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Father absence in early childhood linked to depression in adolescent girls

15 May 2013

New research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol shows that girls whose fathers were absent during the first five years of life were more likely to develop depressive symptoms in adolescence than girls whose fathers left when they were aged five to ten years or than boys in both age groups (0-5 and 5-10), even after a range of factors was taken into account.

Image of a Red Sea coral reef

Cooling ocean temperature could buy more time for coral reefs

14 May 2013

Limiting the amount of warming experienced by the world's oceans in the future could buy some time for tropical coral reefs, say researchers from the University of Bristol.

A young boy holding his grandparents hands

The high-tech future of healthcare: a digital health assistant in your home

9 May 2013

The UK’s healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges. A pioneering new collaboration, led by the University of Bristol, hopes to address these challenges by developing a 24/7 digital home health assistant thanks to a grant awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of £12 million.

Image of an optical micrograph of silica nanoparticle-stabilized aqueous microcompartments

Building protocells from inorganic nanoparticles

9 May 2013

Researchers at the University of Bristol have led a new enquiry into how extremely small particles of silica (sand) can be used to design and construct artificial protocells in the laboratory. The work is described in an article published in Nature Chemistry.

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Silk and cellulose biologically effective for use in stem cell cartilage repair

8 May 2013

Over 20 million people in Europe suffer from osteoarthritis which can lead to extensive damage to the knee and hip cartilage. Stem cells offer a promising way forward but a key challenge has been to design a ‘smart material’ that is biologically effective for cartilage tissue regeneration. Now researchers have identified a blend of naturally occurring fibres such as cellulose and silk that makes progress towards affordable and effective cell-based therapy for cartilage repair a step closer.

Generic image illustrating hepatitis virus

New antiviral treatment could significantly reduce global burden of hepatitis C

6 May 2013

Around 150 million people globally are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) – a major cause of liver disease and the fastest growing cause of liver transplantation and liver cancer. New prevention strategies are urgently required as people are continuing to be infected with HCV. Findings, published in Hepatology, reveal the impact of a new antiviral treatment that could potentially reduce HCV rates in some cities affected by chronic HCV prevalence by half over 15 years.

The risk of marine bio-invasion caused by global shipping around the world

Researchers calculate the global highways of invasive marine species

5 May 2013

New research by scientists from the Universities of Bristol, UK, and Oldenburg, Germany, has mapped the most detailed forecast to date for importing potentially harmful invasive species with the ballast water of cargo ships.

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Children’s brain processing speed linked to early indicator risk of mental health issues

1 May 2013

New research from Bristol and Cardiff universities shows that children whose brains process information more slowly than their peers are at greater risk of psychotic experiences.

Marianne Thoresen, Professor of Neonatal Neuroscience

Xenon gas successfully delivered to babies in ambulance

29 April 2013

Two babies at risk of brain injury following a lack of oxygen at birth have received xenon gas and cooling therapy while being transferred from one hospital to another in a specially equipped ambulance.

A high-fidelity prototype using projection and tracking on wood tiles that are actuated with thin shape-memory alloy wires

Shape-shifting mobile devices

29 April 2013

Prototype mobile devices that can change shape on-demand will be unveiled today [Monday 29 April] by academics in the University’s Department of Computer Science and could lay down the foundation for creating high shape resolution devices of the future.