18 April 2013
Researchers have found a new method for studying depression in rats that mirrors an aspect of the mood-related symptoms of the condition in humans. Until now, the lack of animal models that can replicate the emotional symptoms of psychiatric disorders displayed in humans has been a major obstacle for the development of treatments. It is hoped this new technique, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, will improve the efficacy testing of new therapies.
17 April 2013
Researchers led by principal investigator, Professor Russ Jago in the University of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies have been awarded £743,000 of funding from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to conduct a large evaluation of the potential of an after-school dance programme to increase the physical activity of Year 7 girls.
15 April 2013
Scientists have developed a new type of nanoparticle with potential applications in chemistry, biology and medicine. The findings, published in Science and led by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Bristol, could potentially be used to deliver bioactive molecules, such as drugs, to cells and eventually diseased tissues in the body.
15 April 2013
A major study published today [15 April] by leading children’s grant-giving charity, Buttle UK and the University of Bristol provides the most comprehensive picture to date of informal kinship care — children cared for informally by relatives and friends because their parents are no longer able to look after them.
12 April 2013
Large helpers (nannies) in a cichlid fish allow the dominant male and female to reduce their personal contribution to their offspring and territory, according to new research published today in Functional Ecology.
10 April 2013
The findings from a year-long study that sought to identify what factors contribute to outstanding fundraising appeals are published this week. The Clayton Burnett-commissioned research, led by academics at the University of Bristol and Indiana University in the US, analysed the leadership, communication and structures behind some of the UK’s most successful fundraising programmes.
10 April 2013
New research has questioned the reliability of neuroscience studies, saying that conclusions could be misleading due to small sample sizes. A team led by academics from the University of Bristol reviewed 48 articles on neuroscience meta-analysis which were published in 2011 and concluded that most had an average power of around 20 per cent – a finding which means the chance of the average study discovering the effect being investigated is only one in five.
7 April 2013
Researchers at the University of Bristol have revealed new insight into the function of a key protein attributed to impaired learning and memory in Down’s syndrome. The findings, published online in Nature Cell Biology, offer further molecular insight into how the reduced level of this key protein termed ‘sorting nexin-27’ [SNX27] may contribute to learning and memory problems associated with Down’s syndrome.
3 April 2013
Academics in the University of Bristol’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the University of Dundee's Institute for Medical Science and Technology have demonstrated for the first time that a “sonic lasso” can be used to grip microscopic objects, such as cells, and move them about.
28 March 2013
Today 33 per cent of the UK population suffers from multiple deprivation — it was 14 per cent in 1983, and over 30 million people (almost half the population) are suffering some degree of financial insecurity. These are just some of the stark findings from the largest and most authoritative study of poverty and deprivation ever conducted in the UK.
