news 2016

New research finds migration could help decrease not increase number of attacks - However it suggests some terror attacks can be linked to migration from terror-prone states Migration is overall not a source of terrorism according to new research from the University of Warwick. In fact the study indicates that more migration could create a decrease in the number of terrorist attacks, not an increase.

Research by the University of Warwick, the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW), and Tangent Reprofiling Limited, has discovered that statin drugs interact with a gap junction protein called GJC3 that releases ATP, a major signaling molecule for inflammation in the body. This discovery provides a significant new target in the search for why statin drugs can sometimes cause harmful effects such as muscle toxicity in some patients.

A research team from the University of Liverpool and the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) has reached an important milestone towards creating a urine diagnostic test for prostate cancer that could mean that invasive diagnostic procedures that men currently undergo eventually become a thing of the past.

Human-induced climate change increased the risk of severe storms like those that hit the south of England in the winter of 2013/14, causing devastating flooding and costing several people their lives. That's according to new analysis from an international team of climate scientists, including Lancaster University professor in practice Rob Lamb of the JBA Trust.

Personality characteristics - especially conscientiousness - have previously been shown to have a significant but moderate influence on academic achievement. However, a new study by researchers at King's College London, suggests that 'grit', defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, adds little to the prediction of school achievement.

Almost all of our genes may be influenced by the food we eat, according to new research published today Microbiology. The study, carried out in yeast - which can be used to model some of the body's fundamental processes - shows that while the activity of our genes influences our metabolism, the opposite is also true and the nutrients available to cells influence our genes.

Researchers have provided new evidence that developing asthma can be linked to pregnant women and infants being exposed to paracetamol; by testing that the association was not simply due to the medical complaint for which the person is taking paracetamol.

A nationwide survey by ecologists has revealed that over 2 billion US tons of carbon is stored deep under the UK's grasslands, helping to curb climate change. Published in the leading journal Global Change Biology, the study shows that decades of intensive grassland farming across the UK, involving high rates of fertilizer use and livestock grazing, have caused valuable soil carbon stocks to decline.

An Oxford University study says while many girls and women stay away from school and work because of the stigma attached to having periods, very little research has been done into whether programmes set up to tackle the problem are actually working. Although current results are 'promising', the study concludes that policymakers need to carry out large, comprehensive reviews of such programmes, and also conduct research into any potentially damaging unintended consequences, such as 'outing' menstruating girls in cultures where such behaviour is still considered taboo.

Stress can activate the body's natural fat-fighting defences, a study by experts at The University of Nottingham has revealed. The research, published today in Experimental Physiology , found that mild stress stimulates the activity and heat production by brown fat associated with raised cortisol. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, is one of two types of fat found in humans and other mammals.

A study of adolescents' drinking habits between the ages of 11 to 17 has found that the heaviest consumers of alcohol were teenagers who were under the lowest levels of parental control, and who were also the most secretive about their drinking.‌ Dr Mark McCann of the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow led the study, which is published today, working with researchers from Queen's University Belfast.

People diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are more likely to die by suicide than the general population, but overall mortality rates for people with CFS are comparable to the general population, according to a new study from researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London.

A study led by King's College London and the University of Southampton has shown that a higher registered nurse to patient ratio is linked to a reduced risk of inpatient death. The study of staffing levels in NHS hospitals, published in the online journal BMJ Open , found that in trusts where registered nurses had six or fewer patients to care for, the death rate for patients with medical conditions was 20 per cent lower than in those where they had more than 10.

Horses can read human emotions, Sussex research shows Horses can read human facial expressions, according to researchers at the University of Sussex. For the first time horses have been shown to be able to distinguish between angry and happy human facial expressions. Sussex psychologists studied how 28 horses reacted to seeing photographs of positive versus negative human facial expressions.

Horses can read human emotions, research shows For the first time horses have been shown to be able to distinguish between angry and happy human facial expressions. Psychologists studied how 28 horses reacted to seeing photographs of positive versus negative human facial expressions. When viewing angry faces, horses looked more with their left eye, a behaviour associated with perceiving negative stimuli.

A fifth of car fuel-efficiency savings are eroded by increased driving Around a fifth of the energy-saving benefits of fuel-efficient cars are eroded because people end up driving them more, according to a study into British motoring habits over the last 40 years. Using data from 1970 to 2011, energy experts at the University of Sussex found a long-term 'rebound effect' among British car-drivers of around 20 per cent.

Physicists at the University of Glasgow have developed a new and inexpensive way to make radially polarised white light, which could help scientific advances in astronomy and microscopy. Dr Neal Radwell and Dr Sonja Franke-Arnold, from the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, have discovered a new way of producing radially polarised beams, using broadband white light rather than single frequency beams, by reflecting the light from a glass cone.

Child maltreatment could predict a range of negative outcomes in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), according to new King's College London research, which adds to growing evidence on the enduring mental health impact of childhood abuse and neglect. A meta-analysis of 30 studies found that bipolar patients with a history of childhood maltreatment developed BD more than four years earlier than patients with no history of maltreatment.

Exposure to air pollution more than 30 years ago may still affect an individual's mortality risk today, according to new research. Exposure to air pollution more than 30 years ago may still affect an individual's mortality risk today, according to new research from Imperial College London. The new report comes from one of the world's longest running air pollution studies, which included 368,000 people in England and Wales followed over a 38 year period.

Shining lasers at superconductors can make them work at higher temperatures, suggests new findings from an international team of scientists including the University of Bath. Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity without power loss and produce strong magnetic fields. They are used in medical scanners, super-fast electronic circuits and in Maglev trains which use superconducting magnets to make the train hover above the tracks, eliminating friction.