cut in Biological News

Key to evolutionary fitness: Cut the calories

Charles Darwin and his contemporaries postulated that food consumption in birds and mammals was limited by resource levels, that is, animals would eat as much as they could while food was plentiful and produce as many offspring as this would allow them to. However, recent research has shown that,...

University of Houston diesel testing center teams with state transportation agency to cut emissions

The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the University of Houston, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to test a system designed to reduce emissions produced by construction vehicles. "Imp...

Natural seed treatment could drastically cut pesticide use

The technology - which makes plants significantly more resistant to pests - has now been licensed for use by US agricultural company Becker Underwood in collaboration with Plant Bioscience Limited. Scientists have long understood that spraying crops with jasmonic acid - a chemical naturally prod...

Wings that waggle could cut aircraft emissions by 20 percent

Wings which redirect air to waggle sideways could cut airline fuel bills by 20% according to research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Airbus in the UK. The new approach, which promises to dramatically reduce mid-flight drag, uses tiny air powered jet...

Major funding to help cut CO2 emissions

The University of Nottingham is to share in 6.9m of research funding to investigate carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies which could drastically cut CO 2 emissions from fossil-fuel power stations. The funding from E.ON and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is to supp...

MIT: Novel needle could cut medical complications

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Each year, hundreds of thousands of people suffer medical complications from hypodermic needles that penetrate too far under their skin. A new device developed by MIT engineers and colleagues aims to prevent this from happening by keeping needles on target. The device, which i...

Einstein and Pitt researchers develop new TB test that will dramatically cut diagnosis time

March 19, 2009 (BRONX, NY) Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The University of Pittsburgh have developed an onsite method to quickly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and expose the deadly drug-resistant strains that can mingle undetected with treatable TB strains. This stud...

Process can cut the cost of making cellulosic biofuels

EAST LANSING, Mich. A patented Michigan State University process to pretreat corn-crop waste before conversion into ethanol means extra nutrients don't have to be added, cutting the cost of making biofuels from cellulose. The AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion) pretreatment process, developed by Br...

Feed a cold, feed a fever: Research shows calorie cut makes it harder to fight flu

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Dieters or those who consume fewer calories during flu season could have a harder time fighting off the flu virus, according to research by Michigan State University nutritional immunology professor Elizabeth Gardner. In a study published in the November issue of the Jou...

MIT analysis shows how cap-and-trade plans can cut greenhouse emissions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Researchers at MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research have produced a report concerning key design issues of proposed "cap-and-trade" programs that are under consideration in the United States as a way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The first contributi...

Greenhouse gas auction revenues can help cut Md. electric use significantly, says study

COLLEGE PARK, Md. Maryland officials can reduce electricity use in the state significantly by investing revenues from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) cap-and-trade auctions in energy efficiency programs, says a new study from a University of Maryland-led research team. It adds that ...

A dash of lime -- a new twist that may cut CO2 levels back to pre-industrial levels

Scientists say they have found a workable way of reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere by adding lime to seawater. And they think it has the potential to dramatically reverse CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere, reports Cath O'Driscoll in SCI's Chemistry & Industry magazine published today. S...

Looking for the Founatain of Youth? Cut your calories, research suggests

ST. LOUIS Want to slow the signs of aging and live longer? New Saint Louis University research suggests cutting back on calories could be a promising strategy. Calorie restriction has long been shown to slow the aging process in rats and mice. While scientists do not know how calorie restrict...

Weight-loss surgery can cut cancer risk

This release is available in French . Montreal, 19 June 2008 Successful bariatric surgery allows morbidly obese patients to lose up to 70 percent of their excess weight and to maintain weight loss. The latest study by Dr. Nicolas Christou of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and M...

U-M 'ballast-free ship' could cut costs while blocking aquatic invaders

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan researchers are investigating a radical new design for cargo ships that would eliminate ballast tanks, the water-filled compartments that enable non-native creatures to sneak into the Great Lakes from overseas. At least 185 non-native aquatic species ha...

New insights into how lasers cut flesh

Lasers are at the cutting edge of surgery. From cosmetic to brain surgery, intense beams of coherent light are gradually replacing the steel scalpel for many procedures. Despite this increasing popularity, there is still a lot that scientists do not know about the ways in which laser light inter...

UK scientists working to help cut ID theft

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is part of Biotesting Europe, a new 358,000 biometrics project, part-funded by the European Union. The project will ensure that future testing procedures and facilities meet the needs of systems users and developers, building confidence in this growing indus...

Changes in amino acids in the 1918 influenza virus cut transmission

Modest changes in the 1918 flu virus's hemagglutinin receptor binding site—a molecular structure critical for the spread of infection—stopped viral transmission in ferrets, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and at the Centers for Disease Control and...

New research to cut animal testing

Researchers at The University of Manchester have been awarded £130,000 to develop new techniques to reduce the need for animals in drug testing. Current checks to establish whether a new drug is carcinogenic can be inconclusive and require further testing on live animals to establish whether they...

Serengeti patrols cut poaching of buffalo, elephants, rhinos

A technique used since the 1930s to estimate the abundance of fish has shown for the first time that enforcement patrols are effective at reducing poaching of elephants, African buffaloes and black rhinos in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. "Wildlife within protected areas is under incr...

New device could cut chemotherapy deaths

A new method of delivering chemotherapy to cancer patients without incurring side effects such as hair loss and vomiting is being developed. The method, produced at the University of Bath, England, involves using tiny fibres and beads soaked in the chemotherapy drug which are then implanted into...

