ResearchPod: Recent Episodes
ResearchPod
ResearchPod science podcasts connect the research community to a global audience of peers and the public, raising visibility and impact. www.researchpod.org
Microbes are everywhere. Their ability to adapt to environmental conditions means they can survive on surfaces and enter the food manufacturing chain where they continue to multiply. This presents a daunting uphill battle for food manufactures to maintain hygiene and prevent contamination.
Of the more than 200 pathogenic organisms that cause foodborne illness, Listeria monocytogenes is among the most concerning for public health.
The team of Dr. Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah, Associate Professor at Tennessee State University, has pioneered validation studies offering invaluable insights into how high-pressure techniques can be adapted to decontaminate food such as ready-to-eat products. In doing so their work is and will be instrumental in making the food we eat safe and improving public health in the USA and worldwide.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12091858
Shrinkflation is the practice of reducing product sizes while keeping prices the same – a subtle form of inflation many consumers overlook.
In this episode, we explore new research by Aljoscha Janssen at Singapore Management University, examining how widespread shrinkflation is in retail, why consumers react differently to size changes than price rises, and what this means for transparency and consumer protection.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2024.0948
Menopause affects every woman differently, but for many the symptoms are significant and long-lasting. Yet despite effective treatments being available, many women never seek help.
This podcast from NHS Ayrshire and Arran explains how hormone replacement therapy works, the different forms it can take, and how to use it safely and effectively to manage the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. One size does not fit all when it comes to HRT, and patient knowledge and understanding of the options available is essential for safe and effective use.
For more information, speak to your GP, practice nurse or pharmacist, or visit the links below.
NHS Inform: nhsinform.scot/tests-and-treatments/medicines-and-medical-aids/types-of-medicine/hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt
Women's Health Concern: womens-health-concern.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/27-WHC-FACTSHEET-HRT
In this episode of Enterprise Sessions from the University of Bristol, Professor Michele Barbour speaks with Dr Rebecca Shepherd, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, whose unconventional journey from NHS histology labs to ivory identification expert has sparked a thriving research‑led enterprise.
What began as an enthusiastic promise to TV anatomist Professor Alice Roberts during a book‑tour lunch has since evolved into a sophisticated service using Raman spectroscopy and machine learning to distinguish between elephant and mammoth ivory with remarkable accuracy. Along the way, Rebecca discovered a surprising global demand — from auction houses and museums to conservation organisations and private collectors — for non‑destructive, reliable ivory identification.
In this captivating conversation, Rebecca shares how an academic side‑project became a conservation tool, a business opportunity, and a deeply interdisciplinary research endeavour drawing on anatomy, chemistry, data science, archaeology and physics. She also reflects on learning to navigate pricing, legal frameworks, client relationships, and the unique opportunities that arise when curiosity meets enterprise.
🔍 In the episode:
· Why anatomy is far from “all discovered”
· How a chance email to Professor Alice Roberts changed Rebecca’s career
· Using Raman spectroscopy to analyse ivory — and pushing accuracy to 99.7%
· Collaborating with chemists, data scientists, conservationists and museums
· The ethics, laws and complexities of the ivory trade
· Building a research‑based service within a university environment
· The practicalities of pricing, insurance, safety and client negotiation
· How enterprise influences — and enriches — academic research
· Advice for researchers thinking about commercialising niche expertise
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together founders and researchers to share candid insights on spin-outs, start-ups, raising capital, and translating research into real-world impact. Our goal? To inform, inspire, and challenge myths about research commercialisation.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and share! Explore more at University of Bristol Enterprise Sessions and subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes.
Connect with our Guests:
Dr Rebecca Shepherd – LinkedIn
Michele Barbour – LinkedIn
Food insecurity and sustainability are huge global challenges. Yet research suggests that farmers, retailers and consumers reject up to 40% of the food we produce because it simply looks unattractive.
New research published by Singapore Management University looks at the psychology behind consumers’ behaviour and how to mitigate its effects.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.06.004
In this episode of Enterprise Sessions from the University of Bristol, Professor Michele Barbour speaks with Professor Paul Bates, world‑leading expert in flood inundation modelling and co‑founder of Fathom, one of the University’s most successful research‑driven companies.
Paul reflects on a remarkable career that began with a Bristol PhD in the late 1980s and evolved into pioneering work that transformed global flood modelling. He describes the technological shift that enabled a new generation of high‑resolution terrain data, the academic debates that reshaped the field, and the multidisciplinary collaborations that built the foundation for Fathom’s modelling techniques.
The conversation traces Fathom’s origins from two ambitious PhD students with an idea, through early years of bootstrapping, to international clients including insurers, banks, multinationals, and the World Bank. Paul also discusses the challenges of spinning out before universities had mature commercialisation systems, the importance of staying ahead of competitors through transparency and innovation, and the recent acquisition of Fathom by Swiss Re.
Finally, Paul reflects on what research entrepreneurship means within academia, how Fathom has strengthened Bristol’s scientific capabilities, and what lies ahead for both him and the next generation of global flood models.
🔍 In the episode:
· The origins of flood inundation modelling at Bristol
· How new airborne laser mapping transformed what was scientifically possible
· Overturning long‑held assumptions in the field
· The multidisciplinary team behind high‑resolution flood models
· Serendipity, road trips — and how two PhD students sparked a company
· Fathom’s unconventional path: bootstrapping, grants and early customers
· Data‑as‑a‑service before it was mainstream
· Building global flood maps used by insurers, governments and financial institutions
· Staying ahead of competitors by publishing methods openly
· Growing from four founders to a 50‑person global team
· Acquisition by Swiss Re and what it means for the future
· Entrepreneurship in academia: culture, opportunity and barriers
· The virtuous cycle between research and commercial innovation
· What’s next: NASA’s SWOT satellite and the next era of global flood modelling
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spinouts and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society’s biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
Paul Bates – LinkedIn
Michele Barbour – LinkedIn
Of all the scares and scandals around meat farming practices in the UK, few have been as persistent as been bovine TB. While we're nowhere near the 1930s estimate of the number of cattle infected, it's never really gone away. Why is that?
Dr. Neil Watt of MV Diagnostics joins us to cover where bovine TB has been hiding between outbreaks, how changes in testing may help pin it down, and why now might be the turning point on the management, maybe even eradication, of bovine TB in the UK.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.4241
Read more : https://www.mvdiagnostics.co.uk/
In this episode of Enterprise Sessions from the University of Bristol, Professor Michele Barbour sits down with Professor Ash Toye and Professor Jan Frayne, two leading biochemists whose long‑standing research partnership has evolved into one of the UK’s most exciting biotechnology spin‑outs: Scarlet Therapeutics.
Together, Ash and Jan share the remarkable journey from academic collaboration to scientific breakthrough — and ultimately to founding a company built on the promise of lab‑grown and engineered red blood cells. What began as a quest to understand red blood cell development became a platform capable of producing universal donor cells, modelling rare diseases, and creating “blood as medicine” through engineered therapeutics.
This episode goes far beyond the science. Ash and Jan discuss the reality of spinning out a wet‑lab biotech, the commercial challenges, the importance of the right CEO, and the dynamics of co‑founding a company with a long‑term academic collaborator. They also speak candidly about funding frustrations, scientific obsession, conflict‑of‑interest tightropes, and the excitement of helping their postdocs become industry scientists.
🔍 In the episode:
- Bristol as the UK’s “red blood cell corner”
- Making red blood cells in the lab: from stem cells to clinical trials
- The origins of Scarlet Therapeutics — and why the first idea “wasn’t enough”
- Immortalised red blood cell lines and the role of CRISPR
- Therapeutic blood: treating metabolic disorders using engineered cells
- How to pick a CEO — and why neither founder wanted to be one
- What happens when a US company beats you to your idea
- The emotional rollercoaster of fundraising and venture capital
- Navigating dual identities as academics and directors
- The power of co‑founding: creativity, challenge and complementary personalities
- What lab‑grown blood means for rare donor groups and transfusion medicine
- How spin‑out life feeds inspiration back into academic research
- Advice for researchers considering commercialisation or co‑founding
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spinouts and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society’s biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
What if you could tell ahead of time who needed how much pain relief?
What if you could avoid administering opioids to those with the highest risk of addiction, even if they didn't already know for themselves?
What if you could help ease the pain of a patient in need and be sure that you've made the right call?
Brian Meshkin of Proove Genomics shares his journey from personal tragedy to pioneering a scoring system that helps clinicians assess pain relief needs based on genetic profiles. Discover how this innovative approach aims to mitigate the opioid crisis by identifying patients at risk of addiction and personalizing pain treatment. Join us for an insightful discussion that blends science, compassion, and the urgent need for change in pain management.
Find out more at https://proove.com/
What if one university helped shape modern climate science? Discover how the University of Reading became synonymous with the field and why it remains at the centre of that story.
This World Meteorology Day 2026, we trace the evolution of climate science, from the Antarctic ozone hole in 1985 to today’s global challenges, and explore how Reading became a hub for the ideas, research and people driving the field forward.
In this episode, Professor Hannah Cloke OBE from the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology speaks with Professor Keith Shine FRS, the UK’s Regius Professor of Climate Science, and Dr Jolene Cook OBE, climate science advisor to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the UK’s representative to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Together, they examine Reading’s role in climate science and reflect on the field’s growth and future. Their journeys, shaped in part by the university, offer insight into how the discipline has developed, how universities and government are preparing the next generation of climate scientists, and the opportunities ahead for early career researchers.
CHAPTERS
00:00 – Discover Reading, a global centre for climate science
00:52 – Meet the voices, Keith Shine and Jolene Cook
02:10 – Pathways into climate science, where it all began
04:32 – 1985 and beyond, the ozone hole and growth of atmospheric science
07:25 – A defining role, the UK’s first Regius Professor of Climate Science
09:00 – Learning at Reading, shaping a generation of scientists
12:52 – From science to policy, the role of the IPCC
17:00 – Preparing the next generation, universities, government and early career opportunities
25:30 – Reading at 100, looking ahead to the next century of climate science
In this episode of Enterprise Sessions from the University of Bristol, Professor Michele Barbour speaks with Dr Myles‑Jay Linton, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, whose career has woven economics, health research, digital innovation and co‑production into a distinctive, socially impactful research portfolio.
Myles‑Jay reflects on his journey from an interdisciplinary PhD at the University of Exeter to applied healthcare work in Bristol Medical School, a prestigious Vice‑Chancellor’s Fellowship, and now pioneering work on the intersection of youth mental health and digital life. Along the way, he has collaborated with clinicians, policymakers, university leaders, young people, and—unusually for his field—a commercial mental health app developer.
From shaping national guidance on information‑sharing in student mental health crises, to co‑creating digital toolkits with practitioners, to supporting developers integrating AI into peer‑support platforms, this episode explores how enterprise and social impact can coexist powerfully in research that is compassionate, rigorous, and deeply collaborative.
🔍 In the episode:
- Moving from economics into applied health research
- The value of not specialising too early
- Working with patients, clinicians and the public on locally‑rooted healthcare projects
- Measuring student mental health: tools, policies and global collaboration
- Co‑production as a core research practice—why it matters
- Informing national policy on emergency contacts and circles of support
- Collaborating with a commercial mental health app (Tell Me) to support young adults
- Ethical, practical and emotional considerations for researchers working in sensitive areas
- Digital Dialogues: improving practitioner conversations about online life and wellbeing
- Scaling training for mental health professionals—and the policy questions that follow
- The future of digital mental health and Myles‑Jay’s emerging entrepreneurial mindset
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spinouts and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society’s biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
Connect with our Guests:
Prof. Michele Barbour – LinkedIn
Dr. Myles-Jay Linton – LinkedIn
In the first double-guest episode of Enterprise Sessions from the University of Bristol, Professor Michele Barbour speaks with Professor Martin Kuball and Dr Katie Hore for a compelling conversation about Rewire — the UK’s flagship Innovation and Knowledge Centre transforming the future of power electronics, semiconductors and clean energy.
Together, they unpack how advanced semiconductor materials, national-scale collaboration, and deep industry partnerships are accelerating the shift to reliable, efficient and sustainable electrical systems. From 5‑minute EV charging to radiation‑hard materials for fusion reactors and space missions, discover how Rewire is shaping technologies that will power our future.
Learn how Martin and Katie’s very different career journeys converged on the shared mission of building a national semiconductor ecosystem — one that spans curiosity‑driven research, cutting-edge materials science, industrial co‑creation, and the training of the next generation of innovators.
🔍 In the episode:
- How Rewire is reinventing semiconductor technology for the UK and beyond
- The surprising links between fundamental science and real‑world engineering impact
- What Innovation and Knowledge Centres are — and why they matter
- Building an ecosystem: 35+ industrial partners, three universities, and government
- The future of power electronics: efficient grids, EV charging, aerospace & fusion
- How students, postdocs and startups join and benefit from the Rewire community
- Career reflections: taking opportunities, embracing uncertainty and finding the fun
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spinouts and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society’s biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
Connect with our Guests:
Prof. Michele Barbour – LinkedIn
Prof. Martin Kuball - LinkedIn
Dr. Katie Hore - LinkedIn
REWIRE - LinkedIn
The climate crisis is one of the most pressing challenges of our time; but diverse sources of knowledge may help us navigate it better. This was the thematic focus of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change workshops recently hosted at the University of Reading.
In this live Q&A, Professor Jim Skea (chair of the IPCC) was joined by Rowan Sutton (Met Office), Sarah Honour (Dept. of Energy Security and Net Zero) and Professor Ed Hawkins (University of Reading) to discuss the role of indigenous voices, the withdrawal of the US from climate agreements, and the importance of making climate information accessible for future generations.
This episode was recorded live on February 9, 2026, at the University of Reading.
Find out more about the University of Reading, it's relationship with IPCC and how it has carved out a position at the heart of climate change conversations.
Chapters:
- 02:20 Why the IPCC is looking to involve diverse ‘knowledge systems’
- 04:26 How the UK Government and Met Office work with the IPCC process
- 09:35 What it’s like to be a researcher involved in the IPCC report cycle
- 12:02 How the IPCC has evolved and how it might evolve in the next 40 years
- 21:34 Audience question #1: Impact of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement
- 24:22 Audience question #2: How is the IPCC actively involving diverse voices?
- 26:35 Audience question #3: How can young people make a positive impact in combatting climate change?
In this episode of Enterprise Sessions from the University of Bristol, Professor Michele Barbour sits down with Dr. Richard Cole, Lecturer in Digital Futures within the Department of Classics and Ancient History, for a fascinating deep dive into the unexpected synergy between ancient narratives and cutting-edge technology.
Discover how Richard’s journey from historical fiction to virtual reality and AI-powered gaming led to the creation of the Bristol Digital Game Lab, a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration between academia and the gaming industry. From algorithmic bias to postnatal depression, learn how game jams and immersive storytelling are being used to tackle complex societal challenges.
🔍 In the episode:
- The intersection of classics and digital innovation
- How games can be tools for humanistic inquiry
- Collaborating with industry to build meaningful experiences
- The future of AI-driven gameplay and museum engagement
- Empowering students through game design and research
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
ChatGPT has been a game-changer for education. Students now frequently use Generative Artificial Intelligence to complete assignments, but concern is growing about how this affects their academic integrity and critical thinking.
Michelle Cheong is a Professor of Information Systems in Education at the Singapore Management University. By evaluating ChatGPT’s performance in spreadsheet modelling, her latest research provides important insights into how educators can redesign student assessments to enhance learning at different cognitive levels.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1111/jcal.70035
Join Professor Michele Barbour for an energising and deeply insightful conversation with Dr Luke Cox, CEO of Impulsonics, a University of Bristol spin‑out transforming how cell handling and automation are done in biotechnology.
What begins as an exploration of Luke’s journey from engineering undergraduate to PhD researcher becomes an exhilarating story of invention, grit, and entrepreneurial drive. From early work in acoustic levitation to co‑developing a novel “impulse control” technology, Luke unpacks how a speculative research project evolved into a breakthrough method for moving millions of cells simultaneously — enabling automation where traditional tools have long failed.
Discover how Luke navigated the risks, setbacks, and thrill of taking on the role of CEO while spinning out a deep‑tech company; how customer discovery reshaped their market focus; and why Impulsonics’ modular, ultrasound‑based approach could unlock scalable personalised medicine, reduced lab waste, and new possibilities in drug discovery.
This is a candid discussion about ambition, risk engineering, accidental luck, and finding the “beachhead market” that biologists have needed for decades — all told with Luke’s characteristic insight, humility, and humour.
In this episode
- From engineering undergrad to PhD researcher: discovering acoustic levitation
- The origins of “impulse control” and its biocompatible applications
- Why automation in biotechnology breaks down — and how Impulsonics bridges the gap
- Building prototypes, identifying markets and finding early‑stage grant funding
- Becoming CEO: translating between tech, biology, and business
- How automation could enable precision functional medicine
- The role of AI: hype, data quality, and industry realities
- Storytelling, improv theatre, and becoming unafraid to ask “stupid questions”
- Advice for early‑career researchers and aspiring entrepreneurs
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together founders and researchers to share candid insights on spin-outs, start-ups, raising capital, and translating research into real-world impact. Our goal? To inform, inspire, and challenge myths about research commercialisation.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and share! Explore more at University of Bristol Enterprise Sessions and subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes.
Connect with our Guests:
Dr Luke Cox – LinkedIn
Prof Michele Barbour – LinkedIn
Chapters
0:00 – Introductions
0:34 – From engineering student to acoustic levitation researcher
3:20 – How ultrasound manipulates millions of cells
5:25 – Exploring the potential of ultrasound and technology
9:00 – How the culture of innovation in Bristol inspired Luke
13:08 – Creating a product useful for the target audience
18:22 – Finding direction through the ICURe programme
22:47 – How cell passaging became the perfect first market — and how Impulsonics automates it
27:10 – Leadership, learning to translate across disciplines, and choosing not to bring in an external CEO
32:29 – Navigating grants, investors, risk engineering, relationships, and the realities of building hardware and biology together
42:28 – How Impulsonics’ technology could enable patient‑specific drug testing and more sustainable labs
46:19 – The founder mindset
51:45 – Advice for early‑career researchers
Obesity is one of the most pressing health challenges of our time, yet public campaigns on diet and exercise have struggled to reverse rising global rates.
Assistant Professor Xuan Zhang from the School of Economics at Singapore Management University explores how a simple, low-cost intervention – a series of short, personalised text messages – can help people better understand their weight classification and adopt healthier habits.
Her team’s randomised controlled trial found that regular digital reminders significantly improved weight perception and diet among older adults, showing how behavioural insights can drive meaningful change in public health.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2024.04.029
Professor Keon West has long been interested in the gap between what people think they know about racism and what the science actually shows.
Alongside his academic work, he regularly appears at events like Cheltenham Science Festival, opening up conversations about bias, scientific literacy, and why facts matter even in the most emotionally charged topics.
In this episode, we talk about applying science to racism, the misconceptions that persist, and what happens when research meets real-world audiences.
In this episode, we explore the fascinating concept of sensory living networks with Prof. Dimitra Simeonidou, director of the Smart Internet Lab, Paul Wilson, chair of the advisory board for SmartCitiesWorld and Simon Saunders, honorary professor at the Smart Internet Lab. Discover how these intelligent networks can revolutionise emergency responses and provide critical data to enhance urban living. Join us as we delve into the potential benefits and ethical considerations of utilising such technology for the greater good of society.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:15) Sensory Living Networks Explained
(05:30) Emergency Services and Data Utilisation
(10:00) The Role of Regulation
(15:45) Global Standards and Cooperation
(20:30) Future of AI and Data Governance
(25:00) Conclusion
This is an 18Sixty Production.
In this final episode of the series, we join a round-table discussion among experts from the Smart Internet Lab at the University of Bristol. Join Dimitra Simeonidou, Simon Saunders, and Paul Wilson as they explore the future of telecommunications and the exciting advancements in network technology.
Discover how AI and sensing capabilities are transforming networks into intelligent systems that not only communicate but also 'feel' the environment. This episode delves into the implications of these innovations for smart cities, crisis management, and the ethical considerations that come with them.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:30) The Evolution of Telecommunications
(10:15) AI and Sensing in Networks
(20:00) Future Networks Scenarios
(30:00) Ethical Considerations and Governance
(40:00) Closing Thoughts
This is an 18Sixty Production.
In this episode, we explore the revolutionary concept of a living network with Prof. Dimitra Simeonidou, Director of the Smart Internet Lab. Discover how data and AI can transform our urban environments into intelligent ecosystems that enhance our quality of life. From traffic management to public health, learn how the infrastructure we already have can become a sensor-rich network, improving our cities for both citizens and nature.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction to Smart Internet Lab
(01:15) The concept of a living network
(05:30) The role of sensors in urban environments
(10:45) AI and the evolution of smart networks
(15:10) The implications of conscious networks
(20:00) Future applications and the timeline for implementation
(25:30) Conclusion and next episode preview
This is an 18Sixty Production.
In this inspiring episode of The Enterprise Sessions, Professor Michele Barbour sits down with Dr. Camilla Morelli, a senior lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Bristol, whose groundbreaking work with indigenous youth in the Amazon rainforest has taken an unexpected and powerful turn toward enterprise.
What begins as immersive ethnographic research with the Matses people of Peru evolves into a creative collaboration that empowers young people to tell their own stories through animation. Camilla shares how her passion for understanding childhood in rainforest communities led to co-produced films that are now shaping policy, influencing global youth agencies, and opening doors to commercial opportunities.
🎬 Highlights include:
- Camilla’s journey from Rome to Bristol via the Amazon
- The surprising disconnect between rainforest children and their environment
- How digital storytelling became a tool for empowerment and impact
- The challenges and triumphs of entering the creative industries as an academic
- Reflections on gender, entrepreneurship, and finding your voice in unfamiliar spaces
✨ Whether you're curious about anthropology, creative enterprise, or the power of storytelling, this episode is a must-watch.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with researchers turning ideas into impact.
Artificial intelligence often struggles with the ambiguity, nuance, and shifting context that defines human reasoning. Fuzzy logic offers an alternative, by modelling meaning in degrees rather than absolutes.
In this roundtable episode, ResearchPod speaks with Professors Edy Portmann, Irina Perfilieva, Vilem Novak, Cristina Puente, and José María Alonso about how fuzzy systems capture perception, language, social cues, and uncertainty.
Their insights contribute to the upcoming FMsquare Foundation booklet on fuzzy logic, exploring the role of uncertainty-aware reasoning in the future of AI.
You can read the previous booklet from this series here: Fuzzy Design-Science Research
You can listen to previous fuzzy podcasts here: fmsquare.org
Join Professor Michele Barbour in this captivating conversation with Professor Marc Holderied from the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences. Discover how a serendipitous encounter with a fluffy moth in Costa Rica sparked a 30-year scientific journey that led to the development of ultra-thin, nature-inspired sound-absorbing materials.
🎙️ In this episode follow Marc’s path to Bristol and his passion for acoustics including:
- Fascinating collaborations with Bristol Zoo, including the discovery of a new frog species and a mysterious bat call
- The groundbreaking invention of an acoustic tomograph
- How moth wings inspired the creation of acoustic metamaterials
- Finding real-world applications from the study of moth wings from noise-reducing wallpaper to quieter aircraft cabins
- A dream to reduce the hidden health costs of urban noise pollution
Read his original research article : https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2313549121
⭐Highlights
0:00 – Introducing the Enterprise Sessions and Professor Marc Holderied
0:34 – Marc’s journey to Bristol
2:22 – Discovering new species of frogs and bats with Bristol Zoo
4:41 – How shaving a moth’s wings led to an enterprise opportunity
7:49 – How moths evolved an acoustic invisibility cloak to evade bats
13:01 – From research to enterprise: developing acoustic wallpaper and ultra-thin sound absorbers
16:46 – The societal impacts of noise pollution
21:48 – The role Enterprise Fellowships and the University of Bristol’s Commercialisation team and others in going from research to enterprise
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society’s biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with
Marc Holderied https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-holderied/
Michele Barbour https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-barbour-7b049566/
Attacus Acoustics: https://attacusacoustics.co.uk/
This is the third in a series of three podcasts exploring ‘Claiming Tomorrow – Sociodigital Futures in the Making.’
'Who is making claims over sociodigital futures' looks at which actors are making futures claims. Should we pay heed to government announcements around the capabilities of AI and how it will change our lives? Can any single actor make such sweeping generalisations when there are many possible futures in front of us?
Hear from Dale Southerton, Susan Halford and Helen Manchester in this fascinating and timely discussion.
This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
This is the first of three podcasts exploring ‘Claiming Tomorrow – Sociodigital Futures in the Making.’ We are addressing the research question ‘What sociodigital futures are being claimed and made, and how, by which actors, across key areas of social life?’ Each of the three podcasts will address What, How and Who.
In this episode we hear from Debbie Watson, David Evans, Bridget Anderson and Rich Hemming as they discuss what defines futures. Futures are multiple, and we explore if they are on the way or already here. Can they be resisted or are some inevitable?'
This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
.
This second of three podcasts exploring ‘Claiming Tomorrow – Sociodigital Futures in the Making' is asking 'How are sociodigital futures being claimed?'
Claims about the future shape government policies, shape investments that are made by companies, and how all of us think about our lives. But how are these claims being made?
Listen to Susan Halford, Jessica Pykett, Debbie Watson, Paul Clarke and Beckie Coleman as they explore this timely subject.
This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
Littering is a global issue with serious environmental and economic impacts. But, what drives people to act responsibly?
Sonny Rosenthal from Singapore Management University and Pengya Ai, a PhD student from Nanyang Technological University are interested in how social norms shape pro-environmental behaviour. Their research reveals how descriptive norms (what people do) and injunctive norms (what people should do) interact with personal responsibility, challenging assumptions about collective action and the bystander effect. The findings offer a new framework for understanding how individuals respond to social cues, and how policy can use these vital insights.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60047-0
Green innovation is often seen as the key to sustainable growth. But, not all eco-technologies deliver the same results.
Cheng Qiang from Singapore Management University examines how pollution prevention and pollution control impact firms’ profitability and environmental performance, revealing why prevention strategies offer greater financial and environmental returns.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101706
Can CRISPR help build a unified platform for biological discovery?
Dr Kaivalya Shevade from the Laboratory for Genomics Research (UCSF) is developing new CRISPR-based screening methods to map gene networks, understand drug resistance, and track neuronal activity in disease.
The research team’s innovations, including the CAT-ATAC assay and the Plexus machine learning model, show how combining biology with computation could accelerate the search for new treatments.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.11.637716
How does financial transparency affect how CEO’s themselves are paid?
Young Jun Cho and Hojun Seo investigate how the introduction of SFAS 131, requiring companies to report performance by business segments, impacts equity-based compensation. Their research reveals that more granular disclosure reduces the need for stock-based incentives, especially in firms with weak internal oversight, but strong external scrutiny. The findings show how reporting rules can act as powerful tools of corporate governance, reshaping executive behaviour and investor influence.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12928
10 years is a long time in politics. In 2015, Javier Milei was a professor of economics making occasional appearances on Argentinian TV programmes. Today, he is more commonly seen wielding prop chainsaws as Argentina's Libertarian president.
Dr Sara Garcia Santamaria of the University of Bristol speaks with as again about masculinity, memeability, and Milei's version of and populism through the lens of Carnivale. After all, what's a strongman without a circus?
Find more of Dr Santamaria's work on ResearchGate
Listen to her previous episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/582022/17469780
Changing political tides across the globe are inextricably linked to the use of social media and internet based messaging. But something as simple as a photo of your lunch can't be part of the same spin... Right?
Dr Sara Garcia Santa Maria from the University of Bristol joins us to discuss her research into diet, culture and social media among populist politicians.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.51698/tripodos.2020.49p129-149
Posing with the People: Food Porn and the Far-Right in a Post-Truth Era. In Contois, E. and Kish, X. (Eds.). #Food Instagram: Identity, Influence, and Negotiation. https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=58mye9fd9780252044465
It is increasingly proclaimed that the world is in a polycrisis, a term and set of assumptions which have become a moniker for our times; a moment where multiple crises converge, requiring urgent attention and a future-focused solution.
For influential organisations the polycrisis concept makes problems of uncertainty accessible to foresight-informed solutions. Yet foresight frames frequently foreclose the kinds of futures knowledge delivered and sustain a consultancy-led futures industry.
Join Sarah Pink, Laureate Professor and Director of the Emerging Technologies Lab and FUTURES Hub at Monash University and Susan Halford, Co-director of the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures as they discuss the polycrisis, foresight and the role of futures research in addressing challenges facing society.
This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
Professor Marcus du Sautoy, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, has been long credited for his efforts to popularise science – particularly mathematics and related subjects.
Here, he discusses his motivation for popularising mathematics and the balance between his academic research and public engagement, and explores the challenges and goals of democratising science.
Emphasising the importance of informed decision-making on complex issues like artificial intelligence, energy, and even music, du Sautoy has a wide-ranging array of expertise which he intends to share with the public.
Read more in Research Features
In trying times, we all look for leadership. But leadership skills have to come from somewhere. Understanding how, where and why these skills develop is an important part of the continuing journey to more inclusive and collaborative leadership practice.
