42609 the view 7 - loughborough university€¦ · e. hobby (ed.), the midwives book, or, the whole...

the loughborough university

autumn/winter 2010

the end of the superbug?how hope could lie in plasma medicine

on the street where they livethe impact of ‘studentification’

the birth of a bestsellerhow a 16th century midwifery

book became a runaway success

To subscribe free to The View or request extra copies call +44 (0)1509 222224 or email [email protected]

For more information about Loughborough University visit www.lboro.ac.uk

An electronic version of The View can be downloaded from www.lboro.ac.uk/theview

The View is published by the Public Relations Office, Hazlerigg Building, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU

T: +44 (0)1509 222224 E: [email protected] www.lboro.ac.uk/publicrelations

Editor: Hannah Baldwin T: +44 (0)1509 222239 E: [email protected]

Design: Design and Print Services, Loughborough University T: +44 (0)1509 222190 E: [email protected] www.lboro.ac.uk/designandprint

Photography: Andrew Weekes T: +44 (0)7836 566295 and Design and Print Services. Front cover image © istockphoto.com

This publication has been printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper by Newnorth Print Ltd who hold the FSC environmental accreditation.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from

Loughborough University’s Public Relations Office. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Loughborough University.

T42609 DPS N

ov10

cover storythe end of the superbug?Since the discovery of penicillin, antibiotics have been

regarded as the wonder drug of modern medicine.

But with bacteria now evolving widespread resistance,

could mankind soon become unprotected against killer

bugs? Academics from the University’s Department of

Electronic and Electrical Engineering are among those

investigating a promising cure – plasma medicine.

14

1820 24

10

6

262

06 the birth of a bestseller

10 the end of the superbug?

14 on the street where they live

18 in the bag

20 stand up! it’s not a laughing matter

24 could maths unlock the mysteries of the brain?

26 the view round up

02 building successfullearning landscapes

2 | the view the view | 3

Academic and administrative workplaces typically take up

25 to 30 percent of a university’s estate. This valuable space

is often poorly utilised and can be unsuitable for today’s

high-tech, open-plan, and collaborative ways of working.

Professor Simon Austin, alongside a dedicated team of

researchers, has spent more than two decades investigating

the building design process and, more recently, ways to

make academic and learning landscapes more effective,

adaptable places to work and study.

Alison Laing met him to discuss the important outcomes

of his research projects – one of which took place on the

University campus itself.

building successful

learning landscapes


Professor Simon Austin of the Department of Civil and Building Engineering is a self-confessed design management addict. During his career he’s helped build airports, hospitals, the M5 and A30. And the former Loughborough student, who returned to the University in 1984, has also left an important design legacy on campus.

Professor Austin was involved in the refurbishment and

extension of one of Loughborough’s landmark buildings –

the Sir Frank Gibb building. He was asked to prepare a bid for

external funding for the building project and was supported by

colleagues including Alistair Gibb, Neil Dixon and Jacqui Glass.

They called it the Centre for Collaborative Construction

Research (CCCR) and it detailed their business objectives,

the user requirements for spaces and buildings, and listed

possible questions and dilemmas. It also included their vision

statement: ‘to create an environment and culture that supports

world-class research and learning.’

The CCCR bid was a success and in 2004 the University received

£4.75million from the Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF).

Professor Austin became the ‘design champion’ for the building

project, which has since won several design accolades including

the Leicestershire ProCon building of the year.

As work on the Sir Frank Gibb building began, Professor

Austin spotted an opportunity not only to design-manage

the CCCR project, but to investigate the effect the changing

space would have on those who worked and studied there.

He won a grant from the University’s Innovative Manufacturing

and Construction Research Centre for a two-year study,

in collaboration with colleague Professor Mark Lansdale

from Human Sciences (now Head of Psychology at Leicester

University). Key research staff Dr Jen Parkin (formerly in Human

Sciences) and Dr James Pinder (a facilities management expert,

formerly at Sheffield Hallam University) also came onboard.

Professor Austin explained: “Our study into research-orientated working environments dovetailed perfectly with the CCCR project. We had a fantastic opportunity, right here on campus, to try to understand what effect changing space might have on the PhD students who worked and studied here.

“We sat among the students and observed, and we watched

them from afar, via cameras. We asked them to complete

interviews, diaries and questionnaires. It was a fascinating and

intense project.”

He added: “One of the key outcomes we demonstrated was

that changing space doesn’t necessarily change behaviours.

Even when you take down physical barriers, such as walls, it

doesn’t mean people are going to talk to each other.”

The results of this research provided a platform for two further,

national research projects – one on academic workplaces,

which Professor Austin led, and one on learning landscapes.

These were funded by the Higher Education Funding

Council for England and involved many universities,

both old and new.

On the study of academic office space, Professor Austin said:

“A principal finding was that there is no single, best answer.

The perfect one-size-fits-all office does not exist. Each situation

is unique, and you are always trying to balance conflicting

demands, for example solitude versus collaboration, privacy

versus transparency, individual versus institution.

“The culture for increasing collaboration is frequently the

reason for creating new types of academic office space,

but the academic reward system is still based primarily

around individual achievement, and the starting point –

doctoral research – is largely a solitary activity. Neither

provides a great incentive for collaboration.”

Professor Austin explained that for the most part,

conversations about academic workspace design have been

driven by the suppliers of space (estates professionals and

architects), rather than the consumers of space (academics,

researchers and senior managers).

He said: “Engaging with users of a building is crucial – but it’s

equally important that users are prepared to engage. We need

to work hard at improving the dialogue between the suppliers

and the consumers if we are to build successful universities of

the future. And in doing so, we need to focus on effectiveness

as well as efficiency.” Want to know more?Contact: Professor Simon Austin T: 01509 222608 E: [email protected]

Visit: www.academicworkspace.com and www.learninglandscapes.org.uk

He added: “There is also strong evidence that appointing

an empowered and passionate ‘space champion’ to oversee

a project is key to success. However, the role can be time

consuming and volunteers would need incentive, support

and reward for their efforts.”

Commenting on his work on learning landscapes, Professor Austin said: “The successful universities will be the ones that have thought carefully how they’re going to achieve the difficult goals of meeting their strategic objectives and aspirations with fewer resources – of which space is one.

“We also need to think about how our built estate will support

our academic activities in the future. There are many pressures,

including the expectations of students, an increased emphasis

on collaboration and interdisciplinary working, aging estates, IT

developments and financial pressures. The likely squeeze on public

funding of higher education, combined with increases in tuition fees

will require a substantial rethink on how to deliver a high quality

experience and outcome for the student, business and society.”

