Primrose oil no better than placebo for eczema, study finds

By Kerry Grens

MSN News — Evening primrose oil doesn’t reduce the symptoms of the itchy skin problem eczema, according to a new review of studies.

Herbal supplement makers market primrose oil as helpful in treating eczema, but “I don’t think you’ll get a specific benefit” from the pills, said Dr. Joel Bamford, the lead author of the review.

Eczema is a common skin disorder, especially among children, marked by itchy, red skin. Commonly, patients are prescribed steroid medications to treat the problem. Primrose oil initially showed some promise in studies several decades ago, said Bamford, who is an associate instructor at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Duluth.

 

But when he tried to replicate the findings, he found that primrose oil didn’t seem to work….. >>Continue Reading<<

 

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Japan Stimulus to Boost Science

By Dennis Normile
Science — Japan’s government today approved a plan to spend $116 billion to jump-start the economy and set the stage for long-term growth. Sources in the Japanese press are hinting that research on renewable energy and on stem cells could land a significant chunk of the new cash.

Scientists create caffeine-addicted bacteria to clean up environment

Scientists have genetically engineered a caffeine-addicted strain of E. coli that could help clean up environmental pollution.

Caffeine addiction may be good for Mother Nature.

Mankind’s caffeine addiction has taken a toll on the environment. But scientists believe a bacteria genetically engineered to be addicted to caffeine could help clean up after us.

III Workshop Embrapa (Brazil) and Korea (RDA)

By Gilberto Silber Schmidt

Labex Korea (Embrapa) and the International Technology Cooperation Center (ITCC/RDA) are organizing the III Workshop RDA/Embrapa to be held in Suwon on March 25 – 29. This event is being proposed with the objective to establish strategies for cooperation between both Institutions to toward technological innovations through research, development and technology transfer, which enable to boost the agricultural sector in both countries.

Researchers discuss details of the project on evolution of the Amazonian biota

By Frances Jones

Agência FAPESP – Nearly 30 Brazilian and foreign specialists from various fields that range from botany and geology to paleontology and remote sensing took part in the first face-to-face meeting among members of a thematic project that will study what happened in the Amazon in the last 20 million years.

The project is supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of an agreement that entails collaboration between the Biota-FAPESP and Dimensions of Biodiversity programs. The study will also have the support of the US space agency NASA.

Scandals Envelop Two Russian Science Officials

By Vladimir Pokrovsky

Science - The recent departure of two senior Russian research officials is putting a spotlight on ethical issues. Earlier this month, Andrei Andriyanov resigned as head of the Kolmogorov Special Educational and Scientific Center (SESC) of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), a special high school for budding scientists, after an investigation concluded that he had included fake references in his doctoral thesis. Meanwhile, Russian law enforcement officials have leveled unrelated fraud charges against the head of the government commission that approved Andriyanov’s degree, calling renewed attention to allegations that the body was involved in a larger scheme to approve falsified dissertations.

H5N1 Researchers Announce End of Research Moratorium

By David Malakoff
Science - Almost a year after they announced it, leading influenza researchers are ending a voluntary moratorium on certain types of controversial experiments involving the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

In a letter published online today by Science and Nature, 40 researchers declare that the studies should restart now that scientists, government officials, and the public have had time to debate the need for the research and impose new safety measures. “[T]he aims of the voluntary moratorium have been met in some countries and are close to being met in others,” they write, and researchers “have a public-health responsibility to resume this important work.”

Growing Latin American Science

Science - How can a country rapidly improve its capacity in science, technology, and innovation? Invest in people, as Latin America is doing. For Brazil, supporting this effort through international exchange and increased mobility over the past year will substantially enlarge the nation’s corpus of highly qualified scientists and technologists. Argentina has increased its number of doctoral fellowships and is concentrating on recruiting back Argentine investigators working abroad to advance its own basic research and industry. And in Chile, special programs have been funding fellowships to send students abroad to obtain Ph.D. degrees in science. These activities reflect the growing desire of Latin American nations to train an educated workforce in the world’s best institutions and foster “globalized” science on the continent.

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Source: Science, November 30th, 2012
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Food engineering to be a topic at the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences

By Fábio de Castro
Agência FAPESP – Nutrition and health have been central topics for science and food engineering, and researchers from these areas are taking more and more interest in another aspect of the universe of food, that is, the pleasure of eating.
In April 2013, some of the foremost international specialists from this sector will meet in Pirassununga (SP) to discuss scientific developments that will allow for the manipulation of structural factors to bring pleasure and satisfaction to natural and processed food consumers.

How to build science capacity

By Lim Chuan Poh
Nature - Last year, Singapore celebrated 20 years of government investment in science and technology. From 1991 to 2010, public expenditure on research and development doubled, from 0.4% to 0.8% of the gross domestic product. The number of research scientists in the public sector quadrupled, to nearly 13,000.

One great success is our scholarship programme. Since 2001, it has enabled talented young Singaporeans to pursue education and training — from the undergraduate level to the postdoctoral — in leading universities and labs around the world. These students then return to Singapore to continue their research for up to six years. Working abroad, they see first hand that a rich milieu is crucial to the pursuit of excellent science. They bring back new networks and collaborations.

 

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Source and Photo: Nature, October 18th, 2012
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