POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE 2015
INTRODUCTION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE (PSRS) Welcome to the University of Manchester’s second annual Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (PSRS), a unique opportunity for postgraduate researchers across the whole University to present and share their research with fellow students, researchers and the public. The University is one of the largest in the country, and continues to attract postgraduate researchers of a high calibre, who are exploring a diverse set of interests and topics that are relevant to the challenges we face today. While specialisation within disciplines advances such research, truly ‘interdisciplinary’ research that allows researchers to bolster links with other fields and ideas, in turn enhancing their own research and its impact, is still taking shape. To that end, through the PSRS, the University is celebrating its range of research, while also actively seeking to encourage connections across disciplines and faculties, developing the quality and impact of the research overall. This year, PSRS has expanded to include three elements: the Short Film Awards, the Image Awards and the Poster Showcase. Both the Short Film Awards and Image Awards provide postgraduate researchers with different, unique opportunities to share their research to a wide audience.
The Short Film Awards, challenged students to tell the story behind their research, whilst the Image Awards challenged students to summarise their research in a single image, with the theme “Research in Action” in mind. The event is hosted by the Manchester Doctoral College (MDC), whose role within the University is to develop research across the University, as well as to provide opportunities for researchers to gain useful skills such as presenting and communicating ideas, that are required in both academic and other careers. The achievements of members of the MDC will be celebrated during the MDC Excellence Awards, taking place at the end of the Showcase Event. The PSRS aims to contribute to the fulfilment of these remits, and we hope that you make the most of the networking opportunities available throughout the day. The PSRS Organising Committee Parmesh Gajjar (EPS) Claire Hughes (MDC) David Huskisson (EPS) Ireny Iskandar (MHS) Jevgenijs Kitajevs (EPS) Scott Midson (HUMS) Grace Rice (MHS)
TIMETABLE - FRIDAY 5TH JUNE WHITWORTH HALL 1030-1300 Poster Session 1 (Odd no. posters) 1230-1500 Poster Session 2 (Even no. posters) 1600-1700 MDC Excellence Awards CHRISTIES BISTRO 1030-1300 Poster Session 1 (Odd no. posters) 1200-1330 Buffet Lunch Available 1230-1500 Poster Session 2 (Even no. posters) 1500-1600 Refreshments WHITWORTH CORRIDOR & LOWER FOYER: 1030-1600 Gallery of Shortlisted Images and Public Vote COMMITTEE ROOM A 1030-1600 Rolling Premiere of Short Films
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF POSTER PRESENTERS (POSTER NUMBERS IN BRACKETS)
ABDULAAL, MOHAMMED [134] Low-level Recognition System Based on EEG Analysis in Quasi Real-time ABDULHAKIM, JAWAHER [111] A modified Heat-Shock Method for HCMV DNA Detection in Dried Blood Spots (DBS), Is It Efficient? ABUSHHEWA, SANAA [28] P(III)promoters of Rf transfer reactions by using large donating phosphines as organocatalysts ADDARAIDI, ARIJ [37] The influence of fluorinated phosphines on [XAuPR3] structures. ADEBOWALE, OLA [191] Financial Sector Development, Gender and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidences from Nigeria AHMED, WAqAR [14] Development of a Quality Control Mixture for Breath Metabolites from Patients Diagnosed with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia AL HAMD, RWAYDA [49] The Effect of Eccentricity and Heating on Punching Shear Failure ALBAqSHI, MUNIRAH [112] Immunomodulatory antigens of Trichuris as lead vaccine candidates ALFAIFI, MASHAEl [164] Factors affect the Radiobiology of HPV relatad disease ALFRAIH, IBRAHIM [116] Representation of Women in the Saudi women's novel ALHARBI, AHMED [34] Application of DOSY-NMR to probe TIPD-pentacene aggregation in solution. AL-JADIR, THAER [147] Molecular simulation adsorption of hydrogen sulphide from natural gas using FPYEu MOF
ALMATRROUK, SHAIHANA [162] Targeting Gap Junction Intercellular Communication as a Potential Therapy for HCV Related Carcinogenesis ALNUAIMI, ASMA [74] Happiness at Work ALqAHTANI, FATIMAH [36] A Search for the Inhabitants of 2D World ALSAFI, RADI [87] Comparing Recombinant FP9 and MVA Encoding Env/Rev SIVmac239 Sequences Driven by a T7 Expression System as a Model HIV Vaccine Candidate ALSAIARI, NORAH [33] Screening for novel perhydrates ALSHANqITI, OMAIMA [131] First results about groups with a count function ALzAHRANI, NADA [35] What happens when mixtures of guanidinium chloride, [C(NH2)3]Cl, and sodium sulfite, Na2SO3, are crystallised from aqueous solution? ASHWORTH, RACHEL [179] The Development of Children’s Book Reading Skills BADRICK, ELLENA [163] The ‘Obesity Paradox’ and Mortality in Adults with Incident Type 2 Diabetes: explained by collider biases BALAKRISHNAN, PRABHURAJ [125] Graphene based Fuel cell systems as auto mobile engines – Possibilities and facing Challenges BEADLE, NICOLA [168] A novel ex vivo model of compressive immature rib fractures at pathophysiological rates of loading BERLJAFA, MARIO [59] Nonlinear rational least squares fitting
AL-JANABI, NADEEN [145] Engineering novel metallic-organic-frameworks (MOFs) for carbon capture from flue gas
BREEWOOD, HELEN [89] Improving sustainability in the food service sector
ALLSOP, BEN [156] Investigating the anti-amyloid properties of Rutin in Alzheimer’s disease
BROOKS, JULIE [161] Can ATR-FTIR of Blood Serum Discriminate Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia?
ALLUHAIBI, LULU [30] Synthesis Of New Perfluoropropenyl Organometallic Compounds By Using (Z)-HFC-1225YE ALMAEDANI, ABDALLA [60] The effect of n-3 PUFA on the formation of endocannabinoids and N-acylethanolamines in HaCs in response to ultraviolet radiation ALMASOUD, NAGLA SAAD [32] Optimization of matrix assisted desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for the characterization of Bacillus and Brevibacillus species
BUCKLEY, JAMES [171] The Manufacture and Characterisation of Composite Nuclear Fuels for Improved In-Reactor Performance BUHAMAD, zAHRAH [97] Genotyping of HCMV Glycoprotein O using Molecular Techniques CAPELáN, EIRA [103] Popular monumentality Forgotten architectures and material representation in el Cerro de Montevideo
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
CHAPMAN, NICK [81] Incentivising Demand Response: A Review of Major Approaches CHEN, FEIBEI [79] Community energy generation in the UK: the link between ownership of renewable energy developments and social acceptance CHIA, CHUNG [149] Adsorption for Gas Separation: An Energy Efficient Alternative Water Adsorption CHIEN, SzU-YAO [189] Service Co-innovation in The Big Data Context: Improving Service Performance through Real-time Data-driven Insights CLARK, SAM [55] Prediction of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) sequences using functional data combined with machine learning COOK, ELIzABETH [204] Who is the Victim? Acknowledgement of Victimhood in Peacetime and Conflict COOPER, JASMIN [78] The economic viability and environmental sustainability of UK shale gas COSTILLA REYES, OMAR [69] Temporal pattern recognition for gait analysis applications using an “Intelligent Carpet” System CRADDOCK, RUSSELL [20] Molecular structure and mechanical properties of intervertebral disc and articular cartilage CUEVAS FIGUEROA, GABRIEL [199] Prediction of Energy Production from Wind Farms with Case Study of Baja California DALAL, VINEET [150] Nano-particles: Decoders of the conundrum of idiopathic diseases DANON, JONATHAN [38] Template Synthesis of a Molecular Knot with Eight Crossings DAWOOD, OMAR [122] Structure/property in graphene and its composites DE ABREU NEGREIROS, BIANCA [80] Building Design and Environmental Performance - Earth construction for thermal comfort residential buildings in Northeast Brazil DEMAIN, LEIGH [5] Expanding the genotypic spectrum in Perrault syndrome DIDASKALOU, CHRISTOS [200] Improving the sustainability of membrane processes via cascade approaches DJOUKHADAR, IBRAHIM [158] Modifying Temozolomide Delivery in Brain Tumours DORIN, BRYCE [71] Fabrication of 3D conductive structures through direct laser writing
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
DOWNEY, KATHRYN [73] em-brace Co-desigining a brace for scoliosis EDWARDS, CARMEL [155] Alzheimer's 3D Cell Model EISNER, EMILY [142] ‘Basic symptoms’ as putative early indicators of psychosis relapse EJGANDI, AMINA [29] Investigating the use of fluoroalkeny phosphines in catalytic systems EL-CHAMI, CECILE [61] Organic osmolytes protect keratinocyte tight junctions from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation ELDAKHAKHNY, BASMAH [110] Fighting fire with fire: Worms, Inflammation & Crohn’s Disease ERUMI, RITSE [144] Inclusive Innovation, Technology and Development ESPINOzA, SEBASTIAN [203] Resilience assessment of electric power systems after the impact of natural disasters FAzAL, MOHAMMED LUqMAAN [52] Localised deformation in a cast nickel superalloy: measurements and modelling FERRE GUELL, ANNA [26] Polyhydroxyalkanoate production with Cupriavidus necator FIRTH, JOSEPH [141] Exercise as a treatment for first-episode psychosis: a feasibility study FLORES SALAS, ALICIA [194] Housing reconstruction post-disasters FORSS, CECILIA [13] Activation of human dendritic cells and pulmonary epithelial cells by Type 2 allergens GARNER, KIRSTEN [21] Investigating the mechanism by which lactation may help prevent breast cancer initiation and progression in the treatment of breast cancer
GRAY, KATHLEEN [82] 19th Century Housing in a 21st Century Climate
JAFARNEzHAD, BEHROUz [7] Patterns of Attention in Customer Decision Journeys
GREBENNIKOVA, TATIANA [182] Molten salt technologies for the treatment of contaminated graphite
JAMSHED, AMNA [174] Enhancing Manufacturing with Batch Anchor Devices
GRIFFITHS, ALExANDRA [196] Planetary Core Formation
JILABI, ABDULSAMEEA [124] Flash Butt Welding of Rail Steels
GUzMAN, FERNANDO [23] Production of polyhydroxybutyrate by Cupriavidus necator using an orange peel based media
JONES, HENRY [114] Wikipedia, Translation and the City: A narrative analysis of the representation and translational re-presentation of British cities within the multilingual on-line encyclopaedia project
HADI, AMMAR [44] Enhancing The Performance of Polar Codes HARIS, NORSHAKILA [46] Monolithic Integrated Power Limiter Circuits Using Double-Channel GaAs pHEMT Schottky Diodes HAYWARD, ANDREW [139] Enhancement of selective attention in low attentive rats by EVP-6124, an α7 nicotinic receptor partial agonist
KABIR, MITRA [2] The relationship between duplication and essentiality for mammalian genes KAISERMANN, CANDICE [126] Using foam fractionation to intensify downstream processing of biosurfactant
HEDISON, TOBIAS [85] Energy landscapes and catalysis in cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR). HENSON, MONIqUE [4] The impact of halo shape and substructure on weak lensing cluster mass and concentration estimates HERNANDEz, KARINA [83] Deformation above mobile substrates, salt rheology and spatial distribution of salt structures: A 3D seismic study of the Permian southern North Sea.
KALRA, HUSN [25] Investigation of the signal-dependent regulation on the LincRNA ITE1 KASSEM, SALMA [146] Transport of a Molecular Cargo using a Small Molecule Robotic Arm KEFALLINOU, ANTHOULA [42] Exploring students' experiences of inclusive practices: A cross-national study in English and Greek Secondary Schools KELLAWAY, SOPHIE [19] A novel source of mesenchymal stem cells lines from the human neonatal pancreas
HIRE, ADRIAN [160] Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): an epidemiological study using UK primary care data
KEPPAS, STAVROS [208] Linking remote sensing and in-situ measurements of cloud properties
HOLDEN, CATHERINE [63] An Aryne Mediated Transition Metal Free Synthesis of Biaryls
KIEzEL-TSUGUNOVA, MAGDALENA [88] Omega-3 PUFA alter eicosanoid production in UVR-irradiated epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts
GEBREMARIAM, EYOB [43] Urban Youth, Developmentalism and the Politics of Citizenship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
HOPE, HOLLY [105] The dynamics of living with rheumatoid arthritis: extracting meaning from the diary responses of a large RA cohort.
GHADGOUD, KHAWLA [117] Jespersen's Cycle in Libyan Arabic and Nafusi Berber
HOPWOOD, TOM [107] Epigenetic and ciracdian regulation of macrophage polarisation
GHALIB, ASAD [192] Using a Mixed Methods Approach to Assess the Impact of Microfinance
HOSAWI, SALMAN [202] Global proteomic analysis of insulin action in glomerular podocytes
GLEITz, HELENE [95] Development of ex vivo stem cell gene therapy for Mucopolysaccharidosis type II
HUANG, zHUOMIN [47] Mindfulness in Intercultural Communication: Using Creative-arts to Explore Postgraduates’ Experiences at a UK University
GORTON, HAYLEY [138] Non-psychotropic medication and Risk of Suicide and Attempted Suicide: a Systematic review
JONES, REINIS [190] Junior doctor patient safety learning experiences
KIM, JUNIC [185] The Platform Business Model and Strategy KONSTANTAS, ANTONIOS [201] Life Cycle Sustainability Management: Towards Eco-Efficient Confectionary Supply Chains KRISHNAMOORTHY, BHUVANESWARI [9] Validation of the endothelial markers CD31 and CD34 in immunohistochemistry of the long saphenous vein
JABRAN, ALI [166] Biomechanical Assessment of Proximal Humerus Plates using an Integrated Experimental and Computational Framework
KROKOS, GEORGIOS [136] Precision Of Physiological Parameters From Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) In Patients With Brain Tumours KUIPPERS, GINA [148] The biodegradation of isosaccharinic acid and its degradation products relevant in nuclear waste disposal
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
LI, qIAN [137] Improving the Performance of Retinal Pre-screening Algorithms by Analysing Failure Modes LIU, YUANYUAN [40] Controlling the Satellites and Coffee Stain for Inkjet Printing LLOYD, JAKE [41] Growing up in Gaza: Patriarchy, Social Division, Resistance and The Intifada Generation LOPEz-SILVA, PABLO [178] On the adaptiveness of delusions: Towards a contextual account
MORENO CASTILLA, LUCERO E [198] Structured surface on cutting tools to improve cutting performance MUELLER, JULIA [48] Information-seeking behaviour in people with lung cancer and the World Wide Web: Does Dr Google promote early help seeking? MULLAN, LORNA [93] Reduction of ER stress through the stimulation of intracellular proteolysis as a treatment strategy for chondrodysplasia caused by collagen X mutations MUNDY, WILLIAM [115] Papyrus: the paper of the ancient world
LOTzE, JOHANNES [119] Speaking the Languages of the Great Khan: Translation and Mongol Legacy in the Early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
MUNEER, ABEER [31] The challenges of studying halogen bonding in CF3(CF2)nCF2I containing crystals
LU, I-JUNG [143] ‘Help Is Just A Click Away!’ - Social Network Sites (SNSs) Based Parents’ Support in Taiwan
NICHMAN, LEONID [207] Production detection and classification of cloud particles
MARTYR, RANDALL [130] Solving Finite Time Horizon Dynkin Games by Optimal Switching
NOBLE, ELIzABETH [24] Investigating the link between Aβ, prion protein and tau in Alzheimer’s disease
MCDERMOTT, LUKE [118] Which way is up?
NWAEzE, GEORGE [72] Solution Processed Conducting Films for Optoelectronic devices
MCGOVERN, AMANDA [96] Functional characterisation of Rheumatoid Arthritis risk loci MIDSON, SCOTT [183] How (Post)human are you? MIKULEWICz, MICHAEL [195] Climate Change Adaptation Governance in Rural Madagascar MILLIN-CHALABI, GAIL [84] Detecting Moorland Wildfire Scars and their Persistence in the Landscape using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in the Peak District National Park, UK MILOSEVIC, NIKOLA [16] Supporting clinical trial data curation and integration with table mining MOGHADDASzADEH, MOHAMMAD [77] Strategic Decision Making Model in Maintenance Management: Is it right time to learn from failures? MOHAMMED, RAND [70] A Novel Transceiver Architecture for High-Speed Parallel Ethernet Network MOHD zAKI, SHIREEN [56] 2-D Image Synthesis for Pose Invariant Face Recognition MOHD zAKI, SYAzWANI [154] Studies on Versatility of Nanogel Graphene Oxide and their physical and mechanical properties MOREIRA, NATALIA [188] Product development: involving consumers, their demands and expectations in the development of sustainable fashion products
ODAKI, KAzUHIDE [175] Incentive or Not? A Critical Reappraisal of the Law on Compensation to Employee Inventors OLIVER, JAMES [108] Predicting anti-TNF treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis using genetic and genomic biomarkers OSEI-BONSU, KOFI [75] Fundamental investigation of foam-assisted water displacement in Hele-Shaw cell OU, xIAOxIA [121] X-ray tomography characterisation of open-cell foams for catalytic reactors design PAKALIDOU, NIKOLETTA [50] Self-assembly of monolayers of colloidal platelets via computer simulation
PRANJAL [127] An optimal solver for linear systems arising from stochastic FEM approximation of diffusion equations with random coefficients RABBANI, HARRIS [100] Influence of particle size on bioclogging in porous media RAHBARIMANESH, AMIR [8] A Decision Model to Support Value Creation in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) RAWSON, SHELLEY [123] Development of a contrast staining technique for X-Ray Micro-CT of sutured tendon ROBERTSON, ABIGAIL [11] Targeting the Hippo signalling pathway to enhance the therapeutic potential of iPSderived cardiomyocytes ROBINSON, MATTHEW [3] Multichroic planar antennas for a Cosmic Microwave Background polarisation survey with an ultrasensitive focal plane ROBINSON, JOANNE-MARIE [106] ‘Blood is thicker than water’: consanguineous marriage in Ancient Egypt ROBINSON, ANDREW [159] Psychological predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia in a longitudinally assessed cohort of elderly people ROBINSON, DANIELLE [167] Many varied methods are used to examine the association between oral glucocorticoid exposure and risk of fracture in patients with rheumatoid arthritis ROSCOE, ALISON [140] An epidemiological study of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia who commit homicide RUSCOE, REBECCA [62] Radical Cyclization Cascades in the Re-engineering of the Antibacterial Pleuromutilin SALEM, MOHAMMED [76] The ups and downs in the life of a rift basin, Western Sirt Basin, Libya.
PARKER, HELEN [113] Pathogenic Glycosaminoglycans from Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA Mice Drive an Innate Immune Neuro-inflammatory Response
SANCHEz, JONATHAN [1] Numerical simulation of flexible filaments immersed in a cross flow using lattice Boltzmann-immersed boundary method.
PATCHICK, EMMA [104] Psychometric validation of a patient-centred, patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for cognitive rehabilitation in chronic stroke: The Patient-Reported Evaluation of Cognitive State (PRECiS) Scale
SANDERS, THOMAS [173] The Characterisation and Removal of Water Droplets in High Pressure Water Jetting Nuclear Decontamination
PELAGIA, IOANNA [57] Variable Selection for Cox Proportional Hazard Frailty Model POHLMANN, STEFANIE [133] An automated 3D imaging method to select breast implants
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
SARI, VIRGI [193] State of the Art of Exclusion: Does social protection protect the excluded? SATTERTHWAITE, DANIELLE [206] Do changes in plant functional diversity modulate the response of peatland ecosystems to climate change? SAUNDERS-HINDLEY, RICHARD [101] The Beginning of Heaven': Wesleyan Expressions of Covenant, Holiness and the Divine Eternal Purpose
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
SAxTON, SOPHIE [10] The role of the sympathetic nervous system in PVAT function
SMITH, FRANCES [86] Can Prolyl Endopeptidase Reduce The IgE-Reactivity Of Gluten Proteins?
TRIMBLE, ELEANOR [186] Fusion of EEG & Eye-Tracking Data: An Investigation into Consumer Behaviour
SAYERS, REBEKAH [92] The effect of thermal processing on the allergenic activity of peanuts
SRIDHARAN, SUJATA [135] Initial Evaluation of [18F]GE-180 PET Imaging in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients
VICARIO RODRIGUEz, LAURA [98] Evaluating the relevance of the rat model in human risk assessment for cleft palate
SAYqAL, ALI [27] The effect of abiotic stress on Pseudomonas putida using FT-IR spectroscopy
SRIVASTAVA, ANKITA [22] Analysis of immune genes in zebrafish model of melanoma progression
WANG, xINFANG [197] Radical Transition- Exploration the Role of High-emitters
SEARLE, EMMA [181] Adjuvant Treatment With The Novel Akt Inhibitor AZD5363 Following Radiotherapy Improves Tumour Control in Head and Neck Cancer Tumour Bearing Mice
SRIVASTAVA, DEEPANSHU [152] High Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of (1-x)SrTiO3 - (x)La1/3NbO3 ceramic solid solution
WATREMEz, WILLIAM [157] Establishment of a rat model of relevance to sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease research: birth and development of a collaborative project.
STOCKTON, LAUREN [177] Understanding and Helping Families: Parents experiencing psychosis
WEBSTER, RUTH [176] Age-related changes to human functional lateralisation: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
SEIP, OSCAR [184] Giulio Camillo's Theatro della sapientia: Theatres of Knowledge in the Early Modern cultural and intellectual traditions SENCU, RAzVAN [51] Multiscale stochastic fracture mechanics of carbon fibre composites informed by in-situ XCT tests SEPULVEDA SANCHEz, DENISSE [102] How Class Transition And Racialized Cultures Impact On Indigenous Identities: The Case Of The Mapuche People With Higher Educational Qualifications SHARPLES, CATHERINE [18] Why did professionalisation take so long? SHEARS, REBECCA [109] Defining the host protective antigens of the mouse whipworm, Trichuris muris: Pathway to vaccination SHI, CHARLOTTE [187] Managing the Temporality of Brand Experience: The Implications of Pop up Retailing SHOOP, STEPHANIE [15] The frequency of remission in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis differs depending on remission criteria in a nationwide inception cohort SIETI, NATALIA [90] Life cycle environmental sustainability of ready-made baby foods SIMBOLON, SAUT MULIA [6] How Can a Government Institution Adopt Balanced Scorecards as Performance Management System Effectively? An empirical study of Balanced Scorecards implementation in Indonesian Government SIMS, ADAM [180] An Investigation of the effect of clay composition with challenges from heat and irradiation on the safety function performance of clay in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) SIRISARN, WANCHAT [64] Isolation and characterization of a novel bacteriophage infecting Staphylococcus aureus
STORER, CHRISTOPHER [67] SaturnSense Hydrofeed: In-line Sensing of the Full Compensition of Nutrients for Precision Management of Hydroponic Farming SUDALL, DAVID [170] Energy Yield from Co-located Offshore Wind and Tidal Stream Farms
WILLIAMS, ALED [165] Developing a new generation of peptidyl-oligonucleotide conjugates with desired biocatalytic properties against biologically relevant RNA
SULLIVAN, ROBERT [99] P63 in cleft lip: Expanding the P63 signalling network
WILLIAMSON, ANDREW [172] Towards Third Generation Solar Cells - The effects of Oxidation and Halide Passivation on the Shell Structure of Type II Colloidal Quantum Dots.
TADDESE, TSEDEN [53] Dynamics and thermodynamics of polymers at fluid interfaces
WILSON, CLAIRE [12] Introducing a role for PMCA1 in cardiac electrical activity
THEOCHAROUS, ANDRIANI [45] Hybridization and cultural influences on advertising creative strategy
WISTON, MODISE [205] Assessment of aerosol-cloud interactions during southern African biomass burning activity, employing cloud parameterizations
THOMAS, CHRISTIAN [66] Exploring the use of the Manchester Patient Safety Assessment Framework in improving safety culture in community pharmacies.
WU, YIFAN [129] Shape optimization in inverse scattering problem
THOMSON, JESSIE [169] Automated shape and texture analysis for detection of Osteoarthritis from radiographs of the knee TIAN, JINGDUO [68] Simulation of a 3D Vision-Based Robotic System with Wire-frame Object Representations and Quantised Uncertainty Sources
YEKRANGIAN, SHIRIN [54] Frequency Response of Laminated Plates under Free Vibration zAMANI, AHMAD [132] A real-time 3D dynamic simulator for Taylor Spatial Frames in orthopaedics zEBIN, TAHMINA [17] Inertial Sensing for Gait Analysis and The Scope for Sensor Fusion
TIMMERMANN, VANESSA [39] Lanthanide and uranium tert-butyloxycarbonyl appended cyclen derivatives TIMMS, KATE [91] Examining the potential role of food-derived plant microRNAs in human placental development TORRESCANO ALVAREz, JEANETTE [153] Formation of anodic films on aluminium and AA 2024 T3 alloy under hard anodizing conditions TRAN, PETER [94] Redox regulation of the cytosolic Glutaredoxin system in mitochondrial protein biogenesis
zGHEBI, SALWA [65] Choice of second-line antidiabetic treatment in Type 2 diabetes: influence of patient characteristics zHANG, xINxIN [120] The development of localized corrosion in AA2099 Al-Cu-Li alloy zHANG, WEIJIAN [128] Computing Centrality on Evolving Networks zHAO, YIzHENG [58] Concept Forgetting in ALCOI-Ontologies zHU, MENGJIAN [151] Proximity superconductivity in ballistic graphene
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
KEYWORD INDEx
Please use the below as a guide to initiating interdisciplinary dialogues with researchers working on certain topics that span multiple disciplines and faculties. The list (alphabetised) is by no means comprehensive, but may be helpful as you navigate around the many abstracts and posters.
