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Cardiff researchers are examining how the use of WhatsApp can engage black men in Butetown and Grangetown with prostate cancer risk information and increase prostate cancer awareness. New research funded by Cancer Research UK will fund a collaborative project at Cardiff University to examine the effectiveness of using WhatsApp as a tool for sharing cancer risk information among peers in the black community.

A new study aims, for the first time, to pinpoint the very moment the immune system recognizes a tumour to try to stop the disease earlier than previously possible. This research has the potential to give an entirely new perspective on the role of the immune system in cancer progression Heather Machado Currently cancer is usually diagnosed when tumours are already developed requiring, often significant, treatment to remove them and prevent further growth.

Economists from the University of Bath believe that end-of week-absenteeism could be linked to beating bank holiday traffic. Economists from the University of Bath have found a significantly lower school attendance rates on Fridays across England, with a 20% higher absence rate compared to other weekdays.

A new technology that uses light waves to measure activity in babies' brains has provided the most complete picture to date of functions like hearing, vision and cognitive processing outside a conventional brain scanner, in a new study led by researchers at UCL and Birkbeck.

UCL is releasing its animal research statistics today in collaboration with Understanding Animal Research - a non-profit that promotes open communications about animal research. UCL and nine other institutions together conducted over half of all'animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary, and scientific research - in the UK in 2023.

Heatwaves can worsen abnormal excitability of the brain in people with epilepsy, finds a new small-scale patient study by clinical scientists at UCL. The research, published in Brain Communications , used intracranial electroencephalography (icEEG) tests - where small electrodes are inserted into the substance of the brain to measure electrical impulses - to track the brain activity of nine patients being evaluated for surgical treatment of medication-resistant epilepsy at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, in the summer months (May-August) of 2015 - 2022.

Newborn babies are born with a type of bacterium in their gut that could be used to develop new personalised infant therapeutic probiotics, finds a new study involving UCL researchers. In the largest study of UK baby microbiomes to date, published in Nature Microbiology , researchers from UCL, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Birmingham, used whole genome sequencing to analyse stool samples from 1,288 healthy infants, all'under one month old from the UK Baby Biome Study.

Researchers at the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit in Oxford's Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences have discovered a new neuronal mechanism in the hippocampus, that prevents new 'flexible' memories from being formed due to a past 'robust' memory. Memories inform our everyday actions and guide our behaviours.

A new cheap, easily-manufactured device could lead to improved satellite communication, high speed data transmission, and remote sensing, scientists say. A team of engineers led by researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a ultrathin 2D surface which harnesses the unique properties of metamaterials to manipulate and convert radio waves across the frequences most commonly used by satellites.

The first crystal structure of an alternative DNA shape from the insulin gene has been revealed by a UCL-led research team. DNA is widely accepted to be formed of two strands that wind around one another, known as a double helix, but it is possible for DNA to change shape and structure. The new study, published in Nature Communications , reveals the detail in the structure of a type of DNA called i-motif, by crystallising it for the first time.

People with dementia are more likely to have suicidal thoughts but are not necessarily more likely to attempt or die by suicide than the general population, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Ageing Research Reviews , analysed 54 studies that investigated various aspects of mental health - including the prevalence and risk of suicide - in people with dementia, between 1991 and 2023.

The language used in many healthcare settings to describe pregnancy loss exacerbates the grief and trauma experienced by some individuals and can be a critical factor in determining psychological well-being following the loss, according to a new report led by a UCL researcher. In the first study of its kind, social scientists from UCL, led by Dr Beth Malory (UCL English Language & Literature), gathered data from a total of 339 participants from across the UK - 290 people with lived experience of pregnancy loss and 49 healthcare professionals, including 42 focus group participants.

A team of scientists from the University of Manchester has achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding lithium-ion storage within the thinnest possible battery anode - composed of just two layers of carbon atoms. Their research, published in Nature Communications , shows an unexpected 'in-plane staging' process during lithium intercalation in bilayer graphene, which could pave the way for advancements in energy storage technologies.

A drug known as a "gene silencer" has shown promise in reducing hospitalisation and deaths from a devastating condition known as transthyretin (ATTR) cardiac amyloidosis, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

Political posts on social media that most frequently referenced ancient history tended to be more extreme, hostile and overwhelmingly negative in tone than average, finds a new study by researchers from UCL and the University of Edinburgh. Their study, published in PLOS One , scrutinised nearly 1.5 million posts using a combination of AI, computational and manual techniques and used a range of sentiment analysis tools to evaluate the attitudes behind those posts that reference Britain's distant past.

Researchers have uncovered how hormones profoundly affect our immune systems, explaining why men and women are affected by diseases differently. Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Imperial College London have shown for the first time which aspects of our immune systems are regulated by sex hormones, and the impacts this has on disease risk and health outcomes in males and females.

Our risk of developing atherosclerosis - 'furring' of the arteries - can begin much earlier in life than was previously thought, highlighting the need to keep cholesterol levels low even when we are young, new research has discovered.

Scientists use AI to unlock protein structures of hundreds of viruses for the first time Scientists are pioneering the use of machine-learning artificial intelligence software to investigate viruses, revealing never-before-seen viral mechanisms which yield immediate fundamental insights and pave the way for vaccine development.

Most people who exercise using VR drop out when things gets too tough or dull - could programs that use sensors to tune into a person's emotional state help? Virtual reality (VR) video games that combine screen time with exercise are a great way to get fit, but game designers face a major challenge - like with regular exercise, adherence to 'exergames' is low, with most users dropping out once they start to feel uncomfortable or bored.

Scientists have revealed new insights into the mechanisms behind cerebral small vessel disease, a condition that affects the smaller blood vessels in the brain and causes approximately half of all dementia cases. The latest study, which is led by the University of Glasgow and published in eBioMedicine, has unlocked insights into the mechanisms behind some of the causes of cerebral small vessel disease by studying COL4A1/COL4A2, the genes responsible for the production of the collagen IV protein, which is crucial for vascular health.