He concluded: “Good buildings can be transformational,

for those who work and study there, and for universities

as a whole. Their value lives on, long after the material

costs are forgotten.”

“We sat among the students and observed, and we watched them from afar, via cameras.

We asked them to complete interviews, diaries and questionnaires. It was a fascinating and intense project.”

Architects’ impression of the extension to the Sir Frank Gibb building. Courtesy of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects.


In 16th century Britain there was a publication

that took the country by storm, selling tens

of thousands of copies. The term ‘bestseller’

didn’t exist then but if it had, this book would

have consistently featured in the top ten

listings – for more than 100 years!

It was called The Birth of Mankind, otherwise

named the Woman’s book, and was the most

important English language work on midwifery

in the 1500s.

Loughborough University’s Head of English

and Drama, Professor Elaine Hobby, has

brought this publication back to life with her

modern annotated edition. Alison Laing went

to meet her to discuss the book’s ‘evolution’,

appeal and the insights historical texts bring

us about societies gone by.

the birth of a

bestseller

The Birth of Mankind had universal appeal.

It was read by royalty (the first edition

was dedicated to Henry VIII’s ill-fated

wife, Catherine Howard), by scientists

and medical types, professionals and

playwrights (William Shakespeare surely

would have seen it), by the middling

classes and by simple, ordinary folk.

The secret to its success was it was written in English, not

Latin, and it was aimed at the general reader. The manual was

also used much more widely than merely preparing women for

birth. Sections on fertility and pregnancy were expanded on

over time, and ‘dirty pictures’ (human anatomy illustrations),

were also added. It effectively became a bestselling 16th

century sex guide – and it sold and sold.

The book first appeared in Britain in 1540. The text was translated

and adapted by school master Richard Jonas from the German

Der schwangern Frauwen und Hebammen Rosengarten (1513),

written by Eucharius Rösslin. A second translation by Thomas

Raynalde, came out in 1545. The final edition was produced in

1654 – that was until Professor Elaine Hobby’s recent rework.

Professor Hobby discovered The Birth of Mankind while

working on a series for Oxford University Press called

Women writers in English 1350-1850. She had been invited

to edit a book of her choice and, due to a longstanding

fascination in medical texts, she chose Jane Sharp’s

The Midwives Book (1671).

She said: “It was the first midwifery book, published in

English and written by a woman. Although it’s full of

medical information, it’s also packed with stories,

and Sharp’s mischievous jokes.

“As I worked on the book, I was intrigued as to where this midwife was getting all her stories and ideas from. Were they personal theories, or general ideas of the day, or was she plagiarising?”

Professor Hobby set about tracing Sharp’s sources.

One of which was The Birth of Mankind.

Want to know more?Contact: Professor Elaine Hobby, Head of English and Drama T: 01509 222950 E: [email protected]

Publications:Elaine Hobby (ed.), The Birth of Mankind, Otherwise Named, The Woman’s Book (Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009).

E. Hobby (ed.), The Midwives Book, Or, the Whole Art of Midwifery Discovered (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).

The original 1513 German version had been addressed to professional midwives to help them pass their exams. Many European countries had a state-controlled midwifery system established, but Britain did not. Here, midwives learned their trade through informal apprenticeships, which is why the British translation by Jonas in 1540 was less formal and technical in style.

In addition to the relaxed writing style, Jonas’ translation focused on the woman’s experience. On almost every page in the volume he added warm and positive comments about women.

Jonas also added a final section which isn’t in the German original. He introduces material about sexual reproduction, (how to get pregnant). This was significant as from then on, every English-language midwifery manual would feature a section about sex.

The 1545 translation was written by a doctor Thomas Raynalde. He added some 100 pages (18,000 words), including even more detail on sexual parts. He too was very sympathetic towards women. He dismissed any idea that the female body was dirty, or that there was anything dirty about sex.

There were pictures in his publication too. Raynalde’s source for the sexual anatomical illustrations was Vesalius’ hugely significant anatomy work, On the Fabric of the Human Body (1543).

Professor Hobby said: “Raynalde took the most up-to-date science of the moment and made it available for a general reader in English, just two years after it came out in Latin.

“Even more extraordinary, Raynalde uses the discoveries of Vesalius and reads them very differently. For example, he draws the womb and shapes it like a heart. No longer is the womb portrayed as a ‘sewer’ or ‘drain’, but as an organ of love.”

The book contains an extraordinary wide range of material drawn together from across the world. For example, in each version there are sections on infant care and the treatment of infant illnesses, packed with tender, child-focused ideas. These sources are from Islamic medicine, but are hidden because this was a time when the British were being told Islam was some foreign, terrible thing.

The midwifery manual as a genre in Britain was different to those being published on the Continent. This was because The Birth of Mankind was not only a German publication, but a Catholic one.

Professor Hobby explained: “The German original contained what we might view today as old-fashioned Catholic ideas of its period, about women and sex and their bodies. For example, they believed women had pain in childbirth because Eve ate the apple. They believed there was no point of doing anything about this pain, because it was God’s will, as women were sinful.”

Many European countries had a state-controlled midwifery system established, but Britain did not.

Here, midwives learned their trade through informal apprenticeships.

She added: “Henry VIII brings in English Protestantism, and central to English Protestantism, specifically, is the belief God deliberately gives us the capacity for sexual pleasure in order to make us bond with a person for life and to have children lovingly within that relationship. Sexual pleasure is part of God’s plan.

“Those beliefs enter both Jonas’ and Raynalde’s texts. Their attitude to the female sexual body is a wholly positive one.”

Professor Hobby continued: “Raynalde, again concerned about the woman and the pain of childbirth, notes ‘it is sometimes the case during childbirth the woman has such pain she swears never to have anything more to do with a man.’ He goes on to say that he should not worry though ‘because the love she has for her husband and the sheer delight that’s available, she puts such ideas to one side after a while.’

“There is that very powerful sense here of something which goes beyond historic change, because these are exactly the stories we still tell today.”

Raynalde adds a final chapter to his edition on ‘beautifying remedies’ for men and women, which Professor Hobby finds the most entertaining of all. Amongst others, he has a remedy for dandruff, freckles, for warts, and stinking breath.

Professor Hobby said: “My very favourite moment is a remedy for ‘the rank savour of the armhole’. Raynalde states ‘this vice in many persons is very tedious and loathsome.’

“I love that bit especially, because I was always taught that people in this period were very smelly, but that nobody really noticed or much cared. Well they most certainly did – or they wouldn’t be offering remedies.

