Asthma, MMR, global warming, DNA and fibre optics will be some of the issues under the spotlight at a prestigious event at Westminster on Monday (March 13) as a team of young scientists from the University of Aberdeen present cutting-edge research.
Six Aberdeen researchers will join the UK’s top young scientists to present their work on engineering, medicine and technology at the House of Commons in a bid to win a series of prestigious national awards and prizes.
The event, which is being held as part of UK National Science Week 2006, will see the Aberdeen team deliver poster presentations at special lunch-time and evening receptions hosted by Dr Brian Iddon MP. More than 100 MPs and Peers will be among the guests attending the events.
Over 370 applications from UK universities were received and from these 260 researchers have been selected to present their work.
Dr Leone Craig is a Research Fellow in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Aberdeen who will deliver her research, which shows that the children of women who have a higher intake of foods containing vitamin E and zinc during pregnancy are less likely to develop asthma at 5 years.
Asthma is a major NHS and public health concern with 5.2million people currently being treated for the condition.
Dr Craig said: “In the UK there has been a dramatic increase in the prevalence of asthma. In children, asthma is one of the commonest causes of hospital admission and long-term medication use. We have hypothesised that decreasing dietary intake of foods rich in antioxidants (especially vegetables) by mothers during pregnancy has contributed to the increase in asthma.”
Zoe Skea is a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen’s Health Services Research Unit, who has been investigating the communication about the MMR vaccine through the analysis of newspaper coverage and an internet discussion forum.
The possibility of a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism in children has been the subject of intense media attention since it was first raised in 1998. Current scientific evidence does not support a casual link between MMR and autism, and the Department of Health continues to promote MMR vaccination. However, uptake has dropped in many parts of the UK, and many parents remain concerned about the safety of the vaccine.
Ms Skea said: “Findings from this study help to explain some limitations of the way the government has dealt with public concerns over MMR. My findings have broader relevance than just for MMR, and offer insights into how to improve government health advice in general.”
Dr Kaliyaperumal Nakkeeran, a Lecturer in the Department of Engineering, and Jacinto Sá, a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, will also present their posters at the prestigious event on Monday.
Dr Nakkeeran’s report, entitled Analytical design of optical fibre transmission systems, will explore a novel method of designing optical fibre systems. He said he is looking forward to participating in Monday’s presentations: “
In optical fibre transmission systems, pulse broadening due to dispersion is one of the major problems. Dispersion management using positive and negative dispersion fibres is a well-known method to solve the pulse broadening problem by periodic breathing. Because of the complex nature of the system governing equation, time consuming numerical methods are used to design the transmission systems. This analytical method is fast, easy and efficient to design fibre systems.
From the Department of Chemistry, Jacinto Sá will deliver his findings relating to global warming and its link to greenhouse gases.
Mr Sá said: “In recent years, environmental issues have received particular media attention. The most widely discussed issues include global warming being linked to the emission of greenhouse gases being implicated in drastic natural disasters, and drinking water contamination by pollutants such as nitrates.
“My poster presentation next week will cover how sources of greenhouse gas (CO2) and water contaminant (NO3) are diverse but the most expressive are linked to activities relating to the combustion of fossil fuel, in areas such as transport and industry, and use of agricultural fertilisers.”
Dr Conrad Nieduszynski, Research Fellow in the DNA Replication Lab, at the University's Institute of Medical Sciences, will present his research on DNA replication.
He explained: "Each time a cell divides it must first replicate its genome and this is achieved by activating hundreds of “DNA replication origins”. I have pinpointed the location of DNA replication origins in budding yeast (an excellent model organism for molecular biologists) by comparing the genomic sequences of closely related yeast species.
"The knowledge of these locations allows us to better understand the processes of DNA replication and in the long term will help us to understand how errors in these processes give rise to genetic diseases such as cancer."
Dr Matt Aitkenhead, Postdoctoral Researcher, in the Department of Plant & Soil Science, will deliver a presentation on understanding the Earth System, including the effects of climate change, particularly global warming, on different types of ecosystem.
His project is part of the larger NERC QUEST (Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System) initiative designed to improve our understanding of the large-scale processes taking place on the Earth.
He said: “The work is focussed on land surface processes, and is aimed primarily at improving our understanding of the carbon cycle, for which there is a lack of knowledge about how many of the processes modelled. In relation to climate change and the balancing of the carbon budget, an increased understanding of how carbon 'pools' will be affected in the future by different ecosystem processes or plant functional types is vital.
“The effects of climate change, and particularly global warming, on different types of ecosystem are not well known. Of particular concern are the effects on areas with a high concentration of peatlands, as these could potentially become net emitters of carbon rather than sinks, leading to a positive reinforcement of global warming and a 'runaway greenhouse effect”.
The annual presentations at the House of Commons are held under the auspices of SET for Britain and Set for Europe (Science, Engineering and Technology for Britain and Europe). This year’s event will be the eighth of its kind and has proved popular with Britain’s younger researchers but also with MPs and Peers. The event takes real research and young scientists to Parliament to help foster better communication between MPs and the researchers.