“A rumbling tummy is our body’s way of telling us “it’s time for lunch”. Likewise, bacteria need to know when it’s time to eat.  Researchers at the Institute of Food Research on the Norwich Research Park have uncovered how the food-borne bacterial pathogen Campylobacter jejuni can change its swimming behaviour to find a location with more food.”

“Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial food-borne illness in the UK, with more than 371,000 cases annually. When people get infected, the bacteria need to find their way from the source of contamination, most often undercooked poultry, to the cells lining the gut, passing through thick layers of mucus. In these different locations, Campylobacter must find enough food to sustain itself as well as a suitable environment to carry out respiration, the process of generating energy.”

“Unlike other food poisoning bugs, such as E. coli or Salmonella, Campylobacter has a whole range of systems that can detect different chemicals in the environment, and alter swimming behaviour accordingly: the ‘Sat Nav’ of the bacterial world.”

The work is published in the Open Access journal PLOS ONE:  Signal Balancing by the CetABC and CetZ Chemoreceptors Controls Energy Taxis in Campylobacter jejuni, Mark Reuter and Arnoud H. M. van Vliet, PLOS ONE, http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054390.

[Source Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council website:  http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/food-security/2013/130130-pr-campylobacters-sat-nav.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bbsrc+%28BBSRC+-+News+stories+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

The recently published RCUK Impact Report 2012 “details the various activities through which the Research Councils are working together to achieve greater impact. Additionally, it complements the individual Impact Reports prepared by the Research Councils” which have also just been published.

The Report “highlights RCUK’s co-ordinated investment in priority areas such as the cross-Council research themes, facilities and infrastructure, and other initiatives where there is a shared interest. It also focuses on RCUK’s co-ordinated approach to working with key strategic stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchange, [their] partnerships with other funders, and [their] collective policy influence to drive culture change in the higher education sector.”

The individual Research Council Impact Reports can be accessed through the following links:

1.  
   • Arts & Humanities Research Council
   • Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council
   • Economic & Social Research Council
   • Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council
   • Medical Research Council
   • Natural Environment Research Council
   • Science & Technology Facilities Council

[Source RCUK News:  http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/2013news/Pages/130124.aspx ]

The Journal of Zoology, published for The Zoological Society of London, has now been added to MMU Library’s ‘Cambridge Journals Online’ collection.

“Since its foundation in 1830, the traditional aims of the Journal of Zoology have been to publish research on taxonomy and on descriptions of new species of animals. However, with the proliferation of specialist journals, which cater for these important topics, the Editors have redirected the focus of the Journal to publish hypothesis-driven research that will be of greater interest to the general reader in zoology. Apart from the exclusion of papers of only specialist interest, the journal will continue to publish original research and reviews within the whole field of zoology, and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject.”

To access the journal go to the e-journals list on the MMU library website.

[Source Cambridge Journals Online]

“How can bacteria protect themselves from lethal infection by viral parasites? One extreme way is for individual cells to commit suicide when infected, thereby preventing or limiting viral replication and protecting the rest of the bacterial population from subsequent infections. In the bacterial plant pathogen, Pectobacterium atrosepticum, this ‘altruistic suicide’ can be mediated by an RNA-protein complex called ToxIN.”

“Such a strategy has high risks, because the bacterium must have the means of suicide to hand at all times. The success of this antiviral system therefore depends heavily on maintaining a very strong inhibition or suppression of the toxin by its RNA antitoxin, to ensure that the host cell is not damaged in the absence of invading viruses. Small RNAs have multiple essential roles in bacteria, but examples of naturally occurring RNA molecules that act as direct protein inhibitors are rare. A study by BBSRC-funded researchers at the University of Cambridge , published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) explores the powerful ToxN-inhibiting activity of the ToxI RNA.”

“Discovering the mode of assembly, and molecular activation, of lethal ToxIN complexes might be exploited in the longer term to enable the discovery and development of new small molecule antibacterials.”

To read the article go to: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/12/21/1216039110.full.pdf+html?sid=e0fc6d60-d296-44b6-b5dd-fc127b91bde7

[Source Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council News: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/fundamental-bioscience/2012/121224-n-bacterial-suicide.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bbsrc+%28BBSRC+-+News+stories+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

Hasan Bakhshi and Juan Mateos-Garcia, authors of the Rise of the Datavores report, introduce their findings in a NESTA blog: 

“We’ve heard that as much as 90% of the data that exists today has been produced in the last two years. The Internet has a lot to do with that. Innovative businesses are exploiting this new resource to improve their operational efficiency, productivity and consumer satisfaction.”

“Are UK businesses making the most of this opportunity?  Rise of the Datavores… addresses this question with data from a survey of 500 UK companies with more than 50 employees and are active online. We examine how these companies are collecting, analysing and using online customer data to make better decisions, and some of the benefits from doing this.” 

