Tag: Europe
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International Consortium Sequences Wheat Pathogen Genome
A group of agricultural scientists has sequenced the genome of a pathogen that causes the wheat disease septoria tritici blotch, responsible for severe crop losses. Their findings appeared 9 June 2011 in the journal PLoS Genetics. The consortium, led by USDA plant pathologist Steven Goodwin included researchers from the U.S., Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Iran,…
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Collaboration to Develop Second-Generation Malaria Vaccine
The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) says it has an agreement with Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V., a division of Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop a second-generation vaccine against malaria. PATH is an international non-profit organization that helps communities worldwide break longstanding cycles of poor health. According to World Health Organization (WHO),…
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GE Technology Selected for First Gas/Wind/Solar Power Plant
GE says it will provide the basic technology for a power plant in Turkey that generates electricity with a combination of natural gas, wind, and solar power. The plant, to be built by MetCap Energy Investments, a Turkish development company, is expected to provide power for more than 600,000 homes when it goes online in…
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Project Seeks Potatoes Resistant to Climate Change
Spain’s Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (Neiker-Tecnalia) is leading an international project to find potatoes tolerant of climate change and develop new potato varieties as needed. The potatoes should be suitable for growing under adverse environmental conditions, and help ensure their supply in the least favorable regions of the world. The potato is…
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Hybrid Construction Vehicles in Development Cut Fuel Use
Engineers at Aalto University in Finland are developing hybrid combustion/electric versions of heavy off-road work vehicles that can cut the amount of fuel they consume by half. This new technology, says the university, captures energy, which up to now has been lost by the machinery when working, and uses it instead of fuel. The engineering…
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Noisy ORs Associated with Infections After Surgery
Medical researchers and psychologists from Neuchâtel and Berne universities in Switzerland found that surgical patients are more likely to suffer surgical site infections (SSIs) if the operating room is noisy. The team published their findings in the July issue of the British Journal of Surgery. The researchers studied 35 patients who underwent planned, major abdominal…
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Patients’ Mobile Phones Found to Carry Resistant Bacteria
Researchers at Inonu University in Turkey found many mobile phones used by hospital patients and visitors to carry potentially dangerous bacteria, with some of those bacteria considered resistant to antibiotics. Their findings appear in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (paid subscription required). Inonu University’s Mehmet Sait Tekerekoglu and six colleagues…
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Adverse Effects Found with Permanent Hair Dye, Moisturizers
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health issued its first report of adverse effects from cosmetic products and found permanent hair dyes and face and body moisturizers to register the most severe or highest number of reports from health professionals. The institute defines cosmetic products as “all products that are applied to the external parts of…
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Solvay to Form Research Center at Korean Women’s University
Solvay, a chemical company in Brussels, Belgium, says it will locate its Korean research center on the campus of EWHA Women’s University in Seoul. The company’s investment in this venture will total EUR 16.8 million (USD 24.0 million). Solvay plans to invest EUR 13 million in a Research, Development and Technology (RDT) Centre at EWHA.…
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Hydrogen for Energy Generated from Ethanol, Sunlight
A team of researchers from Scotland, New Zealand, and Spain have developed a simpler and less expensive technology to generate hydrogen for energy. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). In this process, a solid photocatalyst is placed in a container with ethanol and exposed to ultraviolet light, part of…