DNA nanostructures in advanced plasmonic applications

Chiral structures can be found anywhere from particle physics over electromagnetism to chemistry and biology. Although circular dichroism (CD) has long been used to trace changes of protein configurations or chiral molecular states, chiral plasmonic nanostructures have only shown their potential in recent years. The ability to design nanostructures with tailored geometries and specific functions on the nanoscale is one of the possibilities offered by DNA nanotechnology. In this thesis, we use DNA origami to assemble model meta-molecules from multiple plasmonic particles, accurately positioned in space. This approach allows us to build up varying molecular geometries piece by piece and study their impact on their surrounding optical near fields, confirming numerical simulations elucidating the intricate chiral optical fields in complex architectures. With this, we studied the emergence of CD signatures by step-wise constructing of a gold nanohelix, composed of single spherical nanoparticles. In this, we were able to show the effects of varying geometries by implementing sign flipping signals through addition or removal of single particles. We furthermore studied the effects of a spherical transmitter particle situated within a pair of nanorods in a chiral geometry. The transmitter particle not only enhances the CD response and causes a redshift of the plasmonic resonance frequency of the nanorods, it also triggers the emergence of an additional chiral signal at the resonance frequency of the nanosphere. In conclusion, we present an approach of utilizing specific plasmonic heating effects to construct a novel type of DNA nanowalker: a nanowheel. Unlike previous DNA walkers, which are based on the process of strand displacement, this nanowheel is fueled by light and could therefore potentially reach significantly higher speeds than any previous attempts

XMPP and iDTV or how to make television a social medium

Instant Messaging (IM) has the potential to become one of the killer applications for interactive Digital Television (iDTV) [12]. However, several factors make it difficult to provide a good implementation of IM services, among which the limited resources of a set-top box and the different user experience compared to computer environments. This paper proposes the XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) standard as a solution for implementing IM. When we compare XMPP with other technologies, it reveals itself to be very well adapted to the specific needs of iDTV middleware platforms like the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) [5]. Moreover, the use of XMPP doesn't limit itself to IM The flexible architecture of XMPP opens a window of opportunities like the ease of adding new interactive services. To demonstrate the possibilities of XMPP on MHP, an IM client -IM4MHP- is presented in this paper

Supply Chains in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Decision Support System for Small‐Scale Seed Entrepreneurs

It is necessary to infuse a consistent supply of improved seed varieties into local sub‐Saharan African crop production to improve low crop yields. The best distribution channel for the improved seed varieties may be small‐scale commercial seed companies, but local entrepreneurs struggle to determine whether such businesses are viable. Using a multi‐echelon supply chain approach, a decision support system (DSS) was designed to help African seed entrepreneurs make informed decisions about small‐scale seed chain businesses. Specifically, entrepreneurs make decisions about where to locate seed enterprises, with which farmers to contract, and where to store seed. Optimization and simulation modeling are used to evaluate infrastructure variables such as distance, transportation cost, and storage loss and cost in three development level areas. Currently, the decision tool is used in Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya, and Tanzania. The model has supported the start‐up of at least 17 small seed companies that are now introducing improved seed varieties into villages and farms. The DSS applies decision science research in a humanitarian application and offers important managerial implications about supply chain infrastructure to nongovernmental organizations and humanitarian groups. Such applications are vital as groups such as USAID, the Gates Foundation, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi‐Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) continue to move toward micro‐enterprise, value chain, and market‐oriented development programs

Kodrah Kristang: The Initiative to Revitalize the Kristang Language in Singapore

Kristang is the critically endangered heritage language of the Portuguese-Eurasian community in Singapore and the wider Malayan region, and is spoken by an estimated less than 100 fluent speakers in Singapore. In Singapore, especially, up to 2015, there was almost no known documentation of Kristang, and a declining awareness of its existence, even among the Portuguese-Eurasian community. However, efforts to revitalize Kristang in Singapore under the auspices of the community-based non-profit, multiracial and intergenerational Kodrah Kristang (‘Awaken, Kristang’) initiative since March 2016 appear to have successfully reinvigorated community and public interest in the language; more than 400 individuals, including heritage speakers, children and many people outside the Portuguese-Eurasian community, have joined ongoing free Kodrah Kristang classes, while another 1,400 participated in the inaugural Kristang Language Festival in May 2017, including Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and the Portuguese Ambassador to Singapore. Unique features of the initiative include the initiative and its associated Portuguese-Eurasian community being situated in the highly urbanized setting of Singapore, a relatively low reliance on financial support, visible, if cautious positive interest from the Singapore state, a multiracial orientation and set of aims that embrace and move beyond the language’s original community of mainly Portuguese-Eurasian speakers, and, by design, a multiracial youth-led core team

Ardansa sa futura: Strategies and principles for youth leadership and empowerment from the Kodrah Kristang model of language revitalization

This presentation distills key principles and considerations for intergenerational youth-led language revitalization, based on a case study of the ongoing Kodrah Kristang initiative in Singapore (abbreviated as ‘Kodrah’) for the critically endangered Kristang language, offering an analysis of the key strategies that have allowed Kodrah to rapidly develop a so-called “flowering of interest” in Kristang among young people in Singapor

Chromosomal Microdeletions and Genes\u27 Functions: A Cluster of Chromosomal Microdeletions and the Deleted Genes\u27 Functions

Hypotonia-cystinuria syndrome (HCS) is a recessive disorder caused by microdeletions of SLC3A1 and PREPL on chromosome 2p21. Patients present with generalized hypotonia at birth, failure to thrive, growth retardation and cystinuria type I. While the initially described HCS families live in small regions in Belgium and France, we have now identified HCS alleles in patients and carriers from the Netherlands, Italy, Canada and United States of America. Surprisingly, among the nine deletions detected in those patients, only one novel deletion was found. Furthermore, one previously described deletion was found six times, another twice. Finally, we have investigated the frequency of both deletions using a random Belgian cohort. Given the global occurrence, HCS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of neonatal hypotonia

ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC INTRA INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY IN FRONT CRAWL SWIMMING

The purpose of this study was to assess the intra-individual variability of two bilaterally measured EMG signals (deltoideus medialis and rectus abdominis) in front crawl swimming and compare the influence of the normalization technique on several variability measures. Fifteen well-trained adult male competitive swimmers were tested and four additional measures of variability besides mean and standard deviation were calculated. The repeatability of swimming movements was high for both tested muscles and one stroke cycle might be sufficient to determine a swimmers movement pattern. Variance ratio was suggested as a preferred additional measure of variability as it was least susceptible to differences in normalization method