The demonstration that astrocytes, the brain's most abundant cell type, participate in the formation of inhibitory synapses in the cortex suggests an important role for these cells in some neurological disorders.

A study conducted by scientists in Brazil and the United Kingdom has quantified the impact that selective logging, partial destruction by burning, and fragmentation resulting from the development of pastures and plantations have had on the Amazon rainforest. In combination, these factors could be removing nearly 54 million tons of carbon from the forest each year, introduced into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. This total represents up to 40 percent of the carbon loss caused by deforestation in the region.

The reduction of soil carbon stock caused by the conversion of pasture areas into sugarcane plantations may be offset within two or three years of cultivation. The calculation appears in a study conducted by researchers at University of Sao Paulo in collaboration with colleagues from the Federal Institute of Alagoas, the Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology Laboratory, the Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement in France and Harvard University, Colorado State University and the Shell Technology Center Houston in USA.

Brazilian researchers have confirmed the importance of a specific group of neurons found in a region of the brain known as the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) in detecting changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and in modulating the activity of the neuronal groups that control respiratory activity. The group's work has demonstrated that the respiratory changes caused by the increase in CO2 levels are compromised during the occurrence of selective destruction of the RTN neurons that express Phox2b.

The World Cultural Council will present the 2014 ALBERT EINSTEIN World Award of Science to Professor Sir Philip Cohen and the JOSE VASCONCELOS World Award of Education to Professor Federico Rosei on the occasion of the 31st Award Ceremony, which will take place on Monday 17th November within the framework of the Aalto University Academic Summit on "The Impact of Universities on Economic Growth", Espoo, Finland. For further details please visit: http://wcc.aalto.fi/en/.

FAPESP announces the SPRINT -- Sao Paulo Researchers in International Collaboration, a strategy designed to encourage and promote the advancement of scientific research through the engagement of researchers affiliated with research institutions in the Brazilian State of Sao Paulo with researcher partners abroad.

An unprecedented research conducted by a group of neuroscientists has demonstrated that it is possible to train brain patterns associated with empathic feelings. Volunteers who received neurofeedback about their own brain activity patterns whilst being scanned inside a functional magnetic resonance machine were able to increase empathic brain states. These findings could open new possibilities for treatment of clinical situations, such as antisocial personality disorder and postpartum depression.