Study finds drug may cut down involuntary movements

The medication tetrabenazine cut down involuntary movement in patients with Huntington's disease on average by about 25 percent, with many patients experiencing a greater improvement, according to a study in the February 14 issue of the journal Neurology. Overall, patients who received the medic...

Antibacterial coatings cut infection rates

Putting antibacterial coatings on hip and knee implants and biomedical devices such as catheters could cut infection rates following surgery and significantly reduce health care costs and improve quality of life for patients, researchers at the University of South Australia have found. A signific...

Anyway you slice it, tomatoes cut through drought with new gene

New tomato research has its roots in yielding more food to feed more people, according to Dr. Kendal Hirschi about results announced today. His team's study appears in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team made tomato plants over-express the gene, AVP1, which...

President Bush's cut to AIDS prevention in Africa would be devastating

Twenty-eight years after intense selective logging stopped in the region now known as Uganda's Kibale National Park, the red-tailed guenon (Cercophithecus ascanius) is a primate still in decline. The logging practice, scientists report in a new study, changed the ecological balance for these monkey...

Thai spice helps cut blood sugar swings

In this obesity-obsessed world, the dream ingredient must be something that tastes good enough to be a condiment or flavoring and yet somehow helps us keep our weight down. Consider hydroxycitric acid (HCA), known variously as Brindle berry or Malabar tamarind, which is used in Indian and Thai food...

Controversial drug shown to act on brain protein to cut alcohol use

Medication against nicotine addiction is nowadays readily available. However, a similar and equally dangerous addiction, alcoholism, can't yet be controlled by drugs. Or can it be? Researchers from the University of California in San Diego identified a natural compound able to block alcohol addict...

New cancer drug delivery system is effective and reversible

...an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and ideally its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. University of Illinois researchers report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system ...

Opening a new window on daylight

... A new approach to windows that could let in more light and cut indoor lighting needs by up to 99% in buildings in Tropical regions without...or a city, such as Bangkok, the potential for daylighting is high and could cut daytime electric lighting requirements significantly. The team suggests tha...

Sex in the Caribbean: Environmental change drives evolutionary change -- eventually

...nvironment, fed by nutrient-rich waters surging up along South America, into a crystal-clear, nutrient-poor environment. "As the Caribbean Sea was cut off from the Pacific Ocean, many new species appeared in the fossil record, and all reproduced sexually," said Aaron O'Dea, who holds a Tupper Postdoc...

UBC researchers help push for standard DNA barcodes for plants

...ed, and when combined, provide a near-unique signature for barcoding." Limiting the barcode to information generated from two DNA sites should help cut costs associated with sequencing and retrieving the correct information. The researchers used 400 land plant samples to test the two-site solution....

DOE-funded research projects win 46 R&D 100 Awards for 2009

...erials performance with 85 percent higher stretch capability strength, enabling lighter weight designs. The technology uses superconducting magnets to cut down on energy use in the typical heat treat processing. High magnetic fields processing reduces residual stress (post-heat treating stress) and elimi...

Researchers achieve major breakthrough with water desalination system

...water as a source for a large-scale desalination plant. The M3 system helps cut both costs and time. "Our M3 water desalination system provides an al...dware in the system. "The advantages of this type of system are that it can cut costs, and because it is mobile, only one M3 system needs to be built to te...

Alzheimer's disease drug treats traumatic brain injury, report GUMC researchers

...d when a long brain protein known as the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is cut in two by the enzyme beta secretase, and then cut once again by a second enzyme known as gamma secretase. Agents that inhibit...

Landmark project to map genomics of complex ant systems

...io-fuels, or improve our agricultural methods." Gerardo is an expert in the ecology and evolution of fungus-growing ants. These "gardening" insects cut and transport leaves to nourish their food crops of fungi. Some ant species can process 15 percent of the leaves within a dense rain forest. An array ...

Army study improves ability to predict drinking water needs

...public and disaster relief efforts. Dr. Cheuvront points out that an improved sweating prediction equation would not only help keep troops healthy and cut the cost of operations, but would also facilitate better civilian water planning when desired. The harder an individual exercises, the more oxygen ...

Robo-bats with metal muscles may be next generation of remote control flyers

...hange their electric resistance, which can be easily measured, thus providing simultaneous action and sensory input. This dual functionality will help cut down on the robo-bat's weight, and allow the robot to respond quickly to changing conditions such as a gust of wind as perfectly as a real bat." ...

Molecular typesetting -- proofreading without a proofreader

...that the RNA polymerase slides both forwards and backwards along the RNA sequence it has created. What's more, it has miniature scissors that can then cut out the last few letters of RNA. So how are errors corrected? Intelligent typesetters would remove the last few letters when they spot an error. Th...

American Chemical Society's Weekly Presspac -- June 17, 2009

...y, Yingjun Chen and colleagues note that government officials have said for years that coal briquettes and improved stoves with better ventilation may cut emissions, but few scientific studies have tested this claim. Millions of homes in rural China and other parts of the world burn raw coal chunks in sm...

GEN reports on alternative feedstocks for ethanol production

...warming require that technologies be used to significantly lower this number." Edenspace Systems is working on Energy Corn, a feedstock designed to cut the cost of producing cellulosic biofuels from corn stover. The company's technology platform, based on identifying promising cellulose genes, transfo...