The researchers found that effective communication of social and health benefits of EV ownership can be a motivating factor for influencing higher EV uptake.

The study, published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, analysed Facebook postings in the United States related to EVs, using machine learning based on a PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) framework that examines the intersection of various words and phrases.

“Social media offers a treasure trove of information to better understand how the public views the energy transition from carbon-emitting internal combustion engine to EVs,” said study co-author David Reiner from Cambridge Judge Business School.

Reiner and his collaborators used machine learning and social network analysis to identify via Facebook posts what aspects people valued in electric vehicles, and found that social justice, clean air, better health and a shift toward EVs becoming a service industry emerged as key themes.

The social justice theme was quite pervasive in the researchers’ findings. One important discourse that shaped EVs’ social justice and welfare dimensions was centred around the idea that ‘We all can benefit from more electric vehicles’, as this links to environmental benefits like cleaner air, less pollution, climate change mitigation, and better health for all. There was also broad agreement on the need for state support to make EVs more affordable.

“While governments around the world have launched aggressive targets for EVs, increasingly through regulatory measures rather than direct subsidies, there has been little academic research into the drivers of EV adoption,” said Reiner. “This new study helps fill that knowledge gap, and can be a useful tool for energy policymaking in this vital area.”

Breaking down the PESTLE framework, the study found that Facebook posts relating to Political aspects were most related to EV tax and subsidies; posts on the Economy focused on consumer fees and EV market expansion; the Social dimension centred on job creation, investment and clean air; Technology posts centred around charging and batteries; while Legal and Environmental posts looked mostly at climate change and EV-related sustainability discussion.

The 36,000 Facebook public posts on EVs that were analysed, all posted in 2020, generated a text corpus of 600,000 words or terms that formed the data for the study’s topic modeling.

As car manufacturers consider the potential for EVs as a subscription-based service, the study also underlines the importance of understanding how EVs are now being adopted at a community level as this will influence the future design of subscription-based and shared ownership schemes.

EV sales exceeded 2.1 million globally in 2019, with 90% of sales in China, Europe and the U.S., the study observes, with sales of all-electric light-duty vehicles in the U.S. growing from zero in 2010 to 242,000 in 2019.

Reference:
Ramit Debnath et al. ‘Political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental dimensions of electric vehicle adoption in the United States: A social-media interaction analysis.’ Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111707

Adapted from a story on the Cambridge Judge Business School website.

The team’s experiment – which featured mock-up obstacles of varying size and shape – shows that large obstacles are the most effective at halting the migration of a dune, especially when they are ridge-shaped, like a wall, rather than smooth and cylindrical, like a pipeline.  

The model, published in Physical Review Fluids, is the first to describe interactions between sand dunes and obstacles.

By analysing how currents are deflected in the presence of an obstacle, they were also able to develop an efficient, data-driven tool that aims to forecast how a dune will interact with its surroundings.

The research could help in the design of more effective barriers that can, for instance, stop sand dunes from invading agricultural land. It could also be used to protect sand dunes and their unique ecosystems from damage.

“Moving sand dunes impact people and their livelihoods directly; across the world and in a range of environments,” said lead author Karol Bacik, who conducted the experiments as a PhD student in Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). “By revealing the physics behind dune-obstacle interactions, this work gives us the guiding principles we need to divert or halt dunes – mitigating damage.”

As deserts continue to expand, sand dunes pose an increasing risk to the built environment: swallowing up roads and houses whole as they engulf the land. In a similar way, dunes on the seabed can block shipping routes and even compromise the safety of underwater cables and pipelines.

But in certain locations, rather than stopping the sand dune moving, it can be preferable for a dune to move through an obstacle as quickly as possible. Take pipelines, for instance, which can be damaged if buried under the weight of a stationary dune for too long.

Bacik’s work shows how obstacles of varying design should be selected to fit the desired outcome, “If you want the dune the pass, make the obstacle as smooth and rounded as possible – if you want to halt it, make it as sharp as possible,” said Bacik.

The research is one of a series of experiments Nathalie Vriend - who is based jointly at Cambridge’s BP Institute for Multiphase Flow, the Department of Earth Sciences and DAMTP - has been leading experiments to understand why sand dunes move like they do. “Sand is fascinating: pour some from your hand and it flows like a liquid….then, when it lands, it makes a solid heap,” she said. “But toss it into the air and it blows along like a gas. Its ability to morph between states like this makes it a real challenge to model how sand moves.”

The team made a ring-shaped tank to contain their sand dunes, which can travel in circuits, almost like a ‘merry-go-round’. By submerging the dunes in water, and disturbing the flow with paddles, they were able to reconstruct how the dunes are moved by water currents. They then put obstacles of varying size and shape in the path of the moving dunes to observe their effect.

“We can see evidence of sand dunes moving right in front of us, but what’s fascinating is their movement is all down to the hidden flow of water currents or wind patterns,” said Bacik, “You can’t see the curling tails of turbulence until you use a visualisation technique…and it's only then, once you have done a fluid analysis, that you can really understand why sand dunes move like they do.”

The researchers’ ultimate goal is to model sand dune movements in more complex and realistic, three-dimensional, landscapes in addition to exploring the wind-blown dunes found in deserts. Ideally, they would like to be able to pinpoint a location on a map, input information on weather, air or water currents, and predict whether a dune would pass over a specific obstacle. Although these numerical simulations would be more complex, their new experiments serve as an important validation benchmark for continued exploration.

Reference:
Bacik, K.A., Canizares, P., Caulfield, C.P, Williams, M.J., Vriend, N.M., Dynamics of migrating sand dunes interacting with obstacles, Physical Review Fluids, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevFluids.00.004300

PBS Terra Documentary, “What makes These Dunes Sing”: release date 20th October

This is particularly important as UK cases continue to rise, and evidence shows that even people who have been fully vaccinated or previously infected are at risk of infection.

At the start of Michaelmas term in October 2020, the University of Cambridge introduced a free weekly asymptomatic screening programme for all students resident in its Colleges, later extended to include students living in private accommodation. It is complemented by a testing programme for staff and students with symptoms of possible COVID-19. Both programmes use PCR tests – still considered the gold standard. For asymptomatic screening, up to ten students pool their swabs in a single sample tube – making the available tests go further.

According to the latest report from the team, in the week 18-24 October 2021, around 5,200 students contributed swabs to pooled sample collection and registered their tests. However, the actual number of students taking part is thought to be higher – about 7,000 students each week – because a significant number of students contribute unregistered swabs. Those swabs are still tested, but it makes the task of contacting students in positive pools take more time.

In that same week, preliminary analysis suggests the Asymptomatic COVID-19 Screening Programme identified eight positive cases from across the student population. A further four were identified by the University’s symptomatic testing programme. These numbers are down from 16 asymptomatic and 13 symptomatic positive cases the previous week.

Dr Nicholas Matheson, from the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID), designed the screening programme. He said: “It’s great that so many students are taking part every week, but we’d like to encourage even more to join in. The number of COVID-19 cases among our students is still, thankfully, relatively low – but across the UK, we’re seeing numbers increase. None of us can afford to be complacent – even if you’re fully vaccinated, it’s still possible to get infected with the Delta variant, and pass it on to others.

“Young people are at risk of ‘long COVID’, with some people experiencing symptoms lasting weeks or months. We are also seeing a small number of young people with COVID-19 admitted to our hospital – even to intensive care. It’s therefore incredibly important that we do everything we can to keep numbers low.”

By identifying infected students early, before they develop symptoms, Dr Matheson and colleagues can help students avoid unwittingly infecting others. This breaks chains of transmission, reduces the risk of outbreaks, and limits disruption to University and College life. By participating in the programme, students can therefore help keep their friends, colleagues, and the wider community safe – this is especially important for those people who remain vulnerable to COVID-19, despite being vaccinated themselves.

Dr Isobel Ramsay, Clinical Lead for the screening programme, is keen to allay concerns about the risk of unnecessary self-isolation. “Because we use PCR tests and a two-step testing strategy, with individual confirmatory tests for positive pools, you’re exceptionally unlikely to test positive unless you’re genuinely infected. And if you do test positive, your friends and contacts won’t be required to self-isolate if they’ve been fully vaccinated by the NHS.

“In short, the more students that participate, the less transmission and fewer cases we’ll see, and the less likely students will be to have to self-isolate. It’s a win-win situation.”

The Asymptomatic COVID-19 Screening Programme is supported by Cambridge Students’ Union (SU), whose Undergraduate and Postgraduate Presidents are part of the team running the programme.

“The level of participation from Cambridge students is something that we’re really proud of,” said Anjum Nahar, Postgraduate President of Cambridge SU. “Everyone wants to have the best possible experience during their time at Cambridge, and that means keeping the number of cases as low as possible. We all need to do our bit. We’re taking part not just because it protects us, but because it helps protect everyone around us.”

