UK Researchers Research Articles

Making Extra-Long Bridges A Reality

UK researchers model how to safely span long distances in the future

Review of the food processing supply chain literature: a UK, India bilateral context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning and operationalization of food supply chains in the context of the UK and India.Design/methodology/approachThe paper follows the systematic literature review approach. The paper examines 99 articles published in peer-reviewed-journals from 1995 to 2017.FindingsFindings reveal that food supply chain literature is explored along themes of procurement, food processing, innovation, traceability, safety, environment and sustainability, food policy, quality, health, consumer behavior and packaging. Within these themes, the UK researchers have primarily addressed vertical integration, coordination, safety, competitiveness and transparency and information technology. Indian researchers have focused on issues such as consumer perceptions, retail format choice, organic, health and wellness products. An empirical category is the most popular approach. The survey method is the most popular approach followed by the single case studies.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a unified synthesis of articles dealing with the food supply chain in the bilateral context of the UK and India.Practical implicationsThe policy makers could use findings for conceptualization of complementarities and possible food supply chain networks.Social implicationsFood processing activities may have potential to provide sustaining livelihoods to around sixty percent of the Indian population which depends on the agriculture. In the bilateral context, the UK may also get a reliable and cost competitive partner to meet its food import needs. This will help the UK to focus more on its service-led economy which, in turn, may create more jobs.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the contextual issues of both the countries and presents opportunities for future collaboration.

DNA-templated dimerization

A team of French and UK researchers have used DNA to template a key photocatalysed cycloaddition reaction in the total synthesis of a marine natural product.

In Focus: Long-term view of myopia needed from policymakers

A new study by UK researchers has found a correlation between myopia progression and years spent in education. Joe Ayling reports

A roadmap to advance dementia research in prevention, diagnosis, intervention, and care by 2025.

ObjectiveNational and global dementia plans have focused on the research ambition to develop a cure or disease‐modifying therapy by 2025, with the initial focus on investment in drug discovery approaches. We set out to develop complementary research ambitions in the areas of prevention, diagnosis, intervention, and care and strategies for achieving them.MethodsAlzheimer's Society facilitated a taskforce of leading UK clinicians and researchers in dementia, UK funders of dementia research, people with dementia, and carer representatives to develop, using iterative consensus methodology, goals and recommendations to advance dementia research.ResultsThe taskforce developed 5 goals and 30 recommendations. The goals focused on preventing future cases of dementia through risk reduction, maximising the benefit of a dementia diagnosis, improving quality of life, enabling the dementia workforce to improve practice, and optimising the quality and inclusivity of health and social care systems. Recommendations addressed gaps in knowledge and limitations in research methodology or infrastructure that would facilitate research in prioritised areas. A 10‐point action plan provides strategies for delivering the proposed research agenda.ConclusionsBy creating complementary goals for research that mirror the need to find effective treatments, we provide a framework that enables a focus for new investment and initiatives. This will support a broader and more holistic approach to research on dementia, addressing prevention, surveillance of population changes in risk and expression of dementia, the diagnostic process, diagnosis itself, interventions, social support, and care for people with dementia and their families.

Diabetes and the direct secondary use of electronic health records: Using routinely collected and stored data to drive research and understanding.

IntroductionElectronic health records provide an unparalleled opportunity for the use of patient data that is routinely collected and stored, in order to drive research and develop an epidemiological understanding of disease. Diabetes, in particular, stands to benefit, being a data-rich, chronic-disease state. This article aims to provide an understanding of the extent to which the healthcare sector is using routinely collected and stored data to inform research and epidemiological understanding of diabetes mellitus.MethodsNarrative literature review of articles, published in both the medical- and engineering-based informatics literature.ResultsThere has been a significant increase in the number of papers published, which utilise electronic health records as a direct data source for diabetes research. These articles consider a diverse range of research questions. Internationally, the secondary use of electronic health records, as a research tool, is most prominent in the USA. The barriers most commonly described in research studies include missing values and misclassification, alongside challenges of establishing the generalisability of results.DiscussionElectronic health record research is an important and expanding area of healthcare research. Much of the research output remains in the form of conference abstracts and proceedings, rather than journal articles. There is enormous opportunity within the United Kingdom to develop these research methodologies, due to national patient identifiers. Such a healthcare context may enable UK researchers to overcome many of the barriers encountered elsewhere and thus to truly unlock the potential of electronic health records.

The impact agenda and critical social research in education: Hitting the target but missing the spot?

This paper considers whether the impact agenda that has developed over the last decade in UK universities is likely to help create the conditions in which critical educational research makes a more visible difference to society. The UK audit of university research quality (the research excellence framework (REF) now includes an assessment of impact. Impact pathways are requirements of both national and European Union research funding bodies and the Australian Research Council. Issues in the assessment of the social impact of research are explored by the European projects Evaluating the impact of EU SSH, social science humanities, research (IMPACT-EV) and ACcelerate CO-creation by setting up a Multi-actor Platform for Impact from Social Sciences and Humanities (ACCOMPLISSH). For many UK researchers the institutional focus on influencing the world outside the academy has brought welcome support and resources to engage with society and may appear to bring universities back to something approaching their original civic identity. However, evidence from across the academy suggests that impact as depicted in REF impact case studies does not accurately represent the experience either of the academic research endeavour or of impact as it may be more broadly construed. Analysis reported here of 85 highly rated impact case studies in the education unit of assessment of the 2014 REF suggests there is a risk that the REF impact process will embed a shift against qualitative and theoretically driven methodology that is often found in socially critical educational research. Impact is postured as neutral, hiding the neoliberal drive towards research models based on implementation, evaluation and policy. There is a need to create spaces in universities for rethinking of the impact agenda, perhaps looking at value or social creation instead of, or as an integral aspect of, impact.

