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Research
UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER GRANTS FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES
PRESS COVERAGE OF RESEARCH GRANTS
The Bulletin is sent to the media as well as other external contacts. As a result, details of grants appearing in this section
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excluded from the Bulletin.
This can be done by contacting the Research Office, which has responsibility for compiling this Research section (2495).
ARCHAEOLOGY
Prof G Barker, Prof D Mattingly
precisely understand sexual development in Archaeology and Desertification in the Wadi
Tunnelling (VEGST) – has also recently been Arts and Humanities Research Board breeding strategies to create useful and novel enzymes that cleave stable C-H bonds. The hybrids and to monitor and limit the spread of BIOCHEMISTRY
theoretical development, and verification by Dr P C E Moody
experiment, of a role for protein dynamics in PETN Reductase: High Resolution Structures of
driving enzymatic H-tunnelling is the focus of Enzyme-Ligand Structures
this grant. This dynamic approach to catalysis Prof G C Whitelam
points to major flaws in transition state theory Development of Diagnostic Tests for BSE
for describing enzyme catalysis, and will likely Dr A E Willis
The Role of Eukaryotic Internal Ribosome Entry
design/redesign, the development of active in Regulating Expression of Oncoproteins –
CELL PHYSIOLOGY & PHARMACOLOGY
Advanced Fellowship
site inhibitors and the isolation of effective Prof S R Nahorski
Coupling of Human Muscarinic M5 Receptors to
Different G-Proteins
BIOCHEMISTRY, CARDIOLOGY WITH
IMPERIAL COLLEGE
Dr D M Harper
Dr C A Pritchard, Prof B Williams
CHEMISTRY WITH UNIVERSITIES OF
Analysis of Zooplankton, Norfolk Broads
Use of Gene Targeting to Define the Invivo
EAST ANGLIA, READING, CAMBRIDGE,
Functions of the A-Raf & Raf-1 Protein Kinases
LEEDS & IMPERIAL COLLEGE
Dr D Twell
Dr P S Monks
Targeted Genetic Screening and Cloning of
Atmospheric Chemistry and Transport of Ozone
BIOCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY
Gametophytic Plant Fertility Genes that
in the Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere
Prof N S Scrutton, Dr M Sutcliffe
Function During Programic Development –
(ACTO-UTLS)
Elucidating the Mechanism of Enzymatic
ROPA Award
The work to be undertaken as part of this Hydrogen Tunnelling
Plant fertility and seed production are of vital grant will quantify the budget of ozone in the importance both in the natural environment upper troposphere, assessing the relative discovery of enzymes just over a century ago, research is aimed at understanding at the molecular and genetic levels the key steps in North Atlantic UTLS region will be studied understanding of enzyme catalysis, leading to a using a comprehensively instrumented C-130 more detailed appreciation of how they work.
reproduction. These key steps may be in the aircraft and measurements will be interpreted Based on current dogma, the vast majority of using correlation techniques, calculation of fast studies have concentrated on understanding in-situ chemical rates and equilibria, and by how enzymes facilitate passage of the reaction the use of chemical-transport models when over a static potential energy barrier.
However, recent studies have revealed that identify genes which are required for the passage through, rather than over, the barrier production and fertility of pollen (containing meteorological and chemical context of the can occur. These reveal that – contrary to the sperm cells) and ovules (containing the measurements will enable deductions to be eggs) in the model plant species Arabidopsis made on a wider domain in space and time.
phenomena, driven by protein dynamics that thaliana (thale cress). First, plant genes are Previous measurements from recent and on- produce a fluctuating potential energy barrier, mutated by introducing mobile pieces of DNA can play a pivotal role in enzyme action. The (termed transposons) into the host plant. We wave-particle duality of matter suggests that quantum tunnelling may have a prominent role defects in pollen or egg production. These CHILD HEALTH
in enzymatic H-transfer. However, unlike for Dr M McKean
electron tunnelling, evidence for H-tunnelling transposons are said to be ‘tagged’, which enables the mutated genes to be isolated using Mechanisms of Lower Airway Narrowing in an
Experimental Human Coronavirus (common
standard laboratory techniques. By screening cold) Infection – Yr 2
thousands of plants we expect to isolate many through a fluctuation potential energy surface genes which are important for plant fertility.