Students who have not yet signed up to the programme can do so on the University website. Further information about the programme is available on the Asymptomatic COVID-19 Screening Programme pages.

The results were gathered by an international team at the MicroBooNE experiment in the United States, with leadership from a UK team including researchers from the University of Cambridge.

The two most likely explanations for anomalies that were seen in two previous physics experiments: one which suggests a sterile neutrino, and one which points at limitations in those experiments, have been ruled out by MicroBooNE. 

The fourth neutrino

For more than two decades, this proposed fourth neutrino has remained a promising explanation for anomalies seen in earlier physics experiments. In these previous experiments, neutrinos were observed acting in a way not explained by the Standard Model of Physics – the leading theory to explain the building blocks of the universe and everything in it.

Neutrinos are the most abundant particle with mass in our universe, but they rarely interact with other matter, making them hard to study. But these elusive particles seem to hold answers to some of the biggest questions in physics – such as why the universe is made up of more matter than antimatter.

A 170-ton neutrino detector the size of a bus was created to study these particles – and became known as MicroBooNE. The international experiment has close to 200 collaborators from 36 institutions in five countries, and is supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in the UK.

Standard Model holds up

The team used cutting-edge technology to record precise 3D images of neutrino events and examine particle interactions in detail. Four complementary analyses released by the international MicroBooNE collaboration, at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), deal a blow to the fourth neutrino hypothesis.

All four analyses show no sign of the sterile neutrino, and instead the results align with the Standard Model. The data is consistent with what the Standard Model predicts: three kinds of neutrinos only. But the anomalies are real and still need to be explained. Crucially, MicroBooNE has also ruled out the most likely explanation to explain these anomalies without requiring new physics. 

These results mark a turning point in neutrino research. With the evidence for sterile neutrinos becoming weaker, scientists are investigating other possibilities for anomalies in perceived neutrino behaviour.

“This result is incredibly exciting as suggests something far more interesting than we expected is happening – it’s now our goal to find out what this could be,” said Dr Melissa Uchida, who leads the Neutrino Group at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory.

“This heralds the start of a new era of precision for neutrino physics, in which we will deepen our understanding of how the neutrino interacts, how it impacted the evolution of the universe, and what it can reveal to us about physics beyond our current Standard Model of how the universe behaves at the most fundamental level,” said Professor Justin Evans from the University of Manchester, co-spokesperson of the experiment.

“Cambridge has played an integral part in this experiment both through the software — the reconstruction algorithms that allow us to distinguish particles and their interactions in MicroBooNE and through the analysis itself,” said Uchida. “With half the data still to analyse and more exotic avenues to pursue, there is an exciting journey ahead.”

The UK at MicroBooNE

The UK has taken a leading role in MicroBooNE, leading the development of state-of-the-art pattern recognition algorithms, making world-leading contributions to the understanding of neutrino interactions in the argon, and bringing a broad range of expertise to these searches for the elusive sterile neutrinos.

UK universities involved in MicroBooNE are Manchester, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Lancaster, Warwick and Oxford.

Mission to understand neutrinos

With our understanding of neutrinos still incomplete, the UK through STFC has invested in a science programme to address these key science questions, as well as invest in new technologies.

The UK government has already invested £79 million in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), and the new PIP-II accelerator, all hosted by Fermilab.

This investment has given UK scientists and engineers the chance to take leading roles in the management and development of the DUNE far detector, the LBNF neutrino beam targetry and PIP-II accelerator.

Professor Mark Thomson, Executive Chair of STFC and one of the first UK physicists to join MicroBooNE, said: “This much-awaited result is a significant step our understanding of neutrinos. This extremely challenging measurement is also important in that the MicroBooNE experiment used a new technology to record detailed images of individual neutrino interactions.

“The successful use the liquid argon imaging technology is a major stepping stone towards DUNE.

“Once complete by the end of this decade, DUNE will use several detectors each of the size of an extra-deep Olympic swimming pool, but with liquid argon replacing the water, to measure the movements and behaviours of neutrinos.”

Adapted from an STFC press release. 

To create a globally net zero, climate-resilient world by 2050, there are two things we need to know: what solutions are feasible, and what is desirable. The COP26 Futures We Want project brings these things together.

Six groups of academic experts collated existing research and evidence on relevant risks, mitigation, adaptation and resilience solutions within the context of their region. Then, based on this evidence, six groups of citizens came together to share their hopes and ideas for the future. This gives us something new: visions of a globally net zero, climate-resilient world that people actually want to live in.

The COP26 Futures We Want project is releasing its findings just before the start of the international climate summit in Glasgow. The project was commissioned by UK Government in their role as COP26 President and has been coordinated by Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s climate initiative.

This collaboration involved communities from the UK, Jamaica, Brazil, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and India, and explored diverse views and solutions to address the real impacts of climate change, such as electricity generation, agriculture, waste and water management, building design, reforestation and ocean conservation.

“Work which addresses the global emergency of climate change at the regional level, and brings together academic and community perspectives, is a crucial part of building a climate-resilient world,” said Emily Marchant, Cambridge Open Engage Programme Manager, Cambridge University Press.

Dr Emily Shuckburgh, director of Cambridge Zero, and chair of the project’s International Expert Committee said: “COP26 can be the start of building a new, positive future if there is sufficient ambition. Partners and collaborators from around the world helped us to put citizens and evidence at the heart of informing policy.

“Together, we visualised a set of possible desirable futures by identifying many of the challenges and solutions that must be addressed to achieve a global zero-carbon future that is just and beneficial for all.”

The final visions can be found on www.FuturesWeWant.world. Following on from the Visions, Cambridge Zero collaborated with the project’s International Expert Committee, the Met Office and academics in each region to compile the scientific evidence underlying the visions of each region into detailed papers, which are now freely available on Cambridge Open Engage via the links below. These peer-reviewed technical reports highlight many of the challenges and threats posed by the climate crisis, but also the wider benefits of ambitious climate action:

Arabian Peninsula (United Arab Emirates & Saudi Arabia):

• Climate change will exacerbate already extreme weather conditions and could make parts of the region uninhabitable by late-century, and adaptation will be essential.
• As a largely hot arid desert region, water scarcity is a critical issue and habitability is highly energy intensive, due to demands for cooling and water desalination/ irrigation, and heavy dependence on imports. Significant innovation across all sectors of the economy, including energy and water, the built-environment, food and agriculture, and transportation are required to tackle the high carbon footprint.
• Abundant renewable sources of energy, and energy systems expertise available in the region, combined with significant sovereign wealth available for investment, present unique opportunities to benefit from the net zero transition and position the region as a leader in the energy transition.

Brazil:

• Agriculture and livestock contribute the most to Brazil’s carbon emissions and are the largest drivers of deforestation and land-use change.
• Brazil is one of the world’s most unequal countries in terms of access to productive resources, especially in rural areas; the ‘Future We Want’ in Brazil must consider structural inequalities to provide a just transition for the poorest Brazilians under principles of sustainable production.
• The energy sector in Brazil primarily relies on hydroelectric power, which is promising in terms of low carbon emissions, but it is also vulnerable to changing rainfall patterns caused by climate change.

India:

• India has made considerable progress in its efforts towards decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Between 2005 and 2016, India’s emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) has reduced by 24%, earlier than the target year of 2020.
• Over half of country’s 1.3 billion people are dependent on climate-sensitive sectors for their livelihoods. It’s vital that India sets a net zero target in a manner that also supports its development priorities.
• Greater uptake of nature-based solutions can provide a range of environmental, social and economic benefits while combatting the accelerating loss of biodiversity.

Jamaica:

• There is considerable potential for nature-based solutions to provide benefits for both climate change adaptation and sustainable development in Jamaica.
• Following a ‘late, disorderly transition pathway’ as opposed to a ‘steady, orderly, persistent transition pathway’ for climate change adaptation will lead to substantially greater risk to the environmental, economic and social stability of Jamaica.
• Developing and strengthening governance and authorities is key to enabling a coordinated climate response, enabling economic and social improvements and aiding in preventing unequal distribution of transition benefits across the Jamaican population, leaving people behind and causing a serious risk to life.

Kenya:

• In Kenya, a development-compatible pathway to net zero emissions needs strong support from the global community to ensure that economic value chains, particularly in transport, agriculture, industry standards, and financial services are climate-proofed.
• There is a need for strong local leadership to implement appropriate regulatory frameworks and industry standards, and to support community-oriented data generation and scenario building.
• It’s vital to connect climate-friendly innovations and investments with socioeconomic inclusion, with a particular focus on young people, women, remote populations, and informal settlements.

