Genetic mutations in the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene appear to have significant association with inflammatory injury to the placenta and developing baby according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh’s department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.

“This indicates a possible genetic predisposition to a kind of misfire in immune system response that could contribute to placental inflammation and spontaneous preterm birth,” said Hyagriv Simhan, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who is presenting the work. “These injuries are important because they are more common in preterm babies and associated with major health consequences like cerebral palsy.”

TLR4 enables the body to recognize pathogens and activate the immune system. This gene is expressed most abundantly in the placenta and in white blood cells.

The billions of dollars spent each year on the space program sometimes translate into practical real world improvements; if you don't know the value of Tang (1) and pens that write upside-down (2), you have just never tried them.

It's no different in Europe. The European Space Agency (ESA) developed Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), e.g. GPS, satellite navigation technology which allows real-time transmission of telemetric data from lots of objects on the ground and a start-up called iOpener did what you might expect with it; they used it to make a racing game, where you can compete against professionals during the race itself.

"Our product enables gamers to race live against professionals – they don't have to be a 'Schumacher' to enjoy it," says Andy Lürling, CEO and co-founder of iOpener, "it is a total immersion experience."

LONDON, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has this week refused an application for restoration to the Register from a former Hertfordshire veterinary surgeon who was struck off a year ago for being unfit to practise.

Miss Lesley Kay, of Cambridge Road, Sawbridgeworth, was removed from the Register in January 2007 following her multiple convictions for drink-driving offences, driving disqualification and four-month imprisonment.

The original hearing was held in December 2006, but adjourned until January 2007 to allow time for Miss Kay, who admitted suffering from alcoholism, to address her personal problems and to satisfy certain conditions that the Committee laid down.

LONDON, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

Chiltern, the global contract research organization, announced today that it has acquired the business of Drug Development Solutions ('DDS'), a leading Phase 1 unit located at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Scotland. Ninewells is one of the United Kingdom's major teaching hospitals. The purchase of DDS supplements Chiltern's Clinical Research Unit in Slough near London.

Although food prices rose 4.8% last year, eating nutritiously is still well within reach of the American family, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics.

Analysis done by USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) indicates that families could, in fact, spend even less on food than what they currently spend and eat a healthier more nutritious diet.

USDA’s Low-Cost Food Plan shows what a family on a budget can spend on food and still achieve a nutritious diet that meets current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For December 2007, USDA estimates the cost of the Low-Cost Food Plan for a family of four (a couple ages 20 to 50 with two children ages 6 to 8 and 9 to 11) to be $167.70 per week. This compares to the $189.00 per week that the average four person household spent on food last year.

ZURICH, Switzerland, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

Novelis Europe today announced that it will introduce a magnesium surcharge for all standard and painted aluminium sheet products sold into the distributor, building and industrial markets. Magnesium is a common alloying element used in many aluminium products.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070809/NOVELISLOGO )

The surcharge is in response to the significant rise in global costs of magnesium and is effective for new orders with delivery after April 1, 2008, if not covered by an existing contractual agreement. The surcharge will be 15 Euros per tonne for every 1% of magnesium in the alloy concerned.

Novelis is the leading supplier of high quality aluminium sheet to the European market.

The governments of the United States, Brazil and the European Union (EU) — the world’s major producers of biofuels — today released an analysis of current biofuel specifications to facilitate expanded trade of these renewable energy sources.

Biofuels—derived from biological materials such as plants, plant oils, animal fat and microbial byproducts, are gaining popularity worldwide as both energy producers and users seek ways to move away from dependence on fossil fuels.

One potential obstacle to achieving greater efficiency in the global biofuels market is confusion over differing, and sometimes conflicting, standards for characterizing the make-up and properties of biofuels.

Continued from Part 4: I interviewed Gary Taubes by phone a few weeks ago, shortly after he gave a talk about the main ideas of his new book — Good Calories, Bad Calories — at UC Berkeley. The interview lasted about 2 hours. This is part 5.

SETH: Well, I think your book is a great book, and I don’t think its effect is limited to how many reviews it gets. What books do you think your book resembles? I think of it as a book showing that authorities can be seriously wrong, but what do you think?

GARY TAUBES: You know, I don’t know, actually. I can’t answer that question without sounding like a crazed egomaniac, so I won’t. What the book does is try to explain why the paradigm of obesity and chronic disease has to change and then to offer the alternative paradigm. Although I don’t use the word “paradigm” in the second half of the book, that’s what it’s trying to do. I want people to stop thinking about obesity as a disorder of overeating, calories in over calories out, and think about it as a disorder of excess fat accumulation.

When the Herschel Space Observatory launches on an Ariane-5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana, in July 2008, astronomers will be able to examine some of the coldest objects in the universe.

Herschel will have the largest mirror of any space telescope — twice the size of the famous Hubble — that will detect the ‘glow’ of spacedust at around -250C, rather than the light from stars.

As well as being able to see star-forming regions very nearby in our own galaxy, it will be able to see galaxies forming when the universe was in its infancy, more than ten billion years ago.

It's the first space telescope to operate in the sub-millimetre part of the spectrum, between the far-infrared and microwaves.

Scientists from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)aboard the research vessel Southern Surveyor returned home today with a collection of coral samples and photographs taken in the Southern Ocean at greater depths than ever before.

Using a remotely operated submersible vehicle the international research team captured images of life found on deep-sea pinnacles and valleys up to three kilometres beneath the Ocean’s surface.

During a three-week voyage, scientists from CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship and the US collaborated to retrieve examples of live and fossilised deep-ocean corals from a depth of 1650 metres near the Tasman Fracture Zone, south-east of Tasmania.