news 2013

Imperial has announced the immediate actions it is taking following the release of an independent report into animal care and welfare at the College. The College asked Professor Steve Brown in April 2013 to convene an independent committee to investigate how Imperial can improve to meet the highest standards in animal research and care internationally.

Young people serving time in youth detention or serving community-based orders have extremely high rates of substance dependence, poor mental health and engage in risky sexual behaviour, a new study has found. Researchers from Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the University of Melbourne ed over 500 young people in custody or serving community based orders in Victoria between 2002 and 2003.

Solar cells made with low-cost, nontoxic copper-based quantum dots can achieve unprecedented longevity and efficiency, according to a study by LANL and Sharp Corporation. "For the first time, we have certified the performance of a quantum dot sensitized solar cell at greater than 5 percent, which is among the highest reported for any quantum dot solar cell," said Hunter McDaniel.

9 December 2013 ESA's CryoSat satellite measured the storm surge from the recent North Sea storms, as high waters passed through the Kattegat sea between Denmark and Sweden. During 5-6 December, a major storm passed through northern Europe causing flooding, blackouts, grounding flights and bringing road, rail and sea travel to a halt.

University of Washington Fewer high school students across the U.S. started drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, committing crimes and engaging in violence before graduation when their towns used the Communities That Care prevention system during the teens' middle school years. A University of Washington study found that the positive influence of this community-led system was sustained through high school.

Three and a half years after beginning a clinical trial which demonstrated the first successful and sustained use of genetically engineered'T cells to fight leukemia, a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will today announce the latest results of studies involving both adults and children with advanced blood cancers that have failed to respond to standard therapies.

Scientists have found evidence that there was once an ancient lake on Mars that may have been able to support life. It is exciting to think that billions of years ago, ancient microbial life may have existed in the lake's calm waters, converting a rich array of elements into energy.

Researchers in Umeå and Uppsala have found that residues of the influenza drug Tamiflu in our environment can make the influenza virus in birds resistant. This can have serious consequences in the event of an influenza pandemic. With more than 14 million SEK from the Swedish Research Councils Formas and VR, the research team will now continue their studies with a focus on alternative antiviral drugs.

When soup is heated, it starts to boil. When time and space are heated, an expanding universe can emerge, without requiring anything like a "Big Bang". This phase transition between a boring empty space and an expanding universe containing mass has now been mathematically described by a research team at the Vienna University of Technology, together with colleagues from Harvard, the MIT and Edinburgh.

A new study conducted by scientists from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School and Karolinska Institutet presents very promising results for the treatment of the cancer form multiple myeloma. The drug candidate used in the research has been developed by scientists from Karolinska Institutet and a Swedish company following its initial identification at the same university.

06 Dec 2013 Researchers from The University of Manchester and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust have tested a new way to treat a disfiguring skin condition. Telangiectatases are knot-like clusters of blood vessels on the skin which can occur in 30 to 50 per cent of patients with systemic sclerosis, a potentially serious and incurable auto-immune condition that affects connective tissue.

A pathway known for its role in regulating adult stem cells has been shown to be important for hair follicle proliferation, but contrary to previous studies, is not required within hair follicle stem cells for their survival, according to researchers with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Researchers have looked at why anonymous traders using eBay auction sites bother to give feedback on one another, given such transactions are usually one-offs. The study examined hundreds of thousands of online transactions and found that in over 60% of them, buyers and sellers provided feedback even though they had little to gain from it as individuals.

Ever wondered what the weather and climate was like in Middle Earth, the land of hobbits, dwarves, elves and orcs, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings ? Climate scientists from the University of Bristol, UK have used a climate model, similar to those used in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, to simulate and investigate the climate of Middle Earth.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed when individuals exhibit characteristic behaviors that include repetitive actions, decreased social interactions, and impaired communication. Curiously, many individuals with ASD also suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) issues, such as abdominal cramps and constipation.

Sildenafil citrate, sold under the brand name Viagra, may help with pelvic pain because it can lead to dilation of the blood vessels. HERSHEY, Pa. -Women with moderate to severe menstrual cramps may find relief in a class of erectile dysfunction drugs, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State College of Medicines Richard Legro.

A new documentary to be broadcast on Channel 4 this weekend is largely based on research carried out by a team from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, in collaboration with colleagues at the Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in China. New Secrets of the Terracotta Warriors is the first public presentation of some of the work led by Dr Xiuzhen Janice Li, Dr Andrew Bevan, Professor Marcos Martinón-Torres and their team, which involves a number of innovative scientific methods and unexpected results.

A revolutionary instrument that will expedite the discovery of new, artificial forms of matter with unprecedented electronic and magnetic properties will be funded by a $4.13 million gift from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The new instrument, to be called the Moore CONQUEST (Creation and Observation of Novel Quantum Electronic Structures) facility, will integrate three separate pieces of cutting-edge technology for synthesizing and studying such materials.

Two EPFL scientists have shown how to achieve a dramatic increase in the capacity of optical fibers.

As you step outdoors into the bright sunshine, your pupils automatically contract. Scientists from the Australian Centre of Excellence in Vision Science (ACEVS) based at The Australian National University (ANU) are making use of how this 'pupil reflex' is connected to the brain as a potential new way of testing the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS).