fotograf Jana Weiss

A study from Stockholm University have now established what was previously suspected, that the high levels of brominated flame retardants measured in cats are from the dust in our homes. The study has been published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The study shows that cats are exposed to chemicals found in electronics and furniture, chemicals that become dust and can adversely affect health. It is the first time that this connection has been verified. In a previous study, the researchers demonstrated that brominated flame retardants were found in higher concentrations in the blood of cats that had developed Feline hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism in cats) compared to healthy cats. Now, new measurements of healthy cats establish their dust exposure. Paired samples were taken from the same household, i.e. they took both dust samples and blood samples at the same time.

L’ENEA ha brevettato “Sesto Senso”, un sistema multisensoriale in grado di monitorare e ottimizzare i consumi energetici di abitazioni e uffici assicurando temperatura e illuminazione ideali sia in estate che in inverno. Ma c’è di più. Grazie ad un sistema innovativo di rilevamento delle presenze, questo vero e proprio ‘maggiordomo virtuale’ può attivare o disattivare autonomamente luci, elettrodomestici, tapparelle e schermature solari nella casa; inoltre, attraverso un’analisi qualitativa della CO2, avvisa anche se occorre aprire le finestre per arieggiare i locali. Questo sistema intelligente è composto di un’unità centrale e di un insieme di sensori ambientali che funzionano come una rete neuronale artificiale: i sensori di monitoraggio acquisiscono i dati su temperatura, umidità, luminosità, valori della CO2 ma anche informazioni su movimenti, rumore e transito di persone nell’abitazione.

Pitching & co-pro event - feature films

08 – 10 Mar 17

Bordeaux (France)

Cartoon Movie is neither a fair nor a festival, but rather a pitching & co-pro forum for animated feature films.

For two days, producers have the opportunity to pitch their film project in order to speed up financing, find co-producers and interest international distributors.

Since its creation in 1999, 274 films found financing, representing a total budget of 1.9 billion EUR.

Read more on http://www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-movie-event/cartoon-movie-2017.htm

Generation of recombinant rotavirus from cloned cDNA

Osaka University scientists generate a new plasmid-based reverse genetics system for rotaviruses. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea and kill hundreds of thousands of infants a year. Although current vaccines are effective in preventing aggravation of rotaviruses, the development of more effective vaccines at lower cost is expected. Technology cannot study well how rotaviruses invade and replicate in a cell. To identify which genes are crucial for the infection of rotaviruses, scientists at the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases at Osaka University report a new plasmid-based reverse genetics system. The study can be read in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Activation of the brain's fear network, visualized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (picture: Dr. Tina Lonsdorf, Systems Neuroscience UKE Hamburg)

Several newly discovered variants of a gene increase the risk of developing anxiety disorders. A research team aims to derive new therapies from this finding which are better tailored to the individual patients. Mental, social and inherited factors all play a role in anxiety disorders. In the journal "Molecular Psychiatry", a research team from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany, describes a hitherto unknown genetic pathway for developing such diseases: They pinpointed at least four variants of the GLRB gene (glycine receptor B) as risk factors for anxiety and panic disorders. More than 5000 voluntary participants and 500 patients afflicted by panic disorder took part in the study that delivered these results.

Cells behave differently when removed from their environments, just as cells that develop in cultures do not behave like cells in living creatures. To study the effects of Alzheimer’s disease in a more natural environment, scientists from the lab of professor Bart De Strooper (VIB-KU Leuven, Dementia Research Institute-UK) in collaboration with scientists from ULB (profs Pierre Vanderhaeghen and Jean-Pierre Brion) successfully circumscribed this challenge by transplanting human neural cells into mouse brains containing amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. The results of their research showed that, unlike mouse neurons, human neurons that developed in this environment were extremely susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. Their high-impact results are published in leading academic journal Neuron.

foto di dj fabo

Il Parlamento continua ad ignorare gli appelli del  Dj cieco e tetraplegico divenuto simbolo di una battaglia coraggiosa e per la libertà di tutti: “Schiavi di uno Stato che ci costringe ad andare all’estero per liberarci da una tortura insopportabile e infinita” E sono tre: terzo rinvio per l’entrata in aula della legge sul Biotestamento, il cui inizio dei lavori alla Camera era atteso prima a fine gennaio, poi il 20 febbraio, poi il 27, e ora è stato spostato ulteriormente ai primi di marzo.