“If you were not reading this book in a literary way, you may well miss the puns, the irony, the amusement, the anger, the tone. What wonderful insights these historical texts bring us!”

8 | the view

Illustration from The Birth of Mankind

Professor Elaine Hobby

For decades, medical researchers have been

developing a wide range of antibiotics to treat

infectious diseases. Indeed, antibiotics have been

regarded as the wonder drug of modern medicine,

ever since Alexander Fleming made his chance

discovery more than 80 years ago.

But in recent times, bacteria have evolved

widespread resistance to this vital medical defence,

and there are few, new antibiotics in the pipeline.

As a result, some scientists are predicting the

end of antibiotics, leaving mankind potentially

unprotected against killer bugs.

However, there is hope. It’s called plasma medicine

and some 50 groups of researchers worldwide are

currently working on it. Professor Michael Kong is

an authority on the medical use of plasmas.

He spoke to Alison Laing about the grand challenge

ahead and Loughborough University’s unique role in

the development of this most promising cure.

the end of the superbug?


Loughborough researchers have developed disinfection devices

that can rid hands of harmful bacteria in seconds, without the use

of traditional soaps, scrubs or gels.

The devices bathe hands in a low-temperature gas plasma (a mix

of chemicals that can be controlled to be harmless to skin).

A 10-second exposure to the plasma can reduce the incidence of

bacteria, viruses and fungal infection by a factor of one million.

Also in development are plasma jets that can be placed into air

conditioning units, which zap harmful micro-organisms as they

flow from one room to another. This can be used to control the

transmission of infection.

Researchers are currently in discussion with industry to develop these cleaning devices commercially. They could appear in hospitals and care homes within 18 months; protecting the vulnerable, saving lives – and saving the health industry billions of pounds in infection control costs.

Loughborough University is at the forefront of this new healthcare

hope. The campus hosts the world’s first purpose-built, integrated

laboratory to study plasma medicine. Here, plasma physicists,

plasma chemists, cell biologists and engineers all ‘cook’ together,

under one roof, collectively sharing their knowledge and ideas.

They include Professor Michael Kong, a bioelectric engineering

researcher and renowned plasma medicine expert who was

recently presented with the inaugural International Plasma

Medicine Prize, alongside two US-based scientists.

He said: “We have all-but exhausted all the natural and synthetic-

based antibiotics available to us, which is alarming. Plasma

medicine is an important breakthrough that can potentially

protect us from superbugs, such as MRSA and C difficile.

Since plasma can inflict simultaneous damage to DNA, protein

synthesis, cell membrane integrity and synthesis, and nucleotide

biosynthesis, it is difficult for bacteria to develop resistance.

We are not saying bacteria will not develop resistance to plasma.

We are saying that in the absence of any obvious alternative

method, this is our best chance.”

He added: “Exploring this groundbreaking science requires multi-disciplinary working on a vast scale. The scientific and technological challenges are significant and numerous. You have got to work with cell biologists, clinicians, corporations, even your competitors. You also have a responsibility to educate and excite your students so that they can lead from the front line of plasma medicine research in future.

“As pioneers venturing into the unknown, we are faced with the

grand challenge of developing science as we advance the medical

applications of plasmas. But if plasma medicine did offer a novel

antimicrobial strategy to effectively address bacterial resistance,

somebody in our research community would have made Nobel-

prize winning achievements. Perhaps not in this generation, but

maybe the next. That’s how big this is.”

Plasmas are common in our universe. They can be found in

Saturn’s rings and, closer to home, in the form of a luminous gas

in televisions, neon signs and fluorescent light tubes. Their ‘talent’

for killing bacteria has been known for years.

Professor Kong and his team specialise in near room temperature gas plasma

applications. The antibacterial ‘soups’ they have developed for the hand cleaners and

air conditioning units contain more than 200 chemical reactions, and are triggered by

running an electrical current through air.

He explained: “What we are using, in terms of gas, is only what you’d find in the body

naturally – oxygen, nitrogen, and water – nothing else. An electric current ionises

these, creating nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide and other particles that can quickly

inactivate bacteria, viruses and fungi.

“Plasma mimics what is already going on in the body. When a human has

immunology compromise situations, for example when we have an infection, our

regulation of producing reactive oxygen species or reactive nitrogen species becomes

compromised. We don’t produce them in the right amount. Plasma simply tries to

compensate that. It works together in synergy with our human bodies, regulating it.”

Professor Kong admits there are still fundamental issues to be resolved in plasma

medicine. He explained: “We need to discover under what optimum plasma condition

we can design this cocktail of chemicals where we can kill bacteria, and delay their

resistance, while at the same time causing little or no damage to the ‘surfaces’,

such as skin, or someone’s wound. Once we understand that, we can underpin the

underlying science of many plasma-based therapeutic solutions and their commercial

realisation. This will open the door to an incredible array of opportunities.

“We also need further study to see if plasma can cause a mutation within bacteria

and if so how this could be controlled. So far there is no evidence of this, but we

must continue to look at that.”

It may sound futuristic but in fact, plasma medicine is not ‘light years’ away. It’s

already being used to sterilise surgical instruments. Professor Kong predicts that hand

disinfection devices will come onto the market within two years, as will a plasma-

based athlete’s foot treatment. Wound healing could take five to seven years because

of the necessity, and cost, of clinical trails. Cancer therapy (suppressing tumour

growth), could be with us in about 10 years. The combined market for this technology

is hundreds of billions of dollars.

Professor Kong said: “This is a massive public heath issue. We need to get some

of the relatively ready plasma medicine technology, such as hand disinfection, out

onto the market quickly and use their success as solid evidence, so we can draw in

more funding to tackle more difficult challenges, and move even further forward with

plasma and its potential.”

Professor Kong concluded: “The greatest compliment for any researcher is to see

their work benefiting people’s everyday lives in a positive way. I am exceptionally

motivated and excited to be working in this area at this time.”

What to know more?Contact: Michael G Kong, Professor of Bioelectrics Engineering

T: 01509 227075 E: [email protected]

To see Professor Kong’s research in action, view the online

video of this story at www.lboro.ac.uk/theview

As pioneers venturing into the unknown,

we are faced with the grand challenge ofdeveloping science as we advance the

medical applications of plasmas.

Professor Michael Kong

Think of a student house and images of The Young Ones may well spring

to mind – three, four or even more people all living under one roof.

Multiply that several times and you get some idea of the concentration of

students living in pockets of university towns up and down the country.