AERODYNAMICS [1]
EMPLOYMENT [74, 175]
ANIMALS [1, 2]
ENERGY & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT [8, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 89, 90, 148, 170, 171, 182, 185, 197, 198, 199, 203]
ASTRONOMY [3, 4]
OSTEOLOGY (Study of Bones) [166, 167, 168, 169]
ENVIRONMENT [81, 82, 83, 84]
PALEOANTHROPOLOGY [106]
ENzYMES [85, 86, 87, 165]
PARENTING [143, 177]
BIOMECHANICS [166]
FOOD, DIET & CONSUMPTION [86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92]
PHILOSOPHY [184]
BUSINESS & BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [6, 7, 8]
GENETICS [2, 5, 12, 87, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 107, 108]
POLITICS & POLICY [43]
CARDIOVASCULAR & RESPIRATORY HEALTH [9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]
GERONTOLOGY (Study of Ageing) [159, 176]
AUDIOLOGY (Study of Sound and Hearing) [5]
CARE [15, 16, 17, 18] CELLS (Biology, Anatomy) [11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 55, 88, 93, 94, 95, 155, 156, 202] CHEMISTRY [14, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 62, 63, 67, 126, 145, 146, 161, 180, 205] CHILDREN, YOUTH & DEVELOPMENT [15, 41, 42, 43] COMMUNICATIONS [16, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48] COMPUTER MODELLING [1, 4, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 68, 73, 127, 132, 133, 147, 166, 170, 194, 205] COMPUTING [2, 16, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 114, 128, 183] CONSUMERISM [7] CULTURE [45, 101, 115] DERMATOLOGY (Study of Skin) [60, 61] DRUGS & PHARMACEUTICALS [55, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 85, 138, 139, 150, 155, 157, 158, 165, 167, 181] ECONOMICS [81, 191] ELECTRONICS [17, 46, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 134, 151, 152] EMOTIONS & WELLBEING [47, 73, 74, 104, 141]
[1]
ONCOLOGY (Study of Cancer) [25, 48, 133, 158, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 181]
POWER [81, 147, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174]
HISTORY [18, 106]
PSYCHOLOGY [7, 47, 66, 105, 142, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179]
HUMAN RESOURCES [74]
RADIATION [173, 180, 181, 182]
HYDROLOGY [84, 100]
RELIGION [101, 183, 184]
IDENTITY [41, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 115, 116, 183]
REPRODUCTION & SExUALITY [91]
IMMUNOLOGY & TREATMENT [13, 86, 87, 92, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113] LANGUAGES & TRANSLATION [42, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119] MATERIALS [23, 26, 40, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 67, 71, 72, 73, 103, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 171, 172, 173, 180, 182]
RETAIL & CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR [45, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189] SKILLS & EMPLOYMENT [144, 190] SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT [43, 144, 160, 188, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195] SPACE & THE ExTRATERRESTRIAL [196]
MATHEMATICS [57, 58, 59, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131]
SUSTAINABILITY [26, 63, 78, 79, 80, 82, 89, 90, 149, 154, 188, 191, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201]
MEDICAL IMAGING & MAPPING [17, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 169]
SYSTEMS & NETWORKS [66, 128, 189, 202, 203]
MEMORY [159, 184]
TEACHING & PEDAGOGY [42, 190]
MENTAL HEALTH [104, 105, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 157, 177]
TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE [194]
MOBILE TECHNOLOGY [142, 143, 144, 185]
URBAN/RURAL ENVIRONMENTS [103, 195, 206]
MOLECULAR CHEMISTRY [14, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149]
WAR & CONFLICT [41, 204]
NANOTECHNOLOGY (inc. Microtechnology) [150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 172]
WEATHER & CLIMATE [27, 80, 84, 195, 199, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208]
NEUROLOGY (Study of Brain and Nervous System) [24, 95, 113, 134, 139, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160]
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
LIST OF POSTERS ARRANGED BY NUMBER [1] JONATHAN SANCHEz
[2] MITRA KABIR
[3] MATTHEW ROBINSON
jonathan.sanchezmunoz@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
mitra.kabir@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
matthew.robinson-5@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Numerical simulation of flexible filaments immersed in a cross flow using lattice Boltzmann-immersed boundary method. The movement of an immersed flexible filament in a fluid is an interesting topic due to its presence in many biological flows like swimming or flying animals, where the presence of this characteristic permits the control of subsequence vortex shedding and reduces drag. This work presents a numerical simulation of a deformable flexible filament which responds to momentum exerted by an incompressible cross flow. This simulation is based on Lattice Boltzmann method and immersed boundary method. The Lattice Boltzmann method is a mesoscopic approximation which is used it to simulate the behaviour of a fluid flow solving the Boltzmann transport equation through Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook approach. Immersed boundary method is and Eulerian and Lagrangian formulation which is used to simulate the movement of flexible filament. The main idea of this method is to determine the needed body force distribution that restores the velocity boundary on the immersed surface at each time step.
Faculty of Life Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The relationship between duplication and essentiality for mammalian genes We investigated a number of Mus musculus genes to study the role of gene duplication on mammalian gene essentiality, where an essential gene is defined to be required for survival to 3 days post birth. We labelled mouse essential and non-essential genes as defined by single gene knockout experiments as singletons or duplicates. Previous studies in mouse reported that singletons and duplicates have similar likelihoods of being essential. In contrast, our analysis showed that essential genes originating from duplicates are considerably lower in proportion than those originating from singletons. Also, at all developmental stages a significantly higher proportion of singletons and essential genes are expressed than duplicates and non-essential genes. We found that duplicates with similar patterns of developmental co-expression are more likely to be non-essential; essential genes did not have such a trend. This study reveals new insights into the relationship of gene essentiality, developmental expression, an gene duplication.
School of Physics and Astronomy Multichroic planar antennas for a Cosmic Microwave Background polarisation survey with an ultrasensitive focal plane Full characterisation of the polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) remains an elusive goal in Cosmology. The sensitivity of detectors used for CMB experiments is near the fundamental photon noise limit making significant gains in detector sensitivity unattainable. Instead, further gains in instrument sensitivity are being achieved by increasing the total number of detectors. In this work, a planar antenna has been designed that doubles the number of detectors compared with classic horn antennas due to its dual frequency performance. In addition, the planar antenna is lightweight and can be mass-produced using photolithography. A scale-model is presented with bands centered at 8.5 and 11 GHz. The antenna design is compatible with flat mesh lens technology that can be used to efficiently match the antenna beam to a typical CMB satellite telescope.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[2]
[4] MONIqUE HENSON
[5] LEIGH DEMAIN
[6] SAUT MULIA SIMBOLON
monique.henson@manchester.ac.uk
leigh.demain@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
saut.simbolon@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Human Development
School of Environment, Education and Development
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
School of Physics and Astronomy The impact of halo shape and substructure on weak lensing cluster mass and concentration estimates Accurate measurements of the properties of galaxy clusters are a vital tool in modern cosmology, providing a unique insight into the late time evolution of the Universe. Previous works investigating biases in measurements of cluster observables using numerical simulations have either been restricted to dark matter only simulations or have been limited to a small number of high-mass clusters. The MACSIS project is a set of hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters which extends existing cluster simulations to higher masses. Taken with an existing simulation, these simulations form a population which covers almost two orders of magnitude in mass, with more than 170 clusters with masses greater than 10^15 solar masses. This sample is used to determine the scaling of the spin and shape of clusters with mass. Mock weak lensing observables for the clusters are used to quantify the influence of halo shape on weak lensing mass and concentration.
[3]
Expanding the genotypic spectrum in Perrault syndrome Perrault syndrome is rare, autosomal recessive and characterised by sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in both sexes and primary ovarian insufficiency in 46, XX females. Five causative genes are reported to date, HSD17B4, HARS2, LARS2, CLPP and C10orf2, none confirmed subsequent to the identification studies. We present four Perrault syndrome families (P1-4) with mutations in HSD17B4, LARS2 and C10orf2. An affected female (P1) was compound heterozygous for HSD17B4 c.46G>A p.(Gly16Ser) and c.244G>T p.(Val82Phe). The affected female and male in P2 were homozygous for LARS2 c.1565C>A p.(Thr522Asn). An affected female and male in P3 were compound heterozygous for LARS2 c.1565C>A p.(Thr522Asn) and c.351G>C p.(Met117Ile). Affected members of P2 and P3 showed unusual low frequency SNHL, previously described in Perrault syndrome caused by LARS2 mutations. A female (P4) with significant neurological disability was compound heterozygous for C10orf2 c.968G>A p.(Arg323Gln) and c.1196A>G p.(Asn399Ser). These cases confirm HSD17B4, LARS2 and C10orf2 as Perrault syndrome genes.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Humanities
How Can a Government Institution Adopt Balanced Scorecards as Performance Management System Effectively? An empirical study of Balanced Scorecards implementation in Indonesian Government It is very difficult find a study of BSC implementation focusing upon a large organization which evaluating the consistency and coherence BSC implementation from the highest to lowest level of units. Most studies of BSC were conducted through comparing implementation of among organizations. However, it very is important to carefully explore the implementation of BSC within a single organization describing connection between center organization and organizations which are structurally under its coordination, regarding BSC cause-effect concepts. Previous studies mainly used respondents who were dominated by organizations executives. However, it is essential to involve lower level management and employees because BSC also involves those “actors” in the implementation process. Despite its significance to BSC concepts, however, properties of BSC such as strategy map and alignment have attracted little attention in research studies (Hoque, 2014). Thus, it is important to study how those properties adopted in practice.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[7] BEHROUz JAFARNEzHAD
[8] AMIR RAHBARIMANESH
behrouz.jafarnezhad@postgrad.mbs.ac.uk
amir.rahbarimanesh@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Humanities
Manchester Business School
[9] BHUVANESWARI KRISHNAMOORTHY
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
honey223@hotmail.com
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Patterns of Attention in Customer Decision Journeys "...in an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” - Simon (1971).
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
A Decision Model to Support Value Creation in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) In the context of inter-organisational Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As), degree of post-deal integration is regarded as a crucial factor since it directly affects the overall performance of the combined entity.
Validation of the endothelial markers CD31 and CD34 in immunohistochemistry of the long saphenous vein Endothelial injury during the surgical intervention can significantly affect the functional status of the vein.
With Internet, “all information in all places at all times” is not a dream anymore. However, it has caused a shift of value: from the information to the limited bandwidth people have to devote to it. We have moved from the state of lack of resources to attend, to the abundance of resources and the lack of attention.
As studies show, higher degree of integration is associated with on-going realisation of integration synergies and achievement towards higher level of performance. However, empirical evidence assert that all M&As are not capable of achieving the desirable degree of integration mainly due to appearance of cultural incompatibilities between deal partners.
This research studies marketing behaviours of consumers using critical concept of attention economy which is understood to be the way people make sense and make choices over where and when to give their attention as a finite resource through Edelman’s CDJ Model.
This is regarded as the matter of major concern since the issue contributes to high rate of integration failures. Regarding the significance of problem, this research has taken a risk mitigation approach and stepped towards identification of the extent to which deal partners are capable of being integrated after deal announcement. Using mixed methods in a case study-based research, conceptual and predictive models are developed and further validated.
The endothelial layer plays a vital role in the long saphenous vein for ensuring smooth blood flow and the prevention of vasoconstriction and thrombi formation within the blood vessels. There are few histological studies comparing the different vein harvesting techniques that have studied endothelial layer integrity using CD31 and CD34 on human long saphenous veins. Ten tissue samples were obtained from ten traditional open vein harvesting patients and were automatically processed and stained using immunohistochemistry for CD31 and CD34. The colour, intensity and distribution of the staining on the tissues were scored blindly by five independent scorers and an expert histopathlogist for this study. The CD34 antibody demonstrated greater colour (p<0.007), intensity (p<0.019) and distribution (p<0.007) compared to CD31. Our study indicates that compared to CD31, CD34 is a better endothelial marker in the long saphenous vein providing more reliable results.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[4]
1
1 AARTI KRISHNAN
Reconstructing lives: Capturing value through developing human capability
[5]
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
2
2 ALEx CLARKE
3
3 ASAD GHALIB
Giant Telescopes For Giant Galaxies
Contentment as wealth – reflections on the life of a rural vegetable vendor
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[10] SOPHIE SAxTON
[11] ABIGAIL ROBERTSON
[12] CLAIRE WILSON
sophie.saxton@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
abigail.robertson-4@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
claire.wilson-6@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
The role of the sympathetic nervous system in PVAT function Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) exerts an anti-contractile effect on circulation, which is lost in obesity. Over-activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) has been implicated in obesity, and may lead to hypertension and diabetes.
Targeting the Hippo signalling pathway to enhance the therapeutic potential of iPS-derived cardiomyocytes Cell therapy has emerged as new approach to treat myocardial infarction. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes have become an attractive source for cardiac cell therapy. iPS-CM generation is an inefficient process and they display low survival when transplanted into the damaged myocardium.
Introducing a role for PMCA1 in cardiac electrical activity Heart failure is a major health epidemic. Arrhythmias, heart rhythm disturbances, are associated with heart failure progression. Genes can influence an individual’s susceptibility to developing arrhythmias. One gene linked to several features of heart failure is the plasma membrane calcium ATPase 1 (PMCA1).
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Therefore it was decided to examine the SNS in PVAT. Frequency-stimulation profiles (0.1-30Hz) of murine mesenteric arteries +/-PVAT were characterised, and the test for neural stimulation using 1µM tetrodotoxin (TTX) was performed. Adrenoceptor stimulation of PVAT was investigated using noradrenaline, phenylephrine (both 1x10-9-1x10-5M), and CL-316,243 (10µm). At 20V PVAT elicited a reproducible anti-contractile effect (P<0.01), which was reduced by TTX (P<0.05). With noradrenaline and phenylephrine, PVAT elicited an anti-contractile response. Addition of CL-316,243 to phenylephrine-constricted +PVAT vessels induced a relaxation (P<0.05), indicating the role of β3-adrenoceptors. These results suggest that the SNS stimulates release of vasodilators from PVAT via β3-adrenoreceptors. Studies in an obese model will aid understanding how over-stimulation leads to a loss of anti-contractility.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
To address these problems we targeted the Hippo signalling pathway, which is key in the regulation of cell proliferation and survival. Analysis of cell proliferation shows that genetic ablation of Mst1 leads to increased proliferation, survival and viability of iPSC in both normal and hypoxic conditions. In addition overexpression of YAP, which is normally inhibited by upstream Hippo pathway components, and overexpression of mutated constitutively active form of YAP increase cell proliferation in iPS-CM. Targeting the Hippo pathway in iPS and iPS-CM significantly increases proliferation and survival in normal and hypoxic conditions. This is highly important for iPS-CM to be a viable option for cell therapy after MI.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Along with its role in hypertension, we believe PMCA1 may also influence the development of arrhythmias. To determine the influence of PMCA1 on cardiac rhythm and electrical activity, electrocardiograms (ECG) where performed on cardiomyocyte-specific knockout mice (PMCA1CKO) and mice heterozygous for PMCA1 (PMCA1Ht). Complete cardiomyocyte deletion of PMCA1 resulted in abnormal heart rhythms, with prolonged QT and JT intervals (p=<0.05), and increased susceptibility to arrhythmic events. Heterozygous PMCA1 expression however had no significant effect on heart rhythm. Therefore the level of cardiac PMCA1 expression appears to influences cardiac electrical activity. This indicates a novel role for PMCA1 in heart rhythm control, potentially pointing to new therapeutic targets.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[6]
[13] CECILIA FORSS
[14] WAqAR AHMED
[15] STEPHANIE SHOOP
cecilia.forss@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
waqar.ahmed@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
stephanie.shoop@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Activation of human dendritic cells and pulmonary epithelial cells by Type 2 allergens The lung epithelium is today widely accepted as more than just a physical barrier. It has a crucial role in the initiation and direction of the immune response following exposure to allergens and pathogens.
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Development of a quality Control Mixture for Breath Metabolites from Patients Diagnosed with Ventilator -Associated Pneumonia Current diagnostic methods do not allow for timely diagnosis of Ventilator associated pneumonia often resulting in false-positive diagnosis and the inappropriate use of antibiotics.
The frequency of remission in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis differs depending on remission criteria in a nationwide inception cohort Patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) are at risk of long-term pain and disability due to joint inflammation. Therefore, the aim of treatment is clinical remission. Many different remission criteria have been developed. However, no study has compared the most widely used and validated criteria in a single population.
Faculty of Life Sciences
House dust mite (HDM) and Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fum) is two common allergens that are known to cause severe illness to millions of people worldwide. With established models of human lung epithelial cells (ECs) and dendritic cells (DCs) the aim is is to identify key interactions between cells after exposure to HDM or A. fum. With further characterization we hope to increase our fundamental understanding of the pulmonary inflammatory response.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
We use analytical methods to determine the difference in breath metabolites between infected and non-infected patients. A quality control (QC) is essential sample methodology experiments and molecule identification. We use Thermal Desorption and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry for identification. Breath was collected, from healthy volunteers and trapped onto a sorbent material. We found common metabolites within breath and used a QC mixture from a previous study. Initial results indicate 10/21 compounds were in breath compared to the QC mixture. After further experimentation, the final QC mixture will cover a variety of compound classes, molecular mass, carbon number and volatility in accordance with breath samples. Collecting VAP patient samples will improve our understanding of infection metabolic pathways and allow for development of efficient and accurate diagnosis.
[7]
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Data on 1355 patients recruited to the Childhood Arthritis Prospective Cohort (CAPS) before December 2013 were analysed to determine remission frequency at one year follow-up. Definitions of remission included non-validated measures, such as no active joints, and validated measures including Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (JADAS) cut-offs and Wallace’s preliminary criteria for remission. Whilst 48% patients had no active joints at year one, the remission frequency ranged from 5% using Wallace’s criteria to 17% using the clinical JADAS. A lack of joint involvement does not suggest inactive disease and further work needs to explore long-term outcomes following the achievement of remission.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[16] NIKOLA MILOSEVIC
[17] TAHMINA zEBIN
[18] CATHERINE SHARPLES
nikola.milosevic@manchester.ac.uk
tahmina.zebin@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
catherine.sharples@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
School of Computer Science
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
Inertial Sensing for Gait Analysis and The Scope for Sensor Fusion Gait analysis is often used both for 'Diagnosis', where conditions such as Parkinson’s disease can be first detected by alterations in gait, and 'Rehabilitation' following injury directly to limbs or to the brain’s motor control faculties following a stroke. In this work, we propose and construct a low cost Inertial Sensor System which is specifically tailored to study lower body motion in terms of gait parameters and joint kinematics.
Why did professionalisation take so long? The history of post colonial nursing in Malta has not been studied. This poster is about the history of professionalisation of nursing in Malta, based on oral history interviews of 21 nurses and other influential persons affecting nursing.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Supporting clinical trial data curation and integration with table mining PubMed contains nearly 800,000 clinical trial citations, which report detailed trial planning, execution and results, including descriptions of study arms, demographic data, inclusion/exclusion criteria, protocols that have been followed, specific outcomes etc. So far, medical text mining has mostly focused on extracting information from the body of text with some success. Processing of information from tables is often limited to textual captions, whereas data presented in tables are typically ignored in large-scale automated processing. Here we report on a methodology developed to support semi-automated data curation and integration from clinical trial reports that relies on processing both the main text and tables. In a case study with the extraction of values of body mass index and/or weight of patients involved in clinical trials, we achieved a F-measure of 85% for body mass index extraction.
Also, we propose a method to use the hierarchical skeleton model obtained from optical motion capture database with the inertial sensing system. The main focus is in using the inertial sensors data (e.g. joint acceleration and angular readings) for generating and reconstructing visually appealing motion sequences from low-dimensional sensor input. This opened up the scope of fusing inertial sensor data with optical motion capture data.
Together with these, official documents and published and unpublished reports are used to attempt to explain possible reasons why nursing in Malta took long to achieve professional status, not becoming a licensed profession until 2003. Thematic analysis is based on Moloney's sequential stages of professionalisation and the antecedents of professionalisation of nursing and barriers to it described by Ghardirian et al. (2014). Graphic representation and verbatim quotes form the basis of this poster to demonstrate changes over time.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[8]
[19] SOPHIE KELLAWAY
[20] RUSSELL CRADDOCK
[21] KIRSTEN GARNER
sophie.kellaway@manchester.ac.uk
russell.craddock@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
kirsten.garner@ics.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Life Sciences
A novel source of mesenchymal stem cells lines from the human neonatal pancreas Understanding β-cell neogenesis for diabetes research currently relies upon the use of rodent models or lengthy pluripotent stem cell protocols. Human pancreatic mesenchymal stem cells (pMSCs) are stem cells with limited capacity for proliferation and differentiation. In this study, pMSC lines were derived from patients with congenital hyperinsulinism in infancy (CHI). CHI is a disorder of uncontrolled insulin release and pancreatic hyperproliferation which requires removal of part of the infant’s pancreas. All three cell lines were found to express markers associated with pancreatic development. Morphology of the cell lines was consistent and they were readily able to form islet-like clusters. CHI-derived pMSCs proliferated faster than adult pMSCs and continued to proliferate beyond their adult counterparts. Our data show that derivation of pMSCs from CHI patients is feasible, reproducible, and that this source has advantages over adult pMSC lines which may lead to greater uptake of the model.
[9]
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Institute of Cancer Sciences
Molecular structure and mechanical properties of intervertebral disc and articular cartilage Aggrecan, the most abundant proteoglycan in cartilaginous tissues, plays a key role in maintaining osmotic potential and hence in providing resistance against compressive forces. In this study we aimed to: i) determine whether the ultrastructure of bovine aggrecan was tissue- (intervertebral disc [IVD] and articular cartilage [AC]) dependent, and ii) relate the compressive modulus of AC and IVD tissue to extracellular matrix composition and structure.
Investigating the mechanism by which lactation may help prevent breast cancer initiation and progression in the treatment of breast cancer For decades it has been known that pregnancy and lactation can help protect against breast cancer initiation and progression. It is believed that human breast milk itself may contain factors that exert this anti-tumour effect, and members of the casein gene family identified as potential candidates.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to characterise both the ultrastructure of isolated intact and non-intact bovine aggrecan monomers and the compressive modulus (stiffness) of AC and IVD tissue. Intact AC-aggrecan monomers were significantly longer with more extensive GAG chains than IVD-aggrecan and AC tissue was significantly stiffer than IVD tissue. Therefore, these results suggest that aggrecan ultrastructure in young cartilaginous tissues may be tailored to the specific microenvironment.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
The aims of this study are to investigate the mechanisms by which lactation and α-casein exert the observed anti-tumour effects. We used lentiviral transfection to introduce reporter genes in human fibroblasts to investigate the effects of α-casein on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell-fibroblast co-cultures. Cancer cells were shown to ‘activate’ fibroblasts following co-culture, via activation of NFκB and HIF-1α signalling-a process strongly implicated in tumour progression and metastasis . α-casein treatment was shown to deactivate this, even at low concentrations suggesting that α-casein may act to disrupt cancer cell-stroma interaction and inhibit tumourigensis.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[22] ANKITA SRIVASTAVA
[23] FERNANDO GUzMAN
[24] ELIzABETH NOBLE
ankita.srivastava@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
fernando.guzmanlagunes@ postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
elizabeth.noble@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Life Sciences
Analysis of immune genes in zebrafish model of melanoma progression Increasing incidence of melanoma showing resistance to treatment against chemotherapy and radiotherapy, makes it the most dangerous type of skin cancer. In recent times, zebrafish has emerged as a primary model to study melanoma as they share similarity with human genes, are cheap to maintain, have short generation times and are easy to manipulate. The first aim of this project was to initiate study into conservation, phylogeny and dynamics of expression of candidate immune inhibitory genes (ctla4,cd200,pdl1,foxp3) during melanoma progression. The second aim was to clone putative regulatory sequences of zebrafish il-4 gene to establish presence of immune cells(Th2,Tregs) to help generate a cytokine reporter fish line.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Production of polyhydroxybutyrate by Cupriavidus necator using an orange peel based media One of the main agro industrial wastes in the world is generated by the industry of citrus-processing materials and the disposal of it represents a problem for the companies involved. A solution for this problem can be reached by using this waste as a starting material for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates, a group of polyesters synthetized by a range of bacterial strain. This study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of use of orange peels as raw material for the production of a fermentation medium that could provide the conditions for the synthesis of polyhydroxybutyrate by Cupriavidus necator H16.
Investigating the link between Aβ, prion protein and tau in Alzheimer’s disease The cellular prion protein (PrPC) has been proposed to mediate oligomeric amyloid-β (Aβo) induced neuronal deficits in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Binding of Aβo to PrPC induces the formation of a signalling complex activating Fyn kinase which phosphorylates tau at Tyrosine 18, a residue which is not normally phosphorylated in adults. In addition to mediating Aβ toxicity, tau is considered crucial for the progression of neurodegeneration. Recent evidence suggests PrPc regulates tau expression and this effect can be regulated by Aβo. We aim to further unravel these links between Aβ, PrPC and tau in Alzheimer’s disease using neuroblastoma cell lines, iPSC-derived neurons and mouse brain homogenates.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[10]
[25] HUSN KALRA
[26] ANNA FERRE GUELL
[27] ALI SAYqAL
husnul_k@hotmail.com
anna.ferreguell@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ali.sayqal@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Chemistry
Faculty of Life Sciences Investigation of the signal-dependent regulation on the LincRNA ITE1 The MAPKs are a group of protein kinases that are activated in response to a variety of extracellular stimuli. One of these pathways includes the ERK/MAPK pathway, which has downstream targets that influences a variety of essential physiological processes, such as proliferation. Ite1 stands for Inducible Transcript in Embryonic Stem cells 1, which was identified in mouse embryonic stem cells as a lncRNA, as an enrichment peak of Elk1 downstream of Fos. The overall aim of this project is investigating the regulation of Ite1 by EGF stimulation and Elk1, Elk4 and SRF gene knockdowns. The results showed that Ite1 was expressed, despite knocking down Elk1, Elk4 and SRF individually, as Ite1 induction may require Elk1 and Elk4, together with SRF, The study of the regulation of this gene could be crucial in cancer therapy, particularly given the involvement of lncRNAs and the MAPK pathway in tumor formation and progression
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Polyhydroxyalkanoate production with Cupriavidus necator Oil-based plastics are widely used in everyday life. However, oil reserves are limited, hazardous materials are employed for production and plastics become recalcitrant waste once used. Thus there is a need to find alternative materials produced using renewable resources with low environmental impact. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of microbially produced, biodegradable plastics with similar properties to conventional plastics. PHA have potential to be used in everyday products, but industrial production is hindered by high production costs. Thus, novel fermentation and downstream processes are required. Alternatives investigated in the past few years include the use of low cost, renewable feedstocks as a carbon source. In this work, an experimental and computational approach is used to study the effect of nutrient limitation requirements to trigger PHA production in batch and fed-batch fermentations leading to the design of improved fermentation protocols.
[11] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The effect of abiotic stress on Pseudomonas putida using FT-IR spectroscopy Efflux pumps are probably the most important mechanisms that play a crucial role in solvent tolerance in Pseudomonas putida DOT-T1E, as they expel antibiotics and aromatic hydrocarbons. Three pumps are involved in solvent tolerance: TtgABC, TtgDEF and TtgGHI. The sudden addition of 0.05% (vol/vol) toluene or 0.2% propranolol (a human β-blocker) to P. putida DOTT1E, P. putida DOT-T1E-PS28 (lacking TtgGHI pump) and P. putida DOT-T1E18 (lacking the TtgABC pump) grown in LB medium, in the presence or absence of toluene via gas phase, had a clear effect on bacterial survival. In this study the effect of a particular concentration of toxic solvent or drug on the bacterial cell was examined. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy can be used to investigate whether the phenotype of an organism has changed by exposing it to different levels of toxic solvents.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[28] SANAA ABUSHHEWA
[29] AMINA EJGANDI
[30] LULU ALLUHAIBI
sanaa.abushhewa-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
amina.ejgandi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
lulu.alluhaibi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
P(III)promoters of Rf transfer reactions by using large donating phosphines as organocatalysts The preparation of α-trifluoromethyl -containing organic compounds results in a number of applications in polymer, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, which have significant advantageous properties [1]. The preparation a-trifluoromethyl alcohol units performed via CF3C(OH)RR is especially significant as an important constituent of biologically active systems.
Investigating the use of fluoroalkeny phosphines in catalytic systems This poster describes the synthesis and chemistry of fluoroalkenyl-containing phosphines and their uses in catalytic system. Extension of the method used to generate perfluorovinyllithium from HFC-134a (CF3CH2F) should be possible with other compounds possessing a -CF2CH2F group.
