news 2014

As Obama pledges investment in body-worn-camera technology for police officers, researchers say cameras induce 'self-awareness' that can prevent unacceptable uses-of-force seen to have tragic consequences in the US over the past year - from New York to Ferguson - but warn that cameras have implications for prosecution and data storage.

The official UK-wide assessment of all university research, the Research Excellence Framework, found that Oxford has the largest volume of world-leading research in the country.

Herbal medicine can be a double-edged sword and should be more rigorously investigated for both its beneficial and harmful effects, say researchers writing in a special supplement of Science. Co-written by King's College London experts, the article reviews botanicals that have shown promising results in treating fibrosis or tissue scarring, along with some other herbs that are associated with pro-fibrotic damage to the liver, the kidney and some other organs.

University of Sussex research is 'world-leading', major review finds The University of Sussex carries out world-leading research that has a positive impact on people's lives, the outcome of a review of research in the UK has revealed today (Thursday 18 December). The results of the Government-commissioned Research Excellence Framework (REF) show that 98 per cent of research activity at Sussex is categorised as 'world-leading' (4*), 'internationally excellent' (3*) or 'internationally recognised' (2*).

A partnership involving UCL has been awarded £14M to accelerate access to simple self-tests in African countries. Self-testing for HIV using rapid diagnostic kits is becoming increasingly widely used, allowing high-risk people to test their own HIV status in private. Self-testing is now recommended in the USA and Europe, was recently introduced in Kenya, and is being evaluated for introduction in several other African countries.

Excessive alcohol consumption costs NI £900m per year Minimum Unit Price for alcohol would save 63 lives per year Policy would reduce hospital admissions by more than 2,400 The Northern Ireland Executive has today (3 December 2014) announced it will proceed with an Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing policy, which could reduce drink-related hospital admissions by more than 2,400 a year, according to researchers from the University of Sheffield.

A report, published today by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), highlights a correlation between the occurrence of certain football matches and increased reports of domestic abuse. The report, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by academics at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University, found an increase in recorded domestic violence incidents on the day that football matches were played.

Researchers have measured the value of mounted police units in the UK. They have found that the high visibility of the police horses and riders on neighbourhood patrols boosts levels of public confidence in the police. In trials, the researchers from the University of Oxford and RAND Europe observed that mounted police units generated around six times more public interest than foot patrols over the same period although most of these interactions were brief (the number of longer conversations was similar for both mounted police and foot patrols).

11% of men in Britain report ever paying for sex and 3.6% report paying for sex in the past five years, finds a UCL-led study funded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council. The study of 6,108 men, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, found that single men aged 25-34, in managerial or professional occupations and those who reported high numbers of sexual partners, were the most likely to say that they had paid for sex.

Oxford University research to predict the geographic spread of Ebola virus in West Africa has been funded by the UK government and the Wellcome Trust. The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Wellcome Trust are releasing £1.34m from a joint fund to support five projects, run by leading British and international researchers, which will improve evidence and understanding of the Ebola outbreak.

Airport security study shows fraudsters more likely to be caught through conversation than body language A conversation-based screening method is 20 times more effective at catching airline passengers with false cover stories than the traditional method of examining body language for suspicious signs, according to new University of Sussex research.

A new book bursting with London maps and infographics, published last week, is the result of a year of intense work by Dr James Cheshire (UCL Geography) and designer Oliver Uberti. 'London: the Information Capital' seeks to paint a contemporary portrait of the city through its abundance of open data and highlights a range of UCL research from departments including the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) and UCL Security and Crime Science.

Smokers were generally negative in their reaction towards e-cigarettes, possibly due to the widely documented uncertainties about safety and effectiveness Researchers at the University of Liverpool have shown that more than half of smokers using the Stop Smoking Service on Merseyside have tried electronic cigarettes, despite many reporting uncertainly about thier safety and effectiveness.

New study shows that - even after controlling for subject, degree class, alma mater and occupation - graduates who attended private schools earn on average 6% more than those who attended state schools. If higher education is to be a route to social mobility then the link between family background and adult outcomes must be broken Anna Vignoles New research shows that graduates who went to private schools earn substantially more than those who went to state schools.

UCL welcomes the news that two major academic publishers are to reduce the costs of their subscriptions against payments they receive to publish open-access articles from 2015. Research Councils UK and other funders require open access publication of research findings funded by them. However, this has left UCL - a long-term advocate of open access - and other research-intensives universities paying publishers twice: once in the form of article-processing charges in order to have papers published and again in the form of subscriptions in order to be able to read them.

10 October 2014 The ideal cost per dose for a new meningitis vaccine ranges from £3 up to a possible £22 only if several vaccine favourable factors all coincide, according to research which has analysed how to maximise the reduction in cases while making a new vaccination programme cost-effective.

New research reveals family carers of those living with terminal illnesses are not being provided with the support and information they need when managing and administering medication at home. 'Managing end of life medications at home' published in the BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Journal , is the first report from Unpacking the Home, a pioneering new piece of research from Lancaster University, funded by Marie Curie.

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.

03 Sep 2014 Alzheimer's Research UK has increased funding to its Manchester and North West Research Network Centre, which supports pioneering dementia researchers across the region. UK dementia research charity has announced increased investment in a Network across the UK, bringing scientists together to tackle this devastating condition.

Research published today shows that the New Medicine Service (NMS), an innovative medicines advice service for patients, could improve patients' lives and save scarce NHS resources. A randomised controlled trial showed that 10 weeks after receiving the NMS consultations from their community pharmacists, patients were more likely to be taking their medicine (or had sought help from their prescriber), compared with those who received the normal service from their pharmacist.