Peer Reviewed

HONH KONG, 9 September - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has made a great leap forward in the latest “QS World University Ranking”. This year the University has jumped by 29 places and is now ranked in the 166th place in the league table, as compared to 195th place in 2009.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: The hunchback of Las Hoyas; Patchwork science; Boosting the cell’s recycling centre; A global Younger Dryas?; Dead giveaways

The chemical structure of the melanoma-shrinking drug PLX4032 is revealed in a new Nature paper that describes the drug’s discovery, development and functioning.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today (7 September) showcased its capabilities in the area of space research.

Encouraging the obese to lose weight may not always be beneficial for their wellbeing reports a paper published online in the International Journal of Obesity.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: I Optical ‘black box’ regeneration; Cool forests in long-term heatwaves; Perturbing parasitic plants

Advances in molecular imaging reveal startling insights into the workings of the brain and could make it possible to diagnose migraine definitively for the first time

A network of filamentary conducting paths is behind the transition between insulating and conducting states in complex oxides

A subset of immune cells remain ideally positioned to respond quickly to the reappearance of previously encountered pathogens

Understanding of blood cell lineages advances with the discovery of a transcription factor crucial to T cell differentiation

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: Hot water around a carbon star; Clouds on the horizon for China's crops; HapMap 3 is here; Questionable stewardship; The life and works of charitable bacteria; A high-performance graphene transistor; Collective motion in a simple model system

The Kenya Medical Research Institute has launched a tool aimed at predicting malaria outbreaks in any area of East Africa two to three months before they occur.

The IDRC-supported Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative launched a new tool last month that provides new ways of understanding poverty around the world.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will assist in rthe setting up of the Albukhary International University (AIU), the only private university set up specifically to help the underprivileged obtain access to higher education.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) became the first Institution of Higher Learning (IPT) in the country to be recognized as a Certified Training Provider of Open Source Software when the Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), USM received its appointment from the Malaysia Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) today.

Realising the importance of preserving the balance of nature, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), through the Advancement and Alumni Relations Office, USM with the cooperation of CIMB Foundation dan Bioremediation Sdn. Bhd have taken the initiative to clean up the Harapan Lake in USM by using mudballs.

OPINION: Much has been said about the Alliance or Perikatan as a political entity, and later Barisan Nasional (BN) as a pre-election pact, that dominated the Malayan-Malaysian scene even before independence was won.

OPINION: LAST Saturday was a memorable one for Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). As early as 8am on a Ramadan morning, hundreds of students and staff gathered around the iconic Tasik Harapan to collectively perform a simple gesture that would bring back the lake to life...

OPINION: THE rankings game is here again. This time it involves two types of rankings that allow us to understand what the game is all about from different perspectives.

OPINION: Looks like the brave new world has finally arrived. The website BeautifulPeople.com reportedly "booted out 5,000 people who gained weight and were deemed too ugly to remain members".

Win-win solutions improve livelihoods and the land

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: Genetics: Genetic variant associated with migraine; Immunology: You give me fever; And finally…Genetics: Apple genome sequenced

RIKEN’s release of an online database pertaining to the regulatory mechanisms of plants offers new research and engineering opportunities

The first direct observation of an unusual magnetic structure could lead to novel electronic and magnetic memory devices

Powerful synchrotron light captures never-before-seen electronic interactions of molecules dissolved in liquids

Singapore, 27 August 2010 - Fano resonance permits the creation of ultracompact nanoantennas which can be used in mobile telephones or wireless connections and many other devices

A pioneering study by researchers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has shown that sandwiching a simple layer of silver nanoparticles can significantly improve the performance of organic transistors which are commonly used in consumer electronics.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: Supermassive black hole formation in the early Universe; Disasters widen the rich–poor divide; Origin of asteroid pairs; Save the census; The evolution of eusocial behaviour; A new ALS susceptibility gene

Culturally combinatorial, Nucleic acids protect monkeys against the Ebola virus, Variants associated with esophageal and gastric cancers, A critical gene for cortical development, Methane-eating moss, Older age for the Solar System