Macabre finds in the bog at Alken Enge

Sulphur dioxide emissions from shipping have sharply decreased in EU ports thanks to an EU policy which limits sulphur content in fuels for ships at berth or at anchor in ports. Scientists at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre measured key air quality parameters in Mediterranean harbours before and after the entry into force of the low-sulphur requirements in January 2010. In European harbours they found an average decrease of 66% in concentrations of sulphur dioxide, a chemical compound that poses risks to health and the environment. Measurements taken in ...

People who give positive encouragement and constructive criticism could be wasting their breath according to the latest research from a psychology expert at Queen Mary, University of London. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, found that when people received either positive or negative feedback about their performance on complex decision-making tasks, it made their decision making worse. Study author Dr Magda Osman explained: "The kind of task people had to perform was difficult and demanding. So, when people received positive or negative ...

The mammalian skull, including that of people, is composed of about 20 bones. Fish, reptile and bird skulls, however, have considerably more. After all, when mammals evolved from reptile-like vertebrates 320 million years ago, the skull's structure became simplified during its development and the number of skull bones decreased. Some bones were lost in the lineage leading to mammals in the course of evolution, especially a number of skull roof bones. The skull's interparietal, which is one of the skull roof bones, particularly puzzled researchers: on the one hand, it ...

They're sleek. They're fast. They're powerful. And, they are deafening. Furthermore, those Top Gun military jets need to be up in the air in the wee hours – over land – to simulate their landings on aircraft carriers. But innovations out of the University of Cincinnati's Gas Dynamics and Propulsion Laboratory are showing promise in reducing the intense noise of these supersonic jets without impacting their power. It's research that can help neighborhoods slumber a little more soundly, keep their windows rattling a little less loudly and also protect the hearing of military ...

University of Cincinnati research – from noise reduction in sophisticated military jets to quieter car rides – will be presented at INTER-NOISE 2012, the 41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering, to be held Aug. 19-22 in New York City. UC is among only a few universities with a specific focus on vehicle noise control. The UC research to be presented at INTER-NOISE: UC innovations to reduce the noise of the nation's most sophisticated military aircraft. Jeff Kastner, research assistant professor in the UC College of Engineering and Applied ...

All noise is not necessarily equal – especially when it comes to sound minimization in automobiles. For instance, automakers have long used sound-absorbing materials (passive control) in the design of cars in order to minimize engine noise and the "routine" noise of tires traveling on smooth pavement at a consistent speed. However, a means to minimize sudden, unexpected noises – like those from an encounter with potholes, bumps or other roadway pavement obstacles – has been more problematic. A significant step in countering such unexpected roadway noises is the development ...

Until recent decades the Atlantic Rainforest covered a large area of today's Brazil from Amazonas to present-day Argentina. In the 1970s, after years of deforestation, this rain forest was almost completely destroyed, mainly replaced by cattle pastures. This study reveals an unexpected aspect of deforestation. Thorsten Dittmar's team and colleagues from Brazil and the USA show that the common practice of slash and burn left huge amounts of charcoal in the soil. This charcoal is washed out by rainfalls and transported by rivers into the Atlantic Ocean. The soluble fraction ...

WASHINGTON – Girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are significantly more likely to attempt suicide or injure themselves as young adults than girls who do not have ADHD, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Young women diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, particularly the type with early signs of impulsivity, were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide and two to three times more likely to report injuring themselves than comparable young women in a control group, according to ...

Current drug therapy for patients with HIV is unable to control the complete replication of the virus in the brain. The drugs therefore do not have any effect against the complications associated with neurocognitive impairment in patients with HIV. New research by Joseph Steiner and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University has discovered that a group of plant polyphenols known as catechins, which naturally occur in green tea and the seed of the cacao tree, may help in the prevention of these neurological complications. Their work is published online in Springer's Journal ...

Researchers in Leuven (VIB/KU Leuven) have confirmed their hypothesis that normalizing blood vessels by blocking oxygen sensor PHD2 would make chemotherapy more effective. They also demonstrated for the first time that this strategy would reduce the harmful side effects of chemotherapy on healthy organs. Limited success of chemotherapy The effectiveness of chemotherapy is first and foremost limited by the difficulties of delivering the anticancer drugs to the actual tumor. Tumors are characterized by abnormally shaped blood vessels – they are irregular in shape, have ...