Research Supplement
Research
University of Leicester
November 1999
ECONOMICS (MANAGEMENT CENTRE)
ENGINEERING, ANAESTHESIA
by the financial difficulties which local Dr P Davies
Prof N B Jones, Dr J C Fothergill, Dr C D
Grant for the Unit for Membership Based
This study intends systematically to assess Organisations
Propofol Sensor
people. The aims of the study are to identifythe policies and practices which exist in local EDUCATION
ENGINEERING (JOINT PROJECT WITH
Mrs T Jarvis
UNIV. OF SHEFFIELD
community care services, and to describe the Phase 2 Providers
Dr S Spurgeon
impact of these policies and practices on the The AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust has Recursive Interlacing and Sliding Mode Control
lives of older people at home, or in residential of Flat and Non-Flat Nonlinear Systems
agreed to a further £78,740 to continue to support science teaching in the first cohort of In its widest context, this joint study between carried out in eight local authorities in England 16 Leicester City Primary schools plus funding the Universities of Sheffield and Leicester is to support an additional 16 schools. The funds will enable teachers to attend a course on nonlinear control approaches which may be conjunction with Help the Aged and is funded by the National Lottery Charities Board.
Investigations’ which includes a visit to a local industrial processes which may be ‘non-flat’.
National Lottery Charities Board via Help the Aged This is a particularly challenging application schools will also be enabled to visit the Dr B Young
Challenger Space Centre. Teachers will also be systems which cannot be effectively controlled Vacation Studentship for Michelle Cox
given tutor support and time for school-based using standard linear and nonlinear techniques.
The Leicester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust There has been detailed evaluation of the EPIDEMIOLOGY & PUBLIC HEALTH
(UKCCSG)
positive outcomes in respect of the children’s Prof G Walker
Prof M Clarke, Dr K Abrams, Prof C R Pinkerton
science learning. The evaluation included the The Fashioning of Henry VIII – Research Leave
UKCCSG Administrative Office
The UK Children’s Cancer Study Group has exploring pupils’ and teachers’ attitudes and The aim of this project is to provide a new just received renewal of its 5 year grant from account of the life and reputation of Henry articles on these and the subsequent changes covers many of the running costs of the Data for the two phases of the project are in hand.
‘revisionist’ biography, however, the intention AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust is to focus more precisely upon the ways in activities of the group are co-ordinated. For which the king’s life and character were Prof A Osler
the first time a substantial increase has been themselves carefully fashioned and presented Human Rights and Democracy in Schools –
awarded including a grant to allow the group (by Henry himself, his supporters and critics) Transfer from Birmingham University
to a variety of audiences during his lifetime, pharmacology. The main interest of the group and also to examine the subsequent attempts ENGINEERING
to refashion his image, as politicians, scholars collaborative clinical trials of childhood cancer, Prof N B Jones
reputation for contrary confessional, political, Royal Society Royal Fellowships Programme – Dr
Xiang Jianping
historiographical in its broadest sense, but the study is designed not simply to catalogue GASTROENTEROLOGY
Dr T Pearce
previous accounts of the king’s life, but to set Prof R J Playford
An Optical-Based “Electronic Nose” for
Broadband Chemical Sensing
The Use of Colostrum to Repair Gastrointestinal
representations in a relevant contemporary Chemical Sensor Array Device (ChemSAD) or ‘electronic nose’ based instrumentation is cultural history of the king and his court which currently limited by the sensitivity and the GENERAL PRACTICE
political, literary, and art history.
Dr R Baker, Dr K Khunti
applications areas such as environmental and Arts and Humanities Research Board Evaluation of the Salaried Doctors Scheme in
medical monitoring will require far higher Leicestershire
levels of chemical sensitivity combined with EPIDEMIOLOGY & PUBLIC HEALTH
Most general practitioners are self-employed.
