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Consuming saturated animal fats is associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. In particular, the consumption of butter, which is rich in saturated fatty acids and trans fats, has been related to a high risk of suffering from this disease. In contrast, the consumption of whole fat yoghurt is associated with a lower risk. These are the findings of study on more than 3,000 men and women aged between 50 and 80 who are participating in the PREDIMED project, a clinical study into the effects of dietary intervention on patients with a high cardiovascular risk

The researchers are part of the Martí i Franquès COFUND Fellowship Programme which is jointly funded by the European Union as part of its Horizon 2020 programme. This new programme at the URV will recruit 25 predoctoral researchers this year and another 25 next year, all on three-year contracts. The call for applications is open from 15 February to 15 April 2017

In 2016 the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Unit of Scientific Communication developed a new educational and communication tool: a series of 12 videos which, with the support of animated illustrations and in little more than 60 seconds, give explanations for common scientific doubts. Researchers from the University have advised on the content of these short audiovisuals, which have been posted on YouTube and are useful for explaining science to students

Research by the URV has demonstrated, for the first time, that the polyphenols in grapes can re-establish the control mechanism that the brain has on appetite and which is altered in obesity. The study reports that adding these phenols to the diet of obese individuals, in conjunction with other therapies, would be a good strategy to reduce the appetite and the excess of body fat

“Times Higher Education” (THE) has published its ranking of the best universities in the world. As in the previous ranking, the URV has been placed between the positions 401 and 500 out of the 980 universities that are included in the ranking. It is the same position that the URV achieved in the Shanghai ranking, in which it has been included for the first time this year

The European Commission has awarded four million euros to the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Martí Franquès COFUND project, which will allow it to contract 50 predoctoral researchers. The recruitment process will take place in 2017 and 2018 and the successful candidates will have be awarded three-year contracts. The University will contribute a further four million euros to the project which will conclude in 2021

A study led by the URV has demonstrated that virgin olive oil enriched with its own polyphenols and with those from thyme protects the DNA from oxidation. When these two types of polyphenol are added to olive oil (or indeed any other product) they decrease the risk of DNA damage, which can affect the metabolism and cell reproduction and lead to pathologies such as cancer, among other negative consequences

Researchers at the URV and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) have discovered why people with obesity not only accumulate glycogen in their muscles and liver, like other people, but also store it in their adipocytes, the cells that make up body fat. These fat cells stop working properly, causing the individual to develop insulin resistance and, potentially, type 2 diabetes. This is the first time that this metabolic pathway has been described and it makes glycogen a new player within the pathology of obesity