news from the lab

Literature/Linguistics - 20.01
Voltaire’s English alter-ego unmasked by new letters
14 newly-discovered letters by Francois Voltaire have allowed an Oxford University team to shed light on his brief but important time in England. Two of the new letters shed new light on the extent of the author's interactions with the English aristocracy and in one letter he even signs his name ‘Francis Voltaire' – something he has never before been recorded as doing.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Literature/Linguistics - 3.01
Many NIH-funded clinical trials go unpublished over two years after completion
In a study that investigates the challenges of disseminating clinical research findings in peer-reviewed biomedical journals, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that fewer than half of a sample of trials primarily or partially funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were published within 30 months of completing the clinical trial.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Literature/Linguistics - 18.11.2011
Mining the language of science
Scientists are developing a computer that can read vast amounts of scientific literature, make connections between facts and develop hypotheses. Ask any biomedical scientist whether they manage to keep on top of reading all of the publications in their field, let alone an adjacent field, and few will say yes.

Life Sciences - Literature/Linguistics - 23.09.2011
Australische Ureinwohner waren die frühesten Auswanderer
Ein internationales Forscherteam mit Berner Beteiligung hat erstmals das menschliche Genom von australischen Aborigines entschlüsselt. Die Ergebnisse lassen die ersten Völkerwanderungen des modernen Menschen in neuem Licht erscheinen.

Literature/Linguistics - Computer Science/Telecom - 22.06.2011
Database explains strange survival of irregular verbs
An historical study of the development of irregular verbs in the hundreds of Romance languages including French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Catalan has revealed how these structures survive.

Literature/Linguistics - 13.04.2011
Open access to journals increases readership but not citations, study says
Citations matter for authors. Being cited by one's peers is the chief indicator of an article's quality and worth. In the sciences, citations fuel a reward system of promotion, tenure, grants and editorial board positions.

Literature/Linguistics - History/Philosophy - 17.02.2011
How the Cambridge Literary Review is taking on the establishment
Launched as a reaction to the lack of outlets for challenging contemporary writing, a Cambridge-based journal is finding favour in the very places it aims to be the antidote for. One year on from its birth and with the fifth issue soon to be released, the Cambridge Literary Review continues to gain prominence, with a strong write up in the Times Literary Supplement and copies on sale in the Tate Modern bookshop amongst others.

Literature/Linguistics - 4.02.2011
Hidden pornographic poems explain 'bestseller' success of C18 poetical volumes
Art 04 Feb 11 The title page of the Cabinet of Love, which appears unannounced at the end of The Works, a copy of which is held in the Bodleian. Credit: Bodleian Libraries An Oxford University academic has explained the secret behind the success of two of the best selling volumes of poetic miscellanies in the 18th Century – a series of pornographic poems were hidden at the back of the book.

History/Philosophy - Literature/Linguistics - 6.01.2011
Forgotten chapter in Bible history
New research has uncovered a forgotten chapter in the history of the Bible, offering a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. The study by the Centre for Computing in the Humanities (CCH) at King's College London, in collaboration with Cambridge University researchers, suggests that, contrary to long-accepted views, Jews continued to use a Greek version of the Bible in synagogues for centuries longer than previously thought.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Literature/Linguistics - 11.11.2010
Real cause of Brecht’s demise revealed
A dogged piece of detective work by a University professor has uncovered the truth about how one of the world's greatest playwrights died 54 years ago. Rumours have long surrounded the official version of Bertolt Brecht's death from a heart attack in 1956 in Communist East Berlin.

Literature/Linguistics - History/Philosophy - 23.10.2010
Austen's famous style may not be hers after all
Arts 23 Oct 10 Austen's 'The History of England', a spoof history written by a teenage Jane Austen. Image by kind permission of the British Library and Jane Austen's Fiction Manuscripts Digital Edition.

Literature/Linguistics - 6.10.2010
Chicago’s unfinished public housing efforts yield mixed results
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - After a rocky start, Chicago's controversial efforts to overhaul its public housing have showed gradual improvement, according to a new report by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Literature/Linguistics - 23.07.2010
University archive inspires Hollywood directors
A film to be made by Hollywood directors Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald was inspired by day diaries kept in the University of Sussex Mass Observation Archive. People around the world are being asked to upload personal films about their lives on YouTube tomorrow (Saturday 24 July) for the biggest ever user-generated film to be made.

Literature/Linguistics - 15.07.2010
It’s all about me: Narcissists bring pluses, minuses to the workplace, study finds
You know the type: self-aggrandizing, self-indulgent and self-absorbed. New research led by psychologist Jack Goncalo, assistant professor in the ILR School, shows how and why narcissists can influence creativity in groups and in the workplace.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Literature/Linguistics - 30.06.2010
More Than Two Billion People Worldwide Lack Access to Surgical Services
More than two billion people worldwide do not have adequate access to surgical treatment, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) . The Harvard researchers also found that people living in high-income regions have far greater access to surgery sites (operating theatres) than do those living in low-income regions and that surgical facilities in low-income settings often lack essential equipment.