significant miniaturisation. The aim of this Dr W Baird, Dr C McGrother
They have contracts with the health service to Development and Evaluation of a Preventive
provide general medical services to patients Oral Health Programme for MS Patients: A
who register with them. In recent years some performance critical applications. The final Randomised Controlled Trial
practices have experienced difficulties in system will not only demonstrate the feasibility recruiting new general practitioners. At the of using a variety of fluorescent indicators Dr B Shepperdson
same time, some general practitioners do not deployed on large populations of porous silica Access to Social Care for Older People
want to be self-employed. For example, some microspheres to achieve highly sensitive, lower-power, portable chemical monitoring, it essential if vulnerable older people are to will also provide an ideal-test-rig to conduct maintain their independence and achieve a employ doctors directly has been introduced pilot studies which will be vital in securing satisfactory quality of life. However, social care services for older people can be compromised objective of this salaried doctor scheme is to Research Supplement
Research
University of Leicester
November 1999
develop and improve services for patients. The MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE
A Double-Blinded Placebo Controlled, Minimised
salaried doctors themselves may also need Dr N Ghani
Phase III Study Comparing Marimastat to
support to meet their education and training Placebo as Adjuvant Therapy in Patients with
Categorical Rewriting: Monads and Modularity
Resectable Pancreatic Cancer
needs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which services havebeen improved, and to check that the salaried MEDICINE & THERAPEUTICS
ONCOLOGY, ANAESTHESIA
doctors have received the required support. If Prof B Williams
Prof W Steward, Prof D Rowbotham, Dr G N
the salaried doctor scheme is successful, it Grant in Aid of Research
may offer an approach for developing services CAPTAIN CONTINUE: CCK Antagonist,
Devacade as an Adjunct to Strong Opioids in the
MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY
Management of Patients with Pain which has a
Dr F Cheater
Prof P Andrew
Neuropathic Element
Funding for Research Post
Grant in Aid of Research
Leicestershire & Rutland Healthcare Trust PATHOLOGY (CHEMICAL)
Prof R C Fraser
Prof W D Grant
Dr W Lawley, Dr K E Herbert
Funding for Clinical Governance R & D Unit
Environmental Gene Screening to Obtain DNA
UV-induced Reactive Oxygen Species Production
Libraries
Resulting in Altered Processing of the Ro60
monitoring and improving the quality of care Autoantigen – Oliver Bird Fund 1999
throughout the National Health Service. The Dr A Lloyd
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (lupus) is an grant from Leicestershire Health will be used Grant in Aid of Research
incurable rheumatic disease. Symptoms include to underwrite the costs of the core staff of the sensitivity to sunlight, a severe skin rash, arthritis and fatigue. Lupus occurs when the Dr K G Nicholson
Clinical Trial – Chiron Influenza H5N3 Vaccine
extend, the activities and achievements of the proteins as a normal part of the body and Eli Lilly National Clinical Audit Centre. In early summer of 1997, a young boy died from avian influenza in Hong Kong. Later that environmental triggers known to exacerbate year a small outbreak involving 17 additional lupus. We are investigating the effect of UV on cases that were hospitalized occurred in Hong one model protein known to be involved in Kong with 5 additional deaths. This outbreak and the high associated mortality sparked fears that the world was on the brink of a lethal structure of this protein may be changed by and teams in the National Health Service. pandemic of influenza. Whilst the authorities in UV to the extent that the immune system no • Development and evaluation of ways of Hong Kong tackled the source of the outbreak longer recognises it. We aim to determine involving patients in clinical governance.
by slaughtering the poultry in Hong Kong, how this protein is recognised by cells of the public health authorities in the rest of the treatment; and also to see how this differs GENERAL PRACTICE (WITH IMPERIAL
influenza and examined the need to develop between cells isolated from lupus patients and COLLEGE MED SCHOOL)
new vaccines and test them in man. The work Dr R H Baker
Should Primary Care Groups Act to Improve
international collaboration between vaccine Personal Care
PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY
manufacturers, the UK Department of Health, and Leicester University to better prepare us Dr C Binns
changes. Practices must now work together in A Fully Characterised, High Resolution,
groups, called “primary care groups”. The Polarisation Selectable, Synchcrotron Beam Line
for VUV Science
government is also introducing a 24 hourtelephone service for enquiries and advice OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY
Dr J Konje
Dr G W Fraser, Dr J E Lees
alternative for people who find getting to their Grant in Aid of Research
Bioimaging-Testing of Protein Gels
developments there is a danger that servicesfor patients will become less personal. The ONCOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
aim of this study is to identify the key features Dr K J O’Byrne
Dr A North
of personal care in general practice. It will then Phase III Study in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Music and Employee Productivity
be possible to design services to preserve AG 3340-0117
influenced by his/her degree of arousal: people undertaken in Leicester, in collaboration with A Phase I, Open-Label, Safety and
colleagues from Imperial College, London.
Pharmacokinetic Study of Escalating Doses of
Patients, general practitioners and nurses will Docetaxel when Administered with Valspodar in
Patients with Solid Tumours
take part in interviews and focus groups. The high arousal states. For example, entering a participants will be identified from different large quantity of data on to a PC produces types of practice, and their views on key Prof W Steward
boredom (i.e. low arousal), whereas working features of personal care and their importance A Phase I Study of the CCK-B Antagonist L-
to a tight deadline produces anxiety (i.e. high 365,260 in Patients with Cancer-Related Opioid-
Poorly Responsive Pain
VALUE REPORTED IN OCTOBER BULLETIN Research Supplement
Research
University of Leicester
November 1999
Music can influence arousal: up-tempo music SOCIOLOGY (SNCCFR)
reaction is unknown. Therefore, the aim of can increase arousal, whereas the calming Mr J Williams
properties of many other musical styles are Asian Football
modulates inflammation and whether it does similarly well-known. This means that music so by altering cellular responses to injury. We may help to moderate the extreme levels of believe that the results from such a study arousal produced by job requirements, and clinical and scientific perspective.
specifically, it may be possible to increase the Prof P R F Bell (Supervisor), Mr B Axisa, Mr M
productivity of employees engaged in boring M Thompson
repetitive tasks by playing stimulating music: The Role of Doxycycline in the Prevention of
Dr R F L James
this would raise their degree of arousal to an Acute Stroke – Fellowship Mr B Axisa
Assessment of the Role of Anti-Islet Auto-
optimal moderate level. Similarly, calming A large number of strokes are caused because Immunity Induction in Patients Receiving Islet
of disease in the carotid arteries in the neck.
