A new guide aims to promote safe driving techniques for people who use low powered motorbikes particularly mopeds to get to and from work.
Research shows that there has been an increase in the number of crashes in Devon involving lower powered motorbikes.
One theory is that more people are using low powered bikes these days as they are more economical to use and riders can make savings on fuel costs.
The guide has been developed with the help of a Max Rider instructor, who has 25 years riding experience, a police advanced riding qualification and 10 years of...
A US model of treating depression through a network of specialists could effectively be imported into the UK, new research has revealed.
Collaborative care involves depressed people having access to a team of specialists, with advice and support often given over the phone.
A trial led by Professor David Richards at the University of Exeter Medical School found that collaborative care led to improvement of depression symptoms immediately after treatment. Furthermore, 15 per cent more patients were still improved after 12 months, compared with those who saw their GP.
A partnership that supports research in Devon and Cornwall with direct benefits to patients’ health and NHS care delivery has secured £10m in funding for the next five years.
The National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care in the South West Peninsula (NIHR PenCLAHRC) was established as one of the first nine CLAHRCs in the country in 2008. It was a partnership between the University of Exeter, Plymouth University, the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, and the NHS in Devon and Cornwall. The recent funding means...
New research, published today in the 'Biochemical Journal' , has identified molecules occurring naturally in fruit that may play an important role in the future treatment of heart disease.
Molecules called flavanoids, which are found in citrus fruits, particularly grapefruit, have proven effective at reducing the inflammation that can lead to deadly cardiovascular disease. These molecules may hold the key to the development of a new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs which are cheaper, easier to produce and less toxic than current therapies.
We know that office plants can improve air quality , but can it boost well-being and productivity too? A recent study suggests the answer is ‘Yes’.
Office plants can assist in boosting staff well-being by up to 47% according to workplace research carried out at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.
Visitors to the Chelsea Flower Show were challenged to take part in the study which measured their creativity, happiness and productivity as they experienced a range of different workspace designs.
The study, designed by the Identity Realisation research group at the...
Wild bird populations are generally thought to benefit from being given additional food in winter, but our understanding of the effects of such food provision is incomplete. The results of a new study, carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has found that feeding wild blue tits in winter resulted in less successful breeding during the following spring.
The research, just published in Scientific Reports, revealed that woodland blue tits that were provided with fat balls as a supplementary food during the winter months went...
Researchers at the University of Exeter found that older male burying beetles make better fathers than their younger counterparts. The study found that mature males, who had little chance of reproducing again, invested more effort in both mating and in parental care than younger males.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London – B, considered how the likelihood of paternity influenced the way that males cared for young. Older males were good fathers and looked after the young even when they were unsure whether the offspring were theirs. Younger...
National Paracycling Champion Tom Staniford has an extremely rare condition which, until now, has puzzled his doctors.
He is unable to store fat under his skin – yet has type 2 diabetes – and suffered hearing loss as a child. Now, thanks to advances in genome sequencing, an international research team led by the University of Exeter Medical School has identified Tom’s condition and pinpointed the single genetic mutation that causes it.
As well as allowing a better understanding of Tom’s condition, the discovery may have implications for his bid to participate in the Rio...
Colonies of gannets maintain vast exclusive fishing ranges despite doing nothing to defend their territory from rival colonies, scientists have discovered.
A team of researchers led by the University of Exeter and the University of Leeds observed that northern gannets, which can fly hundreds of kilometres on a single fishing trip, avoided visiting the fishing grounds of gannets from neighbouring colonies.
The findings, published in the journal Science, could transform our understanding of animals’ foraging patterns because individual gannets do nothing to enforce this...
Personality is not inherited from birth parents says new research on zebra finches.
External factors are likely to play a bigger part in developing the personality of an individual than the genes it inherits from its parents, suggests the study.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Hamburg investigated how personality is transferred between generations. They found that foster parents have a greater influence on the personalities of fostered offspring than the genes inherited from birth parents.
