CEID Research Symposium Series.

Centre for Engineering and Industrial Design are running a series of symposium throughout the year. The symposium presents current research being undertaken within the centre. It also provides an open forum for discussion with other centres and external stakeholders to create opportunities to become involved in CEID researchers. It is also an opportunity for invited speakers to present their work

A comparison of processing techniques for producing prototype injection moulding inserts.

This project involves the investigation of processing techniques for producing low-cost moulding inserts used in the particulate injection moulding (PIM) process. Prototype moulds were made from both additive and subtractive processes as well as a combination of the two. The general motivation for this was to reduce the entry cost of users when considering PIM. PIM cavity inserts were first made by conventional machining from a polymer block using the pocket NC desktop mill. PIM cavity inserts were also made by fused filament deposition modelling using the Tiertime UP plus 3D printer. The injection moulding trials manifested in surface finish and part removal defects. The feedstock was a titanium metal blend which is brittle in comparison to commodity polymers. That in combination with the mesoscale features, small cross-sections and complex geometries were considered the main problems. For both processing methods, fixes were identified and made to test the theory. These consisted of a blended approach that saw a combination of both the additive and subtractive processes being used. The parts produced from the three processing methods are investigated and their respective merits and issues are discussed

Laser diagnostics and minor species detection in combustion using resonant four-wave mixing

Peer reviewedPostprin

Quantifying the health burden misclassification from the use of different PM2.5 exposure tier models: A case study of London

Exposure to PM2.5 has been associated with increased mortality in urban areas. Hence, reducing the uncertainty in human exposure assessments is essential for more accurate health burden estimates. Here we quantify the misclassification that occurs when using different exposure approaches to predict the mortality burden of a population using London as a case study. We develop a framework for quantifying the misclassification of the total mortality burden attributable to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in four major microenvironments (MEs) (dwellings, aboveground transportation, London Underground (LU) and outdoors)in the Greater London Area (GLA), in 2017. We demonstrate that differences exist between five different exposure Tier-models with incrementally increasing complexity, moving from static to more dynamic approaches. BenMap-CE, the open source software developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is used as a tool to achieve spatial distribution of the ambient concentration by interpolating the monitoring data to the unmonitored areas and ultimately estimate the change in mortality on a fine resolution. Our results showed that using the outdoor concentration as a surrogate for the total population exposure but ignoring the different exposure concentration that occurs indoors and the time spent in transit, would lead to a misclassification of 1,174 predicted mortalities in GLA. Indoor exposure to PM2.5 is the largest contributor to total population exposure, accounting for 80% of total mortality, followed by the London Underground which contributes 15%, albeit the average percentage of time spent there by Londoners is only 0.4%. We generally confirmed that increasing the complexity and incorporating important microenvironments, such as the highly polluted LU, could significantly reduce the misclassification in health burden assessments

The experience of patients undergoing knee surgery with local or regional anesthesia: an ethography