Synthesis Of New Perfluoropropenyl Organometallic Compounds By Using (z)-HFC-1225YE We present the synthesis of a variety of new perfluoropropenyl organometallic compounds. The general synthesis of Z-perfluoropropenyl lithium (CF3CF=CFLi) is based on reacting (Z)-HFC-1225ye (CF3CF=CFH) with one equivalent of BuLi.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The generation of the trifluoromethylanion was very difficult to achieve, involving a Grignard reagent or an organolithium compound. This is because of the ready decomposition of the anion resulting in difluorocarbene and fluorine salts by elimination of fluoride. Prakash, Olah and Stahly et al, discovered the first nucleophilic trifluoromethylationof carbonyl compounds. In 1984, Ruppert et al discovered (trifluoromethyl)trimethylsilane, (Ruppert’s reagent) and later called the Ruppert–Prakash reagent. This is usually catalysed by addition of a fluoride source. However inorganic fluorides are not very soluble in many organic solvents, so alternative catalysts are desirable.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Thus the reactivity of a range of commercially available hydrofluorocarbons toward n-butyllithium is introduced as a means of generating novel fluoroalkenyllithium reagents.
The resulting Z-perfluoropropenyl lithium can be reacted with appropriate metal halides to form perfluoropropenyl organometallic compound.
From these a range of monoand bis-substituted fluoroalkenyl phosphines were prepared. The application of these phosphines to three catalytic systems, the Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions and Bayer-Villiger oxidation is reported.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[12]
[31] ABEER MUNEER
[32] NAGLA SAAD ALMASOUD
[33] NORAH ALSAIARI
abeer.muneer@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
nagla.almasoud-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
norah.alsaiari@manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
The challenges of studying halogen bonding in CF3(CF2)nCF2I containing crystals In the current study a series of perfluorinated alkyliodides, as halogen bond acceptors, have been mixed with nitrogen containing compounds to act as lone pair donors.
Optimization of matrix assisted desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for the characterization of Bacillus and Brevibacillus species Over the past few decades there has been an increased interest in using various analytical techniques for detecting and identifying microorganisms.
Screening for novel perhydrates Hydrogen peroxide is an environmentally friendly oxidant for chemical synthesis and catalysis. However it often needs to be used in an anhydrous form as many catalysts don’t function well in water.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Vapour diffusion crystallization was found to generate higher quality crystals as well as different polymorphs to those obtained from solution. Single crystal Xray analyses have been used to identify and characterise the donation of an electron pair from nitrogen to iodine and bromine. However, a very large asymmetric unit and phase changes have resulted in showing XRD data.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
More recently there has been an explosion in the application of matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for bacterial characterization, and here we optimize this approach in order to generate reproducible MS data from bacteria belonging to the genera Bacillus and Brevibacillus. Unfortunately MALDI-TOF-MS generates large amounts of data and is prone to instrumental drift. To overcome these challenges we have developed a preprocessing pipeline that includes baseline correction, peak alignment followed by peak picking that in combination significantly reduces the dimensionality of the MS spectra and corrects for instrument drift.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Unfortunately 100% H2O2 is highly dangerous and is supplied as 30% wt/wt aqueous solution. Synthetic chemists are therefore turning to perhydrates, such as Na2 CO3.H2O2, which was originally designed as the bleach component of domestic detergent powders e.g. “Vanish”. As the name implies, perhydrates are hydrogen peroxide solvates c.f. water solvates in hydrates. Synthetic applications will have a different set of requirements to those for domestic use, including solubility, stability, reactions with the hydrogen peroxide host, waste products and purification so that it would be worthwhile to search for novel perhydrates with synthetic applications.
Following this two different prediction models were used which are based on support vector machines and these generated satisfactory prediction accuracies of approximately 90%.
[13] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[34] AHMED ALHARBI
[35] NADA ALzAHRANI
[36] FATIMAH ALqAHTANI
Ahmed.alharbi-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
nada.alzahrani@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
fatimah.alqahtani@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
What happens when mixtures of guanidinium chloride, [C(NH2)3]Cl, and sodium sulfite, Na2SO3, are crystallised from aqueous solution? It would be anticipated that the hydrogen bonding match between SO32- and C(NH2)3+ would lead to them pairing in any crystalline product 2[C(NH2)3]Cl + Na2SO3 → [C(NH2)3]2SO3 + 2NaCl
A Search for the Inhabitants of 2D World Interest in lamellar solids has soared recently due to the growth in graphene applications.The focus of my research will be to study the structure of planar compounds containing π–systems that can interact with graphene type surfaces.
Faculty of Life Sciences
Application of DOSY-NMR to probe TIPD-pentacene aggregation in solution Over the last several years organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have been extensively studied due to their potential impact in a wide range of electronic applications, such as drivers for flat-panel displays, 1–4 complementary circuits, 4–2 and various sensors. Solution-processed OFETs are particularly attractive for the realization of large area, cost effective, and pervasive printable electronic applications. However, pentacene has a very short half-life in solution under the influence of light; this behaviour can be attenuated markedly by derivatisation at 6- and 13- positions. AS a consequence, materials such as TIPS-pentacene are becoming popular replacement for pentacene in electronic devices. Constant solutions in concentration dependent life-time are observed which suggested to be based on solution aggregation behaviour.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
However, when a screening experiment was carried out by of 0.1M aqueous solutions of these salts in various proportions, ranging from 100% [C(NH2)3]Cl to 100% Na2SO3, followed by analysis of the crystalline products using powder XRD, the results weren’t as expected. No sodium sulfite could be detected, only sodium sulfate, giving a clear indication that sulfite is oxidised to sulfate during the evaporation process. This would make the products [C(NH2)3]2SO4 and NaCl, as there is an ideal hydrogen bonding match in guanidinium sulfate. No[C(NH2)3]2SO4 could be detected in the powder XRD diffraction patterns, instead the diffraction pattern of a hitherto unreported phase dominated the pattern from the 1:3 Na2SO3: [C(NH2)3]Cl product. This has been shown to be [C(NH2)3]4(SO4)Cl2 via single-crystal XRD.
If we consider the surface of graphene to be a 2D world,my molecules will be the inhabitants of this world and it will be interesting to observe the type of non-bonded interactions that can occur and whether or not they can progress covalent bonding and, possibly,catalysis. It is interesting to observe that a number of the molecules that are crucial for life in our 3D world are themselves planar. Could these find a role in a 2D world? The research has been started by looking through CSD for a system containing aromatic rings and for the interactions between them.The next stage will be to synthesize novel planar molecules, metal complexes initially,and study their interactions with extended planar aromatic systems.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[14]
[37] ARIJ ADDARAIDI
[38] JONATHAN DANON
[39] VANESSA TIMMERMANN
arij.addaraidi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
jonathan.danon@manchester.ac.uk
vanessa.timmermann@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
The influence of fluorinated phosphines on [xAuPR3] structures A series of gold(I) complexes of the type [AuX{PR3}] (where R = (m- FC6H4), (3,4,5-F3C6H2), (3,5-(CF3)2C6H3), (Ph2(C6F5), and X=Cl, Br, I) have been prepared and structurally characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction in order to investigate the presence of short Au···Au (aurophilic) interactions.
Template Synthesis of a Molecular Knot with Eight Crossings Knots are ubiquitous in our world. On the microscopic level they pervade supercoiled DNA, aiding its compression into the confines of a cell nucleus. Even on the single-molecule scale, a solitary knot in man-made poly(ethylene) vastly decreases the tensile strength of the strand.
Lanthanide and uranium tert-butyloxycarbonyl appended cyclen derivatives Over the past decade, the research in actinide (especially uranium) chemistry has increased significantly. This is due to emerging topics such as the stabilisation of new or unusual oxidation states, unprecedented magnetic properties as well as unexpected reactivities.
Gold-Gold distances ranging from 3.1273(8) Å to 9.0059(6) Å were observed. It is found that the presence of shorter Au··Au distances coincides with more acute X-Au-P angles, whilst the complexes that exhibit more linear geometry show longer Au···Au distances. While some of these complexes showed short intramolecular F-F distances and hydrogen bonding.
In recent decades many have risen to the challenge of synthesising knots as small molecules, most successfully by exploiting coordination of ligands to metal ions to create the crossing points required to obtain an interlocked architecture. Here we report the synthesis of the most complex molecular knot prepared to date: the 819 knot.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Self-assembly of four tris(bipyridyl) ligands and four iron(II) cations generates a tetrameric, cyclic helicate scaffold and subsequent ring-closing metathesis yields the interlocked structure with eight crossing points, as confirmed by X-ray crystallography. This represents another success for the cyclic-helicate strategy pioneered by our group in order to access topologically non-trivial knot and links.
[15] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
As with many other actinide ions, uranium readily forms the linear actinyl cation {UO22+}. This ion shows a bright green LMCT emission – however, the emission spectroscopy of other uranium (and indeed actinide) complexes has not been widely examined. Despite the fact that macrocyclic lanthanide complexes of cyclen derivatives have been well studied, analogous complexes of the actinides remain scarce. We have recently reported the emissive properties of the U(IV) ion encapsulated in DO3A (DO3A = [4,7,10-tris-carboxymethyl-1,4,7,10tetraaza-cyclododec-1-yl]-acetic acid). The synthesis of alike ligands with different pendant arms and their complexes will be presented along with a discussion of their 1H NMR and photophysical properties.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[40] YUANYUAN LIU
[41] JAKE LLOYD
[42] ANTHOULA KEFALLINOU
liuyuanyuan1989@gmail.com
philip.lloyd@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
anthoula.kefallinou@manchester.ac.uk
School of Materials
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Environment, Education and Development
Growing up in Gaza: Patriarchy, Social Division, Resistance and The Intifada Generation My research explores the long-term impact of conflict upon youth in the Gaza Strip, in terms of their construction of religious and political identities.
Exploring students' experiences of inclusive practices: A cross-national study in English and Greek Secondary Schools This study sets out to explore how inclusive practices are experienced by students with and without SEN in English and Greek secondary schools. Research on inclusion cannot be fully understood without representation of the views and experiences of students.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Controlling the Satellites and Coffee Stain for Inkjet Printing The aim of this study is to improve the quality of 3D inkjet printed ceramic structures by reducing the satellites and coffee stains (or coffee rings) that form during printing and drying process of inkjet printed drops. ZrO2 inks have been used to print droplets using a laboratory scale inkjet printer with different waveforms to control the satellites. Inks were formulated using a range of solvents and solvent mixtures in order to control the coffee stain that forms and to study the influence of the drying condition. Single inkjet printed droplets were characterized through optical phase contrast microscopy (PCM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Suitable waveforms could obtain droplets without any satellites. The temperature of the substrates during printing has a great influence on almost all the inks studied but at higher temperatures there appears to be less effect of ink composition on the magnitude of the coffee stain. Mechanisms for this observation were presented.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities
My focus is upon the Gazan youth who, in the late 1980s, led a civil uprising against Israeli occupation known as the First Intifada (1987-1993).
Engaging with students' voices in this project aims to promote further reflection upon inclusive policy and practice across European countries with different stages of development. For this reason, a multiple-case study design is employed by recruiting two urban secondary schools from Greater Manchester (UK) and two from Athens (Greece). In each school, three students have been identified who fall into three main areas of special educational need/difficulty. Three students without SEN have also been recruited. The data collection includes document analysis, participant observations, learning walks and subsequent interviews with the students. It also includes semi-structured interviews with 8 school professionals. Exploring the perceptions of pupils with and without SEN adds to our understanding and methods for giving all children a voice. Using visual methods during the interview process also contributes to child-centred research. This study addresses complex issues related to conducting research in diverse contexts, adding in that way to cross-cultural research. Finally, it builds upon Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory, to support further its application in inclusive educational research.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[16]
[43] EYOB GEBREMARIAM
[44] AMMAR HADI
[45] ANDRIANI THEOCHAROUS
eyob.gebremariam@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ammar.hadi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
nanatheocyp@hotmail.com
Faculty of Humanities
Institute for Development Policy and Management Urban Youth, Developmentalism and the Politics of Citizenship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia The research aims to identify and analyse the different strategies that the urban youth in Addis Ababa adopt while negotiating for their socio-economic and civil-political rights with the Ethiopian government. One of the crucial factors that is influencing their interaction with the government is the “democratic developmental state” that the Ethiopian government is claiming to build. On the other hand, the socially constructed and contextualized meanings of being youth with varied opportunities and challenges also play crucial role in influencing how citizenship rights are aspired, claimed, achieved and practiced.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Enhancing The Performance of Polar Codes Polar code is one of most modern channel codes. Although polar codes can achieve the channel capacity in Discrete Memoryless channel DMC, the practical performance of such codes, especially for the short ones, is still a subject of much needed improvement. The aim of this poster is to investigate increasing the hamming distances of polar codes without altering their linearity property. We propose a method named Rows Substitution Method RSM, in which the code rate remains unchanged. This method produces superior performance compared with the performance of the original polar code.
The research identifies and analyses the different spaces of interactions, the multiple and complex web of strategies and their relationship in the context of developmentalism.
Faculty of Humanities School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Hybridization and cultural influences on advertising creative strategy An ongoing topic in marketing is the debate between a standardized versus localized approach towards international marketing strategy. The latest developments in this debate led to the emergence of the hybridized approach to marketing and advertising, which turns the attention to the identification of circumstances that favour affiliation to national culture or appeal to global positioning strategies. Informed by these latest developments, the present interdisciplinary study aims to identify and operationalize those elements of advertising creative strategy that can be culture-bound, drawing on linguistics, visual semiotics and cross-cultural advertising research. Taking as an example UK and Greek local and multinational advertising copies, the aim of the study is to unveil tendencies with regard to advertising style that could be motivated by cultural influences, taking into consideration the effect of the product category and origin. The findings could have relevance for the design, implementation and transcreation of advertisements.
[17] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[46] NORSHAKILA HARIS
[47] zHUOMIN HUANG
norshakila.haris@manchester.ac.uk
mintmoonhuang@gmail.com
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Monolithic Integrated Power Limiter Circuits Using Double-Channel GaAs pHEMT Schottky Diodes We report on the device considerations and discuss the design and fabrication of 0.5 µm gate length double-channel GaAs pHEMT well-suited for diode based limiter applications. I-V, C-V and RF characterisations of GaAs pHEMT Schottky diode that is used in the limiter applications have been presented. The presence of double channel is discussed and clearly observed from the doping curve of 1/C2 versus V plot. Double channel layers provide wideranging usages in linear application. Based on the measured DC and RF parameter extractions, an equivalent circuit model of the pHEMT Schottky diode is derived. All six unknown model parameters are extracted using direct parameter extraction method. The measured results show good agreement with the modelled over the frequency range from 0 to 40 GHz for operation bias range.
[48] JULIA MUELLER julia.mueller@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
School of Environment, Education and Development
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
Mindfulness in Intercultural Communication: Using Creative-arts to Explore Postgraduates’ Experiences at a UK University In the study, I will explore the visual- and verbal- narrative accounts of students’ intercultural experiences at an internationalised British university (i.e. The University of Manchester) (UoM) located in a multicultural urban setting (i.e. Manchester). In addition to an intercultural focus, I intend to use the concept of mindfulness to shape my exploration of these accounts, but also to use my study to develop insights into the understanding of mindfulness. Studying at UoM myself, I am part of the phenomenon I want to investigate; there is, therefore, an important reflexive dimension to my study. Methodologically, I am interested to explore the potential of visual narrative/creative arts (such as digital-edited photography, painting and comics) in visualising students’ understandings of their experiences. I also seek to look into the meaning-making process of visual creation in order to learn about the role of mindfulness in intercultural communication.
Information-seeking behaviour in people with lung cancer and the World Wide Web: Does Dr Google promote early help seeking? Objective: Lung cancer patients frequently present after having had symptoms for several months. This study explored whether individuals with lung cancer research symptoms online prior to diagnosis, and how this impacts on decision-making and help-seeking behaviour. Methods: 121 patients recently diagnosed (<6 months) with lung cancer were recruited from clinical sites in England. Patients completed a survey and a purposive sub-sample was invited for semi-structured interviews (n = 24). Results: In 21% of cases, either the patient or a family member researched symptoms online prior to diagnosis. Online information was used to inform decisions regarding presentation to health services, to monitor physicians' advice, and to prepare for a potential cancer diagnosis. Conclusion: Our findings show that Web-based information could contribute to the process of triggering and maintaining help-seeking. Based on these findings, we plan to develop and evaluate a web-based intervention to facilitate online research of lung cancer symptoms.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[18]
[49] RWAYDA AL HAMD
[50] NIKOLETTA PAKALIDOU
[51] RAzVAN SENCU
rwayda.alhamd@manchester.ac.uk
nikoletta.pakalidou@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
razvan.sencu@manchester.ac.uk
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The Effect of Eccentricity and Heating on Punching Shear Failure Punching shear in concrete structures is a dangerous, brittle form of structural failure. However, the mechanics of punching shear are not fully understood and design against it is still based on semi-empirical approaches.
Self-assembly of monolayers of colloidal platelets via computer simulation The self-assembly of non-spherical colloidal building blocks to form ordered structures is an extremely efficient and low-cost technique to fabricate functional materials. In this work, we present a computer simulations study to understand the self-assembly of monolayers of colloidal platelets with different shapes, which have been studied in experiments.
Multiscale stochastic fracture mechanics of carbon fibre composites informed by in-situ xCT tests The poster will summarise some of the latest in-situ XCT experiment results on aerospace grade carbon fibre composites and the 3D modelling carried for crack propagation.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
In fire conditions these facts apply forcefully and there have been recent punching shear failures of concrete structures in fire resulting in fatalities. This poster seeks to develop the understanding of punching shear failure in fire. Eccentric loads may be important at ambient temperature but will certainly be influential in fire conditions where non-uniform heating will introduce moments in columns designed for pure axial load. The results of the experimental work are used to validate a numerical model of punching failure. The validated model is then used to simulate the behaviour of punching shear behaviour. The influences of temperature and moment on the mechanics involved are examined and differences highlighted.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Monte Carlo simulations in the NPT ensemble have been used to determine the equation of state required to find approximate phase boundaries with the aid of order parameters, followed by a more accurate method to trace the order-disorder phase boundaries with higher accuracy. This work is the first step towards understanding not only the thermodynamics of the system, but also the kinetics of the self-assembly process; while thermodynamics provide a rigorous framework to understand the stability of the structures formed by the system, kinetic properties determine the timescales required to observe their formation.
[19] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
This forms the basis of an ongoing US Air Force EU Research Office funded project, in which we proposed to develop an approach combining image-based geometry models and advanced computer modelling to simulate realistic crack propagation. As delamination often occurs inside the material and is difficult to detect using conventional methods, the I13-2 imaging beamline at Diamond was used to obtain some promising high resolution internal microstructures and the evolution of damage and fracture under in-situ loading steps. The newly designed and manufactured loading rig at School of MACE which was used in the experiments will be also briefly discussed.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[52] MOHAMMED LUqMAAN FAzAL
[53] TSEDEN TADDESE
[54] SHIRIN YEKRANGIAN
luqmaan.fazal@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
tseden.taddese@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
shirin.yekrangian@manchester.ac.uk
School of Materials
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Dynamics and thermodynamics of polymers at fluid interfaces Polymers are confined at or pass across liquid/liquid interfaces in most industrial processes such as liquid/liquid extractions, solvent displacement methods or emulsifications and also when used for biological applications as drug nanocarriers.
Frequency Response of Laminated Plates under Free Vibration Laminated composite plates can offer great stiffness and high strength to weight ratio hence are widely used in various fields of industry such as aerospace, aviation, civil and mechanical engineering.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Localised deformation in a cast nickel superalloy: measurements and modelling Cast Ni superalloy components contain large grains, that cause scatter during fatigue testing. A possible explanation for this is the inherent anisotropy of individual grains, which is manifested during testing because test samples can contain as few as 4 grains across their cross-section. To investigate whether this scatter could be simulated and accounted for, crystal plasticity finite element modelling was used to model the deformation of an actual tensile test sample containing a small number of grains. The mesh was obtained from an EBSD map of the sample that was tested in tension, during which digital image correlation was used to measure the local strain. Although both modelling predictions and measurements show heterogeneous strain distributions that could be responsible for the scatter during fatigue testing, they are quantitatively quite different.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
1, 2 However, despite their technological importance their behaviour at fluid interfaces has not been thoroughly investigated to date. By performing molecular dynamics simulations on model systems we investigate how the interfacial stability of polymers at liquid/liquid interfaces is affected by the molecular weight and the topology of the chain. We also propose a simple method to qualitatively predict the trend of the adsorption free energy as a function of the polymer molecular weight.3 Moreover, we look at the scaling behaviour of polymers at liquid/liquid interfaces which will aid understanding of the ‘soft confinement effect’ on the structure and dynamics of polymers.
Therefore studying their behaviour is of great interest. In this research frequency response of laminated composite plates under free vibration has been investigated using ABAQUS finite element program. Two cantilever aluminium and graphite/epoxy plates are simulated under free vibration using shell elements. The results are compared with experimental results and have shown good agreement. Then the model is used to study the effect of different ply orientations, boundary conditions and thickness to width ratios on the vibration behaviour of composite plates.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[20]
[55] SAM CLARK
[56] SHIREEN MOHD zAKI
[57] IOANNA PELAGIA
sam.clark@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
shireen.mohdzaki@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ioanna.pelagia@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
School of Mathematics
Faculty of Life Sciences
Prediction of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) sequences using functional data combined with machine learning Peptides possess many different functions within biological systems, from neurotransmission to defense against pathogenic bacteria. In many documented cases, the function of a peptide is defined almost entirely by its sequence. However, the relationship between function and sequence is still unknown for many vital classes of peptides. Using the machine learning “Random Forest” algorithm, Antimicrobial peptides with efficacies against several pathogenic organisms have been examined to discover key sequence features that confer antimicrobial activity. Initial findings suggest that positive and aromatic residues play an important role in inhibiting microbial growth. Future work will involve the use of random forests with the pre existing database of peptides to predict the performance of de novo AMPs.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
2-D Image Synthesis for Pose Invariant Face Recognition Many face recognition algorithms have proven to be efficient and produced some remarkable results. However the challenge remains for extreme conditions mainly for the uncontrolled illumination and the rotation of the head. One aspect of this project focuses on modelling pose variation using dimensionality reduction (DR) and manifold learning techniques. These techniques are applied in this research to discover and learn about the intrinsic pattern and variations in face databases, and extended to be able to synthesise new images. A pose parameter learned from the manifolds is utilised to render novel faces with novel poses. These images are synthesised by warping the appearance (grey-scale or colour texture) to annotated landmarks on a face using a warping technique. It is a simple and efficient algorithm to deal with pose variation problem in face recognition and has produced positive and comparable results to state-of-the-art methods.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Variable Selection for Cox Proportional Hazard Frailty Model Extending the Cox Proportional Hazard (PH) model to Cox PH frailty model may increase the dimension of variable components and become a very challenging task in terms of the significance and estimation of the parameter coefficients. However, variable selection has always been one of the fundamental problems when it comes to statistical modelling with high dimension variables and has attracted a remarkable attention. Various techniques of variable selection have been proposed such as the best subset variable selection and stepwise elimination, but suffer from several drawbacks in contrast with penalty functions. However, the method proposed here, is to overcome the problem of high dimension under the Cox PH frailty model by considering a simultaneous variable selection of both fixed effects and frailty components through penalty functions such as LASSO and SCAD.The idea is to "doublepenalize" the likelihood of the Cox frailty model. Simulation studies show that proposed method works well.
[21] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[58] YIzHENG zHAO
[59] MARIO BERLJAFA
[60] ABDALLA ALMAEDANI
yizheng.zhao@student.manchester.ac.uk
m.berljafa@maths.man.ac.uk
Abdalla.almaedani@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Computer Science
School of Mathematics
Concept Forgetting in ALCOI-Ontologies Big ontologies contain large numbers of concept symbols and there are situations where, depending on the applications, parts of them need to be forgotten.
Nonlinear rational least squares fitting The problem we consider is that of approximating a function (or some measurements) from a given set of (argument, evaluation) data-pairs, with a rational function, in a least squares sense.
The effect of n-3 PUFA on the formation of endocannabinoids and N-acylethanolamines in HaCs in response to ultraviolet radiation Endocannabinoids are endogenous lipid mediators involved in various biological processes, and have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activities.
By nonlinear it is meant that both the numerator and denominator of the approximant sought after are unknown. Moreover, the problem is also nonconvex, and hence very challenging. There are still many open questions, including both theory and practise. In the poster we provide a brief historical overview of the developments of solution methods for the problem at hand.
Anandamide (arachidonoyl ethanolamine, AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) are the main representatives of this group. Endocannabinoid such as AEA has been found in human HaCaT keratinocytes, but the metabolic pathway leading to endocannabinoid production in the skin has not been fully elucidated.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Forgetting can be realised using second-order quantifier elimination (SOQE) techniques. In this paper, we present a SOQE-method to forget concept symbols in ontologies specified in the description logic ALCOI, and express the ontologies in terms of the remaining symbols. Forgetting allows one to select the concept symbols that one is interested in, on the one hand; and on the other hand it allows one to create a view of an ontology expressed using only selected set of concept and role symbols.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Manchester Pharmacy School
We then reformulate the problem using the language of linear algebra and propose a new algorithm called Rational Krylov Fitting (RKFIT). The applications we consider include model order reduction and exponential integrators, and numerical experiments demonstrate the superiority of the newly proposed method in comparison with existing ones.
This study aimed to investigate the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) on the formation of the endocannabinoids and their congers in human skin cells in response to UV radiation. For this purpose HaCaT keratinocytes were treated with 10 and 50µM of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the presence or absence of UVR (15mJ/cm2). Based on our data we can concluded that n-3 PUFA and UVR alter the endocannabinoids and NAE profile in HaCaT keratinocytes.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[22]
4 CHRISTOPHER EMERSIC The Future of Air Travel: The All-Electric Aircraft
4
5 5 CRAIG THOMAS
Don’t frack my future! Understanding responses to shale gas development in Great Manchester
6 6 JAMES WEST
The mind of a postgraduate student
[23] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[61] CECILE EL-CHAMI
[62] REBECCA RUSCOE
[63] CATHERINE HOLDEN
cecile.elchami@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
rebecca.ruscoe@manchester.ac.uk
catherine.holden@manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
School of Chemistry
School of Chemistry
Organic osmolytes protect keratinocyte tight junctions from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) functionally deteriorates skin tight junctions (TJ), which may lead to increased water loss that creates a hyperosmotic environment surrounding keratinocytes.
Radical Cyclization Cascades in the Re-engineering of the Antibacterial Pleuromutilin Cascade processes have the potential to assemble complex molecular architectures in a single synthetic operation.
An Aryne Mediated Transition Metal Free Synthesis of Biaryls The biaryl unit is a privileged molecular structure which is present in a number of pharmacologically relevant molecules such as vancomycin (a potent antibiotic) and Diovan (a blockbuster drug).
We have recently developed SmI2-mediated radical cyclisation cascades to rapidly assemble pleuromutilin as part of our first enantiospecific total synthesis of the antibacterial natural product.
The Nobel Prize winning method for synthesising these biaryl molecules requires the use of expensive and toxic palladium. However, the desire for more sustainable synthetic methods has led to the search for transition metal (palladium) free routes to biaryl formation.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Organic osmolytes help maintain cell volume during osmotic stress, and may act as chaperones and stabilise protein structure and function. Therefore we hypothesize that organic osmolytes might directly regulate keratinocyte TJ protein stability, enhancing protection against UVR induced denaturation. Immunostaining of UVR exposed rat epidermal keratinocytes (REKs) revealed a disruption to the localisation of TJ proteins, 24 hours post-irradiation. The presence of organic osmolytes partially maintained a continuous organization of TJ proteins in UV irradiated REKs, without any effect on their gene or protein expression. In parallel, FITC-Dextran permeability significantly increased in UVR exposed REKs, which was mitigated in REKs treated with the organic osmolyte taurine. Indeed, organic osmolytes protect TJ proteins in keratinocytes from UVR damage. Further work includes identifying mechanism(s) of action of organic osmolytes.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Crucially, our approach to pleuromutilin allows us to consider the de novo synthesis of analogues of the antibacterial that can not be prepared from the natural product by semisynthesis – the approach universally adopted by industry in the pursuit of pleuromutilin analogues for use in humans.
