• UK Research and Innovation close
• 2012 close
• 2014 close

There exist today a multitude of biological databases containing a wide array of information regarding different species including specimens in museum databases, occurrence information, genome sequence and expression data and image data to name a few. A common feature of these databases is that the information normally corresponds to a particular species (or taxa) and therefore the databases tend to employ some taxonomy to structure the information and access the data. However as yet there is no common taxonomy which is used across these databases to enable reliable linking across the databases. Matching species across databases is challenging. Different databases can and do use different classifications which use different names to represent the same underlying species or taxa. Tools that aid integration of data from these sources will be of benefit to biologists allowing them to incorporate additional data into their analyses and ensure the quality of the data and the accuracy of results are improved. The utility of visualising data is well established for tasks such as presentation of information. Visualisations are effective for a range of other tasks such as acting as ad-hoc error-checks for data e.g. spotting a record of a lion placed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a geographical information visualisation plot clearly suggests an error in the data. However, the true advantage of visualisation isn't in static presentation but in allowing users to interactively explore and view the effects of changes to constraints and variables, although suitable tools are frequently not available to biologists where they could be most useful. This project will build on the biological standards developed for taxonomic information and develop a set of web-based visualisation tools for use by a wide range of biologists and end-users of these databases to support them clean, explore and compare the data contained within. The resulting tools will have a wide ranging impact on the quality of data made available and the accessibility of the data to a wide range of users.

The aim of the 4BIM Project is to demonstrate the use of Integrated Collaborative Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems across Supply Chains using the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) and Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) open interoperability standards. The primary objectives are to: (1) demonstrate that collaborative tools and services using open BIM interoperability standards can allow experts from different disciplines within a supply chain to work together more effectively; (2) show that knowledge traditionally locked up in project documentation, 3D models and other information silos can be codified and shared amongst the supply-chain, fostering information re-use and providing improved transparency across a project, through the use of open standards; (3) demonstrate that the use of BIM can allow new and legacy product information within the construction and manufacturing sectors to create more effective and efficient lifecycle processes.

The molecules of a liquid move easily and a snap-shot of the molecular arrangements reveal complete disorder. As a liquid is cooled, it often undergoes crystallization, where the molecules arrange into an ordered pattern. The most common example is water turning into ice. However, such crystallization can be avoided by cooling at a fast rate. The liquid molecules then move slower and slower upon cooling and if the cooling rate is high enough there is not enough time to rearrange into an ordered pattern before all long-range motions come to a halt; thus, the structure remains disordered and liquid-like but the material is hard - the resulting solid is called a glass. Glassy materials are important in a wide range of man-made materials and applications including battery electrolytes and electrodes, solar cells, pharmaceuticals and most plastics. Neither the microscopic mechanisms involved in glass-formation nor the behaviour of the glassy state are well understood; this is remarkable since humans have been producing glass for thousands of years and glasses have been naturally formed by geological processes for millions of years. Thus, reaching an understanding of glasses and their formation is a key unsolved problem in both fundamental science and technology. Remarkably, an analogy can be drawn between and the molecules (size: 0.1-10 nm) of molecular glass-formers and the behaviour of particles (size: 0.1-10 microns) suspended in a liquid, so called colloids. For colloids, glass-formation is controlled by the concentration of particles within a certain volume; for low particle concentrations the system is a liquid but as the concentration is increased the system gets crowded, which leads to the formation of a glass. Practical examples include paints, emulsions, lubricants and thickeners. The advantage of using colloids as a model system to study glass-formation is the large particle size, which means that the colloid motions can be studied using light as a probe, together with the great control of properties such as colloid size, elasticity and inter-particle interactions. In this work we will use a versatile colloidal model system consisting of gel particles swollen in a solvent, so called microgels. In addition to their role as model systems, such microgel suspensions are important in applications including biosensing and medical diagnostics, chemical separation technologies, oil recovery, pharmaceutical delivery, and switchable materials. We will synthesize microgel particles with varying mechanical properties, by controlling the cross-linking of the particle gels. Each microgel batch will be characterized with regards to particle size, gel structure and mechanical properties. We will then study how these microgel suspensions form glasses as the particles crowd the volume upon concentration. Both the arrangement and the motions of the microgel particles will be studied as the glassy state is approached, using light scattering and rheology techniques. Light scattering studies yield information about the individual microgel structure, the microgel particle arrangements and the microgel motions over a wide range of time-scales (10 ns-1000 s). With rheology, the response of the material to a mechanical disturbance is investigated. Specific aims of the study are to (i) find the relationship between single microgel properties and the corresponding suspension arrangements and motions as the glassy state is approached (ii) determine which types of microgel motions are relevant to the glass formation process and how these motions are inter-related (iii) investigate how an applied shear affects and eventually 'melts' a microgel glass. This work addresses questions that are key to an understanding of glassy materials in general. By systematic studies of an excellent model system, we aim to form a benchmark for future glass-transition work.

