Monthly Archives: March 2012

ECCMID 2012

BMC Infectious Diseases will be attending the 22nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in London. The four day conference presents an almost overwhelming series of talks, poster sessions and workshops highlighting the most up-to-date research in the field. From the London-centric (Preparing for infectious diseases at the London 2012 Olympic Games)… Read more »

Medicine

Tuberculosis – a global health emergency

World Tuberculosis(TB) Day is observed every year, on March 24th – the day in 1882 when Robert Koch discovered the bacteria that causes TB. Despite much effort to control the disease, it is estimated that one third of the world’s population is infected with TB, and in 1993 the World Health Organization declared tuberculosis a global… Read more »

Medicine

The Past, Present and Future of Urology

History declares that the patron saint of Paris, Sainte Geneviève, thwarted Attila the Hun and his army’s invasion of the city in 451 AD. No such piety stood in the way of some 14,000 urologists from over 100 countries, however, who descended on the French capital for the 27th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU)… Read more »

Medicine

Palms, peccaries and perturbations

The role of small scale disturbances in shaping tropical forests is explored in new research by Simon Queenborough and colleagues published in BMC Ecology. Whilst large scale damage to forests, due to factors such as hurricanes or lighting, has a big impact on forest structure the effect of smaller disturbances can sometimes be overlooked. This… Read more »

Medicine

Beaches, bathsalts and the best of the best in Biophysics

A little over two centuries ago, pioneering physicist Thomas Young—perhaps the first biophysicist— published his seminal work on the wave theory of light, overturning Newton’s ideas in the process.  A century before Newton was born, a different breed of pioneer was setting foot on the beaches of south-western USA, as Juan Cabrillo claimed what is… Read more »

Biology