Manipulation of the aryne reactive intermediate has enabled an alternative transition metal free method for the synthesis of nitrogen substituted biaryls to be established.
As many of the undesirable properties of the pleuromutilins are associated with the core of the antibacterial natural product, re-engineering of the pleuromutilin core is an attractive approach to analogues that is orthogonal to traditional approaches involving variation of side chains only.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[24]
[64] WANCHAT SIRISARN
wanchat.sirisarn@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Inflammation and Repair Isolation and characterization of a novel bacteriophage infecting Staphylococcus aureus Bacteriophage is implicated in virulence, clonal diversity, adaptation and evolution of Staphylococcus aureus (1). It was known that wall teichoic acids (WTA) served as adsorption receptor for staphylococcal siphophages (1) and WTA structure governs horizontal transfer of pathogenicity island among S aureus clones. We recently isolated a new staphylococcus phage phiWS. Spot assay reveals that this phage is virulent to most of the tested S. aureus strains and surprisingly also to S. xyloses. This phage is unable to form plaques on bacterial lawns of S. aureus mutant lacking WTA suggesting WTA is essential for the phage virulence
[65] SALWA zGHEBI
[66] CHRISTIAN THOMAS
salwasaadm.zghebi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
christian.thomas@manchester.ac.uk
Manchester Pharmacy School
Manchester Pharmacy School
Choice of second-line antidiabetic treatment in Type 2 diabetes: influence of patient characteristics Aim: Escalation to a second-line therapy is recommended after failure of metformin in type 2 diabetes. This study, aimed to identify the characteristics of patients prescribed second-line regimens after metformin.
Exploring the use of the Manchester Patient Safety Assessment Framework in improving safety culture in community pharmacies The aim of this study was to explore the use of the Manchester Patient Safety Assessment Framework (MaPSaF) in improving safety culture in community pharmacies.
Methods: Patients prescribed secondline therapies between 1998-2011 were identified from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Cox regression analysis estimated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR;95%CI) to therapy initiation.
9 community pharmacies and 3 head offices were purposively sampled to take part in a 12 month longitudinal study. This included taking part in workshops, observational visits and discussion groups where the pharmacies’ safety culture was rated using MaPSaF. Pharmacies were then asked to create action points to improve their safety culture based on their ratings.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Results: After a mean(SD) 2.2(2.0)years on metformin, 23,707 patients either switched to a sulphonylurea(SU) or added either a SU, glitazone or gliptin. Mean HbA1c in SU initiators was 64.8(17.3)mmol/mol, but higher in dual therapy initiators (69.6-72.4mmol/mol). More patients(56%) added SU than other medications(P<0.001). Patients started all regimens, except metformin-gliptin (HR= 0.91; 0.870.95), significantly more rapidly than metformin-SU regimen. SU monotherapy was more likely prescribed among all therapies (HR=1.22; 1.18-1.27).
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The results showed that participants found MaPSaF to be a worthwhile experience. Ratings taken after 6 months showed an improvement in some areas of safety culture, especially in the area where the pharmacy had made an action point to improve. Results suggest MaPSaF to be a useful discussion tool that could help pharmacies to move away from blame culture and to develop a good safety culture.
Conclusions: With the ongoing uncertainty on the optimal second-line treatment, these data suggests that selected therapy is influenced by patients' characteristics, mainly HbA1c.
[25] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[67] CHRISTOPHER STORER
[68] JINGDUO TIAN
[69] OMAR COSTILLA REYES
christopher.storer@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
jingduo.tian@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
omar.costillareyes@manchester.ac.uk
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
SaturnSense Hydrofeed: In-line Sensing of the Full Compensition of Nutrients for Precision Management of Hydroponic Farming The SaturnSense project investigates polymer sensors for use in nutrient monitoring (N, P and K) in agriculture.
Simulation of a 3D Vision-Based Robotic System with Wire-frame Object Representations and quantised Uncertainty Sources This poster presents a framework of a vision-based mobile robotic system which is capable of learning and reasoning scenes in an unknown manmade environment. In order to assess the robot performance without depending physically on the machine, we firstly specify the computational characteristics of all the functional modules, then build a realistic 3D vision-based robotic simulation.
Temporal pattern recognition for gait analysis applications using an “Intelligent Carpet” System We report for the first time on the use of an “Intelligent Carpet” sensor system for the analysis of gait in the time domain. The system uses tomography imaging of the deformation in a Plastic Optical Fibre (POF) 3D sensor layer, as the input for footprint sequence reconstruction.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
By carefully monitoring and controlling nutrient levels, it is possible to enable optimisation of crop yield.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Contemporary vision-based simulations are likely to utilise rendered 3D objects as representations of a virtual world and simulate several camera uncertainties on specific image pixels. However, these simulations usually aim at assessing feature-based vision algorithms under realistic environments, so their major interests are mainly in modelling and simulating uncertainties on image features rather than on image pixels. Therefore, 3D rendering can be avoided. On this basis, we present a realistic 3D vision-based robotic simulation with wire-frame object representations and several quantised uncertainty sources. The comparison between simulated world and real-world is also demonstrated.
The analyses of the raw sensor data are performed by using time domain pattern recognition, accomplished by Machine Learning using Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines (SVMs), K-Nearest Neighbours (K-NN), etc. A simple linear SVM model and a 1-NN model achieve close to 100% classification accuracy. We demonstrate that the “Intelligent Carpet” sensor system is suitable for gait analysis, example applications being human identification by biometrics, human gait activity recognition and fall detection.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[26]
[70] RAND MOHAMMED
[71] BRYCE DORIN
[72] GEORGE NWAEzE
rand.mohammed@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
bryce.dorin@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
george.nwaeze@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
A Novel Transceiver Architecture for High-Speed Parallel Ethernet Network The Ethernet network is one of the common ways to transfer data between devices. The most important factor with all transceiver systems is the transmission speed.
Fabrication of 3D conductive structures through direct laser writing The aim of this project is to develop the tools and methodology needed to create three-dimensional conductive silver wires within solid materials through a laser direct write process. Silver nanowires are known to have applications in solar cells, transparent heaters, and touch screens.
Solution Processed Conducting Films for Optoelectronic devices Transparent and conducting materials are widely used as contact electrodes in optoelectronic applications such as liquid crystal displays, solar cells, light emitting diodes and Thin Film Transistors.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The main objective for this work is to create a full transceiver device as a part of an embedded system, at both source and host devices that provide a high transceiver speed (up to 40Gbps). The main idea is to design a new system architecture, called Novel Reference Module (NRM), for both transmitter and receiver, based on two main parallel Ethernet (PE) network systems, each one consists of four channels, placed at the bottom of the system architecture, that connect to the devices at the opposite side. The eight Ethernet channels connect to each other across the network media, as a device-to-device connector, using a point-to-point network topology.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
These applications currently use preformed silver nanowires that then need to be aligned within the device. In contrast, our method can directly grow the wires within the materials of interest, thus removing the problem of alignment. At this point we have successfully demonstrated the growth of silver microwires within solid structures.
[27] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Future bendable optoelectronic devices will require suitable fabrication methods for ďŹ&#x201A;exible transparent electrodes to be formed at low cost on large areas. The most commonly used materials among these applications, are doped metal oxides (mainly indium tin oxide, ITO) because of their high electrical conductivity and high optical transparency however, doped metal oxides have many disadvantages. Alternatives to ITO have been developed in recent years to replace ITO. The aim of this project is to develop novel organic-inorganic nanocomposite materials that combine high conductivity and transparency intrinsic to doped semiconducting metal oxides with low-cost and ease of processing characteristic for polymers that will pave the way towards low cost fabrication and integration for high performance electronic components and circuits on ďŹ&#x201A;exible substrates.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[73] KATHRYN DOWNEY
[74] ASMA ALNUAIMI
[75] KOFI OSEI-BONSU
kathryn.downey@manchester.ac.uk
asma.alnuaimi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
kofi.osei-bonsu@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Materials
Institute for Development Policy and Management
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
em-brace Co-desigining a brace for scoliosis Scoliosis is a structural 3-dimensional deformity of the spine with curvature greater than 10 degrees. Braces are mainly used for adolescents who have a small curve between 20 to 40 degrees and are still growing. The brace is used to restore the normal contours and alignment of the spine by means of externally applied force. The success of teenagers wearing their brace for the prescribed time is significantly limited due to poor aesthetics and induced discomfort. With this in mind, Additive Manufacturing (AM)/3D printing may offer an opportunity to explore novel design features, whilst enabling complex geometries to be developed that may otherwise be impossible by conventional means. The research builds upon existing additive manufactured prototypes to gauge the overall interest of users and justify the use of this technology. The interest of patient acceptance is explored using co-design a participatory design method.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Happiness at Work The importance of happiness in society has been recognized since ancient times (Diener 2000). In recent times, the United Nations General Assembly has launched a series of initiatives which recognize the need for the systematic measurement and analysis of happiness in order to improve sustainable development (Helliwell, Layard and Sachs, 2013). This research is grounded in the subject of happiness in the workplace. One of its central themes is to explores the link between levels of employees’ happiness and levels of job performance. Thus, this research is focused on employee happiness with reference to Human Resource Management (HRM) job satisfaction strategies in organizations. The primary geographical focus of the study is the United Arab Emirates.
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Fundamental investigation of foam-assisted water displacement in Hele-Shaw cell Application of foam has proved to be a promising method to improve oil recovery and displacement efficiency due to its high effective viscosity compared to gas. The relative immobility of foam in porous media leads to the suppression of fingers during oil displacement which results in more stable displacement desired in the oil recovery. Various parameters influence the efficiency of foam-assisted oil displacement such as properties of oil, the permeability of the medium, physical and chemical characteristics of foam as well as the presence of heterogeneity in porous media. In the present work, we have conducted a comprehensive series of experiments to investigate the factors that influence foam displacement in a Hele-Shaw cell filled with water by direct imaging of the dynamics of foam flow. Using this setup we could establish the effects of foam quality, foam flow rate and fracture permeability on the apparent mobility of foam.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[28]
[76] MOHAMMED SALEM mohammed.salem@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences The ups and downs in the life of a rift basin, Western Sirt Basin, Libya The subsurface architecture of the western Sirt Basin in the region of the Dahra Platform, the Amin High and the Kotla Graben was identified mainly from 2D/3D seismic data, and data from 33 wells. The Kotla Graben has been imaged as an elongated asymmetric NNE-SSW southward deepening trough, which separates an eastern block, Amin High, from the Dahra Platform in the west. A series of extensional faults are mapped, some with evidence for periodic transtension. Five major phases of accelerated subsidence, give indication for active extensional tectonics; syn-rift Phase II, Phase IV and Phase VI, with intervening post-rift phases; Phase III, and Phase V, which are interpreted as indicators of thermal sag or tectonic inversion based on newly applied technique, which known as The T-Z plot.
[77] MOHAMMAD MOGHADDASzADEH moghaddaszadeh_m@yahoo.com
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Strategic Decision Making Model in Maintenance Management: Is it right time to learn from failures? 6th of July 1988 Piper Alpha disaster, 23rd of March 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion, 20th of April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. Where Dose the problem coming from? Is it right time to learn from failures and look at the maintenance management from more strategic level than operational level? This research identified factors that influence policies and practices of maintenance management from more strategic level than operational perspective. A Strategic Decision Making Model (SDMM) was developed to identify the most appropriate maintenance strategy to improve asset reliability, availability and maintainability while achieving safety. SDMM considered Fuzzy AHP approach to address the gap of decision analysis in maintenance and asset management. SDMM, which is based on lesson learn from failures and can be considered a platform towards self-maintenance.
[29] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[78] JASMIN COOPER jasmin.cooper@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science The economic viability and environmental sustainability of UK shale gas The cost of producing shale gas in the UK and its environmental impacts are uncertain and highly speculative. By using life cycle assessment and costing, environmental impacts and costs of UK shale gas have been estimated. These values are compared to imported natural gas and LNG to assess the economic viability of shale gas as well as to estimate the impact on future energy costs. The environmental impacts of shale gas used for electricity generation are compared to other options, such as coal, nuclear and renewables.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[79] FEIBEI CHEN
[80] BIANCA DE ABREU NEGREIROS
[81] NICK CHAPMAN
feibei.chen@manchester.ac.uk
bianca.deabreunegreiros @postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
nick.chapman@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Community energy generation in the UK: the link between ownership of renewable energy developments and social acceptance Benefits of a local community approach is an assumed related reduction in ‘public opposition’ to new renewable energy developments, which has been seen as slowing the rate of deployment and therefore threatening the realisation of related targets.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Building Design and Environmental Performance - Earth construction for thermal comfort residential buildings in Northeast Brazil The low-income population of the Northeast of Brazil often uses earth in a self-construction way to build their houses. This vernacular method is attractive due to advantages such as availability, low production and transport costs, high thermal inertia, recyclability and durability with low maintenance.
The link between ownership and social acceptance is an important research question, which has thus far lacked empirical evidence. The aim of this study is to bridge this gap by investigating three solar farm projects with three different types of ownership: fully community-owned, joint venture and fully private-owned. The research will employ a wide range of secondary sources and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders of the solar farm projects and the local community residents.
However, the lack of technical knowledge often leads to poor quality construction and inconsistencies in performance in terms of occupant thermal comfort. The ultimate objective of this research is to determine recommendations for earth construction practice to maximize thermal comfort in the hot climates of Northeast Brazil through the articulation of high thermal inertia and ventilation.
The presentation will elucidate the impact of each ownership model on social acceptance. The findings of the study will lead to recommendations for various stakeholder groups including local communities, developers and policy makers.
The methodology consists in to simulate an earth house in the local climate, using parametric analysis by EnergyPlus software. The data analysis will quantify the thermal performance of the cases, ending with a set of suggested design parameters.
Incentivising Demand Response: A Review of Major Approaches Renewable electricity generation and the electrification of heating and transport are complimentary strategies to achieve environmental goals. However, both pose their own challenges to the smooth operation of the power system. Renewable energy resources pose a security risk, since they cannot be guaranteed to deliver energy at a given time in the future. On the other hand, electrification presents an economic burden, since increased peak electricity demand requires investment in the network and capacity. Demand response (DR) could provide a solution to both these challenges, by enabling and encouraging electricity consumers to adjust their demand in response to system needs. However, whilst DR is technically not difficult to achieve, there is little agreement on the best way to incentivise the provision of DR. In response to this uncertainty, the undergoing research reviews and characterises the main approaches to incentivise demand response, highlighting the benefits and limitations of each case.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[30]
[82] KATHLEEN GRAY
[83] KARINA HERNANDEz
[84] GAIL MILLIN-CHALABI
kathleen.gray@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
karina.hernandez@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Gail.Millin-Chalabi@manchester.ac.uk
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
19th Century Housing in a 21st Century Climate Approximately 16% of existing UK properties were built before 1919, and it is estimated that 85% of current UK homes will still exist in 2050. Manchester has a large amount of Victorian housing, and it is likely that many of those buildings will still be in use throughout the 21st Century.
Deformation above mobile substrates, salt rheology and spatial distribution of salt structures: A 3D seismic study of the Permian southern North Sea At around 255 Ma, cycles of evaporation of seawater led to deposition of evaporites including halite (rock salt). After later burial by denser sediments, the salt beds rose as bulbous structures, such as pillows and diapirs.
While many of these homes will have been refurbished and subdivided into smaller dwellings, they still contain many of their original features and the basic building materials are unchanged. During the last 150 years, these homes have been modified, including recent efforts in the early 2000s to increase energy efficiency and airtightness.
Assuming mobilization is due to Rayleigh-Taylor gravitational instability of heavy fluid (sediments) overlying light fluid (salts),theory suggests that the structure wavelength should be 2.6 times the salt thickness. Previous research has explored mobilization of salt deposits assuming they have uniform rheology.
The compounding factors of older structural materials and retrofits designed for today's climate and weather may lead to detrimental building performance in the coming years, due to projected climate change. What measures can we take to make our heritage dwellings fit for purpose in a warming world?
However, this is not justified as halite rheology varies with temperature, grain size and pore brine content. Furthermore, evaporitic sequences contain various minerals(e.g., anhydrite, gypsum), which have different rheological properties. 3D seismic and well data reveal the internal structure of salt beds. The data have allowed characterization of structure wavelengths and salt thickness, so that the impact of internal composition and other properties on halokinetic behaviour can be assessed.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
[31] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Humanities
School of Environment, Education and Development Detecting Moorland Wildfire Scars and their Persistence in the Landscape using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in the Peak District National Park, UK The overall aim of this research is to assess the ability of SAR to detect moorland burn scars and their persistence in the landscape using the Peak District National Park (PDNP) in the UK as a case study. Spatially-robust data to monitor burn scar size and severity in UK moorlands is currently rare. Fires can burn deep into peat soils and contribute to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and may also affect the water quality of nearby streams. Information on fire extent would be useful for conservation organisations such as Moors For The Future who are trying to preserve the delicate peatland environment. Knowing the size and location of burn scars would help the Fire and Rescue Service to plan future response to moorland fires.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[85] TOBIAS HEDISON
[86] FRANCES SMITH
[87] RADI ALSAFI
tobias.hedison@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
frances.smith-6@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
radi.alsafi-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Energy landscapes and catalysis in cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) Proteins are biological polymers made of amino acid subunits. Some proteins, known as enzymes, have the ability to speed up chemical reactions.
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Can Prolyl Endopeptidase Reduce The IgE-Reactivity Of Gluten Proteins? Recently, a prolyl endopeptidase from Aspergillus niger (AnPEP) has been identified as being able to accelerate breakdown of gluten in food using an in vitro digestion system.
Comparing Recombinant FP9 and MVA Encoding Env/Rev SIVmac239 Sequences Driven by a T7 Expression System as a Model HIV Vaccine Candidate The development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine remains complex. Recombinant Fowlpox virus 9 (FP9) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA), highly attenuated host range-restricted poxvirus strains, have been safely administered to humans, are known to be immunogenic. Our study is aimed to develop a model HIV vaccine candidate by studying the related simian immunodeficiency virus, SIVmac239.
Faculty of Life Sciences
Many chemical mechanisms of many of these reactions are understood; however the importance of physical movements of the enzyme during catalysis (protein dynamics) is increasingly becoming apparent. In this study fluorescent markers have been placed on an enzyme, named cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR), allowing protein dynamics to be studied during catalysis. CPR functions by passing electrons from a small molecule (NADPH) to a variety of P450 proteins, a class of enzymes that metabolise 70% of all drugs. We have observed that key chemical steps relate to specific dynamic changes in CPR suggesting that protein dynamics regulate function. These findings have allowed us to build up a model of how CPR moves during its catalytic cycle.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Such digests have been analysed in terms of coeliac disease t-cell epitope levels but have not yet been considered regarding the impact on IgE-reactivity. This study has used an in vitro batch gastric digestion model with bread to assess the effect of AnPEP. SDS PAGE and immunoblots have been used to monitor protein digestion. Sera were obtained from a Spanish patient panel with allergy to wheat induced by exercise and/or NSAIDs and used for additional immunoblots. More effective breakdown of gliadins and LMW glutenins is observed in the presence of AnPEP and IgE reactivity was reduced. Thus, AnPEP has the potential application to modify the allergenic potential of cereals containing gluten.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Recombinant FP9 and MVA encoding the desired sequences were generated using homologous recombination method. Comparative expression studies between recombinants FP9 and MVA are in progress. Briefly, the expression of env and rev proteins will be quantified (ELISA). Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting will be carried out to prove the efficient transport of these proteins. To date, recombinant FP9 and MVA carrying env and rev sequences were constructed. Pure recombinants have been isolated and confirmed by PCR. We will report results of the expression assay demonstrating the presence of both env and rev encoding sequences.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[32]
[88] MAGDALENA KIEzEL-TSUGUNOVA
[89] HELEN BREEWOOD
[90] NATALIA SIETI
helen.breewood@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
magdalena.kiezel@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
natalia.sieti@manchester.ac.uk Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Manchester Pharmacy School
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
Improving sustainability in the food service sector In the UK, 15% of meals are provided by the food service sector (restaurants, canteens and fast food).
Life cycle environmental sustainability of ready-made baby foods The UK convenience and baby food sector was worth £611 million in 2012 with a growth of 51% over the last five years.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Omega-3 PUFA alter eicosanoid production in UVR-irradiated epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts Exposure of human skin to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) results in the production of lipid mediators involved in cutaneous inflammation. This process can be modulated by nutritional supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA. In this study, we explore the effect of UVR on n-3 PUFA-treated human epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts treated with UVR. The radiation increased the COX-2 expression in cells by 6-fold. PUFA supplementation did not attenuate the UVR-induced COX-2 upregulation in keratinocytes or fibroblasts. Similarly, no changes were observed in 15-PGDH expression in epidermal keratinocytes.
Much has been written about the sustainability of the global food system, but relatively little work exists on the food service sector. This project will assess the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the supply chain of the food service sector, draw comparison with home-made and ready-meals and identify opportunities for improvement. An initial case study will use Life Cycle Assessment to quantify the environmental impacts of a meal prepared in a food service outlet. The hotspots identified will direct further research.
Of the 513 baby food products made by five main UK manufacturers, 83% (by mass) are ready-made meals. This growing market leads to various sustainability issues, of which there is little understanding to date. Therefore, the aim of this research is to quantify life cycle environmental impacts of ready-made baby food. A range of products will be considered and the results will be used to identify improvement opportunities and make recommendations to relevant stakeholders.
However, UVR caused a decrease in the expression of 15-PGDH in dermal fibroblasts. The high dose of PUFA appeared to reverse 15-PGDH expression. These changes were accompanied by reduced concentrations of PGE2. This study presents the differences in the skin cells responses and suggests an alternative route of PGE2 attenuation following UVR stimulation.
[33] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[91] KATE TIMMS
[92] REBEKAH SAYERS
[93] LORNA MULLAN
kate.timms@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
rebekah.sayers@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
lorna.mullan@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Human Development
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Examining the potential role of food-derived plant microRNAs in human placental development Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is associated with increased risk of stillbirth and developing cardiovascular/metabolic diseases.
The effect of thermal processing on the allergenic activity of peanuts Peanut allergy is considered one of the most prominent food allergies, which often results in severe reactions and can be fatal. It can be attributed to one or more of 12 recognised peanut allergens. Sensitisation to Ara h 2/6 is associated with clinical reactivity and used as a marker for clinical diagnosis in the UK.
Reduction of ER stress through the stimulation of intracellular proteolysis as a treatment strategy for chondrodysplasia caused by collagen x mutations Metaphyseal chondrodysplasia type Schmid (MCDS) is an inherited dwarfism disorder resulting from mutations in type X collagen.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
High maternal intake of fruit and vegetables (F&V) reduces the risk of FGR, but the known nutrient content of F&V cannot fully account for the reduction in risk, suggesting a role for unidentified components. microRNAs are small RNAs which can influence cellular growth and function by regulating protein production. Consumption of F&V leads to the presence of plant microRNAs in the circulation. We hypothesise that such microRNAs may be involved in the relationship between F&V intake and fetal growth, by modulating the development/function of the placenta – the organ responsible for transferring oxygen and nutrients from mother to fetus. We aim to quantify plant microRNA in maternal plasma and investigate the potential mechanisms by which plant microRNA could be absorbed from the diet, delivered into the placenta and alter placental development.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
This study aimed to identify modifications to allergenic proteins introduced during thermal processing of peanut seeds. Protein solubility was modified during processing and extraction was optimal using harsh denaturing conditions. The 2D-PAGE protein profiles were reflective of processing type, including aggregation and during boiling a loss of proteins into the cooking water. Serum from peanut allergic patients was used to assess IgE reactivity by immunoblotting. IgE reactivity was reduced in boiled peanut seeds, especially in patient’s sensitised predominately to Ara h 2/6.
Faculty of Life Sciences
The mutations in collagen X cause the protein to become misfolded and retained within the ER of chondrocytes, inducing an unfolded protein response. Recent studies have revealed that the pathology associated with MCDS is a direct result of increased ER stress in hypertrophic chondrocytes. The aim of this study is to determine whether CBZ treatment could reduce ER stress levels in cells expressing MCDS-causing collagen X mutations and also to clarify the mechanisms involved. The results of this study showed that CBZ was able to stimulate the degradation of mutant collagen X proteins via both autophagic and proteasomal routes. CBZ has a well documented safety record in humans and therefore remains a potential treatment strategy for MCDS.
These data further support the premise that boiling may reduce allergenicity of peanuts.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[34]
[94] PETER TRAN
[95] HELENE GLEITz
[96] AMANDA MCGOVERN
peter.tran@manchester.ac.uk
helene.gleitz@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Amanda.Mcgovern@manchester.ac.uk
Redox regulation of the cytosolic Glutaredoxin system in mitochondrial protein biogenesis Mitochondria are small intracellular organelles that generate the cell’s energy. In its biogenesis, nucleus-encoded protein substrates are imported in from the surrounding cell cytosol.
Institute of Human Development
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Development of ex vivo stem cell gene therapy for Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II) is an X-linked genetic disorder characterized by mutations in the iduronate-2-sulphatase gene, which normally degrades complex sugars in lysosomes. These mutations lead to cellular accumulation of glycosaminoglycans in the brain and skeleton, and culminate by death in teenage years. Severe MPS II is non-responsive to enzyme replacement therapy or standard haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation.
Functional characterisation of Rheumatoid Arthritis risk loci Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a complex disease affecting approximately 1% of the population. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have so far identified more than 101 loci associated with RA.
Faculty of Life Sciences
In the intermembrane space (IMS) sub-compartment, proteins are redox sensitive with specific cysteine residues, in twin CX3C or CX9C motifs. Oxidised or reduced, these alter protein folding and import. While the IMS oxidising pathway is well-characterised, how substrates are maintained reduced in the cytosol for import across the mitochondrial membrane is less known. We asked whether the cytosolic Glutaredoxin redox enzymes (Grxs) facilitated IMS import, using in vivo and in vitro methods. Import was stressed using plasmids to overexpress several CX3C and CX9C proteins. This also characterised their cytosolic stability and effects on other genes being expressed. Results demonstrated that while Grxs were not vital to cell growth under stress, it does facilitate IMS import in vivo, with CX9C proteins being more strongly affected.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
We propose to test HSC gene therapy, by designing a third-generation lentivirus driven by a myeloid-specific promoter, hCD11b, to primarily target brain cells. In vitro data suggests that LV.CD11b.IDS is able to significantly overexpress IDS in microglial cells and secrete IDS into media by up to 60-fold. We further investigated the use of SUMF1 in vitro, a sulphatase-modifying factor reported to increase enzyme activity. High IDS secretion should allow in vivo trafficking of enzyme to adjacent cells, thereby cross-correcting IDS-deficient cells in the brain and in peripheral organs.
