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Budget cuts hit Barcelona’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Izpisúa resigns

ACN

The Director of Barcelona’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB), world-famous scientist Juan Carlos Izpisúa, resigned due to the lack of financial and political support from both Spanish and Catalan Governments. Such news was first published by Spanish newspaper ‘El País’ and then confirmed by sources in the research centre. Internationally, Izpisúa is considered to be one of the most esteemed and learned scientists in the field of stem cells. With the Director stepping down, the CMRB could well lose most of its current projects. Indeed, 18 of the 21 projects are the intellectual property of Izpisúa and might no longer be carried out in the Barcelona-based research centre if Izpisúa quit.

January 15, 2014 07:21 PM

Mediterranean diet reduces by 40% the risk of having diabetes

ACN

People who follow a Mediterranean diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil will reduce by 40% the risk of having diabetes, and by 18% if the diet is enriched with nuts. This is one of the main conclusions of a scientific study conducted by 18 research centres throughout Spain on 3,500 people. Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Director of this study, said that such results would change the usual perception of diabetes prevention. The Mediterranean diet is not solely efficient against diabetes. Indeed, the results showed that following such a diet also reduced by 30% the chances of contracting cardiovascular diseases.

January 11, 2014 04:46 PM

Catalonia ranked fourth in Spain with GDP per capita of €26,412

ACN

Catalonia has confirmed its fourth place in the Autonomous Community rankings of GDP per capita, according to figures released by the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE). This data from 2012 reveals that the Basque Country is still the leading area in Spain, followed by the region of Madrid and Navarre. The figures indicate that the GDP per capita of Catalonia amounted to €26,412 in 2012, meaning 0.7 % less than in 2011. In 2012, the wealth generated by the Catalans totalled €192,535 million, 18.7 % of the Spanish GDP, above the 2011 figures when Catalonia contributed to 18.6 % of the Spanish economy.

December 27, 2013 07:37 PM

First dive for Catalan submarine ICTINEU 3 built through crowd-funding

ACN / Emma Garzi

ICTINEU 3, a scientific submersible designed and build in Catalonia, has entered the water for the very first time in a test dive near Barcelona. For over ten years, particular donations have helped construct this submarine that will be dedicated to “underwater exploration, scientific research and underwater intervention”. This first test was used to verify that all of the submarine’s systems could function underwater, and the next step will be a dive in seawater. ICTINEU 3 was named after the very first air independent and combustion engine driven submarine, ICTINEU 1, which was invented by Figueres’ engineer Narcís Monturiol and dived for the first time in the Catalan capital’s harbour.

December 20, 2013 07:50 PM

Grífols and ACE Foundation to test an Alzheimer’s vaccine in January 2014

ACN

The Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols and Barcelona’s Alzheimer Treatment&Research Center of Fundació ACE – a family charity – have announced that they will run tests of a vaccine against this neurodegenerative illness from January 2014. It will target 365 Alzheimer’s patients at mild and moderate stages of the illness. The first investigation project that ACE’s centre will host is called Ambar. The 365 participants will be randomly divided into three treatment groups plus a fourth control group. The patients will come from 17 Spanish hospitals and 20 United States’ medical centres. From 1996, the ACE Foundation has evaluated more than 14,000 people, 47% of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It has the largest bank of genetic data in Europe.

December 13, 2013 07:11 PM

Another Catalan journalist is kidnapped in Syria

ACN

Freelance photojournalist Ricard Garcia has been kidnapped in the Syrian province of Raqqa together with El Mundo reporter Javier Espinosa by a group related to Al-Qaeda. On the 4th September, the Catalan Marc Marginedas, reporter from El Periódico, was also kidnapped in Syria. Barcelona-born Garcia and Málaga-born Espinosa have been missing since the 16th September near the Tal Abyad checkpoint. However, the news had not been announced until this Tuesday, when El Mundo published the information. They were kidnapped near the Turkish border together with 4 soldiers of Ahfad al Moustapha, one of the brigades of the Free Syrian Army, who were supposed to protect them. The 4 soldiers were released 12 days after they were taken away, but not the 2 journalists. Marginedas also remains in captivity.

December 10, 2013 03:11 PM

Electricity companies not to cut off supply to people in need

ACN

The Catalan Government wants energy companies not to cut off the domestic power supply to people in financial difficulties who are temporarily unable to pay their bills. The Catalan Ministry of Business and Employment aims to fight so-called ‘energy poverty’: people who are obliged to do without electricity or gas because they simply cannot afford the bills. In the current economic crisis, thousands of Catalan households (around 20%) are facing this problem, which means they cannot use the heating during winter or they have problems cooking meals. In order to achieve this objective, the Catalan Executive is looking at modifying Catalonia’s Consumption Code to include this initiative fighting ‘energy poverty’.

