news 2016

Stress is a common problem often resulting in poor health and mental disorders. New research has revealed that current concepts on how stress hormones act on the brain may need to be reassessed. It is thought that disturbances in the action of stress hormones play a key role in causing mental disorders, like major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Despite evolving separately for 400 million years, some sharks and tuna share genetic traits linked to higher metabolism and quick swimming behaviour. Tuna fish and the lamnid group of sharks, which includes great white sharks, share some similar traits that help make them super predators, including their style of swimming and their ability to stay warm.

The universe is not spinning or stretched in any particular direction, according to the most stringent test yet. Looking out into the night sky, we see a clumpy universe: planets orbit stars in solar systems and stars are grouped into galaxies, which in turn form enormous galaxy clusters. But cosmologists assume this effect is only local: that if we look on sufficiently large scales, the universe is actually uniform.

A new study by University of Glasgow researchers may give further insight to the deaths of all 129 crew of the ill-fated "Franklin Expedition" of 1845 which was lost in the Canadian Arctic as it attempted to navigate the final link in the fabled Northwest Passage in HMS Erebus and Terror . The recent discovery on 3rd September 2016 by the Arctic Research Foundation of the "pristine" wreck of HMS Terror and the earlier discovery in 2014 of HMS Erebus by Parks Canada lend particular relevance to the research.

The universe is expanding uniformly according to research led by UCL which reports that space isn't stretching in a preferred direction or spinning. The new study, published today in Physical Review Letters , studied the cosmic microwave background (CMB) which is the remnant radiation from the Big Bang.

Scientists have made an important new discovery in the study of Human African Trypanosomiasis, more commonly known as African sleeping sickness. The findings could have a major impact on the way the disease is diagnosed, treated and potentially eradicated. The team of researchers, from the University of Glasgow's Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology and the Institut Pasteur in Paris, have discovered that skin plays a significant but overlooked role in harbouring and transmitting the parasite that causes the condition, which is often fatal if left untreated.

The first significant investigation into the genomics of Aboriginal Australians has uncovered several major findings about early human populations. These include evidence of a single 'Out of Africa? migration event, and of a previously unidentified, 'ghost-like' population spread which provided a basis for the modern Aboriginal cultural landscape.

Several major studies, published today, concur that virtually all current global human populations stem from a single wave of expansion out of Africa. Yet one has found 2% of the genome in Papuan populations points to an earlier, separate dispersal event - and an extinct lineage that made it to the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Several major studies, published today, concur that virtually all current global human populations stem from a single wave of expansion out of Africa. Yet one has found 2% of the genome in Papuan populations points to an earlier, separate dispersal event - and an extinct lineage that made it to the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Several major studies, published today, concur that virtually all current global human populations stem from a single wave of expansion out of Africa. Yet one has found 2% of the genome in Papuan populations points to an earlier, separate dispersal event - and an extinct lineage that made it to the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania.

New research has found that mothers reunited with their children after care proceedings in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) are more likely to stay off drugs and alcohol for longer and their family life less likely to be disrupted when compared with cases heard in ordinary care proceedings. Over 5 years, researchers followed up cases that had been through the London FDAC and compared them with similar cases going through ordinary care proceedings.

A research team led by the University of Oxford has found a promising treatment for degenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) , a leading genetic cause of child death. Pip6a is highly effective at delivering SSOs to a wide variety of tissue in the body. Dr Suzan Hammond, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics SMA occurs when people lack a gene called survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1).

Scientists have witnessed galaxies forming inside a mysterious giant space blob, which will one day form the heart of a giant galaxy cluster. Lyman-alpha Blobs (LABs) are gigantic clouds of hydrogen gas that can span hundreds of thousands of light years. Their structure looks relatively simple, but they glow far more brightly than might be expected.

Learning disabilities are more common in children who were conceived between January and March - the time of year when there is insufficient sunlight to produce vitamin D - according to a new study led by the University of Glasgow. Professor Jill Pell The study, which is published in the American Journal of Epidemiology , was written in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge, the NHS and the Scottish Government.

The results of research led by academics at The University of Nottingham will be a cause for optimism among patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). The five-year study, published this week in PLOS Medicine, revealed that the vast majority of CKD sufferers have a benign disease with little risk of progression and complications.

Scientists have discovered a new way to replicate the regenerative power of stem cells in the lab, which could lead to powerful treatments for injuries and diseases. In a new paper published in the journal ACS Nano, Dr. Catherine Berry and Professor Matthew Dalby from the University of Glasgow's Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology, describe how they have been able create and control bundles of bone marrow stem cells that act as the stem cells do in the body, These bundles of cells are capable of healing injuries in lab-grown bone and cartilage models.

Cancer cell division of two prostate cancer cells in the final stage of cell division (cytokinesis). The cells are joined by several thin cytoplasmic bridges. Active monitoring is as effective as surgery and radiotherapy, in terms of survival at 10 years, reports the largest study of its kind, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Oxford researchers launch the Online Labour Index,  which finds US employers are the number one users of the 'online gig economy? (representing 52% of the market) but over the last few months UK employers have been fast catching up.

An algorithm which models how proteins inside cells interact with each other will enhance the study of biology, and sheds light on how proteins work together to complete tasks such as turning food into energy. Being able to predict these interactions will help us understand how proteins fit and work together to complete required tasks.

Researchers have identified how alpha-synuclein, the protein associated with Parkinson's Disease, enables communication between neurons in the brain, offering important clues about what may be happening to patients when the protein malfunctions. This is a process which may be impaired in people who carry mutations associated with early onset familial forms of Parkinson's Disease Giuliana Fusco Researchers have established how a protein called alpha-synuclein, which is closely associated with Parkinson's Disease, functions in healthy human brains.