Dr Nicola Patterson, Dr Amy Stabler and Professor Sharon Mavin discuss the programme they lead at Newcastle University Business School. The MSc in Strategic Leadership course seeks to engage with leadership learners in a critical way, so as to unlearn traditional ’norms’ of leadership and open new approaches to foster inclusive, sustainable and reflexive leadership practices.
Read the original article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13505076231162717
How do analysts respond to company forecasts during mergers?
Dr Ahmad Ismail from the American University of Beirut analyses over 2,000 U.S. takeovers to find out. His research shows that analysts are more likely to revise earnings upwards when companies forecast large cost-saving synergies, and when led by level-headed CEOs. These revisions often predict real market gains, pointing to a clear investment signal.
Read more research: researchgate/Ahmad-Ismail
What can film reviews tell us about gender bias in the movie industry?
Dr Wael Khreich from the American University of Beirut explores this question with Genderly, a custom-built AI tool that analyses the language of 17,000 professional reviews. His findings reveal that female-led films are far more likely to be judged through a biased lens—subtly and overtly reinforcing stereotypes. This research sheds light on how language shapes perception, influences careers, and contributes to broader societal inequalities.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316093
Communication shapes the mediation process, influencing trust, negotiation dynamics, and dispute resolution outcomes.
Associate Professor Dorcas Quek Anderson from Singapore Management University explores how different communication modes – face-to-face meetings, video-conferencing, audio communication, and text messaging – affect mediation effectiveness. Her research highlights the strengths and limitations of each mode, offering a framework to help mediators choose the right approach for different disputes in a post-pandemic world.
Read the original research: library.smu.edu.sg/solresearch/4489/
What makes open societies more resilient in the face of global crises like climate change and artificial intelligence?
Stefan Brunnhuber of the World Academy of Art and Science unpacks why open societies—rooted in critical thinking, civic freedom, and institutional balance—hold the key to thriving in the 21st century, while autocracies remain reliant on the very systems they oppose.
Visit the World Academy of Art and Science website: worldacademy.org
Read more: amazon.co.uk/Stefan-Brunnhuber
Heating and cooling our homes, workplaces and public spaces is a source of constant effort, and expense. What can new technologies offer to help hold warmth, or aid air circulation? What if one solution could do both?
Dr Miren Juaristi Gutierrez from Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy, joins us to discuss innovative architectural features that could save energy, money, and carbon in future designs.
Find more at : https://zeraf-technology.eu/
What impact does artificial intelligence have on the evolution of consciousness, and could it mark the beginning of a new form of awareness beyond the human?
Stefan Brunnhuber of the World Academy of Art and Science explores how AI, as a transformative technology, reshapes not only society but the filters through which we perceive modern life — bridging biology, cognition, and cosmic consciousness.
Visit the World Academy of Art and Science website: worldacademy.org
Read more: amazon.co.uk/Stefan-Brunnhuber
Space is a key feature of social life. But does the digitalisation of society affect its spatial dimensions, and if so, how?
In this podcast, Leverhulme Visiting Professor Theodore Schatzki discusses his work exploring digitality, different types of space and notions of virtual realities, such as cyber space.
With Dale Southerton and Leverhulme Visiting Professor Theordore Schatzki.
This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
Economic forecasting is particularly challenging during global crises, with predictions often hampered by uncertainty and external factors.
Hwee Kwan Chow and Keen Meng Choy from Singapore Management University examine Singapore’s GDP and inflation forecasts during the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, uncovering the influence of government projections and herding behaviour that affect prediction accuracy.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/s00181-022-02311-8
The third podcast episode from TRUUD explores the complexity of achieving long-term, lasting change within urban development to foster healthier lives. Host Andres Kelly discusses with Dr Krista Bondy, University of Stirling, and Dr Neil Carhart, University of Bristol, how current systems struggle to address interconnected challenges, often leaving practitioners feeling powerless.
The conversation emphasises the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach and systems thinking to understand the various influencing factors and overcome short-term perspectives.
This episode investigates how to create interventions that are sustainable and prioritise health and equity for current and future generations, suggesting a need to reconsider societal values and decision-making processes.
Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.
Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/
Recommended reading from episode
Krista Bondy:
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal
Justice and the Politics of Indifference by Iris Marion Young
Neil Carhart:
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
Andrew Kelly:
The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short Term World by Roman Krznaric
Music credit: New York London Tokyoby Petrenj Music
Produced by Beeston Media.
The fourth podcast episode from the TRUUD programme explores public engagement in shaping healthier urban environments. Hosted by Andrew Kelly in conversation with Dr Andy Gibson, University of the West of England and Dr Miriam Khan, GP and member of the TRUUD Public Advisory Board, they explore the importance of involving communities and listening to their lived experiences in policy creation.
They examine methods for effective engagement, such as deliberative approaches and the use of visual aids, highlighting challenges and successes in projects like low traffic neighbourhoods. The guests also recommend books that underscore the principles of people-centred urban development and the accessibility of scientific information.
Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.
Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/
Books recommended in the episode
Dr Miriam Khan
Happy Cities by Charles Montgomery
Dr Andy Gibson
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
Andrew Kelly
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
Music credit: New York London Tokyoby Petrenj Music
Produced by Beeston Media.
The fifth and final TRUUD podcast explores the future of urban development and the necessary investments for creating healthier places. Host Andrew Kelly with experts Daniel Black, TRUUD Research Co-Director and Thomas Aubrey, Credit Capital Advisory, discuss the issue of short-termism in planning and the importance of long-term vision, drawing parallels with historical and European examples.
They highlight the need for integrated planning that includes transport, green spaces, and social infrastructure alongside housing. The conversation examines methods for measuring the impact of urban development on health and the economy, introducing the HAUS model from TRUUD. Financing models, including land value capture, are considered crucial for delivering sustainable and high-quality urban environments.
The podcast also touches on the significance of leadership, devolution, and community involvement in achieving these goals.
Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.
Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/
Books recommended in the episode
Daniel Black:
The Death of Rural England by Alan Hawkins
Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher
How Institutions Think by Mary Douglas
Thomas Aubrey:
Good Cities, Better Lives: How Europe Discovered the Lost Art of Urbanism by Peter Hall, with contributions from Nicholas Falk.
Andrew Kelly:
The film They Came to a City (1944) directed by Basil Dearden and adapted from a play by J.B. Priestley. Available on BFI Player.
Music credit: New York London Tokyoby Petrenj Music
Produced by Beeston Media.
The first podcast for the TRUUD (Tackling the Root Causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development) research programme explores how we value health and the opportunities to shape urban environments for healthier lives.
Host Andrew Kelly interviews Daniel Black, TRUUD Research Co-Director and Professor Jim McManus, Public Health Wales, about the TRUUD programme, which examines the interplay between property, transport systems, and public health, aiming to reduce non-communicable diseases and health inequalities through preventative measures.
Discussions cover the definition of upstream determinants of health, the barriers to implementing preventative public health policies, and the importance of cross-sector collaboration and assigning value to health outcomes. Examples of successful initiatives in Wales and inspiration from other countries are highlighted, along with book recommendations for further learning.
Funded by the UK which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.
Six partner universities bring expertise and skills from public health, law, psychology, management, systems engineering, environmental and health economics, real estate, planning, urban development, policy and public involvement disciplines to the £10m programme with several industry, public and third sector partners.
Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/
Music credit: New York London Tokyoby Petrenj Music
Produced by Beeston Media.
The second podcast in the series from the TRUUD research programme explores the challenges of translating urban health research into effective government policy and action.
Host Andrew Kelly is in conversation with Professor Sarah Ayres, University of Bristol, and Dr Geoff Bates, University of Bath, about their work on the TRUUD project, specifically examining how to make government take notice of evidence and implement long-term preventative strategies. They discuss the Health Appraisal of Urban Systems model for understanding the costs of unhealthy urban environments, the importance of cross-departmental collaboration, and the potential of devolution and a focus on wellbeing economies.
The conversation also reflects on the impact of COVID-19 and concludes with an optimistic outlook on achieving meaningful change through sustained engagement with civil servants.”
Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.
Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/
Books recommended in the episode:
Sarah Ayres:
Managing Complex Networks by Walter Kickert, Erik Hans Klijn, Joop Koppenjan
Managing Uncertainty in Networks by Joop Koppenjan
Geoff Bates:
Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder by Samuel Wilson Fussell
Andrew Kelly:
The Child in the City by Colin Ward
Other recommended resources:
About The Green Book from HM Treasury to appraise policies, programmes and projects.
Music credit: New York London Tokyoby Petrenj Music
Produced by Beeston Media.
Crowd management is key to evacuation safety. Yet, evacuation simulation programmes often lack experimental verification due to the inadequacy of benchmarks with real-world experiments.
Ilias Panagiotopoulus, Jens Starke, and Wolfram Just from the University of Rostock, Germany, have developed a model-free approach to analyse field experiments. This innovative method provides quantitative benchmarks and extends our understanding of crowd dynamics.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043190
In the late 1960s Cambridge PhD student Jocelyn Bell Burnell was studying quasars (very luminous active galactic nuclei) when she reported anomalous data which was later identified as pulsars (‘pulsating stars’).
While she was controversially missed off the list for the Nobel Prize awarded in 1974 for this discovery, Bell Burnell continued to be a pioneer in the field.
Now nearing the end of her career, Dame Jocelyn tells Research Features what it was like to grow up in Northern Ireland, be the only woman in a male-dominated environment, and what space research looks like in the era of AI technology.
Read more in Research Features
The COST COSY Action is redefining scientific collaboration by fostering diversity, equality, and inclusion across chemistry, physics, and materials science. Led by María Pilar de Lara-Castells, the network of 400+ researchers from 45 countries is breaking barriers in academia by supporting women in science, early-career researchers, and underrepresented scientists.
Initiatives like FemCOSY, mentorship programs, and leadership training are transforming the research landscape, proving that inclusivity drives excellence.
Visit their website: cost-cosy.eu
In this episode, we’re looking at research from an interdisciplinary network named COSY, funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) agency.
Their workgroup researching ‘Confined systems in Astrochemistry’ is led by Professors Lauri Halonen from Helsinki University in Finland and Malgorzata Biczysko from Wroclaw University in Poland. They are engaged in laboratory and computational experiments on new molecules detected in the interstellar medium.
Visit their site: https://cost-cosy.eu/
Storage plays an important role in managing global resources, from energy and water to carbon and data, shaping landscapes, supply chains, and environmental systems.
Sayd Randle from Singapore Management University investigates resource storage, examining its types—including stockpiling, warehousing, and containment—and their impacts on socio-economic and environmental systems. Her research highlights how storage is not just a logistical necessity but a key force in addressing modern challenges like climate change and resource sustainability.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12733
The directions of Chinese politics and economics echo restrictive practices that may hinder China’s technological and economic competitiveness.
Professor Yasheng Huang’s The Rise and Fall of the EAST has shaken perspectives outside academia. He focuses on how exams, autocracy, stability, and technology (EAST) have historically shaped China’s governance, impacting both prosperity and creativity.
Read more in Research Features
Read the book: yalebooks.co.uk/9780300274912/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-east
Comedian, performer, and writer Robin Ince has been asking questions about the world around him for as long as he can remember.
Perhaps most famous for his radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage which he co-hosts on BBC Radio 4 with Professor Brian Cox, Ince has been bringing science to the masses in new and hilarious ways since the 90s.
In this interview with our sister publication, Research Features, we discover what it's like performing 'science' at Glastonbury, why people may be frightened of science, and neurodivergence in STEM.
In this International Women’s Day episode, we chat to Professor Gene Feder OBE, Professor of Primary Care at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, about the Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse (HERA) programme.
For the past five years, HERA has been co-developing and testing women-centered and culturally-appropriate domestic violence and abuse (DVA) healthcare interventions in low-and middle-income countries – Brazil, Nepal, occupied Palestinian territories and Sri Lanka – with an aim to improve the rates of identification and reporting of DVA, and create more effective healthcare responses.
Professor Feder talks about the co-development of care models specific to each country, the outcomes and surprising findings of the study to date – and what working on HERA means to him as a health researcher.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Group was co-led by the University of Bristol and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The Group reported their findings and published a PolicyBristol report in 2024
Read more about HERA on the University of Bristol Centre for Academic Primary Care webpage and the University of Bristol News page.
Professor Feder is Director of VISION, a UK Prevention Research Partnership focused on violence prevention.
Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues both in person and online. Yet, how many friends do you really have?
Evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar says it won’t be more than 150. Proposed in the 1990s, ‘Dunbar’s number’ puts a limit on the number of stable relationships humans can maintain at any given time, and his ‘social brain hypothesis’ suggests that brain size is directly related to social group size in mammals. In short, the bigger the group, the bigger the brain.
In this interview with our sister publication, Research Outreach, we find out how Dunbar’s education moved from philosophy to psychology and how his research moved from primates to people, as well as why size matters when it comes to social groups and evolution.
Read more in Research Outreach
Humanity is overwhelmed by planetary tragedies: climate crisis, widespread hunger, desertification, migrations, destruction of biodiversity, corruption and many more. They are out of control because they are too complex for common-sense approaches like analysis and committees.
But now there are grounds for hope. Dr Alfredo del Valle’s method, ‘Participatory Innovation Praxis’, can make tragedies governable through new forms of social interaction, fostering ‘strong participation’ and ‘future-building communities’. It has saved thousands of lives and could positively impact millions globally.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.socimp.2023.100004
In Switzerland, young adults face major challenges when transitioning from school to the workplace—especially those with special educational needs. How can peer support help them navigate career choices and build resilience?
Professors Claudia Schellenberg and Annette Krauss explore this question through the Empower Peers 4 Careers project, and examine how structured peer discussions can foster social-emotional skills, strengthen community, and support students’ career development.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.806103
In East Asia, high marriage rates coexist with some of the world’s lowest fertility rates. So, why are so few children born in these societies? And how is this related to the strongly embedded cultural and Confucianist influences?
Professors Sunha Myong, Jungjae Park, and Junjian Yi investigate the cultural and socioeconomic factors shaping these trends. Using a mathematical model, the team explore how deeply rooted social norms – like unequal childcare and stigma against out-of-wedlock births – impact fertility decisions. Importantly, they examine how shifts in gender roles and government policies could hold the key to reversing declining birth rates.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvaa048
The knowledge gained during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies could prove invaluable for devising responses to and planning for future health crises.
Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane and Dr Stella Chungong from the Health Security Preparedness Department of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergency Programme recently devised the ‘Nuggets’ of Knowledge (NoK) platform, an open-source platform, to facilitate effective knowledge management and knowledge continuity during health emergencies.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1427223
Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a vital enzyme in the immune system, with the potential to revolutionise antiseptics and cancer therapy.
Professor Robert C. Allen has developed MPO-based antiseptics effective in blood which are systemically safe, while also demonstrating selective anticancer properties. Together with Jackson T. Stephens, the work overcomes obstacles to bring these therapies into widespread use, offering promising solutions for infection control and bladder cancer treatment.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.AM2024-2029
Hybrid psychological agents and transformative hybrid contexts offer new ways to bridge cultural divides, foster inclusion, and drive social change.
Dr. Beatriz Macías-Gómez-Estern from Universidad Pablo de Olavide investigates hybrid learning spaces where diverse cultural, social, and institutional worlds connect. From service-learning projects with Roma communities to community music initiatives, her work highlights the transformative potential of collaboration, co-construction, and empathy in education and beyond.
Read the original research:
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87406-3_2
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60583-3_13
Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with treatment responses varying widely among patients.
Dr. Carminia Maria Della Corte from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is at the forefront of research into using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to identify immune biomarkers. Her work explores the cGAS/STING pathway, DDR gene mutations, and advanced 3D tumour models, offering insight into predicting immunotherapy responses and tailoring treatments for non-small and small cell lung cancer.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12040809
Memory is a problem for many people as they age. To combat this, wearable devices may help older adults recall precious memories through what is called 'life-logging', despite these technologies raising significant privacy concerns.
Researchers at Singapore Management University, led by Thivya Kandappu, have developed PrivacyPrimer, a tool designed to protect sensitive information captured by wearable cameras. Their approach uses selective image obfuscation to safeguard privacy, while preserving the ability to reminisce - striking a balance between memory recall and security.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1145/3476047
While we may associate Messenger RNA (mRNA for short) with the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination programme, its study in fact began over 60 years ago.
Born in 1955 in rural Hungary, Katalin Karikó battled critics and scepticism for her research into mRNA for over 30 years before its role in the COVID-19 vaccination programme gained her recognition and, in 2023, a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In this interview, Karikó tells us about this journey and why she loves biochemistry, what it’s like to win a Nobel Prize, and how she would advise young scientists today.
Read Katalin's book: Breaking Through: My Life in Science
Read more in Research OutreachImage credit for Thumbnail : OrionNimrod on Wikimedia commons
While the management of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is guided by recurrence risk assessment, current methods cannot accurately predict disease recurrence.
Professor Oliver Bathe and his collaborators at the University of Calgary, Canada, have developed a test that includes genetic data linked to recurrence. Together, they identified three molecular PTC subtypes, allowing more accurate risk assessment to guide clinical decision-making and treatment.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1220617
The COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call for governments and their global stakeholders to reform the management processes of infectious disease outbreaks.
Dr Stella Chungong and Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane of the Health Security Preparedness Department of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme are encouraging countries to implement early action reviews (EARs) for disease outbreaks to assess their vigilance and planning, the responsiveness of their health systems, and to better prepare for outbreaks.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00167-5
Almost every city in the modern world faces the difficult challenge of understanding its citizens’ opinions and turning them into meaningful decisions.
Miloš Švaňa, a PhD student at Technical University of Ostrava, has decided to focus on this topic in his dissertation, with an aim to develop a framework for social media data analysis. By using fuzzy logic and fuzzy set theory to help municipalities understand the needs of their citizens, Švaňa uses this information to inform better decision making.
Read more from Miloš in an upcoming chapter of Springer Fuzzy Management Methods.
For more on Fuzzy logic, visit the FMsquare Foundation website
The actions of humans are typically influenced by societal norms and mainstream trends that are passed down from generation to generation, shaping our life choices and behavioural patterns.
Jean-Paul Close, founder of the STIR Foundation and AiREAS, experienced the breaking of heritage and the revival of core human values first-hand, after he chose to resign from an international executive job at a multinational company to stay close to his children. In his recent publications, he reflects on the voluntary shift towards ethical choices and sustainable development, using his personal experience and the transformation of a European city as examples.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41606-4_4
Read more in Research Features
Joint manipulation, applying a manipulation force to the spine to improve joint mobility and reduce pain, often comes with an audible pop. Patients and some practitioners often regard this audible sound as a sign of a successful treatment, but is that necessarily true?
Dr Rob Sillevis at Florida Gulf Coast University conducted a comprehensive investigation to find out whether this audible pop has a clinical significance and an actual or perceived benefit on the body.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17622
Read more in Research Outreach
We increasingly rely on electronic communications across society. You may have heard privacy protection methods for those messages, such as end-to-end encryption. However, can that protection be guaranteed against governments, industries or bad actors?
How can we ensure privacy, but at the same time have the means to enforce laws and prevent malicious behaviour, and how do we develop cryptography law?
Professor Moti Yung and colleagues at the Privacy, Security, and Safety Research Group at Google LLC and at Columbia University, USA, have conceptualised ‘anamorphic’ cryptography, and have also been recognised for their contributions to the so-called ‘Crypto Wars’ debate,
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07085-3_2
Read more in Research Outreach
Helium nanodroplets are fascinating objects that can be used as microscopic laboratories to form new types of nanomaterials.
Researchers in COSY COST Action’s Working Group 4 , which recently celebrated its second anniversary, combine quantum, semiclassical and classical methods to investigate the physico-chemical properties of these droplets under extremely well-controlled conditions
Visit their site: https://cost-cosy.eu/
Read the original research:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CP00489A
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CP01303K
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.07.425
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013019
A nanoparticle is a tiny particle typically in the size range of one to one hundred nanometres. Nano-scale systems can exhibit unique quantum mechanical properties due to their size.
The European Association for Cooperation in Science and Technology, which recently celebrated its second anniversary, focuses on the science of confined molecular systems. In this episode, we hear about their works to uncover the properties and behaviours of metal nanoparticles and clusters.
Visit their site: https://cost-cosy.eu/
Read the original research:
https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202400147
https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.202301517
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/cp/d2cp05843j
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acscatal.3c02592
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021951723000842
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03923
On most days, a weather forecast is a convenient answer to simple questions, like : do I need an umbrella? How windy will it be?
For high stakes questions around landslide hazards, how do we deal with slope failure forecast? And are there any new tools improving our capabilities without waiting to learn from another disaster?
Andrea Manconi, research scientist at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF joins us to discuss new satellite dataand methods to get ahead of the next slope collapse.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3833-2024
Osteoarthritis is the most common disease in the world, characterised by the progressive degeneration of cartilage in the joints.
Dr Torbjörn Ogéus from the Stockholms led- & smärtspecialist clinic in Sweden, who is pioneering regenerative medicine approaches to treating osteoarthritis using patients’ stem cells. These treatments show significant improvements in pain and joint function, with possible cartilage regeneration, offering a potential cure and vast improvement in the quality of life for millions of people.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.26502/josm.511500152
Find out more in Research Outreach
Transportation is a key part of our life, either travelling ourselves or in transporting goods. Fossil fuels are still the most widely applied fuel for transportation purposes, given that the vast majority of engines are traditional combustion engines. The harmful emissions from these engines are well researched, and their direct or indirect contributions to climate change are well documented.
Alternative fuels from renewable sources such as biomass can be part of the solution. Dr Ruoyang Yuan and Dr Abdallah Abu Saleh at the University of Sheffield, UK, have been assessing emissions by alternative fuels. The team measured the production of oxides and soot from dimethyl ether and isopentanol, with promising results.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffuel.2023.1296502
Find more in Research Features
For millennia, humans and horses have enjoyed a special relationship. Recent research shows that working with horses can improve human mental health and wellbeing.
Professor Ann Hemingway is part of a multidisciplinary team that has demonstrated that equine-assisted services can improve outcomes for families impacted by domestic abuse and mitigate the conditions that fuel it, and believes that the benefits of such an intervention could be delivered through virtual reality technology.
Read the original research : https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9060303
Read more in Research Outreach
We humans share over 99% of our DNA with each other. This means personalised therapies for diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative conditions have to be tailored to the most minute differences between us - or even between our own cells.
Professor Mark Ebbert of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky leads a lab focusing on isoforms of RNA - tiny, short lived molecules - that could open whole new avenues for detection, diagnosis, and treatments of otherwise incurable diseases.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.06.552162
Find more at The Ebbert Lab
‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ – King Henry’s speech to rouse his troops before the Battle of Agincourt is one of the most famous in Shakespeare. But what does ‘Henry V’ tell us about theories of war in Elizabethan England?
Professor Anne-Marie Walkowicz of Ohio’s Central State University in the USA argues that the play explores the just war tradition – the counsel rulers should seek before engaging in military action – and class conflict.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article : https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-35564-6_14
What happens when CEOs are shielded by employment and severance agreements? Researchers from Singapore Management University, University of Hong Kong, Boston College, and led by Dr. Xia Chen put forward this critical question.
The study investigates how CEO contractual protection impacts corporate debt contracting. With insights from a comprehensive analysis of loans from major publicly traded companies, the team explore how these protections can influence CEO behavior, risk-taking, and the financial terms imposed by debt holders.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12664
As part of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, or COST Action, Working Group 2 of the COSY network focuses on developing efficient methods for describing the motion of molecules in confined systems.
Their work covers four key areas, ranging from toxic gas separation to tumour biomarker detection.
Find out more about the COSY COST Action network on cost-cosy.eu
Read the original research:
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sstr.202400147
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04295A
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c02494
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2023.122828
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0146680
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00268976.2024.2341106
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202205198
CBD has emerged as a non-psychoactive agent in cannabis, stimulating a boom of boutique cannabis products into the medicinal and adult use markets .
The innovative CannaMetrix EC50 Array™ offers a solution to traditional chemical methods of testing cannabis potency, which often fall short in accurately capturing the complex interactions between cannabinoids and the human body.
Find more at https://cannametrix.org/
Read more in Research Outreach
The global business landscape has undergone a profound transformation in recent decades. As sustainability, energy transition, and climate change have taken center stage, the need for a paradigm shift in strategic management has become increasingly apparent.
Jean Garner Stead and Edward Stead from East Tennessee State University argue that traditional strategic management models, particularly the Porterian models, are no longer sufficient in the face of modern challenges. They emphasize the necessity of a revolution in strategic management to a higher level that incorporates a spiritual dimension to address the pressing issues of our time.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06014-5_4
Traumatic brain injury remains a major cause of disability and death worldwide, and timely detection of the injury could lead to early intervention and save lives.
Professor Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer at the University of Birmingham, UK, has developed a novel handheld device that helps detect and classify brain injury by scanning the back of the eyes.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg5431
Barcodes and QR codes have become ubiquitous sights in our current information age.
Soorya Annadurai, an independent researcher and software engineer at Microsoft in the USA, has developed a solution for these situations: audible barcodes, or ‘AuraCodes’, enabling the encoding and decoding of digital information through the medium of sound.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3758-5_9
In an age of academies and free schools, secondary schools in England have never had more freedom over their admissions rules. But how do they decide who gets in and who doesn’t? And does it really matter?
These are the issues explored in this podcast, featuring Professor Simon Burges (Professor of Economics at the University of Bristol) and Dr Ellen Greaves (Honorary Research Associate at the University of Bristol).
Discussing their research, Simon and Ellen shed light on the complexities of England’s secondary school admissions rules today and show that fairer admissions criteria could have a huge impact – on children, families and our whole society.
In conflict zones, businesses are widely seen as a positive force that promotes peace.
Dr Jay Joseph at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and colleagues have studied micro and small enterprises, identifying their often contradictory impact on a conflict zone.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead the original research: doi.org/10.1177/00076503221084638
How can technology enhance all kinds of performance? For the last episode of the series, host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Dr Paul Clarke, a Senior Lecturer in Performance Studies at the University of Bristol. Together they discuss what augmented reality has to offer the world from a performance perspective, the benefits this could have on the development of societies, and the possibilities these new technologies can unlock for the future.
Find out more about our new MA Immersive Arts (Virtual and Augmented Reality) programme
As the rate of climate events increases, how do businesses respond, adapt and keep their staff safe?
In this episode of Responsible Business: Leading the Way, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, Dean of the University of Bristol Business School is joined by Sarah Kenny, CEO of BMT to discuss how businesses rise to modern challenges.
Find out more - https://www.bristol.ac.uk/campaigns/responsible-business
Trust, from employees, customers and other stakeholders, is core to responsible business. And since the pandemic, people expect even more from businesses, which are – according to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer -- the only institution trusted by the global public.
In this episode Veronica and her guest, Brad Greve, Chief Financial Officer at BAE Systems, discuss what the pandemic has taught us about building and maintaining trust.
Find out more: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/campaigns/responsible-business/
The psychological contract has changed dramatically since the start of the pandemic, with the balance of power swinging towards the employee.
In this episode, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey and her guest, Jane Cathrall, Executive Director, People Directorate at the Bank of England, discuss how leaders should respond to the new challenges of engaging employees and creating a sense of ‘community’ around work.
Find out more: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/campaigns/responsible-business/
Cabot Institute for the Environment scientists, Dr Gemma Coxon and Dr Ross Woods, highlight some surprising facts about the water system and how nature based solutions to drought and floods may not serve the purpose we want, especially if implemented without sufficient prior research.
Professor Susan Parnell, who researches the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in African cities, talks to Bristol City Council's Allan Macleod about how the SDGs are implemented in the city of Bristol and what can be learned at the local scale in order to make global progress on the Goals.
Mental health and educational psychology often go hand in hand, but our understanding is often rudimentary. In this second episode host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Dr Felicity Sedgewick, lecturer and lead researcher at the University of Bristol who specialises in the areas of mental health and autism, and Sarah Boon, a recent alumna of the MSc Psychology of Education programme. Together they discuss the need to adapt education settings to allow for different learning styles with a focus specifically on the needs of autistic students at university.
Find out more about our MSc Psychology of Education programme
Cabot Institute for the Environment's Professor Rich Pancost and Roger Griffith MBE discuss "Power of People in climate action". Rapper and songwriter Consensus share a captivating interpretation of the conversation.
This discussion covers the power of people, words and cultural change in the climate crisis and how community engagement and empowering communities will help us all.
Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Dr Kate Hendry and Dr Laurence Publicover discuss "the Ocean Floor: An alien commons?"
Geochemist Dr Kate Hendry and Dr Laurence Publicover, a senior lecturer in English, have been working closely together on ocean floor research. Listen to this fascinating conversation on how their two differing forms of research can come together to help understand more about our ocean floor and it's important relationship to the climate crisis. In this podcast, we gain their expertise on the subject and hear about their research journeys.
Read their collaborative pieces here:
The Invisibility of the Sea – Brigstow Institute (bristol.ac.uk)
Unless we regain our historic awe of the deep ocean, it will be plundered (theconversation.com)
Kate's current project links:
Isotope CYcling in the LABrador Sea (wordpress.com)
BIOPOLE – Biogeochemical processes and ecosystem function in changing polar systems and their global impacts
Laurence's research:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/699622
Shipboard Literary Cultures | SpringerLink
Laurence's up-and-coming play:
https://www.re-versetheatre.com/hamlet-voyage.
Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Professor Dale Southerton and Professor Valeska Ting discuss "a whole systems approach to net zero".
Engineer Dr Valeska Ting and social scientist Professor Dale Southerton are two academics from completely different disciplines, both working on net zero. In this episode they meet each other for the first time to discuss their net zero research problems and learn quite quickly the benefits of interdisciplinary working and how they can work together to solve them.
Cabot Institute for the Environment climate scientist Dr Eunice Lo and medical statistics Professor Richard Morris discuss Heatwaves and Health.
The conversation looks at the implications of heat on our health and the links between rising temperatures from climate change, increased occurrence of heatwaves and increased hospitalisations and deaths, and how many lives could be saved through climate change mitigation.
Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Professor Jane Memmott and Dr Tommaso Jucker discuss the true value of ecosystem services. Bristol artist Sophie Long shares an artistic interpretation of the conversation.
Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Dr Daniel Haines and Dr Max Werner discuss Earthquakes and the Environment. Contemporary digital illustrator Parys Gardener creates an artistic interpretation of the conversation.
Storyteller and writer, Zakiya Mackenzie and Climate Justice Researcher Dr Alix Dietzel discuss "Why climate justice matters for all". Artist Rosa ter Kuile (RTiiiKA) highlights the importance of valuing all voices in an illustration inspired by the conversation.
Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Dame Julia Slingo and Professor Dann Mitchell discuss "What is the Climate Emergency?" while artist Chi-Yien Snow shares a powerful artistic interpretation of the conversation.
What exactly is the climate emergency and why is it so important? This conversation covers not just the science but their experiences of different generations working in climate science, how we'll need adaptive adaptation to address the climate crisis, and much more!
This episode focusses on the crucial role that data and research plays in international decision-making to combat the many crises the world faces today, such as climate change. Our host, Ruby Lott-Lavigna speaks with Jess Epsey, a lecturer in the School of Geographical Sciences and a Senior Adviser to the UN Sustainable Development and Solutions Network, and Nina Cunningham, a student currently studying for a Master’s in Environmental Policy and Management. Together they discuss the importance of understanding and analysing data, as well as being able to use your conclusions to support important arguments in front of policy makers and governance.
Find out more about our MSc Global Development and Environment programme
Does the law always protect workers from their employers? Our host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Professor Alan Bogg, a professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol, and Stuart Hurst, a student currently studying a master’s in Employment, Work and Equality Law. Together they discuss the relationship between workers’ rights and the law, the loopholes that have appeared over time, and what the future of employment could look like for workers in the UK.
Find out more about our LLM Law - Employment, Work and Equality and LLM Law - Labour Law and Corporate Governance programmes
This episode focuses on the environment, specifically understanding urbanisation. Our host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Dr Felix Agyemang, Research Associate at the School of Geographical Sciences and Stephen Pearson, a student currently studying an MSc in Climate Change Science and Policy. Together they discuss the dynamics and processes of cities in the Global South, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, through the application of urban modelling techniques.
Find out more about our MSc Geographic Data Science and Spatial Analytics programme
Kicking off this extraordinary series, we hear first-hand from Mohamedou Ould Slahi who exposed the use of torture at Guantánamo, smuggling out facts about his experience in letters to his lawyer, Nancy Hollander. Nancy joins with Professor Sir Malcolm Evans to extend the conversation and discuss her role in sharing the story, the first and only memoir by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee, that helped secure his freedom.
For further reading: "Guantanamo, Torture and Mechanisms for Change."
If you're interested in related study or research, please have a look at our LLM Human Rights Law and our PhD in Law.
Have you ever wondered what representing someone detained in a facility synonymous with secrecy and deception would be like? In the second episode of this series, we delve into the realities of striving for truth as a Guantánamo lawyer. Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, former chair of the UNs Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, joins Nancy Hollander, the Guantánamo lawyer who represented Mohamedou Ould Slahi whilst he was detained there for 14 years without charge.
For further reading: "Guantanamo, Torture and Mechanisms for Change."
If you're interested in related study or research, please have a look at our LLM Human Rights Law and PhD Law.
As we mark the shameful 20th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay, the third episode in this series asks if torture works. We hear, first hand, from Mohamedou Ould Slahi who reflects on what pain and fear meant to his perception of truth. His criminal defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, former chair of the UNs Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, extend the conversation to discuss how such a barbaric approach was possible in Guantánamo, in the 21st Century.
For further reading: "Guantanamo, Torture and Mechanisms for Change."
If you're interested in related study or research, please have a look at our LLM Human Rights Law and our PhD in Law.
To wrap up this extraordinary series, we look at the prospects for closing Guantánamo, the need for mechanisms that hold States accountable for their crimes - and what the facility’s legacy means for international human rights. For the last time, criminal defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans come together to discuss how the United States of America ignored international human rights treaties – and what can be learnt from the role the University of Bristol's Human Rights implementation Centre already plays in reducing incidence of torture around the world.
For further reading: "Guantanamo, Torture and Mechanisms for Change."
If you're interested in related study or research, please have a look at our LLM Human Rights Law and our PhD in Law.
What does the future of work look like? And how do we make it sustainable, yet progressive? In this fascinating first episode, host Ruby Lott-Lavigna poses these questions and more with Dr Rutvica Andrijasevic, an associate professor in International Labour Migration, and Dr Huw Thomas, a lecturer in Management. Together with student Mekhala Laud they delve into what the future of work might look like, the right to decent work, and the impact of the digital economy on the workplace.
Find out more about our MSc Human Resource Management and the Future of Work programme
What is community tech, and why do communities care about it? We discuss examples of community tech we’ve seen through our research to explore how communities are creating their own sociodigital futures and discover what can be learnt from community alternatives to big tech solutions.
With Anna Dent, Matt Dowse, Helen Manchester and Martin Parker.
Find out more about our work with communities and their sociodigital futures.
This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
A circular carbon economy – where carbon released from the Earth is captured and repurposed – is a promising concept, and CO2 conversion to sustainable products has been at the forefront of research.
Dr Gary Grim at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA, provides a detailed comparison of available conversion processes with direct or indirect use of renewable electricity.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi.org/10.1039/C9EE02410G
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR-Cas12a), discovered a few years ago, is a method that detects even small levels of pathogens.
Professor Kevin J Zwezdaryk and researchers at the Tulane University School of Medicine, USA, are working on a cost-effective, CRISPR-Cas12a-based pathogen detection tool aiming to upgrade patient care.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.bmt.2023.03.004
Plant-based solutions for energy storage are gaining traction in the pursuit of greener technologies.
Dr Jun Young Cheong from the University of Glasgow, UK, investigates the potential of using gum waste from a tropical tree to create a crucial component in lithium-ion batteries in search of a more sustainable future.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2024.118467
While many leaders and businesses are attempting to put the pandemic behind them and focus on the ‘new normal’, have we thought deeply enough about what we’ve learned and what it means for future crises? In this episode, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey and her guest Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, discuss why everything is still to play for and the role we all have in co-creating a brighter future.
Find out more https://www.bristol.ac.uk/campaigns/responsible-business/
'Big Data' has appeared more and more throughout boardrooms and executive suites, in order to determine how organisations extract value from information. Its potential impact on a firms' earnings forecasts is of great discussion, but no direct link to forecast frequency has been made yet.
Associate Professor Goh Beng Wee from Singapore Management University examines the interplay between firms' engagement in data analytics and their voluntary disclosure behaviour.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.2308/HORIZONS-2020-145
Liquid crystal-based technologies could revolutionise the control of terahertz radiation — key to the future of high-bandwidth communications.
Dr Masahito Oh-e from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, considers how phase shifters and modulators may pave the way for faster, more efficient 6G networks.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1002/chem.201803330
Read more in Research Outreach
Pain isn't nice, but there are times when it’s necessary - If you don’t feel the pain you should, you’re at risk of doing yourself greater damage. If you feel pain you shouldn’t, that could the first signs of a deeper issue.
Professor Rayaz Malik and Dr Ioannis Petropolous talk about their work on a new, non-invasive, inexpensive way of detecting early stages of neurodegeneration that could be as easy as an opticians appointment.
Read their original research: https://doi.org/10.2337/dc20-2012
Synthetic biology, as showcased by Stephen Freeland's work at UMBC, redefines biological systems for groundbreaking applications in biotechnology and medicine, promising to solve global challenges and unlock new frontiers in science.
Or, at least, that’s what ChatGPT has to say about it.
Our interview also covers how Artificial Intelligence is changing the wet-lab experience of doing research. Plus, the importance of the public domain in owning, understanding, and advancing all the many ways the future is taking shape.
Read his original research : https://doi.org/10.3390/life13122281
Until relatively recently, diabetes was a terminal condition. Today, over 1 in 10 people are living with it, which says something about the success of insulin as a treatment, and also the concerning state of global nutrition. So, we've probably got diabetes pretty well figured out. Right?
Dr Alexander Hamilton speaks with us about his research into alpha cells, amino acids, and why we might need to rewrite the text book on diabetes.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peptides.2023.171039
From the 1920s to now, technology has transformed radically; from the Spirit of St Louis to super-sonic stealth bombers, from the discovery of insulin to mRNA vaccines, from the candle-stick telephone to a 5G powerhouse in your pocket
As the reports of sensitivity to WiFi and mobile signals rise, we discuss the recognised restrictions , risks, and reasonable alternatives for public health with Michael Bevington from Electrosensitivity UK
Find more at: https://www.es-uk.info/
Until relatively recently, diabetes was a terminal condition. Today, over 1 in 10 people are living with it, which says something about the success of insulin as a treatment, and also the concerning state of global nutrition. So, we've probably got diabetes pretty well figured out. Right?
Dr Alexander Hamilton speaks with us about his research into alpha cells, amino acids, and why we might need to rewrite the text book on diabetes.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peptides.2023.171039
In times of crisis, the public workforce faces unprecedented changes, redefining their roles and environments. The COVID-19 pandemic was no exception, with burnout and fatigue running high among public servants. What does that stress mean for employee behaviour, satisfaction and turnover?
Assistant Professor Lee Seulki from Singapore Management University reports on data from South Korea, finding how demands like increased workload during crises can affect satisfaction.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1177/00910260231207332
Digital devices have changed the information landscape in many ways, be it through podcasts such as this, or accessing medical care. Today, any illness requiring professional medical help may be made easier to manage thanks to having a digital device nearby.
Professor Leonard Egede speaks with us again about how accessing care via Telehealth tools is another facet of his research on race, finance and inequality. Importantly, he sets out the lessons learnt over the pandemic of how simple, cheap telemedicine interventions can improve healthcare access for all.
Read his original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/mhealth.2019.12.03
The pandemic disrupted leaders on every level. It forced them to re-examine their assumptions about their organisation’s purpose and place in society. It impacted their perceptions and their actions around responsible business, and their leadership attitudes and practices.
The worst of the pandemic is now firmly behind us – although we remain in the depths of an economic and cost-of-living crisis, with the war in Ukraine ongoing. In this first episode, Veronica and Katie are joined by Andrea Winfield, general manager for HR across the western Europe region for Microsoft, to explore what being a responsible business means in a post-pandemic world.
Find out more: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/campaigns/responsible-business/
Modern life can feel like one of constant crisis, through exposure on social media feeds, local news or even your personal life. Recovering from the physical and emotional toll of these is hard, but also essential.
Doctor Sara Spowart from the University of South Florida, is a researcher specialising in the psychology of support around survival. Her framework of integrative happiness sets out a vital tool for all those affected by trauma to find happiness and stability in their lives again.
Read her original work at : https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107413
This interview includes discussion of war, natural disasters, poverty, assault and the pandemic. Listener discretion is advised.
While data science can transform public sector policy-making, places like Lebanon lack the data infrastructure and governance rules needed to support public sector data analysis.
Professor Lama Moussawi and Raghda Kawass at the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, examine how Lebanon can promote data analytics to improve policy-making and service delivery.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2017.1313045
Many of us first experience the concept of learning in formal school settings, but how do we learn in non-formal settings like museums and zoos?
This is a question that Professor Joe E Heimlich and colleagues at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), a science museum in Columbus, Ohio, USA are working to answer.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2022.2135353
In this episode of the Transforming Society podcast, Jess Miles speaks with Julia Mortimer, Journals Director and Head of Open Access at Bristol University Press.
They discuss recent developments in Open Access, including funder mandates, community-led models and the direction Bristol University Press are heading in. In addition, they offer advice for authors, and potential authors, for navigating this fast-moving publishing landscape.
Find out more about Open Access on the Bristol University Press website.
Bristol University Press/Policy Press newsletter subscribers receive a 25% discount – sign up here.
Robots play an important part in our everyday lives. Non-autonomous systems can be found in industry, surgical theatres, and even our homes, and more autonomous robots are integral to space and deep-sea exploration.
Dr Sirko Straube and Professor Dr Frank Kirchner from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) are seeking to translate this greater autonomy of space and maritime applications to the human sphere.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11447-2_4
Read more in Research Outreach: doi.org/10.32907/RO-140-6297744387
Communication and consent are key in doctor-patient relationships. Doctors need to know what’s expected of them, and patients have the right to receive adequate information about diagnosis and treatment, and seek damages if things go wrong.
If that patient has mental health issues, how are their rights around informed consent and court challenges impacted?
Professor Gary Chan Kok Yew from Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, has researched on the legal standards for ‘medical advice’ under Singapore’s legal system. His work covers how the rights of patients with mental health problems, who may be especially vulnerable to problems and challenges relating to doctor-patient communications, can be protected.
Read the original research: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4309/
In this episode of the Transforming Society podcast, Richard Kemp speaks with Ed Atkins, author of A Just Energy Transition: Getting Decarbonisation Right in a Time of Crisis, about what is needed for an energy transition to be just.
They discuss the need to ensure decarbonisation doesn’t come at the expense of already marginalised communities, the role that green jobs will play and the importance of acknowledging that while an energy transition will change our everyday lives, it has the potential to change them for the better.
A Just Energy Transition by Ed Atkins is available on the Bristol University Press website. Order here for £26.99.
Bristol University Press/Policy Press newsletter subscribers receive a 25% discount – sign up here.
What are the spatial factors influencing health inequalities within a socio-economically homogeneous country?
Dana Hübelová, Alice Kozumplíková, and colleagues from Mendel University in Brno investigate health disparities across different regions of the Czech Republic. The team explore how economic conditions, social care access, and regional characteristics impact health, and why urban areas don't always have better health indicators than rural regions.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1186/s12939-023-01996-2
In this episode, Oscar Berglund and Elizabeth A. Koebele, Co-Editors of the Policy & Politics journal, talk to Jess Miles about the latest special issue – ‘Transformational change through public policy’.
They discuss what transformational change is, how public policy academia needs to adapt to bring it about and their hope to inspire a new generation of scholars by setting out the structure for a research program.
Read the special issue of Policy & Politics, ‘Transformational change through public policy’, on Bristol University Press Digital.
How can social annotation transform traditional reading into a collaborative learning experience?
Damijana Keržič and Vida Zorko from the University of Ljubljana delve into this question through their research on Diigo, a social annotation tool. They investigate its impact on student motivation, comprehension, and the correlation between learning approaches and online activity.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2269043
When decisions need to be made in politics, business or daily life, it's worth giving all due care to The Problem to be solved, and The Action to be taken. This is also the foundation of classical philosophy - but when was the last time politics seem philosophical to you?
Professor John Martin Gillroy of Lehigh University speaks with us today about how philosophical frameworks can teach us about practical policy. From understanding motivations, actions and decisions, he considers how todays dilemmas can be approached with a fully considered view of the politics, and the people, involved.
Read more about his work in Research Features
Find his original work at: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108100045.006
In this episode, Alison Shaw, Chief Executive of Bristol University Press, talks about 25 years of publishing with a purpose to mark the end of the Press’ anniversary celebration year.
Alison speaks to Jess Miles about the past, present and future of the press and its mission to address global social challenges, support positive social change and to be a top-tier University Press recognised for the quality of its contribution.
Click here to watch the Bristol University Press 2021 round up video and read the brochure celebrating its anniversary year.
Bristol University Press/Policy Press newsletter subscribers receive a 35% discount – sign up here.
What are the risks versus rewards when challenging norms and pushing new boundaries in the quest for scientific discovery?
Dr Alan Herbert, President and Founder of InsideOutBio, gives an honest account of his journey in the discovery of left-handed DNA in his latest book, and how the way we view DNA and genetics has evolved from old to new thinking.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead Dr Herbert's book: Flipons: The Discovery of Z-DNA and Soft-Wired Genomes
In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Dan McQuillan, author of Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence, about what artificial intelligence really is.
They discuss how artificial intelligence damages society in ways that are not easily fixed and why it needs to be restructured from the ground up, as well as how these fundamental changes to AI can help create a better society for everyone.
Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence by Dan McQuillan is available on the Bristol University Press website. Order here for £19.99.
Bristol University Press/Policy Press newsletter subscribers receive a 25% discount – sign up here.
Stefan Brunnhuber is a medical director, chief medical officer and professor in Germany, and takes an evolutionary, human-centric approach to economics and psychology and looks towards a sustainable future in a new way.
In this exciting interview, we find out more about Brunnhuber’s concept of an artificial intelligence-driven ‘third culture’; science and politics; the UN Sustainable development Goals; and the power of trans-disciplinary thinking.
Read more in Research Outreach
Visit the World Academy of Arts and Science website: worldacademy.org
In this episode of the Transforming Society podcast, Jess Miles speaks with Malcolm Evans, former Chair of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and author of Tackling Torture: Prevention in Practice.
They discuss the traps we fall into when talking about torture, including the disturbing normalisation of torture in television and film, why the distinction between torture and inhuman treatment is a sensitive area, and what could be done to help prevent torture more effectively.
Tackling Torture by Malcolm D. Evans is available on the Bristol University Press website. Order here for £19.99.
Bristol University Press/Policy Press newsletter subscribers receive a 25% discount – sign up here.
While the sciences naturally evoke complex philosophical questions, the philosophy of science itself remains a relatively new discipline.
José Antonio Chamizo, an esteemed researcher in organometallic chemistry, is now dedicated to the philosophy of chemistry. Today, we explore the evolution of chemistry from its early days in 18th-century Europe, the intriguing C60 diffraction experiment, and the deep philosophical questions about the nature of chemical substances.
Read the original research: philpapers.org/rec/CHAELM
To learn more, visit: joseantoniochamizo.com
Oxygen is activated quantum-mechanically in the body to act against bacterial infections.
Professor Robert C Allen shows that the antibacterial action of oxygen can be monitored by measuring the light emitted as the immune system responds to pathogen attacks. He has developed techniques based on the use of chemiluminigenicmolecules which provide unprecedented insight into the neutrophil activity and afford powerful point of care diagnostic tools for immune system monitoring.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-151-6124846326
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/antiox11030518
Language – be it spoken, written, or signed – is a fundamental part of how we interact with the world and each other. It’s also an important developmental milestone for children as they grow.
Dr. Vittorio Tantucci from Lancaster University works on linguistic development, focussing on children from China and other cultures. His research examines the reasons and impact of how autistic children struggle to imitate and creatively reformulate others’ speech - an ability called resonance.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-4001
The key to understanding oxygen activation is the conversion of this molecule into a reactive singlet species within neutrophil cells in the blood. This process leads to light emission, which can be used to monitor in real time how the immune system functions.
Based on over 40 years of research, Professor Robert C Allen proposes an exquisitely detailed model of how oxygen becomes an aggressive bactericidal agent in the body.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-151-6036339265
Read the original research: www.intechopen.com/chapters/64123
Plagiarism, cheating, and falsification are just some examples of unethical academic conduct among students in Higher Education, and ones which show no sign getting better, despite the best efforts of Higher Education policymakers.
However, no studies have so far statistically investigated the contexts in which students have engaged in unethical behaviour.
Drs Patrick Harte and Fawad Khaleel of Edinburgh Napier University explore a new approach to upholding academic integrity and the driving forces behind academic misbehaviour. Their work tests whether adjusting these aspects of the environment and context can help reduce unethical conduct.
After an illustrious career collaborating with universities and research centres, Enric Trillas remains set on working towards a new experimental science, managing the concepts and tools of computer science, and actually interacting with other disciplines on the way.
Trillas sheds light on his recently translated The Genesis of Logic to explore the theoretical promise and real-world applications of fuzzy logic.
Explore Fuzzy Logic and the FMsquare Foundation: researchoutreach.org/fmsquare-foundation-forging-fuzzy-future
Read more on The Genesis of Logicand the Fuzzy Management Methods series
For better or worse, money makes the world go around. Without it, you may find yourself stuck in place, or worse - left behind.
Following on from our previous conversation about race, health and society, we are joined again by Professor Leonard Egede from the Medical College of Wisconsin. In todays discussion, he walks us through the economics of public health - diabetes in particular - and how different incentive plans could help level the playing field for accessing care.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248762
In regions like East and Southeast Asia, where urbanisation has skyrocketed, the interplay between human settlement and natural disaster vulnerability becomes particularly pronounced. Consider China, where over 60% of the population lives in urban areas, including major coastal cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, or Japan, where coastal cities like Tokyo and Yokohama house millions. Not to mention the Philippines, with vast urban populations in areas like Metro Manila perilously close to the coast.
Given this context, the work of a team of mainly Asia-based researchers led by Dr Terry van Gevelt from Singapore Management University takes on a profound significance. This team embarked on a mission to harness virtual reality technology to make the future impacts of these devastating storms feel immediate, personal, and undeniably real.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000112
Professor Peter Doherty has certainly had an impressive and illustrious career as an immunologist. In 1996, he and his colleague Rolf M Zinkernagel were awarded a Nobel Prize for their work on how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. In 1997, he was named Australian of the Year. Now an indomitable octogenarian, Doherty looks back at his career and reflects on how science has changed in his lifetime.
In this illuminating interview with Research Features, we discuss Doherty’s remarkable journey, today’s global challenges, and ask what advice he’d give young and upcoming scientists.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-152-6044831954
Find out more about the Doherty Institute: www.doherty.edu.au
How do you make wearable technologies comfortable and unobtrusive for people who need them? Professor Michele Barbour talks to Dr Zeke Steer about how personal experiences with his great grandmother influenced the development of SmartSocks™, an innovative technology aimed at supporting individuals with dementia.
⭐Highlights
§ Zeke shares his journey from PhD student at the University of Bristol to CEO and founder of Milbotix.
§ Zeke explains the challenges of integrating technology into the lives of individuals with dementia and emphasizes the importance of early detection, intervention, and prevention.
§ Explore Zeke's entrepreneurial journey and gain insights into the challenges and rewards of building a business.
§ Discover how Milbotix plans to navigate the intersection of technology, healthcare, and societal change.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with
Milbotix website: https://milbotix.com/
Milbotix on X: https://twitter.com/milbotix
Milbotix on LinkexIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/milbotix/
Milbotix on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087489834753
Women in STEM careers in Lebanon experience gendered microaggressions at work, including microinsults and microinvalidation.
Dr Yasmeen Makarem and Dr Beverly Metcalfe conducted a qualitative study with 21 women in Lebanon working in STEM fields to better understand these experiences. Human resources professionals could use these findings to improve workplaces for women and continue to diversify STEM.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-151-6107507694
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/s11199-023-01396-4
Health problems are not just health problems ; they embody politics, social status, history, money and more. Where there is inequality in those underpinning factors, inequity in healthcare access is sure to follow.
Professor Leonard Egede from the Medical College of Wisconsin examines the extent of social biases and their impacts on health, and the global impacts of both diabetes and racism. His research puts forward a holistic view of how healing social ills can help relieve individual health too.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(23)00909-1
Plasmapheresis, the exchange of infected plasma with fresh plasma from blood, is normally used at the far end of the treatment regimen in cases where no other medication is effective.
Dr Kiprov’s research on the different immunoregulatory and neuroregulatory properties of plasmapheresis and its benefits establishes plasmapheresis as a prophylactic measure against neurodegenerative conditions and infectious diseases.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: acmcasereport.org
How can spin-outs leverage end user feedback to refine products and validate markets? Find out as Professor Michele Barbour talks to Dr Jenny Bailey, the CEO and Co-Founder of Ferryx, a biotech company focused on the commercial production of live bacterial products for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal inflammation in humans and animals.
⭐Highlights
§ Discover how a chance conversation with Co-Founder Dr Tristan Cogan sparked the innovative idea behind Ferryx: the disruption of inflammatory pathways in the gut using live bacteria that flourish in the presence of iron.
§ Find out about the steps Jenny and Tristan took to protect their new intellectual property and take it from the lab to a commercial product
§ Jenny gives her perspective on the pre-accelerator ICURe programme, which encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone, engage with stakeholders, refine the project and test its market viability.
§ Hear about Ferryx’s approach to ongoing product development and testing, including clinical trials and engagement with patient feedback.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with Ferryx
Ferryx website: https://www.ferryx.com/
Ferryx on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ferryx/
Ferryx on X: https://twitter.com/ferryx_bristol
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the field of radiology, making faster and more precise diagnoses possible. However, most radiologists aren’t familiar with AI and report a fear of being replaced by it.
Dr Jordan Perchik from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, designed a free online ‘AI Literacy Course’ which has reached more than 500 radiology trainees from 10 countries.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.7191/jgr.783
As a society, we have come to rely on smartphones to do far more than make a telephone call. However, concern is growing over the potential negative consequences of their over-use, such as distraction, forgetfulness and cognitive laziness.
Led by psychologist Dr Andree Hartanto, researchers from Singapore Management University tracked how long students spent checking their smartphones and using different applications, and how this affected their cognitive functioning.
Read the original research : https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12597
Financial stress testing generally involves a team of modellers working closely together, applying complex mathematical models to large and granular datasets. So, how can data science support the management of complex mathematical models, such as used in the financial sphere?
STAMP€ IT – a data-science platform developed by Dr Jerome Henry and his colleagues at the European Central Bank, can be used to manage models employed in the case at hand for financial stress testing.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09176-6_44
Read more background research: ecb.europa.eu/stampe201702.en.pdf
Handbook on financial stress testing: doi.org/10.1017/9781108903011
Guide on reverse stress testing: doi.org/10.1515/9783110647907
Disclaimer: The podcast builds on work by Jerome Henry that does not necessarily reflect the views of the ECB.
How can the UK address its technology skills gap? Professor Michele Barbour speaks with Kirsten Cater, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol. Kirsten leads the skills and training aspect of the MyWorld project, addressing the significant skills gap in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
⭐Highlights
§ Delve into the relationship between higher education and industry as Kirsten shares her knowledge of the challenges faced by early-career researchers.
§ Explore practical tips to help make connections at networking events and strategies for researchers to go beyond their immediate projects.
§ Kirsten reflects on the thread that ties her diverse career together - her core as a computer scientist, coupled with a passion for understanding people.
§ Find out why interdisciplinary approaches are needed to address future challenges as Kirsten shares her experiences at the Centre for Sociodigital Futures.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
Connect with
MyWorld website: https://www.myworld-creates.com/
MyWorld on X: https://twitter.com/MyWorldCreates
MyWorld on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/myworldcreates/
MyWorld on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MyWorldCreates
Dr Kirsten Cater at Pervasive Media Studio: https://www.watershed.co.uk/studio/residents/kirsten-cater
The process of obtaining FDA approval for a new drug costs an estimated $1.8 billion and can take up to 15 years. What’s more, only a small percentage of drugs that undergo human clinical trials are approved.
To address this, Bartley J Madden, Research Fellow at the Madden Center for Value Creation at Florida Atlantic University, USA, has developed a free to choose medicine (FTCM) model that is currently being considered by US Congress.
Read more in Research outreachRead the original research: econjwatch.org/science-on-fda-liberalization
CEO impersonation scams are on the rise. So, how can employees be made alert to such a scam?
Margit Scholl, Professor of Business and Administrative Informatics at TH Wildau, explores a novel approach to giving business employees a greater awareness of fraud. Together with her research team and two corporate partners, she developed both an analog and a digital game-based learning scenario geared to this topic to determine what methods of awareness raising can best protect businesses from this costly threat.
Read the original article: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33258-6_40
Across the world, as in Germany, many employees still want to work remotely at least one or two days a week despite offices reopening. However, many SMEs failed to think about the information security risks associated with home-working.
Professor Margit Scholl of TH Wildau leads the ALARM, or Awareness Lab SME Information Security project. Using gaming as a tool for education and training, her team have developed so-called “serious games” to help employees understand the risks associated with remote working.
Read the original article: https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/1171513
Elevated blood pressure, called hypertension, is the leading risk factor for death and disability worldwide. However, many patients find it is not possible to achieve a healthy blood pressure despite taking three or more blood-pressure-lowering medications; a condition referred to as resistant hypertension.
Professor Markus Schlaich at The University of Western Australia, together with colleagues from other centres worldwide, has conducted the PRECISION clinical trial to assess whether the novel drug aprocitentan could improve blood pressure control in patients with resistant hypertension.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/s11906-023-01259-z
Read more in Research Features
Recent cybersecurity reports show that the security of firms’ online presences is under ever-greater threat from cyberattack. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are attacked disproportionately often. There is also a link between people’s level of knowledge and the number of attacks.
Professor Margit Scholl and her team at TH Wildau have developed the Awareness Lab SME (ALARM) Information Security program. Their goal is to raise security awareness and increase safety education within SMEs.
