Towards Organic Electronic Materials for Electrically Stimulated Gene Delivery

The cell-specific delivery of polynucleic acids (e.g., DNA, RNA), gene therapy, has the potential to treat various diseases. In this chapter we discuss the use of organic electronic materials as non-viral gene delivery vectors and the great potential for electrochemically triggered gene delivery. We highlight some examples in this chapter based on fullerenes (bucky balls and carbon nanotubes), graphenes and electroactive polymers, particularly those that include experiments in vivo.

Emotions and voting in EU referendums

There is an emerging scholarship on the emotional bases of political opinion and behaviour and, in particular, the contrasting implications of two distinct negative emotions - anger and anxiety. I apply the insights in this literature to the previously unresearched realm of the emotional bases of voting in EU referendums. I hypothesise that anxious voters rely on substantive EU issues and angry voters rely on second-order factors relating to domestic politics (partisanship and satisfaction with government). Focusing on the case of Irish voting in the Fiscal Compact referendum, and using data from a representative sample of voters, I find support for the hypotheses and discuss the implications of the findings for our understanding of the emotional conditionality of EU referendum voting. 

Potentially Voting across the Divide in Deeply Divided Places: Ethnic Catch-All Voting in Consociational Northern Ireland

I elaborate a model of cross-bloc party support in deeply divided places. The model expects that the variation in the level of electoral support that citizens in Community A have for parties in Community B is a function of citizens' evaluations of the relative ability of parties in Community B to represent the interests of all communities. This 'ethnic catch-all' model of cross-bloc party support is tested in the context of consociational Northern Ireland, using data from a representative survey conducted directly after the 2010 Westminster general election. The findings are asymmetric: the model explains Protestant support for nationalist parties but not Catholic support for unionist parties. The findings, and their implications, are discussed.

BOB CAT: a Large-Scale Review and Delphi Consensus for Management of Barrett’s Esophagus With No Dysplasia, Indefinite for, or Low-Grade Dysplasia

OBJECTIVES: Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a common premalignant lesion for which surveillance is recommended. This strategy is limited by considerable variations in clinical practice. We conducted an international, multidisciplinary, systematic search and evidence-based review of BE and provided consensus recommendations for clinical use in patients with nondysplastic, indefinite, and low-grade dysplasia (LGD). METHODS: We defined the scope, proposed statements, and searched electronic databases, yielding 20,558 publications that were screened, selected online, and formed the evidence base. We used a Delphi consensus process, with an 80% agreement threshold, using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) to categorize the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. RESULTS: In total, 80% of respondents agreed with 55 of 127 statements in the final voting rounds. Population endoscopic screening is not recommended and screening should target only very high-risk cases of males aged over 60 years with chronic uncontrolled reflux. A new international definition of BE was agreed upon. For any degree of dysplasia, at least two specialist gastrointestinal (GI) pathologists are required. Risk factors for cancer include male gender, length of BE, and central obesity. Endoscopic resection should be used for visible, nodular areas. Surveillance is not recommended for <5 years of life expectancy. Management strategies for indefinite dysplasia (IND) and LGD were identified, including a de-escalation strategy for lower-risk patients and escalation to intervention with follow-up for higher-risk patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this uniquely large consensus process in gastroenterology, we made key clinical recommendations for the escalation/de-escalation of BE in clinical practice. We made strong recommendations for the prioritization of future research.

Density functional theory study of mixed-phase TiO2: heterostructures and electronic properties

In this work, density functional theory calculations have been performed to study the geometric, electronic, and energetic properties of two-phase TiO2 composites built by joining two single-phase TiO2 slabs, aiming at verifying possible improvement of the photo-activities of the composites through phase separation of excitons. We find that such desired electronic properties can be determined by several factors. When both the HOMO and LUMO levels of one of the two single-phase TiO2 slabs are higher than the corresponding ones of the other, the composite may have native electronic structures with phase-separated HOMO-LUMO states, especially when the two slabs exhibit highly matched surface lattices. For those pairs of TiO2 slabs with the HOMO and LUMO levels of one phase being within the range of those of the other, though the energetically favored composite give HOMO-LUMO states within one phase, one may still be able to separate them and move the HOMO state to the interface region by destabilizing the interactions between the two slabs.

Defining Democracy: Voting Procedures in Decision-making, Elections and Governance

Book Review: Emerson, Peter, Defining Democracy: Voting Procedures in Decision-making, Elections and
Governance (2nd edn), Springer, London, 2012,

Material Identification of Loose Particles in Sealed Electronic Devices Using PCA and SVM

The existence of loose particles left inside the sealed electronic devices is one of the main factors affecting the reliability of the whole system. It is important to identify the particle material for analyzing their source. The conventional material identification algorithms mainly rely on time, frequency and wavelet domain features. However, these features are usually overlapped and redundant, resulting in unsatisfactory material identification accuracy. The main objective of this paper is to improve the accuracy of material identification. First, the principal component analysis (PCA) is employed to reselect the nine features extracted from time and frequency domains, leading to six less correlated principal components. And then the reselected principal components are used for material identification using a support vector machine (SVM). Finally, the experimental results show that this new method can effectively distinguish the type of materials including wire, aluminum and tin particles.

Metallosupramolecular Materials for Electronic Applications: Molecular Boolean Computation

It is an exciting era for molecular computation because molecular logic gates are being pushed in new directions. The use of sulfur rather than the commonplace nitrogen as the key receptor atom in metal ion sensors is one of these directions; plant cells coming within the jurisdiction of fluorescent molecular thermometers is another, combining photochromism with voltammetry for molecular electronics is yet another. Two-input logic gates benefit from old ideas such as rectifying bilayer electrodes, cyclodextrin-enhanced room-temperature phosphorescence, steric hindrance, the polymerase chain reaction, charge transfer absorption of donor–acceptor complexes and lectin–glycocluster interactions. Furthermore, the concept of photo-uncaging enables rational ways of concatenating logic gates. Computational concepts are also applied to potential cancer theranostics and to the selective monitoring of neurotransmitters in situ. Higher numbers of inputs are also accommodated with the concept of functional integration of gates, where complex input–output patterns are sought out and analysed. Molecular emulation of computational components such as demultiplexers and parity generators/checkers are achieved in related ways. Complexity of another order is tackled with molecular edge detection routines.

Development and testing of an intermediate temperature glass sealant for use in mixed ionic and electronic conducting membrane reactors

High temperature ceramic membranes have interesting possibilities for application in areas of new and developing technologies such as hydrocarbon combustion with carbon dioxide capture and electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC). However, membrane module sealing remains a significant technical challenge. In this work a borosilicate glass sealant (50SiO₂·25B₂O₃·25Na₂O, mol%) was developed to fit the requirements of sealing an air separation membrane system at intermediate temperatures (300-600 °C). The seal was assessed by testing the leak rates under a range of conditions. The parameters tested included the effect of flowrate on the leak rate, the heating and cooling rates of the reactor and the range of temperatures under which the system could operate. Tests for durability and reliability were also performed. It was found that the most favourable reactor configuration employed a reactor with the ceramic pellet placed underneath the inner chamber alumina tube (inverted configuration), using a quartz wool support to keep the membrane in place prior to sealing. Using this configuration the new glass-based seal was found to be a more suitable sealant than traditional alternatives; it produced lower leak rates at all desirable flowrates, with the potential for rapid heating and cooling and multiple cycling, allowing for prolonged usage. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.