Swellable polymer films containing Au nanoparticles for point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Large (10 × 10 cm) sheets of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) active polymer have been prepared by stabilising metal nanoparticle aggregates within dry hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) films. In these films the aggregates are protected by the polymer matrix during storage but in use they are released when aqueous analyte droplets cause the films to swell to their gel form. The fact that these "Poly-SERS" films can be prepared in bulk but then cut to size and stored in air before use means that they provide a cost effective and convenient method for routine SERS analysis. Here we have tested both Ag and Au Poly-SERS films for use in point-of-care monitoring of therapeutic drugs, using phenytoin as the test compound. Phenytoin in water could readily be detected using Ag Poly-SERS films but dissolving the compound in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) to mimic body fluid samples caused loss of the drug signal due to competition for metal surface sites from Cl^- ions in the buffer solution. However, with Au Poly-SERS films there was no detectable interference from Cl^- and these materials allowed phenytoin to be detected at 1.8 mg L^-1, even in PBS. The target range of detection of phenytoin in therapeutic drug monitoring is 10-20 mg L^-1. With the Au Poly-SERS films, the absolute signal generated by a given concentration of phenytoin was lower for the films than for the parent colloid but the SERS signals were still high enough to be used for therapeutic monitoring, so the cost in sensitivity for moving from simple aqueous colloids to films is not so large that it outweighs the advantages which the films bring for practical applications, in particular their ease of use and long shelf life.

Effect of web holes on web crippling strength of cold-formed steel channel sections under end-one-flange loading condition – Part I: Tests and finite element analysis

Web openings could be used in cold-formed steel beam members, such as wall studs or floor joints, to facilitate ease of services in buildings. In this paper, a combination of tests and non-linear finite element analyses is used to investigate the effect of such holes on web crippling under end-one-flange (EOF) loading condition; the cases of both flanges fastened and unfastened to the bearing plates are considered. The results of 74 web crippling tests are presented, with 22 tests conducted on channel sections without web openings and 52 tests conducted on channel sections with web openings. In the case of the tests with web openings, the hole was either located centred above the bearing plates or having a horizontal clear distance to the near edge of the bearing plates. A good agreement between the tests and finite element analyses was obtained in term of both strength and failure modes.

On the Virtualization of CUDA Based GPU Remoting on ARM and X86 Machines in the GVirtuS Framework

The astonishing development of diverse and different hardware platforms is twofold: on one side, the challenge for the exascale performance for big data processing and management; on the other side, the mobile and embedded devices for data collection and human machine interaction. This drove to a highly hierarchical evolution of programming models. GVirtuS is the general virtualization system developed in 2009 and firstly introduced in 2010 enabling a completely transparent layer among GPUs and VMs. This paper shows the latest achievements and developments of GVirtuS, now supporting CUDA 6.5, memory management and scheduling. Thanks to the new and improved remoting capabilities, GVirtus now enables GPU sharing among physical and virtual machines based on x86 and ARM CPUs on local workstations,computing clusters and distributed cloud appliances.

A Scalable General Purpose System for Large-Scale Graph Processing

Graph analytics is an important and computationally demanding class of data analytics. It is essential to balance scalability, ease-of-use and high performance in large scale graph analytics. As such, it is necessary to hide the complexity of parallelism, data distribution and memory locality behind an abstract interface. The aim of this work is to build a scalable graph analytics framework that does not demand significant parallel programming experience based on NUMA-awareness.
The realization of such a system faces two key problems:
(i)~how to develop a scale-free parallel programming framework that scales efficiently across NUMA domains; (ii)~how to efficiently apply graph partitioning in order to create separate and largely independent work items that can be distributed among threads.