With ‘studentification’ now a familiar phrase, does the man who coined

it – Dr Darren Smith from the Department of Geography – see the issue

changing any time soon? Hannah Baldwin finds out.

on the street

where they live


At the end of the nineties Dr Darren Smith

was at the University of Leeds, researching

‘gentrification’ – the displacement of an

area’s established residents by incoming

middle classes – when he noticed another

burgeoning phenomenon.

“Areas around the University had begun to change quite

dramatically as a result of the growth in the student

population,” he said. “Owner occupiers were moving out

and increasing numbers of students, and houses of multiple

occupation, were appearing.”

He called the trend ‘studentification’, coining a term which has

now entered mainstream consciousness. Since then Darren has

become the country’s leading academic expert in this much

talked about matter, looking into where, how and why it has

taken hold.

In 2005 Universities UK, higher education’s representative body,

commissioned Darren to draft a guide to help universities take

steps toward better managing the presence of their students in

local communities.

“It was still a relatively neglected issue back then,” he says. “I

think the guide helped to open some universities’ eyes to the

issue, and to the consequences they faced if they continued to

bury their heads in the sand.”

These days universities take studentification much more

seriously and according to Darren, Loughborough is at the

forefront.

With approximately 11,000 full-time undergraduates requiring accommodation in the town, 30 percent of whom are students living in established residential communities, Loughborough has areas which have become dominated over the years by student-occupied houses – with all the typical problems ensuing for local residents.

“Loughborough was no different from any other university in

the difficulties it faced but I think it was the pioneer in taking

this issue seriously,” says Darren.

“It launched a community warden scheme in 2001 to

help improve communication with residents in the most

‘studentified’ areas of the town, and appointed a Community

Relations Officer in 2003 to act as the focal point for liaison

between the University and the Loughborough community.

These appointments were a real turning point and the

springboard for ongoing developments in the University’s

relationship with the community. Loughborough’s been

proactive rather than just reactive in addressing some of

the fundamental issues of studentification.”

Back in 2009 Loughborough was one of a few universities

that took part in a Government consultation exercise to tackle

the issue of houses of multiple occupation, or HMOs, through

the planning process, and in April this year the then Labour

Government passed legislation that required landlords to gain

planning permission to convert a house into an HMO.

“Studentification has probably been a key driver behind this. The other factor, of course, is increasing competition to recruit students. If you can offer them high quality, university-managed accommodation, on or close to the campus, it’s a definite selling point. And if students enjoy good quality accommodation in their first year in a hall of residence, they’re more likely to want a similar standard in future years, which purpose-built accommodation provides.”

Darren says that student tastes in accommodation are

definitely changing. “When I first looked at this issue, back in

2001, some students were seemingly quite content living in

quite grotty accommodation. When I did the same survey last

year, their expectations were more akin to those of young

professionals – they want flat screen TVs and wi-fi as part of

the package. Of course there’s a financial cost to that, but

they were definitely willing to pay higher rental costs for

newly-built accommodation with all the frills.”

and which are currently lying vacant. We’ll have thousands of

students graduating from university, who because of financial

constraints, including their considerable debt, can’t get on

the owner-occupier property ladder. I think those high-spec

city centre apartments, sited close to where they’re working,

will be quite attractive to graduates. We could have a domino

effect. It’s an area that needs further research.”

Darren’s current research is focused on the impact of the

recession on the student housing market.

“With fewer students now seeking private rented

accommodation, landlords have lowered their prices to give

their property a competitive edge over the purpose-built

accommodation. But now some of the commercial providers

are dropping the rent for their purpose-built flats. It’s an

interesting dynamic.”

Over the last 12 months there have been growing numbers

of private rented HMOs coming up for sale, a consequence,

Darren believes, of the small scale buy-to-let landlords

exiting the market.

A lot of brownfield sites have been used for purpose-built student accommodation, which has helped to

regenerate areas of towns, but if the sites are too far out, I suspect they’ll struggle to fill their bed spaces.

Just two months later, however, the new Coalition Government

announced its intention to revoke the legislation to give local

councils rather than ministers the discretion to decide whether

landlords needed planning permission for an HMO. They

claimed the problems that arise from concentrations of HMOs

“are not widespread” and that the existing laws increased costs

for landlords, risking the supply of rented homes.

Loughborough, alongside many community residents’ groups,

has urged the Government to reconsider, citing the additional

cost to local councils, at a time of significant budget cuts, as

potentially prohibitive to the effectiveness of the legislation.

How the issue pans out remains to be seen. However, other

changes in student accommodation could help to ameliorate

the HMO issue, suggests Darren.

“Over the last few years there’s been significant growth in the

volume of purpose-built student accommodation developed by

commercial companies, and universities are refurbishing and

even expanding their halls of residence. This has given students

more options than they had five or ten years ago.

Want to know more?Contact: Dr Darren Smith T: 01509 222745 E: [email protected]

To see Darren’s research in action, view the online video of this story

at www.lboro.ac.uk/theview

Proximity is also an issue, with students wanting to live close

to where they’re studying.

“The developments have to be in the right location,” cautions

Darren. “A lot of brownfield sites have been used for purpose-

built student accommodation, which has helped to regenerate

areas of towns, but if the sites are too far out, I suspect they’ll

struggle to fill their bed spaces.

“You also have to consider the impact on the local population

when you’re developing these ‘student villages’. Yes, you have

to ensure the accommodation appeals to students, but you

can’t suddenly house hundreds, even thousands of students

near an established community and expect it to work, just

because the students are in purpose-built accommodation

rather than HMOs. All that does is displace the studentification

problem from one area of the town to another.”

So does students’ demand for convenience and quality follow

through into their post-university lives? Possibly, says Darren.

“There are thousands of town centre apartments across the

country that have been built or converted in the last ten years

“I think we’ll see the larger agents begin to dominate the

HMO market. They’ll have access to the capital needed to

upgrade their properties and the quality of private rented

accommodation could become more akin to that of halls of

residence or purpose-built accommodation.”

How the issue of student accommodation unfolds over the

next few years is still up for debate. The potential introduction

of higher student fees, changes in the Government’s higher

education policy and a potential deceleration in the growth of

student numbers could all have an impact

“Are we beginning to see the demise of studentification?”

ponders Darren. “I think it’s evolving. At the moment we’re

probably seeing higher concentrations of students in some

parts of towns than we had in HMO-dominated areas due to the

growth of commercially- or university-managed residences. The

absolute key to successfully moving forward is how the student

populations are integrated into university towns and cities.

“So whatever happens with student numbers in the future,

universities will always have a major role to play.”

Dr Darren Smith


in the bag Andy says: “There is a big unknown. We do not know what happens when these plastics break down. We have recommended further research be undertaken in this area.”