United Kingdom:

• The UK is a world leader in finance and innovation – both of which will prove key in reducing emissions.
• The UK has a large role to play in developing, and re-directing capital toward greener technologies.
• Solutions must also be accompanied by behaviour change, such as encouraging active travel, and nature-based solutions, such as extending the coverage of hedgerows and diverse forests.

The international team of researchers has developed technology for next-generation composite glass, for use in lighting LEDs, smartphones, TVs and computer screens.

The materials are based on materials called lead-halide perovskites, which can trap light and store energy, like miniature solar panels.

The results, published in the journal Science, could enable the manufacture of glass screens that are less prone to cracking, but also deliver crystal clear image quality.

The results are a step forward in perovskite nanocrystal technology as previously, researchers were only able to produce this technology in the bone-dry atmosphere of a laboratory setting.

“These nanocrystals are extremely sensitive to light, heat, air and water – even water vapour in our air would kill the current devices in a matter of minutes,” said Dr Jingwei Hou from the University of Queensland (UQ), the paper’s first author.

The team of chemical engineers and material scientists has developed a process to wrap or bind the nanocrystals in porous glass. This process is key to stabilising the materials, enhancing their efficiency and preventing the toxic lead ions from leaching out from the materials.

“It was surprising to see the retention of the high temperature functional form in the glass,” said co-senior author Dr Thomas Bennett from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. “This is an example of how fundamental science leads to fantastic discoveries and a possible real-life application of metal-organic framework glasses.”

The researchers say the technology is scalable and opens the door for many potential applications.

“At present QLED or quantum dot light-emitting diode screens are considered the top performer for image display and performance,” said Hou. “This research will enable us to improve on this nanocrystal technology by offering stunning picture quality and strength.”

“Not only can we make these nanocrystals more robust but we can tune their opto-electronic properties with fantastic light emission efficiency and highly desirable white light LEDs.” said co-author Professor Vicki Chen, also from UQ. “This discovery opens up a new generation of nanocrystal-glass composites for energy conversion and catalysis.”

The researchers say that a lot of optimisation work still needs to be carried out before any products based on the material could be made commercially available. “There are a huge amount of different combinations and it’s definitely going to be a big effort to determine which components seem to give the best combinations,” said Bennett.

The research is a collaborative effort from UQ, the University of Leeds, Université Paris-Saclay and the University of Cambridge.

Reference:
Jingwei Hou et al. ‘Liquid-phase sintering of lead halide perovskites and metal-organic framework glasses.’ Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abf4460

Adapted from a UQ press release.

The international team, led by the University of Cambridge, found that instead of starting from a single point in the brain and initiating a chain reaction which leads to the death of brain cells, Alzheimer’s disease reaches different regions of the brain early. How quickly the disease kills cells in these regions, through the production of toxic protein clusters, limits how quickly the disease progresses overall.

The researchers used post-mortem brain samples from Alzheimer’s patients, as well as PET scans from living patients, who ranged from those with mild cognitive impairment to those with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, to track the aggregation of tau, one of two key proteins implicated in the condition.

In Alzheimer’s disease, tau and another protein called amyloid-beta build up into tangles and plaques – known collectively as aggregates – causing brain cells to die and the brain to shrink. This results in memory loss, personality changes and difficulty carrying out daily functions.

By combining five different datasets and applying them to the same mathematical model, the researchers observed that the mechanism controlling the rate of progression in Alzheimer’s disease is the replication of aggregates in individual regions of the brain, and not the spread of aggregates from one region to another.

The results, reported in the journal Science Advances, open up new ways of understanding the progress of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, and new ways that future treatments might be developed.

For many years, the processes within the brain which result in Alzheimer’s disease have been described using terms like ‘cascade’ and ‘chain reaction’. It is a difficult disease to study, since it develops over decades, and a definitive diagnosis can only be given after examining samples of brain tissue after death.

For years, researchers have relied largely on animal models to study the disease. Results from mice suggested that Alzheimer’s disease spreads quickly, as the toxic protein clusters colonise different parts of the brain.

“The thinking had been that Alzheimer’s develops in a way that’s similar to many cancers: the aggregates form in one region and then spread through the brain,” said Dr Georg Meisl from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, the paper’s first author. “But instead, we found that when Alzheimer’s starts there are already aggregates in multiple regions of the brain, and so trying to stop the spread between regions will do little to slow the disease.”

This is the first time that human data has been used to track which processes control the development of Alzheimer’s disease over time. It was made possible in part by the chemical kinetics approach developed at Cambridge over the last decade which allows the processes of aggregation and spread in the brain to be modelled, as well as advances in PET scanning and improvements in the sensitivity of other brain measurements.

“This research shows the value of working with human data instead of imperfect animal models,” said co-senior author Professor Tuomas Knowles, also from the Department of Chemistry. “It’s exciting to see the progress in this field – fifteen years ago, the basic molecular mechanisms were determined for simple systems in a test tube by us and others; but now we’re able to study this process at the molecular level in real patients, which is an important step to one day developing treatments.”

The researchers found that the replication of tau aggregates is surprisingly slow – taking up to five years. “Neurons are surprisingly good at stopping aggregates from forming, but we need to find ways to make them even better if we’re going to develop an effective treatment,” said co-senior author Professor Sir David Klenerman, from the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. “It’s fascinating how biology has evolved to stop the aggregation of proteins.”

The researchers say their methodology could be used to help the development of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, which affects an estimated 44 million people worldwide, by targeting the most important processes that occur when humans develop the disease. In addition, the methodology could be applied to other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease.  

“The key discovery is that stopping the replication of aggregates rather than their propagation is going to be more effective at the stages of the disease that we studied,” said Knowles.

The researchers are now planning to look at the earlier processes in the development of the disease, and extend the studies to other diseases such as Frontal temporal dementia, traumatic brain injury and progressive supranuclear palsy where tau aggregates are also formed during disease.

The study is a collaboration between researchers at the UK Dementia Research Institute, the University of Cambridge and Harvard Medical School. Funding is acknowledged from Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, the European Research Council, the Royal Society, JPB Foundation, the Rainwater Foundation, the NIH, and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre which supports the Cambridge Brain Bank.

Reference:
Georg Meisl et al. ‘In vivo rate-determining steps of tau seed accumulation in Alzheimer’s disease.’ Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abh1448

For the first time, the Design Tripos brings together architecture, engineering and materials science in a single degree. Blending technical content with design freedom, the course will offer a different kind of creativity, and a new approach to tackling societal and environmental issues, including poverty and climate action.

Using practices of design and our understanding of how they influence people, economies and the natural world, the four-year Master of Design (MDes) degree will be structured around hands-on, problem-based learning projects. Studio work and practical skills, including drawing, writing, coding, and fabricating, will complement taught courses in the humanities, social and natural sciences, and mathematics - bringing historical, cultural, ecological and economic context.

“It’s pioneering – we’re merging the arts and sciences under the umbrella of creativity and design, and constructing the course to be as open and interesting as possible,” said Dr Michael Ramage, Director of Cambridge’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation, and Deputy Head of the University’s Department of Architecture. “We don’t know of any other single degree course that brings these three subjects together like this.”

Delivering clean growth and a circular economy requires not just specific technical expertise but a holistic understanding of the world, said Dr Ramage, who points at the COVID pandemic response as an illustration of how rapid solutions arise from the confluence of different fields.

“Pressing challenges – such as achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and reaching sustainable development for all - are likely to be addressed directly as design challenges, rather than as separate mathematical or engineering challenges,” he said. “They don’t fit into a neat academic box; unlocking creativity requires collaboration and knowledge across a variety of disciplines.”

The Design Tripos - which will start in October 2024, and lead to a Master of Design (MDes) upon successful completion - has been developed by the Department of Architecture in collaboration with the Departments of Engineering and Materials Science & Metallurgy, amid a growing desire among students in these fields to blend elements of each other’s subjects.

“We know there is general interest among students to apply their education to global grand challenges, and particularly sustainability challenges, which can be met through design,” said Dr Ramage. “But it’s very hard to study across disciplines - there’s no way you can create a degree like this simply by taking classes from those three different departments, which are all in three different Schools at the University. That’s why we’ve had to design the degree from scratch.”

The blended nature of the Design Tripos will appeal to a wide range of students, and aims to help address gender disparity in design fields. Over the past three years, fewer than 40 per cent of applications to Engineering and Physical Sciences at Cambridge have been from female students.

Professor Graham Virgo, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, said: “The Design Tripos will teach both the ‘know-how’ and the ‘know-what’ to help develop the next generation of pioneers and leaders in industry, public service and society. The course is aimed at students who are thinking about global problems and want to learn how they can do something to help. We also know that employers are increasingly looking for multidisciplinary knowledge and team-working skills, and so the Design Tripos also anticipates the hybrid jobs of the future.”