[35] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
However, the majority of associations are with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located outside protein coding regions. The aims of this project are to identify the causal variants in RA associated loci, find which genes are being affected and to elucidate the mechanism by which variants modify gene function. Novel capture Hi-C methods have been utilised to investigate the potential interactions between disease associated variants and their functional targets in two relevant cell lines (B and T cells). The data identified numerous looping interactions, and has shown that GWAS associated SNPs within enhancers may interact with more compelling candidate genes often situated several megabases away and skipping nearer genes, confirming GWAS associated SNPs cannot simply be assigned to the nearest genes.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[97] zAHRAH BUHAMAD
[98] LAURA VICARIO RODRIGUEz
[99] ROBERT SULLIVAN
zahrah.buhamad@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
laura.vicariorodriguez@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
robert.sullivan-2@student.manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
School of Dentistry
School of Dentistry
Genotyping of HCMV Glycoprotein O using Molecular Techniques Background: Cytomegalovirus carries 6 different polymorphic envelope glycoproteins on its surface all of which are essential for infectivity, spread, and pathogenicity of the virus. Studies on association between a particular glycoprotein genotype and disease outcome had conflicting results. One limitation of those results is lack of robust methodology that could be standardised for all studies.
Evaluating the relevance of the rat model in human risk assessment for cleft palate Cleft palate, one of the most common birth defects worldwide, results from an alteration in the normal development of the palate (palatogenesis).
P63 in cleft lip: Expanding the P63 signalling network Cleft lip with or without cleft palate is a developmental abnormality which affects approximately 1:500 live births. Mutations in the transcription factor P63 are known to cause a cleft lip and palate phenotype in humans.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Aim: To present a new and accurate tool for detecting mutations in glycoprotein O (gO). Method: DNA extracted from five laboratory strains of HCMV. Polymorphic sequences from gO were amplified using a novel polymerase chain reaction, followed by restriction enzyme analysis and sequencing. Results: Previous assays show 4 major supergroups for gO. Using our assay, eight distinct genotypes were identified. Conclusion: The new primer set allowed accurate identification of eight gO genotypes. Improved accuracy of genotyping is an essential pre-requisite of studies considering the role of glycoproteins in HCMV disease outcome.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Mice and rats are commonly used for studying its genetic and environmental causes, respectively, as palatogenesis in these animals and in humans consists of the same steps. For this reason the information obtained from rats is used in human risk assessment during the development of new chemicals. However, the molecular factors underlying this process are mostly unknown, which affects the reliability of the risk assessment studies performed in rats. To address this problem, the mouse and rat gene expression patterns during palatogenesis were obtained by RNA-seq, analysed by bioinformatic methods and compared. These analyses indicate that most factors are very similar in both species, although there are also some potentially relevant differences that should be further studied.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Mouse models of P63 knockout display a fully penetrant bilateral cleft lip and palate allowing the dissection of the P63 signalling network. Through the complementary use of chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP Seq) and microarrays on stage appropriate tissue, my project aims to identify novel prospective targets of P63 signalling during lip development. Identified targets are validated through realtime PCR, Nanostring, ChIP quantitative PCR and whole mount in situ hybridisation. Through the above method a robust database of putative target genes was generated implicating multiple members of the wingless (WNT) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling families as putative P63 targets.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[36]
[100] HARRIS RABBANI harris.rabbani@student.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Influence of particle size on bioclogging in porous media Bioclogging modifies the transport properties of porous media via modification of pore spaces. The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of grain size on the bioclogging in porous media as well as the effects of bioclogging on hydraulic characteristics of porous media. To do so, laboratory experiments were conducted using sandy media differing in average grain size and the decay of the hydraulic conductivity as a result of the biofilm growth was investigated. The hydraulic conductivity reduced more as the average grain size increased. Besides, SEM technique was used to investigate the growth of biofilms at the pore scale, revealing three distinct arrangements of biofilm including isolated ligaments, pendular rings and spider-net biofilm patterns. For each pattern the thickness of biofilm was found to be increasing as the grain size increased. In addition, the effect of bioclogging on hydrodynamic dispersion in porous media was investigated.
[101] RICHARD SAUNDERS-HINDLEY
[102] DENISSE SEPULVEDA SANCHEz
richard.saunders-hindley@ postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
denisse.sepulveda@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Humanities School of Arts, Languages and Cultures The Beginning of Heaven': Wesleyan Expressions of Covenant, Holiness and the Divine Eternal Purpose The ‘telos’ (goal) of the biblical divine eternal purpose is not the ‘eschaton’ (end), but the Kingdom – the renewal of creation already begun in the present age with the Resurrection, ahead of the ‘eschaton’. John Wesley’s central message was ‘holiness of heart and life’, i.e. the eternal ‘telos’ of renewal begun in the present. I propose that Wesley’s teleological ‘holiness’ can be connected to a deep rooted biblical doctrine of ‘covenant’: e.g. in the Torah, holiness is the foundation of covenant obedience (Leviticus 19); God’s covenant people is a ‘holy nation’ (Exodus 19.6, cf 1 Peter 2.9). Elsewhere the covenant sacrifice required is hearts and lives (Psalm 51.6ff, Romans 12.1-2). This poster sets out this Wesleyan expression of ‘holiness of heart and life’ as the ‘telos’ of the divine purpose. It is an expression rooted in covenant doctrine, bringing together present renewal and eternal salvation as ‘the beginning of heaven’.
[37] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Humanities
School of Social Sciences How Class Transition And Racialized Cultures Impact On Indigenous Identities: The Case Of The Mapuche People With Higher Educational qualifications The overall goal of this project is to explore how inequalities operate in Chile. Particularity, how invisible types of inequalities operate in Chile. My proposal research is centred on how mobility transitions impact on the racial and class cultures of Mapuche with higher education and how these affect their identity and social practices. My methodological goal is to examine the role of social-mobility discourses of the Mapuche as a means for the production of narratives of legitimisation of inequalities and ethnic discrimination. For this reason, my research design will emphasize the use of qualitative research methods. Specifically I will use life history and direct observation as research methods. For that reason, this research will focus on how the Mapuche who live in Santiago city and have higher education perceive their social trajectories and how class transition impact on their indigenous identities.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[103] EIRA CAPELáN
[104] EMMA PATCHICK
[105] HOLLY HOPE
eira.capelan@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
emma.patchick@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
holly.hope@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Environment, Education and Development
School of Psychological Sciences
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Psychometric validation of a patientcentred, patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for cognitive rehabilitation in chronic stroke: The Patient-Reported Evaluation of Cognitive State (PRECiS) Scale Background: PRECiS assesses perceived impact of cognitive difficulties and was developed through qualitative research, systematic review, pilot work, and patient and public involvement(PPI). Initial psychometric testing is reported here.
The dynamics of living with rheumatoid arthritis: extracting meaning from the diary responses of a large RA cohort Background: The extended self regulation model (SRM) proposes patients’ beliefs about disease and therapies both inform and are informed by their lived experience of illness. Thus far this dynamism has not been captured in research. The aim of this study was to develop a coding framework that plots the experience of living with rheumatoid arthritis.
Faculty of Humanities
Popular monumentality Forgotten architectures and material representation in el Cerro de Montevideo Monuments are the material mirrors of social identity (Lefebvre 1974) and are hence firmly grounded in a community’s capacity for collective representation, Durkheim’s constitutional characteristic of a ‘society’ (1967). Postmodern conceptions of the plurality of cityscapes and the disenchantment with modernism’s atemporality (Boyer 1994, Connerton 2009, Vattimo 1995) have lead to the call for a New Monumentality amongst artists, sociologists, architects and historians. In view of the urban development trends, growing global inequalities and expanding urban informality in the Global South, this research employs action research to situate itself in an urban discussion on monumental production from the peripheries of a consolidated city.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Methods: Stroke survivors with persisting cognitive difficulties completed PRECiS. Other data collected included: demographics; cognitive assessment; functional limitations; mood. A sub-sample (N=66) repeated PRECiS within 2 weeks. Qualitative data were also collected. Findings: 159 respondents provided usable data for analysis. There were few missing items and no floor/ceiling effects. PRECiS had good internal consistency (alpha=.94). Intraclass correlation was 0.85 for test-retest reliability. Correlations with established measures (e.g. Stroke Impact Scale; PHQ9) were moderate to strong (0.4 to 0.74).Qualitative feedback provided strong supportive evidence of acceptability.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Methods: 50 patients were randomly selected from the Rheumatoid Arthritis Medication Study (RAMS) cohort to develop the framework. Patients kept a weekly diary for the first six months after treatment commencement. The free text responses were coded using Framework Analysis. Results: Emergent themes mapped directly onto the SRM; the perceived severity of symptoms, the effectiveness of medications and uncertainty, which is related to and undermines the SRM concept of coherence. Conclusion: Pending inter-rater reliability, this framework could be used to test the underlying SRM assumption of dynamism using the RAMS cohort.
Discussion: The analysis demonstrates good acceptability, reliability and construct validity for use with cognitively-impaired stroke survivors. Conclusion: PRECiS provides a measure of perceived impact that, subject to further testing, should become a core outcome for trials of cognitive rehabilitation.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[38]
[106] JOANNE-MARIE ROBINSON
[107] TOM HOPWOOD
[108] JAMES OLIVER
joanne-marie.robinson @postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
thomas.hopwood@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
james.oliver@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Epigenetic and ciracdian regulation of macrophage polarisation The immune system has a high order of complexity and receives input from a variety of dynamic systems.
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Faculty of Life Sciences ‘Blood is thicker than water’: consanguineous marriage in Ancient Egypt Sibling marriages in ancient Egypt are attested in royal families, and for more than a century amongst commoners in the Roman Period. However, specific references to other close-kin unions, including first-cousin marriage, are rare amongst commoners, although scholars suggest these occurred regularly. In clinical genetics consanguineous marriages are commonly defined as unions between individuals biologically related as second cousins or closer. Evidence for these unions in ancient Egypt is limited by the erratic nature of documentary and physical evidence and by kinship terms used in hieroglyphs. Current multi-disciplinary studies on consanguinity recognise the complexity of biological, social, economic, and religious factors influencing this marriage strategy. Using documentary and physical evidence, this study argues that these same factors influenced and impacted on consanguineous marriage in ancient Egypt. It is proposed that the social, psychological and economic benefits combined with an increase in net fertility outweighed any adverse biological consequences.
Faculty of Life Sciences
Two key regulators of immunity are the circadian clock, shown by diurnal rhythmicity in inflammatory diseases, and epigenetic modifications, exemplified by T-cell dynamics. Macrophages are vital cells of the innate immune system that patrol tissues and polarise towards proor anti-inflammatory phenotypes based on the cytokine signals received. These cells show strong diurnal responses to inflammatory challenge and epigenetic remodelling in response to helminth infection. In our work we aim to investigate a link between the circadian clock and the histone methyltransferase EZH2, responsible for placing a repressive mark at H3K27. We do this by genetically ablating EZH2 and Bmal in cells of the myeloid lineage, thus allowing us to investigate a link between the circadian clock, epigenetic mechanisms and the dynamic macrophage response.
[39] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Predicting anti-TNF treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis using genetic and genomic biomarkers Despite the profound success of anti-TNF drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a problematic rate of non-response remains. Currently, clinical factors confer insufficient power for predicting response and an unsatisfactory ‘trial and error’ approach is utilised to govern critical therapeutic decisions. Previous candidate gene and unbiased genomewide investigations have sought to identify genetic signatures that can predict treatment efficacy and potential toxicity. To date, few studies have yielded robust associations due to insufficient power, an inadequate measure of disease activity and patient non-adherence to the drug. A novel approach integrating genetic data with detailed gene expression, epigenetic, serological and clinical data at baseline (before treatment) and at various time-points throughout the treatment course may empower studies to identify a reliable panel of predictive biomarkers. Patients can then be stratified into treatment groups upon diagnosis and administered the optimum treatment in the first instance.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[109] REBECCA SHEARS
[110] BASMAH ELDAKHAKHNY
[111] JAWAHER ABDULHAKIM
rebecca.shears@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
basmah.eldakhakhny-2 @postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
jawaher.abdulhakim@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Life Sciences
Defining the host protective antigens of the mouse whipworm, Trichuris muris: Pathway to vaccination Gastrointestinal nematodes such as Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) are a major health burden, with over 1 billion people Infected worldwide. However, there are currently no vaccines available against these parasites. The first step in designing effective vaccines is to identify host protective antigens. Here, we used a two-step chromatography approach to identify a number of antigenic candidates for the well-studied mouse whipworm parasite, T. muris. T. muris and T. trichiura are antigenically similar, and therefore this work is likely to be highly translational, bringing us one step closer to a vaccine for this globally important parasite.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Inflammation and Repair Fighting fire with fire: Worms, Inflammation & Crohn’s Disease The worm Trichuris induces chronic gut inflammation which has many similarities to human Crohn’s disease. However whilst Crohn’s patients suffer severe uncontrolled inflammation,Trichuris-induced colitis is controlled. Paradoxically, Trichuris suis is being proposed as a therapy for IBD patients. We wanted to investigate the mechanism of regulation during Trichuris infection. Susceptible mice were infected with low and high dose T. muris. 35 days post-infection, histology, gene, protein expression and bioactivity were used to assess inflammation. Trichuris infection induced pro- and anti-inflammatory pathways locally. High dose in particular induced an enhanced up-regulation of antiinflammatory and epithelial repair pathways driven by TGFβ1. This effect centred on up-regulation of the matrix metalloproteinase repair pathway, suggesting that infection dose is proportional to regulation. In conclusion, TGFβ1 drives antiinflammatory and repair pathways during Trichuris infection. As the effects are dose responsive, these data suggest that the iatrogenic dose of Trichuris is key to therapeutic success.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Inflammation and Repair A modified Heat-Shock Method for HCMV DNA Detection in Dried Blood Spots (DBS), Is It Efficient? Early detection of CMV congenital infection infection is critical for preventing and limiting disease. Detection of CMV DNA in dried blood spots (DBS) routinely collected from newborns for metabolic disease screening has been suggested as a suitable method for universal CMV neonatal screening. This project aims to investigate a modified Heat Shock-Based method from DBS. Whole virus (CMV laboratory strain AD169) was used to spike a pathogen free EDTA human blood. DBS were prepared from this spiked blood. Two extraction methods were evaluated; a Qiagen column-based extraction and the modified Heat Shock-Based method. Then, two PCR assays were used for DNA amplification. The modified Heat Shock –Based method allowed 100% recovery of DNA spotted onto the DBS, provides better recovery of DNA from DBS and improves overall test sensitivity making this the method of choice for CMV detection of DBS.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[40]
[112] MUNIRAH ALBAqSHI
[113] HELEN PARKER
[114] HENRY JONES
munirah.albaqshi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
helen.parker-4@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
henry.jones@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Immunomodulatory antigens of Trichuris as lead vaccine candidates Trichuris trichiura infects more than 800 million people worldwide and it is one of the most significant factors that trap developing countries into poverty.
Institute of Human Development
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Faculty of Life Sciences
Anthelmintic drugs are used to treat human infections, yet they are insufficient for the control strategy due to high reinfection rates and development of drug resistance by the parasite. Vaccination approaches would provide a best alternative to anthelmintic drugs and can be developed using the preclinical model Trichuris muris in the mouse. Subcutaneous vaccination of susceptible mice with T.muris E/S induces resistance to infection by promoting Th2 immune response. E/S also induces expression of the IDO enzyme in vivo which slows down the epithelial cell turnover in the gut, thereby promoting survival of parasites. Thus the development of an in vitro screen to identify the components of E/S responsible for IDO induction will enable the selection of E/S immunomodulatory antigens to formulate a future vaccine.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Pathogenic Glycosaminoglycans from Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA Mice Drive an Innate Immune Neuro-inflammatory Response Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPSIIIA) is a paediatric lysosomal storage disease characterised by cognitive decline, ultimately leading to dementia. An accumulation of heparan sulphate fragments in lysosomes and extracellular matrices is apparent, alongside secondary accumulation of cholesterol and amyloid beta. Brains from MPSIIIA mice displayed cortical glial activation, amongst up-regulation of innate immune components suggesting the development of a pro-inflammatory CNS environment. We show that glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) isolated from MPSIIIA mice induce pro-inflammatory cytokine responses when applied to primary mixed glial cultures, where normalised levels of WT GAGs elicited no response. Data shows that MPSIIIA GAGs act as an inflammatory priming stimulus via Toll-Like Receptor 4. Secondary stimulation with inflammasome activators such as cholesterol or amyloid beta induced release of intracellular IL-1β associated with MPSIIIA GAG priming (p≤0.001). In vivo studies will confirm whether the MPSIIIA neuro-inflammatory response acts through IL-1 dependent mechanisms, and whether modulation of these slows disease progression.
[41] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Humanities
Wikipedia, Translation and the City: A narrative analysis of the representation and translational re-presentation of British cities within the multilingual on-line encyclopaedia project As the sixth most visited website on the Internet, the on-line user-generated encyclopaedia Wikipedia holds a unique position of power in society. Academia has a vital role to play in helping society explore the extent and implications of Wikipedia’s unprecedented influence. However, while some progress has been made in this respect, researchers have so far largely neglected the cross-cultural aspects of the encyclopaedia and thus ignored the website’s importance as a global phenomenon. My research contributes towards redressing this imbalance by investigating the volunteers involved in the translation of content between the English- and French-language Wikipedias, focussing particularly on the transfer and transformation across the linguistic divide of information relating to British cities. In this way, it provides insights into the complex and influential position these translators now occupy in representing the local within the virtual environment of the encyclopaedia project and, ultimately, within world society as a whole.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[115] WILLIAM MUNDY
[116] IBRAHIM ALFRAIH
[117] KHAWLA GHADGOUD
william.mundy@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ibrahim.alfraih@student.Manchester.ac.uk
khawla.ghadgoud@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Papyrus: the paper of the ancient world Q: What links ancient Egypt to presentday Manchester, via the Industrial Revolution and Victorian philanthropy?
Representation of Women in the Saudi women's novel My research examines how the writings of some Saudi women novelists challenge stereotyping of Arab women and the hegemonic representations of them as well as how these writings contribute to widening the space for these women to offer different views and representations and promote change, debates and developments in their own society.
Jespersen's Cycle in Libyan Arabic and Nafusi Berber Jespersen’s cycle is a type of diachronic syntactic change that was proposed by Jespersen (1917), which involves cyclical moving of negation particles over long periods of time.
Faculty of Humanities
A: Papyrus, the ancient world’s most common writing material. Manchester’s John Rylands Library has one of the finest papyrus collections in the world. The story of this collection’s journey from the Egyptian sands to Manchester via aristocratic collectors and philanthropists like Rylands is a fascinating one in its own right. I study the documents from a particular village called Euhemeria (‘Good Day Town’) during the first century of Roman occupation. They are written in Greek, Egypt’s official language, and include letters, marriage contracts, petitions complaining of crimes, receipts for donkey sales, religious texts and much more besides. These papyri paint a vivid picture of life in an Egyptian village under Roman occupation, and can tell us a great deal about the ways in which Roman rule affected the lives of the people in the provinces.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities
I focus on post-9/11 for two major reasons. First, the mass proliferation of novels written by women in this period, which is a phenomenon that deserves thorough exploration not only due to the large number, but also to the public debates these novels have sparked off and the new themes they have explored.
The cycle has been attested in languages like English, French, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages. Lucas (2007) states that the histories of Arabic and Berber also demonstrate the different stages of this cycle. 1. ma nšūf/ ma nšūf-iš/ nšūf-iš fi el-bent. NEG see.PRT.1SG NEG see.PRT.1SG-NEG see.PRT.1SG-NEG in DEF-girl ‘I don’t see the girl’.
Second, it coincided with the rise of the “woman question” in Saudi Arabia, as it has received considerable attention not locally and globally. Drawing on various theoretical approaches and debates, the work of a selected number of novelists will be closely examined.
I investigate Libyan Arabic and Nafusi Berber with regard to Jespersen’s cycle. I find different stages of the cycle within close geographical boundaries in varieties of both languages (1). I also find a gradual pattern towards a more advanced stage of the cycle from east to west in Nafusi Berber. My findings contribute to the typological and theoretical literature of Arabic and Berber and their diachronic development due to language contact.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[42]
7
7 HAIFA ALROqI
Your child needs YOU
8
9
[43] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
8 EDMUND CHOW
Performing an Improvised Drama in an Public Park in Afghanistan
9 JENNIFER CHOW
The last sailors on the Mary Rose
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[118] LUKE MCDERMOTT
[119] JOHANNES LOTzE
[120] xINxIN zHANG
luke.mcdermott@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
johannes.lotze@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
xinxin.zhang@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Materials
Which way is up? To speakers of the world’s major languages the use of spatial notions based on their own bodily axis such as `left’ and `right’ is fundamental to their ability to describe the location, orientation and motion of the objects around them.
Speaking the Languages of the Great Khan: Translation and Mongol Legacy in the Early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) This poster illustrates the central goal of my PhD project: to shed new light on translation activities in early Ming China (1368-1453), in order to challenge received ideas of the Ming dynasty and China in general as “insular” and “isolationist.”
Faculty of Humanities
It therefore often comes as a shock to discover that speakers of many of the world’s minority languages do without such notions all together, and even prefer to use geographical features like slopes or rivers as the basis for their spatial descriptions. In my project I am investigating the strategies used to convey spatial information by the 15,000 speakers of Chiapas Zoque, an endangered and under-documented language spoken in the southern highlands of Mexico. My poster will focus specifically on the conceptual framework utilized by Zoque speakers when describing the location and orientation of objects on a table-top scale, a domain in which Mexican languages have shown considerable variation.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, my project contributes to History, Chinese Studies, and Translation Studies. Exploring continuities between the “foreign Mongol” Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and the “native Chinese” Ming dynasty through the lens of languages and multilingualism, my thesis illuminates China’s global embeddedness in a time long before the first Europeans appeared in the streets of Beijing.
The development of localized corrosion in AA2099 Al-Cu-Li alloy The new generation of Al-Cu-Li alloy is widely used in the aircraft industry. However, the relationship between the localized corrosion propagation and the local microstructural criteria remains unclear. In the present work, the corrosion behaviour, particularly the propagation mechanism of localized corrosion, in AA2099-T4 Al-Cu-Li alloy has been investigated with high resolution electron microscopy and electrochemical measurement.
After introducing early Ming ‘linguistic landscapes’ as a historical given, the poster unravels the four main ‘layers’ through which I trace continuities, moving from macro to micro: (1) language policies, (2) institutions founded as a result of these policies, (3) people working in these institutions, and (4) the various translations they produced.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[44]
[121] xIAOxIA OU
[122] OMAR DAWOOD
[123] SHELLEY RAWSON
xiaoxia.ou@manchester.ac.uk
omar.dawood@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
shelley.rawson@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Materials
School of Materials
Structure/property in graphene and its composites Applying a tensile and a compressive stress on a graphene sheet can considerably modify its electronic and optical properties. Changing the band structure of graphene is expected to result in opening of a sizable bandgap.
Development of a contrast staining technique for x-Ray Micro-CT of sutured tendon 30,000 people are treated for tendon repair per annum, one third of which are hand tendon injuries. Of these, 25% achieve poor clinical outcome.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
x-ray tomography characterisation of open-cell foams for catalytic reactors design The open-cell SiC foams are interesting materials with hierarchical pore structures, i.e. open-cell pore structures constructed by porous SiC struts, serving as the excellent candidate for developing structured catalytic reactors for water treatment. In this research, we focused on characterising multiphase systems in open-cell porous SiC foams with X-ray computed tomography analysis. Experiments were performed on gas invasion (into liquid saturated foams) and liquid penetration driven by external pressure. Comprehensive information such as porous structures of struts, open-cell specific surface area and porosity was obtained for such hierarchical materials. Effort was also made to use the obtained pore structure information and morphological parameters to predict pressure drop, internal liquid holdup and static liquid holdup.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
As a result, the size of the band gap makes graphene an attractive material for optoelectronic devices. A number of methods have recently been suggested with the aim of developing these methods to be a further step toward band gap engineering in graphene. Ripples are considered to be the problem-solving approach for band-gap engineering in graphene. An atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to observe the morphology of the graphene sheet. Along with AFM results, Raman spectroscopy was used to confirm the strained graphene induced by ripples.
[45] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Achieving a consensus on the best practice tendon repair may help to reduce this shortfall. X-ray Micro-CT and subsequent finite element analysis can show detailed tendon stress and allow direct comparison between the many proposed suture repairs. 24 hour staining of the tendon and suture using potassium iodide solutions (0.2%KI, 0.1%I) stained surfaces only, maintaining the mechanical interaction between suture and tendon. This method was compared with the coupling of 2.5µm diameter Dynabeads to the tendon surface. Both methods ensured no significant difference in failure load between compared with unstained sutured tendon samples. Finite element results and reconstructed volumes showed good agreement, thus validating the method. We anticipate this method may have applications in the study of other biomaterials in soft tissues.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[124] ABDULSAMEEA JILABI
[125] PRABHURAJ BALAKRISHNAN
[126] CANDICE KAISERMANN
abdulsameea.jilabi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
prabhuraj.balakrishnan@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
candice.kaisermann@manchester.ac.uk
School of Materials
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
Graphene based Fuel cell systems as auto mobile engines – Possibilities and facing Challenges Internal combustion engines are widely used in the auto-mobile engine systems. Though widely used, they generate a significant amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon di-oxide etc.
Using foam fractionation to intensify downstream processing of biosurfactant In recent years, a renewed interest for foam fractionation has emerged as a single economic solution to two bioprocess engineering issues: foaming of surface active molecules in fermentation broth and high cost of downstream processing.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Flash Butt Welding of Rail Steels Nowadays, the using of continuous welded rails (CWR) is standard application all over the world, and the majority of rail tracks are welded using the flash butt welding (FBW) method. In spite of high reliability of flash butt welded rails, welds still represent a discontinuity in the track structure due to variations in microstructure, mechanical properties and residual stress levels of the flash butt welded joint with respect to the parent rail. These variations may play a significant role in increasing the risk of weld failure under high axle load conditions. Our aims are to study effects of number of preheat cycles and upsetting forces on these variations, and to understand how the residual stress distribution, microstructure and mechanical properties are related to the variation in the HAZ width.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Fuel cells on the other hand are getting increased attention because of their attractive factors like cleaner energy, silent operation, high efficiency and increased durability etc. As a result, energy industries are now focussing their attention towards new materials for energy generation namely fuel cells. After the advent of graphene in 2004, several attempts has been made to utilize this unique material in fuel cells. This work will address the usage and significance of graphene based materials in fuel cell systems and will also analyze the feasibility of using them as an alternative to internal combustion engines in automobiles.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The downstream processing of surface active molecules such as biosurfactants can account for 60% of the total cost of production. Foam fractionation can be applied to enrich a low concentrated biosurfactant from high volume broth by the absorptive bubble separation method. It is also inexpensive and has the potential to be integrated into a continuous production system. In this study, the operating parameters and their influence on the efficiency of continuous foam fractionation for the recovery of a lipopeptide biosurfactant were studied. The impacts of the feeding biosurfactant concentration and of the biomass concentration were characterised. Suitable operating airflow and feed flow were determined as 100 cm3 min-1 and 5 mL min-1, respectively, in stripping mode. Future work will entail the integration of this downstream process to the production process, i.e. integration of the column to the bioreactor, in order to intensify the overall production process of this lipopeptide.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[46]
[127] PRANJAL
[128] WEIJIAN zHANG
[129] YIFAN WU
pranjal.chess@gmail.com
weijian.zhang@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
yifan.wu-6@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Mathematics
School of Mathematics
School of Mathematics
An optimal solver for linear systems arising from stochastic FEM approximation of diffusion equations with random coefficients This poster discusses the design and implementation of efficient solution algorithms for symmetric linear systems associated with stochastic Galerkin approximation of elliptic PDE problems with correlated random data.
