWiG examined whether newer studies challenged the findings of research already completed in 2007. However, it was shown that no relevant new evidence could be obtained from the recent studies. The conclusions of the final ...

Smoking is a common problem for patients with schizophrenia. The increased tendency of patients diagnosed with this disorder is to not only smoke, but to do so more heavily than the general public. This raises the possibility that nicotine may be acting as a treatment for some symptoms of schizophrenia. Nicotine acts through two general classes of brain receptors, those with high and low affinity for nicotine. The low affinity class of nicotinic receptors contains the alpha-7 subunit, which is present in reduced numbers in people with schizophrenia. Two papers published ...

The first scientific results from Europe's Planck spacecraft featuring the coldest objects in the Universe have today been released. Astronomers at The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory played a key role in the worldwide teams searching for an exciting variety of astronomical finds, from massive galaxy clusters to new, unidentified objects. Ranging from within our Galaxy to the most distant reaches of space, Planck is a flagship mission of the UK Space Agency, which funds the UK's involvement in both of Planck's scientific instruments. Astronomers ...

The negative reaction to Starbucks' redesigned logo by the company's self-described most loyal customers may be attributable to the strong connection Starbucks' consumers feel toward the brand, according to research co-authored by a professor at Penn State's Smeal College of Business. Karen Winterich, assistant professor of marketing at Smeal, and researchers Michael Walsh of West Virginia University and Vikas Mittal of Rice University recently examined how consumers react to logo redesigns. They found that consumers who are strongly committed to a brand tend to react ...

Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, continue to chip away at the mysterious existence of water on the moon -- this time by discovering the origin of lunar water. Larry Taylor, a distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, was the one last year to discover trace amounts of water on the moon. This discovery debunked beliefs held since the return of the first Apollo rocks that the moon was bone-dry. Then, he discovered water was actually pretty abundant and ubiquitous -- enough so a human settlement on the moon is not ...

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 11, 2011 – An international team of researchers is reporting that it has uncovered new information about human papillomavirus that one day may aid in the development of drugs to eliminate the cervical-cancer-causing infection. Led by researcher Per Jemth of Uppsala University in Sweden, the collaborators from four institutions detail in the Journal of Biological Chemistry how an offensive protein generated by the sexually transmitted virus handicaps a defensive protein made by the human body. Co-author Neil Ferguson, a biophysicist at University ...

VIDEO: This animation illustrates the position on the sky of all compact sources detected by Planck during its first all-sky survey and listed in the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC).... Click here for more information. The first scientific results from ESA's Planck mission were released at a press briefing today in Paris. The findings focus on the coldest objects in the Universe, from within our Galaxy to the distant reaches of space. If William Shakespeare ...

The first scientific results from Europe's Planck spacecraft were released at a press briefing today in Paris. The findings, focusing on the coldest objects in the Universe - both within our galaxy and also out to the most distant reaches of space - include an exciting variety of astronomical finds, from massive galaxy clusters to new, unidentified objects. Planck is a flagship mission of the UK Space Agency, which funds the UK's involvement in both of Planck's scientific instruments. Astronomers from around the UK are now heavily involved in the operation of Planck's ...

PROVIDENCE, RI – Does obesity tend to "cluster" among young adults? And if so, what impact does it have on both their weight and weight-related behaviors? That's what researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center set out to answer to better understand how social influences affect both weight status and weight loss intentions in this difficult-to-reach age group. According to the study, published online by the journal Obesity, overweight and obese young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 were more likely to have overweight romantic ...

Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced doctor who claimed a link between MMR and autism, planned secret businesses intended to make huge sums of money, in Britain and America, from his now-discredited allegations. The Wakefield scheme is exposed today in the second part of a BMJ series of special reports, "Secrets of the MMR scare", by investigative journalist Brian Deer. Last week we revealed the scientific fraud behind the appearance of a link between the vaccine and autism. Now Deer follows the money. Drawing on investigations and documents obtained under the Freedom of ...

The drugs include traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) as well as new generation anti-inflammatory drugs, known as COX-2 inhibitors. The researchers say that doctors and patients need to be aware that prescription of any anti-inflammatory drug needs to take cardiovascular risk into account. NSAIDs have been the cornerstone of managing pain in patients with osteoarthritis and other painful conditions. In 2004, the COX-2 inhibitor rofecoxib was withdrawn from the market after a trial found that the drug increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. ...

The blood test could mean that 98% of invasive procedures could be avoided, say the authors. The test uses the latest DNA technology to analyse genetic components in the mother's blood that indicate whether the foetus has Down's. Down's syndrome or trisomy 21 occurs in around 1 in 800 births and older women are at higher risk. Women in high risk groups tend to undergo a combination of scans and hormone level tests in order to determine if they need to have an invasive test such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. The latter tests take samples of genetic ...