news 2012

An international collaborative study to map the genome of a South American butterfly has identified the secret behind its mimetic nature. The genome sequence of the Postman butterfly, Heliconius melpomene, was used as a reference to study species that live together in the Peruvian Amazon. Several of these share bright wing patterns in order to reinforce a warning signal that they are bad to eat - dissuading predators from attack.

New technique may help severely damaged nerves regrow and restore function Engineers at the University of Sheffield have developed a method of assisting nerves damaged by traumatic accidents to repair naturally, which could improve the chances of restoring sensation and movement in injured limbs. In a collaborative study with Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany) published today (23 April 2012) in the journal Biofabrication , the team describes a new method for making medical devices called nerve guidance conduits or NGCs.

New research has analysed the mood of Twitter users in the UK and detected various changes in the mood of the public. In particular, the researchers observed a significant increase in negative mood, anger and fear, coinciding with the announcement of spending cuts and last summer's riots together with a possibly calming effect during the royal wedding.

A new study published in Conservation Letters aims to measure whether parks and reserves in the tropics succeed in protecting forests Just as deforestation rates in remote protected areas should not be compared with deforestation rates from more accessible and lower altitude unprotected areas, it is also critical to control for government-mediated access in the form of regulations governing unprotected lands.

Research into the effectiveness of staff counselling reveals that workplace support can have a striking and sustained effect for employees with workplace or personal difficulties. Staff leave counselling with a far greater sense of well-being and much more able to cope with the demands of their working lives." —Jill Collins A study into the effectiveness of staff counselling at the University of Cambridge has revealed that such services can make a significant and lasting improvement to the lives of people with work-related stress and other problems.

Results of the international RN4CAST study into links between nursing workforce issues and patient outcomes in 13 countries have been published in the British Medical Journal today. The study in England, which was led by researchers at the National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) at King's College London and the University of Southampton, reveals that the levels of "burnout" and job dissatisfaction experienced by English nurses are some of the worst in Europe.

A new study concludes that Ofsted grades are too broad to provide a detailed measure of quality in nurseries and preschools. The study carried out by the University of Oxford and A+ Education for the charity, Daycare Trust, found that Ofsted reports are best used alongside other existing quality assessments.

Sussex showcases academic research online Months of work culminated this week with the launch of Sussex Research Online (SRO), which showcases the University's research to the external world and contains a record of all research 'outputs' by academics at Sussex. SRO contains information about peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reports, PhD theses and other publications - providing direct online access to the full text where possible.

Imperial College London Media Release Patients' ratings of hospitals tally with objective measures of the hospital's performance, according to an independent study published today in Archives of Internal Medicine . Since 2008, patients have been able to post comments on and rate hospitals using the NHS Choices website, in the same way as they might rate a hotel on Tripadvisor.

University of Warwick and National Trust : Research into possible Woodchester wild cat finds no cat DNA on deer Extensive DNA tests by experts at the University of Warwick on two deer carcasses found in Gloucestershire have not found any indication of a big cat presence. The National Trust asked the University to test a roe deer carcass found near Woodchester Park, Gloucestershire in early January after examination of the wounds led to speculation that it may have been killed by a big cat.

New evidence links inequality in England to increased crime Research carried out at the University of Sheffield shows areas where there is more inequality suffer from more cases of burglary, robbery, violence, vehicle crime and criminal damage. The study compared Home Office figures for a wide range of crimes from 2002-2009 in Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) against factors including inequality, unemployment, residential turnover and educational achievement in the same areas.