Search Results for: Research

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE STUDENT drinks market in the United States could be more lucrative than official statistics have suggested. A study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research concludes college students underestimate volumes when asked how many drinks they consume, because the measures they pour are larger than standard amounts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN research network EUREKA has launched a project to design an industrial system capable of creating fine mineral fibres from ceramic materials, using a super-hot plasma jet reactor. This could convert materials such as sand, dolomite and glass waste into an “ultra thin mineral fibre used for wide range applications”, said a EUREKA note.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers have compromised on the final shape of a directive reducing sulphur content in marine fuels. The result is legislation that permits higher sulphur usage than the parliament wanted, cutting its marine fuels content to 1.5% by 2007, for all vessels in the Baltic, the North Sea, and the English Channel, and passenger ships in all EU seas and oceans.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN research has shown drinking alcohol causes tobacco cravings even amongst light smokers consuming 10 or less cigarettes per day. A study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research found when light smokers drank four alcoholic drinks, rather than two, they wanted to smoke, while smokers given placebo drinks without alcohol or less than four alcoholic drinks did not.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FIRST soil atlas of Europe has been published by the European Commission, which includes advice on how to protect soil against erosion and pollution, as well as detailed regional maps of soil types. Welcoming its launch, European Union (EU) research Commissioner Janez Potocnik said: “We definitely undervalue the contribution of soil to our bio-diversity, but unless we protect it better, we will soon realise its importance in the worst possible way – by seeing the problems caused by its loss.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
EMPLOYEES’ motivation decreases significantly if they sense distrust from supervisors, according to new research from Germany’s University of Bonn.

Professor Armin Falk, research director at the Institute for the Study of Labour, conducted a controlled experiment of students to research people’s reaction to supervision.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) has called on the European Union’s (EU) governments and car industries to adopt long-term innovative strategies that guarantee a sustainable future for the EU automobile industry, a key purchaser of steel and other metals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FEEDING of elderly and infirm patients at care-homes will come under the microscope in a Euro 1 million research programme funded by the European Commission focusing on their nutrition. The NUTRI-SENEX initiative is expected to make detailed recommendations on manufacturing special foodstuffs for older people and offering more dietary choices in care-homes.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
NURSES caring for the elderly and the infirm are to receive help from a Euro 1 million research programme funded by the European Commission that will focus on ways to improve their patients’ nutrition. The NUTRI-SENEX multi-national initiative marks the first project of its kind to link experts in the care, dietary and teaching professions in different EU countries “to produce recommendations, survey health legislation and develop guidelines for functional and nutritionally-balanced food for the elderly.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENVIRONMENTAL health officers will be well acquainted with international efforts to develop hydrogen cars, but local authorities in Denmark wants to go further: they are planning to launch Europe’s first hydrogen-powered train. Three towns in western Jutland – Vemb, Lemvig and Thyborøn – have pledged funding to run a hydrogen train along the 59-kilometre railway that connects them.…