Month: August 2011

Researchers at The University of Western Australia today released the results of a long-running study which has established a significant link between type 2 diabetes and the risk of potentially fatal bowel cancer in men.

A molecule which can stop the formation of long protein strands, known as amyloid fibrils, that cause joint pain in kidney dialysis patients has been identified by Leeds researchers.

Scientists from the University of York have played a pivotal role in a discovery which could finally unlock the full potential of waste plant matter to replace oil as a fuel source.

A fundamental new understanding of programs that control energy production in the human body provides new clues to help the development of therapeutics for a broad range of mitochondrial diseases.

Researchers at the University of York have been awarded a major EU grant to help gain a clearer understanding of the underlying physics behind ultrafast magnetic processes.

Experts from the University of Sheffield have shed new light on the application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) on a nano scale, paving the way for improved medical imaging techniques, computing, telecommunications, data storage and photovoltaics.

A three-day meeting at UCT on the contested politics of The Uses and Abuses of Culture hosted jointly by the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and HUMA was held in July 2011.

An international team of researchers at the University of York has used ancient DNA to produce compelling evidence that the lack of genetic diversity in modern stallions is the result of the domestication process.

Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a pain-free way of tackling dental decay that reverses the damage of acid attack and re-builds teeth as new.

A major international e-Science conference at the University of York will explore the concept of cloud computing to enable better use of software and data from research and industry.

New research by scientists in the Department of Biology at the University of York shows that species have responded to climate change up to three times faster than previously appreciated. These results are published in the latest issue of the leading scientific journal Science.

A growing body of recent research indicates that, in Earth’s warming climate, there is no “tipping point,” or threshold warm temperature, beyond which polar sea ice cannot recover if temperatures come back down.

A key glacier in Greenland is melting faster than previously expected, according to findings by a team of academics, including Dr Edward Hanna from University of Sheffield.

Caffeine guards against certain skin cancers at the molecular level, according to a study appearing online August 15, 2011, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

University of Southampton researchers have developed new nano-structured glass, turning it into new type of computer memory, which has applications in optical manipulation and will significantly reduce the cost of medical imaging.

A new diagnostic method developed by researchers in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta is proving it can be a reliable tool for health professionals to predict an overweight or obese patient’s risk of death and even the degree to which they need to lose weight.

New research by scientists at the University of York gives a fresh perspective on the physics of black holes.

Ice and frozen ground at the North and South Poles are affected by climate-change-induced warming, but the consequences of thawing at each pole differ due to the geography and geology, according to a Penn State hydrologist.

Engineering students from the University of Leeds have found a way to let surgeons keep their sense of touch when operating at a distance with ‘keyhole’ techniques.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have led a new report that provides the first comprehensive technical and economic assessment of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as a viable but poorly understood option for reducing carbon emissions.

Researchers at the University of Southampton have discovered clues to why many patients do not respond to a standard drug for the blood cancer lymphoma, raising hopes that more effective treatments can be designed.

Two new studies from Penn State College of Medicine have found that smokers who tend to take their first cigarette soon after they wake up in the morning may have a higher risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers than smokers who refrain from lighting up right away.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have designed a chemical system which represents perhaps the simplest protocell model of cell formation on the early Earth. The work is described in an article published today in Nature Chemistry.

Bridging the gap between research and patient benefit

The 2^nd Worldwide Universities Network Symposium in Oral Health Sciences was held between 25 and 26 July at the University of Leeds.  The programme included presentations from 21 international speakers who shared their experiences in translational research in dentistry with 110 delegates from around the world.

The Symposium featured invited speakers from Australia, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Some plants may use less water under global warming, says a University of Sydney scientist involved in a major study published in the journal Nature.

A group of researchers at the University of Alberta hopes to draw attention to what has become a forgotten essential nutrient.

Early and regular home visits to first-time mothers that encourage breastfeeding and ‘tummy time’ during their child’s first year of life improve the likelihood of their children growing up being a healthy weight, according to research published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Nearly 3000 blind and partially-sighted New Zealanders could be suffering from undiagnosed sleep timing disorders according to a recent study from The University of Auckland.

The University of York is welcoming a record number of American Fulbright scholars for the new academic year. Five American academics will join the University in October, teaching and researching subjects ranging from gender, violence and conflict, to restoration of the pedagogical bassoon works of Julius Weissenborn.