This ethnographic study is concerned with the surgical experience of patients within the social context in which it occurs: the operating theatre. Traditionally, the focus of the operating theatre has been on conducting safe, efficient surgery with unconscious patients. However, as the volume of surgery performed under local or regional anaesthesia increases, this focus is shifting. Care of awake patients in the operating theatre is now a prominent feature of modern perioperative practise, and support for the conscious patient has become a major responsibility for all perioperative staff. The aim of this thesis is to understand the experience of being a conscious patient during regional anaesthesia and knee surgery in the perioperative environment. Through such an understanding the nature of the relationship between the conscious patient and the rest of the perioperative team can be established and the most important factors that influence the perioperative experience of this patient group clarified. An ethnographic approach has been used to gather data which enables an understanding of the relationship between the conscious patient in an operating theatre and the rest of the perioperative team. Data was gathered through preoperative and postoperative interviews with seven adult patients scheduled for knee arthroplasty or knee arthroscopy under local or regional anaesthesia. One other patient was interviewed preoperatively but not postoperatively. In addition to the patients, three surgeons, one anaesthetist, one anaesthetic practitioner, one scrub practitioner and a recovery practitioner were also interviewed, making a total of 22 interviews. Participant observation was also conducted in four locations in the hospital; day surgery theatres and main theatres during surgery, the preoperative clinic referred to as ‘joint school’ (where seven consultations were observed) and the fracture clinic where a further seven consultations were observed. Collectively, these areas reflect those visited by patient participants during their surgical journey. The study generates an authentic ethnographic account of the patients’ experiences of knee surgery with local or regional anaesthesia. A thick description, drawn from the views of patients and perioperative staff, has been produced which supports theoretical interpretations of the behaviour and relationships enacted in the context of everyday life in an operating theatre setting. Data analysis was through a constant comparative approach which followed the six steps of grounded theory methodology (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Perioperative staff caring for the patient during this time typically adopt a medical or scientific perspective towards the patient’s body, whereas patients view this experience from a lived perspective. Four themes identified as trust, capital, embodiment and the clinical gaze were identified through the data analysis. These themes relate to the strategies patients and staff utilise to bridge the gap between their different perspectives. An understanding of which can contribute to ways of interacting with and caring for surgical patients in the perioperative environment

‘I’ve just got to take that risk and have faith . . .’: The challenge of gaining and maintaining trust in patients undergoing knee surgery with a regional anaesthetic

Traditionally, the focus of the operating theatre has been on conducting safe, efficient surgery with unconscious patients. However, the care of awake patients is now a prominent feature of modern perioperative practise as the volume of surgery performed under regional anaesthesia increases. The aim of this novel study was to understand the experience of being a conscious patient during regional anaesthesia and knee surgery in the perioperative environment. Data were gathered through observation and ethnographic interview and analysis followed a constant comparative grounded theory approach. The concepts of Trust and Faith are identified as recurrent themes highlighted in the data. This article identifies the need to understand patients’ expectations regarding the clinical encounter and how subsequent treatment will develop, so that, reasons for any deviation can be discussed openly and an explanation provided. Each clinical encounter takes place within a relationship based upon an uneven distribution of power, enacted through the interaction itself, with the health care professional in a dominant role. It is the responsibility of health care staff to recognise and negate this power imbalance and reinforce trusting relationships so information and treatment options are not presented as a ‘fait accompli’ but negotiated through jargon free easy to understand language

Inhibition of tumor necrosis factor α–stimulated monocyte adhesion to human aortic endothelial cells by AMP-activated protein kinase

<b>Objective</b>— Proatherosclerotic adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium is attenuated by NO. As AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) regulates endothelial NO synthesis, we investigated the modulation of adhesion to cultured human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) by AMPK. <b>Methods and Results</b>— HAECs incubated with the AMPK activator, AICAR, or expressing constitutively active AMPK demonstrated reduced TNF α-stimulated adhesion of promonocytic U-937 cells. Rapid inhibition of TNF α-stimulated U-937 cell adhesion by AICAR was NO-dependent, associated with unaltered cell surface adhesion molecule expression, and reduced MCP-1 secretion by HAECs. In contrast, inhibition of TNF α-stimulated U-937 cell adhesion by prolonged AMPK activation was NO-independent and associated with reduced cell surface adhesion molecule expression. <b>Conclusions</b>— AMPK activation in HAECs inhibits TNF α-stimulated leukocyte adhesion by a rapid NO-dependent mechanism associated with reduced MCP-1 secretion and a late NO-independent mechanism whereby adhesion molecule expression, in particular E-selectin, is suppressed. We investigated the functional effects of AMPK activation in cultured human endothelial cells. Stimulation of AMPK inhibited TNF α-stimulated monocyte adhesion by two distinct mechanisms: a rapid NO-dependent mechanism associated with a reduction in chemokine release and a late NO-independent mechanism whereby adhesion molecule expression is suppressed

CEID research: Recent, current and future direction

Centre for Engineering and Industrial Design researchers are discussed and the future focus is proposed