Read the original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13519.29600
Recent research emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of information security teams, combining creative perspectives with technical expertise.
The German “ALARM Information Security” project, led by Professor Margit Scholl at TH Wildau is part of her wide-reaching efforts to establish a landscape where digitization harmonizes seamlessly with robust security measures.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12630.22082
How are novel quantum technologies being applied to meet market demands? Find out as Professor Michele Barbour speaks to Anthony Laing, Professor of Physics and Co-Director of the Quantum Engineering and Technology labs at the University of Bristol and CEO of Duality Quantum Photonics. Anthony outlines his career journey from mature student to CEO and the importance of customer-centricity in gaining market traction.
⭐Highlights
- Develop your insight into the real-world applications of quantum computing, from quantum factoring to drug design.
- Trace the evolution of Duality, from the challenges they faced during the pandemic and how they have aligned their technology roadmap to customer needs and developed a more distinctive voice.
- Find out more about Duality’s involvement in clean energy, via a collaboration with the UK Atomic Energy Authority on fusion reactor technology.
- Anthony outlines Duality’s decision-making process and the ethical considerations involved when choosing projects
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with Duality Quantum Photonics
Duality Quantum Photonics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dualityqp
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are growing concerned over business interruptions and cyberattacks, especially in Germany. There is a notable gap in organizational measures relating to information security despite current safeguards, particularly in the areas of awareness and emergency preparedness.
Professor Margit Scholl from TH Wildau is leading research across an evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats. Her work highlights how important it is to equip SMEs in Germany with robust mechanisms to improve their security attitudes and their resilience against cyberthreats.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12630.22082
Transport sector sustainability is an important, topical issue that requires prompt and challenging solutions to accomplish the ambitious Greenhouses Gases and CO2 reduction targets.
Dr. Dario Di Maio, a researcher of CNR-STEMS in the team of Research Director Dr. Carlo Beatrice, in collaboration with Prof. Daniela Misul and Prof. Mirko Baratta from Politecnico di Torino, address the important challenges facing the automotive sector.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/machines10100852
Read more about CNR-STEMS: www.stems.cnr.it/?page_id=834⟨=en
Electronic sports, or esports, have evolved the concept of ‘sport’, especially around the mental acuity needed to play.
Professor Samantha Punch from the University of Stirling together with Dr David Scott at Abertay University, Scotland, have investigated what’s known as the sociology of mindsport. They have uncovered the intense physicality and team play involved in the card game bridge, drawing attention to bridge’s status as a mindsport that anyone can play.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi/10.1177/00380261231155326
Professional dance takes a mastery of physicality and form - on top of the business stresses and social demands. So what are dancers to make of motherhood and pregnancy, when their physical form and social availability now comes with dependents?
Professor Angela Pickard of Canterbury Christchurch University discusses the challenges facing the embodiment and identity of dancers becoming mothers, and what the field can do to support dancers before, during and after pregnancy.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14647893.2023.2167973
The destruction of plant crops from the propagation of plant pathogens, such as viruses, is a serious threat to global food security and human perpetuity. What's more, the world’s governing bodies lack the tools for standardised and accurate virus detection.
The CEO and Founder of Multiplex startup, Dr Bernardo Pollak, and fellow researchers based in Chile have developed and tested a unique diagnostic pipeline, Viroscope, and demonstrated its functionality through a web application, Viroscope.io.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.967021
Care, by itself, brings thoughts of warmth, compassion, and doing right by the people who need your help. As an employment Sector, it sees life or death stakes placed on a chronically undervalued staff, working under stringent budgets in high pressure working environments.
What, then, can we learn from the fields of trauma research and community support in caring for those carers?
Dr Dianne Wepa of Charles Darwin University joins us again with colleagues Professor Mary Steen from Curtin University and Dr Lisa Di Lemma from Liverpool Hope University to talk about self care and self compassion as tools for improving public health.
As a note, this episode includes discussions of workplace bullying and medical trauma. Listener discretion is advised.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.2174/18743501-V15-E221020-2022-39
Listen to Dr Wepa's previous episodes:
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10213207
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10455774
What is the future of hydrogen as a renewable fuel source? Professor Michele Barbour talks with Dr Neha Chandarana, a Lecturer in Bio-based and Sustainable Composites at the University of Bristol. Neha explores the potential applications of hydrogen, from heating to various modes of transport. She also shares insights into her role as the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Champion for the University’s Faculty of Engineering.
⭐Highlights
§ Learn about Neha’s research on hydrogen and its potential applications in aerospace, shedding light on the challenges and promises.
§ How does research transition from the lab to real-world industry applications? Explore what collaborations and funding streams are needed to make it happen.
§ Neha discusses her role as Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Champion, detailing initiatives aimed at fostering an inclusive environment within the Faculty of Engineering.
§ Discover how Neha collaborates across different Faculties to understand the educational experiences of engineering students, particularly those with intersectional identities.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with
University of Bristol School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/schools/civil-aero-design/
University of Bristol Engineering on X: https://twitter.com/bristolunieng
University of Bristol Engineering on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-of-bristol-engineering/
University of Bristol Engineering on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bristolengineering/
Weight lifter David Katoatau has already lost his home in Kiribati to coastal erosion, and faces the loss of his whole country to rising sea levels. Dancing at the 2016 Summer Olympics didn't stop the tides, but it grabbed attention across the world regarding his country's imminent fate, and raised awareness of the damages climate change is already having around the globe.
Researchers from Singapore Management University led by Professor Angela Leung, and her collaborator Prof Kevin Tam from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are studying whether awareness of how climate change affects human cultures motivates people to support policies and take action to mitigate its effects.
Are some groups of people more aware than others? And does awareness prompt people to engage in climate change activism?
Read the original research: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03337-8
Cyclic glycine proline, or cGP, is a very small molecule, but one with a profound impact on the body and mind, such as on the ageing brain and health.
Dr Jian Guan, Neuroscientist and Chief Scientific Officer at The cGP Lab, New Zealand, focuses on understanding the role of IGF-1 hormone and cGP in brain health and cognitive function, and improving the ageing process overall.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031021
Visit the cGP website: cgpmax.com
Active risks to children's health come in many shapes and sizes. While misinformation and bad advice won't turn up in a blood test, it can have just as damaging consequences as any infection.
Dr Christie del Castillo-Hegyi's research into child wellbeing and nutrition, in addition to her Fed Is Best Initiative, flies counter to a lot of the “received wisdom” new parents are given. Her cause is that babies get adequate care in their early development - a sentiment that is more controversial than it seems.
This episode includes discussion of maternal health, child malnutrition, medical trauma and child death. Listener discretion is advised.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.3390/children9091379
Pre-order the Fed Is Best book here: https://www.fedisbestbook.org/
Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute in London, UK is a Nobel Prize winning geneticist and cell biologist whose research is recognised worldwide, particularly for his contributions to cell biology and cancer research.
In this insightful interview with our sister publication, Research Features, Nurse discusses the institute’s creative ‘bottom up’ approach to research, his presidency of the Royal Society, science communication, and how he stays grounded despite a staggeringly successful career.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-150-5477109273
Visit the Francis Crick Institute's website: crick.ac.uk
How could a chance discovery in cuttlefish biology help protect our sight? Join Professor Michele Barbour in conversation with Dr Shelby Temple, the CEO and Co-Founder of Azul Optics, a medical device company focused on using innovative screening technologies to improve eye health. Hear about Shelby’s transition from academia to entrepreneurship and the importance of building the right team.
⭐Highlights
§ Delve into the research on a unique eye pigment and the accidental discovery that led to the creation of Azul Optics’ ground-breaking technology.
§ Hear about Shelby’s move from academic to entrepreneur and the support he received from Bristol SETsquared and the Innovate UK ICURe programme.
§ Learn about the significance of building the right team and the dynamic interplay between business and scientific partners crucial for Azul Optics’ success.
§ Shelby discusses the company’s work to realise their full market potential, their goal of being acquired and their mission to educate and leave a lasting impact on eye health.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with Azul optics
Azul optics website: https://azuloptics.com/
Azul optics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/azuloptics/
Azul optics on X: https://twitter.com/azuloptics
Azul optics on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azul_optics
Commercialisation resources:
University of Bristol Commercialisation team: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/business/innovate-and-grow/research-commercialisation/
iCure program: https://www.icureprogramme.com/
SETsquared program: https://www.setsquared.co.uk/
With the exception of a few hereditary cancers, there is currently no accurate method to predict whether someone is going to get cancer.
Dr Andrew Teschendorff from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, in collaboration with Dr Chen Wu from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, has created a computational method called CancerStemID that could help calculate a patient’s risk of cancer by analysing a vast amount of RNA data from precancerous cells.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.can-22-0668
Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of disability in the United States, and 80% of traumatic brain injuries are classified as ‘mild.’ But, these can have serious and long-lasting effects.
Dr Jacyln Stephens, Associate Professor in Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University specialises in brain injury, rehabilitation, and neuroscience. She discusses her research into the injuries of student athletes who are particularly prone to mild traumatic brain injury, and how research is helping to improve both diagnosis and recovery.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13101413
Find out more on Google Scholar and Pub Med
In the digitalised world, citizens – while having control over their personal information – are increasingly exposing their data, and there are plenty of online platforms ready to collect this.
Aigul Kaskina, in collaboration with the FMsquare Foundation, presents the concept of a fuzzy-based recommender system for user account privacy settings that can be used for citizen participation on online political platforms.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06021-2_1
Read more about the FMsquare Foundation in Research OutreachVisit the FMsquare Foundation's website: fmsquare.org
What can we learn from our history to make positive changes for the future? Professor Michele Barbour investigates this question with Dr Joanna Burch-Brown, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Co-Chair of the Bristol Histories Commission, and Co-Director of Bridging Histories. Joanna talks about her work to celebrate diversity, empower people, and foster a sense of collective heritage.
⭐Highlights
- Learn how the Countering Colston campaign and the removal of Edward Colston’s statue during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 shaped Bridging Histories’ grassroots approach to community engagement.
- Joanna reflects on her background growing up in Virginia and the Appalachian Mountains, shaping her perspective on the importance of community and social change.
- Find out how you can take part in Bridging Histories signature activities. Submit poetry and recipes. Learn about your street’s history. Explore family histories. Discover the monuments and memorials in your area. Be a changemaker.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
🔗 Connect with Bridging Histories and the University of Bristol
Bridging Histories website: https://bridginghistories.com/
Bridging Histories on X: https://twitter.com/HistoryBridging
University of Bristol’s Commercialisation team: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/business/innovate-and-grow/research-commercialisation/
Chapters:
0:00 – Introducing Dr Joanna Burch-Brown
0:23 – Growing up in Virginia and going to Alternate Roots; Disneyland for social justice workers
1:36 – The Countering Colston campaign: acknowledging Bristol’s role in trans-Atlantic enslavement
3:11 – Black Lives Matter protests, Colston statue comes down, and moving from Bristol Histories Commission to grassroots structures
4:17 – Bridging Histories forms and expands beyond Bristol
7:26 – Commercialising a social enterprise and raising investment at the University of Bristol
8:57 – Welcoming people from diverse backgrounds and respectfulness across difference
10:03 -- Finding the railway track back home
11:19 – Outro and Other Videos
The international monetary system is the unquestioned common ground for all economic activities.
Stefan Brunnhuber, trustee of the World Academy of Art and Science and member of the Club of Rome asks: how and why will an upgraded financial system be a game-changer? Are we ready to think and act outside the box? Do we need a new, green Bretton Woods 2.0?
Read the original research: springer/10.1007/978-3-031-23285-5
Read more in Research Outreach
Visit the World Academy of Art and Science website: worldacademy.org
How much of the plastic we generate in our cities every day ends up in natural water ecosystems? And what are the paths for pollution to enter these systems?
Using a combination of environmental monitoring, laboratory analysis, and computer modelling, a team led by Dr. Mauricio Arias and his Watershed Sustainability lab at the University of South Florida aim to unravel the complex mechanisms responsible for the transport and degradation of plastic once they enter the aquatic environment.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121052
Read more from the team at watershedsustainability.org
In Western Sydney, Australia extreme temperature days pose serious health and socio-economic threats to its population.
Dr Milton Speer and colleagues from the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Australia aim to quantify and explain what is driving the increasing disparity in extreme maximum summer temperatures between coastal and western inland Sydney.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/cli11040076
For Story Telling Week 2024, we've revisited some past episodes to see how else stories can help summarise science.
Listen to the original episode of Dr Angelica Hagsand of the University of Gothenburg here: https://researchpod.org/behavioural-sciences/eyewitness-testimony-much-alcohol-too-much
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2021.1929978
Read more in Research Outreach
Welcome to the Enterprise Sessions
How do you launch a new business without the necessary infrastructure to support it? If you’re Dr Harry Destecroix you build it yourself. Professor Michele Barbour sits down with the Science Creates Founder to talk about the remarkable success of an ecosystem that combines specialist incubator facilities, a network of strategic partners and a dedicated venture capital fund – and aims to make Bristol a global centre for deep tech.
⭐Highlights
- Harry describes his unconventional career journey from University of Bristol PhD student to CEO.
- Hear about Ziylo, Harry’s initial venture – including securing funding, the role of incubators, technology licensing and the acquisition by pharma giant Novo Nordisk.
- Harry outlines his approach to building balanced and effective multidisciplinary teams that nurture talent and embrace and emphasise diverse strengths.
- Get Harry’s take on the entrepreneurial mindset and the importance of taking risks, making mistakes and learning from setbacks.
🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions
The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact.
The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges.
👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore
If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions.
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions
Connect with Science Creates
Science Creates website: https://sciencecreates.co.uk/
SCVC website: https://www.scvc.com/
Science Creates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sciencecreates/
SCVC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sc-vc
Science Creates on X: https://twitter.com/sciencecreates
SCVC on X: https://twitter.com/SCVC_UK
Nanomaterials are small particles that can be found everywhere, including in the air we breathe, which can have detrimental effects on health and the environment.
Dr Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory in Braga, Portugal, has been involved in continued research on the toxicology of nanomaterials, with promising application in our daily lives.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi.org/10.1186/s12989-023-00530-0
On the face of it, investment management is purely a numbers game. But behind the scenes, equity analysts require a lot of people skills to get an accurate stock valuation outto the fund management community.
Dr An-Ping Lin, Associate Professor at Singapore Management University, and colleagues from the US and Canada have produced the very first large-scale, statistical study on why and how much interpersonal, social skills contribute to being a successful analyst in the high stakes world of professional stock market investing.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12855
Many of the latest anti-cancer drugs are targeted towards the tiniest molecular differences in cells. But even if you know the genetic make up of a tumour, getting medicines to - and then in to - the affected area is a different challenge.
Dr Moutih Rafei at Defence Therapeutics reports on a novel drug technology that gets more treatment to the cells that need it, and what that might mean for the future of designing, trialling, and marketing medicines.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.15985
Mobile devices have become pervasive in reach and constant in attention. What role does that availability have as a cause of, and potential solution to, crises in mental health and the care profession? And who falls between the cracks where technology falls short?
Dr Dianne Wepa from Charles Darwin University joins us again along side Dr Jabin from the University of Bradford to talk tech, therapy and professional care.
This episode includes discussion of suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076231174307
Listen to their previous episode: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10213208
Cigarette smoking increases the risk of developing lung cancer and other diseases, but how effective are public health strategies?
Professor Theodore Holford at the Yale School of Public Health, USA, is part of the CISNET Lung Cancer Working Group. His work uses population health models, such as the Smoking History Generator, to show age-period-cohort effects on smoking rates across US states.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.08.018
While Scotland has been a beacon of hope for many Syrian refugees, resettlement can create a grievous sense of loss and emptiness for many.
Associate Professor Fawad Khaleel of Edinburgh Napier University and Dr Alija Avudukic of Al-Maktoum College, Scotland, UK, examine the challenges faced by people from Syria, who experienced forced displacement from their home country due to war and were re-placed in Scotland.
The original research is still under review and will be published soon.
Follow Dr Khaleel on LinkedIn
Does a firms age and size matter in the world of Initial Public Offerings?
Smader Siev from Ono Academic College and Mahmoud Qadan from the the University of Haifa, have explored the dynamic landscape of Initial Public Offerings, and demonstrated how age and size play pivotal roles in the IPO world.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15120586
How a member of the public reacts to health crises depends on a lot of differing factors, including perceived risk or resistance to the disease, trust in the government, and general anxiety levels.
Since media, including government-sourced information, can also determine how individuals respond to health messages, the impact of crisis communication could depend on how the risk is framed.
Dr Su Lin Yeo and colleagues explore the effectiveness of the Singaporean government’s messaging to promote COVID-19 prevention behaviours, be they social distancing, mask wearing or hand washing. In particular, does viewing the world as dangerous in general affect the success of prevention messages?
Read their original research: https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2022.2036742
Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart wall tissues that can affect the heart’s ability to pump blood, and sometimes cause an irregular or pathologically rapid heartbeat.
Dr. Sandeep is a general paediatric and fetal cardiologist and is currently the Medical Director of his practice Pediatrix Northwest Congenital HeartCare in Seattle and Tacoma in Washington state U.S.A, who has created a pathway to help paediatricians with the management of children with symptoms of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination.
Find out more about Pediatrix: www.pediatrix.com
Read the original research: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36285797
New technologies like Artificial Intelligence bring new perceptions, new practices and new understandings.
Stefan Brunnhuber, the head of an initiative of the World academy of Art and Science, questions whether AI is just another trend, or whether it will change how humans are able to generate information, knowledge, even wisdom, like we never experienced before.
Visit the World academy of Art and Science website: worldacademy.org
Read the original research: link.springer.com/book/9783031481123
The distribution of parcels from local distribution centres to customers can be met with hiccups, as customers may be unavailable to receive packages at optimal delivery times.
Jhonny Pincay-Nieves and colleagues, have developed a framework for improving first-try success in last-mile delivery, demonstrating how complex processes and improvements can be performed using approximate, or ‘fuzzy logic' based methods.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16704-1
Listen to more 'Fuzzy Logic' podcasts
Find out more about the FMsquare Foundation
Large pension funds are not just financial giants; they also serve as catalysts for climate action. In Denmark, these pension funds are not only influential but have also committed to reducing emissions as outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The research of Dr Paul Klumpes and Jesper Lindgaard Christensen of Aalborg University focuses on the globe's major pension funds and why they are crucial in the fight against climate change.
The project was funded by the Denmark Government funding body “Independent Research Fund Denmark”
Our jaws shape our appearance, communication, diet and more. However, the branch of medicine dedicated to its correction — orthognathic surgery – is relatively new.
Dr R Scott Conley is an associate professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Oral Facial Genetics at the Indiana University School of Dentistry. He has helped lead dental and medical schools on collaborations that are characteristic of orthognathic surgery teams, and has become one of the fields most enthusiastic champions.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1080/27705781.2022.2127606
Complex systems are found across a diverse array of situations in nature: from human societies to groups of interacting quantum particles.
Dr Alberto Robledo shows how his results may lead to new discoveries about many areas of nature where complex systems can be found.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi.org/10.31349/SuplRevMexFis.1.4.32
In the 21st century, we sit in the driver’s seat to determine the technosphere and ecosphere we inhabit, in turn reshaping what it is to be human today.
Stefan Brunnhuber, the head of an initiative of the World academy of Art and Science, aims to answer this pivotal question in relation to species losses, pandemics and global heating on the one side, and disruptive new technologies, namely AI and BIG DATA, on the other.
Visit the World academy of Art and Science website: worldacademy.org
Read the original research: springer.com/book/9783031481123
The bricks, steel and glass of modern architecture may seem brand new, but all came from somewhere. For the sake of sustainability, we can plan ahead for what comes next for those materials and their shared space.
Dr Lara Katscher from Werner Sober Green Technologies discusses building projects at the forefront of engineering which put architecture and design at the heart of climate research.
Read more at wernersobek.com
Tsallis entropy aims to extend traditional statistical mechanics, but some physicists believe the theory is incompatible with the fundamental principles of thermodynamics.
Dr Alberto Robledo, however, shows for the first time how Tsallis entropy can explain natural phenomena that turn out to be surprisingly linked to the transitions from regular to chaotic behaviours, a result that has eluded researchers so far. His discovery could lead to a deeper understanding of how thermodynamic systems behave.
Read more in Research Outreach Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/e24121761
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, or IPF, is a progressive lung disease with genetic and environmental causes, affecting 5 million people globally. Although pollutants have long been linked to a range of lung diseases, no conclusive evidence regarding their link to IPF has been sought thus far.
The research of Dr. Eun Joo Kim, a post-doctorate researcher at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, defines the role of cilia in lung repair following injury, and details how cilia related genes may be responsible for the severity of symptoms.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1165/rcmb.2021-0554OC
The idea of Wellbeing can mean many different things, covering elements of mental, emotional, physical, social and societal functions. Whatever your definition, it's worth looking after.
So, how can you do that exactly?
In todays episode, we hear from Dr Dianne Wepa, Associate Professor at Charles Darwin University in Australia, and Prof Haaken Strand of the Charles Darwin University Faculty of Health. They discuss what is meant by wellbeing in different cultures, and when facing different challenges, be they personal, professional, or global.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2023.100144
In a post-pandemic world, governments around the world are looking to get ahead of whatever the next threat to public health might be. However, the traditional pace of vaccine development could seem very slow to outsider compared to the COVID-19 vaccine.
One of the herpes family of viruses, CMV has likely infected billions of people just since the 1970s. The work of Dr Matthew Reeves of University College London could provide a valuable step forwards for CMV management, vaccine research, and virology as a whole.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36683-x
Traumatic injuries or cancer resection can result in large soft tissue loss which can lead to severe functional impairments, including difficulties with mobility and performing daily activities
Dr. Siba Haykal from the University Health Network and the Toronto General Hospital, Canada specialises in tissue-engineered techniques for tracheal reconstruction of breast and head and neck.
Check out the team’s website and publications for more.
The effective training of upcoming scientists and researchers requires collaboration with practitioners, clinicians, and patients and a holistic overview.
Vivek Kumar, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, works at the interface of biomolecular engineering, materials science, and synthetic peptide chemistry.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead more on the lab's website: Kumarlab
Despite breast cancer being the most common cancer in women worldwide, in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is no accurate data on breast cancer patients, nor any centralised guidelines.
Dr Lejla Hadžikadić-Gušić, a breast surgical oncologist, took on the task of creating the first multidisciplinary guidelines for the management of breast cancer in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: doi:10.17305/bjbms.2022.7504
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to one of the most public incidences of a phenomenon known as sloppy science, or slodderwetenschap in Dutch.
Professor Michael Lissack, from the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University in China, and Brenden Meagher from non-profit Jhpiego explain the concept of slodderwetenschap and advise how good research design and rigorous interrogation can work together to prevent sloppy science.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2021.10.001
In this years Movember discussion, Dr Christine Wekerle from McMaster University joins us again to discuss mens mental health, masculinity, and family well being.
This episode features discussions of domestic abuse, sexual violence and suicidal ideation, among other topics. Listener discretion is advised.
Read Dr Wekerles original research : https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1269347
Find more about the JoyPop app here
Listen to her past interviews here and here
The usual method of sterilisation used in Scotland is to block the tubes with small clips so eggs and sperm cannot meet to start a pregnancy.
Sterilisation is a safe procedure, but all operations have risks which you should be aware of before making a decision.
Read the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare guideline: FSRH Clinical Guideline
Read more via: Female sterilisation | NHS inform
Despite its prevalence and seriousness, snakebite envenoming remains a neglected tropical disease (NTD).
Dr Amy Marriott and Dr Stuart Ainsworth from the Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, are addressing vital issues in regulations and testing.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead the original research: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008579
Making small changes to our domestic habits can make a big difference to global energy use and resource consumption.
Dr Lotta Schencking and Professor Rainer Stamminger examine different dishwashing behaviours around the world and identify best practice tips for both manual dishwashing and washing dishes in an electric dishwasher.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi.org/10.1515/tsd-2022-2423
Current imaging options to assess the responses of liver cancer patients to treatment suffer from blurry resolution, making it hard to develop radiotherapy plans.
Eye90 Microspheres, developed by ABK Biomedical, enables superior CT-based dosimetry , allowing for more more accurate dose estimates for treatment planning.
This work was awarded the Best Paper of the Year in the journal EJNMMI, and is being further assess in the Route90 Study.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40658-022-00447-1
Leptospirosis, a neglected tropical disease caused by spiral-shaped bacteria called Leptospira, is a global health burden.
Professor Joseph Vinetz and colleagues at Yale University, USA, and his team’s recent findings mark the crucial beginning for long-awaited pan-leptospirosis vaccine development.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-148-4837038797
Read the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2022.1092197
Chronic headaches are extremely debilitating conditions which significantly impact the quality of life.
Dr Giorgio Pietramaggiori and Dr Saja Scherer of Global Medical Institute, Switzerland employ minimally invasive treatments such as targeted Botox injections, surgical release of nerves, and fat transfer, which aim to offer relief for people suffering from chronic headaches when pharmacological alternatives fail.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-149-5161384107 Read the original research: doi.org/10.1097/prs.0000000000009777
There are some things you can do to manage your personal health and the risk of developing cancer in your lifetime. But, wherever you go, you’ll take your DNA with you.
Dr Erika Spaeth joins us to discuss those mutations and how they combine into a measurable impact on cancer risk and prognosis. Plus, the development a new model to assess that multi-factoral risk with a greater deal of certainty to concerned patients for what their genetic fortune holds.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-022-06834-7
Family dogs are our best friends, but bites can still happen when they feel threatened or afraid. Learning what they don't like and how they communicate this with humans can avoid triggering a reactionary bite.
Led by world-renowned veterinarian Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, Professor Emeritus, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, USA, Be BiteSmart aims to support families in learning to recognise and respecting a dog’s behaviour to contribute to a safe and loving environment.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1097/SCS.0000000000008670
Since industrialisation, agriculture has been heavily dependent on synthetic fertilisers to boost crop growth and yield, resulting in environmental and economic challenges.
Dr Francesco Vuolo of Sacco Srl, Italy, is making use of dairy fermentation leftover from manufacturing industries to build a circular, green economy for a more sustainable future.
Read more in Research FeaturesRead the original research : https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091544
One persons mild pain could be debilitating for another. Chronic pain comes with even further complications for diagnosis and treatment, and affects a great many more than you may expect.
Dr Lauren Harrison is a pediatric pain psychologist and pain researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research on user-centered development of interventions for youth with chronic pain focuses on optimizing the development of digital tools when funds and technical knowledge are low.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065997
Many universities have kept online classes for some, if not all, of their teaching, but it requires lecturers to keep students attention and engagement.
Dr Bei Hong from Singapore Management University’s School of Economics explores how simple games on economics courses can grab students curiosity and facilitate learning in a more engaging and memorable way.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.4337/aee.2022.01.04
Today, shopping is increasingly digital, the retailer and customer completely separated, and a customer’s value lies not in their friendly wave as they enter a store, but in the data displayed in their online behaviour.
Dr Kimberly Thomas-Francois, Thompson Rivers University, Canada, and Professor Simon Somogyi, University of Guelph, Canada, are scholars of consumer behaviour in the food business and are particularly interested in how technology shapes food retailing – a concept called ‘digital grocery shopping’.
Read the Research Features article: doi.org/10.26904/RF-147-4481154037
Read the original Research: doi/10.1108/BFJ-06-2022-0510
Taking an atomic view of health is means understanding the tiniest scales and interactions of why molecules act one way or the other within a cell.
Professor David Punihaole at the University of Vermont leads a research team working with materials and medicines at that molecular scale, combining cutting edge spectroscopic techniques and microscopic views to investigate the fundamental chemistry behind health.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04415
Weight lifting and heavy resistance exercise are good for are good for your general health and muscle function. But what effect do they have on life after cancer? And how does it do anything at all?
Dr Jessica Gorzelitz leads a team at the University of Iowa that aims to uncover muscle strengthening epidemiology, and what can be done to improve cancer patients strength throughout the balance of their life.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1093/jncimonographs/lgad002
Crowdfunding is a method for raising funds to support for-profit, social, and cultural initiatives.
Sukanya Ayatakshi-Endow specialises in Environmental Economics at Bournemouth University, UK and explores gender and the unconscious bias disadvantages women experience in obtaining access to finance on equity crowdfunding platforms.
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14395-3_5
Autoimmune and allergic conditions are caused by dysfunctional immune responses that lead to excessive inflammation within the body.
Such conditions include rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and eosinophilic esophagitis. Dr Roly Foulkes, Chief Scientific Officer at Revolo Biotherapeutics in the UK, is working to understand.
Read more in Research Features: doi.org/10.26904/RF-148-4836987920
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1111/jcmm.17669
Hearing loss is a disability that affects over one billion people worldwide, severely impacting wellbeing and quality of life by affecting an individual’s ability to communicate and socialise with others.
Professor Brandon Cox and colleagues at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, USA, have concentrated their efforts into understanding the process, mechanisms, and genes involved in hair cell regeneration in mice.
Read more in Research OutreachRead the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2022.841864
How does a company's mission and values affect applicants’ willingness to negotiate salary or make compensation demands?