The research also raised concerns that oxo-degradable plastics were neither suitable for conventional recycling methods, due to the chemical additives, nor suitable for composting, due to the plastic not breaking down fast enough.

“One of the issues involved here is public understanding.

Labelling the oxo-degradable plastics as biodegradable has

the potential to cause confusion on the part of consumers.

They may assume that biodegradable plastics are compostable

and this could lead to contamination of composted material,”

explains Andy.

Want to know more?Contact: Dr Noreen Thomas

T: 01509 223334 E: [email protected]

Dr Noreen Thomas and her team will be speaking about their research at the Waste 2010 conference: Waste and Resources Management – Putting Strategy into Practice later this year.

The research was put through a rigorous independent peer review by recognised academics before being made public in March this year.

Its publication provoked a flurry of press interest with extensive coverage in the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph and other national and international media.

“There was a lot of publicity and its impact was significant in that way. There are a lot of issues here and our job was to bring them all together,’’ says Noreen.

The then Environment Minister Dan Norris said he hoped the research would discourage manufacturers and retailers from claiming that the materials involved were better for the environment than conventional plastics.

Consumers were encouraged to take their own bags to the shops, with some retailers introducing a charge for plastic bags. The public responded with enthusiasm, drastically reducing the use of disposable carriers.

Into this mix, however, was thrown another solution. Oxo-degradable plastic bags offered an alternative, and some retailers began to produce this new breed of bag, often describing them as degradable, biodegradable or environmentally-friendly.

Noreen and her team, whose past work on biopolymers made them suitable candidates for the research project, set out to investigate whether these claims – which are often written on the side of bags and on producers’ websites – were valid.

“We evaluated the evidence used to support these claims. We reviewed scientific literature and other information in the public domain and we consulted with stakeholders – the manufacturers of these additives, the retailers, trade bodies and waste treatment companies,’’ explains Noreen.

The study looked at how quickly – and to what extent – these plastics degraded, and their effect on the environment at the end of their lifecycle. The team’s findings, conclusions and recommendations caused a stir.

Contrary to some claims, the study found that using additives to accelerate a plastic’s degradation did not improve its environmental impact.

As the speed of degradation depends on the levels of heat and oxygen in the surroundings, the report suggested that oxo-degradable plastics could take between two and five years to degrade in UK weather conditions, meaning that plastic bags could remain as litter for this period.

What would happen in landfill conditions was unclear, with the possibility that there would not be sufficient oxygen for the plastic to degrade at all.

The report also highlighted an uncertainty about the impact of the plastics on the natural environment when they begin to break down into smaller pieces.

Over the last few years, plastic bags have become a virtual social pariah, with shoppers

shunning them in their droves in favour of ‘greener’ alternatives. One of these is the oxo-

degradable bag, lauded by some as the environmentally-friendly choice. But are they really as

‘green’ as they’re claimed to be? Sarah Hall met Dr Noreen Thomas and her team to find out.

Senior lecturer Dr Noreen Thomas has a pleasant office in

Loughborough’s Department of Materials; a pot plant flourishes

in one corner and her desk is neatly littered with the usual

debris of university life.

But a glance to the top of Noreen’s filing cabinet reveals debris

of quite a different kind – a collection of degrading plastic bags.

“Don’t open that one, or there will be bits of plastic everywhere,”

warns research associate Dr Andy McLauchlin, as we sit down to

talk about their work on oxo-degradable plastics.

Last year, Noreen and Andy, along with research fellow

Dr Jane Clarke and industrial expert Stuart Patrick, were

commissioned by Defra (the Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs) to investigate the environmental

impact of oxo-degradable plastics.

Already widely used in degradable plastic bags, refuse sacks

and flexible packaging, oxo-degradable plastics contain

additives which cause them to degrade more quickly than

traditional polythenes.

With most of the readily available information on oxo-

degradable plastics coming from retailers or the producers

themselves, Defra was keen to gain an unbiased, expert

evaluation of their impact on the environment.

There’s a very serious purpose behind this research.

Few will have missed the public storm that erupted over plastic

bags, culminating in the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown

announcing in 2007 that he would like to “eliminate” single-use

plastic bags from Britain.

At that point, more than 13 billion bags were issued to British

shoppers every year – about 220 per person – with billions

littering our landscapes, polluting our waterways and eventually

finding their way into landfill.

A variety of solutions were proposed to reduce the impact of

plastic bags on the environment, broadly based around the

‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ platforms.

More than 13 billion bags were issued to British shoppers every year –

about 220 per person – with billions littering our landscapes,

polluting our waterways and eventually finding their way into landfill.

The team made three recommendations as part of their report, including increased clarity over the use of the word ‘biodegradable’ in label packaging.

They also recommended further research into the fate of oxo-degradable plastic after it has fragmented to a fine powder. Does it break down completely into carbon dioxide and water? At present, it is not clear and, if the particles persist for a long time, they believe further research should be carried out to determine their effect on the wider environment.

The team’s final recommendation is that oxo-degradable plastics be kept out of mainstream plastics recycling processes due to the uncertainties surrounding their effect on the system. In particular the risk that the additives in oxo-degradable plastics will accelerate the degradation of recycled plastic.

The Government department is currently updating its guidance on Green Claims. This code is designed to help businesses make accurate and robust claims about the environmental performance of their products and services and Loughborough’s research will feed into those recommendations.

The manufacturers of additives used in oxo-degradable plastics have strongly refuted the academics’ conclusions and have defended their product with vigour.

Noreen and her team stand firm, proud of their research and the University’s contribution to this global issue.

“It is an emotive subject and it would have been very easy to be hyperbolic and alarmist. We concentrated on providing a critical, neutral evaluation. It is important that this sort of work is done so that the right way forward can be found,’’ she says.

A fragmented oxo-degradable bag


People today are eating a poor diet and

exercising less than in previous generations.

Childhood obesity is on the rise in most

developed countries worldwide.

In an attempt to tackle this worrying public

health problem, Loughborough researchers

conducted a study that examined how

teenagers spent their leisure time, what

activities they were doing, and what

needs they served. In particular, they were

interested in what ‘sedentary’ behaviours they

were doing – this is essentially ‘sitting time’.

Alison Laing spoke to Professor Stuart

Biddle about the findings, which have been

acknowledged by the Department of Health

and could be used to develop national

guidelines to encourage young people,

and adults, to be less sedentary.

stand up! it’s not a laughing matter


“However, previous studies on the relationship between

sedentary behaviour and health have been limited, as

researchers tended to restrict their work to TV viewing and body

weight. Watching television is still the most prevalent sedentary

behaviour, with people watching at least two hours a day on

average – and some more than four – but the picture is much

more complex than that.