A key finding was that the vast majority of respondents – 86% of patients and 93% of clinicians – felt that telemedicine was worse than face-to-face consultations for accuracy of assessment, with some reporting misdiagnoses.

One rheumatology patient explained:“My rheumatologist cannot see or hear how I move, look at my skin, eyes, hair, hands, bones, how I am…I was diagnosed with something over the phone, which I know isn’t right, and it’s getting worse.”

Melanie Sloan, lead author from the Primary Care Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: “The pandemic has had a major impact on the ability of healthcare professionals to see their patients face-to-face, and this has led to a significant increase in the number of telemedicine consultations. While these are undeniably safer in terms of COVID risk, there had been little research previously on the impact on patient care, particularly for more complex conditions.”

In a study published today in Rheumatology, researchers at the University of Cambridge, working with a wider national team including expert consultants, patients and psychologists, examined the pitfalls and benefits of telemedicine for patients with chronic diseases.

Between April 2021 and July 2021, a total of 1,340 patients and 111 clinicians completed online surveys. The team also conducted in-depth interviews with 31 patients and 29 clinicians. The majority of patients were from the UK (96%) and had inflammatory arthritis (32%) or lupus (32%).

This is the first telemedicine study to have combined data from rheumatology patients, GPs and hospital clinicians. In addition to less accurate assessments, the team found several other major disadvantages and risks associated with telemedicine.

Telemedicine made it more difficult for patients and clinicians to build a trusting medical relationship, according to 90% of clinicians and 69% of patients – although if both parties had previously established a trusting relationship, this made it easier to continue trusting each other.

Clinicians highlighted the importance of a quick response to ‘flaring’ patients with a rapidly worsening condition, but only about half of patients were confident that they would receive a quick response to an urgent request for medical advice within 24-48 hours from their GP or hospital team.  Many patients were grateful for prompt responses despite the challenges facing clinicians, but others reported still struggling to get through administrative systems to receive any kind of response or appointment.

“Waiting for a call back after 4 voicemails…feel sad and scared knowing that when I really need medical help I have no-one,” said one young lupus patient.

There was concern, too, that telemedicine increased the potential for inequalities in treatment. Certain groups of patients were perceived to be at a substantial disadvantage. These included those with undiagnosed or more complex conditions, for whom English was not a first language or who had hearing, cognitive or speech difficulties, and patients experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or mental health difficulties.

“We’ve had some local Practices only allowing contact through econsult, so that means that if you can’t use it, you’re elderly, English not your first language, you’ve got learning difficulties… it’s not fair. They’re doing that whole barrier to protect their time,” said one senior GP.

Over 60% of clinicians and patients found telemedicine more convenient than face-to face consultations, pointing to benefits that included COVID-19 safety, no travelling and reduced waiting times as benefits. This was especially the case for those in employment, and for patients feeling well for quick check-ins, prescriptions or administrative queries or those who struggled to get to appointments as discussed by this female lupus patient:

“I am very glad that telemedicine has become an option as it not only makes me feel more relaxed and safer, but I often have great difficulty getting to hospital,” said a lupus patient.

However, some respondents, particularly clinicians, raised concerns that telemedicine may be over-used by the NHS and hospital management as a cost and time-saving measure, rather being than in patients’ best interests. Clinicians – only 3% of whom felt telemedicine overall was better than face-to-face – and patients had rarely been consulted as to their preferences. Clinicians felt the NHS and managers wanted a higher proportion of appointments to be telemedicine than their own preferences. 

Sloan added: “Our research exposes the inherent risks and benefits of telemedicine for patients with complex conditions, which may have important implications for patients who have other serious or unpredictable long-term conditions.

“As the NHS develops a telemedicine strategy, we hope there will be a thorough assessment of the clinical and psychological risks and steps taken to mitigate those risks, as well as action to address the possibility of worsening existing health inequalities for those less likely to be able to benefit from remote consultations.”

The research team concluded that telemedicine’s acceptability and safety can be improved by training for clinicians, offering patients more choice, careful selection of which patients to offer telemedicine to, and further consultation with clinicians and patients on its use.

Professor Caroline Gordon, from the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham and study co-author, said: “Some stable rheumatic disease patients can benefit from telemedicine but new patients, those with worsening symptoms or more complex conditions such as lupus need quickly accessible, face-to face appointments to manage their conditions.’’

Senior author, Dr Felix Naughton, from the University of East Anglia, added: ‘’Of greatest concern was the great variability in accessibility to care. Approximately half of all patients felt they would not receive a prompt response when very unwell, often citing increased barriers due to some remote contact and administrative systems that are not yet efficient enough to cope with the sudden move towards telemedicine.’’

One senior clinician study participant summed up the overall feelings of many: “The rapid digitalisation and use of telemedicine must stay but appropriate patient selection is key, it is perfect for some but disastrous for others”.

Reference
Sloan, M et al. Telemedicine in rheumatology: A mixed methods study exploring acceptability, preferences and experiences among patients and clinicians. Rheumatology; 2 Nov 2021; DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab796

Outbreaks of caterpillars of invasive gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar dispar, and forest tent caterpillar moths, Malacasoma disstria occur at least every five years in temperate forests. The insects munch through so many leaves that the resulting decrease in leaf-fall and increase in insect excrement has been found to alter the cycling of nutrients, particularly carbon and nitrogen, between land and nearby lakes on a huge scale.

Nitrogen-rich insect excrement, called frass, can wash into lake water and act as fertiliser for microbes, which then release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as they metabolise. The researchers suggest that in outbreak years the large quantities of frass will favour the growth of greenhouse gas-producing bacteria in lakes at the expense of algae that remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

“These insects are basically little machines that convert carbon-rich leaves into nitrogen-rich poo. The poo drops into lakes instead of the leaves, and this significantly changes the water chemistry - we think it will increase the extent to which lakes are sources of greenhouse gases,” said Professor Andrew Tanentzap in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, senior author of the paper.

Northwards range expansion and increased insect population growth is anticipated as the climate changes. This puts northern forests at increased risk of defoliator outbreaks in the future, potentially causing greater quantities of CO2 to be released from nearby lakes.

This northwards shift is also concerning because there are more freshwater lakes further north. And climate change is also expected to favour broadleaved deciduous trees around the lakes, which will amplify the effect of the insects.

The study found that in years with insect outbreaks, the leaf area of forests was reduced by an average of 22%. At the same time, nearby lakes contained 112% more dissolved nitrogen and 27% less dissolved carbon compared to non-outbreak years. The effects were greatest when lake catchments contained higher proportions of deciduous broadleaved trees, such as oaks and maples, which the caterpillars favour over coniferous trees like pines.

To get their results, researchers combined 32 years of government data from insect outbreak surveys and lake water chemistry in 12 lake catchments across Ontario, Canada, and satellite remote sensing data on forest type and monthly leaf area cover. The results are published today in the journal Nature Communications.

This is believed to be the most extensive study ever undertaken into how insect outbreaks impact freshwater carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Previous studies have been so small that it has been difficult to extract wider generalities.

A previous 26-year study of 266 lakes across the northern hemisphere has shown that carbon is naturally accumulating in these lake waters, in a process called browning. The trend is attributed to a variety of factors including climate change, and recovery from historical acid rain and logging activities. Comparing the new results to this data showed that an outbreak of leaf-munching caterpillars can effectively offset an entire year’s worth of carbon accumulation in nearby lakes – significantly improving water quality.

In years without outbreaks of leaf-eating insects, carbon and nitrogen entering lakes usually comes from decaying leaf and needle litter, and peaks in quantity in autumn. In outbreak years, the study found that nearby freshwater lakes contained an average of 27% less dissolved carbon.

“Outbreaks of leaf-eating insects can reduce the carbon dissolved in lake water by almost a third when the trees around the lake are mainly deciduous. It’s just amazing that these insects can have such a pronounced effect on water quality,” said Sam Woodman, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and first author of the report.

He added: “From a water quality perspective they’re a good thing, but from a climate perspective they’re pretty bad – yet they’ve been completely overlooked in climate models.”

This research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Reference

Woodman, S. G. et al: ‘Forest defoliator outbreaks alter nutrient cycling in northern waters’, Nature Communications, November 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26666-1

In an address to the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, academics, students and civic guests, given in the University’s Senate House after being admitted to his degree, the Secretary-General spoke of the urgent need for global research institutions like Cambridge to find scientific solutions, to produce solid facts, to enlighten people through education and learning; to drive change and offer discoveries that can benefit the entire world.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “We are careering toward climate catastrophe, unless we act now to keep temperature rises to the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement.

"Current pledges put us on course for an uninhabitable world, with temperatures at least two degrees higher than they were in pre-industrial times.

"Biodiversity is collapsing, with a million species at risk of extinction.

"And we are polluting and poisoning air, water and land. 