Marko Pitesa at Singapore Management University is part of a research team that investigated language and framing around "social impact" in jobs. They find that the intrinsic fulfilment or moral satisfaction of a job as being “For The Greater Good” can hold back salary expectations.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1675
Trust is the cornerstone to a healthy relationship, to be earned and appreciated, not demanded without evidence. However, trust, expectation, and authority is ever-shifting in society, and for Science too. So, how can trust in science communication be saved? And does it need saving anyway?
Prof Nicholas Dirks of the New York Academy of Sciences talks to us today about science and scientists in modern society, and the Academys International Science Reserve, aiming to get ahead of future crises.
Read more at NYAS.org
Establishing interdisciplinary research networks that bring researchers and innovators together is of utmost importance to all facets of academia.
The European Cooperation in Science and Technology Association (COST) does just that. We hear from its Action Chair, María Pilar de Lara-Castells on the COST Action ‘COSY’ which aims to provide computational and experimental building blocks for a fundamental understanding and control of COnfined molecular Systems.
Find out more: COST Action CA21101
Explore the growing COSY Action collection: doi.org/10.1039/D3CP90063K
Regulating ones own fertility and pregnancy has long been an essential part of women’s health and wellbeing.
However, even with multiple forms of birth control now available, there is not global, equal, independent access to them.
Dr Tracy Morison of Massey University in New Zealand researches attitudes, accessibility and issues of justice around Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives in New Zealand, and the place of reproductive health for women around the globe.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2021.1927284
In high-speed communications, very fast optical signals connect to your office or even your home. But these optical signals have not yet reached end-of-edge terminals such as personal computers and smart phones.
Dr Hideaki Fukuzawa and Mr Takashi Kikukawa (TDK Corporation, Japan) show that it’s possible to make these optical modulators with standard semiconductor industry processing, significantly lowering costs and creating more compact devices.
Read the Research Features article: https://doi.org/10.26904/RF-148-4833963484
Read the original research: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10118728
Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death. Despite significant advances in its diagnosis, robust treatment remains elusive.
US-based cardiovascular specialists Dr Bradley Bale and Dr Amy Doneen have developed a simple, holistic, and effective method to cure cardiovascular disease. The BaleDoneen Method® targets one of its biggest contributing factors: oxidative stress.
Read their Research Features article: doi.org/10.26904/RF-148-4831388762
Find out more on their website: baledoneen.com
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, affecting over 2 million women each year. The most important predictor of both recurrence and survival in patients with breast cancer is if cancer has spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
Dr. Alyssa Cubbison at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center specialises in breast imaging. She puts forward an algorithm she helped create that uses preoperative ultrasound imaging of the axilla when facing suspected breast cancer.
Read the original research: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2022.04.011
Dr. Cubbison can be contacted via Twitter or email
Every year, millions of people require organ biopsies to check whether the cells are cancerous or not. However, problems can arise when unintended bleeding occurs after taking the biopsy sample and removing the guide needlerequire additional procedures, open surgery, blood transfusions, and longer costs and recovery time. In very serious cases, it can lead to death.
Single Pass Inc. have developed the first and only disposable electrocautery device that could be extremely useful for preventing bleeding biopsies on solid organs, to quickly, easily and safely cauterize deep tissue through a guide needle to prevent bleeding.
Read more at singlepass.co
LED lighting provides brighter, lower-power, longer lasting illumination than traditional lighting systems, and can be programmed to change color and brightness instantaneously. Despite this, lighting in smart buildings still consumes a significant amount of energy.
Professor Archan Misra and fellow researchers at Singapore Management University look at the development of a smart lighting control system, CS-Light, designed specifically for open-floor indoor layouts, such as offices, collaborative workspaces and campuses.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1145/3486611.3486657
Rainer Maria Rilke's poems creatively expressed ideas that are hard to put into words, and his writings on the work of sculptor Auguste Rodin glorified their skill at creating tiny surfaces that reflect light to bring sculptures to life.
The poet’s apparent hero worship of Rodin’s sculpting talents is of great interest to Dr Nicholas Reynolds, a Lecturer in Modern Languages and Literatures at Trinity University, Texas. But it was a turbulent relationship that led to a final break in 1913, which echoes one of Rilke’s prose stories that suggests that two masters cannot be in the same room.
Read the original chapter: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74470-0_7
Listen to more about Dr Reynolds work in a previous episode here
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease, the precise cause of which is still unclear.
Professor Shunichi Shiozawa from Kobe University, Japan, uncovers the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of systemic autoimmunity and identifies a novel key player. Shiozawa demonstrates that overstimulation of the host’s immune system by an immunogenic pathogen kickstarts the generation of new T lymphocytes, which induce SLE and could be a future target of SLE cell therapies.
Read more in Research Outreach: doi.org/10.32907/RO-136-4710684972
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.103537
The Austrian poet and writer, Rainer Maria Rilke, explored many powerful and emotive themes, making one consider life, experience, reality and much more.
In his monograph on the writings of Rilke, Dr Nicholas Reynolds, from Trinity University in San Antonio, explores the themes of sound and memory, and subsequently posits a theory of how artists tap into their subconscious in their creative process.
Read Dr Reynolds' original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74470-0_2
Researchers are passionate about contributing to the ever-expanding network of knowledge. So, how can scholars ensure that their work is available for future generations to access and build on?
CLOCKSS is a digital archive for publishers and research libraries. Executive Director, Dr Alicia Wise, suggests that the work of the preservation community is in perpetual motion, and that collaboration between authors, libraries, publishers, and archival services is imperative for passing the knowledge baton to future learners.
Visit their website: CLOCKSS
Image source: Adobe Image Stock / metamorworks
Cyanovirin-N, or CV-N for short, is a broadly binding molecule to glycopeptides and glycan structures on viral envelope spikes, which allows for screening of these structures by protein-interaction based sensor technologies.
Dr. Irene Maier from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, examines the molecular understanding of immune diseases. Maier has designed new antiviral CV-N variants and measured their binding constants to glycoproteins exposed at the surface of immune-stimulating cells, which has the potential to revolutionize treatments against viral infections.
Find out more about Irene's work on ResearchGate
Read the original research: https://www.jove.com/de/t/63541/engineering-antiviral-agents-via-surface-plasmon-resonance
Strokes are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, leaving a pressing need for effective neuroprotective drugs.
A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen led by Prof Petrine Wellendorph have developed a promising drug candidate that may offer a chance for improving brain function and working memory among stroke patients.
Their work is funded by the Novo Nordisk foundation, and details can be seen on the Wellendorph Lab webpage here: https://drug.ku.dk/disciplines/molecular-and-cellular-pharmacology/wellendorph-lab/
Read their original article here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0271678X231167920
Assessment is a powerful tool in education which can influence the way in which students respond to teaching, and their overall learning experience. Innovative technologies have also paved the way for alternative assessment formats, including video-based evaluations and interactive tools like VR.
A research team from Singapore Management University conducted a meta-analysis of the existing research on this topic, revealing four growing groups of technology trends relating to learning environments and assessment.
Read their original research : https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/7595
Despite being toxic when consumed, lead ammunition is still commonly used by traditional game hunters and makes it way into the diet of millions of people worldwide.
Dr Jon M. Arnemo and colleagues from the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences have researched this, and continue to battle to make hunters aware of this great danger.
Read the article in Research Outreach
Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87853-5_21
There is currently a mental health epidemic among adolescent girls, which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have argued that digital technologies are to blame for this, however, empirical reports have been conflicting, with some research highlighting both positive and negative effects of social technology use on teen emotional health
Dr. Jennifer Silk and Dr. Kiera James at the University of Pittsburgh are clinical psychologists who specialize in the development of affective disorders, such as anxiety, depression and suicidality, in adolescents. Their research shows that some forms of social technology use, such as texting and videochatting, contributed in positive ways to emotional health in teen girls during the COVID 19 pandemic by promoting a sense of closeness with peers.
Read more about their research: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01040-5
Please note: In this episode we’re talking about the use of social media and similar technologies, and their impact on the wellbeing of teen girls during COVID-19 lockdowns. This includes discussion of mental health crises. Understandably, this may be a sensitive topic for some listeners, so discretion is advised.
Migrant women can find it challenging to access maternity care for a number of reasons. Chinese women may also encounter poor treatment as a result of racial discrimination and social stigma as further barriers, besides language and communication issues affecting their ability talk about their medical history and current health concerns.
Dr Sarah Gong at the University of Leicester investigates how this under-researched group interacts with and uses digital health resources. Her research touches on whether digital resources can help pregnant Chinese women access maternity health information, and the co-development of interventions to encourage vaccine uptake.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2022.103493
The use and management of fluorine-based chemical pollutants is problematic, making better group approaches and analysis necessary.
Researchers from the AIST institute, Japan and Örebro University, Sweden have offered novel insight into how these chemicals disproportionally affect younger women, and offer new standards and techniques for better identifying organofluorines, many of which at present remain unknown.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129025
Despite heavy menstrual bleeding, or HMB, affecting many women worldwide, studies into HMB and effective primary care measures remain scarce.
Professor Joe Kai and a multi-disciplinary team at the University of Nottingham and the University of Birmingham, UK, have provided invaluable insight into treatments for HMB, and the critical role of the primary care physician, revolutionising understandings of HMB and effective treatment options.
Read the Research Outreach article: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/valuable-insights-caring-women-heavy-menstrual-bleeding-hmb/
Read the original research: https://bjgp.org/content/73/729/e294
There is an urgent need to focus on women’s health to identify differences between sexes, including response to medications, to allow effective clinical decisions to be made using a person-centered, evidence-based approach.
At the University of California Irvine in the US, Dr Dequina Nicholas studies the links between reproductive science, metabolism, and immunology and explores how diet may be a missing piece in the puzzle.
Read more in Research Outreach
Find their original research at : https://doi.org/10.1080/09513590.2020.1822797
In recent years, vaping has emerged as an alternative to traditional smoking, with e-cigarette devices forming a key part of plans to reduce smoking rates and associated health risks.
Linsey Haswell and Nathan Gale are part of a team that’s set out to measure the nature and extent of toxicant exposure and potential biological effects from e-cigarette use. The team compared clinical measurements from exclusive e-cigarette consumers with smokers assessing the impacts of vaping, and consider the harm reduction potential of e-cigarettes in a shifting consumer landscape.
For more information on the disclaimers and the study please visit BAT.com.
Read their original research in the journal of Internal and Emergency Medicine.
The ever-chaning nature of cybersecurity threats means that up-to-date skills training is critical.
Dr Liqaa Nawaf from Cardif Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK, in collaboration with colleagues from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, are conducting research into how to make cybersecurity more effective and inclusive, and have launched a year-long project to support women in cybersecurity.
Read more about the initiative: UK - Saudi Challenge Fund 2022-23
Read the Research Outreach article: researchoutreach.org
Meditation has gained increased popularity in recent years, and is a well-established practice in many Eastern cultures. Why, then, has this remained largely unpractised in schools?
Dr Veruska Oppedisano and co-authors have been studying the feasibility of implementing and evaluating a meditation intervention in primary schools, with exciting results and direction for future studies.
Read the original research here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.765158/full
COVID-19 infection can have varying affects an individual’s health. So, in the wake of the pandemic, how can we better determine why some people experience severe illness when contracting COVID-19, and others don’t?
A research team based at Yale University, USA, have identified a particular gene that may explain the significant variation of the disease, showing great promise for improved outcomes for those who contract COVID-19.
Read the Research Features article here
Read the original research here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35262710/
Professor Eriks Rozners and colleagues at Binghamton University in New York, USA, are using innovative nucleic acid chemistry to modify RNA-based technologies such as RNA interference and CRISPR to enhance their utility in molecular biology. These technologies suffer from off-target effects that limit their clinical utility.
By replacing phosphates in the backbone with amides, the team aims to improve the stability, specificity, and uptake of these technologies by cells to make them more suitable for in vivo applications.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.2c00769
Read more in Research Outreach
In today’s business environment where a company is judged as much for its moral code as its commercial output, it might seem like integrity is highly prized and indeed, demanded. However, dishonesty isn’t just tolerated – it’s contagious.
An international team led by Leopold Ried from Erasmus University takes an in-depth look at the ethics behind buyer-supplier negotiations and the knock-on effect that dishonesty has to those on the receiving end.
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1002/joom.1212
Read a summary in the Harvard Business Review here.
Loneliness and social isolation are known to cause several mental health issues, as the COVID-19 pandemic reminded us. This can cause long-term difficulties and seriously impact the brain and overall brain function.
By studying the different biological and behavioural effects of social isolation on mice, Dr Jing Liang and her team have recently identified a promising therapeutic with the power to reverse these changes, a major development in this field.
Read the original research: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-09814-5
Read the Research Outreach article here
Online dating has surged in recent years, providing unique opportunities for people to meet prospective partners, find lifelong friends, as well as to form alternative connections, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the digitalization of dating may facilitate genuine connections for some, for others, they are presented with a mixture of love, lies, and surprise, as investigated by Dr Ursula Schinzel.
Read her original article: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-07769-2_5
You can find her videos on YouTube , and academic publications on ResearchGate. Her book, Love in Times of Coronavirus, is available on Amazon, and you can find more about her work through her blog.
The music in this episode is performed by Celia Baron.
Pregnancy and fertility research come with powerful emotive and political connections beyond medicine alone. Professor Richard Santen, a reproductive endocrinologist and past-president of the Endocrine Society of America shares his decades of experience in research and care for patients reproductive health, and shares his view on how to reshape perspectives on, and provisions of care for, unexpected pregnancies.
Listeners should be aware that this interview discusses pregnancy, family planning and contraception at length, including abortion, though we do not discuss any legal or moral aspects of what, and when, counts as a person.
Read more from Dr Santen at: https://researchfeatures.com/?s=santen
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of FFRs – Filtering Facepiece Respirators, also known as face masks raised questions about UV surface disinfection for surfaces, which has not been well studied for effectiveness and is not regulated.
Castine Bernardy, a PhD candidate at the University of New Hampshire, United States set out to determine if UV is a practical technology for FFR disinfection, and add to the body of knowledge needed to create regulations for UV surface disinfection devices.
Read her original article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.01221-22
With the rapid growth of online shopping, e-commerce retailers face shifting operating costs and challenges, including shipping across geographic regions and time periods.
Research conducted by Yun Fong Lim and Marcus Ang from Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University and Song Jiu from the School of Economics and Management, Southwest Jiaotong University explores strategies to improve how online stores manage their inventory and orderst.
Their research concept aims to improve the efficacy of online retailing operations by predicting future demand for products and replenishing inventory to prevent shortages, while also quickly fulfilling orders as they come in.
Read their original research: https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2020.0926
Cybersecurity has become increasingly important in recent years, with cyber-related crime on the rise. This had made cybersecurity, risk evaluation, and mitigation increasingly important, particularly for companies wanting to reduce their vulnerabilities to cyber risks and refine their insurance offerings.
Meng Sun, a PhD Candidate at Simon Fraser University and Senior data scientist investigating risk management in life and general insurance, has created a qualitative and quantitative analyses to consider time series, type of institution, and geographic dependency, particularly in relation to US markets. Ms Sun aims to share her findings of cyber risk to provide risk mitigation insights to different kinds of organisations. Find out more about Ms Sun’s research via her researcher profile, Google Scholar, and LinkedIn.
Read the original research: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/10/12/224
Separating the self from non-self cells is an important part how your immune system is supposed to recognise disease, and the same mechanisms are how cancer evades that immune surveillance.
So, what if that escape route can be closed off?
Dr Alberto Pavan describes his research into how lung cancer can be brought to the attention of immune cells, the molecular signs of treatment success, and how these microscopic changes can hopefully translate to longer, healthier lives for patients
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1093/oncolo/oyab047
Currently, the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions are based on a classification system, where you are labelled with a specific condition if you meet the criteria of a specific set of symptoms.
The network theory put forward by Inga Marie Freund, Arnoud Arntz, Renée Visser, and Merel Kindt at the University of Amsterdam views a mental health condition as a complex system – rather than just a list of symptoms.
Inspired by the study of other complex phenomena, ranging from economic trends to social interactions, computer systems, and the spread of viruses and diseases, the network theory represents mental health conditions as networks of multiple interacting symptoms.
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104154
In Richard Feynman's words, turbulence is ‘the most important unsolved problem of classical physics’ with seemingly too many mathematical descriptions – each valid, more or less, under a series of restrictive conditions.
The research of Professor Fabio Gori and Dr Andrea Boghi from the University of Rome Tor Vergata into turbulence in solutions is revealing new insights about molecular diffusion rates and correlation rules, with impacts ranging from plastic production to solar power – and even our understanding of the movement of energy from the core of the earth itself.
Read their original research at: https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4002743
Quantum computing is coming close to reality, and its applications seem almost boundless. However, the bounds of those applications and of the very atoms involved are real, with research bridging quantum energy, uncertainty, and newly discovered limits of just how fast a quantum computer can get.
Dr Gal Ness discusses his research into quantum speed limits opens up new understandings of the cutting edge of physics.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj9119
.
Proteins are important biomolecules, fulfilling tasks in every cell of your body and with a central role in health and disease.
Dr. Harald Weinstabl and Dr. Will Farnaby lead collaboration at Boehringer Ingelheim and the University of Dundee working on PROTACs, a new class of molecules with the potential to selectively target and destroy disease-causing proteins.
Drs. Weinstabl and Farnaby's interdisciplinary research team has achieved significant tumor growth inhibition in mice, and this molecule is freely available to other researchers.
Read their original research: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33430-6
Voice-based marketing is becoming increasingly popular on social media and video sites - Even in this very podcast, your player may drop an advert in for you to listen too.
How successful are voice-overs at increasing sales, though? And for a product or charity still raising funds, is it possible to increase their appeal through narration alone?
Researchers from Singapore Management University, Cornell University and INSEAD have been investigating how narrator voices can influence customers watching crowdfunder videos and better persuade them to invest. Using real-world datasets and controlled experiments they have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly improve the effectiveness of video campaigns by employing certain techniques.
Read their original research : https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6980
Technology has become increasingly responsive to human behaviour, with AI tools and machine learning in high demand in modern society. The unpredictability and vagueness of human perception, however, is incredibly hard to capture, and there remains a certain gap in communication between biological and technological systems.
Moreno Colombo and colleagues at the Human-IST Institute in Fribourg, Switzerland, in conjunction with the FMsquare Foundation, have investigated the concept of 'computing with words' by way of handling imprecision in the interaction between humans and machines, a branch of 'fuzzy logic' that has wide and varied applications.
Read the original research: https://www.springer.com/series/11223
Finding out why some collaborations are more successful than others is complex, and includes factors of culture, gender, and attitudes to conflict and creativity.
Associate Professor Roy Chua of Singapore Management University and Assistant Professor Mengzi Jin of Peking University have been investigating the way that men and women interact with people from other cultures when they face creative challenges.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.1319
Sudden unexpected death in infancy, or SUDI, is the leading category of death after the first month of life, and it usually happens when babies are sleeping. Modification of unsafe sleep environments therefore provides a focus for possible intervention.
One such intervention in Australia and New Zealand, the Pēpi-Pod® Program, is literally saving lives. Professor Jeanine Young of the School at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Young is a registered nurse, midwife, and neonatal nurse who has provided nursing and midwifery care for parents who have lost their children.
Read more about their work in Research Features
Read the original research : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2019.06.022
No longer just for gamers, VR is also becoming progressively more widespread, with uses in medicine to give an interactive visualisation of the human body, to provide employee training with reduced risk of accidents and even beginning to find its place in reimagining education.
A team from Singapore Management University has been researching how virtual reality, or VR, can be used in teaching undergraduate university students’ key concepts in computing.
Read the original article: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/7586/
Treatment for an enlarged prostate depends on the severity of symptoms, with various treatments available. In rare cases, however, surgery is needed to reduce the size of an enlarged prostate by cutting away sections of the gland, known as a ‘Transurethral Resection of the Prostate’.
A team of researchers at the Cedar Healthcare Technology Research Centre in Wales, UK, present updates on a treatment known as the PLASMA system, an innovative approach which differs to traditional forms of treatment and reduces hospital stay for patients, thereby effectively cutting treatment time and costs.
Read the original article: NICE.org
Chronic pain is difficult to treat and affects the individual’s quality of life, often leading to severe disability. Ketamine was initially used in anaesthesia, but since the 1990s it has also been used in a much lower dose as a treatment for acute and chronic pain. and also works as an antidepressant
Professor Albert Dahan and colleagues at the Leiden University Medical Center managed to unlock some of ketamine’s previously unknown mechanisms of action against pain, its psychedelic effects, and also new actions on the heart and breathing mechanism.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004176
Read more in Research Outreach
The trend of companies using technologies to improve their products, processes, and teams effectively is collectively described as a digital transformation. As digitization proliferates, companies are beginning to put more emphasis on their governance, risk, and compliance - but do investors understand their values and impacts?
Researchers from Singapore Management University surveyed non-professional investors on themes surrounding investment practices regarding GRC to find out the importance their placed on its role in digital transformation.
Read their original article: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4276136
Culturally responsive teaching is the recognition that culture is a strength that can be used as a resource in the classroom to improve academic and social achievement. But what does this teaching approach look like, what historical methods is it influenced by, and what specific outcomes are achieved for students?
Magnus O. Bassey, Professor in Secondary Education and Youth Services at Queens College, explains how this method can help teachers to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment for all students. In becoming culturally responsive, teachers may help to bring about wider social change.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci6040035
Racism is manifested and institutionalised in many areas of life, from education and housing to employment, health care, and the criminal justice system.
Dr Ebonyse Mead and and Dr Tameka Ardrey of Georgia Southern University have published a new book, Building equitable early learning programs, which sets out to address racial inequities in early childhood education.
With 38 years’ professional experience between them, their new book aims to help education professionals to analyse the causes of racial inequities in early childhood, and to address the injustices they identify.
Building equitable early learning programsis available from Gryphon House from June 1st.
Well-being is a well-established and growing field within psychology, and an increasingly popular area of study for psychology students. However, it's also challenging to define: What does good well-being look like for any person, and what do we need to know to study it?
A team of researchers, led by Dr William Tov of Singapore Management University, attempt to define well-being, not only to guide fellow researchers teaching it, but also for the general public. They uncovered eight major findings from the field of subjective well-being, and were able to provide guidelines as to how universities can teach those findings in a psychology curriculum.
Read their research: https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211046946
The black hole information paradox laid out by Stephen Hawking says information cannot be destroyed or disappear, but black holes breach the time symmetry of physics.
Dr Szymon Łukaszyk, an independent researcher in Poland, offers a solution to the black hole information paradox. Instead of suggesting novel physical theories, he pursues innovative connotations of existing physics, specifically the theory of relativity.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15030755
Mobile Health, or mHealth, is branch of digital health focussed on monitoring health-related information which can be sent directly to doctors and other healthcare professionals.
A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and Singapore Management University investigate how head-worn technologies have only come about in the last couple of years or so, but look set to revolutionize the ever-popular sector of personalized health monitoring as we know it.
Read their original article: https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MPRV.2022.3191711
The UK is the world's leading financial hub and the financial sector contributes a substantial part of its wealth. However, cybersecurity risk is an ever-growing topic of significance to the sector. With higher numbers of IT and operational risks coming to light, understanding the landscape is increasingly valuable.
Dr Paul Klumpes of Aalborg University has studied markets, risk, and investment across the last three decades. In his latest article he covers the topic of cybersecurity risk management in the UK Insurance sector.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41288-023-00287-9
General equality rights can seem quite straightforward. But treating someone equally can become complicated when we apply the concept of equality to a specific government decision. How do we decide if a person has been treated equally in relation to a particular government decision? To what or to whom do we compare them?
Kenny Chng from Singapore Management University compares different approaches to deciding whether or not someone is entitled to equal protection under the constitution of a given jurisdiction, and proposes how best to apply constitutional equal rights to cases concerning discrete executive acts.
Read more about his research: https://doi.org/10.1017/lst.2022.33
Professional workplaces are still a typically male dominated arena, especially in relation to leadership roles. How then should female managers behave; conform to feminine stereotypes or try to fit the mould set by male role models?
Prof Daniela Rastetter and Dr Christiane Juengling look at the different expectations and rules for how men and women may display their emotions within the workplace. Their research has led to a coaching strategy to help promote the strategic handling of emotions within the workplace, to enable women in leadership positions to identify any stereotypically gendered expectations and develop their own tactical responses.
Read more about their research: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81938-5_50
Earths changing climate is causing more frequent, more severe extreme weather events, which are having a devastating impact on ecosystems across the planet. Some areas show much greater vulnerability to climate change, with countries such as the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand among the worst affected.
Professor David Ding and Sarah Beh at Singapore Management University have produced a study examining the environmental performance of Southeast Asian countries in mitigating climate change.
Read their original research here: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020999
Measurement of intravascular volume has only recently studied, covering the use of diuretics and filtration during dialysis.
Dr Matthew Kaptein of Loma Linda University reviews available evidence that may validate the IVC collapsibility index for measuring relative intravascular volume.
He has developed a calculator tool which will help doctors navigate this important step for optimizing the intravascular volume of their patients to offer more effective treatments.
Learn more about Kaptein's Calculator Tool: Calculator Tool
Ecological concerns and climate change have risen on governmental policies around the globe, but regulatory differences between nations may leave gaps - or even work against each other - if not planned deliberately.
Research led by Associate Professor Ishani Mukherjee at Singapore Management University focuses on the case of biodiesel policy in Indonesia, using policy network analysis to investigate types of relationships between policymakers and between the policies they enact.
Read the original research: http://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12479
For almost 30 years, the protein KRAS has been the "undruggable target" of cancer research. Gene mutations in KRAS are responsible for 33% of all human cancers, including pancreatic, lung, and colon cancer.
A new molecule identified by Dr. Bhairavi Tolani, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco upends conventional concepts of directly targeting the protein KRAS as a treatment strategy. Instead she suggests an alternative avenue for treatment of these deadliest cancers.
Read her original research in Nature Biotechnology here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01386-z
An estimated one in three women has experienced some form of intimate partner violence (IPV), but it can affect people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. Unfortunately, during the course of the pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns, rates of intimate partner violence have increased, with victims facing fewer options to leave or spend time elsewhere.
Dr Caroline Piotrowski from the University of Manitoba researches intimate partner violence, its impact on children and the increase in incidents during the pandemic. She describes how the contagion of violence can spread between those affected to those around them, and how its damage can be lessened and unlearned to stop it from spreading any further.
Find more about her research at Sibsmattertoo.ca
Read her original research at: https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12589
Although women make up most of the health and social sector workforce, bias, discrimination, stereotypes, and systemic barriers often prevent women from entering global health leadership roles.
Dr Sonya Smith from the American Dental Education Association and Dr Jeanne Sinkford, Dean Emerita and Professor Emerita at Howard University College of Dentistry, USA, have evaluated the disparity faced by women in this sector.
Read more about their work in Research Features
Read the original article : https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.13059
Safe, reliable access to nutritious food is a challenge for many nations, and Earth’s changing climate adds an further challenges for ensuring crop productivity. To ensure food security, production needs to be environmentally sustainable, and soil microbial inoculants may be part of the solution.
Dr Maureen O’Callaghan from AgResearch Ltd and her team have assessed published research literature to understand the opportunities and limitations of soil microbial inoculants.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12811
Accumulation of fat in the liver (hepatosteatosis) and muscle (myosteatosis) affects normal physiological functioning, leading to poorer health outcomes. But what is the concurrence of these two conditions in the general population, and are there common underlying mechanisms?
Professor Julie Pasco and colleagues at Deakin University and Barwon Health in Australia investigate these metabolic alterations in a population-based study providing vital clinical insight. Their results suggest fat build-up in the liver seems to co-exist with fat accumulation in skeletal muscle, and such individuals are more likely to have sarcopenia (reduced skeletal muscle mass and strength).
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-021-00939-9
Treatment of prostate cancer has changed dramatically over the years, with multiple treatment options including chemotherapy, refined hormonal therapies, radiotherapies, surgery and others currently available, depending on the patient and their disease.
Dr Sakir Mutevelic, Chief Medical Officer at Curium, has witnessed the tremendous progress in cancer treatment options and the increased survival rate that goes with them. Today, we’re talking with him about an investigational treatment for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer in development at Curium, that could be a valuable new asset in disease management.
Information for clinicians about the Eclipse trial is available here.
For patients, a web portal with more information is available here.
All trial data is available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05204927
We all get bored at work from time-to-time, but some jobs are more monotonous than others.
Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, mindfulness has been found to be an effective way to improve the boredom associated with remote working. So could boredom during jobs such as working on an assembly line or providing delivery services be improved with mindfulness practices too?
Prof Jochen Reb at Singapore Management University is part of an international team of researchers trying to understand how we can improve work-induced boredom.
Read their original research: http://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12370
The latest generations of cars now carry technology borrowed from industries ranging from machine learning to medical imaging, contributing to enhanced hazard detection, camera operation and autonomous functions.
In this episode, Florian Friedl from Hamamatsu Photonics joins us to talk about the role of their light sensing technologies play in modern motor vehicles,and what the future may hold for the cutting edge of photon detection.
Find more from Hamamatsu at their website.
The history of logic tells us that the binary-based logic proposed by Aristotle was, and continues to be, a pervasive force. Logic does, however, have a complex history and, in more recent years, the concept of 'fuzzy-logic' has emerged as a counter to the rigidity of Aristotelian logic and decision making. Fuzzy logic is an attempt to bridge the gap between mathematics and the fuzzy way humans naturally talk, think, and interact with the world.
