news 2021

Children being discharged from hospital with pneumonia can be treated with three days of antibiotics rather than seven, finds a large UK-wide trial led by UCL. The results of the multi-site CAP-IT trial, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association , show that the number of doses given to children at home can be reduced safely, without impacting recovery.

A study led by the has found that periodic mass outbreaks of leaf-munching caterpillars can improve the water quality of nearby lakes - but may also increase the lakes' carbon dioxide emissions. From a water quality perspective they're a good thing, but from a climate perspective they're pretty bad Sam Woodman Outbreaks of caterpillars of invasive gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar dispar , and forest tent caterpillar moths, Malacasoma disstria occur at least every five years in temperate forests.

Manchester-based researchers have taken an important step towards making it safer for people in prison who are prescribed medication. The research*, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology , involved searching electronic health records to uncover how many people in prisons have been affected by a potential problem related to their prescribed medication.

Rising global temperatures will impact major river basins differently around the world, with rivers in South America, southern Africa and Australia among those most at risk of extreme ecological changes, a new study led by UCL has found. For the first time, researchers from UCL Geography, the University of Nottingham and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology combined large datasets with an environmental flow approach to predict how changes of between 1-3°C in the Earth's temperature would impact 321 of the world's biggest river basins.

A therapeutic antibody developed by scientists at UCL has been shown to unblock and normalise blood vessels inside cancerous tumours, enabling the more effective delivery of targeted cancer treatments. The findings in mice, published in the journal  MED , are the first to demonstrate that inhibiting the activity of LRG1, a protein produced in many tumorous tissues, liberates disorganised angiogenesis (blood vessel formation) - a leading cause of morbidity in numerous diseases including cancer.

· Hydrogen is valuable as it is a renewable source, and could be sold to the chemicals and plastics industry or used in hydrogen fuel cells for energy storage or electric vehicles · The ability to take hydrogen from waste water provides a new economic and environmental opportunity, however until now it has been incredibly expensive to suffice · Using a recycled carbon fibre mat, researchers from WMG, University of Warwick, have been able to produce Hydrogen from wastewater for Severn Trent Wastewater treatment is vital to remove pathogens, but is incredibly energy intensive.

Most people believe it is important to plan care preferences in advance of dying but very few have taken any action, according to new research led by Cardiff University's Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre. Researchers analysed survey data from 8,077 adults across the UK to understand attitudes to death and dying, including what people understand of palliative and end of life care and willingness to discuss plans.

Scientists have provided the clearest evidence yet of the processes that are killing off galaxies in nearby regions of the Universe. In a new paper released today, an international team of astronomers say the galaxies are being robbed of their molecular gas - the fuel needed to birth new stars - in a process that has, up until now, remained a mystery.

The number of people seeking help for self-harm in primary care (for example from their GP), dropped sharply during the first UK lockdown in 2020. By May 2021 this deficit had not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to new research that analysed the electronic health care records in primary care of 2.8 million people across Greater Manchester.

Scientists have revealed new ways of calculating older mums' personal risk of serious pregnancy problems like having stillborn, premature, or very small babies. The Manchester Advanced Maternal Age Study (MAMAS) was led by Alex Heazell, Professor of Obstetrics at The University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician at Saint Mary's Hospital (SMH) - part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) - with funding from Tommy's charity.

Honeybees increase social distancing when their hive is under threat from a parasite, finds a new study led by an international team involving researchers at UCL and the University of Sassari, Italy. The study, published in Science Advances , demonstrated that honeybee colonies respond to infestation from a harmful mite by modifying the use of space and the interactions between nestmates to increase the social distance between young and old bees.

Global warming has caused extreme ice melting events in Greenland to become more frequent and intense over the past 40 years, raising sea levels and flood risk worldwide, finds new research involving UCL academics. Over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tonnes of ice has melted from Greenland's surface and flowed into the ocean - enough to cover the UK with around 15m of meltwater, or all of New York City with around 4500m.

· During the COVID-19 March-June 2020 lockdown in the UK everyone was encouraged to stay at home and only leave the house once a day to exercise · A study of UK residents has found that groups including those who are BAME, obese and/or city dwellers reported a greater reduction in physical activity during the lockdown than other groups · The research highlights the need for targeted interventions to ensure that physical and mental health impacts

For the first time, researchers have used human data to quantify the speed of different processes that lead to Alzheimer's disease and found that it develops in a very different way than previously thought. Their results could have important implications for the development of potential treatments.

New research led by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester could revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment for people with Perrault syndrome, a rare genetic condition resulting in hearing loss in men and women, and early menopause or infertility in women. The research, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics , was funded by organisations including, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) , Action Medical Research and The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) .

Cracked and blurry phone screens could someday be a thing of the past, suggests a new study from the and the University of Queensland, Australia. This is an example of how fundamental science leads to fantastic discoveries and possible real-life applications Thomas Bennett The international team of researchers has developed technology for next-generation composite glass, for use in lighting LEDs, smartphones, TVs and computer screens.

Results from a global science experiment have cast doubt on the existence of a theoretical particle beyond the Standard Model. The results were gathered by an international team at the MicroBooNE experiment in the United States, with leadership from a UK team including researchers from the. The two most likely explanations for anomalies that were seen in two previous physics experiments: one which suggests a sterile neutrino, and one which points at limitations in those experiments, have been ruled out by MicroBooNE.

Techniques used by online microfinance platforms to spur user involvement could be useful in helping organisations to persuade people to behave in ways that benefit both society and environment. Microfinance platforms have popularised the idea that ordinary people can become bankers to the poor. Communities of lenders get together every day to crowdfund microloans to disadvantaged micro-entrepreneurs by investing small sums of around only 25 dollars.

Bacteria which have been shown to degrade and assimilate plastic, has been a key area of international research since 2016. Now a University of Manchester -based team of scientists have made a biotechnological breakthrough which may help humans to call on engineered bacteria cells to reduce our plastic waste.

A major new physics experiment has used four complementary analyses to show no signs of a theorised fourth kind of neutrino known as the sterile neutrino. Its existence is considered a possible explanation for anomalies seen in previous physics experiments. New results from the MicroBooNE experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory deal a blow to a theoretical particle known as the sterile neutrino.