"Cambridge University is at the forefront of efforts to tackle these crises, through Cambridge Zero and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative.

"And the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership is demonstrating that academia and the corporate sector can work together to drive transformative change.” 

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen J. Toope, OC said: "I am delighted that the University has today honoured the Secretary-General, António Guterres with an honorary degree. In doing so, Cambridge is also recognising the work of his UN colleagues around the globe. The Secretary-General is playing a crucial role in the arduous negotiations taking place at COP26, and has been stark in his warning about the risks we are up against. But he has also given us hope. The UN’s 'Our Common Agenda' initiative is a rousing call to strengthen multilateralism.

"In emphasising the importance of long-term thinking, and in proposing a greater focus on facts and science, it aligns with our University’s approach to tackling some of the world’s most complex challenges. I am very grateful to the Secretary-General for acknowledging that, in the face of such challenges, universities “hold many of the solutions we need. Not only climate scientists and pharmacologists, but sociologists, lawyers, economists and experts in every discipline (…) researching ideas that can lead to breakthroughs for the common good.” Cambridge will do its utmost to live up to that expectation."

The Director of Cambridge Zero, Professor Emily Shuckburgh, OBE said:

“The Secretary-General has said we need institutions dedicated to learning, critical thinking and pushing the boundaries of human understanding. We are responding to that by channeling ideas and innovations from Cambridge to shape climate-resilient net-zero futures for every citizen of the world.”

The University of Cambridge traces its beginnings back to 1209 and its mission is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Cambridge is one of the top three global research universities addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges, from climate change and the genomics of human viruses, to food security and anti-microbial resistance. The University attracts some of the most able undergraduate and postgraduate students and its graduates are highly sought after for leading roles in industry, academia and government. Cambridge is ranked third in the QS World Rankings and has the maximum Employer Reputation score of 100.

According to an in-depth MIT study on entrepreneurial ecosystems, Cambridge is also one of the world’s top three university innovation hubs, supporting a high-tech local economy in the East of England with a turnover of £48 billion [2020], where the University acts as a catalyst providing ideas for commercialisation, early stage funding, venture capital, incubation for start-up companies and a well-educated workforce to power them as they scale up. Cambridge University Press & Assessment publishes more than 380 academic journals and thousands of books for research and higher education, as well as providing assessment for more than eight million learners in more than 170 countries every year.

Read the UN Secretary-General's remarks in full

View the ceremony in full

These findings, published today in the journal Nature, may explain how humans have been growing taller and reaching sexual maturity earlier over the past century. Over the 20th century, average height increased by about 10 cm in the UK, and up to 20 cm in other countries.

While scientists have long suggested that this phenomenon could be related to more reliable access to food for pregnant women and children, until now, precisely how the body senses its state of nutrition and turns that information into growth and sexual maturation had not been understood.

It was already known that signals reach the brain to indicate the body’s nutritional state, such as the hormones leptin, produced in adipose (fat) cells, and insulin, produced in response to increases in blood sugar levels. In a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, these hormones act on a small group of neurons that produce signals called melanocortins. 

The melanocortins act on a variety of receptors, two of which are present in the brain. One of these, the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) has previously been shown to regulate appetite and lack of MC4R results in obesity; however, the MC4R system does not control the effect of nutrition on growth and timing of puberty.

Now, a study, led by researchers from the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit and the MRC Epidemiology Unit (both part of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science) at the University of Cambridge, with collaborators from Queen Mary University of London, University of Bristol, University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University, has discovered a role for the brain’s other melanocortin receptor, which is known as the melanocortin 3 receptor (MC3R).

They found that in response to nutritional signals the MC3R system controls the release of key hormones regulating growth and sexual maturation.

To show the link in humans, the scientists searched amongst the half a million volunteers in UK Biobank for people with naturally occurring genetic mutations that disrupt the function of the MC3R. They identified a few thousand people who carried various mutations in the gene for MC3R and found these people were on average shorter and went into puberty later than those with no mutation.

For example, they identified 812 women who had the same mutation in one of their two copies of the MC3R gene. This mutation only partly reduced the ability of the receptor to work. Despite this subtle effect, women who carried this were on average 4.7 months older at puberty than those without the mutation.

People with mutations that reduced the function of MC3R were also shorter and had lower amounts of lean tissue, such as muscle, but it had no influence on how much fat they carried.

To confirm these findings in children, they studied almost 6,000 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and identified six children with mutations in MC3R. The six children were shorter and had lower lean mass and weight throughout childhood, showing that this effect starts very early in life.

All the people identified in these studies had a mutation in only one of the two copies of the gene. Finding mutations in both copies of the gene is vanishingly rare, but in another cohort the researchers were able to identify an individual in the Genes and Health study with a very damaging mutation in both copies of the gene. This person was very short and went into puberty after the age of 20.

This same phenomenon linking adequate nutritional body stores to reproductive maturity is seen right across the animal kingdom, so the researchers conducted studies in mice to confirm that the MC3R pathway operates across species. Work in the laboratory of Dr Roger Cone at the University of Michigan, who had previously demonstrated a role for the MC3R in the control of growth and lean mass in mice, showed that while normal mice shut off their reproductive cycle when they underwent a period of food deprivation, mice engineered to lack the MC3R did not. This confirmed that MC3R is a necessary part of how the nutritional state controls sex hormone production.

Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, a senior author on the study and Director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: “This discovery shows how the brain can sense nutrients and interpret this to make subconscious decisions that influence our growth and sexual development. Identifying the pathway in the brain whereby nutrition turns into growth and puberty explains a global phenomenon of increasing height and decreasing age at puberty that has puzzled scientists for a century.

“Our findings have immediate practical implications for the testing of children with serious delays in growth and pubertal development for mutations in the MC3R.

“This research may have wider implications beyond child development and reproductive health. Many chronic diseases are associated with the loss of lean mass, including muscle, with resultant frailty. This responds poorly to simple nutritional supplements such as protein-rich drinks. The finding that the activity of the MC3R pathway influences the amount of lean mass carried by a person suggests that future research should investigate if drugs that selectively activate the MC3R might help redirect calories into muscle and other lean tissues with the prospect of improving the physical functional of such patients.”

Professor John Perry, a senior author on the study from the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: “This is such an exciting time for human genetics. By analysing the genetic sequences of large numbers of research participants, we can now understand fundamental biological processes that have remained elusive until now. By combining these studies with experiments in cellular and animal models, we will continue to uncover new insights and understand the mechanisms behind human growth and metabolic disease.”

The research was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome and the National Institute for Health Research. 

Dr Rob Buckle, Chief Science Officer at the Medical Research Council, which was a funder of the research, said: “These findings have the potential to make a significant step forward in future management of disorders of growth and puberty, and improvements in the health of those suffering from frailty caused by chronic conditions. This study shows the value of long-term investment in both large UK population cohorts and multidisciplinary research to discover the underpinning causes of human health and disease.”

Reference
Lam BYH et al. MC3R links nutritional state to childhood growth and the timing of puberty. Nature; 3 Nov 2021

Adapted from a press release by the Medical Research Council

This is according to a new study of “time-use diaries” kept by 766 UK citizens from across the social spectrum during three points in time: the last month of normality, the first lockdown, and the last lockdown in March of this year.  

Economists from the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London collected data that charted time spent on activities during both typical work and nonwork days to map changes to the rhythm of life for millions.

The study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, found marked differences between genders, particularly parents of young children, and that increases in odd working hours and downtime spent alone were detrimental to wellbeing.

“The lockdowns resulted in drastic changes to patterns of time use, disrupting routines and blurring the distinction between work and family life,” said co-author Dr Ines Lee from Cambridge’s Faculty of Economics.

“We have hopefully seen the end of lockdowns, but our study holds lessons for hybrid working, as splitting time between home and office becomes more common.”

“Employers should promote better work-life balance in the post-pandemic world. This could include limits on emails outside working hours, home-working schedules that suit parents, and options for younger workers left isolated by reduced in-person networking,” said Lee. 

The researchers looked at amounts of time each individual spent on activities in four broad categories: employment (excluding commutes); “housework” (from shopping to childcare); leisure (e.g. hobbies or home entertainment); subsistence (meals, sleeping, personal care).

While previous studies have focused on the initial lockdown, this is one of the first to examine the effects of repeated COVID-19 containment measures on our lives and routines.

Before Covid arrived, 86% of the sample was employed, but this fell to 63% in the first lockdown and 74% in the third. Mothers of young children were significantly less likely to be employed than fathers by the third lockdown.

For those employed before and during lockdowns, people with at least one young child spent an average of 43 fewer minutes a day on their paid job in the first lockdown, and 32 fewer minutes in the third, compared to pre-pandemic. 

For those without young children it was an average decrease of 28 minutes and 22 minutes a day on paid work respectively.