Edy Portmann is a transdisciplinary researcher and professor of soft and cognitive computing at the Human-IST Institute of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. As president of the Swiss-based FMsquare Foundation, Portmann is a fuzzy-logic evangelist on a mission to raise awareness of the importance of non-Aristotelian thinking in science and technology.
The COVID-19 virus and subsequent series of lockdowns had a major effect on mortality among the young and old of different countries. Whilst this may be a sensitive topic for some listeners, it is important to understand lockdowns in the case of future epidemics.
Professor Lin Ma and colleagues at the World Bank and University of Michigan investigate the impact of economic downturns following national lockdown protocols, and their link to deaths in respective countries. The researchers reveal an intergenerational mortality trade-off surrounding lockdown policy in lower- and middle-income countries. Indeed, this raises difficult ethical questions for how governments should respond to pandemics in the context of global economic inequality.
Read the original research : https://www.nber.org/papers/w28925
Lung cancer accounts for one of the highest numbers of cancer related deaths, and - among its disease subtypes - HER2 mutations can play a key role in tumour initiation and growth. Unfortunately no targeted therapy is yet available to treat the most common HER2 mutations.
Dr Birgit Wilding, Dr Ralph Neumueller, Dr Flavio Solca, and colleagues at Boehringer Ingelheim have been researching these HER2 mutations, and have developed drugs that inhibit the abnormal HER2 signalling driving cancer growth. One of the new inhibitors is now undergoing testing in a Phase 1 clinical trial to safely assess the potential of the drug as effective against tumours, and also reducing side-effects.
Read the original research : https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-022-00412-y
Ageing populations and the rise of globalisation demand that the life science and healthcare industries keep pace with speedy social changes, and technical advancements demand links with other industries. This can present complex legal problems.
With these challenges in mind, Takanori Abe, International attorney-at-law, patent attorney and guest professor at Osaka University in Japan offers insight for organisations navigating these emerging and challenging fields.
Read more at: Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7814-1_11
In a “flipped classroom”, students are introduced to the learning materials prior to the class; the time in class is then used to deepen understanding. But how effective is that style of active learning for computer programming?
Professors Benjamin Gan and Eng Lieh Ouh at Singapore Management University study how students taking a beginner class in programming using the Python computer language, describe their learning experiences.
Read the original paper: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/7190
Dr Rebekah Humphreys, senior lecturer at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and specialist in applied ethics, considers how it is possible to become desensitised to the use of animals for scientific research.
Humphreys explores our emotional responses and moral feelings towards animals within the context of research. She considers those who work in animal research, and the legislation surrounding animal testing.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97142-7_11
Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A), often referred to as ‘Botox’, is increasingly in cosmetic procedures. However, long-term use and high doses of BoNT-A may lead to immunoresistance, limiting its future therapeutic benefit.
A panel of experts including Dr Mary Dingley, Cosmetic Medicine Centre, Australia, is addressing this emerging issue. They offer guidance to practitioners and promote a culture of open communication with patients about BoNT-A risks, to empower individuals to make a fully informed decision.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read their original article : https://www.doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000004407
With a reported 60% of employees reported experiencing workplace bullying within the last 6 months , the negative effect of mistreatment on their work-related attitudes and performance, as well as their general health, can be far-reaching and long lasting , What is causing this alarming rate of anti-social behaviour?
An international team of researchers, including Dr Kenneth Tai from Singapore Management University, collectively predicted that gender and bottom-line mentality would have an interactive effect on mistreatment in the workplace.
Their findings recommend that a more balanced approach is taken to victimisation theories relating to workplace mistreatment, as team characteristics need to be taken into account in addition to the interaction between the victim and the perpetrator.
Read more about their work: https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000936
Decarbonising energy production requires power plant operators to change to green technology. Using models of the German energy system and realistic future scenarios, Dr Johannes Schaffert and his research partners have been investigating the regulatory system that will be needed to enable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
In particular, the authors have been conducting a business analysis for turning renewable energy, such as electricity, into synthetic hydrogen gas and green methane.
Read more about their research: https://doi.org/10.3390/en15051786
There are many reasons why people drop out of high school education, from bullying or family circumstances to having unrecognised learning difficulties. So, how can staff professional development bring lasting change in education for those who've missed out?
Research by Dr Alexandra Youmans and Dr Lorraine Godden suggests that paying greater attention to the professional development of teachers and support staff can increase the accessibility of adult education and improve educational outcomes for adult learners.
Read more about their research: doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2062716
Read the original article in Research Outreach
The computer chip shortage has prompted Dr Geert van Kollenburg and his colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, to find data-driven methods to optimise chip manufacturing processes.
As part of the MadeIn4 project, they have developed a predictive discarding framework in which quality predictions from artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are used to decide on whether to discard an unfinished product. This approach can improve both the profitability and sustainability of manufacturing processes.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read their original research: https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2022.2103471
Women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, or FHA – one of the most common types of secondary amenorrhoea - do not ovulate.
Johannes Ott and Marlene Hager of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, at the Medical University of Vienna, in Austria are investigating the causes of secondary amenorrhoea - also known as “paused periods” or “missed periods,” which are not due to pregnancy, and how FHA, Polycystic Ovarian Morphology (PCOM) and serum hormone balances impact diagnoses.
Read more about their research: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-022-00961-y
Electronic waste (e-waste) contains a range of materials, including precious metals, which could be salvaged for reusable components and continue to offer economic value.
Dr Aidan Marc Wong investigates the central role of informal labour, in particular the karung guni in Singapore and Malaysia, who collect, disassemble, sort, and transform recycling and e-waste into raw materials for reuse. Dr Wong discusses how such informal labourers can identify raw materials that contain unrealised value, and can give discarded items a new lease of economic life rather than letting them find their way to dump sites.
Read more about his research: https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12616
Ophelia Mantz and Rafael Beneytez Duran from the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston present nature as a source of inspiration for architecture in contribution to a new book about urban resilience.
They argue that humanity has forgotten its origins and its dependence on nature, and that what we need is a new contract with nature and a new paradigm – contingency.
Read more about their work : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85847-6_26
In her book 'Advancing Healthcare Through Personalized Medicine', science writer Dr Priya Hays has compiled an authoritative and highly detailed account of how technology is changing healthcare.
Read more in Research Features
Read it now at :https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80100-7
Programming codes are traditionally based on binary numbering systems–everything is expressed in values of 0 or 1 in line with the true or false principles of classical logic. Fuzzy logic is different in that it takes a non-binary approach and allows for infinite values between 0 and 1.
Andreas Meier, emeritus professor of data science at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, is on a mission to raise awareness of the importance of fuzzy-based computing for business, government and society.
Read more about his research in Fuzzy Management Methods, here: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03368-2
Preschool children have an extraordinary capacity to learn and use different languages, embracing the gestural, musical, and visual cues associated with languages to make sense of the world around them. This ‘translanguaging’ transcends concerns of socially and politically defined boundaries beyond multilingualism.
Dr Gabrijela Aleksić and colleagues designed a programme to help teachers leverage children’s translanguaging skills, especially in classes with children from immigrant or refugee families.
Read more in Research Outreach.
Find their original research at: doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2085029
Mathematics and physics extend the notion of dimensionality beyond the usual perception of three dimensions to consider higher-dimensional spaces. The formulae describing properties such as area and volume of some geometric objects can result in indefiniteness, particularly when dealing with negative dimensions.
Dr Szymon Łukaszyk, an independent researcher in Poland, has discovered recurrence relations that can remove the indefiniteness in these formulae. His investigation into the properties of regular convex polytopes and balls reveals previously unknown properties of these objects in negative dimensions.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.3390/math10132212
Lung surgery, like every other type of surgery, can have complications that sometimes require further procedures to be dealt with. Surgeons are always looking for new ways to keep these procedures as minimally invasive as possible, but they also have to ensure these are effective and safe.
Consultant surgeon Mr David Waller and his surgical trainee Miss Michelle Lee at the Department of Thoracic Surgery in St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, routinely deal with complex cases of lung surgery. They have recently shared an unusual case of foreign body migration of an endobronchial valve implanted in one of their patients.
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1177/20542704221074148
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections and contribute to antibiotic use and the healthcare burden each year. Women are more susceptible, and oestrogen receptors have been found to play a key role played by in the aetiology of UTIs and other diseases
Dr Rashmi Kaul and Dr Anil Kaul, of the Center for Health Sciences at Oklahoma State University, US, hope that by increasing understanding of the links between oestrogen and UTIs it may be possible to develop alternative therapies.
Read more in Research Features
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imbio.2020.152020
Despite the shocking levels of gun violence in the USA and in the Americas, medical practitioners are taught little more than dealing with the direct biologic outcomes of bullets. Understanding gun violence as a disease requires examining complex behavioural health, environmental, and social issues not commonly imbedded in medical school curricula.
Leading American emergency physician and gun violence researcher Stephen Hargarten and colleagues from the Medical College of Wisconsin are calling for change. They have provided guidelines on how medical school curricula can evolve and strengthen future physicians’ understanding of this patient and community disease burden.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2021.1906254
With a predicted global population of 9 billion by 2050, there is a need for increased, sustainable food production. Additionally, climate change will have an effect on soil and crop health, due to changes in weather patterns and disease distribution.
Dr Philippe Rolshausen at the University of California in Riverside specialises in tree crops, viticulture and plant pathology. In today's podcast, he explains the role plant microbiomes , and how increased understanding of small changes in plant environments is helping to improve crop health.
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiaa053
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection globally, more than 80% of sexually active people will be infected at some point. It can cause genital warts and several types of cancer. Although a vaccine against HPV infection has been available since 2006, vaccination rates in the US remain low.
This has led to Roanna Kessler and John Gentile, at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, accepting the challenge of improving vaccination awareness and increasing vaccination rates among college students.
Read more in ResearchOutreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.32907/RO-129-2520902226
Tumour hypoxia occurs when cancer cells lack oxygen, and is associated with decreased effectiveness of radiotherapy treatments. One way to counteract hypoxia is to increase the dose of radiation we use to kill cancer cells, a technique called dose escalation. However, many side effects have been reported due to surrounding organs being damaged by off-target radiation.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, led by Dr Giovanni Fattori, have been investigating the clinical potential of hypoxia-guided radiotherapy with protons in advanced-stage lung cancer treatments.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13014-021-01914-2
Transferring human consciousness into a machine has long been a popular motif in science fiction, but for now, seems like a far-off dream. However, Prof Masataka Watanabe at the University of Tokyo believes we’re on the cusp of making mind uploading a reality.
Prof Watanabe proposes a new type of brain‒machine interface that is capable of fully reconstructing transhemispheric connectivity, leading to a ‘seamless’ mind uploading procedure while the brains owner is still alive.
Read more about this work in Research Features.
Read Prof Watanabe's original publication "From Biological to Artificial Consciousness": https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91138-6
The Navier–Stokes equations are important for science and engineering, since they describe the motion of fluids. However, these equations can not describe the physical responses of fluids with a complex microstructure.
Michal Bathory, Miroslav Bulíček, and Josef Málek, Charles University, Czech Republic, have developed a robust mathematical theory for viscoelastic fluids. Which could serve as an analytical framework, to quantify errors between exact and computed solutions for these models.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1515/anona-2020-0144
Understanding how living cells work is difficult due to the number of varied and complex processes occurring in them. This complexity can be elucidated by breaking these processes down and focusing on a particular mechanism. One approach is to use mathematical equations – the basis of computational modelling.
Dr Susan Mertins, the founder and CEO of Biosystem Strategies LLC, in the USA, is exploring how ordinary differential equations and machine learning can be applied to cancer data for biomarker discovery and drug development, leading to improvements in personalised medicine.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.805592
Southeast Asia mirrors global trends; people are living longer and there is a growing elderly population, and disease prevention is a key contributing factor. There’s also been a rise use of digital technology; for healthcare, digital innovation offers a way to improve care for millions of people.
Start-ups are a vital part of this digital health ecosystem, and Dr Hoe Siu Loon of Singapore Management University has examined the state of start-ups and digital technology applications in Southeast Asia to provide advice for organisations intending to pursue health-tech initiatives in the region.
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.7545/ajip.2022.11.2.183
There are many factors involved in the reception of Ukrainian refugees, and the response from governments and civil society has been, mildly put, remarkable. The role of sports clubs in the reception of refugees is gaining increasing recognition.
Research by Tony Mickelsson Blomqvist, a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences at Södertörn University in Sweden, demonstrates the role of these clubs, in Sweden, as an important arenas for integration and improving refugee wellbeing.
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1080/2156857X.2022.2155218
Students without adequate understanding of basic mathematical concepts and skills after completing kindergarten go on to struggle throughout their maths education. So how can the teaching of maths be improved to enable children to learn best?
Dr Jonathan Brendefur and colleagues at the Developing Mathematical Thinking Institute, USA have developed the five dimensions of the Developing Mathematical Thinking framework, a professional development programme for teachers and other educators.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-021-10184-z
Most international success indices rank countries according to how they perform against various measures and include happiness as a key value, but fail to include the cost, especially to others.
Emeritus Professor Yew-Kwang Ng of Monash University in Australia suggests that a happiness ranking that considers environmental costs – the Environmentally Responsible Happy Nation Index – would be a more appropriate barometer of success
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4972-8
In the USA, Black and Hispanic ovarian cancer patients experience much poorer outcomes than White patients, suggesting they have less access to quality care. But why does this disparity exist, and what can be done to bridge this gap?
Dr Akinyemiju, Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Cancer Institute, USA, is tackling these questions and more in the Ovarian Cancer Epidemiology, Healthcare Access, and Disparities Study, or simply, ORCHiD.
Read some of their latest work here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052808
'Sustainable development’ has become a familiar term, but with over 300 definitions it can mean different things to different people, and is proving difficult to achieve globally.
Dr Pekka Peura at the Vaasa Energy Business Innovation Center at the University of Vaasa and his colleagues, Dr Olli Voutilainen and Professor Jussi Kantola, trace the emergence and development of an innovative waste management system implemented in the Vaasa region of Finland.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.01.025
If there is to be any hope of resolving the racial disparities that mark society, the healing of racial inequity needs to begin early enough to prevent old biases reinforcing themselves any further.
In this episode, we are joined again by Dr Neitzel, along with the President of the Educational Equity Institute, Dr Ebonyse Mead, to discuss their upcoming book ; The Handbook of Racial Equity in Early Childhood Education , and the challenges facing educators in a time of social uncertainty.
Find more from the Educational Equity Institute here.
Listen to their past podcasts here.
To tackle the challenge of monitoring air quality and assessing personal pollutant exposure in urban settings, low-cost sensors have become increasingly available. However, most of these commercial devices suffer from limitations in the treatment of the data collected.
Fabian Lenartz at the Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP) in Liège, Belgium, has developed a low-cost versatile monitoring device – Antilope – that is suitable for fixed and itinerant measurements, both indoor and outdoor.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsens.2021.679908
Facial recognition technology establishes a person’s identity from a single digital image of their face. This technology to identify criminals and prevent crime, but also in a range of other commercial settings. However, issues including trust, consent and bias, limits its use in some regions.
Research conducted by Gary Chan, Professor of Law at Singapore Management University, investigates how to build trust in facial recognition technology via technological measures, ethnical guidelines, and legislation.
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eaab011
Lifes challenges can become lasting burdens if we don’t have the psychological resources to meet them. So how can we build up a psychological toolbox containing powerful inner strengths that are readily accessible when we need them?
Dr Rick Hanson, of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center US, and colleagues have developed new model of emotional and mental growth, which actively engages people's experiences with neurologically informed methods that heighten the conversion of passing states of mind, such as resilience, self-worth, and positive emotions, into lasting beneficial traits embedded in the brain.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.2006759
Understanding the function of time and space when an ecosystem is disturbed is essential for devising sustainable conservation and management policies, further complicated by anthropogenic disturbances. To understand and predict the response of ecological systems to these disturbances, researchers must develop new theoretical and experimental approaches.
The research team at the Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station (SETE) founded by Jean Clobert and Michel Loreau, aims to provide both theory and experimental methodologies to understand and predict the responses of ecological systems to environmental changes.
Read more in Research Features
Read some of their latest work here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00043
Clinical electrophysiology, the application of electricity to monitor or produce a physiological effect, seems such a core part of any modern hospital stay that it's surprising how new it really is. Today, devices and techniques are more accurate and less invasive, making these lifesaving technologies practically commonplace.
We spoke with Benjamin Scherlag, Professor of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma, USA, about his role in this part of medical history and why his dual roles in both clinical cardiology and basic science, have been so valuable.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2019.02.014
Diagnosing diseases requires understanding of how cells respond to different medical conditions. Histology is a common two-dimensional way of studying such disease abnormalities, however major diseases are associated with three-dimensional cellular and tissue architectural changes.
Dr Cheng’s team has created X-ray histotomography, the first 3D imaging method that allows digital cell and tissue diagnostics from entire tissue samples and small organisms.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44898
The rapid spread and constant evolution of COVID-19, has presented significant challenges to tracking true disease prevalence . In addition, the way we test for the disease is adapting and changing as more is learnt about the virus and new technologies become available. Some of these technologies can result in bias, and may not present an accurate picture of COVID-19 prevalence in a population.
Researchers Amy Hou, Genevieve Pang and Lorrin Pang at the Hawaii Department of Health propose that pre-procedural COVID-19 patient datasets may help us reduce bias in estimates of local disease prevalence.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach
Read the original research paper: doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.13.22273200
The demand for organically grown food has increased over the past few decades, with environmentally savvy consumers concerned about how the food they eat affects both their health and the planet. However, organic farming usually produces a lower yield when compared to ‘conventional’ methods, and rely on the same CO2 emitting machinery.
Professor Sean Clark of Berea College, Kentucky, examined the carbon footprint of organic strawberries grown in high tunnels, otherwise known as polytunnels, and how they compare to traditional farming methods or to controlled 'vertical' farms.
Read more about the research: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031778
Cancer affects not just peoples physical body but also their mental and spiritual wellbeing. With such complex manifestations, holistic treatment approaches personalised to meet the unique needs of individuals warrant consideration and research.
Terri Crudup and colleagues at IQVIA, in collaboration with the Samueli Foundation, USA, demonstrate the value of integrative oncology, combining conventional cancer treatment with what is known as complementary and lifestyle therapies, in improving both the quality of life and the five-year survival of those with breast cancer.
Read more about their work in Research Features
Read the original research: http://doi.org/10.1155/2021/4746712
Over the course of his career, Professor Ofer Aluf has developed cutting-edge innovations in a wide range of technologies, including computer chips, semiconductors, antennas, and high-power lasers.
His latest book, Prof Aluf introduces laser elements as a concept in circuit analysis, and explains the mathematical principles in parallel with their application in real-world scenarios.
Find Advance Elements of Laser Circuits and Systems at Springer: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64103-0
Prof Alufs other books are available now via Amazon.
Designing, building, and maintaining homes in the 21st century has to consider the wellbeing of residents and the environment. From the heavy machinery required on building sites, to the rubble of its demolition, every tonne of carbon consumed and released over the length of a buildings lifecycle can be accounted for.
Dr Stefanie Weidner of Werner Sobek outlines the companies mission in sustainable engineering, highlights their case studies for successful design, and discusses what the future of urban living might be.
Read more at the Werner Sobek website.
Companies and businesses generally exist to create wealth. Yet, increasingly over the past three decades, companies have come to regard Corporate Social Responsibliity programmes as an important bottom-line measure
Associate Professor Alwyn Lim from Singapore Management University and Shawn Pope from Léonard de Vinci Pôle Universitaire dig into the underlying motivators that propel businesses to design and roll-out these programmes, and their impacts.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2199
The dramatic collapse of the Polcevera Viaduct, in the Italian port city of Genoa in 2018, had all the hallmarks of unfortunate tragedy, but to the trained eye it was inevitable.
Janusz Rymsza, PhD Eng, is a Professor at the Road and Bridge Research Institute in Warsaw. Since 2009 he has held the position of Deputy Director of the Institute. His professional work relates to the full range of bridge works including designing and field testing, as well as supervision over bridge works.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/app11178098
Read more in Research Outreach
Approximately 10-20% of women will experience some form of postpartum depression. Without prompt access to care and support, the wellbeing of both mother and child could be in jeopardy.
Dr Maureen Sayres Van Niel and Dr Jennifer Payne discuss working together in the field of women's mental health at the American Psychiatric Association, as well as the many changes and challenges in women's bodies during pregnancy and after birth, and how recognising and treating perinatal mood and anxiety disorders is essential to ensure best outcomes.
Read their original article : https://doi.org/10.3949/ccjm.87a.19054
In the US; call 1-833-943-5746 , or call the new emergency helpline on 988.
In the UK; call 111 , or text "SHOUT" to 85258 .
Professor A E Eiben at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in The Netherlands, shows how robots could pass on their advantageous traits to new generations, allowing them to adapt to unfamiliar environments.
Named ‘EvoSphere’, this system could one day allow robots to perform tasks which, until now, have remained far beyond our reach.
Read more the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66494-7_2
Read more in Research Outreach
Children from families with low or insecure incomes are at greater odds of hindered language development and cognitive growth, with gaps in ability between poor and secure families evident as early as preschool.
Dr. Karyn Allee, assistant professor of Elementary Education at Mercer University asks if guided play could encourage the uptake of language, learning and behaviour among disadvantaged children.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01141-6
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to human health, and are mainly sourced from wild caught fish. Those same fish are also an essential part of feeding farmed salmon as their own source of omega-3. With increasing demands on the fishing industry globally, there is a pressing need for sustainably sourced omega-3 oils for human and salmon alike.
Benita Boettner, global general manager for Nuseed Nutritional, discusses their omega-3 canola oil, and the potential of plant-based technologies to improve wellbeing of humans, fish, and the environment.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.716659
There have been scores of drug approvals across the globe for treating cancer in recent years, and the right combination of treatment and patient can lead to longer, better living with the disease. With all these breakthroughs on top of years of experience in care administration, how much has the patient experience changed?
Professor David Stewart, medical oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital, has compiled his decades of clinical experience, practise and research into his new book. He looks at the rate of progress in detecting and treating different cancers, what risks towards cancer can occur in life, how successful different healthcare systems are in caring for cancer patients.
A Short Primer On Why Cancer Still Sucks is available via Amazon: : https://www.amazon.com/Short-Primer-Cancer-Still-Sucks/dp/0228871999
The infrastructure for transport within and between towns offers more than just a means to get from one place to another. It can shape the formation of those towns, and how people relate to traveling from a psychological, not just practical, standpoint.
Ole Aasvik of Institute of Transport Economics and the University of Oslo discusses his research into transport access, attitudes and autonomy in Norway, and how the ease of use for any part of public roads can affect or be affected by the people who use it.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696317
A trusting society is open, inclusive, and promotes both social and personal well-being. Understanding the interpersonal trust between any members of society, be it a belief, intention or behaviour, is of crucial importance to fields ranging from psychology and neuroscience to economics.
Prof Frank Krueger of George Mason University brings together economic exchange games, psychological systems and neuroscience mechanisms (e.g. brain circuits, hormones, genes) to build a ‘psychoneurobiological’ model of trust.
Read his original article: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00305
Read more about the Social Cognition and Interaction: Functional Imaging (SCI:FI) Lab here.
Our world is always changing. Some of those changes, such as climate change or depletion of natural resources, are coming fast, and could have far reaching impacts on nature and culture for generations to come.
Prof Jim Perry of The University of Minnesota describes his work in Adaptive Heritage, and discusses how citizens and governments alike can act now to ensure a future for those fast-vanishing environments.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9080128
Depending on when and where you listen to this podcast, you may be legally allowed to possess cannabis for your own recreational enjoyment. Or it may land you in jail.
That’s not just a difference between one liberal countries laws and another conservative nation, that’s the difference between New Mexico and it’s neighbouring state of Texas.
Today i’m speaking with Dr Michael Sofis of Cannabis Public Policy Consulting about the organisations research into applications and complications around drug legalisation in the US
Read more at the CPPC website
In the face of a staff shortage among endocrinologists in the US, patient care for those with diabetes is paramount.
Dr Richard Santen at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, offers a solution to improve the care of patients in rural, underserved areas through ‘re-booting’ endocrinologists and telehealth.
Read the original article: http://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X221106041
Read more in Research Features
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple vaccines and treatments have been proposed to combat the disease. However, one limitation of these vaccines and treatments is that they are often developed for a specific form of a virus–meaning they maybe less effective against new variants of the disease.
Professor Thomas Webster thinks that this could be achieved by using nanomaterials, specifically those that bind to proteins on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, and inhibit its ability to infect human cells.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onano.2022.100054
Read more about his work in Research Outreach
Forecasts project that there will be around 100 million electric vehicles on the roads in the next few decades. With that additional electricity demand, it's important to consider how we are going to be able to charge electric vehicles.
Dr Yangfang (Helen) Zhou from Singapore Management University and colleagues propose an innovative business model for utility firms to meet the stress of electric vehicles on the energy grid, and keep the world moving.
Read the original article: http://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2021.1019
Dr Shelley Newman of Newman Specialty VetPath, USA, has improved the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of mast cell tumours and pancreatic diseases in veterinary species and contributed to the literature by characterising many new disease processes in exotic species.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.20.12.0663
Even this early in the 21st century, there are signs of economic and cultural trends that may be its hallmarks in history - for better, for worse and in ways yet to be seen.
Today i’m speaking with Dr Huiyao 'Henry' Wang of the Centre of China and Globalisation about the future of China in international commerce and diplomacy, how to connect with, and within, global superpowers, and what history might have to say about current events.
Read more at the CCG website, or in their recent report: http://en.ccg.org.cn/archives/73205
For as long as people have farmed, it has been known that planting the same crop in the same field without change over the years leads to reduced crop yield. Decaying plant material from past harvests leaves extracellular, or free-drifting, plant DNA in the soil, that prohibits the growth of new plants of the same species. This phenomenon, known as toxicity, is responsible for a plant–soil negative feedback mechanism
Dr Annalisa Iuorio from the University of Vienna, a specialist in the mathematical modelling of dynamic systems in ecological settings, researched the effects of toxicity on vegetation distribution. They hope that their research can be applied to other fields in biology, even including cancer research. This research supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.29.226522
The dream of nuclear fusion as a source of near-unlimited energy is decades old, but, with the latest advances by research teams working around the world, it may just be within reach.
Dr Tamás Biró of the Wigner Research Centre for Physics is leading research on laser ignition of nanoparticles to bring that goal closer to fruition.
You can read more about his research in Research Outreach.
Read the original article: https://journals.aps.org/prxenergy/abstract/10.1103/PRXEnergy.1.023001
Peter Verheyen of the Sola Society and Academy at Vienna University, Austria, explores the notion that the conscious reality we experience as human beings is drawn from the information constantly emitted from the real physical world.
He argues that the real physical world is akin to a giant quantum computer that gives rise to consciousness itself.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/sci3040035
Read more in Research Outreach
The cellular waste in your blood can tell you a lot about your health -any immune activation, mineral deficits, or stress hormones circulating through you. So, what do you think it means when chunks of cells, knocked loose by the shear stress of your own blood pressure, start turning up?
Dr Ramani Ramchandran at the Medical College of Wisconsin and his team are developing new tests for these cellular fragments in blood to determine what they can tell us about your whole-body health.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.151813
More than one in seven people in the US have chronic kidney disease (CKD), making it one of the top causes of death. Anaemia is a common, though under-treated complication.
Dr Robert Provenzano of Wayne State University and his team pooled together the results of three randomised clinical trials to investigate the efficacy and safety of of new treatment, Roxadustat, in managing the blood disease risks of CKD patients.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.2215/CJN.16191020
Read more in Research Features
For members of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), festivals are used to promote a concept known as “the ASEAN Way”: respecting each other’s sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of one another, and peaceful settlements of disputes.
In his most recent paper, Dr David Ocón of Singapore Management University researches the “ulterior motives” of festivals and how they can be used for political and economic ends.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191X-bja10081
Biodiversity data can be analysed to predict species distribution at various scales of time and space. However, survey completeness and temporal decay in data quality introduce uncertainty into biodiversity models.
Researchers Joaquín Hortal, Juliana Stropp, Richard Ladle, and Geiziane Tessarolo, among others, are constructing the first Maps of Biogeographical Ignorance (MoBIs) that account for uncertainty in biodiversity analysis. Presented alongside species distribution models (SDMs), MoBIs ensure conservation resources are appropriately distributed.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05793
Read more in Research Outreach
The 'resource curse’, or "Dutch disease“, describes when countries rich in natural resources face reduced domestic growth rates in other sectors due an influx of foreign currency or investment, mixed with market volatility.
The Tao of Finance initiative from the World Academy of Arts and Sciences examines the link between this ‘disease’ and the 17 UN-Sustainability Development Goals, and identifies an upgraded monetary system to make the resource curse history.
Read more about the Tao of Finance at the WAAS website, or read the books ‘Financing Our Future' and 'Financing our Anthropocene'
How do we know that we can trust software? One answer is software reliability testing.
