The inflammatory myopathies comprise three different entities: polymyositis, inclusion body myositis and dermatomyositis. People in all age groups can be affected by major muscle weakness and pain, and show evidence of muscle fiber breakdown in the serum. Autoimmune pathogenetic mechanisms have been identified in each inflammatory myopathy, but the antigen(s) recognized by the autoreactive inflammatory cells and the factors eliciting the aberrant immune responses remain unknown. Currently, patients a

Internet banking is causing the biggest shake up in the financial services industry since the 17th Century, according to new research to be presented at a conference in London today, Monday September 9 2002.

A Newcastle University expert has surveyed 26 banks and building societies offering services via the Internet and found that new companies are posing a major threat to the traditional banking industry by cleverly adapting to the 21st Century `Martini` customer, who demands banking `anyt

Politicians and pressure groups are much more likely to engage young people in politics through the Internet than more traditional methods, according to new ESRC-funded research. The research, which was carried out by NOP as part of the ESRC`s Democracy and Participation Research Programme, showed that 15-24 year olds are three times more likely to be politically active through the Internet than traditional political activities.

There has been much concern that only 40 per cent of 18-24 year

Climate clues from the Earth’s poles – swarming whale food, winners and losers in Antarctic waters, and solar insights at the BA 2002 Annual Meeting

The latest thinking on the chances of extinction for Antarctic animals in seas and lakes, whale food hiding beneath sea ice, and new insights on the Sun’s spin are among the hot topics slated for discussion at today’s Frontiers of Polar Science panel, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), through i

The week after Carlton Harris underwent a novel therapy at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center to destroy three cancerous liver tumors, he was back at the gym huffing, puffing, lifting and sweating. Not even a single stitch to show for his trouble, Harris wore only a small bandage to cover the three tiny holes — the size of a snake-bite — where wire probes entered his skin and literally burned away the cancerous tumors inside his liver.

So simple is the new procedure — called radiofrequ

NASA scientists will venture into an isolated part of the Bolivian Amazon to try and uncover the origin of a 5 mile (8 kilometer) diameter crater there known as the Iturralde Crater. Traveling to this inhospitable forest setting, the Iturralde Crater Expedition 2002 will seek to determine if the unusual circular crater was created by a meteor or comet.

Organized by Dr. Peter Wasilewski of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., the Iturralde Crater Expedition 2002 will be l