We have developed a new technology that can spot explosive residue. The main advantage of this technology is that it operates in real time, images the residue which then automatically signals an alert when a substance is spotted. This is a brand new approach to to explosive detection. Current technologies can only manually alert to the presence of explosive material, our technology can pin point the exact location on a whole consignment. The most commonly used techniques at present are x-ray screening and physical examination including sniffer dogs. Our technology will provide a vigilance that is constantly available unlike dogs who only have a 20 minute attention span and can take anything up to 8 hours to arrive on site. The key aim of this project is to develop a system prototype for scanning cargo. The proposed prototype will be a portable unit that can be taken on site. The main benefits of this technology are that a detection can be made without relying on human interpretation ; it is stand off and therefore does not affect throughput; all cargo can be scanned for surface traces of explosives rather than hand searching every item with a sniffer dog or only scanning a random selection. This will result in 100% cargo screening and security. Under ICAO law, all air cargo leaving a country is that nation's responsibility. These security controls are regulated by the Department's Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate [TRANSEC]. Under UK rules, outbound cargo can only be considered secure either if it has originated from a secure source or if it has undergone appropriate screening either at the airport or during transportation.

Within the AIWO Project, work will be divided into 3 Work Packages WSSI – Wing Structures & Systems Integration CI – Concept Integration MDAACE – Multi-Disciplinary Aircraft Architecture Convergence & Evaluation The aim of ‘AIWO’ is to secure a robust set of innovative technologies, at the integrated wing-level, for the next all-new Airbus product. This will be achieved by taking the key outcomes from recent UK funded collaborative programmes and to further expand the potential of the technologies identified.

A graph consists of a set of vertices, some of which are joined by edges. So every network like the internet gives rise to a graph. Moreover, many timetable scheduling problems can be modelled as graph colouring problems. Unfortunately, graph colouring problems are usually very hard in the sense that it is unlikely that there exists an efficient algorithm for solving them. So one tries to find natural conditions which guarantee the existence of good colourings. This has turned into an important area which has received much attention. However, many fundamental questions remain unsolved. The aim of the project is to solve several of these, based on a new notion of robustly decomposable graphs which we have developed recently. This method will also apply to long-standing problems on decompositions of graphs into Hamilton cycles. These problems in turn have applications to the famous Travelling Salesman Problem.

UK productivity fell sharply during the recession of 2008-9, and recovered only sluggishly after that. It currently remains substantially below a continuation of its pre-crisis trend. This contrasts very sharply with the experience of other post-war recessions in the UK when the fall was less sharp and the recovery quicker; it is also very different from experience in the US, where productivity has held up quite well, but where aggregate job loss has been more severe than in the UK. Understanding the reasons for recent productivity weakness is of first order importance to macroeconomic policy, as stressed by both the Monetary Policy Committee and the Office for Budget Responsibility. The main aim of the research is to investigate the underlying causes for recent productivity weakness in the UK, examining in particular the mechanisms by which the banking sector crisis might have affected the supply side of the UK economy, and focusing on how it has affected company performance. These mechanisms are identified by examining differences in the performance of individual firms or sectors according to their reliance on bank finance in order to grow. The research analyses company- and sector-level data from a range of secondary data sources, highlighting patterns in the data consistent with different explanations for the productivity slowdown. The research addresses the following questions: 1. How widespread across sectors and UK companies is the productivity slowdown since the financial crisis? How does this differ to the recession of the early 1990s? 2. What has been the impact of the banking sector crisis on bank credit conditions experienced by UK companies? 3. What are the mechanisms through which bank credit conditions might have affected the performance of UK companies and what are the magnitudes of these effects? 4. What is the evidence that UK productivity weakness has been associated with factors unrelated to tight credit conditions; labour hoarding in particular? The main focus of the research is on analysing reasons for productivity weakness directly related to the banking crisis. One possible mechanism is that lack of credit availability has stunted the development of high-productivity, mainly young and small bank dependent firms and provided some protection for older established companies. In other words, the banking crisis may have reduced the efficiency with which inputs and outputs are allocated across firms. To investigate this, productivity growth is decomposed into productivity changes that occur because of developments within individual firms and productivity changes that occur because of changes in the efficiency with which resources are allocated across firms. If the banking crisis was an important contributor to UK productivity weakness, as distinct from recession, then the expectation is that productivity decline should have arisen in large part due to a drop in the efficiency with which resources are allocated across firms. The research develops from existing data sources measures of the impact of the banking sector crisis on bank credit conditions experienced by different types of UK companies. Next it gauges the importance of tight credit conditions on company performance adopting a quasi-experimental approach, comparing outcomes for firms who are likely to be vulnerable to tight credit conditions to outcomes for firms who are less likely to be vulnerable to tight credit conditions before and after the financial crisis. The banking crisis provides in essence a natural experiment for studying the impact of tight credit conditions on real economic outcomes. The research studies the impact of the financial crisis on a number of company performance measures, including productivity, investment, firm survival rates, and job creation. Although not the main focus, the extent of firm-level labour hoarding, and how this may have contributed to recent productivity weakness, is also analysed.