Dr Mário Pereira and Dr António Ravara from the Nova School of Science and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal, and their collaborators have developed the Cameleer tool, a formal verification software tool for OCaml-written code.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81688-9_31
Read more in Research Outreach
Alchemy may be understood as the first scientific paradigm, beginning as a collection of observations, experiments, and recipes for practical processes. Woven into these primary alchemical texts were also a good deal of the symbolism, philosophy and religious beliefs of the time.
Dr Julia Kasmire explores the ways in which the seemingly unrelated concepts of sustainability and alchemy can both be understood as strategies that individuals and societies use to further understand our complex world.
Read her original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-019-00066-6
Obesity is a growing public health concern, but studies suggest that soluble fibre from certain cereal whole grains can help weight management.
Rebecca Mathews and her collaborators in the US conducted a thorough review of key studies demonstrating the efficacy and mechanisms behind oat and barley β-glucan on weight loss. These findings confirm the importance of whole grains in combating obesity.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.1994523
Find more in Research Outreach
Molecules are comprised of charged particles whose spatial distribution is or could be distorted, lending the molecules a handle by which they can be manipulated via external electromagnetic fields.
Dr Burkhard Schmidt at the Freie Universität Berlin and Professor Bretislav Friedrich at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, along with colleagues, have been studying the effects of electromagnetic fields on molecular rotation and how these effects could be used to achieve quantum control.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00268976.2021.1966111
Find out more in Research Outreach
While some bacteria are beneficial, such as probiotic bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract, others can have serious consequences for human health.
Professor Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah of Tennessee State University studies preventative measures for microbial pathogens and foodborne and waterborne infectious diseases in the context of climate change.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fmicroorganisms8050748
Find more in Research Outreach
New generations of particle accelerators are now in development, in which beams of particles collide ever more precisely and at ever higher energies.
Professor Stephen Myers, former Director of Accelerators & Technology at CERN and currently Executive Chair of ADAM SA, identifies both the positive and negative lessons which future projects can learn from previous generations of accelerators for one upcoming project: the Future Circular Collider.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-02056-w
Find more about this work in Research Outreach
Dr Bradlee Heckmann and his team at the USF Health Neuroscience Institute in the US aim to develop new therapeutic avenues for treating neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
Read their original article here: http://doi.org/10.4103/1673-5374.317958
Read more about their work in Research Features
A healthcare system that is preventative, collective and inclusive is far more resilient, and cheaper to run, than private for-profit schemes. Such a preventative system will be much cheaper to invest in building now than waiting to repair our current frameworks after the next pandemic. However, we need a financial plan that is able to ensure this change
The Tao of Finance initiative from the World Academy of Arts and Sciences proposes a new mode of finance to fund the WHO, delivering adaptive and targeted funding to the health care needed for today and tomorrow.
Read more about the Tao of Finance at the WAAS website, or read the books ‘Financing Our Future' and 'Financing our Anthropocene'
The WASTE FEW ULL project is developing and testing internationally applicable methods of identifying inefficiencies in a city-region’s food-energy-water nexus.
It is achieving this goal through an international network of industry/civic society-led Urban Living Labs (ULL) in four urban regions - UK (Bristol), Netherlands (Rotterdam), South Africa (Cape Town) and Brazil (São Paulo).
Read more in Research Features
In the face of increasing drug resistance, there is a pressing need to develop new antibiotic compounds. However, the effort of developing such new treatments can go unrewarded, so long as there are still cheaper options in current supply, even as their effectiveness wanes.
Olof Lindahl and Chantal Morel review the business interventions, stewardship policies and prescription practices available to incentivise the development of new medicines, and thus support global health.
Find out more about their work at https://www.jpiamr.eu/
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41429-020-0300-y
Until now, a great deal has remained unknown about the relationship between programmed cell death and bacterial infections. However, recent work by Dr CJ Anderson and Professor Kodi Ravichandran from VIB-UGent, Belgium, has shed new light on this topic and introduced a new layer to the complex host–pathogen interaction.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03785-9
How should we design a new monetary tool that can cope with external shocks which might affect our economy in the Anthropocene?
The Tao of Finance initiative from the World Academy of Arts and Sciences proposes a Monetary Inflation Brake: a targeted, upstream, resilient intervention that could save billions of dollars world wide.
Read more about the Tao of Finance at the WAAS website, or read the book ‘Financing Our Future: Unveiling a Parallel Digital Currency System to Fund the SDGs and the Common Good’.
Dr Henry Heng’s Genome Architecture Theory is a new paradigm questioning the status quo of genomic and evolutionary theories. He proposes that cancerous cells are so different in their genome architectures they’re akin to a different cellular species in the host, meaning a total rethink in how those cells are targeted and destroyed.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.3390/genes13010101
Read more in Research Features
Today's cartoons a different experience from past generations, in which gratuitous violence was the primary concern of worried parents. But what if what they showed was more surreptitious in its influence on child behaviour, such as what cartoon characters ate?
Dr Milia Tzoutzou and colleagues have catalogued cartoon characters interact with their food and how they judge each other - and themselves – based on their physical appearance. What they've discovered should concern nutritionists, lawmakers, and parents worldwide.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes2010007
Consciousness and self awareness are tricky things to define in an all-encompassing way, and new research on the intricacies of cellular cognition is reshaping how we think about microorganisms and ourselves.
Professor Nicholas Money of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio has argued for a new philosophy of cellular consciousness and suggests that, based on their ability to respond to external stimuli, fungi have minds.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2021.02.001
Read more in Research Outreach
By leveraging your personal health data with Artificial Intelligence, from blood samples to psychological surveys, it is possible to make accurate predictions on biological age and interventions to keep you at your best.
Fedor Galkin and Deepankar Nayak of DeepLongevity, a health data platform that looks to transform approaches to ageing and longevity, discuss the upcoming launch of their mental health support site ‘FuturSelf.ai', models of psychological wellbeing and the importance of data throughout healthcare systems and patients lives.
Find more about Self Organising Maps in the original article: https://dx.doi.org/10.18632/aging.204061 , and sign up to learn more at Futurself.ai
A state-of-the-art research and development centre in Daegu, Korea – K-MEDI hub – is creating a medical industry ecosystem for the research and development of new drugs and medical devices.
At its Preclinical Research Centre, one strong research focus is evaluating the impact of stress on the welfare of laboratory animals in the context of preclinical research. The aim is to improve international standards and guidelines for experimental conditions in the future, improving both the welfare of laboratory animals and the quality of research results.
Read their original research: http://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.27.457934
Read more in Research Features
An estimated 130 million adults are living with diabetes or prediabetes in the United States right now. So it might come as a shock that a fundamental concept of diabetes - that the condition is rooted in the role of the pancreas on blood sugar levels - might not be the whole truth.
Dr Michael Schwartz of the University of Washington researches the role of the brain in hunger, metabolism and homeostasis. His work opens new questions around obesity and health, and new treatment prospects for all those affected by diabetes.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00408-5
Is theism conducive to humility in thought? Can deeply religious people also be intellectually humble?
Dr Peter C Hill, professor of psychology at the Rosemead School of Psychology based at Biola University, and a team of colleagues challenge the idea that people who hold strong religious beliefs are low in intellectual humility.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2021.1916242
Read more in Research Outreach
The move to from a reactive approach in medicine, when diseases or disturbances are treated once they are serious enough to present a problem, to a proactive, patient-centric attitude could be a paradigm shift in health care.
Dr. Jürgen Riedel, and Prof Kourosh Saeb-Parsy of Oxford Immune Algorithmics join us to talk about a more precise, personalised, and preventative approach for immune health monitoring when coupled with AI and machine learning technologies.
Read the original paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.09.941096
Global issues such as climate change, social inequalities, and environmental breakdowns are borderless, meaning no country can tackle them alone. International collaboration will be essential in mitigating some of the worst effects of these pervasive issues.
Mr Tony Marshall, the founder, president, and CEO of Diverse Horizons, Inc., aims to build on international sustainable development goals by initiating global facilities for educational, entrepreneurial, and intercultural collaboration.
Diverse Horizons facilities will be ‘hubs’ that assist in setting up systems for collaborative, progressive education.
Read more in Research Outreach
Prof. Stephen Hargarten from Medical College of Wisconsin discusses his experience of working in Emergency Room care, his research into harm reduction, social models to reduce the incidence, and risk and damage of violence in America.
This podcast details why violence is not being included in medical education and offers an informed, science-based model, suggesting methods to integrate social training and resources into medical school curricula.
Read his original article at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2021.1906254
Prof Robert Brent, Professor of Economics at Fordham University, discusses his new book on interventions for managing dementia, and cost-benefit approaches to life and healthcare.
The book, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Dementia, is available here: https://bit.ly/RobertBrent
The New Personality Self-Portrait25, or NPSP25 is the work of psychiatrist John M. Oldham, M.D., in longtime collaboration with mental health journalist and author Lois B. Morris, and more recently, psychologist Alok Madan, PhD.
The NPSP25 is an updated, internet-only version of a book first published in a 1990 by Oldham and Morris, called The Personality Self-Portrait: Why You Think, Work, Love, and Act the Way You Do, with the the second edition remaining in print since 1995.
Find more at the NPSP25 website.
Dr Stanley Luck of Vector Analytics LLC has developed a novel parametric framework for multidimensional linear regression, following collaborative research and developments involving the identification of beneficial agronomic variation in maize.
Read more in Research Outreach.
Read the original article here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262148
Mining, fracking and other georesource activities pose various environmental hazards - groundwater contamination, air pollution, and even significant earthquakes
The EPOS Thematic Core Service for Anthropogenic Hazards (TCS AH) was created to facilitate global-scale open data access and research of anthropogenic hazards related to georesource exploitation.
Find more about TCS AH at their website, or in this article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0429-3
Emeritus Professor Gregg Barak, is co-founder of the Journal of White Collar & Corporate Crime. Barak is also a three-time award-winning author and editor of books on crime, justice, media, violence, criminal law, corporate law, homelessness, and human rights.
His book, Criminology on Trump , is available for preorder here
Read more in Research Outreach
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN set out the aims of ensuring the future of life on Planet Earth is clean, healthy, and rich in biodiversity. However, reaching these goals is expensive, requiring around an additional $5 Trillion per year over the next 15–20 years. So the question now is: How to finance our Future?
The Tao of Finance initiative from the World Academy of Arts and Sciences proposes outside-the-box solutions to generate the funds needed, utilising distributed digital technologies and innovative approaches to finance.
Read more about the Tao of Finance at the WAAS website, or read the book ‘Financing Our Future: Unveiling a Parallel Digital Currency System to Fund the SDGs and the Common Good’.
Innovation is an important driver for increasing a firms profit margins. However, short-term expenses in the innovation process, with a short product life cycle common among highly innovative leaps, makes it very difficult to predict demand.This can make investors wary.
Dr. Sterling Huang and colleagues look into how the balance between a company and its investors can shift with successful innovations, and the changes that has on the company’s internal communication and management
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.2308/tar-2017-0082
Substance use disorders (SUD) are common within the population of people with HIV, and this can have a detrimental effect on their progression along the HIV care continuum. Despite this, SUD services are not currently integrated into AIDS service organisations as well as they might be.
Dr Bryan Garner at RTI International and his team identified that integrating these services within community-based ASOs is one of the keys to addressing SUDs among people with HIV.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03473-9
Higher Education Institutions, or HEIs, have been forced to reconfigure their activities as a result of the pandemic.
Based on new research, Prof Lloyd George Waller argues that the difference between the institutions’ success or otherwise in moving online depends on their digital readiness and resilience, which in turn depends on their digital transformation strategy.
His book, "Digital Transformation for Higher Education Institutions: A Framework for the Future" is available online.
Read more in Research Outreach
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent around 90% of businesses and more than 50% of worldwide employment. Despite their economic relevance, most insolvency jurisdictions fail to provide an adequate response for MSMEs in insolvency.
Professor Gurrea Martínez of Singapore Management University is an expert in insolvency and business restructuring and his recent work looks at international insolvency frameworks.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1002/iir.1422
Estuaries are incredibly variable environments, which can make fish monitoring using traditional sampling gear difficult. Dr Joseph Merz has developed a new non-invasive sampling system, The Platform, to monitor fish communities and their habitat interactions with fewer potential impacts to sensitive species.
Read more in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/platform-novel-non-invasive-fish-monitoring-method/
Find more from Dr Merz and his team at https://www.fishsciences.net/
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME) is a complex, long-term, and highly debilitating condition whose causes and mechanisms have been poorly understood until now.
The research of Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik sheds new light on the pathological processes underlying ME/CFS – paving the way for future treatments.
Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-021-02974-4
Read more in Research Features
Across history, people have developed multiple ways of occupying their free time through a host of leisure activities. Professor Robert Stebbins at the University of Calgary has provided a seminal framework – called the Serious Leisure Perspective – which synthesises the science of leisure activities, and looks at ways for society to facilitate pursuing optimal lifestyles.
Read more in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/what-constitutes-optimal-leisure/
Read more in his book, The Serious Leisure Perspective : https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-48036-3
Proton therapy is an effective technique for fighting cancer. In order to optimise treatment, it is clear that each patient must be carefully assessed each time and radiation plans must be adapted based on the results.
The daily adaptive proton therapy workflow proposed by the Paul Scherrer Institute is an excellent start on the path to achieving this, and there are many more opportunities to improve efficiency and accuracy for treatment.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ac2b84
Dr Jan Czyzyk explores the biomolecules serpins, and how serpin activity can affect the inflammation and tissue regeneration of cells in the pancreas. Their research opens the possibility for anti-serpin activity to be used as both a biomarker and an active mechanism of protection for individuals with type 1 diabetes.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://www.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abf1587
The field of psycho-neuroimmunology – the study of relationships between the nervous and immune systems – has pioneered significant discoveries in areas like stress, mindfulness, ancient exercise and dietary interventions. The Psycho-neuroimmunology Research Society (PNIRS) formed a Chinese branch in 2012, and following its success, expanded to include all of Asia-Oceania.
Keith W. Kelley of the University of Illinois and collaborators review the growth of this endeavour and recent contributions to biomedical research from the countries of Asia-Oceania.Find more from PNIRS: https://www.pnirs.org/pnirsasia-pacificRead the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.026
Breast cancer on the African continent, and in Nigeria especially, is notable for being biologically distinct from those predominantly diagnosed among White populations in the United States and Europe, where most scientific research has occurred to date.
Dr. Tomi Akinyemiju at Duke University School of Medicine examines the factors that contribute to especially aggressive breast cancers in Nigeria – providing insights that could meaningfully impact disease prevention and treatment.
Read the original paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clbc.2021.11.004.
Before the development of antibiotics, even a small cut could have fatal results if a bacterial infection took hold. Today, the world faces a the return of untreatable diseases due to antibiotic resistance.
Prof Raymond J. Turner at the University of Calgary is working to solve the problem of bacterial resistance to these medicines through revisiting and developing metal-containing antimicrobials.
Read the original paper here: https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9120853
Read more in Research Features
Tilapia is one of the most popular seafood dishes, with annual production topping top 6 million tonnes globally. However, fish is a highly perishable food, and large quantities of fish meat is discarded due to loss of quality between capture and final consumption. This raises concerns for both the consumer’s health and finances of seafood producers.
Dr Maria Lucia Guerra Monteiro at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and colleagues, investigate the effect of a new style of packaging, with or without ultraviolet treatment, on the freshness of tilapia fillets stored under refrigeration, aiming to reduce the food waste from the an early loss of quality.
Read their original paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61293-8
Tackling global challenges in sustainable energy production calls for the rational design of new generations of clean materials, coupling efficiency with low environmental impact.
Professor Rajan has established a research center at the Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo, New York that explores how to develop ‘quantum signatures’ at a fundamental molecular scale that can guide the rational design of clean materials.
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00798-x
Read more in Research Outreach
Toxic pollutants in the air are not a new phenomenon. But what exactly are the toxic pollutants that can cause severe health issues when present in the air?
Professor Guo-Ping Chang-Chien, director of the Super Micro Mass Research and Technology Center at Cheng Shiu University in Taiwan, studies different emission reduction approaches relating to toxic pollutants. Their teams work has massively improved air quality in Taiwan.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148329
Pain and anxiety are some of the most common and distressing symptoms experienced by patients in all clinical settings.
Research by Dr Elvira Lang and colleagues found that their self-hypnotic relaxation app, Comfort Talk®, is effective in reducing pain and anxiety in patients through short listening times in the waiting room.
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1097/01.RVI.0000185418.82287.72
Read more in Research Outreach
Money plays an essential social role, and its distribution is linked to that of justice. Unfortunately, bias has corroded the mechanisms that govern money creation, resulting in injustices that benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
Peter Dietsch, a philosophy professor at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, says it’s time to re-evaluate the system and consider alternatives.
Read their original article: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X21999736
Read more in Research Outreach
Dr Yukiko Washio at RTI International and her colleagues at Temple University and Christiana Care have undertaken intervention research to increase breastfeeding in low-income women in the United States.
Based on this and two pilot studies in the US and UK, they set up a research project using their new BOOST protocol: using financial incentives to increase breastfeeding among women registered on the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programme.
Read the original article: http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034510
Read more in Research Features
How society can adapt to climate change is an urgent challenge for the global community. Yet what exactly is that challenge? How can we imagine new ways to respond?
Climate change adaptation has long been defined as society’s response to an external, changing environment. Dr Andrea Nightingale at the University of Oslo, however, argues that the global community should be debating key political questions such as, ‘who ought to govern change’, and ‘what knowledges do we need to understand uncertainty and change?’
Read the original paper: http://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.740
Read more in Research Features
Dr Tanya Evans, Dr Mike Thomas and Dr Sergiy Klymchuk have designed an intervention to examine whether employability prospects for STEM students studying mathematics could be improved.
Read their original paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1818061
Read more in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/self-efficacy-non-routine-problem-solving-stem-education/
Managing addiction and supporting recovery takes time, training, and legal processes that few can afford alone.
Dr Jennifer Potter, Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Research at UT Health, San Antonio discusses the 'Be Well Texas’ programme of training and technical assistance, and what she sees as the next steps to remedy the drug addiction problems facing the people, and the social fabric, of America.
Read the original research here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234425
The Earth is a dynamic system. The cold rigid surface (or crust) on which we live is broken into many rigid plates that all move relative to one another in a process known as plate tectonics.
At the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Professor Timothy Kusky is studying the evolution of tectonic plates through Earth history. Along with his colleagues, he has found that a devastating 2020 earthquake in the Aegean Sea resulted from a process known as slab rollback. This process may also have been responsible for the eruption of Santorini 3,650 years ago, which altered global climate, devastated the eastern Mediterranean, and wiped out the Minoan civilisation.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86063-y
Read more in Research Outreach : https://researchoutreach.org/articles/african-tectonic-retreat-seismically-shakes-greece-turkey/
With the rising desire for a cosy and comfortable life full of 'hygge' has come a rising demand for the warm glow of a household fire to gather around. But, at what price does this idyll come at for our health?
Dr Mikko Savolahti, senior research scientist at the Finnish Environment Institute, and colleagues published detailed research investigating the emissions from residential wood combustion in Finland. The models demonstrate that the climate impacts of wood burning need to be fully included in policy making.
Read the original papers:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.06.045
- http://www.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162920
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurologic autoimmune disease that is a lifelong condition with high medical costs. As a result, many patients do not adhere to treatment plan, which further reduces their quality of life. There are also non-medical costs to consider, such as loss of productivity at work and early retirement.
Research led by Professor Carl Asche, at the University of Illinois, explores the financial burdens and advocates for improved strategies to reduce the cost burden of the disease.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2010.16.9.703
Brains, blood and beating heart are top of the list when it comes to thinking about your body, and your health. Understanding blood flow to and around the brain is part of research into brain ageing, and part of the work of Dr Lucy Beishon and Dr Jatinder Minhas at the Cerebral Haemodynamics in Ageing and Stroke Medicine , or CHIASM, lab in Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Today, we’re chatting about some of their research into developing methods to help offset the progression of diseases such as stroke and dementia, helping patients to keep their edge as long as possible.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-210428
Alcohol is widely considered to be the most popular, most harmful drug, often leading to psychological or physical harm to the user and those around them. and with a strong association between alcohol consumption and crime.
With a high rate of alcohol intoxication in witnesses, suspects, and even victims of crime, it is critical to understand how police officers perceive and interact with intoxicated individuals.
Dr Angelica Hagsand of the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) conducts research to understand how alcohol influences the reliability of eyewitness testimonies.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2021.1929978
Blockchain technology and smart contracts, the backbone of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doge and more, is a method of recording and storing electronic information, such as financial transactions, in a way that they are either impossible or difficult to alter. In short, a digital permanent record.
But if a smart contract has mistakes or bugs in its code that can be exploited, it can result in huge financial losses .
Dr. Lingxiao Jiang, an associate professor of Computer Science at Singapore Management University, researches the challenges, and opportunities, for the growing use of smart contracts in financial services.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2020.2971482
What is behind phenomena such as the sudden extinction of species in population dynamics? What generates the spiral patterns that appear in density profiles or travelling waves?
Professor Meyer-Ortmanns studies complex systems with methods from nonlinear dynamics and statistical physics. One current research topic is heteroclinic dynamics, another one is the impact of stochastic fluctuations.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043097
Acesulfame potassium is one of several low- and no-calorie sweeteners used as a healthy alternative to sugar. But what if there is a price to pay for a calorie-free sweetness?
Dr Patrick Guiney investigates the environmental fate and effects of sweeteners and applies ecological risk assessment methods to establish their environmental safety profiles.
Read more in Research Outreach
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4248
What if there was a way to deliver on the painkilling potential of opioids while reducing the likelihood of addiction?
Dr Stefan Clemens and Dr Kori Brewers' work at East Carolina University could mark a turning point in pain management and drug addiction.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2020.172935
Whether it’s a just few sentences or a full paragraph outlining the way your organisation pursues goals like delivering on time or anticipating customer needs, a mission statement is a guide to how a company operates and the values it holds dear.
Research led by Dana Kanze from London Business School now shows that your mission statements can also motivate your employees to embrace or disregard ethical standards—the decisions they choose depend upon the language you use.
Read the original publication: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.04.002
Read the HBR article: https://hbr.org/2020/02/research-organizations-that-move-fast-really-do-break-things
Read more from Dr Kanze in Research Outreach
Glycogen plays important roles in carbon and energy storage in bacteria, with highly branched structures linked with bacterial environmental durability, including the ability to survive in deep sea vents.
Dr Liang Wang at the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai & Ms Qing-Hua Liu at Macau University of Science and Technology aim to better understand the structure and evolution of glycogen branching enzyme in bacteria, uncovering a new, third type of structure.
Read more about their research in Research Outreach.
Read their original article at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.03354
In the deepest, darkest parts of our oceans live creatures that have mastered bioluminescence. Out of all these creatures and their colourful displays, what makes it so challenging to find species that emit light in the deep-blue region?
Dr Masahito Oh-e at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, together with his collaborator Dr Akira Nagasawa, Professor Emeritus of Saitama University in Japan, uses computational chemistry modelling approaches to investigate.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00506
The recent global pandemic has highlighted health inequities across the world. Despite rapid medical and social advances in recent years, inequities related to reproductive choices and rights remain, especially for women in marginalised sectors of society.
Dr Tracy Morison, a health psychologist at Massey University in New Zealand, focuses on the complexities around contraception choice and uptake.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12605
To understand some of what Critical Race Theory means as a term, and means in educational practice, we are joined again by Dr Jen Neitzel, Executive Director at the Educational Equity Institute, to discuss the past, present, and possible future of media discussions around race and racism in America.
Listen to her previous interview here.
The use of robotic technology in gastric bypass surgery is increasing and heralds a major turning point in bariatric surgery. However, robotic bariatric surgery must be proven feasible and safe.
Dr Rodolfo Oviedo, Director of Robotic General Surgery at Houston Methodist Department of Surgery, has set out to demonstrate that robotic gastric bypass surgery provides numerous advantages to both patients and surgeons in terms of its safety profile and cost efficiency when performed at a high-volume, experienced bariatric centre or even in rural community hospitals.
Read more in Research Features
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11701-021-01193-9
Dr Alexander Lichius and colleagues from the University of Innsbruck in Austria have developed the inncelly experimentation chambers to closely study the fungal cell biology of mycoparasites in fungus-fungus-plant interactions.
You can find more information on www.inncellys.com.
Read more about their research in Research Features.
Read the original article: https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fjof7050365
What do Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk have in common? In addition to being founders of multi-billion-dollar companies, they are also outliers. wielding disproportionate influences on both the business world and society. Their inputs and outputs, either qualitative or quantitative in nature, represents an exception to the normal rules.
Dr G. Christopher Crawford at Rutgers Business School explains which factors drive the performance of the most successful entrepreneurs and businesses.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2015.01.001
"Will Podcasting and Social Media Replace Journals and Traditional Science Communication? No, but..." is the perhaps controversially titled paper by Prof Matt Fox and a team at Boston University School for Public Health. And, if the answer is no, what role can they play in the future?
In this episode, we talk about the current state of academic publishing, the risks and opportunities of social networks for science, and integrating digital outreach into scientific practice.
Listen to Matt on The Free Associations Podcast and Serious Epidemiology Podcast, or follow him on Twitter.
Original Article: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwab172
With the global population growing rapidly every year and with millions already having limited access to enough food, where are the new productivity-enhancing farming practices that will enable the world to produce enough food to feed 9 billion people by 2050?
One new farming practice with the potential to improve crop yields is called ‘subsoil manuring’, developed by Peter Sale and his team at La Trobe University, Melbourne, to improve subsoils for crop growth.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2020.08.003
There are said to be 50 million people living with dementia globally and this is expected to triple by 2050.
Research conducted by Dr Hwajin Yang, Associate Professor at Singapore Management University, and colleagues, examines how the risk of developing dementia is affected by one’s sense of loneliness and sense of control.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2020.1799891
Sexuality is an intrinsic part of identity. However, intimacy and sexuality in residential aged care are often contested issues, particularly in the case of people living with different types of dementia.
Professor Mark Henrickson, Dr Catherine Cook, Dr Vanessa Schouten and Ms Sandra McDonald are researching consent in this domain.
Read more about their research in Research Features.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2021.1871649
Can the decisions, personal ties and politics underlying society be understood mathematically? And do irrational choices make sense when viewed as uncertain, quantum like probabilities?
Andrei Khrennikov and Emmanuel Haven discuss their research into the quantum formalism behind political movements, financial markets, and personal relations.
Read more:
- Quantum-like modeling: cognition, decision making, and rationality (2020) : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-020-00240-6
- Quantum Mechanical Pragmatic Rules and Social Science (2019): https://doi.org/10.1007/s41470-019-00036-1
- Introduction to quantum probability theory and its economic applications (2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmateco.2018.08.004
- Statistical and subjective interpretations of probability in quantum-like models of cognition and decision making (2016): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2016.02.005
- ‘Social Laser’: action amplification by stimulated emission of social energy (2015): http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0094
- An Application of the Theory of Open Quantum Systems to Model the Dynamics of Party Governance in the US Political System (2013): https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-013-1931-6
Buy the Social Laser book: https://www.jennystanford.com/9789814800839/social-laser/
Global temperature rises and climate change will not only bring disruption to the planet’s ecosystems, weather systems, and sea levels – they will also have an impact on current and future human societies through economic turmoil.
Dr Patrick Brown, of San José State University, finds out when the benefits of meeting the Paris Agreement targets will begin to outweigh the costs.
Read more:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239520
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0071-9
News coverage of the drug overdose crisis gripping America has, for a large part, focused on opioid drug deaths. However, this represents a small part of the ever-shifting landscape of drug use. Away from the mainstream, stimulants - both prescribed and illicit - continue to claim lives at an increasing rate.
Joshua Black and Janetta Iwanicki from Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety discuss their institutes role in tracking deaths, informing policy, and attempting to stem the tide of drug related deaths in America.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7850
Delayed sleep-wake phase disorder (DSWPD) is characterised by an inability to fall asleep at a socially acceptable time, and an inability to wake up at conventional early times for school or work.
Dr Gregory Carter from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, is conducting research into 'night owl preference', and what can be done to realign ones circadian rhythm.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5100
Prof Wiley investigates the emergence of new brain viral infections and their link to dementia.
Read more about his work in Research Outreach, and find his original articles below:
- Emergent Viral Infections of the CNS: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnen/nlaa054
- H1N1, but not H3N2, influenza A virus infection protects ferrets from H5N1 encephalitis: https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01840-13
- Emerging Infections of CNS: Avian Influenza A Virus, Rift Valley Fever Virus and Human Parechovirus: https://doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12281
- Human Parechovirus 3 Meningitis and Fatal Leukoencephalopathy : https://doi.org/10.1097/NEN.0000000000000215
- Human Zika and West Nile virus neurological infections: What is the difference?: https://doi.org/10.1111/neup.12385
- Systemic distribution of West Nile virus infection: postmortem immunohistochemical study of six cases.: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-3639.2007.00080.x
Over the last 50 years, advances in surgical procedures, clinical understandings and targeted treatments have changed the prospects of many cancer diagnoses from terminal to treatable. However, this progress is not evenly distributed across the many different types of cancer, and nowhere is that more keenly felt than in cancers affecting children. How might the advances and insights in treating blood cancers benefit patients with brain tumours?
To answer that question, I am speaking today with Dr David Walker and Dr Chris Halsey about their research connecting trials and treatments across disease types, for the benefit of all patients.
