Science Article

(Mar. 1, 2010) -New research has identified four aspects of immune system disturbance which lead to the development of coeliac disease. Nearly 40 different inherited risk factors which predispose to the disease have now been identified. These latest findings could speed the way towards improved diagnostics and treatments for the autoimmune complaint that affects 1 in 100 of the population, and lead to insights into related conditions such as type 1 diabetes.

David van Heel...

(Mar. 1, 2010) -A study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute (UCNI) at University Hospital supports the use of an alternative medication to prevent seizures in patients who have suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury or bleeding stroke.

This randomized study supports earlier indications that the anti-seizure medication levetiracetam, marketed as Keppra, was as effective at preventing seizures as the traditional medication, phenytoin...

(Mar. 1, 2010) -Enzymes that travel along DNA to copy or transcribe it -- the crucial processes underlying cell replication and protein production -- aren't coordinated by a central dispatcher. In fact, they often collide. Now, Rockefeller University researchers have discovered that when DNA-copying machines run head-on into proteins performing less critical tasks, they kick the obstacles aside and continue on their way.

The finding, reported in the January 29 issue of Science...

(Feb. 27, 2010) -In order to save energy, consumers need to be able to obtain up-to-date information at any time about the energy consumption of their appliances, and be able to control them while away from home. In Hall 9, Booth B36 at CeBIT, Fraunhofer scientists unveil two applications that help consumers manage their power use.

"Smart meters" -- intelligent devices to measure consumption -- make it possible to read and control power consumption, even of private households...

(Feb. 25, 2010) -When NASA's satellite operators need accurate, real-time space-weather information, they turn to the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The CCMC's newest and most advanced space-weather science tool is the Integrated Space Weather Analysis (iSWA) system.

The iSWA is a robust, integrated system provides information about space weather conditions past, present, and...

(Mar. 1, 2010) -A campaign to stop the sale of electronic mosquito repellents by major airlines is beginning to bear fruit with the immediate withdrawal of the products from KLM flights. The issue, say experts, is that these electronic repellents, sold to airline passengers, many on their way to malaria endemic countries, just don't work.

Dr. Bart Knols, editor of the advocacy website MalariaWorld, discovered that electronic repellents were being sold by KLM on a recent flight he...

(Feb. 26, 2010) -Why can't I fall asleep? Will this new medication keep me up all night? Can I sleep off this cold? Despite decades of research, answers to these basic questions about one of our most essential bodily functions remain exceptionally difficult to answer. In fact, researchers still don't fully understand why we even sleep at all. In an effort to better understand the sleep-wake cycle and how it can go awry, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are taking a different...

(Feb. 25, 2010) -Scientists at the University of Liverpool have provided the first experimental evidence that shows that evolution is driven most powerfully by interactions between species, rather than adaptation to the environment.

The team observed viruses as they evolved over hundreds of generations to infect bacteria. They found that when the bacteria could evolve defences, the viruses evolved at a quicker rate and generated greater diversity, compared to situations where the...