The network aims to develop new advanced textile solutions directed at alleviating some of the most chronic medical conditions which have a direct impact on an individual's self esteem. This project explores how clothing and technology can be designed to improve mobility amongst individuals with associated health conditions, leading to improved confidence and subsequent improvements in self-esteem which are key factors in improving an individual's wellbeing and quality of life. Through the application of advanced technology and design, this project seeks to develop new wearable smart clothing concepts with direct relevance to a range of mobility and health issues. Current textile products do not provide satisfactory solutions for individuals with serious health issues wishing to maintain an active and independent lifestyle. They may alleviate certain aspects of a medical condition, however they don't address the full range of an individual's needs. The proposal seeks to investigate a range of new technologies including micro-electronics and new materials in order to develop advanced clothing that can be used to improve particular aspects affecting an individual's ability to participate in normal everyday activities. The project will adopt a co-design model in which end users are involved at the start of the project to ensure a close fit between need, technology and eventual implementation. A multi-disciplinary team of researchers will share expertise across the fields of fashion, textiles and product design, advanced materials, computing and life sciences. A unique aspect of this project is the bringing together of participants with debilitating medical conditions, designers, technologists, together with industrial collaborators with a view to developing a direct mechanism for the commercial exploitation of design outcomes. The approach involves the use of both lo-tech and hi-tech tools, both virtual and real, to rapidly create concepts for immediate feedback and further development for commercialization and potential customization. Understanding how conditions affect people's lifestyles is of fundamental importance in providing solutions. A focus group comprising of individuals representing different age groups and medical needs and mobility issues will be used to provide insights into key issues that need to be addressed by the designed outcomes. They will also be asked to assist in the evaluation of concepts. Concepts might include both passive and active technologies designed to have a direct effect on the individual's mobility. This project will provide an opportunity to look for synergies between advanced technologies and new materials. The project will prototype and visualize new solutions which can be implemented with the aid of commercial partners. Developing new products to tackle some of these problems can be very expensive and long-term, and is often seen as not being commercially viable however this project will provide a mechanism for developing new concepts in a way that is not open to a standard development route and therefore is much more likely to result in practical solutions with a high probability of adoption. This will involve adopting an open innovation approach, creating an 'ideas bank' website to showcase the concepts. Anyone wishing to develop the concepts will be encouraged to contribute via the ideas bank.

