PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Unusual feed supplement could ease greenhouse gassy cows

2010-09-07
(Press-News.org) Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased by an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn State dairy scientist.

In a series of laboratory experiments and a live animal test, an oregano-based supplement not only decreased methane emissions in dairy cows by 40 percent, but also improved milk production, according to Alexander Hristov, an associate professor of dairy nutrition.

The natural methane-reduction supplement could lead to a cleaner environment and more productive dairy operations.

"Cattle are actually a major producer of methane gas and methane is a significant greenhouse gas," Hristov said. "In fact, worldwide, livestock emits 37 percent of anthropogenic methane."

Anthropegenic methane is methane produced by human activities, such as agriculture.

Compared to carbon dioxide, methane has 23 times the potential to create global warming, Hristov said. The Environmental Protection Agency bases the global warming potential of methane on the gas's absorption of infrared radiation, the spectral location of its absorbing wavelengths and the length of time methane remains in the atmosphere.

Methane production is a natural part of the digestive process of cows and other ruminants, such as bison, sheep and goats. When the cow digests food, bacteria in the rumen, the largest of the four-chambered stomach, break the material down intro nutrients in a fermentation process. Two of the byproducts of this fermentation are carbon dioxide and methane.

"Any cut in the methane emissions would be beneficial," Hristov said.

Experiments revealed another benefit of the gas-reducing supplement. It increased daily milk production by nearly three pounds of milk for each cow during the trials. The researcher anticipated the higher milk productivity from the herd.

"Since methane production is an energy loss for the animal, this isn't really a surprise," Hristov said. "If you decrease energy loss, the cows can use that energy for other processes, such as making milk."

Hristov said that finding a natural solution for methane reduction in cattle has taken him approximately six years. Natural methane reduction measures are preferable to current treatments, such as feed antibiotics.

Hristov first screened hundreds of essential oils, plants and various compounds in the laboratory before arriving at oregano as a possible solution. During the experiments, oregano consistently reduced methane without demonstrating any negative effects.

Following the laboratory experiments, Hristov conducted an experiment to study the effects of oregano on lactating cows at Penn State's dairy barns. He is currently conducting follow-up animal trials to verify the early findings and to further isolate specific compounds involved in the suppression of methane.

Hristov said that some compounds that are found in oregano, including carvacrol, geraniol and thymol, seem to play a more significant role in methane suppression.

Identifying the active compounds is important because pure compounds are easier to produce commercially and more economical for farmers to use.

"If the follow-up trials are successful, we will keep trying to identify the active compounds in oregano to produce purer products," said Hristov.

Hristov has filed a provisional patent for this work.

INFORMATION:

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New robotic head and neck cancer surgery preserves speech, without scarring

New robotic head and neck cancer surgery preserves speech, without scarring
2010-09-07
VIDEO: Tamer A. Ghanem, M.D., Ph.D., director of Head and Neck Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery Division in the Department of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital, discusses... Click here for more information. DETROIT – An incisionless robotic surgical procedure is offering patients a new option to remove certain head and neck cancer tumors without visible scarring, while preserving speech and the ability to eat. Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit ...

Researchers at UC Riverside find solution to cell death problem vexing stem cell research

Researchers at UC Riverside find solution to cell death problem vexing stem cell research
2010-09-07
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells can generate any given cell type in the adult human body, which is why they are of interest to stem cell scientists working on finding therapies for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, burns, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and other ailments. Before hPS cell technologies can be translated into clinical applications, however, some obstacles must first be overcome. One such obstacle frustrating stem cell researchers is "cell death" that the major types of hPS cells, including human embryonic stem cells ...

Plant nutrients from wastewater

2010-09-07
Plants cannot thrive without nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium, therefore farmers usually use organic and industrially manufactured mineral fertilizers to supply wheat, maize and others with these vital substances. In future, the need for nutrients will be soaring because we will only be able to supply the world's growing population with food and cover surging demands for biofuels by using fertilizers. Logically, that causes the prices for these nutrients to skyrocket. But that is not the only problem. The deposits of rock phosphates required for manufacturing ...

Choice of career is a major risk factor for persistent neurodermatitis

2010-09-07
A child who can't stop scratching himself may well be suffering from atopic dermatitis, also known as neurodermatitis. Extreme irritability of the skin with a concomitant urge to scratch is typical of the disorder. The condition often appears during the first year of life and is on the increase in industrialized countries. The patient's skin becomes hypersensitive and reacts strongly to even mild irritation. A research team led by Dr. Astrid Peters and Professor Katja Radon from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich has just published a longitudinal study which ...

