Peer Reviewed

International Agriculture Students Symposium 2009 (IASS 2009) held in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) recently has formed a network for accessible collection of knowledge and experience gained by the agriculture students.

Summaries of newsworthy papers appearing in Nature and Nature Research Journals including: Gene variants associated with risk of psoriasis, Hedgehog blocker thwarts cancer stem cells, Future oceans low in oxygen? and Nanotechnology: Read the small print.

RIKEN researchers report that social courtship behavior in male zebra finches increases brain activity in a similar fashion as drugs abuse.

Solitary waves trapped in superconducting junctions could illustrate time dilation effects similar to those in special relativity

When the bonds between atoms suddenly alter in strength, structural changes in symmetry result

A new twist on an old technique helps researchers identify proteins with a regulatory ‘death sentence’

A pioneering research by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has uncovered the previously unknown anti-inflammatory mechanism for soothing the pain arising from arthritis, and thus unlocked the key to conducting further researches on the relationship between functional foods and this common crippling disease.

A group of Japanese scientists including former RIKEN researcher Toshiyuki Nakagaki were among this year’s winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, recognized for their discovery that a unicellular amoeboid organism can figure out the shortest distance in a maze.

This book identifies the indicators for evaluating hazardous trees tree and the elements in hazard tree management.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include fMRI sees what monkeys will think next, Spring forwards, Cold streams formed early galaxies, Tinkering with light on a tiny scale and Print your own circuit?

The scheme provides Malaysian Airlines, its customers as well as corporate partners with the opportunity to participate in efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

This is an ethnographic research on the nautical communities of Sarawak. It seeks to explain their lives in the context of the wider national politics, social, and economic systems. In particular, it seeks to unravel the influences of two motive forces of social change, in Malaysia, the state and the market forces.

Filling in the void in nematodes studies in Sarawak, a study is being conducted to provide a database on the taxonomy and ecology of free-living nematode species in Sarawak coastal waters.

On February 17, 2006, a landslide overwhelmed the village of Guinsaugon. It took the lives of more than a thousand villagers, making it the most disastrous landslide event in Philippine history.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Fog lifts over Europe, Social isolation as a model of depression, Altering alkaloids in periwinkle, Cold season ozone production, Halting Hedgehog, Inheritance extends beyond the DNA sequence and Sleep on it

In the Asia Media Forum this week - Journos Vow to Carry on Slain Editor's Legacy, 'Sunday Leader' Pays Tribute to Murdered Journalist, Israeli Attacks on Gaza Escape Global Media Scrutiny, Corporate Fraud Needs a More Vigilant Media, Global Group Launches Safety Service, Code for Journos

Researchers working in Japan have developed a new theory that may explain the activity of two unusual, but vitally important, enzymes that were discovered over 40 years ago.

A novel numerical technique permits researchers to study the interaction between elementary particles within a material without approximations

Synthetic genetic circuits enable researchers to uncover the mechanisms by which cells set their internal clocks

The Casimir force between objects in a vacuum shows a complex dependence on temperature

How will be the Obama administration influence the rest of the world? – What Burden-sharing will This Cool Realist Demand? –

Summaries of newsworthy papers include The legacy of the Bush presidency, 50 years of pheromones, Polaritons go with the flow and Ancient braincase helps reveal jawbone origins

SERDANG, Malaysia 10 Jan – Mathematical Research Institute (INSPEM) Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has established collaboration on mathematical research with Institute of Mathematics, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology (IM-VAST).

Summaries of newsworthy papers including Photonics: One-way photonic street, Genetics: Common mutation underlying epilepsy identified, Geoscience: Is the acceleration of Greenland’s glaciers short-lived?, Physics: Long-range quantum manipulation, and Nature: Natural killer cells never forget.

RIKEN researchers have produced healthy cloned mice from cells taken from bodies frozen for 16 years. Wakayama and his team are making a name for themselves by developing techniques that could help rescue life from unlikely sources.

Japanese researchers have identified two SNPs, which significantly increases susceptibility to the autoimmune diseases rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythmatosus (SLE).

A recently discovered protein works behind the scenes to confer much-needed stabilization to an essential developmental pathway

Computing based on photons rather than electrons, on the other hand, promises significantly faster computation and information processing. An international team of researchers has now developed a theoretical system that would allow single photons to be controlled reliably.

A receptor, induced on the surface of macrophages under stressful conditions, can detect tissue injury, stimulating inflammation and possibly repair, a RIKEN-led team of molecular biologists has discovered. Their work could provide new leads for anti-inflammatory drugs and healing.

Also in Asia Media Forum this week - Singapore Gov’t on Facebook – Reaching Out or More Control?, Outrage, Helplessness at Editor's Murder, Can Google Save the Print Media?, Al Jazeera English Beats Israel Ban on Gaza Coverage, China Purges Cyberspace of Porn and 41 Journalists Killed in 2008