Computing Centrality on Evolving Networks Developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the PageRank algorithm is said to be one of the nine algorithms that changed the future. Exploiting the network structure of the Internet is the key of their success.
Shape optimization in inverse scattering problem In full waveform inversion, sometimes we require solving an inverse scattering problem where we need to reconstruct the scattering domain.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The novel feature of our preconditioned MINRES solver is the incorporation of error control in the natural 'energy' norm in combination with an effective a posteriori estimator for the PDE approximation error. This leads to a robust and optimally efficient stopping criterion.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
But we are still at the early stage of understanding networks. Over the past few years, the web has gone from something stationary and static to something that is fluid and dynamic. Such time-dependent structure is usually called evolving network. How to extract information from this type of network is becoming the new challenge. In this poster, we present some recent developments in evolving networks with the focus on computing centrality measures. We describe different types of centralities and present an evolving network framework implemented in the Julia language.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
We start with the boundary value problem for Helmholtz equation with scattered coefficients; we measure the wave field by some detector at certain locations. The inverse problem consists in solving the scattering domain, and the scattered coefficient through given measured data. If we assume that scattered coefficient is already known, then our concentration will be the domain. We introduce the shape functional and shape derivative, where we reformulate the inverse scattering problem as the constrained shape optimization problem through some TV regularization method. We apply the ad-joint state method to solve this problem, and level set method here is used to better track the shape change. Finally, we obtain the shape evolution equation from the direct problem, where the descent direction can be obtained from the shape derivative.
[47] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[130] RANDALL MARTYR
[131] OMAIMA ALSHANqITI
[132] AHMAD zAMANI
randall.martyr@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
omaima.alshanqiti@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ahmad.r.zamani-farahani @postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Mathematics
School of Mathematics
Solving Finite Time Horizon Dynkin Games by Optimal Switching This research showcases the connection between Dynkin games, which are two-player games of timing with applications in finance, and optimal switching problems, which are optimisation problems that appear frequently in the analysis of flexible industrial projects (real options).
First results about groups with a count function A count function is a version of what T Scanlon and J. Krajicek call a strong Euler characteristic. I will discuss some results about groups with count function (I define a tallied structure M as an algebraic structure that admits a count function), I focused on the study of algebraic properties of tallied structures.
By formulating an appropriate optimal switching problem, it is possible to solve the game and gain insight into the existence of equilibrium strategies for the players. Numerical results using this approach are shown to agree closely to those provided for three Dynkin games appearing in recent finance / economics literature.
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering A real-time 3D dynamic simulator for Taylor Spatial Frames in orthopaedics A fully 3D real-time computer simulator was developed for Taylor Spatial Frame in orthopaedics. With this system, bone deformity correction surgeries can be simulated an the clinical results can be compared to the results given by the simulator.
The key result is the first step towards proving a tallied version of the celebrated theorem of Wedderburn about commutativity of finite division rings, namely, the proof of a tallied version of the no less celebrated theorem by Frobenius on the structure of sharply transitive finite permutation groups. Frobenius proved this theorem using character theory. However, the concept of strong Euler characteristic and its stronger version, count function, provides sufficient tools for counting arguments which allow to get the same result in a model-theoretic context
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[48]
[133] STEFANIE POHLMANN
[134] MOHAMMED ABDULAAL
[135] SUJATA SRIDHARAN
stefanie.pohlmann@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
mohammed.abdulaal@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
sujata.sridharan@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Population Health An automated 3D imaging method to select breast implants 1 in 8 women in the UK will experience breast cancer during her lifetime. Over 85% survive, however treatment is highly invasive and often involves surgical removal of breast tissue (mastectomy). After mastectomy the breast can be reconstructed using an implant. Currently surgeons rely on their experience for implant choice. Our aim is to develop an automated method for preoperative implant size measurement for mastectomy patients. The Microsoft Kinect, designed as input device for computer gaming, provides 3D images of the patient’s breasts from which volume is calculated and the optimum implant size determined. In a clinical pilot study we are evaluating the method’s suitability. Our fast, easy and inexpensive 3D imaging technology has the potential to ensure breast cancer survivors will get the optimum implants and best cosmetic outcome. We hope restoring their natural female body shape can boost their confidence, mental and physical health.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Low-level Recognition System Based on EEG Analysis in quasi Real-time Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology concerns communication, analysis, and control of computers by reading brainwave signals, typically by using the modalities of Electroencephalography (EEG), functional-MRI (fMRI), and Nearinfrared spectroscopy (NIRS). EEG is widely applied in this context since it is reasonably reliable, convenient, cost effective, and is an established clinical methodology. Nevertheless, the use of EEG in relation to BCI poses many challenges, especially with establishing reliable communication to the brain; this is particularly the case with disabled subjects. Our contribution aims to improve EEG detection algorithms with respect to noise immunity, repeatability and reliability. Subjects communicate and make choices by looking at a screen with different-frequency flashing shapes, each corresponding to a different choice; this is known as Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP). Future research aims to enable BCI by imagining/remembering different shapes, colours, and hand gestures
[49] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Population Health Initial Evaluation of [18F]GE-180 PET Imaging in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients Multiple sclerosis (MS) is known to have an inflammatory component. The extent and locality of inflammation can be visualised with positron emission tomography (PET). [18F]GE-180 is a novel inflammatory tracer with improved signal to noise ratio over existing ligands. We present initial results from the first in-man [18F]GE-180 study in relapsing-remitting MS (rrMS) and healthy control (HV) subjects. 60-90 minute sum-PET images were co-registered with T1 pre-contrast images. Areas of T2 hyperintensity were defined manually to give lesion standardised uptake values (SUVs). A cortical composite grey matter (GM) region was reference for SUVRs. Whole WM uptake (SUVR(GM)) was higher in rrMS than HVs, while a lesionrich periventricular (PV) area yielded SUVRs approximately 10% higher in rrMS than HVs. PET-defined lesions in rrMS showed an elevation of 20 – 40% compared to HVs. Preliminary results suggest that [18F]GE-180 can identify areas of inflammation in MS subjects which are non-Gd-enhancing in T1.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[136] GEORGIOS KROKOS
[137] qIAN LI
[138] HAYLEY GORTON
georgios.krokos@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
qian.li-5@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
hayley.gorton@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Population Health Precision Of Physiological Parameters From Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) In Patients With Brain Tumours The current study aims to estimate and compare the parameter correlations from kinetic analyses of DCE-MRI in patients with disrupted blood-brain barrier. Five patients underwent a pre-surgical DCE-MRI examination on a 3.0T MR scanner for 5.8min at temporal resolution of 3.46s (protocol1) and four patients at 1.5T for 15min with similar temporal resolution but with the peak of the arterial input function sampled at 1.7s from a preceding low-dose acquisition (protocol2). Kinetic analysis was performed at the voxel level using the extended Tofts model (ETM). Contrast transfer coefficient Ktrans and blood volume were inversely and highly correlated in all tissues (gray and white matter, tumour) but the correlation was weaker in protocol2. Ktrans and interstitial volume were variably correlated for both protocols. Even for a simple model such as the ETM, high parameter correlations were observed which can be lowered by optimising data acquisition and compared with more complex kinetic models.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Manchester Pharmacy School
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Improving the Performance of Retinal Pre-screening Algorithms by Analysing Failure Modes Abstract – Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a progressive eye disease, causing abnormalities in the retina. It may cause blindness if not diagnosed and treated promptly. The first sign of diabetic retinopathy is usually the presence of microaneurysms in retinal images. However, the cost of manual examination is high, particularly for developing countries. A possible solution is an automated pre-screening system which can distinguish between diseased and healthy retinal images. Such automated clinical grading is an interesting possibility and has been the subject of much research. However the reliable detection of microaneurysms remains one of the most challenging tasks in medical image processing. The main problem is to maintain high sensitivity whilst keeping the false positive rate suitably low. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of the failure modes of current automatic microaneurysm detection algorithms. A method for improving algorithm performance is proposed and analysed.
Non-psychotropic medication and Risk of Suicide and Attempted Suicide: a Systematic review Many physical illnesses increase an individual’s suicide risk but evidence regarding the involvement of non-psychotropic medications to this risk is conflicting. This systematic review aimed to establish which non-psychotropic medications have been assessed and what associations have been reported, in observational studies of suicide and attempted suicide. Four databases were searched (1990- June 2014) for articles with ‘suicide’ or ‘suicidal’ in titles or abstracts, with combinations of medication-related terms. Of 11,792 retrieved articles, nineteen were eligible. Five studies considered cardiovascular medication and antiepileptics, two considered leukotriene receptor antagonists, isotretinoin and corticosteroids; one assessed antibiotics and another, varenicline. Marked heterogeneity in study design, outcome and exposure classification, comparator groups and control for confounding factors; particularly comorbid mental and physical illness, warranted caution in comparison. No increased risk was associated with cardiovascular medications, but whether other non-psychotropic medications are associated with increased risk of suicide or attempted suicide remains largely unknown.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[50]
[139] ANDREW HAYWARD
[140] ALISON ROSCOE
[141] JOSEPH FIRTH
andrew.hayward@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
alison.roscoe@manchester.ac.uk
joefirth@gmail.com
Manchester Pharmacy School
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
An epidemiological study of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia who commit homicide The association between major mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia, and violence is well documented. Previous studies examining the relationship between schizophrenia and violence have highlighted the need for a more in-depth focus on the clinical care of the patient.
Exercise as a treatment for first-episode psychosis: a feasibility study Objective: Exercise can improve physical and mental health in schizophrenia. However, the effects in early psychosis have not been explored. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of an exercise intervention for early psychosis, and to determine if it was associated with changes in physical health, mental health or neurocognitive functioning.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Enhancement of selective attention in low attentive rats by EVP-6124, an α7 nicotinic receptor partial agonist 40 female Lister-hooded rats were trained in a task of attention and impulsivity, the 5 choice continuous performance task, to a stable baseline. Animals were then divided into high and low attentive groups by upper/lower quartile of accuracy and sensitivity index (SI). EVP-6124 (partial α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist) or vehicle was given 30 min prior to testing in a within subjects design. For LA animals EVP-6124 significantly improved accuracy (sustained attention) at 1.25 s SD at all 3 doses (p<0.05-p<0.001) and at 2 s SD at 0.3 mg/kg (p<0.001), 0.3 mg/kg increased SI (vigilance) at 0.75 and 1.25 s SD, (p<0.05). 1mg/kg significantly reduced pFA (response disinhibition) at 0.75 s SD (p<0.05).
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Very little epidemiological evidence exists for homicide as an outcome in patients with schizophrenia, as it is such a rare event. The aim of the study is to examine the socio-demographic , criminological and clinical characteristics and clinical care of patients with schizophrenia who commit homicide compared with control patients with schizophrenia who do not commit homicide.
In HA animals 1 mg/kg significantly reduced SI at 0.75 and 1.25 s SD. This is the first study to show EVP-6124 improves sustained attention, vigilance and response inhibition in LA animals.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Methods: Thirty-one participants with first-episode psychosis were recruited into a single-arm trial of 10-weeks individualised exercise training. The intervention aimed to achieve ≥90 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity each week, using exercise activities which were tailored to individual preferences and needs. Results: Rates of consent and retention were 94% and 81%, respectively. Participants achieved an average of 107 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week. Pre-post testing showed significant improvement in positive and negative symptoms, psychosocial functioning, cognitive performance and waist circumference. Increases in cardiovascular fitness and processing speed were positively associated with the amounts of exercise achieved by participants. Conclusions: Individualised exercise training could provide a feasible treatment option for improving symptoms, physical health and neurocognitive functioning in first-episode psychosis.
[51] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[142] EMILY EISNER
[143] I-JUNG LU
[144] RITSE ERUMI
emily.eisner@manchester.ac.uk
i-jung.lu@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ritse.erumi@manchester.ac.uk
School of Psychological Sciences
School of Environment, Education and Development
Institute for Development Policy and Management
‘Help Is Just A Click Away!’ - Social Network Sites (SNSs) Based Parents’ Support in Taiwan Social network sites (SNSs) have been suggested as important tools that help provide better support for parents without restrictions of location and time.
Inclusive Innovation, Technology and Development Every day, our lives are laden with opportunities to make choices. In many cases, the decisions we make come down to the hopes, aspirations and value systems that drive our lives.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
‘Basic symptoms’ as putative early indicators of psychosis relapse Background: Early signs interventions show promise but could be further developed. A recent review indicated moderate predictive validity of conventional early signs. This could be improved by the addition of other hypothesised predictors such as ‘basic symptoms’. Methods: A convenience sample (n=23) of service users with psychosis varying in gender, age, duration of mental health problems, and time since last relapse answered: i) open questions about their experiences prior to a recent relapse; ii) questions specifically about basic symptoms. Interview data was analysed using directed content analysis. Results: 78% of participants reported at least one basic symptom that started or increased before a recent relapse. Participants were more likely to report basic symptoms when asked specific questions about these than when asked open questions about their pre-relapse experiences. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that basic symptoms may be usefully added to conventional early signs to improve relapse prediction.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities
This study will examine the use of social network sites (SNSs) for receiving and providing support among parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) in Taiwan. It will explore the topic through a two-phased research design using qualitative methods, including three web-based observation and 27 interviews. It will investigate different types of SNS-based support for parents of children with SEN; it also sets out to identify the ways in which parents interact in providing and receiving support through SNSs. This research will provide an important opportunity to deepen the understanding of parents’ support within SNSs within the current gap of the literature in this area.
In a world that is increasingly technologically fluid, we find ourselves constantly faced with various choices about what information and communication technologies (ICTs) we should adopt (or ignore). This has implications for how we approach ICT-enabled development initiatives which generally seek to employ technology in support of broader development goals. If, as Amartya Sen* would say, the goal of “development is freedom” to achieve the life we have reason to value, the point of development should be the expansion of choice as the outcome. My research seeks to unpack this idea through the lens of the role inclusive innovation plays in the uptake of ICTs by small and medium enterprises run by women in developing economies.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[52]
[145] NADEEN AL-JANABI
[146] SALMA KASSEM
[147] THAER AL-JADIR
nadeen.al-janabi@manchester.ac.uk
salma.kassem@manchester.ac.uk
thaermunem@gmail.com
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Chemistry
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Engineering novel metallic-organicframeworks (MOFs) for carbon capture from flue gas Flue gas (CO2 level of about 5~15vol%) is considered one of the main sources of CO2 emission contributing to the global warming. Metal-OrganicFrameworks (MOFs) exhibit excellent tunability for tailoring their pore structures, hence the outstanding performance for gas adsorption (in terms of capacity and selectivity) showing the great potential for developing novel adsorption processes for selective CO2 capture from flue gases. This work demonstrates optimisation of the hydrothermal synthesis of a model MOF, HKUST-1, leading to high quantitative yield of 89.4% at 100ºC during 24h. Prepared HKUST-1 was fully characterised and single-component adsorption experiments were conducted to evaluate HKUST-1’s performance under relevant flue gas conditions (45–60ºC, 0–1barg). The preference of adsorbed-gas onto HKUST-1 is water vapour (ca. 21.7mmol g−1) >CO2 (ca. 1.83mmol g−1) >N2 (ca. 0.24mmol g−1). Currently, the effort is being made to manipulate the material’s stability, adsorption capacity and selectivity to CO2 by metal node engineering.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Transport of a Molecular Cargo using a Small Molecule Robotic Arm The idea of using molecules to manipulate other molecules in a robotic fashion has fascinated scientists for decades. While having some precedence in biology, it still remains challenging to synthetic chemists. Here we describe the operation of a small-molecule robotic arm capable of pick- up, transport and release of a molecular cargo between two distinct sites on a molecular platform. The pickup/release operations are controlled by selectively making/breaking covalent bonds while the transport is achieved by inducing conformational changes within an embedded rotary switch that steers the robotic arm. Transport can be achieved in both (chosen) directions by either a three distinct stage operation or in “one-pot” with 65-85% efficiency. A system, resembling the action of some natural enzymes, capable of making complex molecules, where the platform sites are replaced by catalyst units, and the cargo is the substrate for these catalysts is currently under development.
[53] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Molecular simulation adsorption of hydrogen sulphide from natural gas using FPYEu MOF Natural gas consists mainly of methane and small amounts of other hydrocarbons. Additionally, it contains undesirable impurities, such as water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and nitrogen. Adsorption is a commonly used operation to remove acid gases, such as hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide, and the development of novel adsorbents with larger capacity and selectivity is an active area of research. This project focuses on using molecular simulation to understand the adsorption of hydrogen sulphide in FPYEu which has shown potential for hydrogen sulphide adsorption. Simulations are carried out using Towhee software developed at Sandia National Labs that has the capability of performing Monte Carlo simulations in a variety of ensembles.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[148] GINA KUIPPERS
[149] CHUNG CHIA
[150] VINEET DALAL
gina.kuippers@manchester.ac.uk
chunglim.chia@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
vineetdalal.91@gmail.com
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
The biodegradation of isosaccharinic acid and its degradation products relevant in nuclear waste disposal It is UK Government policy to dispose of intermediate-level (ILW) radioactive wastes through geological disposal into an engineered deep underground geological disposal facility (GDF).
Adsorption for Gas Separation: An Energy Efficient Alternative Water Adsorption Metallic Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials that consist of metal or metal oxide units connected by organic linkers.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Cellulose is a major constituent of these wastes that is unstable under hyperakaline conditions and will be degraded chemically, forming water-soluble isosaccharinic acid (ISA) after closure of the GDF. As ISA is known to form stable, soluble complexes with a range of radionuclides, thereby increasing the likelihood of transportation from a GDF, the impact of microbial metabolism on this organic substrate was investigated. In this study we focused on neutral pH conditions representative of the geosphere surrounding a GDF and report the fate of ISA in microcosms under a range of biogeochemical conditions. Data are presented confirming the metabolism of ISA. The microbial communities associated with these processes were characterized using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Mineralogical products were identified using XRD, Mossbauer, TEM and microscopic techniques.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
Their versatile and stable natures make them applicable to different industries including the energy sector. With fracking technology becoming more prevalent, an energy efficient alternative of purifying natural gas using MOFs can be a game changer.
Nano-particles: Decoders of the conundrum of idiopathic diseases There are plenty of idiopathic diseases that ail us and all we can do is manage their symptoms as we remain in the dark regarding their pathology. Nano-particles have huge potential and I believe that they can play a major role in this field as well. Using Nanoparticles to understand the pathology of idiopathic diseases could help us attack the source of the problem and solve it rather than just struggle to cope up with the after effects. This is just an idea which, if executed, could help the scientific community to open up new vistas of research as well.
MOFs' adsorption behaviour can be modified by tuning the nature of the metal and the organic linker, nevertheless the diversity of metal centres and organic linkers also results in adsorption isotherms with previously unseen features. In this work, we aim to explore the effect of novel water adsorption isotherm shapes observed in MOFs on a fixed bed column dynamics, and use molecular simulations to understand how to design better adsorbents for drying of process gas streams.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[54]
[151] MENGJIAN zHU
[152] DEEPANSHU SRIVASTAVA
mjzhu.manchester@gmail.com
deepanshu.srivastava@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Physics and Astronomy
School of Materials
Proximity superconductivity in ballistic graphene Graphene-based Josephson junctions have attracted significant interest as a novel system to study the proximity effect due to graphene’s unique electronic spectrum and the possibility to tune junction properties by gate voltage.
High Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of (1-x)SrTiO3 (x)La1/3NbO3 ceramic solid solution Ceramics based on SrTiO3 (STO) are of growing interest as thermoelectric materials because of their high temperature stability and non-toxicity. STO is stable wide band gap semiconductor with a perovskite cubic structure. Doped STO have demonstrated maximum.
Here we describe ballistic graphene junctions with the mean free path of several micrometers. Such devices exhibit pronounced Fabry-Pérot oscillations not only in the normal-state resistance but also in the critical current. The critical current shows the conventional Fraunhofer pattern under low magnetic field.
ZT of 0.35 at 1000K. Nanostructuring has limited effect on ZT through grain boundary scattering. Microstructure modification, control of processing conditions can effectively increase the thermoelectric (TE) properties.
[153] JEANETTE TORRESCANO ALVAREz jeanette.torrescanoalvarez @postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences School of Materials
Formation of anodic films on aluminium and AA 2024 T3 alloy under hard anodizing conditions The aim of the study is to understand the difference between the conventional and hard anodizing behaviours of aluminium alloys, including effects of the substrate composition and the anodizing conditions. In the present work, the influence of the electrolyte composition on the voltage response and the film morphology is investigated for aluminium and AA 2024 T3 alloy anodized in sulphuric acid at low temperature.
However, some superconducting proximity survives even in fields as high as 1 T, randomly appearing and disappearing as a function of field and carrier concentration. We attribute the high-field proximity to Andreev bound states near graphene edges wher as superconductivity in the bulk is completely suppressed by cyclotron motion. Our work shows a new proximity regime in which the Josephson effect can be controlled by quantum confinement and cyclotron motion.
[55] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[154] SYAzWANI MOHD zAKI
[155] CARMEL EDWARDS
[156] BEN ALLSOP
syazwani.mohdzaki@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
carmel.edwards@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ben.allsop@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Materials
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
Studies on Versatility of Nanogel Graphene Oxide and their physical and mechanical properties The design and preparation of hydrogels have been attracted a great deal of interest in many researcher.
Alzheimer's 3D Cell Model My research is developing a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)derived neuron model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease that uses 3D cell culturing to better mimic that brain.
The utility of colloidal systems consisting of soft matter with nano size range is becoming an important field of research because of their potential applications in various application. Therefore, an understanding of this behaviour and complex nano-size system is very important.
I will use this model to achieve better disease characterisation and drug testing.
Investigating the anti-amyloid properties of Rutin in Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease in the world. It is initiated and propagated by oligomeric species of the amyloidogenic protein – Amyloid-β (Aβ).
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Nanogel was synthesised by starvedfeed emulsion polymerization. The monomer used in the system are MMA, MAA and the crosslinker agent,EGDMA. Particle size that was obtained using these composition is around 20 nm. We aim for small particle size than previously made. Graphene Oxide (GO) was prepared by modified hummers method. GO was crosslinked with Poly(MMA-MAA-EDGMA) nanogels. Rheology measurement shows good improvement for composite Nanogel-Graphene Oxide. Modulus value of DX-NG is 9197 Pa while the value of DX-NG-GO is 18160. Besides, DX-NG and DX-NG-GO are transparent which may have effect on optical properties.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Oligomers of Aβ bind receptors at the cell surface, initiating signalling cascades, causing the over activity of kinases and subsequent phosphorylation and aggregation of the microtubule protein tau. Together these events lead to cell death and the symptoms seen in Alzheimer’s disease. Rutin, a flavonoid commonly found in food stuffs such as apple peel, interacts with Aβ and has been shown to be protective in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. Here we investigate the implications of this interaction for Aβ oligomer formation and function.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[56]
[157] WILLIAM WATREMEz
[158] IBRAHIM DJOUKHADAR
[159] ANDREW ROBINSON
william.watremez@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ibrahim.djoukhadar@manchester.ac.uk
andrew.c.robinson@manchester.ac.uk
Manchester Pharmacy School
Institute of Population Health
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
Establishment of a rat model of relevance to sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease research: birth and development of a collaborative project This collaborative project is based on the current hypothesis which implicates soluble amyloid-β oligomers(Aβo) as the root cause of Alzheimer Disease(AD) pathologies, notably on synaptic functions and memory.
Modifying Temozolomide Delivery in Brain Tumours Introduction: Temozolomide (TMZ) is the central chemotherapy agent used in the treatment of aggressive brain tumours. However, clinical outcomes remain poor despite aggressive treatment approaches. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP) are the main efflux transporters implicated in the development of chemoresistance. The relationship of TMZ with P-gp and BCRP has not been evaluated previously.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Additionally, Aβo have been shown to induce neuroinflammation through activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the subsequent processing of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. It has been demonstrated that a specific subset of non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) can inhibit this neuroinflammatory phenomenon. We investigated cognitive and synaptic deficits in rats following intracerebroventricular(ICV) administration of soluble Aβo and the preventive effect of a chronic treatment with the NSAID Mefenamic acid. We showed that Aβo can induce a lasting cognitive deficit that can be prevented by administration of Mefenamic acid. Taken together the results suggest that acute ICV administration of Aβo may be a useful model to study the early mechanisms involved in AD and may provide us with a platform for testing novel therapeutic approaches.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Methods: We evaluated the effects of P-gp and BCRP inhibition on the transport of TMZ in an in-vitro bloodbrain barrier model and demonstrated this in mice using Positron Emission Tomography. Therapeutic effects of P-gp and BCRP inhibition on a glioma model in mice were also examined. Results: TMZ appears to be a weak substrate for P-gp and BCRP. Dual inhibition of P-gp and BCRP can potentiate the therapeutic effects of TMZ treatment. Conclusion: P-gp and BCRP inhibition maybe a suitable strategy for modifying TMZ delivery in brain tumours, this warrants further evaluation.
[57] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Psychological predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia in a longitudinally assessed cohort of elderly people Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and accounts for around 500,000 cases in the UK. Using cognitive test scores and neuropathological findings from the Manchester and Newcastle Longitudinal Studies of Cognitive Ageing cohort, the study aims to define boundaries between pathological findings that are clinically relevant and those that are not. Over a 20 year period, 6542 cohort members underwent batches of testing designed to assess several aspects of cognition, including processing speed. So far, 73 have donated their brain. These were grouped according to the extent of AD pathology present at death. Individuals who eventually fully developed AD scored worse on processing speed at all testing periods than those with less severe pathology who remained healthy. Indeed, such differences were even present at a point 20 years before death. Utilisation of simple tests like these could identify individuals for early interventions and treatments for AD.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[160] ADRIAN HIRE
[161] JULIE BROOKS
[162] SHAIHANA ALMATRROUK
adrian.hire@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
julie.brooks@manchester.ac.uk
Shaihana.Almatrrouk@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Manchester Pharmacy School Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): an epidemiological study using UK primary care data Background: Research has suggested that an individual’s chance of being diagnosed with ADHD may be influenced by their socioeconomic status. Objectives: To assess the distribution of ADHD within the UK and examine if there was an association between ADHD incidence and socioeconomic deprivation. Methods: The study used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Patients diagnosed with ADHD between 1/1/2004 and 31/12/13 were stratified according to the region in which their general practice was based. Each practice has an Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) score based on the locality in which it is sited; this relative measure of deprivation provided a surrogate measure of patients’ deprivation status. Results: Significant differences in ADHD incidence were observed between UK regions. In England there was an inverse association between socioeconomic deprivation and ADHD diagnosis. Conclusions: ADHD diagnostic rates vary across UK regions. In England, deprivation may be a barrier to ADHD diagnosis.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Cancer Sciences
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Can ATR-FTIR of Blood Serum Discriminate Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia? Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common cancer in males in the UK, with 1 in 8 men expected to be diagnosised with the disease at some point in there life. Early detection of malignancy is essential for effective curative therapies. Spectral bands observed from vibrations of biological components absorbing infrared radiation create a unique fingerprint of the biochemistry inexistence in a blood serum sample. The target of this research was to discriminate between CaP and BPH patients by analysing blood serum using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. It was found by PCA, PCA-LDA and Random Forest that BPH can be discriminated from CaP.
