"2-fold more" and "up to" and "did" in a sentence

Question

A incorporated up to 2-fold more B into C than did D.I have three questions about this sentences:1) foldmeans what? could more be replaced by greater?2) Does "up to" modify  "2-fold"?  What does "up to" mean? ("equal" or "almost" or...?)3) "than did D" = "than D did" = "than D incorporated B into C" ??? ,  if so, Does "than did D" sound more specialized than "than D did" in a thesis?The original sentence is: He observed villus cells incorporated up to 2-fold more acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol than did crypt cells.Thank you very much.

Goodman · Accepted Answer

I have three questions about this sentences:

1) fold means what? could more be replaced by greater?

2) Does "up to" modify "2-fold"? What does "up to" mean? ("equal" or "almost" or...?)

3) "than did D" = "than D did" = "than D incorporated B into C" ??? , if so, Does "than did D" sound more specialized than "than D did" in a thesis?

The original sentence is: He observed villus cells incorporated up to 2-fold more acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol than did crypt cells.

Maple,

The question seems to be related to biology. The word “incorporated” literally means to “integrate” or “combine” by definition. In this context, I would say it means "genreated" or produced.

“2 fold” means 2 times.

“Up to” 2 folds” means no more than 2 times.

Paul’s new sports car can run as fast as up to 200 miles per hour- meaning no faster than 200mph.

The “than did” structure (depending on the tense) is commonly used. E.g.

The Marketing strategy produced more revenues than did the headquarters.- To rewrite it differently, The Marketing strategy produced more revenues than the headquarters did. Hope that helps.

Maple · Answer

Your comments have helped me greatly.

Thank you very much!

CalifJim · Answer

villus cells incorporated up to 2-fold more acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol than did crypt cells.

villus cells incorporated certain amounts of acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol. Call these the A Amounts.
crypt cells incorporated certain amounts of acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol. Call these the B Amounts.

The A Amounts were greater than the B Amounts.
In fact, sometimes an A Amount was two times the corresponding B Amount.
(Recalling that 300 x 2 = 600

:
If a B Amount was 300 units, the corresponding A Amount could be 301, 308, 320, 370, 450, 500, ..., or 600 units.)

I hope that helps.
CJ

Maple · Answer

This explanation is really a shortcut to comprehend it.

Thank you!

Zjfrank · Answer

CalifJimvillus cells incorporated up to 2-fold more acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol than did crypt cells.

villus cells incorporated certain amounts of acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol. Call these the A Amounts.
crypt cells incorporated certain amounts of acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol. Call these the B Amounts.

The A Amounts were greater than the B Amounts.
In fact, sometimes an A Amount was two times the corresponding B Amount.
(Recalling that 300 x 2 = 600 :
If an A Amount was 300 units, the corresponding B Amount could be 301, 308, 320, 370, 450, 500, ..., or 600 units.)

I hope that helps.
CJ

Hi everybody, I'm new to the forum. I have a different question somewhat related to the reply and don't know whether it's proper to just follow this thread. Anyway, the question is:

Is there a difference in the meaning between "two times more" and "twice as much"? If we have two times more something, do we now have three times as much something as we originally have, given that the original one is still there?

As stated in the original sentence:

Villus cells incorporated up to 2-fold more acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol than did crypt cells.

Does is actually mean:

Villus cells incorporated up to 3-fold as much acetate into digitonin-precipitable sterol as crypt cells did. ?

I'm very confused on this question. Thank you.

By the way, is there a misprint in C.J.'s reply? I think the last sentence should be:

If an B Amount was 300 units, the corresponding A Amount could be 301, 308, 320, 370, 450, 500, ..., or 600 units.

And could the A amount even be 601, 605, ..., 900 units, if there does exist a difference between "times more" and "times as much"?

CalifJim · Answer

It was more than a misprint. It was a mistake!
Thanks for pointing it out. I have edited it to correct it.

two-fold more, two times more than, twice, two times as much, twice as much all have the same meaning.

2-fold more does not mean 3-fold as much.

CJ

Maple · Answer

A mistake or neglect…but it doesn’t at all prevent us from grasping the intended meaning.

"2-fold more" and "up to" and "did" in a sentence

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