An Overview of Variational Integrators

The purpose of this paper is to survey some recent advances in variational integrators for both finite dimensional mechanical systems as well as continuum mechanics. These advances include the general development of discrete mechanics, applications to dissipative systems, collisions, spacetime integration algorithms, AVI’s (Asynchronous Variational Integrators), as well as reduction for discrete mechanical systems. To keep the article within the set limits, we will only treat each topic briefly and will not attempt to develop any particular topic in any depth. We hope, nonetheless, that this paper serves as a useful guide to the literature as well as to future directions and open problems in the subject

Vital Signs Trolley, Designing Out Medical Error (DOME) - Prototype design (2008-2011)

West was the lead researcher (PI, Myerson) on a multidisciplinary project with partners from Imperial College London to improve patient safety in the hospital bed space. West conducted and coordinated research between RCA designers (West and Davey) and clinicians, psychologists, patient safety experts and process management academics in Imperial College London. West led on drawing evidence from how analogous industries manage risky processes such as mining, chemical, oil exploration, shipping and construction, to find new ways of reducing systemic error on surgical hospital wards. This research developed a number of design interventions in the hospital bed space. West developed the Vital Signs Trolley as a direct result of the analogous industries study and collaboration with clinical partners. He found that the main problem with the trolley, which measures vital signs such as blood pressure and temperature, is that data is not captured accurately, the unit is hard to clean and its trailing wires spread infection. West’s new trolley has an easy-clean design, an improved cable management system and a digital transcription system to avoid errors. The design was refined for manufacture in collaboration with an industrial partner, Humanscale. The thinking behind the Vital Signs Trolley built on West’s previous work on the award winning Resus-Station (2006-2008), a resuscitation trolley that is now in clinical trials. West presented the DOME interventions, including the Vital Signs Trolley, at the ‘World Congress on Design and Health’ (USA, 2011) and published ‘Taking ergonomics to the bedside – A multi-disciplinary approach to designing safer healthcare’ in Applied Ergonomics, October 2013 (West REF Output 1)

Development of a Robust and Efficient Parallel Solver for Unsteady Turbomachinery Flows

The traditional design and analysis practice for advanced propulsion systems relies heavily on expensive full-scale prototype development and testing. Over the past decade, use of high-fidelity analysis and design tools such as CFD early in the product development cycle has been identified as one way to alleviate testing costs and to develop these devices better, faster and cheaper. In the design of advanced propulsion systems, CFD plays a major role in defining the required performance over the entire flight regime, as well as in testing the sensitivity of the design to the different modes of operation. Increased emphasis is being placed on developing and applying CFD models to simulate the flow field environments and performance of advanced propulsion systems. This necessitates the development of next generation computational tools which can be used effectively and reliably in a design environment. The turbomachinery simulation capability presented here is being developed in a computational tool called Loci-STREAM [1]. It integrates proven numerical methods for generalized grids and state-of-the-art physical models in a novel rule-based programming framework called Loci [2] which allows: (a) seamless integration of multidisciplinary physics in a unified manner, and (b) automatic handling of massively parallel computing. The objective is to be able to routinely simulate problems involving complex geometries requiring large unstructured grids and complex multidisciplinary physics. An immediate application of interest is simulation of unsteady flows in rocket turbopumps, particularly in cryogenic liquid rocket engines. The key components of the overall methodology presented in this paper are the following: (a) high fidelity unsteady simulation capability based on Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) in conjunction with second-order temporal discretization, (b) compliance with Geometric Conservation Law (GCL) in order to maintain conservative property on moving meshes for second-order time-stepping scheme, (c) a novel cloud-of-points interpolation method (based on a fast parallel kd-tree search algorithm) for interfaces between turbomachinery components in relative motion which is demonstrated to be highly scalable, and (d) demonstrated accuracy and parallel scalability on large grids (approx 250 million cells) in full turbomachinery geometries

Obtaining Stokes Parameters from the SUMI Experiment

A sounding rocket experiment designed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, named the Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation, had its second launch in July of 2012 to test the feasibility of measuring polarization signals of the ionized magnesium resonance doublet near 280 nm, originating from the transition region. The rocket housed a telescope at the front end and an imaging system at the rear end. Placed at the focal point of the selffiltering telescope, a wave plate rotated through 12 predefined angular orientations to restrict the measurements to specific combinations of circular and linear polarization. Coupled with a double Wollaston analyzer, the linearly polarized ordinary and extraordinary beams were measured for the 12 combinations, each containing different fractions of the Stokes parameters (I, Q, U, V). A thorough analysis of the data has allowed us to come to several conclusions regarding the design of the experiment. 1) We are confident that polarization can be measured. A sunspot region was determined to exhibit similar results over multiple pixels. 2) Measurements are limited by resolution, i.e. regions smaller than the angular resolution per pixel cannot be resolved with any certainty. 3) Temporal evolution of magnetic features must be considered in future experimental designs. Measurements need to be taken in repeated cycles as opposed to a single cycle over the duration of the experiment. In our presentation, we will provide a summary of the observations along with the methods of our analysis, including the limitations that we've encountered

Gauge fields and infinite chains of dualities

We show that the particle states of Maxwell's theory, in $D$ dimensions, can be represented in an infinite number of ways by using different gauge fields. Using this result we formulate the dynamics in terms of an infinite set of duality relations which are first order in space-time derivatives. We derive a similar result for the three form in eleven dimensions where such a possibility was first observed in the context of E11. We also give an action formulation for some of the gauge fields. In this paper we give a pedagogical account of the Lorentz and gauge covariant formulation of the irreducible representations of the Poincar\'e group, used previously in higher spin theories, as this plays a key role in our constructions. It is clear that our results can be generalised to any particle.Comment: 37 page

Designing Out Medical Error, WCDH Boston 2011

This talk is about using research and design to reduce medical errors. It doesn’t matter whether you deliver healthcare in the old-fashioned pathogenic way, or salutogenically, it all falls apart if systems and protocols let the patient down, and harm them

SlowMo / Mo - digital technology to provide support in coping with daily life.

