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Local authorities, the UK government and the European Commission have benefitted from the widespread application of new molecular methodologies, developed in 2005 and applied by the University of Reading's Vertebrate Pests Unit (VPU) to identify and quantify anticoagulant rodenticide resistance in rodent populations. Rodents are a major global pest that consumes our food, causes contamination with urine and faeces, damages structures through gnawing, transmits diseases, and impacts on species of conservation concern. Due to historical success and recent regulatory restrictions, anticoagulant rodenticides are the most common control method for these pests. However, physiological resistance to anticoagulants is now widespread and the VPU has been involved in mapping this resistance and identifying the genetic basis for the resistance. Their research has led to new methodologies to identify anticoagulant resistance that have been adopted by the global plant science industry and to new guidance in treating resistant populations that has been adopted by the European biocides industry.
Researchers in the Centre for the Mathematics of Human Behaviour at the University of Reading have developed a novel approach for the real-time monitoring of evolving social networks. These networks, in which connections between individuals change over time, are an important opportunity for online advertising. The research has been used in collaboration with Bloom Media Ltd to develop a new tool that gives their clients a better understanding of the impacts of social media campaigns. As a result Bloom are leading the field in this area, allowing them to attract major new clients and leading to significant growth of the business. The company now directly employs highly skilled mathematics graduates specifically to work in this area.
Protecting London from the threat of flooding is of prime importance to the nation. Work in the Unit on regional sea-level rise and on the effect of storm surges was used in the Environment Agency's Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) plan to assess potential change in risk. The Unit's work estimated a very unlikely maximum rise in sea level of 2.7m by 2100, considerably lower than the previous worst-case scenario of 4.2m. It confirmed that 90 centimetres was the figure that should be used for developing the plan. TE2100 concluded that a second Thames Barrier (estimated cost £10-20 billion at today's prices) would not be needed not by 2030, but may be needed by 2070. Our results have been used to define procedures for the monitoring of regional sea and Thames water levels over the next few decades, and to review decision-making procedures to ensure that the risk of flooding in London is kept within acceptable levels, while avoiding unnecessary costs
Language impairment is common in children and, without effective early intervention, presents a risk for educational, social and emotional disturbance. The team used their considerable experience in child language research to produce a novel assessment of child language development — The Reynell Developmental Language Scales 3 (RDLS3) — the first test of child language development to be standardised in the U.K. to assess both understanding and production of language in young children. Use of the test has improved language assessment and diagnosis for children with language impairments and, as such, has enabled health and education professionals to target therapy and monitor the effectiveness of interventions to improve child language development. The test has been widely used in the U.K. and is now also being used widely internationally. Recent research by the team has informed a revised version of the test — The New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS). Sales figures of the RDLS3 and the commissioning of the NRDLS are testament to its outstanding reputation and enduring legacy worldwide.
Biomedical devices that need to be implanted into the body typically experience the so-called foreign-body reaction: proteins adhere to the surface of the devices, leading to rapid loss of function and, eventually, to a requirement for replacing the device. Between October 2006 and September 2011, The University of Reading, in collaboration with the UK SME BioInteractions Ltd., developed and evaluated a range of new polymers for coating implantable biomedical devices, especially coronary stents and catheters. The result was a coating system that can deliver a drug controllably over a pre-defined period, leading to the commercial biomaterials platforms AdaptTM and AssistTM. This work resulted in capital investment by Biointeractions Ltd and a substantial increase in their research staffing.
Human activity leads to the emission of many greenhouse gases that differ from carbon dioxide (CO2) in their ability to cause climate change. International climate policy requires the use of an "exchange rate" to place emissions of such gases on a "CO2-equivalent" scale. These exchange rates are calculated using "climate emission metrics" (hereafter "metrics") which enable the comparison of the climate effect of the emission of a given gas with emissions of CO2. Research in the Unit has contributed directly to (i) the calculation of inputs required for such metrics, (ii) the compilation of listings of the effects for a large number of gases and (iii) the consideration of alternative metric formulations. During the assessment period this work has been used in the implementation of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in decisions and discussions (which began in 2005) on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period (2013-2020), as well to intergovernmental debate on aspects of the use of metrics in climate agreements.
The multi-million pound skincare industry has benefitted greatly from research carried out since 2009 at Reading, demonstrating for the first time that an ingredient in some anti-ageing face creams can genuinely increase the amount of collagen produced by skin cells, thereby removing the appearance of wrinkles. The research investigated the nanostructure of the lipopeptide known as Matrixyl and how changes to its environment and composition affect its structure and activity. These findings received widespread media coverage in the UK and abroad, leading to noticeable increases in sales of Matrixyl-containing products by Procter and Gamble and enhancing the business of the UK-based SME Forme Laboratories, who have developed a new line of effective skincare products for menopausal women, based on the Reading results.
Professor Colin Gray's research into strategic theory, conducted at the University of Reading, has had a sustained, distinctive, and international impact on policymakers, military educationalists, and other defence professionals. Firstly, it has vindicated the idea of `strategy' as a coherent intellectual activity, distinct from military history on the one hand and `military science' on the other, that is and should be at the heart of military practice and officer education. Secondly, and in consequence, it has informed and structured detailed practical debates, not least through advice commissioned from Gray himself.
The intensification of food production, fossil fuel combustion and water consumption has led to substantial increases in the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus flushed from land to water. The accumulation of these nutrients in freshwaters, estuaries and the coastal zone has led to reductions in biodiversity, the loss of ecosystem services, and compromised water security. The UK is a signatory to a raft of international conventions and policies which require reductions in the flux of nutrients from land to the water and restoration of ecosystem health and services. To meet these obligations, policymakers need information on the scale of the problem, the sources of nutrients and the effectiveness of intervention measures.
Research in the Unit has directly addressed this need. It has provided robust scientific evidence of the scale of the problem and the sources of nutrient enrichment, and has provided the capability to test intervention and policy scenarios at field to national scales. It has fed directly into the development of monitoring approaches and mitigation measures now in use by the Environment Agency (EA) and Defra, informed the development of UK Government policy in relation to catchment management, and supported compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive, the renegotiation of the Gothenburg Protocol under the International Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, and reporting on discharges of nutrient pollution to the North East Atlantic under the OSPAR Convention.
The research groups of Professor Laurence Harwood and Dr Michael Hudson (now retired) at the University of Reading have developed new and highly selective extractants for spent and reprocessed nuclear fuels. These novel extractants remove specifically the components in nuclear waste that have the highest levels of long-term radioactivity. The extracted components (minor actinides) may subsequently be converted — "transmuted" — into elements with greatly reduced radioactivity. Storage times for high-level nuclear waste can thus be reduced by a factor of a thousand, typically from 300,000 to 300 years. This significant advance in the management of nuclear waste means that next-generation nuclear power production will be safer, more economical and more sustainable, as well as increasing the wider acceptance of nuclear power as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. The newly-developed extractants are now available commercially through TechnoComm Ltd.