news 2015

Study finds city exhibits more signs of diversity than others worldwide - Diversity in Coventry makes it an ideal model for other developed countries planning diabetes care - Study reveals that one in 10 Coventry residents is from an ethnic minority, but one in three residents with diabetes is an ethnic minority - Study also highlights food and language as the most common barriers to providing diabetes care for ethnic minorities Cities across the developed world should look to Coventry when they plan diabetes services for ethnic minorities.

What binds military fighters or terrorists together so tightly that they are willing to sacrifice their own lives for their causes?  Previous research has shown that such extreme behaviour can be driven by 'identity fusion', a strong sense of 'oneness' with their group. Oxford University researchers have now shed new light on the role that shared emotional experiences plays in this fusion between people's personal and group identities.

New study suggests that screening for ovarian cancer may save lives New results from the world's biggest ovarian cancer screening trial suggest that screening based on an annual blood test may help reduce the number of women dying from the disease by around 20%. Professor Lesley Fallowfield , Director of Sussex Health Outcomes, Research and Education in Cancer ( SHORE-C ) on the University of Sussex campus, was Principal Investigator for the psycho-social arm of the study, which SHORE-C has been conducting over the past 14 years with 185,693 women.

Contrary to popular belief, the oral health of US citizens is not better than the English, finds a study in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. In addition, the research suggests there are consistently wider educational and income inequalities in oral health in the US compared with England. There is a popular belief in the US, dating back over a century, that the English have terrible teeth, much worse than Americans.

Research commissioned by government following housing benefit reforms finds increase in tenants self-selecting to downsize, but the areas hardest hit by reform are those least equipped with appropriate housing stock. Researchers found households increasingly cutting back on essentials such as food and heating to make up benefits shortfall.

A new report looking at the experiences of people who are estranged from family members and the challenges they face has highlighted the particular difficulties associated with Christmas. Social media plays a part because it's a highlight reel of people's family lives, with Facebook feeds filled with pictures of families celebrating together Lucy Blake Hidden Voices - Family Estrangement in Adulthood , a collaboration between the charity Stand Alone and the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge, is the first in depth piece of UK research on family estrangement.

Reduced antibiotic prescribing is associated with lower patient satisfaction on the national General Practice Patient Survey, according to a new study by King's College London. The study found a 25 per cent lower rate of antibiotic prescribing by a GP practice corresponded to a 5-6 point reduction on GP satisfaction rankings.

Drinking caffeinated drinks and using social media 30 minutes before bedtime is significantly reducing sleep quantity in teenagers and negatively affecting their school performance, according to new research from UCL Institute of Education (IOE)'s Lifespan Learning and Sleep Laboratory. The role of environmental factors on sleep patterns and school performance in adolescents  written by Dr Dagmara Dimitriou, Dr Frances Le Cornu Knight and Patrick Milton shows that the total sleep and bedtimes of teenagers on weekdays are strongly associated with poorer academic achievement at school.

Cognitive behavioural therapy could help many people with a dental phobia overcome their fear of visiting the dentist and enable them to receive dental treatment without the need to be sedated, according to a new study by King's College London. Anxiety about visiting the dentist is common and becomes a phobia when it has a marked impact on someone's well-being; people with dental phobias typically avoid going to the dentist and end up experiencing more dental pain, poorer oral health and a detrimental effect on their quality of life.

The creators of commercially sold counselling programmes increasingly profit from public health services across the world. However, a new study into the evidence basis for some of the market leaders reveals that serious conflicts of interest across the majority of the research go habitually undisclosed.

Giulia Poerio, PhD student at the University of Sheffield's Department of Psychology, explains why daydreaming is good for you. Explainer: why daydreaming is good for you By Giulia Poerio, 25 November 2015, posted on The Conversation Most people think of rest as the times when we stop work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength.

Replacing housing association homes sold under the new Right to Buy scheme with those for sale could drive up costs for low-income tenants and the taxpayer, according to a new report. The research has shown that the rent level of replacement stock is critical.

A new study shows that corporal punishment is still common in countries where it is outlawed, and for the first time using data from lowand middle-income countries researchers have shown a link between schoolchildren experiencing corporal punishment and later test scores. Researchers found that corporal punishment experienced by eight-year-old children is linked with lower maths scores when the same children reach the age of 12 as compared with their peers who did not report being hit.

Seven minutes of meditation can reduce racial prejudice, study finds A popular meditation technique that's intended to create feelings of kindness can also reduce prejudice, according to new University of Sussex research. The study , published online in the journal Motivation and Emotion , found that just seven minutes of Loving-kindness meditation (LKM), a Buddhist practise that promotes unconditional kindness towards oneself and others, is effective at reducing racial bias.

We welcome your feedback Please help us improve The University of Manchester website by completing a short questionnaire at the end of your visit. Yes, I'll give feedback No, thanks Findings from The University of Manchester show that people still do not understand the risk of deadly food poisoning bug The Food Standards Agency is, tomorrow (Thursday 19 November), due to publish the results of its latest UK retail survey, testing for the deadly bug campylobacter in chickens on sale.

The Scots accent is changing but unlike England where evidence shows many regional accents are becoming more homogenised the Scots accent appears to be sticking to its roots. Researchers at the University of Glasgow have studied audio recordings from across the decades, including a few rare short recordings from Scots soldiers from WW1, and have discovered that although the Scottish accent is evolving it is sticking very much to its Scottish origins.

Wild birds will sacrifice access to food in order to stay close to their partner over the winter, according to a study by Oxford University researchers. Scientists from the Department of Zoology found that mated pairs of great tits chose to prioritise their relationships over sustenance in a novel experiment that prevented couples from foraging in the same location.

Standard approaches for investigating risk of violence in psychiatric patients and prisoners are inaccurate and should be abandoned in all future studies, according to researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). In a study published in PLOS One the team have proposed an entirely new approach to risk assessment for future violence.

Scientists from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King's College London have created a short questionnaire for people who suspect they have prosopagnosia, a condition that causes an inability to recognise faces. The researchers hope the questionnaire will help improve diagnosis of the condition.

Similar to humans gathering and sharing gossip around the water-cooler at work, crows mix with other social groups and swap information with them much more when there is food to share. An international team including scientists at the University of Bath has studied social networks to understand how information might spread within and between groups of tool-using New Caledonian crows, according to a paper published in Nature .