Auto-Transplants
These blood vessels become narrowed by the therefore improve productivity by lowering deposition of fatty materials and blood clot.
Some of these deposits remain hard and are participants in a real workplace situation.
become softened and when they soften they Prof P R F Bell (Sponsor), Dr N Brindle, Mr P N
Those in a low arousal (LA) condition will be can burst releasing clot and fatty material into Morris (Fellow)
asked to e.g. code a large body of meaningless the brain causing strokes. The reason why Molecular Basis of Venous Malformations,
data on to a spreadsheet. Those in a high Caused by the Mutation in the Endothelial
they suddenly burst in this way is not known arousal (HA) condition will be given the same Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Tie-2-Entry Level
but one possibility is that chemicals in the Training Fellowship – Mr P N Morris
task, but will also be set a difficult target e.g.
body react with tissues in the deposit and requiring them to encode a very large amount Venous malformations (VM) are large varicose break down the protein. These substances are of data. Whilst carrying out either of these veins which are present from birth. They can tasks, participants will be required to listen to cause symptoms but can also be unsightly as destabilisation of the deposit leading to its either stimulating or sedative music. The two break down in the way described above.
principal measures taken will be the amount of Doxycycline is an antibiotic of the tetracycline e.g. data encoded, and the number of errors The research in the Department of Surgery group and has been used for many years to made. In the LA condition, participants should will look at the basic genetic reason for the treat acne. One of its side effects is to inhibit formation of these abnormal blood vessels the action of proteinases which cause break when they hear stimulating music. In the HA using modern techniques. It is hoped that this down of tissue and the aim of this study is to will lead to a more effective treatment of VM productive and make fewer errors when they at an early stage and provide an insight into hear sedative music. A no music condition will allow a test of the potential benefits of playing blood vessels at an early stage in life.
doxycycline or a placebo drug. The number of emboli caused by pieces of the deposit going to the brain will be measured and also the Dr K E Porter, Mr M M Thompson, Prof N J M
London
RADIOLOGY
pathology of the plaque looked at following A Combined Anti-Proliferative and Anti-
Prof G R Cherryman
surgery and its removal. We anticipate that Migratory Approach to the Amelioration of
doxycycline will stabilise the plaque and make Funding of Research Nurse
Intimal Hyperplasia in Vein Grafts
them harder and less dangerous and therefore narrowing of the arteries in the heart and/or Royal College of Surgeons of England legs with an accompanying reduction in blood RADIOLOGY, MEDICINE & THERAPEUTICS
flow which presents as angina in the case of Prof G R Cherryman, Dr P R Sensky, Prof N J
Mr M Gallinanes
the coronary arteries, and critical ischaemia Grant in Aid of Research
Utility of Ultrafast Magnetic Resonance Imaging
possibly gangrene in the feet. Such narrowings Techniques in Identifying Hibernating
Myocardium and Predicting Left Ventricular
Mr M Galinanes, Dr B Matata
can be treated by a bypass operation using Functional Recovery following Coronary
By what Mechanism does Exogenous Nitric
vein taken from the patient’s leg. One of the Revascularisation – Research Training Fellowship
Oxide Exert a Regulatory Role on Inflammatory
problems with these vein bypass operations is Cytokine Production?: The Effect of Diabetes
that a considerable percentage of such bypass SCARMAN CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF
The Physiological and pathological role of PUBLIC ORDER
nitric oxide (NO) in the body has attracted stenoses. Stenoses result from the migration the attention of many researchers recently.
and proliferation of the smooth muscle cells in C Wilkinson
Several studies have reported that inhaled NO the vein graft wall subsequently forming a Under-Age Drinking and Drug Abuse in Clifton,
attenuates lung injury and sepsis, and in vitro Nottingham
studies have also shown that NO inhibits the Nottingham Chief Executive’s Department production of inflammatory mediators. Results pharmacological strategies to inhibit smooth SCARMAN CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF
muscle cell migration and proliferation and PUBLIC ORDER WITH NOTTINGHAM
patients undergoing cardiac surgery indicates a thereby improve the outcome of vein bypass TRENT UNIVERSITY
differential regulatory role on inflammatory Dr A Hucklesby
Evaluation of Leicester Bail Support Scheme
exerts its regulatory role on the inflammatory

Source: http://www.le.ac.uk/bulletin/researchnovember1999.pdf