Energy saving and reliability for Wireless Body Sensor Networks (WBSN)

In healthcare and medical applications, the energy consumption of biosensor nodes affects the collection of biomedical data packets, which are sensed and measured from the human body and then transmitted toward the sink node. Nodes that are near to the sink node consume more energy as all biomedical packets are aggregated through these nodes when communicated to sink node. Each biosensor node in a wireless body sensor networks (WBSNs) such as ECG (Electrocardiogram), should provide accurate biomedical data due to the paramount importance of patient information. We propose a technique to minimise energy consumed by biosensor nodes in the bottleneck zone for WBSNs, which applies the Coordinated Duty Cycle Algorithm (CDCA) to all nodes in the bottleneck zone. Superframe order (SO) selection in CDCA is based on real traffic and the priority of the nodes in the WBSN. Furthermore, we use a special case of network coding, called Random Linear Network coding (RLNC), to encode the biomedical packets to improve reliability through calculating the probability of successful reception (PSR) at the sink node. It can be concluded that CDCA outperforms other algorithms in terms of energy saving as it achieves energy savings for most biosensor nodes in WBSNs. RLNC employs relay nodes to achieve the required level of reliability in WBSNs and to guarantee that the biomedical data is delivered correctly to the sink nod

Parental restriction reduces the harmful effects of in-bedroom electronic devices

postprin

Optical signature of symmetry variations and spin-valley coupling in atomically thin tungsten dichalcogenides

Motivated by the triumph and limitation of graphene for electronic applications, atomically thin layers of group VI transition metal dichalcogenides are attracting extensive interest as a class of graphene-like semiconductors with a desired band-gap in the visible frequency range. The monolayers feature a valence band spin splitting with opposite sign in the two valleys located at corners of 1st Brillouin zone. This spin-valley coupling, particularly pronounced in tungsten dichalcogenides, can benefit potential spintronics and valleytronics with the important consequences of spin-valley interplay and the suppression of spin and valley relaxations. Here we report the first optical studies of WS2 and WSe2 monolayers and multilayers. The efficiency of second harmonic generation shows a dramatic even-odd oscillation with the number of layers, consistent with the presence (absence) of inversion symmetry in even-layer (odd-layer). Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show the crossover from an indirect band gap semiconductor at mutilayers to a direct-gap one at monolayers. The PL spectra and first-principle calculations consistently reveal a spin-valley coupling of 0.4 eV which suppresses interlayer hopping and manifests as a thickness independent splitting pattern at valence band edge near K points. This giant spin-valley coupling, together with the valley dependent physical properties, may lead to rich possibilities for manipulating spin and valley degrees of freedom in these atomically thin 2D materials

Synteny Approach of Drug Target Prediction among Unique Hypothetical Proteins of Streptococcus Gordonii Causing Infective Endocarditis

At the time of infection, many of the gene products of completely  sequenced organisms yet remain ‘hypothetical’ meaning they remain unsimilar to any previously characterized and may disguise some true virulent factors. Domain scanning provides a means of understanding functional information in these cases, extending facilitated identification oftheir virulence factors, proceeding for antimicrobial drug and vaccine  design. In developing countries, mortality rate due to Infective  endocarditis is accelerating along with retardation in efficiency of pathogen specific drugs. We have re-annotated at domain level and predicted cellular localization of 200 unique and hypothetical proteins obtained by syntenic comparison of Streptococcus gordonii among other strains of similar species for similar infection. The study resulted into 200 unique and hypothetical proteins, of which, domains of 85 proteins are  predictable, representing 15 with no similarity with human proteome. Later, 9 proteins with 8 domains predicted to be antimicrobial targets. Further, these can be experimentally validated for drug and vaccine target ability

Congenital myopathies: characteristic and subtypes in Hong Kong

This journal suppl. entitled: 20th International Congress of The World Muscle SocietyCongenital myopathies are a group of childhood onset neuromuscular disorder with the diagnosis mainly based on genetic and pathological features. This is a unique group with phenotypic, genotypic and pathological heterogeneity, so the confirmation of an underlying diagnosis is often challenging. This is the first congenital myopathy case series in Hong Kong. A total of 15 patients have been diagnosed to have congenital myopathies with 11 patients had the genetic mutations being identified (4 patients had RYR1 mutations, 3 patients had ACTA1 mutations, 2 patients had KLHL40 mutations, 1 patient had MTM1 mutation and 1 patient had DNM2 mutation).postprin

EGF functionalized polymer-coated gold nanoparticles promote EGF photostability and EGFR internalization for photothermal therapy

The application of functionalized nanocarriers on photothermal therapy for cancer ablation has wide interest. The success of this application depends on the therapeutic efficiency and biocompatibility of the system, but also on the stability and biorecognition of the conjugated protein. This study aims at investigating the hypothesis that EGF functionalized polymer -coated gold nanoparticles promote EGF photostability and EGFR internalization, making these conjugated particles suitable for photothermal therapy. The conjugated gold nanoparticles (100-200 nm) showed a plasmon absorption band located within the near infrared range (650-900 nm), optimal for photothermal therapy applications. The effects of temperature, of polymer-coated gold nanoparticles and of UVB light (295nm) on the fluorescence properties of EGF have been investigated with steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence properties of EGF, including the formation of Trp and Tyr photoproducts, is modulated by temperature and by the intensity of the excitation light. The presence of polymeric-coated gold nanoparticles reduced or even avoided the formation of Trp and Tyr photoproducts when EGF is exposed to UVB light, protecting this way the structure and function of EGF. Cytotoxicity studies of conjugated nanoparticles carried out in normal-like human keratinocytes showed small, concentration dependent decreases in cell viability (0-25%). Moreover, conjugated nanoparticles could activate and induce the internalization of overexpressed Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in human lung carcinoma cells. In conclusion, the gold nanoparticles conjugated with Epidermal Growth Factor and coated with biopolymers developed in this work, show a potential application for near infrared photothermal therapy, which may efficiently destroy solid tumours, reducing the damage of the healthy tissue.Support was provided by: Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project reference PTDC/BBB-BMC/0611/2012 [https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos)]. The work at CBMA was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) [https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos]; European Commission through the project H2020-644242-SAPHELY (https://saphely.eu/project.php) and the project H2020-634013-2-PHOCNOSIS [http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/193268_en.html].The authors would like to thank Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project reference PTDC/BBB-BMC/0611/2012. The work at CBMA was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI). The authors acknowledge the funding from the European Commission through the project H2020-644242-SAPHELY and the project H2020-634013-2-PHOCNOSIS. Finally, the authors would also like to thank the master student Joao Lopes from Universidade Lusofona (Portugal) for the help with in vitro cytotoxic assays. Isabel Correia acknowledges FCT for Investigator FCT contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SPARC 2018 Internationalisation and collaboration : Salford postgraduate annual research conference book of abstracts

Welcome to the Book of Abstracts for the 2018 SPARC conference. This year we not only celebrate the work of our PGRs but also the launch of our Doctoral School, which makes this year’s conference extra special. Once again we have received a tremendous contribution from our postgraduate research community; with over 100 presenters, the conference truly showcases a vibrant PGR community at Salford. These abstracts provide a taster of the research strengths of their works, and provide delegates with a reference point for networking and initiating critical debate. With such wide-ranging topics being showcased, we encourage you to take up this great opportunity to engage with researchers working in different subject areas from your own. To meet global challenges, high impact research inevitably requires interdisciplinary collaboration. This is recognised by all major research funders. Therefore engaging with the work of others and forging collaborations across subject areas is an essential skill for the next generation of researchers