Implementation of a drive-by monitoring system for transport infrastructure utilising GNSS

Ageing and deterioration of infrastructure is a challenge facing transport authorities. In particular, there is a need for increased bridge monitoring in order to provide adequate maintenance, prioritise allocation of funds and guarantee acceptable levels of transport safety. Existing bridge structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques typically involve direct instrumentation of the bridge with sensors and equipment for the measurement of properties such as frequencies of vibration. These techniques are important as they can indicate the deterioration of the bridge condition. However, they can be labour intensive and expensive due to the requirement for on-site installations. In recent years, alternative low-cost indirect vibrationbased SHM approaches have been proposed which utilise the dynamic response of a vehicle to carry out “drive-by” pavement and/or bridge monitoring. The vehicle is fitted with sensors on its axles thus reducing the need for on-site installations. This paper investigates the use of low-cost sensors incorporating global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) for implementation of the drive-by system in practice, via field trials with an instrumented vehicle. The potential of smartphone technology to be harnessed for drive by monitoring is established, while smartphone GNSS tracking applications are found to compare favourably in terms of accuracy, cost and ease of use to professional GNSS devices.

A Framework for Spatial Road Safety Assessment: Case Study of Northern Ireland

Road traffic injuries are a major health issue worldwide. There are many factors that can
affect the levels of road traffic collisions which in turn increase the levels of people killed or
seriously injured. When road traffic collisions occur, observed facts are recorded in relation
to the incident. These facts are recorded as variable observations, and for this study,
variables and indicators are defined almost equivalently. There can be hundreds of different
indicators for the various collisions, as different countries face different road situations. This
makes it difficult to perform a road safety assessment, which can be applied globally. The
goal of this study is to select the most appropriate indicators and create a composite
indicator as a function of these indicators, which can be used as summary values, allowing
ease of comparisons between the countries/regions that have undergone a road safety
assessment. The composite indicator will then be used to assess the current situation in
Northern Ireland and provide scores for ranking policing in terms of overall road safety on
their road networks.

Bespoke Radiology e-Learning

Introduction: Foundation doctors are expected to assess and interpret plain x-ray studies of the chest/abdomen before a definitive report is issued by senior staff. The Royal College of Radiologists have published guidelines (RCR curriculum) on the scope of plain film findings medical students should be familiar with.1 Studies have shown that the x-ray interpretation without feedback does not significantly improve diagnostic ability. 2 Queen’s University, Belfast Trust Radiology and Experior Medical developed an online system to assess individual student ability to interpret X-ray findings. Over a series of assessments each student’s profile is built up, identifying strengths and weakness. The system can then create bespoke individual assessments re-evaluating previously identified weak areas and quantifying interpretative skill improvement. Aim: To determine how readily an online system is adopted by senior medical students, investigating if increasing exposure to x-ray interpretation combined with cyclical formative feedback enhances performance. Methods: The system was offered to all 270 final year medical students as an online resource. The system comprised a series of 20 weekly 30 minute assessments, containing normal and abnormal x-rays within the RCR curriculum. After each assessment students were given formative feedback, including their own result, annotated answers, peer group comparison and a breakdown of areas of strength and weakness. Focus groups of 4-5 students addressed student perspectives of the system, including ease of use, image resolution, system performance across different operating platforms, perceived value of formative feedback loops, breakdown of performance and the value of bespoke personalised assessments. Research Ethics Approval was granted for the study. Data analysis was via two-sided one-sample t-test; initial minimal recruitment was estimated as 60 students, to detect a mean 10% change in performance, with a standard deviation of 20%. Results and Discussion: Over 80% (n = XXX/270) of the student cohort engaged with the study. Student baseline average was 39%, increasing to 62% by the exit test. The steadily sustained improvement (57% relative performance in interpretative diagnostic accuracy) was despite increasing test difficulty. Student feedback via focus groups was universally positive throughout the examined domains. Conclusion: The online resource proved to be valuable, with high levels of student engagement, improving performance despite increasingly difficulty testing and positive learner experience with the system. References: 1. Undergraduate Radiology Curriculum, The Royal College of Ra, April 2012. Ref No. BFCR(12)4 The Royal College of Radiologists, April 2012 2. I Satia, S Bashagha, A Bibi, R Ahmed, S Mellor, F Zaman. Assessing the accuracy and certainty in interpretating chest x-rays in the medical division. Clin Med August 2013 Vol.13 no. 4 349-352