26 May 2017

Smokers asked to help measure effects of electronic and tobacco cigarettes on World No Tobacco Day

World No Tobacco Day arrives next Wednesday, May 31st, at a time when increasing numbers of smokers are switching to e-cigarettes and vaping. New tobacco legislation which has just come into effect is also anticipated to have an impact, with the packaging and size of cigarette packs changing. The cheapest packs now cost close to £9. As more smokers make the move from tobacco cigarettes to electronic versions, researchers at the University of Dundee are asking them to help with a research project looking into the effects of e-cigarettes. “This is a vital question we need to answer – wha...

25 May 2017

Fishing net bikinis to help protect oceans

Fishing nets and bikinis may not be obvious bedfellows but a student from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design believes combining the two offers a way of protecting the world’s oceans from ecological damage. Scott Fraser-Hirst, who is currently exhibiting at this year’s University of Dundee Art, Design and Architecture Degree Show, hit upon the idea of using recycled fishing nets to make swimwear after reading an article about the devastation that climate change has wreaked upon the Great Barrier Reef. Textile Design graduand Scott spent the final year of his course researching w...

25 May 2017

Damaging immune response may be cause of COPD infections

Researchers at the University of Dundee have made an important discovery about why patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer frequent chest infections, potentially paving the way for new treatments. The team, led by Dr James Chalmers, has shown that the behaviour of a type of white blood cell, called neutrophils, changes when patients have COPD. Normally neutrophils remove bacteria from the lungs by ‘eating’ them, a highly efficient process called phagocytosis that causes no damage to the lung. This study, however, shows that in patients with COPD, the ability to eat b...

24 May 2017

Dundee Writes uncovers University’s hidden creative talent

What do a Politics postgraduate from Nigeria, a Professor of chronic pain management in Dundee, a deep water salvage specialist from Fife and a graduate of International Water Law from New York have in common? The answer is that they have their work published in the latest edition of ‘Dundee Writes’, the University of Dundee’s magazine of creative writing. This is the eighth edition and will be launched in the University’s Tower Building tomorrow.  Staff, students and alumni from across all Schools and departments in the University are eligible to submit their poetry and pros...

24 May 2017

Prisoner ‘mugshots’ help to challenge preconceptions over tea

A Graphic Design student exhibiting at this year’s University of Dundee Art, Design and Architecture Degree Show has used Britain’s love of tea as a way of highlighting the humanity of prisoners, regardless of their crimes. Monica Dunne (21), originally from Alloa, created ‘Mugshot’ in response to a brief to explore a stigmatised community. Monica visited prisons and probation centres across the UK to speak with offenders about their life over a cup of tea. From there, the idea of using the mugshot, one of the images most readily associated with criminals, and flipping it to allow ...