Women with young children spent around an hour less on paid work a day than men and women without young children. This was mainly a reduction in time spent on actual work tasks rather than, for example, meetings.

During the first lockdown, the average time women spent on housework increased by 28 minutes a day, while for men the average time spent on subsistence activities (e.g. sleeping and eating) increased by 30 minutes. By 2021 these changes had evened out.

Life with small children during this year’s lockdown meant an extra hour of housework a day over pre-pandemic levels. Mothers of young kids did 67 more minutes of housework a day than fathers. Only women saw an increase in cooking and cleaning (time spent on caring duties was spread across genders).

The study suggests that parents often forfeited leisure time. Living with young kids was associated with a drop in leisure activities of almost an hour a day in both lockdowns – and income levels made no difference to this loss of downtime.

For those without young kids, leisure time increased – but much of it was spent alone. By the third lockdown, people with no small children had around an extra hour of solitary leisure time a day over pre-pandemic levels.

However, in terms of quality – the self-reported “enjoyment” of given activities – this solo leisure time felt less pleasurable during the last lockdown than it had prior to the pandemic.

The third lockdown also saw around 20% of individuals spend more time working unusual hours (outside 0830-1730) compared to the pre-pandemic period, which reduced the reported enjoyment of their day overall.

Those earning £5k a month or more, worked almost two extra hours a day than people earning less than £1k a month by the last lockdown. High earners also spent less time on subsistence activities during both lockdowns.

Overall, the third lockdown felt a bit more miserable than the first, according to the research.

While there was little change in the enjoyment of various activities in the early days of Covid, with men even reporting slightly higher “quality” of time during lockdown one, by March of this year enjoyment of activities was around 5% lower than pre-pandemic levels across the board.

Dr Eileen Tipoe, co-author from Queen Mary University of London, said: “It is no surprise that having to do more work outside of typical working hours meant that people were substantially unhappier during the third lockdown.

“And it was concerning to find that women, and especially those with young children, were disproportionately affected by lockdown – for example being less likely to be employed and the fact that only women spent more time cooking and cleaning.”

Mitochondrial disorders affect around 1 in 4,300 people and cause progressive, incurable diseases. They are amongst the most common inherited diseases but are difficult for clinicians to diagnose, not least because they can affect many different organs and resemble many other conditions.

Current genetic testing regimes fail to diagnose around 40% of patients, with major implications for patients, their families and the health services they use.

A new study, published in the BMJ, offers hope to families with no diagnosis, and endorses plans for the UK to establish a national diagnostic programme based on whole genome sequencing (WGS) to make more diagnoses faster.

While previous studies based on small, highly selected cohorts have suggested that WGS can identify mitochondrial disorders, this is the first to examine its effectiveness in a national healthcare system – the NHS.

The study, led by researchers from the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit and Departments of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Genetics at the University of Cambridge, involved 319 families with suspected mitochondrial disease recruited through the 100,000 Genomes Project which was set up to embed genomic testing in the NHS, discover new disease genes and make genetic diagnosis available for more patients.

In total, 345 participants – aged 0 to 92 with a median age of 25 years – had their whole genome sequenced. Through different analyses, the researchers found that they could make a definite or probable genetic diagnosis for 98 families (31%). Standard tests, which are often more invasive, failed to reach these diagnoses. Six possible diagnoses (2% of the 98 families) were made. A total of 95 different genes were implicated.

Surprisingly, 62.5% of the diagnoses were actually non-mitochondrial disorders, with some having specific treatments. This happened because so many different diseases resemble mitochondrial disorders, making it very difficult to know which are which.

Professor Patrick Chinnery from the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge, said:

“We recommend that whole genome sequencing should be offered early and before invasive tests such as a muscle biopsy. All that patients would need to do is have a blood test, meaning that this could be offered across the whole country in an equitable way. People wouldn’t need to travel long distances to multiple appointments, and they would get their diagnosis much faster.”

Dr Katherine Schon from the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit and the Departments of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Genetics, said:

“A definitive genetic diagnosis can really help patients and their families, giving them access to tailored information about prognosis and treatment, genetic counselling and reproductive options including preimplantation genetic diagnosis or prenatal diagnosis.”

The researchers made 37.5% of their diagnoses in genes known to cause mitochondrial disease. These diagnoses were nearly all unique to a particular participant family, reflecting the genetic diversity found in these disorders. The impairment of mitochondrial function tends to affect tissues with high energy demand such as the brain, the peripheral nerves, the eye, the heart and the peripheral muscles. The study offers a valuable new resource for the discovery of future mitochondrial disease genes.

The majority of the team’s diagnoses (62.5%) were, however, of non-mitochondrial disorders which had features resembling mitochondrial diseases. These disorders would have been missed if the participants had only been investigated for mitochondrial disorders through muscle biopsy and/or a specific mitochondrial gene panel. These participants were living with a range of conditions including developmental disorders with intellectual disability, severe epileptic conditions and metabolic disorders, as well as heart and neurological diseases.

Chinnery said: “These patients were referred because of a suspected mitochondrial disease and the conventional diagnostic tests are specifically for mitochondrial diseases. Unless you consider these other possibilities, you won't diagnose them. Whole genome sequencing isn’t restricted by that bias.”

A small number of newly diagnosed participants are already receiving treatments as a result. The team identified potentially treatable disorders in six participants with a mitochondrial disorder and nine with a non-mitochondrial disorder, but the impact of the treatments has yet to be determined.

Chinnery said: “Diagnostic services are fragmented and unevenly distributed across the UK, and that creates major challenges for people with rare diseases and their families. By delivering a national programme based on this genome-wide approach, you can offer the same level of service to everyone."

Schon said: “If we can create a national platform of families with rare diseases, we can give them the opportunity to engage in clinical trials so we can get definitive evidence that new treatments work.”

The study points out that the relatively high number of patients with probable or possible diagnoses reflects the need for greater investment into the analysis of functional effects of new genetic variants which could be the cause of disease, but it is not certain at present.

It also argues that rapid trio whole genome sequencing should be offered to all acutely unwell individuals with suspected mitochondrial disorders, so that results can help guide clinical management. Currently in the UK, this is only available for acutely unwell children.

Dr Ellen Thomas, Clinical Director and Director of Quality at Genomics England, said:

“We are very pleased to see significant research like this being enabled by data generously donated by participants of the 100,000 Genomes Project. It is clear from these results how their contributions to a rich and, importantly, secure dataset is critical in facilitating the genomic research that leads to insights like these that then have the potential to return value to the NHS and their patients. We look forward to seeing how these findings could support future care for patients with suspected mitochondrial disorders.”

Reference

KR Schon et al., ‘Use of whole genome sequencing to determine the genetic basis of suspected mitochondrial disorders: a cohort study’, BMJ (2021). DOI: 10.1136/ bmj-2021-066288

Funding

National Institute for Health Research, NHS England, Wellcome, Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council within UK Research and Innovation

Professors Julia Gog, Ravi Gupta and Sharon Peacock, each of whom have played a key role in the UK’s response to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, will lead the on-screen exploration into their area of scientific expertise, with two Guest Lecturers appearing in each episode.

Together, they will offer insights to the Christmas Lectures’ young audience into the world of viruses – how they arise and proliferate, and how we humans respond – from testing and modelling to vaccine development and infection control. They will reveal why discoveries and advances made during the on-going pandemic will have an impact far beyond COVID-19 and are set to change the future of medicine.

The Guest Lecturers will support the 2021 Christmas Lecturer Jonathan Van-Tam to demonstrate that tackling pandemics is a collaborative and interdisciplinary scientific effort.

Professor Julia Gog OBE, is Professor of Mathematical Biology at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge and the David N. Moore Fellow and Director of Studies in Mathematics at Queens' College, Cambridge. During the pandemic she has contributed to scientific advice to the UK government through SAGE and SPI-M, the group which provides input based on infectious disease modelling and epidemiology.

Professor Ravi Gupta, is Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease. Using his expertise in RNA virus genetics and biology, Ravi’s work during the pandemic has included reporting the first genotypic-phenotypic evidence for immune escape of SARS-CoV-2 within an individual, defining the process by which new variants are likely to arise, and defining the immune escape and transmissibility advantage of the Delta variant as the driver behind its global expansion.

Professor Sharon Peacock CBE, is Professor of Public Health and Microbiology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge. During the pandemic Sharon has Chaired the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium, delivering large-scale and rapid whole-genome virus sequencing to local NHS centres and the UK government, and helping to inform UK public health interventions and policies. 

Also taking part as Guest Lecturers are:

• Professor Katie Ewer, a cellular immunologist and Associate Professor at the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.
• Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, an Associate Professor based in the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford.
• Professor Catherine Noakes OBE, Professor of Environmental Engineering for Buildings at the University of Leeds.