This project builds on previous work bringing inclusive design methodologies and expertise to therapy for paranoid and suspicious thoughts in people with severe mental health problems. Culminating in an interactive digital platform to support service users both in and outside of therapy sessions, this prior work established core design principles, with the platform currently going through a multi-centre randomised controlled trial. This project seeks to extend the benefits of the digital platform beyond diagnosed mental health difficulties to include a standalone app for anyone seeking to better regulate emotions and cope with daily life. The fundamental therapeutic principles underpinning SlowMo include (among others) the ability to recognise unhelpful thoughts, to slow down ‘fast’ thinking (jumping to conclusions), and the identification of alternative explanations for the observed situation or upsetting thought. The design principles of SlowMo include (among others) representing thoughts as bubbles, resizing them, and slowing down ‘spinning’ bubbles to encourage the user to engage in slower thinking. A larger scale clinical trial will establish its clinical efficacy compared to treatment as usual. The project aim is to adapt and expand both the therapeutic and design principles to target a broader audience with common emotion difficulties experienced by the majority of the population. The team combined the ‘Double Diamond’ methodology with agile working with developers. Insights were gained through extensive interviews and workshops with a variety of potential users. Personas were built up from these insights, informing subsequent co-creation sessions. A number of extra functions and concepts were created, and refined using critical feedback. The additional app framework and functionality were refined, along with the visual language and branding. Rapid iterative design and coding work packages allowed for the collaborative development and testing of sections of the app

Crazy heart: kinematics of the "star pile" in Abell 545

We study the structure and internal kinematics of the "star pile" in Abell 545 - a low surface brightness structure lying in the center of the cluster.We have obtained deep long-slit spectroscopy of the star pile using VLT/FORS2 and Gemini/GMOS, which is analyzed in conjunction with deep multiband CFHT/MEGACAM imaging. As presented in a previous study the star pile has a flat luminosity profile and its color is consistent with the outer parts of elliptical galaxies. Its velocity map is irregular, with parts being seemingly associated with an embedded nucleus, and others which have significant velocity offsets to the cluster systemic velocity with no clear kinematical connection to any of the surrounding galaxies. This would make the star pile a dynamically defined stellar intra-cluster component. The complicated pattern in velocity and velocity dispersions casts doubts on the adequacy of using the whole star pile as a dynamical test for the innermost dark matter profile of the cluster. This status is fulfilled only by the nucleus and its nearest surroundings which lie at the center of the cluster velocity distribution.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 10 pages & 6 figure

A Common Variant in the Adaptor Mal Regulates Interferon Gamma Signaling

Humans that are heterozygous for the common S180L polymorphism in the Toll-like receptor (TLR) adaptor Mal (encoded by TIRAP) are protected from a number of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis (TB), whereas those homozygous for the allele are at increased risk. The reason for this difference in susceptibility is not clear. We report that Mal has a TLR-independent role in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) receptor signaling. Mal-dependent IFN-gamma receptor (IFNGR) signaling led to mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38 phosphorylation and autophagy. IFN-gamma signaling via Mal was required for phagosome maturation and killing of intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). The S180L polymorphism, and its murine equivalent S200L, reduced the affinity of Mal for the IFNGR, thereby compromising IFNGR signaling in macrophages and impairing responses to TB. Our findings highlight a role for Mal outside the TLR system and imply that genetic variation in TIRAP may be linked to other IFN-gamma-related diseases including autoimmunity and cancer

ICU Journey: Humanising the patient experience of Intensive Care

Intensive Care Units (ICU) are spaces designed to look after patients with life threatening conditions; they provide life-support, extensive therapies and continuous monitoring aiming to preserve life and return patients to good health. The clinical intensity and invasiveness of this highly medicalised and technology-dependent environment can be intimidating and threatening for patients. This paper details the development of a technology to mitigate against this. Working in partnership with four hospitals in England, the multidisciplinary design team co-developed a tablet-based application - called Senso - aiming to reduce the psychological effects of Intensive Care by enabling clinicians, carers and patients to personalise some aspects of their environment. During the first phase, the team performed primary research in four hospitals in England, developing an understanding of the problem from the point of view of different stakeholders including patients, relatives and clinicians. Further analysis through co-design workshops distilled three design issues: positive sensory disruption, orientation, and information and space utilisation. Through co-design workshops involving a ICU Patient Support Network Group, the team prototyped and tested ideas. After two cycles of iteration, requirements for a minimum viable product were outlined. The outcome is a digital application that provides a personalised sensory experience for the patient named Senso. After onboarding, Senso generates a moodboard from the selected images and videos. This not only provides a familiar view for the patient but can also help staff to engage personally with the patient. A daily schedule helps relatives understand the patient’s day-to-day activities and progress. Senso provides patients with a daily routine, supporting them through their journey from leaving the operating theatre through to the point of discharge from ICU. The hypothesis is that by providing structure to the patient’s day help in orientation and engagement. Initial testing indicates that Senso has potential to improve outcomes