Read more: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30333-5
It has been well established that mental health problems increase vulnerability to corona virus, COVID-19, and those contracting the virus are at higher risk of nervous system disorders and mental illness. The Mom2B study, led by Prof Alkistis Skalkidou and colleagues, explores the mental health of pregnant women and those who have recently given birth.
Read their paper here: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.20248466
Download the Mom2B app here:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.mom2b.app2&gl=SE
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/se/app/mom2b/id1447365749
Huntington's Disease is characterised by a clear line of heritability within families, and an early onset of disease towards the middle of ones life. As such, the more knowledge researchers gain about development of the disease, the earlier interventions may be developed, and the longer their benefits felt.
Dr Jessica Cao is researching the onset of Huntington's Disease in a mouse model, how the sex-dependent differences may reflect in humans, and prospects for therapies to improve the wellbeing of patients facing the disease.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104607
Climate change is real, happening now, and happening the world over. However, it is not an evenly distributed problem - coastal areas are the most susceptible to rising sea levels, and there is one coast that most people in the world will never get to see .
The response of Antarctica to climate change is one of the big research questions facing the British Antarctic Survey. David Barnes, marine ecologist and lecturer, talks about life on the ice, life under it, and what the future may hold for polar regions.
Read his recent blog ahead of the COP26 Expo here.
Read their past papers at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15617
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15392
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15055
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176
Modelling human decisions under uncertainty has become a crucial issue in the field of Artificial Intelligence over recent years. Mathematical models of decision making under risk provide the user with an ‘optimal’ solution. These rational decision models, however, are not always able to describe the typical human approach to making decisions.
Dr Serena Doria, from The Gabriele d'Annunzio University in Italy, presents a new mathematical updating model that can represent the awareness process of the unconscious and conscious thought.
Read her paper here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-019-09699-3
Since its adoption in 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has become the most widely ratified treaty in history. One of the underlying principles enshrined throughout the Convention is adult respect for children’s views.
Professor Richard Mitchell argues the climate strikes and political activism inspired by Greta Thunberg, Autumn Peltier, and Salvador Gómez-Colón among others, represents an unprecedented human rights-based phenomenon, and one that emphasises millions of young women in leadership roles.
Hear more about his research here, and read the original article at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2019.1698235
The Synthesis Center, a unique institutional experiment at Arizona State University created by Professor Sha Xin Wei, brings like minds together to explore the interface between media arts, the environment, engineering and technology.
With the potential for global social impact, the results generate significant insights into how we interact with technology.
Learn more about the The Synthesis Centre here and here, and find more from Prof Wei at his ASU staff page.
Dr Farzan Beroz developed a physical theory of sensing that predicts cell behaviour.
Cells are continuously exposed to mechanical stimuli from their surroundings, causing stresses that can guide cell behaviours throughout development, movement and healing. To ensure normal function, the bodies cells and their microenvironment constantly engage in a reciprocal and dynamic dialogue with one another - Mechanosensing.
Dr Beroz' findings establish a model of cell behaviour and inspire novel ways to engineer high precision sensors.
Read more in Research Outreach.
Find the original article at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-020-18995-4
The rising trends of e-cigarette use pose a new problem for regulators and healthcare providers: who is vaping, and how much nicotine. are they getting?
Among many different brands, formulations, devices and behaviours, Ian Jones presents data from a sweeping review to determine the scientific underpinnings to how much is known, and is left to know, about the the typical puff.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2020.12.016
Low-cost accessible space technologies are necessary to fulfil the promise of the “New Space” revolution and open the door to space exploration to everyone.
In order to lower the cost of spacecraft propulsion, Dulce Máximo from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in México and Luis Fernando Velásquez-García from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report on the first 3D-printed electrospray thrusters to be used in nanosatellites. Not only are these cheaper and quicker to manufacture, but they also use propellant fuel very efficiently. This important development is a significant contribution to the democratisation of nanosatellite propulsion technology.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach.
Read the original article at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101719
Rheumatic heart disease is the most common acquired heart disease in children and adolescents, and is disproportionately prevalent in marginalised communities across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
Prof Thomas Pilgrim, Dr Prahlad Karki, and colleagues at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Nepal report on the successes, costs, and challenges of detecting early stages of rheumatic heart disease among children with echocardiographic screening followed by timely treatment with antibiotic prevention.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2020.7050
Dr Cleve Hicks from the University of Warsaw in Poland has been observing a special group of chimpanzees that have developed their own customs and traditions.
Despite the logistical difficulties involved in reaching a remote part of DR Congo , as well as the ever-present threat of malaria and the dangers of armed conflict, Hicks and his team managed to document how these chimpanzees live – including tool making, feeding habits and sleeping style.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-020-00149-4
In Is Russia Fascist?(Cornell University Press), author Marlene Laruelle argues that the charge of "fascism" has become a strategic narrative of the current world order. The ruling Russian regime has increasingly been accused of embracing fascism, supposedly evidenced by Russia's annexation of Crimea, its historical revisionism, attacks on liberal democratic values, and its support for far-right movements in Europe. But at the same time, Russia has branded itself as the world's preeminent antifascist power because of its sacrifices during the Second World War, while emphasizing how opponents to the Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe collaborated with Nazi Germany.
By labeling ideological opponents as fascist, regardless of their actual values or actions, geopolitical rivals are able to frame their own vision of the world and claim the moral high ground. Through a detailed examination of the Russian domestic scene and the Kremlin's foreign policy rationales, Laruelle disentangles the foundation for, meaning, and validity of accusations of fascism in and around Russia.
Buy Is Russia Fascist? now from:
Cornell University Press: bit.ly/rpodrussia
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1501754130
Join the author and experts in discussion on March 26th 2021: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/142568605537
Advances in modern surgery have been dependent upon advances in anaesthetic management. However, anaesthesia can have detrimental effects, as it is usually associated with reduced blood pressure, cardiac output and oxygen delivery.
Drs Green and O’Brien have looked at how the use of intraoperative monitoring and management protocols can mitigate some of the deleterious effects of anaesthesia on the circulation.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or find the original article at: https://doi.org/10.1093/bja/aew203
Despite advances in the education of women and girls worldwide, UNICEF reported in 2020 that female students still lag behind in terms of access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Dr Lu Wang, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University, Indiana, brings together research and theory on the subjects of gender, spatial ability, math anxiety and math achievement. Her conclusions on the role of spatial ability could be crucial to future policy making to improve access to STEM courses and careers for female students.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09487-z
The Serotonin Power Diet is a clinically-proven, practical, and easy to follow 12-week program that gives you the tools to stop weight gain naturally, regain control over cravings, and achieve real, sustainable weight loss.
The Serotonin Power Diet by Dr Judith Wurtman and Dr Nina Frusztajer is available on Amazon and through the website.
Follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
When thinking of tiny fruit flies, one doesn’t usually have their brainpower in mind. But even these small insects, like all animals, can learn behaviours in response to different stimuli.
Prof André Fiala studies the learning behaviour of fruit flies, aiming to dig deeper into the computational principles underlying the encoding of learned information.
Find more from Prof Fiala at his University of Goettingen website, and follow him on Twitter.
Read the original paper this episode is based on : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.03.010
Deciphering the patterns of nature is something that has occupied curious minds for countless generations, from swarms of bugs to the flight of birds to the movement of your bodies own cells.
Prof Andrea Cavagna of the Institute for Complex Systems leads a research group bringing together the worlds theoretical physics and experimental biology, building mathematical models of natural systems and uncovering the universal laws that underly the organisation structure of life.
Read the original paper on swarm behaviours: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.268001
Financial innovation presents a significant opportunity that goes beyond its impact on financial services firms; the entire economy can benefit. Prof Anne-Laure Mention, Director of the Global Business Innovation Enabling Capability Platform at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, is a prolific contributor to the Open Innovation literature, with a keen research interest in FinTech.
Find more from Prof Mention on Twitter , and her personal website.
Find more on the Open Inno Trainat https://www.openinnotrain.eu/
Read more about her work in Research Outreach.
Read her most recent papers :
Exploring how social interactions influence regulators and innovators: The case of regulatory sandboxes. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 160, 120257. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120257
The Future of Fintech. Research-Technology Management, 62(4), 59-63. Available at: https://www.doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2019.1613123
Ecosystem loss, extinctions and climate change are ongoing challenges to life on Earth, and coming up with a plan to tackle their effects requires an accurate picture of what's happening where, and who is involved.
Prof Tim Haas has taught and refined such models for years. In his latest paper, he lays out the case for a model unifying human behaviour, climate and ecosystem data, the computational power required to run it, and the credibility criteria any model should meet to prove its worth.
Read the original paper at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226861
Dr Pollard-Wright has formulated a transdisciplinary theory of mind as energy, which has implications for mindful control of experiences, emotions and responses.
Read more about her work in Research Outreach, and find the original articles this episode is based on in:
- Medical Hypotheses -https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109909
- Communicative & Integrative Biology -https://doi.org/10.1080/19420889.2020.1846922
Dr Pollard-Wright can be reached via Wild Ride Wildlife Services, and darkandnormalmatters.org
Finding a fitness plan that will help you reach your goals is a unique personal challenge for anyone embarking on a new exercise regime, and for personal trainers tailoring their instructions to clients. So what can research teach us about which exercise works best? And for whom?
Prof Kjell Hausken of Stavanger University, Norway, outlines assesments made during structured fitness classes to assess the impact of different exercise sequences on heart rate and energy expenditure.
Read more about Prof Hauskens work in Research Features, or find the original academic article at: https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2010.11868522
Listen to more of Prof Hauskens research about the range of events at the Summer and Winter Olympics here.
Speed Display Signs inform drivers if they are breaking local limits, and are part of road systems internationally. But how much effect do they have on stopping recurrent speeding? And could changing their use offer a psychological nudge to drivers to slow down?
Smadar Siev and Doron Kliger report on experiments to change speeding behaviours and reduce road traffic accidents.
Read the original paper at: https://doi.org/10.1080/19439962.2019.1682732
Music in this episode is by Scott Holmes
While the Winter Olympics may not have as high a profile as the Summer Olympics, the featured events are some of the most exciting sports around – but, with fewer events and categories available to compete in, there are reduced opportunities for athletes.
Professor Kjell Hausken of the University of Stavanger, Norway, looked in detail at the physiological demands of five Winter Olympic sports and proposes new formats for the competition that will allow a fairer and more exciting event for both athletes and spectators.
Read more about this work in Research Features, or find the original research at: https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.18.08977-6
Equal access to education was an essential facet of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and has since come to be enshrined in law internationally. However, that is not the whole story of equality in education.
Jen Neitzel, executive director of the Educational Equity Institute, is committed to improving educational experiences for students and practice for teachers, through tackling injustices built into the systems and architecture of state education. We spoke in early December 2020 about her work and her hopes for building a more just and equal education system.
Her book, Achieving Equity and Justice in Education through the Work of Systems Change, available through Rowman & Littlefield publishers.
Cod liver has long reputation of health benefits, but manufacturers of fermented cod liver oils claim that their product contains more antioxidants, meaning the fatty acids like omega-3 keep better over time.
A team at De Montfort University in Leicester led by Professor Martin Grootveld has tested these claims using a variety of techniques to determine the molecular differences between fermented and unfermented cod liver oils.
Read more about this research in Research Outreach, or find the original paper at: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu1203075
William Louis Abbott, a medical doctor sent to East Africa to gather artefacts for the Smithsonian in 1887, collected hundreds of pieces of art, craft and culture from across the region. Professor Amy Stambach of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has undertaken extensive research on this collections history, and just how these items came to Washington D.C..
Read more about Prof Stambachs work in the following articles:
Ethnology Unboxed: The Making of Culture Through Its Performative (Un)doing. Ethnologies, https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2019.1687687
Sourcing and shipping museum objects from East Africa to the Smithsonian, 1887–1891, Business History,
https://doi.org/10.7202/1056386ar
Researchers are investigating several novel approaches, including gene and stem cell therapy, to meet the challenges of diseases like muscular dystrophy. Recently, Dr Yoshitsugu Aoki of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo and colleagues have summarised the current state of research into using urine-derived stem cells as models and prospective treatments, which may offer hope for patients with these potentially life-limiting conditions.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach.
Find the original paper this episode is based on at: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8091066
Chris Vincent and colleagues have developed a specialist interest in the impacts of serious illness on couples and family life.
This gap between available services and their demand is especially important as the major emotional and financial burdens of long term illnesses fall on the family and, in particular, on adult partners.
For more on the counselling options available, find a list of services and practitioners at Tavistock Relationships , or through the Tavistock and Portman Trust.
For further resources, contact Liz Salter at The Harbour, Bristol, and the charity Relate.
Chris Vincent can be reached directly via email.
Mutations that affect the mitochondrial DNA may play a key role in cancers. However, the exact mutations that are involved in cancer are still unknown. Dr Fatimata Mbaye and collaborators, from the University of Dakar in Senegal examined the sequences of two regions of the mitochondrial genome to identify mutations that might serve as biomarkers for early disease diagnosis.
Read more about this work in Research Outreach, or find the original paper at: doi.org/10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.7.2203
Our DNA holds our deepest cellular secrets, from markers of our health the keys to our family tree. But if that information is stored in online databases, it can end up traveling further than we could ever imagine.
The global nature of online data is exactly why the “Your DNA, Your Say” study was developed. Conducted in over 15 languages across 5 continents, the survey is designed to gather public perceptions on DNA, Big Data, concerns around privacy and who people trust.
Read more about Your DNA, Your Say at the Wellcome Genome Campus site.
Read the latest paper from the project at doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.08.023
Plastic pollution is an environmental catastrophe in progress. 32% of the plastic we use escapes into the environment, and only 9% currently gets recycled.
British company Polymateria have developed additives for conventional plastics which facilitate biodegradation if they escape the waste stream. Their proposal has now been taken up by the American Society for Testing and Materials, as well as the British Standards Institute, as the preferred way to assess plastic transformation.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or in the journal e-Polymers: doi.org/10.1515/epoly-2020-0041
Darwins theory of evolution underpins much of our current understanding of biology, and its concepts have even come to be applied in other disciplines. Ideas like ’Survival of the fittest’ and ‘mutations’ are part of common language today. Applying those concepts to the dog-eat-dog world of business, Professor Gino Cattani of the Stern School, NYU, works on uncovering what gives successful companies the edge over others; how innovation and creativity can be fostered to come up with new products and solutions, and how existing products can come to fit into market niche.
Read more about his research here: https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dty077
Do prisoners with religious beliefs and behaviours experience their incarceration differently? How does their emotional state affect the likelihood of rehabilitation, or repeat offences? Professors Sung Joon Jang and Byron R. Johnson at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, examine the effects of religion on offenders in the South African correctional system.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2019.1689286
How exactly do birds ‘talk’ to one another? And might research into how birds listen to birdsong help us understand communication both in humans and birds? Dr Robert Dooling and his team, based at the University of Maryland, USA, showed that – for zebra finches at least – the subtle nuances in sound texture or timbre are more important than the sequence of repeated sounds.
Find more on their work in Research Outreach, or read the original paper : https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0044
A millisecond may seem a short time to you, but for molecules, this may be longer than their entire lifetime. Dr Sergio Carbajo and his team at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory capture these high speed changes using a laser that is several kilometres long, known as a free-electron laser (FEL).
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or read the original research at https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.14400
Optical microscopes, with the help of cell-staining to colour cells, can help us peer into the invisible world of cells. However, they only show us a 2D image of a very thin slice of tissue. But how can we see what the cells and tissue actually look like in 3D?
Dr Madleen Busse from the Technical University of Munich has been developing X-ray stains that can be used to visualise cells and tissues in 3D using cutting-edge X-ray imaging techniques developed by her colleagues Prof Franz Pfeiffer and Simone Ferstl MSc.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1109/TMI.2019.2952028
Dairy farming can have negative effects on the environment, polluting waterways with an excess of nitrogen that can have long-term impacts. Past work has addressed this problem by looking at ways to reduce the cow’s urinary urea nitrogen concentration, but this has involved mitigation techniques that paint the cow as the problem rather than the solution.
Cameron Marshall, a PhD student under Prof Pablo Gregorini at Lincoln University, New Zealand, investigates how cow genetics may hold the key to reducing the environmental impact of pastoral livestock production.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139994
Dr Christine Wekerle discusses the MAP study on trauma resilience among youth, well-venture interventions, and the JoyPop mobile platform for well-being and recovery support among survivors.
You can find more information about the app at youthresilience.net and the ResilienceInYouth YouTube Channel
Download the JoyPop app in the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/joypop/id1483835598?ign-mpt=uo%3D2
This year has proven a unique challenge to the mental health and resilience of many across the globe. Dr Christine Wekerle discusses how, for young people with mental health concerns, the challenges and opportunities of distanced society can be faced and embraced.
You can find more information about the app at youthresilience.net and the ResilienceInYouth YouTube Channel
Download the JoyPop app in the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/joypop/id1483835598?ign-mpt=uo%3D2
While nicotine is perhaps the most notorious component of tobacco smoke, what can be said of its biological and chemical activity by itself? A recent paper by Dr Leonie Price and Dr Javier Martinez has dug into a century of scientific literature to find out.
Read their paper in F1000 Research: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.20062.2
How can non-profit National Sport Organizations in Canada create effective brands, especially on social media, from which they can co-create value with stakeholders such as athletes, fans, sponsors, and the media? In a three-phase project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Marijke Taks, Benoit Séguin (University of Ottawa) and colleagues examined the challenges faced in managing and governing sports brands, and offer solutions to maximise benefits.
Read more about their research in Research Outreach and in the journal European Sport Management Quarterly: https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2019.1690538
Leo van Bergen is a medical historian who has spent his career chronicling the history of health and humanitarianism in warfare. In 2009 Van Bergen was awarded the J.A. Verdoorn-prize for his work, and his upcoming book A Cap of Horror will feature a collection of poems written on the First World War by nurses and carers.
For more of his books, articles and columns, visit www.leovanbergen.nl , or view his ResearchGate profile here
Prof Kazushige Yokoyama, State University of New York Geneseo College, investigates how peptide interactions lead to fibrillogenesis, the process in the brain responsible for some symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Their research involves coating gold nanoparticles with peptides and using spectroscopic techniques to investigate how these peptides interactions lead to the onset of disease.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or find their original research article in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20215354
Cannabis and its derivatives have been at the centre of whirlwind of social, legal and medical change, from criminalisation to commercialisation in a single decade. This comes of the back of generations of work, research and advocacy in the potential medical advances and social justice that could come about through its approval and study
Steve Goldner, perhaps most famous for inventing liquid dosage methadone, is CEO and founder of Pure Green Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a cannabis drug company at the forefront of research into the therapeutic qualities of cannabis. In this episode, we discuss Steves history in drug research and advocacy, the changing landscape of cannabis legality and usage, as well as the ongoing clinical trials that aim to uncover the potential of cannabis derived medicines for patients world wide.
“Global Quality of Democracy as an Innovation Enabler" by Dr David Campbell, University of Vienna, asks how can we conceptualise and measure democracy? Can we determine the quality of democracy in global comparison, and how does quality of democracy act and play in favour of enabling innovation?
Read the book through Palgrave Macmillan here: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72529-1
Professor Maria Pilar de Lara-Castells from the Institute of Fundamental Physics at the Spanish National Research Council is leading research in order to uncover the special properties of a new generation of materials: subnanometer-sized metal clusters, which could push the next generation of photocatalysts to a new level.
Read about the research in these three papers:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/C9TA00994A
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D0TA00062K
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b06620
Prof Alexander David of the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, has developed a new framework that demonstrates the strong link between the slope of the futures curve and long-run exploration and production decisions of energy companies.
Prof David’s model analyses the trends seen in the oil market by examining the impact of resource extraction through drilling, the effects of the amount of the commodity that the firms store, and the firms’ investment in exploration and development on current and future prices. In his paper, Prof David asks how oil futures prices affect exploration decisions.
Read his paper in the Review of Financial Studies here: https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhy067
Religions across the world incorporate group prayer, dancing and devotions. Dr James Jones, clinical psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Religion at Rutgers University, explores how bodily behaviours, such as religious ritual, can affect a person’s perception of the world and their religious experience.
Read a summary of his work in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/neuropsychology-how-ritual-creates-religion/
Read his original paper in the Archive for the Psychology of Religion: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0084672420903112
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most widespread forms of the disease. As with many other cancers, the best chance of survival comes with early diagnosis, but that isn't always possible for all patients. Dr Claudio Scafoglio and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles have identified a new diagnostic technique that could efficiently identify the earliest stages of lung cancer.
Read a summary of their work in Research Outreach : https://researchoutreach.org/articles/novel-imaging-technique-could-lead-early-diagnosis-lung-cancer/
Read the original paper in Science Translational Medicine: https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/467/eaat5933
Cooperation with others, including strangers, has helped humanity prosper throughout history. However, much of the psychology of cooperation is still unexplained, especially in the realm of indirect reciprocity, or cooperation without repeated encounters. Dr Isamu Okada, Associate Professor at Soka University, is exploring the responses of people participating in reputation-based cooperation games to distinguish between the good who deserve to be cooperated with, and the bad.
Read more about Dr Okada's work in two papers from Scientific Reports, here and here.
Dr Vishruta Dumane, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, is working on improving breast cancer treatments with the goal of delivering the most effective radiotherapy dose to the tumour, while limiting the risk treatment poses to other parts of the body.
Her recent research looks at the use of deep inspiration breath holds (DIBH) during volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to reduce exposure of critical organs, such as the heart and lungs.
For more on Dr Dumanes research, read her article in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/breath-hold-techniques-during-volumetric-modulated-arc-therapy-breast-cancer-patients/
Read the original paper this episode is based on in Radiation Oncology: https://ro-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13014-018-1132-9
Dr Richard C. Mitchell, Professor of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University in Canada, celebrates the work of youth climate activists and advocates for a transdisciplinary approach to education.
Read more about his research here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02604027.2018.1485435
Decades of conflict in the middle east and north Africa have left scores dead, an entire generation displaced, and lingering damages to health, infrastructure and culture. Meanwhile in America and Europe, surveillance states and civil restrictions have come to be the accepted cost of constant, distant war. As the world rounds on a new War against coronavirus, Drake Logan speaks with us about lingering toxicity, life in war time, and legos.
Read Drakes latest paper here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0921374018821209
Follow Drake on Twitter : @dr3keness
We are all increasingly aware of the extent of humanity’s impact on Earth. The increasing concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases and Earth’s changing climate are constant in our news, but there are other ways that humans are directly impacting the environment. Production of food is vital for society, but finding sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of feeding everyone must be a priority.
Dr. Agnieszka Latawiec from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and co-founder of the International Institute for Sustainability in Brazil is particularly interested in improving the management of pasturelands. Read more about her research here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-47647-x
Welcome to ResearchPod - a science communications podcast connecting you to research from across disciplines and across the world. Stay tuned for interviews, articles, exposés, and all the latest from academia.
Find our episodes and more at researchpod.org, and follow us on your podcast player of choice.
40 years ago, the Alexander L Kielland oil platform suffered a catastrophic structural failure and sank into the North Sea, with 123 of the crew onboard losing their lives. Today, Dr Edwin France brings his decades of experience in welding engineering to bear on the report into the cause of the collapse, and describes his different conclusions.
Read Dr Frances paper on the platform collapse here, and visit his website here.
What makes a great work of music what it is? What integrates a given piece as one coherent whole? It may help to step back and ask what makes any given thing essentially itself. Fortunately, Aristotle can help us understand this question and its surprising ramifications.
John MacAuslan’s research explains this search for a thing’s essence and how philosophy can help us gain further understanding of our thinking about music.
Read more about his work in the Journal Of Essence and Context
Air pollution directly contributes to a host of health concerns, and is of increasing concern in highly industrialised cities. For insights beyond air quality sensors installed by local government, Dr Andrew May has engaged with citizen scientists and STEM students to gather vast quantities of data. Dr May and colleagues at Ohio State University are teaming up with local teachers and students to deploy low-cost air quality sensors throughout Central Ohio. They aim to identify areas for much needed air quality control, whilst integrating scientific learning within the local school curriculum.
Read more about the project at Research Outreach , with the original research paper available here.
Despite best efforts, the origin of life on Earth remains an open mystery. In a recent analysis bridging physics, evolutionary biology and the philosophy of just what life is, Prof Stuart Kauffman suggests autocatalytic sets of energetically favourable molecules making each other, and in turn themselves, as the building blocks of life as we know it.
His interview touches on the limits of Newtonian and quantum physics, philosophical definitions of life and self, and the Anthropocene era of resource scarcity on a changing planet.
Find out more about Prof Kauffmans work at the Institute for Systems Biology, and read his recent paper here.
Dr Nanette Boyle leads a lab which uses genetic engineering to design photosynthetic organisms capable of producing sustainable fuels and chemicals .
Her most recent work has been the creation of powerful computer modelling tools which are able to predict the growth and production of these organisms. This will ultimately speed up the development of the industrial scale algae-based biofuels.
Read more about her work at Research Outreach. The original research is available here.
Many toddlers and infants go through a phase of picky eating – this won’t come a surprise to anyone, and is probably an intimately familiar story to many listeners – however, what kind of effect does picky eating at so young an age have on later health and habits? How is that affected by changing diets? And what’s the best way to encourage children to try something new?
Read more about the research from Dr Caroline Taylor and Dr Pauline Emmett here, and follow their project at the Bristol University website.
The original research paper is available here.
Many of us will have heard the phrase "To err is human, to forgive divine", but personally internalising and scientifically measuring that forgiveness between people and as religious experiences is an ongoing field of research. Prof Frank Fincham has spent the last few years working on that field, looking at the relationship those who seek forgiveness, those who grant it, and those seek forgiveness from a higher power.
Read more about Prof Finchams work at Research Outreach, and through his own academic archive. Read his recent publication on divine forgiveness here.
The melt and recession of glaciers has been an environmental concern since the early 1900s, and make up a large part of the measurement and communication of climate change today. The study of biogeochemistry and microorganisms on arctic and alpine glaciers requires specialised sensors and inventive approaches to data gathering, which Dr Liz Bagshaw of Cardiff University has just returned from testing in the field. Today, we’re talking about how glaciology combines physics, engineering and biology, and the importance of climate communications.
Follow Dr Bagshaws work through her staff page at Cardiff University, and find her lab on Twitter: @CardiffColdClim.
Her recent publication is available here.
Professor Jack Gallant from the University of California, Berkeley, tells us how his team are building an atlas to the semantic system and revealing how our cerebral cortex turns language into meaning.
Read more about this research at Research Features
Original research available here
Heart disease comes in many shapes and sizes – the most serious cases requiring serious interventions to save the patients life, and none are more serious than a heart transplant. However, transplantation requires the availability of not just a heart, but a closely matched one to fit the body and biology of the recipient. If no donor hearts are available, the new generation of mechanical blood pumps may be able to step up and fill that need. Speaking with us today about their professional and personal experiences with Left Ventricular Assist Devices, or LVAD for short, is Dr Eric Stohr and Steve Griffiths.
The original research is available here.
Life in a modern, interconnected world has delivered miraculous advances in communications, technology and trade. It is also becoming widely acknowledged that the last few decades of globalised commerce and finance has, by design, transferred large amounts of power and profit out of small communities, towards distant and unaccountable actors, while the waste generated in manufacture and transport of goods has accumulated among the most undeserving of areas. The Circular Economy proposes an alternative to the current model of global trade, which funnels money out of communities, by keeping as many transactions within the local community as possible. Dr Kersty Hobson's latest paper makes the case that theories of circular economics would benefit from incorporating a better understanding of the psychology of ownership.
Read more about Dr Hobsons work through her Cardiff University staff page.
The original research is available here.
Since entering the public sphere in 2016, Brexit has been an issue shaped by, and at whims of, media coverage. That contents of that coverage have morphed over the last 3 years, as specific terminology, personalities and deadlines have arisen, and media discussion of todays Brexit news is very different from that prior to the referendum. Beyond the ideology and policy in any article or broadcast, the linguistic nuance of coverage has also been in a state of flux. New slogans, phrases and even individual words have been coined, risen to common use and then dropped off in popularity throughout the Brexit debate and subsequent negotiations.
Dr Andreas Buerki, Cardiff University, has monitored and assessed the ebb and flow of phrases in British media discussing Brexit, and is talking with us today about the emergence and lasting use of specific language therein.
Original article available here.
Dr Gunnell’s work focuses on the collection, management and preservation of vertebrate fossils while his research aims to understand the origin and diversification of modern mammalian groups by study of their fossil record. Dr Boyer’s work focusing on the evolution of primates uses the fossil record as a key resource for understanding the interplay between form and function in evolutionary contexts. He founded MorphoSource and manages its development and governance.
Read more about this research at Research Features
Original article available here.
Professor Floris Ernst’s research investigates the potential for using robots and novel 3D-imaging technology to carry out ultrasounds within the soft tissue of the human body.
Professor Ernst completed his PhD at the University of Lübeck, investigating motion prediction and correlation algorithms for use in robotic radiosurgery. Following this, he worked as a software engineer at an engineering consultancy before returning to the Institute of Robotics and Cognitive Systems at the University of Lübeck in 2013, where he was appointed Professor for Medical Robotics in 2017.
Read more about this research.
Original article available here