POLO

A device to predict the onset of labour in pregnant women has won first prize for innovation and technology in the prestigious Times Higher Educational Supplement Awards. The Prediction of Labour Onset device (POLO) won the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Innovation and Technology' category in November 2007.

POLO, developed by University of Leeds obstetricians Professor Jimmy Walker and Dr Nigel Simpson, measures electrical signals in the womb to give the clearest picture available of when babies are due – and produce accurate predictions of childbirth up to two weeks in advance.

Potato pest prevention

The full weight of a consortium of world-leading scientists – including those who helped decode the entire human genome – is being thrown at a parasitic worm less than 1mm long.

The potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida (G.pallida) , attacks potato crops all over the world and is particularly devastating in developing countries where the potato is a subsistence crop. A £1.7 million project led by the University of Leeds to fully sequence its DNA, hopes to shed light on the mechanisms that make the tiny worm such a successful parasite – and lead to methods to sustainably manage this pest.

Dr Peter Urwin from the Faculty of Biological Sciences says that controlling G. pallida is essential to maintain the competitiveness of UK potato industry, which together with processing and retail markets is worth some £3 billion per year.

The research, funded by the BBSRC, draws together experts from the University of Leeds , the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Rothamsted Research and SCRI, Scotland 's leading centre for crop research. The team hope to complete the sequencing by 2012.

Fuelling the ‘hydrogen economy'

Scientists at the University of Leeds are turning low-grade sludge into high-value gas in a process which could make eco-friendly biodiesel even greener and more economical to produce.

Biodiesel – motor fuel derived from vegetable oil - is a renewable alternative to rapidly depleting fossil fuels. It is biodegradable and non-toxic, and production is on the up. But for each molecule of biodiesel produced, another of low-value crude glycerol is generated, and its disposal presents a growing economic and environmental problem.

Dr Valerie Dupont and her co-investigators in the University's Faculty of Engineering have shown how glycerol can be converted to produce a hydrogen rich gas. The novel process mixes glycerol with steam at a controlled temperature and pressure, separating the waste product into hydrogen, water and carbon dioxide, with no residues. A special absorbent material filters out the carbon dioxide, which leaves a much purer product.

The research has been funded with a £270k grant from the EPSRC under the Energy programme, and is in collaboration with Professors Yulong Ding and Mojtaba Ghadiri from the Institute of Particle Science and Engineering, and Professor Paul Williams from the Energy and Resources Research Institute at the University. Industrial collaborators are Johnson Matthey and D1-Oils.

Planting carbon deep in the earth – rather than the greenhouse

Storing carbon dioxide deep below the earth's surface could be a safe, long-term solution to one of the planet's major contributors to climate change.

University of Leeds research shows that porous sandstone, drained of oil by the energy giants, could provide a safe reservoir for carbon dioxide. The study found that sandstone reacts with injected fluids more quickly than had been predicted - such reactions are essential if the captured CO2 is not to leak back to the surface.

The work was supervised by Bruce Yardley, Professor in the School of Earth and Environment at the University.

The Prime Minister has recently announced a major expansion of energy from renewable sources and the launch of a competition to build one of the world's first carbon capture and storage plants. The Leeds study suggests the technique has long-term potential for safely storing this major by-product of our power stations, rather than allowing it to escape and further contribute to global warming.

Mathematicians help unlock secrets of the immune system

A group of scientists, led by mathematicians, has taken on the challenge of building a common model of immune responses. Their work will radically improve our understanding of the human immune system by enabling all the scientific disciplines working on it to have a common reference point and language. The mathematicians, funded by the BBSRC, will investigate how the different cellular components of the immune system work together and devise a theoretical and computational model that can be used by immunologists, mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists and engineers.

Dr Carmen Molína-Paris, network co-ordinator and researcher at the University of Leeds , said: "Mathematical immunology is maturing into a discipline where modelling helps everyone to interpret data and resolve controversies. Most importantly, it suggests novel experiments allowing for better and more quantitative interpretations."

Tablet for cancer patients

A drug to treat colon cancer is proving much more convenient than traditional chemotherapy, has fewer side effects – and is giving patients a better chance of surviving the disease.

Professor Chris Twelves led the study which followed 1,987 patients who had undergone colon cancer surgery. It found that patients treated with the oral chemotherapy drug Xeloda (capecitabine) spent 85% less time with their doctor or at the hospital, and experienced fewer side effects. The latest results showing patients' five-year survival rates confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.

“We now have long-term evidence now that clearly supports Xeloda's superiority over the Mayo Clinic regimen,” said Professor Twelves. “There is now no reason why we should ask colon cancer patients to endure the burdens associated with that older treatment.”

Engineers learn from the beetles

An amazing insect, which sprays its predators with toxic steam, has inspired research into a new generation of technology at the University of Leeds .

The research, funded initially by the EPSRC, and subsequently by Swedish Biomimetics 3000 ®, enabled the Leeds team, led by Professor of Thermodynamics and Combustion Theory Andy McIntosh, to examine the mechanisms at work in the bombardier beetle.

Just 2cm long, the beetle defends itself with a cocktail of steam and stinging chemicals which it can blast for distances of up to 20cm from a chamber less than one millimetre long. The chemical and physical characteristics of the spray and the insect's physiology have been simulated using a scaled-up experimental rig in Professor McIntosh's laboratory and built by Novid Beheshti and Andreas Prongidis with the expertise of skilled technician Steve Caddick. The rig uses heating and flash evaporation techniques to propel a variety of liquids and its 2cm chamber can blast the fluid for up to 4 metres.

The µMist™ spray technology enables droplet size, temperature and velocity to be closely controlled, enabling advancements in a variety of areas where the properties of the mist is critical. Such applications include fuel injection, medical drug delivery systems, fire extinguishers and fire suppression, all of which face major challenges relating to the demands of greater performance and reduced environmental impact.