Science Education & Policy
As interest in the rising number of newly characterized microbial genomes mounts, powerful computational tools become critical for the management and analysis of these data to enable strategies for such challenges as harvesting the potential of carbon-neutral bioenergy sources and coping with global climate change.
The Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) data management system developed by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) addresses this challenge with the release of version 2.1. Released on the two-year anniversary of its launch, the content of IMG 2.1 is…
Homeopathic medicine was the creation of a single person, Samuel Hahnemann, who graduated from a German medical school in 1779 and practiced the "healing arts" until 1843, first in Germany and then in Paris. The theoretical underpinning of Hahnemann's new approach to health and vitality is that a healthy human being is inhabited by an integrated spirit or vital force. In Hahnemann's words, "The vital force that animates the healthy body, rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation . . . so that our indwelling…
With hundreds of nanotechnology-enabled products already on the market and many more in the commercial pipeline, a new report by a former senior Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official urges policymakers to give greater attention to the challenges of crafting an oversight system that can effectively address health and safety issues particular to nanoscale materials and devices.
"It is time for government, industry, the scientific community, non-governmental organizations and other interested parties to begin a more systematic discussion about the core elements of an oversight…
Probiotic supplements have been used around the world for at least half a century, but almost half (49 percent) of Americans indicate that they have never heard of them, according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive® for Florastor®, the world’s top-selling probiotic, now being launched widely in the United States.
Derived from a Greek term meaning, "for life," probiotics are defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "live micro-organisms, which, when administered in proper amounts, confer a health benefit on the host."
Florastor, which utilizes a beneficial,…
As Des Browne strides up to me and demands to know who I am, the answer momentarily escapes me. It is on the tip of my tongue and will come to me in a minute, I am sure. But whoever I am, I suddenly realise, this close to Britain's combative Minister of Defence is not where I would like to be.
The occasion is a debate about the morality of replacing Trident, organised by one of Browne’s constituents, Father Joe Boland of St Matthew’s, Kilmarnock.
In opening the debate the priest had done a fine job of demolishing the pro-nuclear arguments. “The government says we don’t know what the world…
Anonymity is the simultaneous source of the internet's greatest strength and weakness. What do I mean by anonymity? Well in real life (RL), my identity is more or less set in stone by our current legal system. True I can change my name, but it doesn't really mean alot, when there is a legal record of it. People can still find out who I am. Not to mention the fact that the I can't really change the skin I'm in either, as in the details of my physical body. It's not as easy to fake DNA tests, fingerprinting, and retinal scans as it is to fake an email address. Philip Rosedale, one of…
A paradigm shift in medical education is needed, one with more emphasis on training future physicians to enhance their empathy skills and to learn to view patients as persons, not just cases, a medical education specialist at Jefferson Medical College says.
"If we want to train physicians with more empathy, then education must shift from emphasizing only the biomedical to also providing a biopsychosocial framework, as well and a more complete picture of patients as persons," says Mohammadreza Hojat, Ph.D., research professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Jefferson Medical College of…
High performance schools integrate the best in today's design strategies and building technologies. Even better, they make a difference in the way children learn. Research has shown that better buildings produce better student performance, reduce operating costs and increase average daily attendance. They also are more likely to maintain teacher satisfaction and retention and reduce liability exposure.
Deane Evans, FAIA, executive director of the Center for Architecture and Building Science Research at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), numbers among the nation's top boosters for…
Two new studies by University of California, Berkeley, scientists highlight the amazing promiscuity of genes, which appear to shuttle frequently between organisms, especially more primitive organisms, and often in packs.
Such gene flow, dubbed horizontal gene transfer, has been seen frequently in bacteria, allowing pathogenic bacteria, for example, to share genes conferring resistance to a drug. Recently, two different species of plants were shown to share genes as well. The questions have been: How common is it, and how does it occur?
In a report appearing this week in the Proceedings of…
Patients admitted to hospitals for ischemic stroke on weekends had a higher risk of dying than patients admitted during the week, in a Canadian study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
A "weekend effect" has been previously documented when looking at other conditions such as cancer and pulmonary embolism; however, little is known of its impact on stroke death.
"What is really novel in our work beyond the discovery of the 'weekend effect' on ischemic stroke is the subgroup analysis in other settings/characteristics and the identification of variables associated…