Catastrophic forest fires claimed lives this summer across the world, from California to Portugal and Spain. The Mediterranean basin is a global wildfire hotspot and the threat of wildfires to forests and society is expected to increase with climate change. Scientists from the European Forest Institute (EFI) urge a shift in focus on how we tackle this problem, moving beyond the current emphasis on fire suppression. They argue that the bio-economy offers means to activate management and to demonstrate that forests are a valuable resource, as a smart and sustainable strategy to address the problem of wildfires. In a new paper published in Forest Policy and Economics, the researchers consider the opportunities offered by a forest-based bio-economy alongside an improved recognition of the value of forests. They suggest a strategic policy shift in favour of fire prevention as part of an integrated forest management strategy, while calling for a shift in mind-set for society to recognise the various ways in which forests provide value.

Osservata per la prima volta, grazie a una collaborazione internazionale tra Ibbr-Cnr, Cnrs, Università di Napoli Federico II e Tigem, la struttura dell’enzima alfa-glucosidasi acida, la cui carenza caratterizza la grave patologia genetica che colpisce muscoli scheletrici e cuore. Lo studio, pubblicato su Nature Communications, apre nuove prospettive di cura

Avanzamenti importanti in arrivo per una delle patologie genetiche rare più comuni, la malattia di Pompe (dal nome del medico olandese che la descrisse per primo), che riguarda circa 10.000 individui nel mondo e circa 300 persone stimate in Italia con effetti devastanti su muscoli scheletrici e cuore difficili da curare. La malattia si manifesta quando l’organismo non produce quantità sufficienti dell’enzima alfa-glucosidasi acida (Gaa) che in condizioni normali permette la degradazione di una sostanza chiamata glicogeno. Ora un team internazionale di scienziati coordinato dal Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Cnrs) di Marsiglia, l’Istituto di bioscienze e biorisorse del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Ibbr-Cnr), l’Università di Napoli 'Federico II' ed il Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (Tigem) di Napoli, per la prima volta ha descritto la struttura di questo enzima riuscendo anche a identificare molecole che possono prevenirne l’inattivazione che determina la patologia. I risultati sono pubblicati sulla rivista Nature Communications.

This study identifies the key roles of two Plasmodium asparyl proteases , Plasmepsins IX and X that are crucial for malaria parasites entry and exit from the infected host cells Remarkably, a peptidomimetic inhibitor of theses two proteases exhibits a potent preventive, therapeutic, and transmission-blocking activity against malaria through the mosquitoes. The picture is modified from Sturm and Hueussler, Med Microbiol Immunol (2007) 196:127–133 and designed by Cygny Malvar.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted between humans through the bite of the female anopheles mosquito. Endemic in large tropical zones, Plasmodium falciparum kills more than 500’000 people per year, about 80% of which are children under the age of five. Although therapeutic strategies have been implemented for a long time, they have so far remained moderately effective. By identifying two proteases essential for the parasite’s survival and dissemination as well as a molecule capable of inhibiting them, researchers at the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and Bern (UNIBE) bring a new hope in the fight against malaria. Their discovery could lead to the development of drugs blocking not only the parasite development in human beings, but also the human to mosquito transmission and vice-versa. These seminal results can be read in Science.

No matter whether payment of the public passenger transport ticket is made via a smartphone app or whether a prepaid card is used for the public swimming pool or a bonus card for the supermarket: Many people already open their “electronic purses” every day. However, most of them are not aware of the fact that by doing so, they largely lose privacy. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a secure and anonymous system for daily use. It will be presented at the ACM CCS 2017 conference in the USA.

Computer scientist Andy Rupp, member of the “Cryptography and Security” working group of KIT, is always surprised about lacking problem awareness: “I observed that only few users are aware of the fact that by using such bonus or payment systems they disclose in detail how and what they consume or which routes they have taken.” To prevent manipulation of the accounts by dishonest users, customer data and account balances of payment and bonus systems are usually administrated with the help of a central database. In every payment transaction, the customer is identified and the details of her/his transaction are transmitted to the central database. This repeated identification process produces a data trace that might be misused by the provider or third parties.