University of Bristol

Antihypertensive Treatment and Risk of Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease: A Drug-Target Mendelian Randomization

BACKGROUND: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, conventionally known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), affects over a quarter of the global population and lacks approved pharmacological treatments. We investigated whether elevated blood pressure (BP)...

Fifteen-minute consultation: the child with early pubic hair

Premature pubarche refers to the early appearance of pubic hair before 8 years of age in girls and 9 years in boys and is most commonly due to premature adrenarche.Premature adrenarche refers to the early appearance of clinical signs of adrenal androgen action, including pubic or...

Inferring network-level alarm influence pathways for cellular infrastructure reliability

Large-scale telecommunication infrastructure, such as Radio Access Networks (RANs), is a critical component of the modern digital industry. To ensure infrastructure intelligence and operational reliability, it is essential to understand how alarms influence one another across bas...

Beyond Value: On the Role of Symmetry in Demand for Information

We study demand for symmetric and asymmetric information sources in the laboratory. Although participants respond to incentives and instrumental considerations, they exhibit a systematic bias towards symmetric sources. These patterns persist among individuals with higher cognitiv...

Regulatory Whack-a-mole: A Rapid Scoping Review of Gambling Marketing Restrictions and their (in)Effectiveness

Abstract Purpose of Review Gambling marketing increases participation, spending, and harm. Marketing restrictions represent the best regulatory response. Decades of tobacco and alcohol marketing regulation demonstrate a recurring pattern in which each restriction triggers industr...

Creep damage initiation in high-temperature steel: a comparative study of ferritic, martensitic and austenitic microstructures

Abstract Premature failure of critical energy infrastructure caused by creep damage, threatens productivity and safety, emphasizing the need for robust methods to monitor and predict material performance. Creep damage nucleation in metals is driven by nano- and micro-structural f...

Rice Politics in Southeast Asia: legacies of the Green Revolution

This is an important addition to the literature on agriculture, and more specifically on rice politics, in insular Southeast Asia. It is detailed, deeply researched and informative. The book will b...

Nesting in human-made versus natural cavities affects colony demography and nest architecture in an urban-adapted Neotropical stingless bee

Abstract Habitat loss and urbanisation create challenging environments for many bee species, but some show a remarkable ability to adapt to urban environments, e.g. by nesting in buildings and foraging in gardens or parks. Little is currently known about the consequences of livin...

Examining the mental health support needs of NHS staff exposed to patient pregnancy and neonatal loss: A qualitative study

Background Pregnancy and neonatal loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for fetal abnormality, and neonatal death, affects a substantial proportion of pregnancies in the UK. Although the impact on patients is well documented, less attention has been paid to the exp...

Psychological interventions for harmful gambling: Systematic review and network meta-analysis

Abstract Background and aims Gambling causes harms for the individual, their families and wider society. Psychological interventions have been shown to improve gambling severity, but their relative effectiveness is not well understood. Methods Systematic review and network meta-a...

Life stage shifts in salivary microbiota determinants: a cross-sectional study in twins

Abstract Both host genetics and environmental exposures shape the salivary microbiota; however, the relative contributions of these factors from early life to adulthood remain unclear. To address this, we profiled the salivary microbiota of 3387 twin pairs: 939 infant pairs (9–12...

Prophage and metabolic determinants of Staphylococcus aureus survival to vancomycin identified via TraDIS screening

ABSTRACT Reduced vancomycin susceptibility phenotypes in Staphylococcus aureus contribute to treatment failure, yet the genetic determinants of survival under inhibitory vancomycin exposure remain incompletely defined. We performed transposon-directed insertion-site sequencing (T...

Black boxes in black hole imaging

We investigate the epistemic opacity of computer simulations and machine learning methods in the context of black hole imaging. We argue that there are forms of opacity—including opacity resulting from the use of machine learning—which do not need to affect the reliability of an...

Exchange: What Can We Learn from Two Decades of Everyday Nationalism?

Abstract In their landmark article on nationalism in the everyday, Jon E. Fox and Cynthia Miller-Idriss (2008a, 537) set out an ambitious research agenda which endeavored to observe “the actual practices through which ordinary people engage and enact (and ignore and deflect) nati...

Classes beyond the classroom? Social class and the perceived value of non-formal education for skills development

Previous research has extensively documented class differences in the value attached to formal education. However, less is known about class differences in conceptions of non-formal education as a route for skills development. To address this gap, we distinguish between two conce...

Exploration of the relationship between social cognition and PTSD using data from the ALSPAC cohort

Background and hypothesis Previous studies have shown an association between social cognition (emotion recognition, social perception, attributional style, and mentalization) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there have been no longitudinal studies on this topic. We...

Geographic bias in the fossil record: tests using Chinese early Paleozoic echinoderms

Abstract The greater diversity of fossils known from North America and Europe, plus the correlation between outcrop area and paleobiodiversity, introduce a potential bias in the fossil record. We develop tests to detect actual bias using recent discoveries of Chinese early Paleoz...

A data-driven and mechanism-explicit combined electrical performance predicting model for photovoltaic modules under engineering conditions

In practical engineering, photovoltaic (PV) module electrical performance, influenced by multiple and dynamic environmental factors, depends on understanding their complex nonlinear relationship for optimal maximum power point tracking (MPPT) target determination. However, existi...

How to: Regional RSE Groups

In this 90-minute interactive speed-writing session, we will co-author a guide for: creating and sustaining a regional RSE group, engaging with the regional community and hosting a regional RSE event. We aim to bring together a wealth of siloed knowledge from across different reg...

How to: Regional RSE Groups

In this 90-minute interactive speed-writing session, we will co-author a guide for: creating and sustaining a regional RSE group, engaging with the regional community and hosting a regional RSE event. We aim to bring together a wealth of siloed knowledge from across different reg...