Africa: radio astronomy for development

Fundamental science has a place in development, according to UK researchers and entrepreneurs now working across Africa to inspire students and build technologically savvy workforces. Sue Bowler reports.

Structural health monitoring of infrastructure with sensors: from detection to prevention

UK researchers have found a way of using infrastructure sensor data to predict – rather than simply to detect – structural damage. Valerie Livina at the National Physical Laboratory and Marcus Perry at the University of Strathclyde say it works with concrete and is now being tested on steel.

Development of new immune reagents for swine health, vaccine and disease studies

Abstract Current research efforts require a broad range of immune reagents; those available for pigs are limited. The goal of the US-UK Collaborative Swine Immune Toolkit Initiative is to generate priority immune reagents, based on international input, and pipeline them for marketing. UK researchers focus on mucosal targets, including production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to chemokine receptors and IgE. Plans for mAbs to each 7-transmembrane G-protein coupled receptor (CCR3, CCR9, CCR10, CXCR1, CXCR6, F4/80) are to target peptides from extracellular loop 2 (ECL-2) based on threaded protein structures. These peptides have been designed for CCR3 and CCR9 and mAb plans are underway. US efforts are aimed at expression of soluble proteins and swine CD molecules, and production of panels of mAbs. The team has set up collaborations with commercial partners for protein expression and mAb production, and updated protocols to evaluate reagent specificity. New panels of mAbs reactive with IL-6, IFNβ and IFNγ are currently being evaluated. Immunizations are underway to produce panels of mAbs for CXCL10, CX3CL1 (fractalkine), IL-13, IL-17A, IL-17F, IFNω1 and IFNω5. Plans for mAbs to porcine CD1d using 4 synthetic peptides are in progress using CD1d knockout (KO) mice and screening on CD1d KO pig cells. Plans continue to use reagents produced to develop new assays for swine immune markers, e.g., multiplex assays and intracellular staining to provide the veterinary community with new commercial reagents and techniques for their research efforts. Tools and reagents generated by this project will undoubtedly advance swine immune, disease and biomedical research efforts. Supported by USDA ARS, NIFA grant #2015-67015-23216 and BBSRC grant BB/M028232/1.

Physical activity in childhood starts to decline long before adolescence.

Physical activity levels may start to tail off as young as age seven, rather than during adolescence as is widely thought, say UK researchers.

One-off screening test cuts risk of developing bowel cancer by a third.

A one-off screening test for bowel cancer reduces the risk of developing the disease for at least 17 years, say UK researchers.

Narcolepsy drug could help food addicts lose weight.

A drug used to treat the sleep disorder narcolepsy could help people addicted to food to lose weight, say UK researchers.

Female students more likely to have suicidal thoughts than males.

Interventions to prevent suicide among students should be designed separately for males and females, say UK researchers who studied more than 1,000 university students.

A 'work in progress'?: UK researchers and participation in public engagement

The funders of UK research seek to embed public engagement by researchers within the culture of UK research. Within this context, this paper provides a snapshot of the UK public engagement landscape by reporting on new quantitative research that examines the experiences and perspectives of UK researchers (n = 2,454) and public engagement support staff (n = 260). The research suggests that ambitions to embed public engagement by researchers within institutional cultures can be understood as a 'work in progress'. There are indications that public engagement is part of the UK research landscape. At the same time, the research suggests that researchers' public engagement efforts are currently constrained; there is evidence of a disconnect between researchers themselves and broader institutional contexts of public engagement, and the sector is overwhelmingly driven by funding and rewards for research, teaching and other activities. In conclusion, these results indicate that, while current strategies have been helpful, longer term effort is required, perhaps targeting particular domains and, more fundamentally, perhaps featuring greater support and reward for public engagement.

Scientists should not resign themselves to Brexit.

Leaving the European Union is not yet a done deal, and UK researchers must look past a pay-off and take a stand, says Colin Macilwain.

Historic decision allows UK researchers to trial ‘three person’ babies

Fertility regulator says mitochondrial-replacement therapy can be trialled — but only in some cases.

Arts on prescription in Scandinavia: a review of current practice and future possibilities.

This article reviews current practice relating to arts and culture on prescription in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and in the United Kingdom. It considers future possibilities and also each of the Scandinavian countries from a culture and health policy and research perspective. The United Kingdom perhaps leads the field of Arts on Prescription practice, and subsequent research is described in order to help identify what the Scandinavian countries might learn from the UK research. The method adopted for the literature search was a rapid review which included peer-reviewed and grey literature in English and the respective languages of Scandinavia. The discussion considers the evidence to support social prescription and the potential obstacles of the implementation of Arts on Prescription in Scandinavian countries. The article concludes that of the Scandinavian countries, Sweden is ahead in terms of Arts on Prescription and has embraced the use of culture for health benefits on a different scale compared to Norway and Denmark. Denmark, in particular, is behind in recognising ways in which art and culture can benefit patients and for wider public health promotion. All three countries may benefit from the evidence provided by UK researchers.

No link between breast cancer and working night shifts.

Working night shifts has little or no effect on a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, say UK researchers.

E-cigarettes associated with higher rate of smoking cessation.

Growth in the use of e-cigarettes in England is associated with higher rate of successful attempts to stop smoking, say UK researchers.