Research briefings

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• POSTnote 411 ICT for Disabled People Published 22 May 2012 | POST notes POST PN 411 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) underpin many aspects of modern living, so for the 10 million disabled people in the UK access to ICT is an important factor in their quality of life. This POSTnote summarises the issues that disabled people face in using ICT and looks at progress towards achieving equivalent access to services for disabled and non-disabled users. Topic: Children and families, Disability discrimination, Information technology
• Bioenergy Published 15 May 2012 | POST notes POST PN 410 Amended 17 May 2012 Bioenergy is the use of renewable natural material for power, heat and liquid fuels. Currently, the UK sources approximately 3% of its primary energy from bioenergy feedstocks. This POSTnote considers the opportunities and challenges of producing bioenergy sustainably to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. Topic: Agriculture, Agriculture and environment, Climate change, Energy, EU law and treaties, Food, Forestry, Nature conservation, Sustainable development
• Assessing Energy Efficiency Published 15 May 2012 | POST notes POST PN 409 This POSTnote examines definitions of energy efficiency, looks at methods to measure and verify achieved energy savings and summarises UK and EU polices to promote energy efficiency. Topic: Climate change, Energy, Energy conservation, Fuel poverty, Manufacturing industries
• Seeking Sustainability Published 20 March 2012 | POST notes POST PN 408 Sustainability is the long term maintenance and enhancement of human well-being within finite planetary resources. It is usually considered to have environmental, economic, and social dimensions. This POSTnote summarises issues in defining and achieving sustainability Topic: Environmental protection, Sustainable development
• Consumer Genetic Testing Published 15 March 2012 | POST notes POST PN 407 This POSTnote explores the scientific, regulatory, and ethical issues related to genetic tests sold to consumers. Topic: Data protection, Diseases, Genetics, Health education and preventive medicine, Health services
• Personalised Cancer Treatments Published 15 March 2012 | POST notes POST PN 406 Recent technological advances in both diagnostics and therapeutics have the potential to make the treatment of cancer more personalised. Topic: Diseases, Health services, Medicine, Research and innovation, Science
• Impacts of Video Games Published 15 March 2012 | POST notes POST PN 405 There is debate surrounding the impact of violent video games on behaviour. Topic: Children and families, Internet and cybercrime, Mental health, Schools
• Livestock Super Farms Published 15 March 2012 | POST notes POST PN 404 This POSTnote examines the current issues surrounding intensification of livestock production in the UK. Topic: Agriculture, Common Agricultural Policy, Countryside, Environmental protection, Food, Planning, Pollution
• Low Carbon Technologies for Energy-Intensive Industries Published 16 February 2012 | POST notes POST PN 403 Energy-intensive industries such as chemicals, paper, ceramics, cement, iron and steel are responsible for 45% of carbon emissions from businesses and the public sector in the UK. This briefing discusses carbon dioxide (CO2) abatement technologies for these industries and policies to support their adoption. Topic: Climate change, Energy, Industry
• Resilience to Natural Hazards in Developing Nations Published 16 February 2012 | POST notes POST PN 402 In the last 10 years, over 500,000 people have lost their lives and around 1.5 billion people have been adversely affected due to rapid-onset natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunami, floods and tropical storms. This briefing discusses the potential for science and technology to enhance resilience to such hazards in developing nations. Topic: Emergencies and disaster management, International development
• Biomedical Patents Published 03 February 2012 | POST notes POST PN 401 This POSTnote considers how patent law is applied to biomedical inventions and examines the potential impact on patient access to diagnostic tests and innovation. Topic: Intellectual property, Medical ethics, Research and innovation
• Climate Variability and Weather Published 03 February 2012 | POST notes POST PN 400 Short-term differences from long-term climate, or "climate variability", can increase the risk of damaging extreme weather events. This POSTnote examines the causes of climate variability and the use of global climate models to understand, and predict, these variations. Topic: Climate change
• Open Access to Scientific Information Published 25 January 2012 | POST notes POST PN 397 The internet has transformed the nature of scientific research, opening up new ways to collect, use and disseminate scientific information. This has led to increased demand for access to such information. Open Access (OA) to scientific journal publications means making them freely available online, rather than charging readers to view them. OA to research data means making research data more widely available for re-use by others to support research, innovation and wider public use. Topic: Data protection, Research and innovation
• Solar Photovoltaics Published 25 January 2012 | POST notes POST PN 398 Amended 20 February 2012 Solar power has the potential to provide low carbon electricity and to generate employment. This POSTnote discusses the development of solar power in the UK and summarises debate over feed-in tariffs - financial support policies introduced in 2010 to stimulate take-up. Topic: Energy
• Measuring Energy Security Published 23 January 2012 | POST notes POST PN 399 This POSTnote explores ways in which energy security may be measured for monitoring purposes. Topic: Coal, Electricity, Energy, Energy conservation, Nuclear power, Oil, petrol and natural gas, Renewable energy
• Natural Flood Management Published 05 December 2011 | POST notes POST PN 396 Natural flood management, defined here as the alteration, restoration or use of landscape features, is being promoted as a novel way of reducing flood risk. This POSTnote reviews the policy drivers of this approach, as well as the scientific basis, and implementation, of inland natural flood management strategies. Topic: Agriculture and environment, Flooding
• Explosive Injuries Published 05 December 2011 | POST notes POST PN 395 This briefing provides a background to explosive injury, explores developments in mitigation science, and highlights research priorities. Topic: Armed forces welfare, Defence policy, Health services
• Invasive Tree Pests and Diseases Published 19 October 2011 | POST notes POST PN 394 Tree diseases and pests from outside or already spreading within, Europe, have the potential to damage or kill large number of trees in the UK's country and urban landscapes. Topic: Forestry
• Improving livestock Published 12 October 2011 | POST notes POST PN 393 Amended 18 October 2011 This note describes current technologies used in livestock breeding, research into future technologies and how the improvement of livestock can contribute towards future food security. Topic: Agriculture, Animal diseases, Animal welfare, Animals, Diseases, Genetics
• Livestock disease Published 12 October 2011 | POST notes POST PN 392 Amended 18 October 2011 This POSTnote examines disease threats to UK livestock, outlines prevention and control measures, and looks at factors likely to contribute to future disease. Topic: Agriculture, Animal diseases, Animal welfare, Animals, Diseases