Targeting Gap Junction Intercellular Communication as a Potential Therapy for HCV Related Carcinogenesis Worldwide, at least 170 million people are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCV can perturb GJIC between virus-infected host cells and their neighbors. Since this effect has been linked carcinogenesis, chemical modification of gap junction communication (GJIC) may provide a means of suppressing malignant transformation. We found that Y27632 significantly reduced colony formation in cultures of immortalized human hepatocytes stably transfected with the HCV Core and NS4B genes. We postulated that transient blockade of specific kinases can induce a persistent inhibition of non-contact inhibited transformed colony formation and can also remove pre-formed colonies. These effects could potentially be mediated by the observed increase in (GJIC) between transformed and non-transformed cells. Selection of kinase inhibitors with this property may thus provide a novel strategy for viral associated HCC chemoprevention.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[58]
10
10 KATHERINE CROUCH
“They say you never forget your first…”
11
12
12 MARTIN LARSSON The Last Wild Fish
11 TAHMINA zEBIN
Multidisciplinary Research: Eyes of an outsider-Infinite curiosity to the Unknown
[59] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[163] ELLENA BADRICK
[164] MASHAEL ALFAIFI
[165] ALED WILLIAMS
ellena.badrick@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Mashael.Alfaifi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
aled.williams@manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Cancer Sciences
Institute of Cancer Sciences
Manchester Pharmacy School
The ‘Obesity Paradox’ and Mortality in Adults with Incident Type 2 Diabetes: explained by collider biases Background: Among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D), being overweight or obese near the time of diagnosis is associated with reduced risk of mortality compared with normal-weight patients - the ‘obesity paradox’. We tested the collider bias hypothesis that conditioning on the disease state, T2D, explains the obesity paradox.
Factors affect the Radiobiology of HPV relatad disease Purpose: To establish whether the previously published interaction between E6 and p73 is important in the response of mutant p53 expressing cervical carcinoma cells to ionising radiation.
Developing a new generation of peptidyl-oligonucleotide conjugates with desired biocatalytic properties against biologically relevant RNA Sequence-specific RNA cleavage is an attractive approach for targeting specific messenger RNA sequences encoding pathogenic proteins or micro-RNAs (e.g. miR-21) up-regulated in a number of cancer pathologies (Si and Zhu, 2006).
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Methods. We related BMI at diagnosis and mortality using flexible parametric survival analyses with age as the timescale, stratified by smoking, in 10761 patients with T2D. Results: A U-shaped association was observed across BMI categories for all-cause mortality. This was retained in ever-smokers; in never smokers an increased risk of mortality was only seen in Obese II-III groups. The U-shaped relation was noted in younger but not older 10-year age bands. Conclusions: In people with T2D, being normal weight or obese II/III is associated with higher mortality; these observations were explained by associations of age and smoking with mortality.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Material and Methods: Human cervical carcinoma C33A cells which had been previously transfected with low-risk (LR) HPV6 E6 and high-risk (HR) HPV16 E6 were cultured, irradiated with 5Gy and harvested at various time points(0, 6, 9, 12, 24 and 48) hours post radiation. Cell cycle analysis was carried out by flow cytometry of propidium iodide stained cells and PCR was used to compare levels of BCL-2 LIKE 11 apoptosis facilitator BIM . expression. Results: HR C33AE6 cells showed a higher background level of polyploid cells in the pre-irradiation population when compared with C33A and LR C33AE6 cells. The proportion of polyploid cells was higher in HR C33AE6 cells at all post-irradiation time points compared to C33AE6 6 cells. There were also clear differences in the post-radiation kinetics of BIM expression between the three cell lines studied. HR C33E6 cells showed a modest induction at 9 h which was reduced at 12 h. and yet, curiously, was induced at 24 h. Conclusion: These data support the conclusion that the function of p73 is altered by the expression of HR E6 against a background of cells expressing mutant p53. This is consistent with the interaction between HR E6 and p73 selectively compromising the transactivation function of the latter. This, in turn, could explain why HR E6 expressing cells escape radiation induced G2 arrest and undergo endoreduplication.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Such therapeutic interventions would be particularly beneficial to disease states that are not amenable to small-molecule drugs due to the lack of suitable binding sites or antibody inhibition due to their intracellular location. We developed here peptidyl-oligonucleotide conjugates (POCs) consisting of a covalently-linked, cationic-peptide and antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) (Figure 1a). These constructs act as artificial ribonucleases (aRNase) against RNA molecules. Specific peptide sequences are able to induce RNA hydrolysis under physiological conditions, whereas oligodeoxynucleotide components are able to enhance, and modulate their catalytic activity towards an RNA target. Previously designed POCs have hydrolysed RNA in a non-sequence specific manner, analogous to natural RNase T1 (Mironova and Pyshnyi, 2007). However, we have discovered a novel POC structure which is able to target (with high-affinity) a specific RNA sequence within tRNAPhe and effectively cleave it at a predetermined location (94% total RNA cleavage-Figure 1b). Additionally, through novel incorporation of a cationic peptide with multiple ASO's we have been able to cleave the tRNAPhe phosphodiester backbone within reinforced RNA bulges. In this case the POC acts like a real RNase turning over multiple RNA substrates, similar to those designed by Niittymäki and Lonnberg (2004), however without the need for exogenous metal ions. Selective targeting of specific mRNA sequences encoding disease-relevant proteins or different micro-RNAs associated with diverse types of cancer may potentially expand the therapeutic window for drug discovery and allow new selective therapies to be developed.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[60]
[166] ALI JABRAN
[167] DANIELLE ROBINSON
[168] NICOLA BEADLE
ali.jabran@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
danielle.robinson-3@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
nicola.beadle@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Institute of Inflammation and Repair
Many varied methods are used to examine the association between oral glucocorticoid exposure and risk of fracture in patients with rheumatoid arthritis Background: Glucocorticoids are used to reduce inflammation and pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but have been associated with an increased fracture risk.
A novel ex vivo model of compressive immature rib fractures at pathophysiological rates of loading Compressive rib fractures are considered to be indicative of non-accidental injury (NAI) in infants. Since the diagnosis of NAI is often disputed, there is a need to model such injuries in order to characterise the forces required to produce non-accidental rib fractures.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Biomechanical Assessment of Proximal Humerus Plates using an Integrated Experimental and Computational Framework Fractures of proximal humerus are the third most common fractures of the human body. Majority of patients belong to the over-65 osteoporotic population. With ageing population and rising prevalence of osteoporosis, incidence of these fractures is projected to triple over the next 30 years. Proximal humerus plates (PHPs) are a very common operative treatment modality in orthopaedic surgery. This project aims to develop novel PHPs that have enhanced biomechanical and clinical performance. First, in vitro tests are conducted to determine the biomechanical performance of leading PHPs that are currently used by surgeons. Three dimensional (3D) laser scanning is being used as a new method of performing 3D deformation analysis of the PHP-humerus construct during the course of loading. Finite element (FE) model of the PHP-humerus construct is developed to simulate these in vitro tests. It will be used to test novel PHP designs and find optimum design parameters.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Objective: Describe which methods have been used to define how fractures are attributed to glucocorticoid exposure and estimate the impact these methods have on the results using a systematic literature review. Results: Thirty eight studies used five different definitions of glucocorticoid exposure, none of which covered the effects of dose, duration and timing. Two definitions covered timing, two definitions covered dose and one covered duration. A multi-level model was sometimes used, covering dose and duration. The majority of results demonstrated an increased or equivocal risk of fracture with odds ratios, hazard ratios and relative risks between 0.16 and 8.16. Conclusion: Many studies have investigated the effect of glucocorticoids on fracture risk in rheumatoid arthritis with varied results. No method covers the effects of dose, duration and timing.
[61] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Here, we aimed to develop a more physiologically representative loading system for inducing compressive fractures in ribs and assess the influence of loading rate and rib geometry on mechanical performance. Porcine ribs were subjected to axial compressive load (rates 1, 30, 60 or 90 mm/s). This loading regime typically produced incomplete fractures around the midpoint of the ribs, with 87% failing in this manner; higher loads and less deformation were required for ribs to completely fracture. Loading rate did not significantly affect any key mechanical parameters of the ribs. These results will enable improved characterisation of the loading pattern involved in non-accidental rib fractures.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[169] JESSIE THOMSON
[170] DAVID SUDALL
[171] JAMES BUCKLEY
jessie.thomson@postgrad.man.ac.uk
david.sudall@manchester.ac.uk
james.buckley-2@manchester.ac.uk
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Energy Yield from Co-located Offshore Wind and Tidal Stream Farms Co-location of offshore wind and tidal stream turbines is proposed as a method for reducing cost of electricity from either technology individually. Energy yield for a case-study site in the Pentland Firth is presented.
The Manufacture and Characterisation of Composite Nuclear Fuels for Improved In-Reactor Performance Uranium dioxide (UO2) is the main form of fuel used in commercial nuclear reactors worldwide. UO2 has an extremely poor thermal conductivity, this results in a high operating temperature and limits the safe operating lifetime of the fuel.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Institute of Population Health Automated shape and texture analysis for detection of Osteoarthritis from radiographs of the knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered to be one of the leading causes of disability, however clinical detection relies heavily on subjective experience to condense the continuous features into discrete grades. We present a fully automated method to standardise the measurement of OA features in the knee used to diagnose disease grade. Our approach combines features derived from both bone shape (obtained from an automated bone segmentation system) and image texture in the tibia. A simple weighted sum of the outputs of two Random Forest classifiers (one trained on shape features, the other on texture features) is sufficient to improve performance over either method on its own.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Tidal turbines are modelled using a self-similar wake superposition method, with resource data from the UK Met Office’s FOAM. Wind turbines are modelled using a standard eddy viscosity wake model and resource data from the Met Office Unified Model. An addition of 12MW wind capacity to a 20MW tidal array results in twice the annual energy yield, compared to operating the tidal turbines alone. Mean loads acting on a combined support structure are also modelled. Net horizontal force is 28% greater for the tidal turbines than the wind turbines. However, due to the distance between the turbine axis and base, the base moment for the combined support structure is found to be driven by wind loading.
This project investigates improving the thermal properties of a UO2 based fuel via the inclusion of a secondary inert material. Through preliminary research two potential secondary materials have been identified; silicon carbide and molybdenum. An initial attempt at manufacturing a fuel form with UO2 and silicon carbide has been performed. Following the manufacture of the new composite, micro-structural characterisation has been completed and analysis carried out to help direct further investigation. The project is the first to be carried out under the Nuclear Fuels Center of Excellence, a joint collaboration between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the University of Manchester’s Dalton Nuclear Institute.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[62]
[172] ANDREW WILLIAMSON
[173] THOMAS SANDERS
[174] AMNA JAMSHED
andrew.williamson-3@manchester.ac.uk
thomas.sanders-3@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
amna.jamshed@manchester.ac.uk
School of Physics and Astronomy
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
The Characterisation and Removal of Water Droplets in High Pressure Water Jetting Nuclear Decontamination The 20th century has seen the advent of nuclear generated power being introduced globally (Nuclear Energy Agency, 2006). A number of significant challenges are associated with the presence of radiation produced from energy generation.
Enhancing Manufacturing with Batch Anchor Devices Mechanical agitation in vessels is among the most commonly used method of mixing in the chemical process industry. To achieve desired process results, mixing is important to reduce inhomogeneity of single or several phases.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Towards Third Generation Solar Cells - The effects of Oxidation and Halide Passivation on the Shell Structure of Type II Colloidal quantum Dots Type II colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are nanoparticles with a 'core-shell' structure which can be used in many applications such as solar cells. However, significant surface degradation of QDs has been observed, which influences the bandgap structure within the QDs – a fundamental optoelectronic property that affects the efficiency of solar cells. We have investigated how oxidation affects the structure of type II quantum dots at the interface between the core and shell, and at the surface. Reducing the impact of oxidation on QDs is a significant milestone on the path towards creating a cheap-to-produce, efficient solar cell. One method is through halide passivation of the surface of the QDs, which acts to prevent oxidation from occurring, greatly increasing the stability of the QDs. In the case of CdTe QDs, this treatment results in near-unity quantum yields.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Once materials and facilities come to the end of their operational lifetime they must be decommissioned and disposed of in a responsible manner (Bayliss & Langley, 2003). This requires the use of a number of decontamination techniques relying upon mechanical and chemical processes to remove radionuclides from materials. This study focuses upon the effects of high pressure water jetting as a decontamination method and aims to investigate secondary contamination pathways and wastes produced by operations. During jetting decontamination the secondary waste within the chamber can be present as suspended water droplets. The produced droplets are the focus, with their interaction with the air treatment systems in place at the Sellafield site being of environmental concern.
[63] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Power draw is an important variable in process mixing industry as it definesthe energy requirement for the movement of fluid within a tank by mechanical agitation. The cost associated with power draw is substantial as it contributes to the overall operational cost of industrial plant. Typically a dimensionless mixing time is correlated against other key dimensionless values, to provide prediction of values when changing process conditions. Anchor agitators are commonly used for high viscosity materials to provide bulk flow. This paper will examine the anchor system for mixing in viscous complex fluids, and characterise the important process variable to provide predictive correlations allowing improved design of these systems.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[175] KAzUHIDE ODAKI
[176] RUTH WEBSTER
[177] LAUREN STOCKTON
kazuhide.odaki@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
ruth.webster@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
lauren.stockton@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Law
School of Psychological Sciences
School of Psychological Sciences
Incentive or Not? A Critical Reappraisal of the Law on Compensation to Employee Inventors A number of countries have statutory laws which require employers to pay extra compensation for inventions made in the course of employees’ contractual duty.
Age-related changes to human functional lateralisation: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis Neuroimaging evidence suggests that older adults tend to engage neural resources in both hemispheres during tasks which induce lateralised activity in younger adults.
Understanding and Helping Families: Parents experiencing psychosis In the UK, 1 in 100 individuals experience a psychotic illness and approximately ¼ have dependent children. Currently upto 50% lose custody of their child. Psychosis can lead to functional decline and lack of cognitive insight.
Faculty of Humanities
Although the main purpose of the legislation is to give employee inventors incentives to create inventions, it has not been carefully examined by jurists whether the offer of additional compensation actually motivates them into producing more inventions and/or patents. Consistent with a well-known theory in psychology, surveys have revealed that the vast majority of inventors are motivated by values intrinsic in making inventions rather than monetary rewards. In addition, given that inventions are usually created in companies through teamwork of staff from various disciplines, compensation to eligible inventors will adversely affect the motivation of the non-recipients, in particular, in collectivist societies outside the West. This paper proposes that compensation for inventions should not be made mandatory, since it is unlikely to boost the creation of inventions.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Examples include bilateral processing in older adults during typically left-lateralised language tasks and right-lateralised response inhibition. However, much of this evidence stems from studies employing low-level baseline tasks which are problematic when comparing older and younger adults. The current study aimed to identify common areas of age-related overactivation by conducting an ALE meta-analysis, a voxel based analyses for imaging data, of the neuroimaging literature involving high-level baseline conditions. Although the ALE results confirmed that older adults show greater bilateral activity across multiple cognitive domains, this was largely confined to left-lateralised tasks. Age differences in activity across right-lateralised tasks showed that seniors displayed additional activity within the right hemisphere. The results also revealed that using high-level baselines increases sensitivity to activation in specific regions of the prefrontal cortex.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
This can cause misinterpretations of daily experiences, causing faulty behavioural, emotional and cognitive responses. There are serious implications for those who experience psychosis and are parents, as parenting can become a more complicated, burdensome and demanding task. This can lead to destructive levels of child-blaming, confusion and guilt, which may restrict the emotional quality and availability of a parent. The study aims to understand parent’s experiences by investigating their expressed emotion and attributions. The theoretical underpinnings of these approaches will help identify behaviour change mechanisms. The implementation of a parenting programme using a multiple baseline case series, will allow functional, behavioural and parental changes to be assessed and visually analysed during intervention and follow-up.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[64]
[178] PABLO LOPEz-SILVA
[179] RACHEL ASHWORTH
[180] ADAM SIMS
pablo.lopez.silva@gmail.com
rachel.ashworth@manchester.ac.uk
adam.sims@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Social Sciences
School of Psychological Sciences
On the adaptiveness of delusions: Towards a contextual account Against a dominant trend in neuropsychiatric research, here I argue that delusions can play an important biologically adaptive role i.e. they can help to improve a subject' chances of survival under certain circumstances.
The Development of Children’s Book Reading Skills Research has shown that shared book reading (SBR) has beneficial effects on vocabulary development and school readiness. However there has been limited analysis of the SBR interactions. Consequently. this study addresses the following questions: - When do infants go from treating books like objects to using specific book reading actions e.g. turning the page? - Is infants’ level of participation affected by: - Book familiarity? - Joint attention?
Faculty of Humanities
The period that precedes the adoption of delusions is characterized by a fragmented affective and perceptual experience of the patients’ inner and outer world. Gradually, subjects lose their psychological and behavioural connection with the environment. In characterizing the phenomenon, deficit approaches neglect this context and miss the role that delusions play in reorganizing the patients’ experiential world: even if they emerge as the result of different deficits, the adoption of delusional beliefs would contribute to the preservation of behavioural and psychological interaction with the environment and therefore, they would play a biologically adaptive role.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
24 infants aged 10 months and their mothers are being recorded for 18 months. To date, 6 sessions have been coded for: - Actions type (object vs book related): - Points - Vocalisations - Joint attentional episodes. Statistical analysis is not yet possible as the study is still ongoing. However, preliminary analysis suggests (1) as SBR actions increase, object-like actions decrease, (2) joint attention facilitates participation in SBR and (3) there is more participation with unfamiliar books than with familiar ones. This goes against previous literature, requiring further investigation.
[65] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences School of Chemistry
An Investigation of the effect of clay composition with challenges from heat and irradiation on the safety function performance of clay in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) Clay forms an integral part of proposed Geological Disposal Facilities for highlevel radioactive waste worldwide. The clay barrier material selected must have the necessary physical and chemical properties to protect the waste canister and contain radionuclides, in spite of challenges from heat and irradiation. To study the effect of these coupled processes on clay structure and function, a low Fe montmorillonite and a high Fe nontronite were heated to temperatures of 90, 160, 500 and 1000 °C and subsequently gamma-irradiated. Distortions of the interlayer spacing and mineralogical changes within the clays were determined by X-ray diffraction, with dehydration and dehydroxylation determined by infrared spectroscopy. Crack formation was studied using X-ray tomography and radiation-induced defects were determined by electron paramagnetic resonance. Through a mechanistic understanding of these processes a clearer picture of the engineered clay barrier performance in the safety case for a deep geological disposal facility can be outlined.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[181] EMMA SEARLE
[182] TATIANA GREBENNIKOVA
[183] SCOTT MIDSON
emma.searle@manchester.ac.uk
tatiana.grebennikova@manchester.ac.uk
scott.midson@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Manchester Pharmacy School Adjuvant Treatment With The Novel Akt Inhibitor AzD5363 Following Radiotherapy Improves Tumour Control in Head and Neck Cancer Tumour Bearing Mice Radiotherapy (XRT) is an important and effective cancer treatment. Improvements in efficacy can potentially benefit large numbers of patients. Combining XRT with molecularly targeted anti-cancer drugs has improved outcome in specific patient groups. As such, we determined whether AZD5363, a novel inhibitor of the cancer survival pathway Akt, could improve tumour control in head and neck (H&N) cancer following XRT. AZD5363 given as an adjuvant therapy following XRT in mice bearing human H&N cancer cell xenografts inhibited tumour re-growth and increased survival. Following XRT, treatment with AZD5363 was associated with reduced tumour vascularity thereby explaining the inability of the tumour to grow and recover. Further investigation found that AZD5363 significantly reduced tumour VEGF, a cytokine known to be produced in response to XRT which can protect tumour vasculature against radiation damage. Thus, Akt inhibition can enhance the efficacy of XRT in human H&N cancers by modulating VEGF-mediated vascular protection.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Humanities
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Molten salt technologies for the treatment of contaminated graphite Contaminated graphite is one of the most important and remaining unresolved waste problems for the nuclear industry in the UK. The core question of this project is if high temperature molten salt technology, which is considered as a partitioning process of the actinides from spent nuclear fuel, can be adapted to provide a safe, reliable, economic and sustainable process to decontaminate graphite and reduce the waste inventory. This requires a fundamental understanding of the electrolytic and chemical behaviour of graphite in the presence of radionuclides in the molten salt environment, such as the oxidation capability of molten salts and the characterization of products obtained from contaminated graphite.
How (Post)human are you? This poster aims to break down parts of my research in an accessible way to a non-specialist audience, and serves as a starting point (rather than a comprehensive or analytical-critical resource) to allow people to research and identify further areas of interest within the broader field of posthumanism. It is designed more specifically with widening participation and public engagement activities in mind, and to that end is intended to be entertaining and engaging.
Characterisation methods will include vibrational and electronic absorption spectroscopy, SEM, XRD and off-gas analysis to probe the quenched melt and provide in situ analysis. Afterwards experiments investigating the electrorefinement of the resultant mixtures are conducted.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[66]
[184] OSCAR SEIP
[185] JUNIC KIM
[186] ELEANOR TRIMBLE
oscar.seip@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
junic.kim@postgrad.mbs.ac.uk
eleanor.trimble-4@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Manchester Business School
Faculty of Humanities
Giulio Camillo's Theatro della sapientia: Theatres of Knowledge in the Early Modern cultural and intellectual traditions Our soul is a mirror, the mind is a window and the world is a stage. Since ancient times, metaphors have been used to further knowledge of ourselves and of the world. The most prominent metaphor during the Early Modern Period was the theatre; its most famous example Giulio Camillo’s ‘Theatre of Knowledge’. In 1530, Camillo travelled to France where he managed to gain the support of Francis I for his encyclopaedic project. The theatre eventually transformed the way in which art and knowledge were collected and represented, fuelled educational reform and theological debates and by extension turned the entire world into a theatre. But the manuscript that Camillo carried under his arm in 1530, when he travelled to France - and is uniquely held in Manchester - remains understudied and unedited, which creates an unique opportunity for research.
Faculty of Humanities
The Platform Business Model and Strategy Platform business strategy that is explained originally by the theory of two-sided markets (Rochet and Tirole, 2003), has newly taken centre stage as the newest strategy in order to grow sustainably and innovate consistently. This study aims to illustrate how various value chain changes in platforms have distinct implications for different types of platform business models and to provide the dynamic platform strategy guidance for platform companies: how to build the platform business successfully and achieve sustainable growth.
[67] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences School of Materials
Fusion of EEG & Eye-Tracking Data: An Investigation into Consumer Behaviour The aim of this research project is to improve the prediction of consumer behaviour on a fashion product by integrating the consumer’s affective and cognitive responses during decision-making. Fusing EEG and eye-tracking data together integrates the consumer’s affective (emotional) and cognitive responses, giving a comprehensive understanding of the consumers decision-making process. Consumers are also often unable to articulately recall their thoughts and feelings accurately as they are affected by subconscious brain processes when they make decisions. However by using biometric measurements to obtain objective quantitative data of these responses this research will not be limited by these factors in the same way that much previous consumer decision-making research has been.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[187] CHARLOTTE SHI
[188] NATALIA MOREIRA
[189] SzU-YAO CHIEN
charlotte.shi@manchester.ac.uk
natalia.moreira@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
szu-yao.chien@postgrad.mbs.ac.uk
School of Materials
School of Materials
Managing the Temporality of Brand Experience: The Implications of Pop up Retailing The pop-up shop is essentially a very simple concept: a temporary, often highly experiential retail setting/territory designed to foster a direct customerbrand interaction for a limited period.
Product development: involving consumers, their demands and expectations in the development of sustainable fashion products Previous research on the use of green textiles has shown that suppliers and producers are increasingly more interested in developing and providing eco-friendly products, however, the final consumers are not ready for this feature.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
It has, consequently, been considered as a type of marketing communication activity, and also in interactive and relational terms whereby customer experience is co-created through participation and involvement within a branded environment. This existing research arguably neglects issues relating the impacts of pop ups’ inherent temporality on the management of brand experience. In temporal terms these managerial activities can be conceptualized in terms of four different stages: (1) the “strategic objective” stage (2) the “pre-pop up experience” stage (3) the “pop-up experience” itself (4) the “post-pop up experience” stage.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Humanities
Manchester Business School
Grounded on the development of ‘environmentally conscious consumers’, this research will attempt to evaluate the tension between supplier and producer motivations and consumer expectations within the fashion industry, ensuring consumer involvement in the development of new fashion products, improving consumer understanding the industry’s environmental and social footprint and, creating consumer awareness of how their individual participation can be essential to improve the global pipeline. The project is being developed to comprehend change in three main manners: (1) the implementation through education (targeting the understanding of sustainable fashion), (2) the facilitation through new products development and (3) its reflection in the global apparel pipeline; ultimately connecting all the actors of the apparel life cycle.
Service Co-innovation in The Big Data Context: Improving Service Performance through Real-time Data-driven Insights According to the European Commission, in 2014 the world generated 1.7 million billion bytes of data every minute. A data-driven economy is witnessed in human activities, industrial processes and research. This research acknowledges the potentials of big data in contributing to service innovation and enhancing service providers’ competitive advantages. The research aim is to develop a service co-innovation framework based on social media’s big data. Drawn on service-dominant logic, this framework has three major focuses: the innovation networks (participants), the exchange processes of resources (big data application) and the value cocreation mechanisms (co-innovation). An action research is taken by collaborating with industrial partners. Facilitating the real customer feedback data enables the research framework to possess significant operational value. Text mining and social network analysis will be applied to uncover the nuggets within social dialog and re-construct a new business model that improves the understanding of big data driven innovation.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[68]
[190] REINIS JONES
[191] OLA ADEBOWALE
[192] ASAD GHALIB
reinis.jones@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
olabimtan.adebowale@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
asad.ghalib@manchester.ac.uk
Institute of Population Health
Institute for Development Policy and Management
Institute for Development Policy and Management
Financial Sector Development, Gender and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidences from Nigeria The study intends to review recent literature on access to finance and its effects on households’ poverty reduction, with emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa.
Using a Mixed Methods Approach to Assess the Impact of Microfinance This study examines whether household access to microfinance reduces poverty, and if so, how and to what extent. It draws on first-hand observations and empirical data gathered from semi-structured interviews of over a thousand households across eleven districts in rural Punjab in Pakistan.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Junior doctor patient safety learning experiences With around 55,000 junior doctors delivering front-line care across the NHS their role in patient safety can be seen as crucial. The aim of the study is to provide an in-depth exploration of how junior doctors learn and perceive patient safety during their 1st year of foundation training. A longitudinal qualitative study design involving 1st year foundation trainees from teaching hospitals across the Greater Manchester has been adopted. The data are collected through two stages of semi-structured interviews. Initial data analysis reveals the role of formal and hidden curriculum in knowledge acquisition as well as local practices as the factors both contributing and hindering patient safety learning. Lack of ‘branding’ topics as relevant to patient safety during teaching and training has also been identified. It is anticipated that the findings will aid with tailoring medical training programmes in a way that increases patient safety knowledge and awareness among junior doctors.
Faculty of Humanities
Given the economic and social peculiarities of Nigeria and the need for country case evidence, the study will develop econometric framework to analyse the effect of household access to finance on the welfare of households in Nigeria using cross-sectional data from two household surveys undertaken at national level in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 to derive empirical evidence. The study will examine whether households’ possession of transactional accounts with formal financial institutions, access to credit and savings facility contribute significantly to the welfare of households in terms of per capita expenditure, per capita food expenditure and per capita non-food expenditure. Policy and research implications will be drawn from the findings in the research.