“We identify a ‘data elite’, the Datavores: companies that, when making decisions about how to grow their sales, rely on data and analysis over experience and intuition.”

To read the rest of the blog go to: http://www.nesta.org.uk/assets/blog_entries/data_everywhere_datavores_in_the_minority ]

To read the Rise of the Datavores report go to:   http://www.nesta.org.uk/home1/assets/features/rise_of_the_datavores_report

[Source NESTA Economic Growth blog as above]

“Poor women who drank tea were viewed as irresponsible as whisky drinkers in early 19th-century Ireland, new research by Durham University has unearthed.”

“Critics at the time declared that the practice of tea drinking – viewed as a harmless pastime in most past and present societies – was contributing to the stifling of Ireland’s economic growth, and was clearly presented as reckless and uncontrollable.”

“Women who drank tea wasted their time and money, it was said, drawing them away from their duty to care for their husbands and home.  It was felt this traditionally female responsibility was vital to progressing the national economy.”

“Pamphlets published in England at the time suggest that the concerns about tea drinking were also felt widely outside Ireland.  Some believed it threatened the wholesome diet of British peasants and symbolised damage to the social order and hierarchies.”

“According to the Durham University paper, published in the academic journal Literature and History … and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), reformers singled out tea drinking amongst peasant women as a practice which needed to be stamped out to improve the Irish economy and society.”

Reference: Literature & History, Volume 21, Number 2, Autumn 2012 , pp. 32-47(16).  MMU Library has an online subscription to this journal.

[Source AHRC news:  http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/News-and-Events/News/Pages/Put-the-kettle-on.aspx ]

“Scientists have unlocked key components of the genetic code of one of the world’s most important crops. The first analysis of the complex and exceptionally large bread wheat genome, published in Nature, is a major breakthrough in breeding wheat varieties that are more productive and better able to cope with disease, drought and other stresses that cause crop losses.”

“The identification of around 96,000 wheat genes, and insights into the links between them, lays strong foundations for accelerating wheat improvement through advanced molecular breeding and genetic engineering. The research contributes to directly improving food security by facilitating new approaches to wheat crop improvement that will accelerate the production of new wheat varieties and stimulate new research. The analysis comes just two years after UK researchers finished generating the sequence.”

“The sequence data has been deposited at the European Nucleotide Archive and is also available from databases in the UK ( www.cerealsdb.uk.net) and Germany ( http://mips.helmholtz-muenchen.de/plant/wheat/uk454survey/index.jsp).”

To read the article in Nature (Open Access) go to: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v491/n7426/full/nature11650.html

[Source BBSRC News:

http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/food-security/2012/121129-pr-bread-wheat-genome.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bbsrc+%28BBSRC+-+News+stories+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“Museum visits, science festivals and theatre performances could all contribute to learning about science, but the UK science education community – from schools and the government to informal science learning providers – is failing to recognise their value, according to research commissioned and published by the Wellcome Trust. As a result, many schools are missing out on valuable opportunities to provide context to pupils’ formal education. The research on informal science learning also highlights that despite a commitment from providers to reach all parts of society, disadvantaged groups still do not have equal access to informal science learning opportunities.”

“While schools help students develop formalised understanding of general principles, experiences outside the classroom are essential to give meaning, relevance and context to the ideas that schools offer. They often provide a moment of emotional contact, where it is possible to have a hands-on experience, be challenged or provoked, or simply to enjoy the moment.”

The reports can be read on the Wellcome Trust website at:

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/About-us/Publications/Reports/Education/WTP040865.htm

[Source Wellcome Trust news: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2012/WTP040857.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WellcomeTrustNewsAndFeatures+%28Wellcome+Trust+News+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“Researchers co-funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have developed interactive multi-user, multi-task smart desks which boost maths skills.”

“Results from the three year SynergyNet project at Durham University show that pupils who used collaborative learning in the futuristic classroom increased their mathematical understanding. The multi-touch, multi-user desks improved performance compared to when pupils used paper to solve maths problems. Findings were published in the journal Learning and Instruction.”

MMU Library has a subscription to Learning and Instruction and the article can be found at:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2012.10.004

There is a short video about how the multi-touch tables work in the classroom on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCM9fcniBM

[Source EPSRC news: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2012/Pages/startrekdesks.aspx ]

“The Department for Business Innovation and Skills [has] published a new Foresight Report that highlights the importance of science in reducing the effects of floods, droughts, earthquakes and other natural hazards.”

“Reducing Risks of Future Disasters: Priorities for Decision Makers sets out how the threat of future disasters resulting from natural hazards can be stabilised, if decision makers make better use of technological developments and existing risk assessment methods. This will save lives, livelihoods and resources in developing countries.”

To read the report go to:  http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/policy-futures/disasters

[Source Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) website: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/briefings/2012/11-risk.asp ]