news 2017

Protecting an area for wildlife can work-but only if there is robust political governance. That's the research conclusion of twenty-three years of bird counting by an international team of researchers, including a scientist from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath and published in the journal Nature .

Community screening for osteoporosis could prevent more than a quarter of hip fractures in older women - according to new research involving researchers from the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol and local hospitals, and led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The study, published today in The Lancet, reveals that a simple questionnaire, combined with bone mineral density measurements for some, would help identify those at risk of hip fracture.

Two-thirds of young women aged 18-26 who were eligible to receive Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine have missed at least one opportunity to receive the vaccine during a visit to an obstetrics and gynecology clinic, Yale researchers report. This study also confirms previous research showing racial disparities in vaccination for HPV: Women who identify as black are 61% more likely have had a missed opportunity than women who identify as white.

Researchers from Lancaster University are exploring whether technology could be the key to tackling the UK's loneliness epidemic by better connecting older adults with their communities. Ironically, isolation and loneliness have spread rapidly as communication has become easier - particularly among older adults.

As the government extends its income management program, new research indicates the original rollout in the Northern Territory did not improve school attendance and birth outcomes, and had negative short-term effects. Analysis reveals the federal government's initial income management scheme - first introduced in 2007 during the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) or 'intervention', and now commonly known as Cashless Debit Card - coincided with significant negative outcomes for children in the short term, and no noticeable improvements in the long run.

Rowhammer attacks make use of hardware vulnerabilities in order to access computer systems. TU Graz researchers have discovered a new type of attack - and raise questions about protective mechanisms. "When a system is regarded as absolutely safe, our curiosity is awakened," explains Daniel Gruss from the Institute of Applied Information Processing and Communication Technology working group, the researcher is occupied with the security of IT systems and in particular rowhammer attacks.

Living close to a busy road can be bad for your respiratory health if you are middle aged, new Australian research has found. A study published in the European Respiratory Journal found Australians aged 45-50 who lived less than 200 metres from a major road had a 50 per cent higher risk of asthma, wheeze and lower lung function over a five-year period than those who lived more than 200 metres from a major road.

Online GP consultation systems may not be the silver bullet for reducing GP workload and patient waiting times that government policymakers are hoping for, NIHR-funded research from the University of Bristol has found. These systems offer the potential to revolutionise use of primary care, but only with careful implementation and effective marketing, the researchers concluded.

By reducing out-of-pocket costs for preventive treatment, the Affordable Care Act appears to have encouraged more people to have health screenings related to their cardiovascular health, a UCLA study found. Comparing figures from 2006 through 2013, researchers found that more people were screened for diabetes, high cholesterol, cigarette use and high blood pressure — all risk factors for heart disease — after the ACA was implemented than before.

The study's authors analyzed data for nearly 18,000 companies and found that female-founded start-ups have a harder time gaining investor interest and raising money. A new study is highlighting one possible reason women aren't making more headway in Silicon Valley: men prefer to invest in companies run by other men.

Human trials of an innovative treatment for rheumatoid arthritis developed by The University of Queensland have begun in Brisbane. DEN-181, a vaccine-style treatment referred to as an 'immunotherapy', targets the underlying cause of the disease rather than treating its inflammatory symptoms. Patient trials at a clinical research facility at the Princess Alexandra Hospital began last week.

A major international study involving Australian cardiac patients has found surgeons can safely use significantly less blood than they traditionally have been in heart operations. Researchers - including Royal Melbourne Hospital heart surgeon and University of Melbourne deputy director of surgery Professor Alistair Royse - believe they can safely save the equivalent of one blood donation per moderate-to-high risk patient.

FINDINGS Contrary to popular practice, a measure of the heart's pumping function known as "left ventricular ejection fraction" is not associated with the long-term outcomes of hospitalized heart failure patients, a UCLA-led study of Medicare patients has found. Hospitalized heart failure patients in all age groups within the study and with all levels of ejection fraction had significantly lower rates of survival after five years and a higher risk of re-hospitalization than people in the United States without heart failure.

Reading the news, posting holiday pictures, or watching cat videos on YouTube - the internet can be used for many things.

Billions of dollars of financial investment in global conservation has significantly reduced biodiversity loss, according to a new Oxford University research. Image credit: Shutterstock Billions of dollars of financial investment in global conservation has significantly reduced biodiversity loss, according to a new Oxford University research.

State and local government targets to get people out of cars and into more active transport would reduce heart disease and diabetes by tens of thousands of cases. University of Queensland researchers have evaluated Brisbane's active travel targets for 2026, which aim to achieve a split of 15 per cent for walking, five per cent for cycling and 14 per cent for public transport.

The use of continuous quality improvement activities raises the quality and quantity of preventive healthcare delivered to Indigenous Australians, University of Sydney research reveals. The finding published in today's BMJ Open is critical for closing the gap in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians says Professor Ross Bailie of the University of Sydney , who led the research.

Efforts to rid the world of polio have taken another significant step, thanks to research led by University of Queensland bioscience experts and funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO). A fresh study of the Nanopatch - a microscopic vaccine delivery platform first developed by UQ researchers - has shown the device more effectively combats poliovirus than needles and syringes.

ANN ARBOR-People convicted of felonies are more likely to return to prison if they are sentenced to prison rather than probation, according to a University of Michigan study. The study adds new evidence to the argument that a key driver of high incarceration rates is the readmission to prison of individuals recently released from prison, a phenomenon that has been called prison's "revolving door." It also shows that this self-perpetuating cycle of prison admissions is being driven largely by readmissions to prison for technical violations of parole rather than new crimes.

Telephone consultations to determine whether a patient needs to see their GP face-to-face can deal with many problems, but a study led by researchers at the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (University of Cambridge and RAND Europe), found no evidence to support claims by companies offering to manage these services or by NHS England that the approach saves money or reduces the number of hospital referrals.