[69] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Humanities
The study employs a quasi-experimental research design whereby data is collected by interviewing both borrowers and non-borrowers. A mixed methods approach is used to gather data through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and direct observation. The convergent triangulation model is used to interpret and analyse data. Findings reveal that although borrowers seem to fare better than nonborrowers across around 70 percent of the indicators, a majority of these are not statistically significant
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[193] VIRGI SARI
[194] ALICIA FLORES SALAS
[195] MICHAEL MIKULEWICz
virgi.sari@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
alicia.salas@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
michal.mikulewicz@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Humanities
Institute for Development Policy and Management State of the Art of Exclusion: Does social protection protect the excluded? Social policies in the less developed nations paid less attention to resolve a phenomenon occurring across the social strata: `social exclusion’. This study aims to fill the gap, by investigating social exclusion and the role of social protection by taking the case of Indonesia. It aims to seek answer the questions of: What are the determinants of social exclusion? How different types of exclusion reinforce each other? Does social protection contribute to social inclusion? The study will use the four waves of Indonesian Family Life Survey 19932007 to examine individual exclusion in three dimensions: social, economic, and political exclusion. The analyses will apply structural equation modeling (SEM) with latent variable to investigate the latent characteristic of social exclusion and to identify their determinants. The results will indicate the significant elements of capabilities, which constitute individual social exclusion in the three dimensions and how it evolves over time.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Humanities
School of Environment, Education and Development
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Housing reconstruction post-disasters Hundreds of thousands of people are affected in their housing each year by natural and man-made disasters (UKaid, 2011). This situation exacerbates housing shortage mainly in developing countries. The research study is to construct a theory that can provide NGOs and governments with a systematic framework for the construction of permanent houses which are sustainable, affordable and resistant toward disasters in a short time on a large scale, and thus contribute for building disaster resilience. A total of 22 researchers and practitioners of housing construction all over the world were consulted via online questionnaire about involving those affected in the re-construction process and switching of traditional construction system. Six manufacturers of the 3DLightweight Panels (3D-LPs) construction system were also consulted via interviews to examine mechanical and physical properties of the 3D-LPs. The findings from the questionnaire and interviews were used to model a permanent housing prototype in the Building Information Modelling System (BIM), using the 3D-LPs construction system to create a guideline. The purpose of the guideline is to allow trained skilled labour to train unskilled labour in order to produce the prototype anywhere affected by disasters.
Climate Change Adaptation Governance in Rural Madagascar Critical scholars have cautioned that adaptation to climate change, defined as actions taken in response to climate events such as droughts, is likely to produce “winners and losers,” contributing to socio-economic inequalities and undermining local development. However, the processes and effects of adaptation programmes aimed at reducing people’s vulnerability to climate change have for the most part avoided academic scrutiny. My research will seek to address this gap in climate change scholarship. It will adopt a critical post-political framework, which interprets climate change adaptation projects as undemocratic and techno-managerial in nature. As such, adaptation governance may result in unequal outcomes for community members, potentially increasing, rather than alleviating, climate-related hardships among the most marginalized groups. The study is designed as a processbased, multi-site mini-ethnography which will follow the gradual progression of a climate change adaptation project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in rural Madagascar.
The main findings of the research showed than a consultation with affected people can help to design a sustainable house and those affected can be trained in construction activities in order so that they can help to build their houses by themselves. The permanent housing prototype modelled helped to highlight that the 3D-LPs construction system is cheaper than traditional construction system. It can be adapted and built in different countries hit by disasters in less time, since the prototype can be modified in accordance with the characteristics of the affected site. POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[70]
13
13 STAVROS KEPPAS "Cloud explosion"
[196] ALExANDRA GRIFFITHS alexandra.griffiths-4@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
14
Planetary Core Formation How does differentiation work? Planets have a metallic core and a rocky shell, but how these two layers formed and how their compositions changed is still largely unknown. This project investigates planetary and core formation processes and how they generated chemical differences in early planetary embryos. It will also look at how these processes ultimately determined the siderophile (iron-loving) element content of the rocky planets like the Earth. This study will use iron meteorites as they provide both left-over smashed up core and rocky material. A unique approach is used to determine the original Ag, Zn and Cu composition of core. It will then be possible to study the effect of an asteroid-scale process that split the planet into the metallic core and rocky shell.
14 SARAH STEEG
Just a number? Possibilities for big data to illuminate our understanding of patient care.
15
This project gives unprecedented insights into how the first planetary embryos of the solar system formed and accumulated into the rocky planets we know today.
15 VICTORIA KINSLEY The gut mini-brain [71] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[197] xINFANG WANG
[198] LUCERO E MORENO CASTILLA
[199] GABRIEL CUEVAS FIGUEROA
xinfang.wang@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
lucero.morenocastilla@manchester.ac.uk
gabriel.cuevasfigueroa@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Radical Transition- Exploration the Role of High-emitters Climate change is a global problem that affects every country and each individual. International negotiations have agreed to 'hold the increase in o global temperature below 2 C'.
Structured surface on cutting tools to improve cutting performance Drilling is of high importance for the manufacturing industry. Frequently, it is the final production stage in manufacture which is done after significant value has already been added to the product. It is thus important to reduce surface integrity problems and to improve the reliability and performance of the process.
Prediction of Energy Production from Wind Farms with Case Study of Baja California Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models have been applied for evaluating wind resource to forecast wind energy production.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Policies for addressing climate change have been economy wide; little attention has been paid to 'tailoring' policies towards the particular highemitting groups (HEGs) within society, which may provide for a more equitable delivery of a low carbon society. To illustrate this, the research investigates the types of activities undertaken and related emissions profiles across the HEGs and other households within the UK. Basing on the consumption-based accounting, household emissions are estimated by linking their expenditure and corresponding emission intensities. The distribution of UK household emissions is presented by Lorenz curves. Through separating the HEGs from general households in the UK, the key reasons causing the significant different levels of carbon emissions between the HEGs and other households are further identified through clustering analyses.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
This research takes a new approach and focuses on the application of structured surfaces on cutting tools to improve the performance of the process. Structured surfaces are designed and manufactured to have a deterministic pattern to produce a specific function. With the challenge to generate structures on hard tooling and hence in the study, sinking electro discharge machining was used on HSS tools to develop prototype surface structured drills. This contribution is significant and important for the industry as it suggests a new method for reducing heat generation, thus reducing thermal damage and hence improving the quality of manufactured parts.
This work focuses on the evaluation of the accuracy from the Weather Research and forecasting (WRF) model to predict met-mast and a wind farm data in the area of “La Rumorosa”. A sensitivity analysis was performed with different meteorological datasets and parameterization schemes. The model was configured with four two-way nested domains and resolutions from 36 to 1.333 km. Results were evaluated with the coefficient of variation (cv), applied to wind speed values and the relative error (d), considered for the wind energy yield. Simulations provided cv values as small as 4.62% for the wind speed and a relative error for the wind energy yield of -2.62% for the same configuration. The WRF model is a useful tool for wind resource assessment, which can also analyse the effects of close proximity wind farms.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[72]
[200] CHRISTOS DIDASKALOU
[201] ANTONIOS KONSTANTAS
[202] SALMAN HOSAWI
christos.didaskalou@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
antonios.konstantas@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
salman.hosawi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science
Improving the sustainability of membrane processes via cascade approaches Solvent resistant nanofiltration is a rapidly evolving technology that offers significant advantages over conventional downstream processes.
Life Cycle Sustainability Management: Towards Eco-Efficient Confectionary Supply Chains The growing need of our society for manufactured food products in combination with resource scarcity has led to more advanced production systems which manufacture more diverse manufactured food products.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Low operating costs, increased sustainability and performance are features that make it attractive to various industries including petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Drawbacks associated with membrane processing such as high product loss and high solvent consumption can be addressed by increasing the number of stages for the separation and adding solvent recovery stages, respectively. My PhD project focuses on the optimisation of nanofiltration cascade processes as well as the development of novel polymeric membranes.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
But are these products eco-efficient from a life cycle perspective when their overall supply chain is taken into account? Aiming to provide some answers to this question, the environmental and economic impacts associated with the life cycle of industrially-produced confectionary products such as ice cream, cakes and chocolate will be quantified and analysed in order to identify a more eco-efficient and thus more sustainable way of food manufacturing.
[73] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Life Sciences
Global proteomic analysis of insulin action in glomerular podocytes Insulin signalling is important for multiple cellular activities such as protein production, lipid synthesis, cell proliferation and cell survival. Insulin resistance describes the inability of cells to respond to insulin effectively, which is a leading cause of different health complications, and it is associated with clinical conditions such as diabetic kidney diseases. Recent studies have shown that glomerular podocytes, which are specialised kidney cells, are direct targets for insulin action. These cells can become insulin resistant in the presence of high levels of the saturated fatty acid palmitate in the blood. In this study we aim to isolate the insulin receptor (IR) complexes from podocytes under normal and resistant conditions to identify signalling hubs using mass spectrometry, which could help in identifying new targets for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
[203] SEBASTIAN ESPINOzA
[204] ELIzABETH COOK
[205] MODISE WISTON
sebastian.espinoza@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
elizabeth.cook@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
modise.wiston@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Resilience assessment of electric power systems after the impact of natural disasters Around the world natural disasters such as floods, ice and windstorms, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and other high impact and low probability events have affected countries’ public security and economic prosperity. Furthermore, climate change will make these events happen more often and with greater severity. Among infrastructure systems, electric systems are particularly important because other systems depend on electricity. In response to this, the undergoing research proposes a resilience assessment of the impact of windstorms and floods on Great Britain’s electric system and of earthquakes and tsunamis on Chile’s electric system. Additionally, the complexity of power systems allows many different strategies to enhance the grid’s resilience, therefore strategic case studies (e.g. redundant, robust and responsive) are compared to conclude if a bigger, stronger or smarter grid is preferred. Understanding and learning how different devastating hazards affect different power systems will grant the possibility to have better prepared electric systems.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Law Who is the Victim? Acknowledgement of Victimhood in Peacetime and Conflict The contours of victimhood, in light of shifting political and socio-cultural landscapes, have received increasing attention in criminology. Considered in tandem with the proliferation in trauma talk, the present research explores how ‘victim-activists’ confront and mobilise personal experiences of trauma associated with violence to promote acknowledgement. The concept of trauma is a popularly used, yet comparatively obscured, notion. Whilst psychological perspectives have demonstrated a tendency to pathologize, the concept has also been projected to social and cultural levels of analysis. Loaded with emotional and political energies, trauma has provoked a simultaneously universalised and trivialised construction of victimhood; one which obscures victim identities, histories and experience. By realigning the analytical focus to lived-realities, this research looks to particularize (and reconcile) such macro accounts with victim experiences. Emphasising narrative parallels of trauma, resilience and agency, this study aims to contribute to a critical victimology of mass violence.
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Assessment of aerosol-cloud interactions during southern African biomass burning activity, employing cloud parameterizations We perform a simulation of the spatial distributions of particle and gas concentrations from a significantly large source of pollution event during a dry season in southern Africa and their interactions with cloud processes. Specific focus is on the extent to which cloud-aerosol interactions are affected by various inputs and parameterizations in a coupled mesoscale chemistrymeteorology model. The southern African dry season (May-Sep) is characterised by biomass burning (BB) type of pollution during which emission plumes are frequently observed around the subcontinent, while at the same time a persistent deck of stratocumulus covers the south West African coast, favouring long-range transport over the Atlantic Ocean. To investigate this, detailed evaluation of results from the simulation will provide observational constraints on the simulated interactions in different model setups.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[74]
[206] DANIELLE SATTERTHWAITE
[207] LEONID NICHMAN
[208] STAVROS KEPPAS
danielle.satterthwaite@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
leonid.nichman@manchester.ac.uk
stavros.keppas@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
Production detection and classification of cloud particles Cloud microphysical processes involving the ice phase in tropospheric clouds are among the major uncertainties for cloud, weather and climate models. The simultaneous detection of aerosols, liquid droplets and ice crystals remains challenging in mixed phase, often unstable ice-water phase environments.
Linking remote sensing and in-situ measurements of cloud properties The first detection of precipitation echoes was obtained in late 1940. Since then a plethora of works has been done on developing radar structures and theories. Today there are two main radar categories, conventional and dual polarization radars.
Faculty of Life Sciences
Do changes in plant functional diversity modulate the response of peatland ecosystems to climate change? Peat soils are made of plant material that is more slowly decayed than in other soils under wet and cold conditions. This means that peats represent a major global carbon store. However, with climate change, these conditions will shift, potentially leading to the carbon stores being released into the wider environment and driving further climate change. With climate change, the productivity and diversity of vegetation will be altered, and this will have cascading effects on belowground microbial communities, thereby impacting carbon stores. My Ph.D. will focus on the indirect mechanisms by which climate change can affect the carbon stores. I will try to ascertain whether, and why, these mechanisms have a greater impact than the direct effects of climate change, and potentially the source-sink dynamics of peatland ecosystems. This will be done by using a combination of biological and organic geochemical analyses in a range of experiments in the field.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
We used three instruments: The Ultra High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS) that can detect aerosol particles down to 55nm; The Cloud Aerosol Spectrometer with Polarisation (CASPOL) that has the ability to detect larger cloud particles and measure their backscatter polarization; and the Cloud Particle Imager (3V-CPI) that has the highest size cut-off and can take pictures of the bigger ice crystals. The versatile Cosmics-LeavingOUtdoor-Droplets (CLOUD) chamber facility at European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) enabled us to produce controlled mixed-phase clouds by adiabatic expansions in an ultraclean environment. Results from mixed phase clouds and Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) measurements are presented.
[75] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The advantage of the latter is that it can generate and emit vertically and horizontally polarized waves. This offers a better understanding of hydrometeors concentration, but even of their shape, size and orientation. Moreover, in-situ cloud measurements will offer data about the actual cloud component and will be useful for comparison. The initial goals of this project are to develop an understanding of cloud microphysical properties and processes, as well as the operation and interpretation of radar data products. Polarimetric variables are useful for developing a more sufficient Hydrometeor Classification Algorithms (HCA), but even for evaluating them. During this project more than one HCA will be applied to high resolution radar data.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
LIST OF SHORT FILM AWARD FINALISTS Committee Room A, 1030-1600
ABEER BUKHARI
JOHANNES LOTzE
abeer.bukhari@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
johannes.lotze@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
School of Chemistry I Will Overcome
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Translators and Interpreters in the Early Ming Dynasty in China
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
CHRISTOPHER FAIRLESS christopher.fairless@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences How to Survive A Season in Sea Ice
CHRISTOS HADJIARAPIS
Faculty of Humanities
CLAIRE MITCHELL claire.mitchell@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences School of Psychological Sciences Speech Rehabilitation After Stroke
LEONID NICHMAN leonid.nichman@manchester.ac.uk
christoshad@hotmail.com
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Law The Box
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences CLOUD
Faculty of Humanities
MAGDALENA KIEzEL magdalena.kiezel@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Manchester Pharmacy School 35088 Hours
MRITUNJAY SHARMA mritunjay.sharma@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences School of Chemistry My Research Story
CHARLOTTE SHI charlotte.shi@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Materials My Research Story on the Pop Up Industry
[76]
LIST OF IMAGE AWARDS FINALISTS (LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Whitworth Corridor and Lower Foyer, 1030-1600 HAIFA ALROqI
EDMUND CHOW
JENNIFER CHOW
haifa.alroqi@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
edmund.chow@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
jennifer.chow@manchester.ac.uk
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Your child needs YOU The children in this picture are my children glued to handheld screen devices. A scene like this has become a familiar sight worldwide at homes, restaurants, buses, and malls. Children in the digital age are exposed to screen media at a very young age.
Performing an Improvised Drama in an Public Park in Afghanistan The growth of the cultural sector in Afghanistan, especially theatre, is still stunted due to decades of war and years of Taliban repression. While non-governmental organisations had external aid to fund smaller theatre productions such as circus arts and puppet theatres, many local actors are still struggling to make their voices heard in a climate where public entertainment is frowned upon.
The last sailors on the Mary Rose This Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) scan shown here is of a single strand of wood fibre from a wooden fragment off of the Mary Rose warship that sank on the 19th of July, 1545. Understanding how the wood had survived for more than 400 years in the seabed is vital towards allowing us to know how we can preserve underwater wooden heritage better.
Faculty of Humanities
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero screen time for children under the age of two and no more than two hours for older children. Research has found that heavy screen viewing for children aged 2 and under could be deleterious for early language development. My research investigates the impact of the media viewing habits of young children on their language development. The results of the current research are expected to give parents and caregivers information on language development and on its relationship to media viewing. Screen viewing takes time away from human interaction. Research suggests that parent-child interaction in particular is crucial to language development. For your child to grow and glow, your child needs YOU not your devices.
Faculty of Humanities
In fact, in December 2014, a bomb blast went off in the audience during a theatre performance, a shocking indication that theatre is still taboo. Radio dramas, however, are more commonly accepted in Afghanistan. But will taking drama out into public spaces encourage a different form of education and entertainment? This picture shows two actors improvising a scene in a park in Kabul which attracted a huge enthusiastic crowd. Their applauding this performance, including police officers taking videos of the show, might indicate a new trend for further research.
[77] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Humanities
In the picture, an oval structure and several other worm-like structures are shown, they are known as diatoms. They are considered to be one of the most successful group of unicellular algae, with their distinctive siliceous cell walls which resist degradation, allowing us to use them to understand more about the history of the sea. Diatom shells are extremely robust structures that are usually found within sediment layers in marine and fresh waters.
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
ALEx CLARKE
KATHERINE CROUCH
CHRISTOPHER EMERSIC
alex.clarke-3@manchester.ac.uk
katherine.crouch@manchester.ac.uk
christopher.emersic@manchester.ac.uk
School of Physics and Astronomy
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Giant Telescopes For Giant Galaxies 9 km east of Narayangaonin in India, I use one of the worlds largest arrays of radio dishes, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to detect light from some of the biggest structures in the universe - Giant Radio Galaxies. These rare objects have jets that extend millions of light years out into space from a central galaxy. Whilst hidden in the visible part of the spectrum, we see the jets glowing brightly at radio wavelengths, which is why we require arrays of large dishes to capture images of these striking structures. One of the reasons these jets are truly gigantic, is that they are powered by supermassive black holes that accelerate electrons to relativistic speeds. Combined with the presence of large-scale magnetic fields, these electrons emit the radio waves that we receive on Earth. My research aims to understand the unique environment required for such astonishing structures to form.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
“They say you never forget your first…” Your first skeleton, that is. This is but one of the many jokes shared with me during my fieldwork with an archaeological unit last summer. I joined them during the excavation of a former medieval cemetery, yet I wasn’t there to study the archaeology but rather the archaeologists themselves. This is because my PhD research explores the practice of UK mortuary archaeology – the archaeological investigation of past practices relating to death and burial – and the emotive impact of working with human remains on its practitioners, an issue which remains largely undiscussed by the profession itself. Whilst the majority of archaeologists report feelings of honour and privilege at the opportunity to excavate the remains of the dead – hence why you always remember ‘your first’ – such experiences can also prove disquieting: it is a taboo to disturb the dead in any culture where burial is the norm. Thus, whilst laughter and banter might seem incongruous during the excavation of human remains, a robust sense of humour can act as a displacement mechanism that eases any underlying feelings of guilt or unease.
The Future of Air Travel: The All-Electric Aircraft The future of our air travel lies with the next generation of aircraft technology and the so-called ‘all-electric’ aircraft. Our continuous drive towards a greener and more sustainable use of aircraft requires reducing to a minimum their harmful impact on the environment and global climate change. Future aircraft need to become much lighter and more energy efficient, and this can be achieved by replacing heavy mechanical systems with efficient all-electrical ones. This, however, dramatically increases the demands on the electrical power systems, which need to be run at much higher voltages. But higher voltages can lead to an increased chance of electrical discharge in the power systems, causing them to fail, and so this research in action looks at ways in which the aircraft power electronics can be designed and protected so they can deliver increased power at higher voltages while maintaining maximum safety levels. One approach to achieving this is to coat circuit boards with a protective layer, and our research looks at ways to maximise their protective properties. My photo shows a failed coating under the microscope that cracked and did not protect the circuit well. But this provided us with valuable insights into how to prevent such failure.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[78]
ASAD GHALIB
STAVROS KEPPAS
VICTORIA KINSLEY
asad.ghalib@manchester.ac.uk
stavros.keppas@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
victoria.bridge@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Humanities
Institute for Development Policy and Management Contentment as wealth – reflections on the life of a rural vegetable vendor Microcredit provides credit services to poor clients. My doctoral research assessed its impact on rural livelihoods. During my fieldwork in a remote rural village in Western Pakistan, I met Ali, who ran a small vegetable vending business from the front room of his small house. After going through the regular structured interview questions, the discussion led to why he had decided not to avail a microcredit facility. Sitting in front of empty shelves and empty containers and displaying limited stock, he said ‘I find no reason to borrow and as a grandfather pushing 70, I have played my innings and I am content with what I have’. Such informal discussions and ethnographic observations led to deep insight to the lives of ordinary people like him. He yearned for neither fame nor fortune and I felt that despite having little, he was not poor. He explained that while he might not have modern luxuries, he was content with what he had.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences "Cloud explosion" This photo was captured on May 24th (2014) in Thessaloniki and depicts a Cumulonimbus, thus a storm, cloud. Actually, it seems like a nuclear explosion. My PhD project is on linking in-situ and radar measurements and developing an algorithm that can recognize different hydrometeor types and their traits in the atmosphere using radar data. This photo depicts the real target of my work, which is the clouds. Such clouds might cause damages in human properties and their timely identification could prevent losses. However in a more general sense it could present every single "brain-explosion" that takes place, every time I stuck on something new that I cannot understand. Everything seems to be peaceful away from the research (like the blue sky), but inside the research things are so complicated as the structure of a storm cloud.
Faculty of Life Sciences
The gut mini-brain The image shows silver stained nerves in the large intestine of a mouse. The gut nervous system can function independently of the central nervous system and is often referred to as a ‘mini-brain’. These nerves are vital in maintaining normal digestive function, however research suggests that gut nerves are also involved in the immune response. Changes in gut function have been associated with all manner of conditions from obesity and diabetes to inflammatory bowel disease and depression. Appreciating how individual variation in nerve function can influence susceptibility to disease is an important step forward in understanding the human response to inflammation.
I left his shop with several lingering questions….how should we really define poverty, which factors make a man really poor, is poverty the lack of material wealth or are people poor because they lack inner peace and contentment?
[79] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
AARTI KRISHNAN
MARTIN LARSSON
SARAH STEEG
aarti.krishnan-2@manchester.ac.uk
martin.jesper@gmail.com
sarah.steeg@manchester.ac.uk
Faculty of Humanities
School of Environment, Education and Development Reconstructing lives: Capturing value through developing human capability Over 18% of the Indian rural population is unemployed or underemployed and 26% live below the poverty line, the main reason for this is the dearth of skills possessed to diversify livelihoods. Keshav Rajan, grows cotton on less than an acre of land; with the income earned he cannot even afford three meals a day for his family. The lack of technical know-how left him helpless for years. With a burden of debt, Keshav was on the verge of suicide. He enrolled in the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in 2013, here he was taught to craft household kitchen items, which he sold in the local village centre. Within months, he was able to build a new house and send his children to school. He captured more value both in terms of income and improvement in social status within the community. The government through the NRLM has provided alternate livelihood opportunities through capacity building to promote sustainable income flows.
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Faculty of Humanities
Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health
School of Social Sciences The Last Wild Fish A black night at the Girjalva River in southern Mexico. The dam that controlled it was closed. The water was therefore calm and shallow, making it easier to fish. I was in charge of paddling above the heads of the fishermen with their harpoons, and to document the amount of fish they caught. The cooperative of the fishermen wanted my photos for the negotiations with the company in charge of the construction of a new dam in the river, to show the impacts that the new dam would have. The fishermen were rather successful. Beside a monthly payment during the construction, they were promised to get support to produce fish in cages once the dam would be in place. But that fish would not taste like the wild ones, they complained, and they would have to spend time and money feeding it, taking care of it, and preventing thefts.
Just a number? Possibilities for big data to illuminate our understanding of patient care Human conditions, behaviours and experiences are at the heart of health care research. When these human elements are compressed down to data points, pooled and used for research, the poignancy of the content may be lost. My research project looks into how people’s care is related to their future health. This photo illustrates the human side of healthcare data. The numbers shown in this image are a ‘snapshot’ of a cohort study of more than 70,000 people. These people have all been treated in hospital for self-harm and have experienced different types of care. Each row of numbers in this image represents a person. Each number in their row represents an aspect of their experience. By shining a spotlight on the people in the image, I was able to capture their reflection in the screen showing the data. The image aims to show that statistics can acquire greater depth if we pay attention to what is contained within them.
POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
[80]
CRAIG THOMAS
JAMES WEST
TAHMINA zEBIN
craig.thomas@manchester.ac.uk
ejwestuk@gmail.com
tahmina.zebin@manchester.ac.uk
School of Environment, Education and Development
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Don’t frack my future! Understanding responses to shale gas development in Great Manchester I find this image difficult to look at because it expresses in visual form some of the deep concerns I have encountered in my research into conflict around proposed ‘fracking’ developments at Barton Moss in the city-region of Greater Manchester.
The mind of a postgraduate student This picture was taken at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C during a research trip last year. Part of my doctoral project examines how race history and civil rights commemoration in the United States has been imagined architecturally through Museums and commemorative spaces.
Faculty of Humanities
The image is of a protestor, 8 months pregnant, on a city centre march against fracking. She told me that she was there was to protect her unborn child’s future. The march itself was one of a series of ways in which local people sought to engage with the issue of fracking and a potential future shale gas industry in the North West of England. As there hasn’t been any fracking in the area to date, a driving force behind opposition to fracking was a perceived conflict of geographical futures, and the potential impacts that new energy infrastructure developments in the present will have on future generations.
Faculty of Humanities
The person in the image is my friend's son, who is standing in the middle of a temporary installation in the Museum’s atrium created by international architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group. The image is connected to this year’s theme of ‘Research in Action’ on multiple levels. In a literal sense taking pictures at Museums and commemorative sites is an important way for me to gain new perspectives on my research. On another level this image plays on the deeply contested ways in which race history and civil rights commemoration are experienced on an individual and collective level, and how that experience changes depending on both viewpoint and position. On a third level, my friend and I found this image a humorous reminder of the emotional and intellectual struggles we both face in our doctoral research, which can often seem like a maze without end! As always, the problem – and solution – is a matter of perspective.
[81] POSTGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Multidisciplinary Research: Eyes of an outsider-Infinite curiosity to the Unknown Being trained as an Electrical and Electronic Engineer, working on a PhD to build an instrument for Clinicians has been quite difficult for me. It was because what I can measure as an engineer has to be meaningful to a clinician. I started working for the construction of the device with the perspective of an outsider to understand the clinical needs, and then translated it in engineering terms to apply the skills I already have. I believe it has widened my horizon and I have learnt to look at things in a new manner. The picture of a bird looking at the woods from its own burrow somewhat resembles my first look to multidisciplinary research. Eyes of an outsider- Infinite Curiosity to the Unknown!
MANCHESTER DOCTORAL COLLEGE
Tel: +44 (0)161 275 8792 Email: mdc@manchester.ac.uk www.manchester.ac.uk
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Manchester Doctoral College University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PL United Kingdom