Lucinda Hunt, Director of the Royal Institution, said: “We are delighted that Jonathan will be joined by such an exciting and expert group of scientists during this year’s series of three Christmas Lectures.

“They will work together to take us on a journey through the world of viruses – how they arise, how they proliferate, and how science and society responds – just as they are doing in tackling the current pandemic. What a strong and positive message that will be for our young audience, about the power of collaborative science.”

Patrick Holland, BBC Director, Factual, Arts and Classical Music Television, said: “Scientists across the world have responded to the Covid crisis with expertise and ingenuity that is humbling for us all. It is no exaggeration to say that the path of history has been changed because of the work of vaccine scientists and epidemiologists.

“Jonathan and his team will give us another exciting and thought-provoking series of Lectures, covering so much more than COVID-19. This will be a celebration of science and of the scientists whose advances are shaping our world.”  

In the 2021 Christmas Lectures, ‘Going viral: How Covid changed science forever’, epidemiologist and one of England’s two Deputy Chief Medical Officers, Jonathan Van-Tam, will take a deep dive into many and varied viruses, including COVID-19, and reveal why discoveries and advances made during the on-going pandemic – from early detection techniques to new vaccines – mean biological science will never be the same again.

The 2021 Christmas Lectures will be broadcast on BBC Four and iPlayer between Christmas and New Year.

The 2021 Christmas Lectures are co-produced by the Ri and Windfall Films for BBC Four and iPlayer. They were commissioned by Patrick Holland, Director, Factual, Arts and Classical Music Television and Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Science and Natural History. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Tom Coveney. The Series Producer is Henry Fraser and the Executive Producer is David Dugan. 

Adapted from a press release by the Royal Institution

IBS is a common condition world-wide, affecting around 1 in 10 people and causing a wide range of symptoms including abdominal pain, bloating and bowel dysfunction that can significantly affect people’s lives. Diagnosis is usually made after considering other possible conditions (such as Crohn’s disease or bowel cancer), with clinical tests coming back ‘normal’. The condition often runs in families and is also more common among people who are prone to anxiety. The causes of IBS are not well understood, but an international team of researchers has now identified several genes that provide clues into the origins of IBS.

The research team, including more than 40 institutions and coordinated by scientists in UK and Spain, looked at genetic data from 40,548 people who suffer with IBS from the UK Biobank and 12,852 from the Bellygenes initiative (a world-wide study aiming to identify genes linked to IBS) and compared them to 433,201 people without IBS (controls), focusing on individuals of European ancestry. The findings were repeated with de-identified data from the genomics company 23andMe Inc., provided by customers who have consented to research, by comparing 205,252 people with IBS to 1,384,055 controls.

The results showed that overall, heritability of IBS (how much your genes influence the likelihood of developing a particular condition) is quite low, indicating the importance of environmental factors such as diet, stress and patterns of behaviour that may also be shared in the family environment.

However, 6 genetic differences (influencing the genes NCAM1, CADM2, PHF2/FAM120A, DOCK9, CKAP2/TPTE2P3 and BAG6) were more common in people with IBS than in controls. As IBS symptoms affect the gut and bowel, it would be expected that genes associated with increased risk of IBS would be expressed there – but this is not what the researchers found. Instead, most of the altered genes appear to have more clear-cut roles in the brain and possibly the nerves which supply the gut, rather than the gut itself.

Researchers also looked for overlap between susceptibility to IBS and other physical and mental health conditions. They found that the same genetic make-up that puts people at increased risk of IBS also increases the risk for common mood and anxiety disorders such as anxiety, depression, and neuroticism, as well as insomnia. However, the researchers stress that this doesn’t mean that anxiety causes IBS symptoms or vice versa.

Study co-senior investigator and consultant gastroenterologist Professor Miles Parkes from the University of Cambridge explained: “IBS is a common problem, and its symptoms are real and debilitating. Although IBS occurs more frequently in those who are prone to anxiety, we don’t believe that one causes the other – our study shows these conditions have shared genetic origins, with the affected genes possibly leading to physical changes in brain or nerve cells that in turn cause symptoms in the brain and symptoms in the gut.”

The study also found that people with both IBS and anxiety were more likely to have been treated frequently with antibiotics during childhood. The study authors hypothesise that repeated use of antibiotics during childhood might increase the risk of IBS (and perhaps anxiety) by altering the ‘normal’ gut flora (healthy bacteria that normally live in the gut) which in turn influence nerve cell development and mood.

Current treatments for IBS vary widely and include dietary changes, prescription medications targeting the gut or brain, or behavioural interventions. Lead author Chris Eijsbouts from the University of Oxford suggests that discovering genes which contribute to IBS may aid in the development of new treatments in the long term. He said: "Even genetic changes that have only subtle effects on IBS can provide clues about pathways to target therapeutically. Unlike the individual genetic changes themselves, drugs targeting the pathways they tell us about may have a considerable impact on the condition, as we know from other disease areas."

Co-senior investigator Dr Luke Jostins from the University Oxford commented: “We anticipate that future research will build on our discoveries, both by investigating the target genes identified and exploring the shared genetic risk across conditions to improve understanding of the disordered brain-gut interactions which characterise IBS.”

“IBS represents a remarkable challenge for genetic studies. These initial findings have been long awaited, and finally tell us this type of research is worth the struggle,” added Ikerbasque Professor Mauro D’Amato from CIC bioGUNE, co-senior investigator and coordinator of the Bellygenes initiative.

This research received funding and support from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centres in Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham and Manchester. Further funding and support was received from the Wellcome Trust, the Li Ka Shing Foundation and the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research in the UK, and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Instituto Salud Carlos III), the Health Department of the Basque Government and the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet).

Reference
Eijsbouts, C et al. Genome-wide analysis of 53,400 people with irritable bowel syndrome highlights shared genetic pathways with mood and anxiety disorders. Nature Genetics; 5 Nov 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00950-8

Adapted from a press release by the National Institute for Health Research

The research, which is published in a book launched on Tuesday 9 November, found that the key piece of statutory guidance underpinning education for PMLD learners – the Special Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice (2015)– indicates that teachers should prepare them for a future that involves independent living, possible further education and employment.

Researchers argue that these are highly unlikely to represent realistic goals for most children with PMLD. Broadly, PMLD describes people with a combination of very severe learning difficulties, sensory impairments, physical disabilities, complex medical conditions, and challenging behaviours. Most require very high levels of care and support throughout their lives, including with tasks such as washing and eating.

The study also analysed other key health and social care policy documents on which support for children with PMLD is meant to be based. It found that these often make similarly unrealistic assumptions: “because judgements are based on the experiences and values of the policy-makers, because all types and levels of disability are seen as effectively the same, and because people with PMLD tend to be viewed as non-contributors to society”.

For example, Valuing People Now, a Government policy document published in 2009, states that people with learning difficulties – apparently including those with PMLD – “should be supported to pay taxes, vote [and] do jury duty”.

The book, Enhancing Wellbeing and Independence for Young People with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties, combines this policy analysis with the findings from staff surveys at more than 110 special schools in 20 countries, including 52 of around 300 schools that teach PMLD pupils in the UK.

It was co-authored by Andrew Colley, a former special education teacher and lecturer, who did the research as part of a Masters Degree at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge; and Julie Tilbury, Lead Teacher for children with PMLD at Chailey Heritage School, East Sussex.

Their findings highlight the outstanding practice of professionals working with pupils with PMLD pupils, but also suggest that teachers rarely refer to the existing policy guidance except when completing official documents. Asked if they felt that the SEND Code of Practice took account of learners with PMLD, teachers commented: “it doesn’t”, “not at all” and “it’s almost as if they don’t exist”.

“The way wellbeing and independence are defined in policy doesn’t appear to support these learners and ends up excluding them because of the complexity of their disability,” Colley said.

“Most of the guidance that exists assumes their education can be rooted in neurotypical expectations about employment or making an economic contribution when the reality is they will probably never be able to work. The policy covers children with PMLD, but doesn’t cater for them. We need a completely different kind of social contract for these young people.”

There are around 11,000 learners with PMLD in English schools, and an estimated 75,000 people of all ages with PMLD in the UK. Previous research has attempted to identify what ‘wellbeing’ and ‘independence’ should mean for these individuals. In general, it recommends that schools should focus on helping them to live with dignity, form social and emotional relationships, stay healthy and active, and communicate – which for people with PMLD often involves unconventional styles of communication such as blinking and physical gestures.

Contrastingly, the SEND Code of Practice, which makes just one reference to pupils with PMLD in 287 pages, states: “With high aspirations and the right support the vast majority of children and young people can go on to achieve successful long-term outcomes in adult life,” before referring to “higher education and/or employment” and “independent living” as examples.