“The aim of our research was to measure what teenagers were

actually doing during the day in their leisure time, after school

and at weekends, and to discover if they were sedentary or

active during those periods. From that, we could target those

‘critical hours’ and seek reductions in sedentary behaviour

through interventions, rather than just target a particular

behaviour such as TV viewing, in a blanket way.”

Professor Biddle’s research was unique in a number of ways.

It used a large sample of teenagers and looked at the behaviour

of youngsters across the day, because they were required to fill

out detailed time diaries. This provided good, solid time-use data

which enabled researchers to ‘tease out’ what they were doing

at particular times, as well as where they were and who they

were with.

The results also found gender differences. For example, computer gaming was much more likely to be favoured by boys, while girls spent more time socialising and talking to friends on the phone. Both are equally sedentary, but they are different behaviours.

It’s estimated there are some two

million children in the UK today who are

overweight or obese – a figure which

has risen dramatically during the past

30 years. Experts believe it’s unlikely that

a genetic modification is responsible for

this in such a short time span. Instead,

the focus is on environmental factors,

such as the availability of high-calorie

foods, lack of physical activity and

increased sedentary behaviour.

Stuart Biddle, Professor of Exercise and Sport Psychology at

Loughborough University, is internationally recognised as the

authority on psychological and behavioural aspects of physical

activity for health. He recently headed up a ground-breaking

study into sedentary behaviour in adolescents, involving 1,500

teenagers aged 13 to 16 years. The research included boys and

girls and took place in England and Scotland.

He said: “The rise in paediatric obesity, alongside the increased

use of screen-based, electronic entertainment and motorised

transport has made the study of sedentary behaviour in young

people one of the hottest health topics of the moment.

Want to know more?Contact: Stuart Biddle, Professor of Exercise and Sport Psychology E: [email protected]

In addition, it was found that teenagers engage in a multitude of

sedentary behaviours, not just TV or computer games. Time in a

car is sedentary and, in many cases, could easily be switched to

active forms of transport.

The study also found that the hours immediately after school

were when physical activity was most important. If the young

people were sedentary then, such as going home to watch TV,

they were unlikely to fit activity in at other times.

Parents were found to be important. If parents watch a lot of TV, so do the children. One strategy to reduce sedentary behaviour in teenagers is to have family rules such as no TV in the bedroom or no use of electronic gaming equipment after a certain time.

Information from the study could prove important when trying

to develop interventions and change behaviour later on.

But Professor Biddle warned that mechanisms for achieving

successful sedentary behaviour change required further study.

There is also the risk that reducing one sedentary behaviour could

simply lead to a displacement into another sedentary pursuit.

Professor Biddle, who has recently been chairing a group for

the Department of Health on sedentary behaviour and obesity,

said: “We are potentially now looking at national guidelines into

sedentary behaviour, and our research very much feeds into that.

“You have to translate data like this into something

more meaningful. Parents are not going to read these

papers but researchers will, and they will translate it, and

develop guidelines. Organisations such as the British Heart

Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health at

Loughborough also do a lot of good work. They look at new

data and research and circulate it to their network of health

professionals, so they become more aware of what’s required.

“It’s not that individuals are necessarily lazier by choice. Our interest and motivation to be active is no different to previous generations, but they had much more opportunity to be active. For example, many people cycled to work because there was no way they could afford a car. Now pretty much everybody has a car. It’s our whole environment that’s changed.

“We need a complete culture shift where people – adults and

children – recognise that sitting for long periods of time could

be detrimental to their health. Basically, nearly all of us sit too

much! We need to provide young people with opportunities

to be active and, in addition, we must think of new ways of

operating where we can stand more, sit less, and move more,

in addition to doing our structured exercise or active travel.

For example, we should break up prolonged bouts of sitting

and look for opportunities to stand and move, particularly if

we are likely to then be sitting afterwards. Good examples

are at train stations and airports.”

He added: “This is simple to say, but extremely difficult to do.

It is not going to be easy to convince some people that this is

the case. This is a complex, yet exciting and important field,

worthy of further work.”

STAND AND DELIVER! TOP TEN TIPS TO GET YOU AND YOUR YOUNGSTERS SITTING LESS

1. Encourage less TV and computer

time in the evening at home.

2. No TVs in bedrooms!

3. Break up long periods of sitting, such as having standing

conversations on the phone.

4. If you work at a desk, put the rubbish bins the other side

of the room (and no basketball practice!)

5. If it’s an option, encourage children to walk, bike or

skate to and from school.

6. Use public transport more; leave the car at home at

least one day per week.

7. Get children out in the garden. Have family fun

raking leaves, sweeping the drive, mowing the lawn

or washing the car.

8. Take the dog for a walk – even if you don’t have one!

9. Have family members wear a pedometer and set a daily

challenge to see who can take the most steps.

10. Look for opportunities to stand more – in meetings,

at train stations, at home, at school, at work.

The aim of our research was to measure what teenagers

were actually doing during the day in their leisure time, after school and at weekends, and to discover if they were

sedentary or active during those periods.

Professor Stuart Biddle

the view | 23

Increasingly, science has sought the assistance of advanced maths to decipher the

complex networks which exist in the brain. Dr Natalia Janson of Loughborough’s

School of Mathematics, spoke to Alison Laing about her research into the phenomena

occurring in brain-like systems. Dr Janson is looking for techniques to manipulate

the behaviour of these systems, which could eventually be adapted and adopted by

medical doctors fighting the debilitating conditions caused by brain disease.

could maths unlock the

mysteries of the brain?

In mathematics there is a specialist area which deals with

rhythms. It’s called ‘nonlinear dynamics’, and it’s where

Dr Janson’s expertise lies.

Dr Janson said: “When mathematicians look at the brain, they

need to produce a model in the form of equations that describe

the time-evolution of certain parts of the brain. In formulating

this model we take into account the most important features

of real neurons, or blocks of neurons. However, it is also

important to ignore the features which may influence the

performance of neurons, but do not lead to drastic changes in

their behaviour. If such less significant features are not ignored,

the model becomes too cumbersome and mathematically

intractable. On the contrary, if an important feature is ignored,

the model will fail to simulate the behaviour of the real neuron,

even roughly.

They can be positive, or ‘excitatory’ and negative, so called

‘inhibitory’, and they vary (or change) in time. In the very first

approximation, one can couple each unit to all other units in

the network with the same fixed strength.

