News 2019

Young fish can be drawn to degraded coral reefs by loudspeakers playing the sounds of healthy reefs, according to new research published today [29 November] . An international team of scientists from the UK's Universities of Exeter and Bristol, and Australia's James Cook University and Australian Institute of Marine Science, say this "acoustic enrichment" could be a valuable tool in helping to restore damaged coral reefs.

A unique group of dogs helped the Inuit conquer the tough terrain of the North American Arctic, a major new analysis of the remains of hundreds of animals shows. The results of a major new study on the remains of Artic sledge dogs reveals that the Inuit brought specialised dogs with them when they migrated from Siberia over the Bering Strait into North America.

Approximately one in 20 mothers whose babies are born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) died within 10 years of delivery in both England and Canada, according to a new study from researchers at UCL and ICES and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada Neonatal abstinence syndrome (also called NAS) is a group of symptoms experienced by babies from withdrawal from certain drugs (predominantly opioids) that they are exposed to in the womb before birth.

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Pharmacists based in GP practices can play an integral role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, finds new research led by the University of Birmingham. The study findings, published today in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology , support the involvement of pharmacists as healthcare providers in managing patients with hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol.

Scientists have reconstructed the cooking techniques of the early inhabitants of Puerto Rico by analysing the remains of clams. Led by Philip Staudigel, who conducted the analysis as a graduate student at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Cardiff University, the team has used new chemical analysis techniques to identify the exact cooking temperatures at which clams were cooked over 2500 years ago.

Animals evolved from single-celled ancestors, before diversifying into 30 or 40 distinct anatomical designs. When and how animal ancestors made the transition from single-celled microbes to complex multicellular organisms has been the focus of intense debate.

A University of Birmingham maternity expert says research indicates that inducing women with low-risk pregnancies at 41 weeks rather than waiting until 42 weeks reduces risk to their baby's life. Current practice in the UK and Scandinavia is to induce delivery for women who have not gone into labour by 42 weeks.

A new technique in chemistry could pave the way for producing uniform nanoparticles for use in drug delivery systems. Scientists have been investigating how to make better use of nanoparticles in medicine for several decades. Significantly smaller than an average cell, nanoparticles are more similar in size to proteins.

White blood cells, which release a toxic potion of proteins to kill cancerous and virus-infected cells, are protected from any harm by the physical properties of their cell envelopes, find scientists from UCL and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Until now, it has been a mystery to scientists how these white blood cells - called cytotoxic lymphocytes - avoid being killed by their own actions and the discovery could help explain why some tumours are more resistant than others to recently developed cancer immunotherapies.

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New findings showed that patients are more likely to receive physiotherapy after hip or knee replacement in London and the North of England. Patients in the South West are the least likely to receive physiotherapy. The research also found a range of other factors impacted whether patients received physiotherapy - including the age of the patient, their gender and ethnicity.

Over 30 million Chinese children, aged between seven and 18, are overweight or obese - placing them at greater risk of an early death and this number is set to rise to 50 million by 2030, caused in part by the role grandparents play in childcare. Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Bristol worked with Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, enlisting 1,641 six-year-old children across 40 primary schools in Guangzhou to evaluate the effectiveness of the CHIRPY DRAGON programme in tackling childhood obesity.

Doctors should avoid co-prescribing benzodiazepines to opioid dependent patients who are being treated with methadone or buprenorphine, also known as opioid agonist treatment (OAT), due to a three-fold increase in risk of overdose death, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Bristol.

Educating parents and grandparents - as well as improving physical activity and the food provided at school - could hold the key to solving China's obesity pandemic, according to one of the largest trials of childhood obesity prevention in the world. Over 30 million Chinese children, aged between seven and 18, are overweight or obese - placing them at greater risk of an early death and this number is set to rise to 50 million by 2030, caused in part by the role grandparents play in childcare.

A one-off dose of ketamine could help heavy drinkers reduce their alcohol intake, finds a new UCL experimental study. Giving a shot of ketamine to heavy drinkers after reactivating their drinking-related memories led to a rapid decrease in urges to drink and a prolonged decrease in alcohol intake over nine months, according to the study published .

In the study academics from the universities of Manchester, Bristol, Manchester Metropolitan and Kings College London found 13 per cent of children whose mothers did not experience domestic violence had an IQ of below 90 at eight years of age. If their mothers experienced physical violence from their partner either in pregnancy or during the first six years of the child's life, the figure rises to 22.8 per cent.

Dating and relationship violence (DRV), including both physical and emotional violence, is a significant issue among young people in Wales, academics say. Cardiff University researchers analysed survey data from nearly 75,000 students aged 11-16, from 193 schools in Wales. Of young people with dating experience, 17% of boys and 12% of girls said that they had experienced physical violence by a romantic partner at least once.

Co-authoring a research paper with an established scientist early in an academic's career leads to significant future benefits for the junior researcher, finds a paper by UCL. This effect is much stronger for early-career researchers affiliated with less prestigious institutions, who are statistically less likely later in their careers to reach the same levels those at the most prestigious institutions will.

One in three UK doctors working in obstetrics and gynaecology may suffer from workplace burnout. This could affect their well-being and how they treat patients. This is the finding of new research, published in the journal BMJ Open , led by scientists at Imperial College London.