EPJ E Highlight - Like a game of 'spot the difference' for disease-prone versus healthy people

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Published on Tuesday, 25 July 2017 18:51

The change in behaviour of natural nanoparticles, called lipoproteins, under pressure could provide new insights to better understand the genesis of high cholesterol and atherosclerosis

Understanding common diseases sometimes boils down to grasping some of their basic mechanisms. For instance, a specific kind of natural nanoparticles, called low-density lipoproteins (LDL), are fascinating scientists because their modification plays a key role in people affected by high cholesterol. They are also known for their role in the formation of atherosclerosis. Judith Peters from the University Grenoble Alpes and the Institute Laue Langevin, Grenoble, France and colleagues from the Medical University of Graz, Austria, mimicked variations of LDL found in people affected by such diseases. They then compared their responses to temperature variations and increased pressure with those of lipoproteins found in healthy people. Their findings, recently published in EPJ E, show that the LDL from healthy people behaved differently when subjected to high pressure compared to LDL affected by the common diseases studied.

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New Editor-in-Chief for EPJD – Prof Tommaso Calarco

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Published on Tuesday, 25 July 2017 18:35

The publishers of European Physical Journal D: Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Plasma Physics are delighted to announce the appointment of a new Editor-in-Chief, Professor Tommaso Calarco of the University of Ulm, Germany.

As Director of the Institute for Complex Quantum Systems and of the Centre for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology at Ulm, Prof Calarco’s research interests cover a broad range of topics in quantum and atom optics, quantum control and quantum information, and he is a member of the High-Level Steering Committee for the Quantum Flagship of the EC.

Prof Calarco has recently joined the Editorial Board for EPJD, and will take on the Editor-in-Chief role from January 2018, succeeding Prof Vladimir Buzek, who comes to the end of his five-year term.

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EPJ Plus Highlight - Astronauts to bring asteroid back into lunar orbit

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Published on Monday, 24 July 2017 18:30

Italian Space Agency presents plans to develop a robotic solar-powered spacecraft capable of displacing a near-Earth asteroid towards lunar orbit for ease of study

Future space exploration aims to fly further from Earth than ever before. Now, Italian Space Agency scientists have expressed an interest in contributing to the development of robotic technologies to bring an asteroid from beyond lunar orbit back into closer reach in order to better study it. In a paper published in EPJ Plus, Marco Tantardini and Enrico Flamini from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) make the case for taking part in the robotic phase of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). In addition to taking manned spaceflights deeper into space than ever before, the proposed mission would also bring some benefit for planetary science.

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