Many practitioners working with PMLD learners treat the Code as an irrelevance, the researchers found. As much as possible, teachers create learning programmes which respond to the needs of each individual. In line with the recommendations of specialists, this often means that lessons prioritise the enhancement of wellbeing and health, communication, and the development of basic skills such as washing, eating, and independent movement. “There is fantastic work going on in schools, but it is completely separate from what policy dictates,” Colley said.

Despite the efforts of education professionals, the study also highlights the limited opportunities learners with PMLD have to engage with their wider communities. 80% of UK teachers mostly or completely agreed with the statement: “the social life of someone with PMLD is largely focused on their family or school”. Almost 50% felt that families with a member who has PMLD “live isolated and unfulfilled lives”.

The research calls for a different type of policy framework for learners with PMLD which focuses on helping them to become happy, fulfilled and empowered adults, with a sense of belonging rooted in warm and trusting relationships.

Colley added: “To demand that their education should lead to independence in a conventional sense stigmatises their condition, as well as their families. Just because pupils with PMLD are unlikely to work or own a house doesn’t make them any less worthy of our attention as human beings.”

“Addressing this also gives us an opportunity to think differently about what education for all young people really means, beyond the perspective of employment or academic attainment. A really inclusive education system that takes PMLD learners into account demands that we look for something more for everyone.”

Enhancing Wellbeing and Independence for Young People with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties is published by Routledge.

The service, which last year had to be hosted online because of the Covid lockdown, will start at 11.00 am. Guests are asked to be seated by 10.40 am. The preacher this year is the University Marshal, Lucy Lewis, who is known to many for her ceremonial role. Lucy was the British army’s first female bomb disposal officer, a story she relates in her recently published book Lighting the Fuse (Orion 2021), and her address promises to be fascinating and moving. 

The Queen will be represented by the Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Sir James Paice, and the University by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Toope.

The Rev Canon Adrian Daffern said:

“All too often we seem to be surrounded by conflict. We’re challenged by climate change, by Covid, and often by the phobias and prejudices that characterise too much of modern society. The annual opportunity for remembering those who fought very different battles, for their country and the freedoms we enjoy, matters as much as ever. In honouring them for what they gave in their day, we can learn lessons for living more wisely in our own.”

The Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C) - based in the Department of Computer Science and Technology, and the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute - has two primary goals: to support students and researchers in the relevant areas of computer science, environmental science, and economics; and to create a decentralised marketplace where purchasers of carbon credits can confidently and directly fund trusted nature-based projects.

The Centre will build its decentralised marketplace on the energy-efficient Tezos blockchain because it operates sustainably and allows third parties to verify all transactions, in line with the Centre’s vision to support a sustainable future through technology. The goal of the marketplace is to exponentially increase the number of real nature-based conservation and restoration projects by channelling funding towards them via market-based instruments.

Nature-based solutions, particularly forests, have a vital role to play in mitigating the worst effects of climate change. Pressure is mounting from governments and the public to rapidly roll out a global programme of well-executed nature-based solutions (NbS) to sequester several gigatons of carbon each year and protect biodiversity. However, current NbS projects are hampered by chronic underfunding.

“Current accreditation systems that measure and report the value of carbon and related benefits like biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction rendered by NbS are costly, slow and inaccurate,” said Centre Director Dr Anil Madhavapeddy. “These systems have undermined trust in NbS carbon credits. What is needed is a decentralised marketplace where purchasers of carbon credits can confidently and directly fund trusted nature-based projects. And that’s the gap the Centre is aiming to fill.”

The Centre will support 12 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, and investment to prototype a scalable, trusted NbS marketplace. Researchers funded from the Centre will come from the Departments of Computer Science and Technology, Zoology, and Plant Sciences, as well as from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Artificial Intelligence for the study of Environment Risk.

Professor David Coomes, Director of the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, said: “Conservation strategies are increasingly broadening to include large datasets, remote sensing technologies and computational approaches. The Centre for Carbon Credits is a ground-breaking initiative that will bring together computer scientists and conservation scientists in a new way.”

Andrew Balmford, Professor of Zoology, said: “The recent announcement at COP26 of the new commitment to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 demonstrates the crucial role forests play in carbon capture and the health of our planet. The new Centre has a significant role to play in supporting crucial research to develop new, trusted mechanisms to support reforestation projects.”

Speaking on the collaborative nature of the Centre, Professor Ann Copestake, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology, said: “In the last few years, we’ve been expanding our emphasis on the use of computer science techniques and technologies to help address the climate emergency and the crisis in biodiversity. We are delighted to be bringing our research strengths together with the expertise in environmental science across the University of Cambridge. We hope the work resulting from this interdisciplinary collaboration will lay the foundation for tangible solutions to some of the environmental challenges facing the world.”

The study, of just over 800 pupils in England, found a positive relationship between GCSE scores and ‘multilingual identity’: a reference to whether pupils felt a personal connection with other languages through knowledge and use. Those who self-identified as multilingual typically outperformed their peers not just in subjects such as French and Spanish, but in non-language subjects including maths, geography and science. This applied whether or not they actually spoke a second language fluently.

Perhaps surprisingly, however, not all pupils who were officially described by their schools as having ‘English as a Second Language’ (EAL) thought of themselves as multilingual, even though the term is used by schools and Government as a proxy for multilingualism. Correspondingly, these pupils did not necessarily perform better (or worse) as a group at GCSE than their non-EAL peers.

The results indicate that encouraging pupils to identify with languages and to value different styles of communication could help them to develop a mindset that supports academic progress overall.

Other recent research has argued for broadening the scope of language lessons so that, as well as studying vocabulary and grammar, pupils explore the importance of languages and their significance for their own lives. This new study was the first, however, to examine the relationship between multilingual identity and attainment. It was led by academics at the University of Cambridge and the findings are published in the Journal of Language, Identity and Education.

Dr Dee Rutgers, a Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, said: “The evidence suggests that the more multilingual you consider yourself to be, the higher your GCSE scores. While we need to understand more about why that relationship exists, it may be that children who see themselves as multilingual have a sort of ‘growth mindset’ which impacts on wider attainment.”

Dr Linda Fisher, Reader in Languages Education at the University of Cambridge, said: “There could be a strong case for helping children who think that they can’t ‘do’ languages to recognise that we all use a range of communication tools, and that learning a language is simply adding to that range. This may influence attitude and self-belief, which is directly relevant to learning at school. In other words, what you think you are may be more important than what others say you are.”

The study’s authors argue that being multilingual means far more than the official EAL definition of being ‘exposed to a language at home that is known or believed to be other than English’. They suggest that even young people who see themselves as monolingual possess a ‘repertoire’ of communication. For example, they may use different dialects, pick up words and phrases on holiday, know sign language, or understand other types of ‘language’ such as computer code.

The study involved 818 Year-11 pupils at five secondary schools in South East England. As well as establishing whether pupils were officially registered as EAL or non-EAL, the researchers asked each pupil if they personally identified as such. Separately, each pupil was asked to plot where they saw themselves on a 0-100 scale, where 0 represented ‘monolingual’ and 100 ‘multilingual’. This data was compared with their GCSE results in nine subjects.

Students who spoke a second language at home did not always personally identify either as EAL or multilingual. Conversely, pupils who saw themselves as multilingual were not always those earmarked by the school as having English as an additional language.

“The fact that these terms didn’t correlate more closely is surprising considering that they are all supposedly measuring the same thing,” Rutgers said. “Just having experience of other languages clearly doesn’t necessarily translate into a multilingual identity because the experience may not be valued by the student.”

School-reported EAL status had no impact on GCSE results, although pupils who self-identified as EAL generally did better than their peers in modern languages. Those who considered themselves ‘multilingual’ on the 0-100 scale, however, performed better academically across the board.

The strength of this relationship varied between subjects and was, again, particularly pronounced in modern languages. In all nine GCSE subjects assessed, however, each point increase on the monolingual-to-multilingual scale was associated with a fractional rise in pupils’ exam scores.

For example: a one-point increase was found to correspond to 0.012 of a grade in Science, and 0.011 of a grade in Geography. Students who consider themselves very multilingual would, by this measure, typically score a full grade higher than those who consider themselves monolingual. Positively identifying as multilingual could often therefore be enough to push students who would otherwise fall slightly short of a certain grade up to the next level.

The findings appear to indicate that the positive mentality and self-belief which typically develops among pupils with a multilingual identity has spill-over benefits for their wider education. The authors add that this could be cultivated in languages classrooms: for example, by exposing young people to learning programmes that explore different types of language and dialect, or encouraging them to think about how languages shape their lives both inside and outside school.

“Too often we think about other languages as something that we don’t need to know, or as difficult to learn,” Fisher said. “These findings suggest that if pupils were encouraged to see themselves as active and capable language learners, it could have a really positive impact on their wider progress at school.”