Casing the joint

2010-09-07
St. Louis, MO – Current research provides a novel model for rheumatoid arthritis research. The related report by LaBranche et al, "Characterization of the KRN cell transfer model of rheumatoid arthritis (KRN-CTM), a chronic yet synchronized version of the K/BxN mouse," appears in the September 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Nearly 1% of the population is affected by rheumatoid arthritis, and women are affected three to five times more often then men. Although the course of disease varies greatly, daily living activities are impaired in most affected ...

Many textile and apparel firms misrepresent identity, suffer financially, MU study finds

2010-09-07
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With the fragmentation and globalization of the U.S. textile and apparel industry, business activities and roles have changed, impacting their organizational identity. The evolving organizational identity of these firms has created many questions as to how it affects the businesses financially. Now, a researcher at MU has explored how U.S. textile and apparel firms describe themselves as organizations and how those descriptions compare to U.S. Census Bureau industry classifications.Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor in the Textile and Apparel Management ...

Embargoed news from Annals of Internal Medicine

2010-09-07
1. A Low-carb Diet Based on Animal Protein May Increase Death Risk Evidence shows that a low-carbohydrate diet produces weight loss and improves some cardiovascular risk factors. However, health effects of a low-carbohydrate diet may depend on the type of protein and fat consumed. Researchers followed 85,168 women and 44,548 men on a low-carbohydrate diet for 26 and 20 years respectively. The patients ate either an animal-based (emphasizing animal sources of fat and protein) low-carbohydrate diet, or a vegetable-based low-carbohydrate diet. The researchers found that ...

Memory problems more common in men?

2010-09-07
ST. PAUL, Minn. –A new study shows that mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may affect more men than women. The research is published in the September 7, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Mild cognitive impairment is a condition in which people have problems with memory or thinking beyond that explained by the normal rate of aging. The study found that MCI was 1.5 times higher in men compared to women. MCI often leads to Alzheimer's disease. "This is the first study conducted among community-dwelling persons to find ...

Mayo Clinic study finds mild cognitive impairment is more common in men

2010-09-07
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A new Mayo Clinic study found that the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment was 1.5 times higher in men than in women. The research, part of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, also showed a prevalence rate of 16 percent in the population-based study of individuals aged 70-89 without dementia who live in Olmsted County, Minn. The study will be published in the September issue of Neurology. "The finding that the frequency of mild cognitive impairment is greater in men was unexpected, since the frequency of Alzheimer's disease is actually greater in women. ...

Interrupting death messages to treat bone disease

2010-09-07
A surface molecule on bacteria that instructs bone cells to die could be the target for new treatments for bone disease, says a scientist speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting today. Blocking the death signal from bacteria could be a way of treating painful bone infections that are resistant to antibiotics, such as those caused by Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Bone disease, or osteomyelitis, affects 1 in 5,000 people around the world. It can occur at any stage in life and attack any bone in the body, where it leads to ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse

Can everyday physical activity improve cognitive health in middle age?

Updated guidance reaffirms CPR with breaths essential for cardiac arrest following drowning

Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation

New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk

'Grow Your Own' teacher prep pipeline at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette funded by US Department of Education

Lab-grown human immune system uncovers weakened response in cancer patients

More than 5 million Americans would be eligible for psychedelic therapy, study finds

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers find community health workers play critical role in coordinating asthma care across home, school and community

Comprehensive Genomic Profiling leads to better patient outcomes, new joint study says  

Animated movie characters with strabismus are more likely to be villains, study finds

How retailers change ordering strategy when a supplier starts its own direct channel

Young coral use metabolic tricks to resist bleaching

Protecting tax whistleblowers pays off

Bioluminescent proteins made from scratch enable non-invasive, multi-functional biological imaging

New study links air pollution with higher rates of head and neck cancer

LSU researchers excavate earliest ancient Maya salt works

Building a diverse wildland fire workforce to meet future challenges

MBARI researchers discover remarkable new swimming sea slug in the deep sea

Decentralized social media ‘increases citizen empowerment’, says Oxford study

Validating an electronic frailty index in a national health system

Combination approach shows promise for treating rare, aggressive cancers

Raise the roof: How to reduce badminton birdie drift

Ouch! Commonalties found in pain vocalizations and interjections across cultures

Income-related disparities in mortality among young adults with type 2 diabetes

Medical board discipline of physicians for spreading medical misinformation

First-ever randomized clinical trial uses telehealth for suicide prevention

DNA packaging directly affects how fast DNA is copied in cells

Scientists develop advanced catalyst for self-driven seawater splitting with enhanced chloride resistance

City of Hope researchers discover why taking a mushroom supplement slows or prevents prostate cancer from getting worse

[Press-News.org] Unusual feed supplement could ease greenhouse gassy cows