NEWS
保护东欧的考古遗产Protecting archaeological heritage in Eastern Europe - Europe’s rich archaeological heritage is under threat from major development projects, illegal excavations and natural risks like flooding and climate change. Preventive archaeology – which focuses on protecting sites as much as possible using non-detrimental methods – has emerged to counter this peril. In Eastern Europe, however, the concept is underdeveloped, meaning that many historically important locations are at risk. The EU-funded CONPRA project aimed to solve this problem by promoting preventive archaeology at universities and small businesses in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Serbia. Today, this new method has successfully been introduced into university curricula, including a joint Master of Arts in professional archaeology at the University of Ljubljana and the University of Belgrade. The MA is also on offer at universities in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Zagreb, Croatia; Skopje, North Macedonia and Novi Sad, Serbia.
研究人员研发出首个专门针对婴幼儿的皮质醇疗法Researchers develop first cortisol treatment specifically designed for infants - Around one in 12 000 children are born with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a genetic mutation that blocks production of cortisol by the adrenal gland. Known as the stress hormone, cortisol has a critical role in combating infections and other sources of physical stress such as extreme exercise or surgery: without it infants cannot survive. The TAIN project has developed a cortisol replacement therapy to treat CAH and other adrenal insufficiency disorders based on a new preparation of the steroid hydrocortisone, the synthetic version of cortisol, designed specifically for children from birth up to six years. Developed under the name Infacort, the product is currently being evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) following successful phase III clinical trials by the project consortium.
海螺毒素用于研发新药Sea snail poison promises new medicines - Predatory marine cone snails are common in tropical seas where they prey on small fish and other aquatic life using poisonous stings, which can also be fatal to humans. Their venom contains a cocktail of toxins, among which molecules known as peptides – or mini-proteins – are common. Cell biologists have studied these conopeptides because of their important effects on the human nervous system. They are already used in neuroscience research and drug development, with a medication for the treatment of severe pain approved by US regulators. However, although cone snail venom contains some 200 000 promising bioactive compounds, related research is complicated because conopeptides are difficult to obtain or synthesise chemically. The EU-funded CONBIOS project discovered a better method for producing conopeptides, offering the prospect of new pain relief drugs for millions. CONBIOS also found new insulin molecules that reduce sugar levels much more quickly than current diabetes drugs. Both these important discoveries received international media attention.
UPCOMING EVENT
邀请函：第二届ENRICH网络会议将在华举行Invitation 2nd Webinar ENRICH in China
MaX会议－Exascale级材料设计生态系统MaX Conference on the Materials Design Ecosystem at the Exascale - The MaX Centre takes the opportunity of its general conference to share with the scientific community its current efforts and future perspectives, as well as to underline the state of the art of both the scientific and the technological innovation which can disruptively impact on material discovery in the next decade. The general focus of the Conference is on scientific advances in computational materials research, as well as future developments in the exascale perspective. Time: 29-31 January 2018; Place: Trieste, Italy
地平线2020项目集群研讨会 H2020 Project Clustering Workshop - This workshop is organized by the ReCRED project aiming at establishing tight connections with more than 20 relative H2020 projects in the fields of e-privacy and cybersecurity and on various topics such as Access Control, Trust e-Services, Cybersecurity in IoT and Cybersecurity in Social Media. Project descriptions together with the outcomes achieved during the lifespan of the projects will be presented to the audience. Time: 31 January 2018; Place: Athens, Greece