Fire danger rating systems are used to assess the potential for bushfire occurrence, fire spread and difficulty of fire suppression. Typically, fire danger rating systems combine meteorological information with estimates of the moisture content of the fuel to produce a fire danger index. Fire danger indices are used to declare fire bans and to schedule prescribed burns, among other applications...

All aspects of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis are critically influenced by the inflammatory response in vascular plaques. Research in the field of innate immunity from the past 2 decades has uncovered many novel mechanisms elucidating how immune cells sense microbes, tissue damage, and metabolic derangements. Here, we summarize which triggers of innate immunity appear during atherogenesis ...

In his recent and interesting contribution On Heidegger, medicine, and the modernity of modern medical technology Brassington brings together Heidegger s philosophy of technology on the one hand and medicine as being increasingly dependent on modern technology on the other (Brassington, 2006). Technology, for Heidegger, as Brassington points out, is associated with danger. Given the central rol...

The growing pressure on GPs to use chaperones when conducting intimate examinations (vaginal, rectal, breast, testicular) reveals an alarming deterioration in doctor–patient relationships. The peculiar intimacy of the relationship between doctor and patient renders the patient vulnerable to the doctor's abuse of power. Hence, making a sharp distinction between doctor and lover has been one of t...

While foreign pathogens and their products have long been known to activate the innate immune system, the recent recognition of a group of endogenous molecules that serve a similar function has provided a framework for understanding the overlap between the inflammatory responses activated by pathogens and injury. These endogenous molecules, termed alarmins, are normal cell constituents that can...

A factor that promotes blood vessel growth keeps two types of brain cells alive, say Maharaj et al. (page 491). Their findings might explain why anticancer drugs that block this factor cause neurological side effects. The drug target in question—vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)— binds to receptors on blood vessel endothelial cells. A localized increase in VEGF, which is produced by und...

Many shark populations are in danger of extinction as a direct result of man's activities. A change in attitude and a greater understanding of species' requirements are needed to prevent further destruction and replenish numbers, thus sustaining trade, fisheries and sport activity.