AlphaGalileo

"The Mid-Atlantic Shore to the Appalachian Highlands: Field Trip Guidebook for the 2010 Joint Meeting of the Northeastern and Southeastern GSA Sections"
This new guidebook from the Geological Society of America (GSA) features field trips associated with the March 2010 joint meeting of GSA's Northeastern and Southeastern Sections in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The field guide is formatted to extend to all readers, not just those attending the meeting, the opportunity to explore the complicated and rich geologic landscape of the southeastern and northeastern regions of the United States.

Chemotherapy, followed by the surgical removal of the affected tissue is the treatment usually adapted to bone tumors. An implant which can fill the areas of subtraction, while releasing chemotherapeutical agents locally, in a controlled manner, during the treatment period, is the aim of a research led by the Research Centre in Ceramic Material and Composites (CICECO/UA). In these experiences, specialists are using potential “anti-tumor” drugs coated by nanocapsules.

Crash-test dummies could soon be facing vehicle collision tests in cars padded with cork rather than traditional materials such as polymer foams or porous aluminium metal, according to Portuguese engineers writing in a recent issue of the International Journal of Materials Engineering.

Una adecuada gestión del suelo y del riego es fundamental en la viticultura actual, tanto por la importancia del estado hídrico del viñedo en la calidad del vino como por el impacto ambiental que ocasionan las labores de mantenimiento en los suelos vitícolas. Con el fin de innovar en esta materia, el centro tecnológico NEIKER-Tecnalia está investigando la influencia que tiene la utilización de una cubierta vegetal temporal y diferentes dosis de riego -en suelos de vaguada y pendiente característicos de la Rioja Alavesa- sobre la producción, el vigor de las vides y la calidad de la uva y el vino. Los primeros resultados muestran una reducción de la disponibilidad hídrica del viñedo, que se refleja en una disminución de la producción y vigor, así como en una mejora de los parámetros de calidad del mosto y del vino. El conjunto de conclusiones del estudio puede ayudar al viticultor a conocer mejor su viñedo y modificar sus prácticas de cultivo, con el objetivo de obtener la mejor calidad posible.

Correct management of soil and irrigation is a vital factor in modern viticulture, due to the influence of the water balance of the vineyard on wine quality and the environmental impact of agricultural practices on vineyard soils. In order to innovate in this area, the NEIKER-Tecnalia technological centre is carrying out research on the influence of temporary cover crop and different irrigation regimes –for the typical flat and sloping soils of Rioja Alavesa region– on yield, vine vigour and grape and wine quality. The initial results when cover crops are planted show a reduction in the water availability of the vineyard, reflected in a reduction of yield and vigour, as well as in an improvement of the quality parameters of the must and wine. The results of the study can be used to help grapegrowers acquire a better understanding of their vineyards and adjust their management practices so as to obtain the highest possible quality.

Leicester physicists part of team studying impact of solar wind on Mars atmosphere Space physicists from the University of Leicester are part of an international team that has identified the impact of the Sun on Mars’ atmosphere. Writing in the AGU journal Geophysics Research Letters, the scientists report that Mars is constantly losing part of its atmosphere to space.

28/04/2010, London
Sponsored by SAGE and Unilever PLC, a major day conference for employers, operations managers, HR professionals and the academic community on current issues in work and wellbeing, viewed over the course of the traditional working life, from both employer and employee perspectives. Good health enables human flourishing and fulfilment. Given the amount of time spent at work, the workplace is central to physical and psychological health, as well as life satisfaction. As the costs of ill health continue to rise, workplace health has become an issue that employers can no longer afford to ignore.This conference brings together all the latest thinking on current issues in work and wellbeing, from both academic and practitioner perspectives.

The dry powder inhaler being developed by Bayer Schering Pharma for cystic fibrosis patients with chronic lung infections has been granted “orphan drug” status by the U.S. regulatory body FDA.

Telemonitoring may reduce the mortality of patients with heart failure by 20%. Silke Schmidt et al. present their study results in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[8]131-8).

Sexual problems are frequent after operations for carcinoma of the rectum. Christian Schmidt et al. describe the consequences for quality of life in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[8]: 123-30).

Free hormonal contraception was offered for a year to young women in two Norwegian cities. The result was that the abortion rate in the trial cities was halved.

"We are all Maldivians now - what happens to us today, happens to you tomorrow!" With an emotional appeal, the President of the Republic of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, urged students at Freie Universität Berlin to join the fight against climate change. In the Henry Ford Building President Nasheed gave a lecture entitled "The Maldives: Leading the Fight against Climate Change" in which he stressed the need for becoming carbon neutral and appealed to the European Union to pursue this goal. After consultations with the German federal government, Nasheed, who earlier had drawn attention worldwide through a spectacular underwater Cabinet meeting, visited Berlin-Dahlem at the invitation of the Environmental Policy Research Centre at Freie Universität. He was welcomed by Dr. Dorothea Rüland, Director of the Center for International Cooperation (CIC) of Freie Universität. The entire lecture is available on video in Freie Universität's online magazine campus.leben at www.fu-berlin.de/campusleben.

Scientific links between the UK and Japan have been boosted by the announcement of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's (BBSRC) latest Japan Partnering Awards. The awards, made to four research groups, provide funding for BBSRC-supported researchers to build and foster long-term relationships with Japanese partners.

Researchers from the Information Security Group (ISG) at Royal Holloway, University of London worked together with UK online to conduct a survey of privacy attitudes and behaviours. Focusing on our concerns about privacy while using the internet, the survey reveals that online identity theft is currently the greatest fear for internet users.

Are you a Second Life resident looking to get a bit more out of your virtual world? If so, join Sheila Yoshikawa at 8pm (1pm Second Life time) on March 18 on Sheffield University’s Second Life island, Infolit ischool, for hints and tips on searching, shopping and sightseeing. The event is part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Festival of Social Science which runs from the 12 to the 21 of March 2010.

In June 2007, the east coast city of Hull was devastated by flooding which claimed the life of one man and displaced thousands of families from their homes. Now a unique study sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Festival of Social Science (12-21 March) is aiming to understand how the flood and its aftermath affected one key section of the community whose voice is seldom heard: children and young people.

Científicos del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica (IRB Barcelona), liderados por el Investigador ICREA Marco Milán, revelan una sorprendente nueva función de la proteína Notch, opuesta a la conocida hasta hoy. El grupo de Marco Milán ha descubierto ahora que la presencia de la proteína Notch en la membrana de las células también es necesaria para inactivar la vía, además de para activarla.

One in four UK children has a mother born overseas which means at least one parent speaks a foreign language at home. But what are the challenges for parents raising bilingual and multilingual offspring? This is just one of the questions up for debate at the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Festival of Social Science on 19 March.

Martedì 16 marzo all’Università di Uppsala il primo meeting del progetto DIGESPO coordinato dalla FBK e finanziato dall’Unione europea con oltre 3 milioni di euro. Il prototipo permetterà di sfruttare l’energia solare nelle singole abitazioni con una resa del 60-70%.

Un equipo de ingenieros del centro tecnológico CEIT-IK4 y de médicos de la Clínica Universidad de Navarra han desarrollado una nueva herramienta para operar el oído interno con la máxima precisión, reduciendo posibles daños en la función auditiva durante la intervención. Se trata del primer micromanipulador especialmente indicado para las operaciones de implantes cocleares y de implantes en el oído medio, de las que anualmente se realizan en la clínica cerca de un centenar.