Search Results for: Ireland

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research team claims to have developed fabric incorporating nano-materials that can kill super-bugs such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), without the safety concerns associated with nano-silver. Its migration into the environment has sparked health fears, but the BioElectricSurface consortium involving the universities of Limerick, in Ireland; Wroclaw, in Poland; and Comenius University, in Slovakia; claims to have solved this problem.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

POP science reports have been raving about how towels, clothes and sheets impregnated with tiny nanoparticles can kill germs and wipe out body odour. A good example is nano-socks, containing nano-silver, which apparently stop feet smelling, no matter how sweaty.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

IN print production, inspection has traditionally taken place at the very end of the converting chain, once an entire batch of processed material has come off the presses. Errors are commonly found at this final stage in the printing process, and because of this, printers have traditionally produced a surplus of printed material to deal with the inevitable erroneous products.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project is developing an innovative business model which can allow consumers to design and choose their own clothing online, with manufacturers shipping remotely-controlled bespoke work. The Euro 5.17 million Open Garments project aims to create a secure and practical electronic communications system delivering customer requirements to manufacturers, who can act on them swiftly.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, KEITH NUTHALL and MJ DESCHAMPS

EUROPEAN Union (EU) governments are facing a political crossroads on a key question whose answer will have an important impact on the EU knitwear sector – both manufacturers and retail. That is the issue of rules of origin and whether there should be an EU-wide law that says clothing and accessories (plus a wide range of other manufactured goods) should be sold with labels saying which country they are made in, if they are imported from outside the EU.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Maverick airlines push forward on e-cigarette sales

Major low-cost airlines in Europe are consolidating their e-cigarette sales to passengers. But the taboo against public smoking makes smokers shy of ‘lighting up’ in the cabin – they dive into the toilets if they smoke on board.…

BY MARK ROWE and E BLAKE BERRY

GIVEN Poland’s reputation as a reliable member of the international community, it is perhaps surprising Poland was (until 2009 at least) reckoned by the European Commission and the US Department of State to have one of the EU’s poorest records for tackling money laundering.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THERAPY dogs can be a great nursing aid, but new European Union (EU)-funded research has shown how pure bred dogs can be powerful resource for investigating the sources of disease in human patients. The fact is that dogs suffer from many of the same diseases as their two-legged owners, and it is a lot easier to investigate the genetic causes of such illnesses in pure bred dogs.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

IT sounds like every child’s dream job – chocolate testing: something out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But it is of course a deadly serious business – not just to ensure chocolate tastes good and is healthy – but also to comply with laws on chocolate composition.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE REFORM of the European Union’s (EU) sector was supposed to be good news for its confectionery industry – lowering prices, while guaranteeing supplies. But it did not work out that way, said a report from the EU’s financial watchdog, the European Court of Auditors.…