Peer Reviewed

Recognizing the huge advances in experimental treatments for spinal cord injury, four papers to be published online this week in the journal Spinal Cord address the need for a principled set of guidelines for clinical trials in patients with spinal damage.

During the 28th NAST Annual Scientific Meeting last July 13, 2006, 23 scientists of the University of the Philippines received awards for their outstanding performance and contribution to science and technology.

The Avestro experiment has discovered that a wireless client can still successfully receive and play audio clips such as music, interviews and dialogues sent by the RTP server. There is no significant difference in audio quality among the wireless and the wired connections.

Radio broadcasting in the Philippines was probably the first in Asia. According to Dr. Elizabeth L. Enriquez, “It began during the third decade of the American colonial period when American investments dominated commerce and business.”

Has the promise of islet transplantation to treat diabetes been fully realised? Not yet, according to a Viewpoint article to be published in the diabetes-themed January issue of Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism, in which Piotr Witkowski and Kevan Herold discuss current practice and conclude that the procedure is far from perfect

Los Banos, Philippines – It’s a long way from the small Texas town of Alvin to the lush green rice fields of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Despite this, the two places have played interesting roles in one of the most remarkable success stories in the history of efforts to ease human hunger and suffering.

Summaries of newsworthy papers for Nature and the Nature Research Journals that will be published online on 17 December 2006. Genetic mutation in autism, Synchronized sleeping in the brain and Humans follow the scent

There are an estimated 1.2 million premises with individual septic tanks in Malaysia. Presently, prefabricated ISTs are made from fibreglass, a mixture of glass fibre and unsaturated polyester costing about RM800. USM researchers have managed to substitute glass fibres with natural fibre and reduce the cost to RM 400 for each tank.

A set of guidelines for pathologists that may greatly improve the diagnosis of malignant lymphomas are published online this week by Leukemia. In five related papers, a group of leading scientists participating in the EU-supported BIOMED-2 programme report a new test that could be used as an efficient and cost-effective method to diagnose lymphomas

The obstacles facing the development of genetics-based personalized medicine are described online this week in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Sandra Soo-Jin Lee highlights the problematic use of race and ethnicity as classification tools for genetically distinct populations.

An anonymous online poll of nearly 1700 researchers has revealed intriguing insights into scientists’ views on the use of animals in research.

Summaries of newsworthy papers published in Nature on 14 December 2006. Fossils push back date of mammals’ first flight, CO2 receptors and malaria, Botulinum toxin structure unveiled, Martian plains as old as the hills, Bendy organic electronics, Dental plans and diets, and Triassic microworld caught in amber

For the first time, researchers in Laos have published a study on the causes of bacteraemia, or blood infections caused by invasive bacteria, in the local population. The study has major healthcare implications for Laos, one of the world's poorest nations.

Throughout the history of Iraq, the regular army has more than once demonstrated its ability to serve as a national instrument, standing above ethnic, sectarian, and regional affiliations.

Summaries of newsworthy papers published online on 10 December 2006 in Nature and Nature Research Journals. Lightning strikes twice for milk drinkers, How shigella causes dysentery, Sensing fungal infections, and Improving metagenomics efforts.

Mary Robinson, a former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will call today for policymakers to adopt an approach to climate change that is rooted in the international human rights framework.

This new Spiral Wound Membrane (SWM) module has a greatly enhanced lifespan and will be of great benefit to the water purification and waste water treatment industry.

The signing of the border agreement between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah, in June 2000, was considered by many to be a milestone in Saudi-Yemen relations, raising expectations on both sides about finally settling territorial disputes and improving security cooperation.

The biological role of a potassium channel in a pathogen that colonizes the stomach is characterized in a study to be published online this week in The EMBO Journal.

New molecular evidence, published online by Nature this week, sheds significant doubt on the charges against six medical workers facing the death penalty in Libya. They are charged with deliberately contaminating more than 400 children with HIV in 1998.

Summaries of newsworthy papers from Nature Vol.444 No.7120 including Key influenza virus molecule visualised, Navigating the mouse brain, Protein blocks brain tumour growth, Targets for improvement in the developing world, Crime and punishment, New stable ‘table top’ particle accelerator, Big brown bats feel the magnetic force ...

The results of the first large-scale empirical study of how consumers view the risks and benefits of nanotechnology are reported in the December issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

Summaries of newsworthy papers from Nature Research Journals include Mycobacterium tuberculosis copper regulator found – Nature Chemical Biology, Key to relapsing multiple sclerosis – Nature Immunology, Fast 3D imaging of brain cell networks – Nature Methods

For the first time in almost forty years, researchers are creating a global map of malaria risk. The Malaria Atlas Project, or MAP, will help identify populations at particular risk and predict the impact of the disease, allowing health resources to be targeted at those areas most at risk.

Professor Yoshikazu Honma of Tokyo University of Science and the research group has succeeded in synthesizing high-quality monolayer carbon nanotubes using, as catalysts, various metals previously considered incapable of generating carbon nanotubes (such as gold, silver and copper) for the first time in the world.

The constant presence of a population of ‘regulatory’ immune cells is essential for the prevention of autoimmune disease, according to a paper published in the February issue of Nature Immunology.

Summaries of newsworthy papers from Nature. VOL.444 NO. 7119 include Cancer: Cell senescence cancer link, Climate change: Gulf Stream weakened during Little Ice Age, Physiology: A toast to good health…. Material science: Terahertz-controlling device, The alchemy of violin-making

Singapore – Rice production in Southeast Asia – arguably the region’s most important industry – has received a major boost with the endorsement of three new strategies by the Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry of the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

A pioneering international alliance that aims to ensure that poor people in Africa and Asia get a greater share of the benefits from local forests will hold its first full meeting in Uganda next week.

Governments meeting this week are being urged to take a new approach to intellectual property rights to reflect the needs, customs and views of indigenous communities in developing nations.