December 5, 2013 04:08 PM

Further Catalan Police officers are indicted for arrestee's death

ACN

Eight officers of the Catalan Police Force – called Mossos d’Esquadra – and two paramedics of the Catalan Emergency Services (SEM) have been indicted on Wednesday, following the death of a man while he was in custody. Last July, Yassir El Younoussi was arrested in El Vendrell for a threatening-authority felony. After a medical exam, El Younoussi was put into custody at the police station. According to the Catalan Police, due to his violent and agitated behaviour he was tied up with strips and forced to wear a helmet in order not to injure himself. He died a few hours later while still in custody at the police station. This case occurs a few weeks after another person died a few hours after the intervention of the Catalan Police in Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood. In fact, this Wednesday, a tenth police officer has been indicted for the Raval case.

December 4, 2013 07:37 PM

Catalan pupils score above the OECD average in Reading but not in Science and Maths

ACN

The latest PISA survey shows that pupils in Catalonia perform above the Spanish average in all subjects except Science knowledge. The survey checks the knowledge of 15 year-old students of 34 member countries of the OECD and 31 others associated with this international organization in Reading, Science and Maths. In total, it evaluates up to 300.000 pupils, of which 25.313 are from Spain.

December 3, 2013 03:45 PM

Two Catalans to lead New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre

ACN

Doctor Joan Massagué has been appointed Scientific Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York , the world’s leading cancer research centre, which is part of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. The Catalan scientist has been chosen by an international expert committee and will take office on the 1st of January 2014. The President and CEO of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Craig B. Thomson, said that Massagué had been given the job for his “exemplarity as a scientist” and because he is an “international leader” in the study of metastasis and factors regulating cell growth. This announcement follows last year’s appointment of another Catalan Doctor, Josep Baselga, as the Physician-in-Chief of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. Both Baselga and Massagué will continue to combine their responsibilities in New York with their research in Barcelona.

November 26, 2013 07:03 PM

Highest-ever Catalan language skills for people living in Catalonia

ACN

The language skills of Catalonia’s population to understand, read, speak and write in Catalan have reached record highs, according to a report from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat) with data from 2011. That year, 95.2 % of the residents could understand Catalan, 79.1 % could read it, 73.2 % knew how to speak it, and 55.8 % knew how to write in this language. According to the Idescat figures, the foreign nationality population has registered the highest increases: 82.1 % of them stated they could understand Catalan in the 2011 survey, whereas, according to the previous census from 2001, only 61.1% of the foreign-born population had good language comprehension skills.

November 25, 2013 08:06 PM

Catalan chemists have already received 74% of the pending arrears

ACN

The Catalan Chemists’ Professional Association, in charge of distributing the money from partially-subsidised prescribed drugs, has already received €309 million of the €416 million arrears payments due.The Professional Association announced the “immediate distribution” of the money received. Two weeks ago, Catalan chemists went on strike for these arrears, urging the Catalan and Spanish Governments to issue the payments. In theory the Catalan Executive is in charge of paying them, but to do so it needs a previous transfer from the Spanish Government. The necessary transfers from Madrid have been arriving intermittently over the last year and on many occasions with considerable delay. For these reasons, chemists protested on the 7th November in front of the Spanish Government’s Delegation in Barcelona.

November 21, 2013 03:07 PM

A 9th police officer is indicted related to a man’s death

ACN

The judge investigating the death of a man a few hours after his arrest in Barcelona by the Catalan Police has decided to indict a 9th officer related to this case. On the 4th November, 8 Catalan Police officers were indicted and suspended from active service for physical aggression - which might have caused the arrestee’s death, trying to destroy evidence and consequently obstructing justice. The 9th officer is indicted for having allegedly cleaned up remains of blood on the street after the victim’s arrest, obstructing the judicial investigation. However, the Catalan Home Affairs Ministry has not suspended this 9th policeman, as the charges “are not so severe” as for the other 8 officers who actively participated in the arrest, but has decided to transfer him to another police station.

November 21, 2013 01:39 PM

Barcelona leads the way in digital identification through mobile phone

ACN

Barcelona’s City Council has launched idBCN, a mobile application that allows citizens to make themselves identified through their cell phone. This new digital identification system is a world pioneer in this field and allows citizens to access all kinds of paperwork and online services in a legal and safe technological framework. The initiative follows a series of actions promoting Barcelona’s current status as the Mobile World Capital, while also stressing the city’s commitment to becoming a leader in the world of ‘smart cities’, new technologies and mobility sectors.

November 20, 2013 09:35 PM

First time creating “micro-kidneys” from stem cells

ACN

Researchers from Barcelona’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB), the Catalan capital’s Hospital Clínic and the Salk Institute of California have successfully created three-dimensional renal structures which are virtually indistinguishable from embryonic kidneys. They have started creating kidney cells from human stem cells, and ultimately proven that these newly created cells could aggregate in vitro to form a “micro-kidney”. The team led by Juan Carlos Izpisúa, from the CMRB, said that this scientific breakthrough would facilitate the study of kidney diseases and enable scientists to work on new treatments. He added that this achievement was a great step towards developing therapies based on the use of stem cells.

November 18, 2013 09:41 PM

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