This proposal seeks to determine the variation of C and O isotope compositions in earthworm secreted calcite granules under different temperatures and concentration of carbon dioxide. We will investigate whether systematic isotopic variation occurs that can be used to interpret terrestrial temperature & carbon dioxide levels during granule formation, and apply our data to granules from a range of archaeological sites: Silbury (4130-4395 BP), Boxgrove (Mid Pleistocene), Laacher See (12900 BP), Odiham Castle (1207-1216 AD) and Ventnor (11690 BP). We will produce a unique environmental interpretation tool that Geoarchaeologists can use to interpret environmental conditions during periods of past human activity. This is because granules are excreted on a daily basis and by analysing a range of granules this will give us the daily temperature ranges experienced during the dated profile/sequence. This has enormous potential for understanding past high resolution climate sequences Earthworms secrete granules of calcite. Our NERC funded investigations to date suggest that Lumbricus terrestris earthworms produce granules of up to 2 mm diameter at an average rate of 0.8 mg of CaCO3 per earthworm per day. Our dissolution experiments indicated that earthworm secreted calcite dissolves at the same rate as inorganically produced calcite and modelling suggests that calcite grains the same size as our granules can survive for 1000 - 10000 years in soils of bulk pH as low as 5.4. In addition granules have been recovered from Silbury and Boxgove sediments. Those from Silbury have been dated using 14C as 4130 - 4395 years BP and 4670 years BP by ourselves using U-series dating Clearly earthworm secreted calcite granules can survive for significant periods of time in soils. This raises the exciting possibility, supported by our preliminary work, of dating individual granules and measuring their C & O isotopes to interpret the environmental conditions during their formation. Individual granules contain sufficiently high concentrations of U and low concentrations of Th that U-series dating can be applied. They have C and O isotopic signatures indicative of derivation from a mixture of soil organic matter, atmospheric gases and soil water. As they contain a component of atmospheric oxygen their isotopic signature should fluctuate with temperature We will investigate isotope dynamics of the granules in several ways 1. We will culture L. terrestris in three different soils at different temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations in a factorial arrangement - all possible combinations of temperature and carbon dioxide concentration will be investigated. We will sample granules after 30, 60, 90 and 120 days to confirm that isotopic steady state has been achieved. We anticipate that this will be the case on the basis of previous studies investigating C incorporation into granules. Differences in the isotopic compositions of the various components of our system and granules will be plotted against temperature to determine a relationship between isotopic composition and temperature 2. We will confirm the relative proportions of atmospheric, aqueous and organic matter C and O present in the granules by culturing L. terrestris in the same 3 soils. We will conduct the experiments at ambient carbon dioxide conditions with known moisture contents of different isotopic compositions. To keep costs down we will use Middle Eastern and American mineral waters. Again we will sample granules after 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. We will determine the relative proportions of our different C and O sources in our granules using mixing diagrams 3. Lastly we will perform U/Th dating and C and O analyses on granules donated by our project partners (English Heritage, Boxgrove) and interpret environmental conditions during granule formation using the relationships derived in our previous experiments. This will help interpret these important archaeological sites.

Around 251 million years ago, at the end of the Palaeozoic Era, a major crisis affected marine and terrestrial organisms, resulting in a catastrophic drop in animal and plant diversity. This crisis is known as the Permian mass extinction event. While the factors underlying this crisis are still unclear, one aspect of it stands out: life at large suffered a remarkable collapse. This extinction is the most dramatic of all large-scale biological crises that have taken place over the last 550 million years. The few survivors of the end Permian event are held to have undergone a slow recovery and were responsible for carrying out a 'critical mass' of diversity that allowed expansion of life at the beginning of the Mesozoic Era. This recovery was accompanied by a major remodelling of animal and plant communities, resulting in the dominance of certain groups that were poorly represented before the extinction, the emergence of new groups, and the establishment of modern-looking ecosystems and food chains. But just how dramatic was the end-Permian event? This project seeks to assess the impact of the Permian extinction on terrestrial vertebrate communities. Some groups of vertebrates appear to have carried on through the event seemingly unaffected; others showed a sudden or steady decrese in abundance and went extinct forever before the end Permian; yet others experienced an explosive radiation in the lowermost Triassic. It is clear that different vertebrates responded differently to the crisis, but the patterns and dynamics of the extinction require detailed scrutiny. This project therefore looks at ways in which data from the geological and fossil records can be amalgamated to offer a more precise characterization of a critical episode in the history of life, and to make sense of the patchy fossil documentation in terms of biological signal (evolution). There is much scope for clarifying whether an intense post-extinction 'rebound' is the sole or the main mechanism accounting for the elevated taxonomic richness (high diversity) of some groups in the lowermost Triassic (especially when compared to diversity values during the mid to late Permian), following a period of slow and steady recovery. But how slow was this recovery? So far, the analysis of evolutionary relationships of groups and studies of the organization and/or level of complexity of ecosystems have given contrasting answers and there are reasons to suspect that, once again, different types of vertebrates recovered at different rates. Furthermore, I aim to disentangle the complex interplay between originations and extinctions immediately before and after the extinction event and in order to assess the influence of secondary, small-scale (background) extinctions. This is important because it is known that some vertebrates disappeared or declined progressively some time before the Permian event. In addition, some other vertebrates went through a series of sudden diversification 'bursts' before the extinction proper. The project will attempt to tease out geographical or ecological factors that might drive patterns of declining diversity. In other words, the extinction may have selectively operated on groups that lived in certain regions and/or habitats. Finally, the project will determine whether observed variations in diversity before and after the Permo-Triassic extinction are strongly correlated with outcrop availability (extent and number of fossil-bearing localities) and whether abundance levels in some geological sections do in fact reflect real taxon richness. Corrections for missing portions of phylogeny are possible, and these provide a clearer picture of the extent to which groups are represented even in the absence of direct fossil evidence. Ultimately, this research aims to realise the potential of fossil vertebrates to uncover, refine or challenge evolutionary models during periods of major biotic disaster and large-scale faunal transformations.