Because of decreasing deforestation and emissions from forest fires in the Amazon, the amount of particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide and other atmospheric pollutants released by burning biomass has fallen by 30 percent on average in dry season in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. This improvement in the region's air quality may be helping to prevent the premature deaths of some 1,700 adults per year throughout South America, according studies made in Brazil, UK and USA.

A new study published in the Journal of Virology reveals that NS1, a nonstructural protein composing the replication machinery of the dengue virus, binds to a well-known human enzyme as a way to increase energy production to be used for viral replication.

Brazilian scientists found that ADHD children and their mothers are more likely to have shorter telomeres, a hallmark of cellular aging, which is associated with increased risk for chronic diseases and conditions like diabetes, obesity and cancer.

Over the past two years, 137 experts from 24 countries and 82 institutions have collaborated to analyze a range of issues related to the sustainability of bioenergy production and use. The resulting report Bioenergy & Sustainability: Bridging the Gaps, will be launched at a symposium at the World Bank, on Sept. 28, 2015, in Washington, D.C.

Given the fear that the variola virus could be reintroduced to humans in weaponized form, new generations of smallpox vaccines are highly needed. A new study provides fresh insights on the relationship among the vaccinia strains used to eradicate smallpox in the world and indicates that differently than previously thought, the Dryvax virus that led to the second-generation of smallpox vaccine in the USA is closely related to the Brazilian strain and might as well have come from the French and not the British.

Scientists working with ALICE, a heavy-ion detector on the Large Hadron Collider ring, have made precise measurements of particle mass and electric charge that confirm the existence of a fundamental symmetry in nature. The findings, reported in a paper published online in Nature Physics on Aug. 17, led the researchers to confirm a fundamental symmetry between the nuclei of the particles and their antiparticles in terms of charge, parity and time.

A new study shows that nerve damage caused by leprosy is associated to changes in the brain of patients.

Scientists from Brazilian institutions and the Yale University School of Medicine have elucidated the chemical process behind a mysterious gastrointestinal disease that is becoming more frequent every day: the eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), also known as the 'asthma of the esophagus'. The researchers identified a molecule which plays a key role in this condition and that can be a target in a new therapeutic strategy.