Search Results for: Research

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW United Nations inter-agency programme has been launched to minimise the loss of life and property damage caused by floods. The International Flood Initiative will be headquartered at the Public Works Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan. The initiative would “integrate the scientific, operational, educational and public awareness raising aspects of flood management, including the social response and communication dimensions of flooding and related disaster preparedness,” said UN cultural and scientific organisation UNESCO director-general Koïchiro Matsuura.…

IRELAND’S Celtic Tiger economy may have lost a little of its bounce recently, with double-digit annual growth figures no longer predicted. However, the beast is still in fine fettle, as a recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) observer report notes: "The economy has bounced back.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE BRITISH government is donating GB Pounds 25 million (US$43 million) to support World Health Organisation (WHO) efforts to improve patient safety. The WHO will use the money for research into the issue and developing practical advice for health professionals and patients, whose role in protecting themselves when receiving medical treatment has been overlooked, said the UN agency.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A SUCCESSFUL European Union (EU) research project, which has developed plant-based health treatment alternatives to antibiotics in feed for cows and goats, is being expanded into the fish-farming sector. The RUMEN-UP project found 23 out of 500 samples of plant materials with beneficial health effects on ruminants, especially cattle.…

BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg

THE PAINT and coatings industries in the Southern African states of Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zambia are closely linked to that of the regional economic giant South Africa in the that the major manufacturing plants are located in the industrialised area of South Africa’s Gauteng province with branch offices in the neighbouring states acting as agents for the parent companies in South Africa.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is hailing the success of a European Union (EU)-funded research project that has created new technology helping small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) plants to run on biomass fuels. Applicable for the power range of 200 – 1,000 kWel, its key innovation is using a screw-type steam engine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will fund with Euro 8.1 million a research project to identify the genes making people more prone to addictions of any kind. The GENADDICT Integrated Project links eight leading public and private research organisations and is coordinated by Professor Ian Kitchen, of the University of Surrey.…

BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg

DROUGHT-HIT and AIDS-ravaged southern Africa is faced with a looming humanitarian crisis with almost 12 million people in need of food aid. But genetically modified (GM) crops remain off the menu for most African governments who remain reluctant to allow their farmers to do business with GM giants Monsanto and Syngenta.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

AMERICAN researchers have developed a sunscreen made of soybeans that is to be commercially exploited. SoyScreen, created by scientists from the US Agricultural Research Service (ARS), is a biodegradable sunscreen derived from soybean oil. It contains ferulic acid, an antioxidant also found in rice, oats and other plants, that is the active ingredient which protects the skin against the sun’s harmful rays.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project is seeking to improve knowledge of what causes food allergies, a significant problem for the seafood sector. The EuroPrevall project will try to identify risk factors (environmental, microbial, genetic) that cause allergic reactions, helping pinpoint the circumstances sparking these problems.…