“It was recently shown that such a system can produce a variety

of rhythms from almost periodic, to quite chaotic. This is a highly

non-trivial, counterintuitive result! Indeed, the only inputs to

the system are independent, random processes. But then the

system self-organises in such a way that all its units oscillate

together in a regular manner. The phenomenon responsible for

this self-organisation is known as synchronization.”

Dr Janson and her colleagues are now trying to develop

effective mathematical tools that will allow them to manipulate

the global behaviour of large, random neural-like networks,

without changing their internal structure.

Want to know more?Contact: Dr Natalia Janson T: 01509 222874 E: [email protected] Visit: www.staff.lboro.ac.uk/~manbj

The study of the human brain is a

worldwide priority research area.

Understanding how the brain works

could help develop a cure to neural

disorders such as Parkinson’s disease

or epilepsy. It could even help create

artificial intelligence.

The brain contains an enormous number of cells, including

neural cells (or neurons), whose number in a typical adult

is about 1011 – one hundred billion. Each, single neuron is a

relatively complex system in itself. It has many inputs and

outputs, which can be connected to other neurons, to receptors

(such as the eye or ear receptors), or to muscles in the body.

The job of a single neuron is to process information arriving

from the numerous inputs. Every instant of time, it has to make

a decision to produce and transmit a powerful signal to the

cells at the receiving end, or to ignore the incoming messages

altogether (whether to ‘fire’ or not).

If a single neuron is a complex system, imagine the complexities

involved in a large network of neurons! As is known from

the research discipline ‘Complexity theory’, or ‘Synergetics’,

a collection of relatively simple elements, when allowed to

interact, can develop behaviour which cannot be explained by

the properties of individual units. This is true with regards to

the brain. The brain, as an entity, produces a variety of rhythms

which crucially cannot be generated by a single neuron. Some

of these rhythms are healthy, and some are associated with

serious conditions like epilepsy. It’s the unhealthy rhythms that

are unwanted, and scientists seek to eliminate.

Dr Janson and her colleagues from Loughborough and Berlin recently

pioneered the development of a tool to manipulate the

behaviour of single neuron-like systems with purely random input.

“In my approach, a single neuron is modelled as a system

with a single input and single output, and each input is a

random process. A random process is a process which can

be predicted only with some probability, and not for certain.

It may seem surprising that a neuron can be viewed as a

device processing random information, but in reality, at any

time moment, a neuron can receive signals from as many as

10,000 other neurons. Although each such signal has a smooth

regular shape, the timings of these signals are not co-ordinated

between themselves. Their effective amplitudes are very

different, and they can be negative or positive.

“As a result, the average of a large number of such signals looks like a very random signal that arrives at what appears to be effectively a single input of the neuron. The assumption of random input to the neuron allows the mathematicians to apply powerful tools of the theory of random processes for modelling and analysis of real neural networks.”

Dr Janson and her colleagues from Loughborough and Berlin

recently pioneered the development of a tool to manipulate the

behaviour of single neuron-like systems with purely random input.

She explained: “The couplings, or connections, between the

real neurons in the brain are very different in strength.

Dr Janson explained: “The idea is to apply a cleverly timed,

easy-to-create external perturbation that would change the

dynamics of the network in the desired way, and so help

achieve the goal with minimal effort. We have shown that it’s

possible to suppress the spontaneously occurring rhythm by a

weak feedback signal. Coming back to the task of elimination

of the unwanted rhythm in the brain, if the real brain could be

reliably modelled as a stochastic network described above,

such feedback would provide a solution.”

She concluded: “Before offering the new technique to medicine,

a lot of work needs to be done to make the maths model

more accurate. First, the connections in the brain have to be

modelled more realistically, as they are certainly not all the

same and not constant. Second, the neurons in the network

are not all identical. A biologically relevant model also has to

incorporate the special features of different classes of neurons.

“However, this research has contributed to the understanding

of the fundamental principles of the control of randomly

perturbed systems and their networks. And neural networks

are just one example of the field where our findings could lead

to helpful, practical solutions. Similar phenomena are observed

in communication networks, electronic micro and nano devices

and in the area of specially prepared chemicals, which also

need to be controlled.”

24 | the view

Dr Natalia Janson

round upthe view


New Schools launchedThree new Schools were launched at

Loughborough in August, marking a

new chapter in research, teaching and

enterprise activity at the University.

The Loughborough Design School brings together expertise from the Department of Design and Technology, the Ergonomics Safety Research Institute (ESRI) and the Department of Ergonomics. It will become a significant centre for the design of ‘real world’ products, services and systems and bring new opportunities for staff and students to work across traditional discipline boundaries.

Next year the School will also have a new home with the completion of the University’s Design Centre – a state-of-the-art building providing teaching and lecture space, research laboratories, design studios, and display areas.

The second School, of Business and Economics, brings together Loughborough’s portfolio of activity previously managed by the Business School, the Department of Economics, and the Professional and Management Development Centre.

It will help the University to consolidate its position as one of the UK’s leading institutions, which is delivering cutting edge academic research in key areas such as Microeconomics, Human Resource Management and Marketing, as well as having a direct impact on business and industry managers, policy makers and global organisations.

The third new School, the School of the Arts, has been established from Loughborough University School of Art and Design (LUSAD), and will help Loughborough to demonstrate further the important role staff, students and graduate alumni play in today’s creative industries.

Hop your way to stronger bonesResearchers in the School of Sport,

Exercise and Health Sciences

are conducting a study to see if

exercise can help reduce the risk of

osteoporotic fractures.

Osteoporosis will eventually affect one in every five

older men – and one in every two older women –

meaning that bones become brittle and fracture more

easily, with hip fractures causing particular problems.

The team has already found that by undertaking

specific exercise, such as hopping, for just a couple

of minutes each day, bone density of the hip can be

increased. In their new study, they are collaborating

with University Hospitals Leicester (UHL) to discover

whether similar exercises can affect bone shape as

well as bone density.

“Exercise can produce small increases in bone density but seems to have larger effects on bone strength,” explained lead researcher Dr Katherine Brooke-Wavell. “This may be because exercise affects bone shape as well as bone density.

“This collaborative research will allow us to do an

extra bone scan to measure the bone shape at the

hip and find out whether exercise can affect the

regions of bone that are particularly important for

preventing fractures”.

The next generation of nuclear reactorsLoughborough is joining forces with five

other academic institutions to further

the understanding of the performance of

materials used in the next generation of

nuclear reactors.

