news 2014

Arguments about whose turn it is to do the washing up, negotiating rights to the TV remote control and disputes over noise — as many students returning to university for the new academic year are about to learn the hard way, sharing a house can be a tricky business. And now research from academics at The University of Nottingham has revealed that new technology to allow people to monitor their energy usage in the home could be about to ratchet up the tension.

A study of how television news covered three reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) during 2013 and 2014 shows that news bulletins tended to focus most on past or potential disaster in their telling of the story. TV news bulletins also gave much less air time to other potential focuses - the uncertainty surrounding climate change, the opportunities it presents and the explicit risks it presents, says the study published by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.

Recent finds at Willendorf in Austria reveal that modern humans were living in cool steppe-like conditions some 43,500 years ago - and that their presence overlapped with that of Neanderthals for far longer than we thought. The remarkably early date of the finds shows that modern humans and Neanderthals overlapped for much longer than we thought and that modern humans coped well with a variety of climates.

Scientists have created a complete manual of the processes that tell developing cells to form 'stripes'. Genetic 'stripes' instruct cells to carry out specialised functions, such as forming the different parts of the body. Their formation is an important process that turns a fertilised egg into a complex and fully functioning embryo made up of different tissues and organs.

Individual differences in early language development, and in later language functioning, are associated with changes in the anatomy of the brain in autism. We need to move beyond investigating average differences in individuals with and without autism, and move towards identifying key dimensions of individual differences within the spectrum Meng-Chuan Lai A new study led by researchers from the University of Cambridge has found that a common characteristic of autism - language delay in early childhood - leaves a 'signature' in the brain.

Press release issued: 22 September 2014 Preferences for highly masculine men and feminine women may emerge only in highly developed environments, according to new research from Brunel University London and the University of Bristol. Previous studies have suggested a long evolutionary history of sexual and social selection based on preferences for exaggerated sex specific traits.

Press release issued: 22 September 2014 Researchers have found that when the protein matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14) is reduced or lost, white blood cells, known as macrophages, become good and could prevent hardening of the arteries, rupture and sudden death. The study, led by Dr Jason Johnson , Senior Research Fellow in the University of Bristol's School of Clinical Sciences , is published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology and was funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Dry roasted peanuts are more likely to trigger an allergy to peanuts than raw peanuts, suggests an Oxford University study involving mice. The researchers say that specific chemical changes caused by the high temperatures of the dry roasting process are recognised by the body's immune system, 'priming' the body to set off an allergic immune response the next time it sees any peanuts.

Neural stem cells - master cells that can develop into any type of nerve cell - are able to generate mini "first aid kits" and transfer them to immune cells, according to a study published today. It represents a significant advance in understanding the many levels of interaction between stem cells and the immune system, and a new molecular mechanism to explain how stem-cell therapy works.

Vaccines against Salmonella that use a live, but weakened, form of the bacteria are more effective than those that use only dead fragments because of the particular way in which they stimulate the immune system, according to research from the University of Cambridge published today.

Our tendency to create false memories could be related to our ability to learn rules according to research from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Errors in memory range from misremembering minor details of events to generating illusory memories of entire episodes. These inaccuracies have wide-ranging implications in crime-witness accounts and in the courtroom but the researchers believe that they could be an inevitable side-effect of our brains' ability to learn trends, and process objects into categories useful for our survival.

This species of Brazilian shrub is in the top 10 'hit list' species of plants for the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership to collect. Taralea species can be important for medicinal uses. Oxford researchers have constructed a 'hit list' of the plant species most needed to boost the overall diversity of the Millennium Seed Bank, which is storing seeds in its vaults for future generations.

Buffers that guard against damage to the ends of chromosomes could hold the key to a better understanding of malignant melanoma, according to new research from the University of Leeds. The study has uncovered an important new genetic risk factor for melanoma. It is well known that pigmentation and mole count are the strongest indicators of those most at risk of developing melanoma.

Research using data collected from around 4,000 healthy people in the UK has enabled scientists from UCL, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Bristol  to identify a rare genetic variant that dramatically reduces levels of certain types of lipids in the blood. Research using data collected from around 4,000 healthy people in the UK has enabled scientists to identify a rare genetic variant that dramatically reduces levels of certain types of lipids in the blood.

A simple urine test for human papillomavirus (HPV) could offer a more acceptable, non-invasive alternative to the conventional cervical test and improve screening uptake, researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections.

Press release issued: 16 September 2014 Researchers have found evidence that genetic factors may contribute to the development of language during infancy. Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol worked with colleagues around the world to discover a significant link between genetic changes near the ROBO2 gene and the number of words spoken by children in the early stages of language development.

Press release issued: 16 September 2014 Research using data collected from around 4,000 healthy people in the UK has enabled scientists to identify a rare genetic variant that dramatically reduces levels of certain types of lipids in the blood. The study, published today [16 September] , is the first to emerge from the UK10K Project 's cohort of samples from the general public and demonstrates the power of whole genome sequencing at scale.

A pioneering study carried out by researchers from the School of Biosciences have identified new ways to protect Borneo's endangered orang-utans. The research examined opportunities to improve wildlife corridors in a rapidly changing environment. More than 80% of the orang-utan's habitat has been destroyed over the last 20 years due to agricultural conversion.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge, together with colleagues specialising in plastic surgery or histopathology in Austria, Australia, Liverpool and Swansea, have identified clues to explain how breast implants may, on very rare occasions, contribute to the development of lymphoma. It's becoming clear that implant-related ALCL is a distinct clinical entity in itself.

16 Sep 2014 Scientists from The University of Manchester have found that offering radiotherapy to patients with small cell lung cancer in addition to chemotherapy improves their chances of survival two years after treatment. The researchers are now recommending that patients with extensive disease small cell lung cancer are given thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) to treat part of the chest after completing chemotherapy to help extend their lives.