news 2016

Too many patients - particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds - are being diagnosed with cancer as medical emergencies, say researchers. This means that their chances of successful treatment are greatly reduced. The earlier an individual can get a diagnosis of cancer, the better the prognosis and the options for treatment.

New research will find out if a drug used for stroke patients could offer hope for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). The MS Society has announced it is funding a project at the University of Glasgow into a specially modified version of the blood thinner heparin. ‌‌‌ In MS the loss of protective myelin around nerve fibres leads to the disruption of messages from the brain to the body and also exposes the nerves to permanent damage.

Data on injuries can be collected relatively easily at A&E departments to help understand injury patterns in communities, a study by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has found.

Scientists at Imperial College London have discovered a feedback mechanism at the heart of photosynthesis that protects plants from damage by light. The researchers have discovered that the key enzyme in photosynthesis can tune its activity to avoid being damaged by light and oxygen. Knowing how photosynthesis is regulated and protected could allow scientists to improve the process, potentially making agriculture and food production more efficient.

Researchers have prevented the development of Alzheimer's disease in mice by using a virus to deliver a specific gene into the brain. Researchers have prevented the development of Alzheimer's disease in mice by using a virus to deliver a specific gene into the brain. The early-stage findings, by scientists from Imperial College London , open avenues for potential new treatments for the disease.

Mice court one another with ultrasonic love songs that are inaudible to the human ear. New research shows they make these unique high frequency sounds using a mechanism that has only previously been observed in supersonic jet engines. Mice seem to be doing something very complicated and clever to make ultrasound.

Elderly patients with unstable ankle fractures could avoid surgery, according to research by a UK team led by Oxford University. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association , compared surgery to pin a broken ankle with a new plaster cast technique known as 'close casting'.

950 years after William of Normandy landed on English soil in one of Britain's landmark historic moments, Cardiff University researchers are aiming to discover what impact the invasion had on diet, cooking habits and health. The Dietary Impact of the Norman Conquest will examine human and animal remains and pottery from preand post-Conquest Oxford to tell the story of the impact of 14 October 1066, better known as the Battle of Hastings.

When does our heart first start to beat? Until now, researchers thought that the first time our heart muscle contracted to beat was at eight days after conception in mice, which equates to around day 21 of a human pregnancy. Now, a team funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) at the University of Oxford has demonstrated earlier beating of the heart in mouse embryos which, if extrapolated to the human heart, suggests beating as early as 16 days after conception.

A new study led by researchers from King's College London, the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London, will investigate whether a drug called methylphenidate (MPH) reduces symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and antisocial behaviour in young male prisoners with the disorder.

The most detailed exploration to date of how energy flows from a hot molecule into a surrounding liquid has been undertaken by a team of scientists at the University of Bristol. Led by Professors Mike Ashfold and Andrew Orr-Ewing from the School of Chemistry , the research, published recently , has significant implications for a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of cooling and provides fresh insights into the extraordinarily complex behaviour of liquids.

The advanced breast cancer hormone therapy 'fulvestrant' works better than the current standard drug treatment and reduces the risk of progression by 20%, according to a large clinical trial led by The University of Nottingham and Baylor College of Medicine in the US. Key data presented on Saturday 8 October 2016 at the European Society for Medical Oncology showed that the fulvestrant drug Faslodex demonstrated better survival using a 500mg dose compared to the anastrozoledrug Arimidex in the first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

An international research project led by the University of Bath is investigating the impact of waves on coastlines using novel laser measurement devices. EPSRC-funded international collaboration This innovative equipment is similar to laser measurement devices used in construction, except it is able to measure 37,500 points a second.

A protein found within the powerhouse of a cell could be the key to holding back the march of time, research by scientists at The University of Nottingham has shown. The discovery could offer a new target for drugs that may help to slow the debilitating effects of aging on our bodies. And their research, published in the academic journal Aging , could have special significance for combatting age-related decline and halting the progression of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.

In the first study of its kind researchers from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Translational Medicine have examined the possible reasons for the rapid increase in incidence of particular head and neck cancers in the UK. A rising incidence of Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), a type Head and Neck cancer arising in the tonsils, base of tongue and soft palate, has occurred throughout the developed world, and has frequently been attributed to an increasing impact of Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

A major international collaboration between the MINOS experiment, which involves UCL scientists, and the Daya Bay experiment has today announced results which shed new light on one of the most pressing questions in particle physics - do sterile neutrinos exist? Sterile neutrinos are a suggested fourth neutrino alongside the well-known electron, muon and tau neutrinos.

Archaeologists have created a new database from the teeth of prehistoric humans found at ancient burial sites in Britain and Ireland that tell us a lot about their climate, their diet and even how far they may have travelled. In a paper, led by Dr Maura Pellegrini from the University of Oxford, researchers say that individuals in prehistoric Britain were highly mobile.

New study suggests the frequency of landslides in storm-affected areas will not increase as a result of climate change The frequency of common landslides is not likely to increase as a result of more rainstorms brought about by future climate change, new research from Cardiff University has shown. Experts at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences have shown that while the frequency of rainstorms may increase by up to 10% according to climate change projections, this would produce a long-term increase in shallow landslide frequency of less than 0.

There continues to be concern about the long term effects of concussion and repeated concussion in athletes, including boxers and rugby players who may sustain several concussive injuries throughout their career. Health concerns about effects of concussion on athletes later in life include neurodegenerative disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes.

Scientists at the Cardiff Catalysis Institute reveal reason behind gold's unparalleled catalytic ability A team led by experts at Cardiff University have peered deep inside the structure of a gold catalyst to find the reason for the material's remarkable activity. The team, from the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, have discovered a cocktail of different sized gold particles within the catalyst that each contribute, to different degrees, to gold's catalytic ability.