Energy security concerns and the need to limit carbon

emissions have put replacement of the country’s nuclear

power stations back on the agenda. The project researchers

have been awarded £1.75million from the Engineering and

Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to investigate how

to improve the long-term structural performance of materials

where service conditions at nuclear plants are exposed to high

temperatures, aggressive chemical environments, radiation

influences and complex load histories. Under these conditions it

is critical to understand the materials’ stability and degradation

and monitor their condition.

The output from the research will benefit industrial

partners and the UK engineering and science

community. As nuclear fission expands, there

will be an increased need for the development

of future designs, life extension for maximum

economic impact and improved techniques for

safety assessment.

Led by The Open University, the research project will involve

academics from Imperial College London and the Universities of

Bristol, Manchester and Oxford, as well as Loughborough.

Architects’ impression of the new Design Centre, which will house Loughborough Design School. Courtesy of Shepherd Construction Ltd.

28 | the viewthe view | 29

Measuring the influences on glaciersA group of Loughborough geographers

has teamed up with colleagues from

Stockholm University to set up a glacier

research programme in Arctic Sweden.

The study, which has received a two-year Royal Society International

Joint Project Award, will measure atmospheric influences and

seasonal variation in snow and ice melting and identify rates of

sediment delivery from Sweden’s Storglaciären glacier.

Based at Stockholm University’s Tarfala research station, the team

will use innovative field measurements and novel analyses that

combine the expertise and technical capabilities of both universities.

Up until now, glacier climate research has focused on small-

scale local studies and few have linked surface climate with

large scale atmospheric circulation. This new project will use

statistical analyses to link variations in surface conditions to the

type and frequency of air masses passing across the study area

and will explore local scale melt rates in relation to large scale

weather systems.

Earning enough to get by is getting tougher

People on low incomes are finding it

harder to meet a minimum standard of

living, according to new research carried

out by the Centre for Research in Social

Policy at Loughborough for the Joseph

Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

Published in July, A Minimum Income Standard for the UK

shows how much various households need in 2010 to reach

a minimum standard of living, according to members of the

public. A single person now needs to earn at least £14,400

a year to reach this standard, and a couple with two

children £29,200.

The report revealed that people on low incomes face a much

higher inflation rate than shown in the official Consumer Prices

Index, which the Government has said it will use as the basis for

uprating benefits in the future. In real terms it means that people

out of work, relying on benefits, could become worse off. For

people in work, the gap between the minimum wage and the

wages needed for a minimum household budget has widened.

Since 2008 Loughborough researchers have been gathering

information from ordinary people to determine what they think

should go into a minimum budget. This includes things people

need in order to participate in society, such as social and

cultural activities, as well as physical essentials including food

and shelter.

The researchers’ report showed that in the last ten years,

inflation had risen by 23%, but key essentials cost 38% more,

with food prices having risen by 37% and council tax up by 67%.

The report also revealed that the announcement in the Budget of a £1,000 hike in tax allowances from next year would make a family £320 a year better off, after inflation, if both partners were working. However these gains could be lost by other Budget changes, such as cuts in tax credits, the rise in VAT and the cap on housing benefit.

Donald Hirsch, Head of Income Studies at Loughborough’s

Centre for Research in Social Policy, is one of the report’s

authors. “This new research underlines how people living

close to the minimum income standard can end up not having

enough if economic trends start going against them. For

example, a single person who a decade ago had just enough

to get by, and whose income has risen in line with official

inflation, cannot afford a minimum budget today. Big rises in

the prices of things like food and council tax mean that they

are nearly £20 a week short of what they need, and must think

of what essentials they will go without.”

London’s black cabs go greenA full performance, zero-emissions Fuel

Cell Hybrid London taxi, powered by

fuel cell technology from Loughborough

spin-out company Intelligent Energy, was

unveiled in London in June.

The Company joined forces with Lotus Engineering, LTI Vehicles

and TRW Conekt to produce the ground-breaking vehicle, with

funding provided by the Technology Strategy Board.

While the taxi looks and drives like an iconic London black cab,

the Fuel Cell Black Cab is powered by an Intelligent Energy

hydrogen fuel cell system hybridised with lithium polymer

batteries, which allows the vehicle to operate for a full day

without the need for refuelling. Capable of achieving a top speed

of over 80 mph, it has a range of more than 250 miles on a

full tank of hydrogen, refuels in about five minutes and

produces no emissions other than water vapour.

London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Chair of the

London Hydrogen Partnership, Kit Malthouse, said,

“The black cab is a much loved London icon, but it is also a significant source of pollution especially in the centre of the city. This prototype Fuel Cell Black Cab, which emits only water from its tailpipe,

is an exciting glimpse of how hydrogen technology could soon play a vital role in cleaning up air quality for urban dwellers.”

Dr Henri Winand, CEO at Intelligent Energy, added: “The Fuel

Cell Black Cab is a hackney-carriage fit for the 21st century

and its ever larger urban centres, where the reclamation of

good air quality matters hugely to all of us. To put an entirely

new fuel cell hybrid electric zero emissions ‘engine’ into the

existing vehicle design in such a short amount of time and still

deliver performance, refuelling speeds and range, is a fantastic

achievement for all the companies involved.”

The Fuel Cell Hybrid Taxi is presently undergoing track and

road-testing. It is anticipated that the first fleet of these

vehicles will be introduced into London for 2012.

Up to two billion people worldwide depend on snow- and ice-

fed rivers for subsistence, power and livelihoods, but the future

of these supplies are at risk in all plausible climate scenarios.

In the short term enhanced melting of glaciers is likely to cause

increased flooding, but longer term, sustained drought is a real

prospect in many parts of the world. Not only will a decline in

water supply from glaciers incur major economic costs, but it

also puts at risk the United Nations’ Millennium Development

Goals for fighting poverty and improving access to clean water.

Lead researcher Dr Richard Hodgkins from Loughborough said: “Not only do glaciers provide an essential water source for populations throughout the world, but they are also responsible for the increasing sea level which is currently rising at a rate of more than three millimetres per year.

“Because the glacial world is changing so rapidly, we’re likely to

see major changes to snow and ice cover of the Arctic and the

world’s mountain regions within our lifetime. This makes this study

even more important, exciting and relevant for us as researchers.” Photograph courtesy of Professor Peter Jansson, Stockholm University

Courtesy of Intelligent Energy

2006 2007 2008 2009

Times Higher Education

2006 2007 2008 2009

2006 2007 2008 2009


2006 2007 2008 2009


2006 2007 2008 2009



42609 the view 7 - loughborough university€¦ · e. hobby (ed.), the midwives book, or, the whole...

Documents