There had been a lot of forums and papers published, she says, but the field had been handicapped by a tendency on the part of drug companies to approach the problem on a study-by-study basis, often not following up with communities after the work is done.

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"There's a lot of research that has been going on, but this is the first study that has conducted the phylogenetic approach to measure these acoustics and relate them to one another, " Dr Davila-Ross.

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He said that the government's plans take a more "flexible" approach towards universities, particularly on students' English language requirements and working during study.

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