Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton

Introduction

BioXneT was setup in October 2011 to help bring together all bioengineering activities in the newly formed Faculty of Engineering and the Environment.

With a total membership of 55, the staff of BioXneT are united in their common aims to expand education, research and enterprise in Bioengineering in the Faculty.

May 2012

• O2 regulating bioactive glasses: breathing new life into tissue engineering

Dr Gavin Jell (UCL)
15:00 Friday 11th May 2012
B85/R2207



• Programming Cells

Andrew Phillips (Microsoft Research, Cambridge)
16:00 Wednesday 2nd May 2012
B44/R1041

Living cells are highly sophisticated computational machines, constantly processing information to survive, grow and reproduce. If we could program cells as effectively as we program digital computers, we could make fundamental breakthroughs in health and energy production, while also gaining insight into the workings of life itself. In spite of this potential, the task of programming cells remains highly complex, and we have reached a point where powerful computer software is needed to accelerate further progress. In this talk I will describe our preliminary efforts to develop computer software for programming cells. The software allows the desired behaviour of molecular components of the cell to be programmed, simulated, analysed and then automatically compiled to DNA code. I will also discuss some of the many challenges that remain, including how to accurately characterise molecular components and how to predict the dynamics of multi-cellular systems. In the same way that software for programming digital computers heralded a new era of technology, we anticipate that software for programming living cells could pave the way for a biotechnological revolution.



• Seminar on Dynamic Causal Modelling for M/EEG at ISVR

Dr. Vladimir Litvak
12:00 Tuesday 8th May 2012
B13/R3019

You are kindly invited to a free seminar at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) on “Dynamic Causal Modelling for M/EEG” presented by Dr. Vladimir Litvak a Senior Research Associate at the Welcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging from UCL Institute of Neurology. Dr. Litvak is responsible for developing EEG/MEG analysis methods and support of the SPM software package at UCL Institute of Neurology. More details can be found on https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/research/personal?upi=LITVA78. As we are trying to have an estimate of the number of people attending, if you are interested, please send an email to pth1v10@soton.ac.uk . I would appreciate it if you could circulate this email to the people you think are interested in this topic. Abstract: Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) is a framework bringing together data analysis and neural modelling. In DCM measured data are explained by a network model consisting of a few sources, which are dynamically coupled. This network model is fitted to the data using a Bayesian inversion scheme. Practically this means that what is being optimized is not only the goodness of data fit but also the deviation of model parameters from their expected prior values (e.g. physiologically meaningful range). Model inversion provides two main results. The model evidence is a single number specific to the combination of data and model which can be used to compare models and test specific hypotheses. The posterior density on model parameters can be used to make inferences about connections between sources or their condition-specific modulation under the model selected. For M/EEG data, DCM can be a powerful technique for inferring (neuronal) parameters not observable with M/EEG directly. Specifically, one is not limited to questions about source strength, but can test hypotheses about connections between sources in a network. In the recent years, several variants of DCM for M/EEG have been developed for modelling evoked responses, steady state power and cross-spectra, induced responses and phase coupling.

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2012

February 2012

• 5th Bioengineering Seminar

Alex Porter, Imperial College
13:00 Friday 10th February 2012
B85/R2207

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.porter

Electron microscopy of nanomaterial-tissue interfaces Dr Alexandra Porter, Department of Materials, Imperial College London http://www.london-nano.com/our-people/academics/alexandra-porter Following the huge growth in nanotechnology-related industries, significant concerns have arisen about their impact on both human health and the environment. Carbon nanotubes and silver nanostructures are amongst the most commercially relevant class of nanomaterial, with annual production capacities in thousands of tonnes. Despite great enthusiasm for the engineering applications of these classes of nanomaterial, recent studies have raised concerns about their potential health and environmental impact. There have been many reports on the toxicity of carbon and silver nanomaterials, however the data provided in these reports are inconclusive as there is little consistency between the toxicity assays being conducted or the physicochemical format of the nanomaterials being tested. This talk will describe studies being performed in our laboratory to develop a mechanistic understanding of how the physicochemical properties (i.e. aggregation state, surface characteristics and length) of engineered nanomaterials relate to their interaction with cells and proteins, both in situ and in vivo. The application of state-of-the art high resolution and analytical electron microscopy methods to characterise interfaces between the biological milieu and synthetic materials will also be discussed



• A Flick on the Bad Side: Understanding Underwater Fly

Dr Dominic Hudson and Professor Steven Turnock
14:00-15:00 Monday 6th February 2012
B27/R2001

Multidisciplinary Research Week



• An Introduction to the Rehabilitation and Health Technologies Group

Professor Jane Burridge and Professor Neil White
10:00-11:00 Tuesday 7th February 2012
B45/R0045

http://www.multidisciplinary.soton.ac.uk/events/2012/02/rehabilitation-and-health-technologies



• Droplet microfluidics: dynamics, unit operation and applications

Dr Xize Niu
14:00 Wednesday 8th February 2012
B13/R3021

We human being has been interested in droplets with a long history, from a water droplet rolling on lotus leaf to the first peeking into the micro world in a droplet of pond water under a microscope. However, with the development of microfluidic technologies, droplets have become a new paradigm of engineering tools for performing bio and chemical reactions, analysis, diagnosis and therapeutics. In this seminar, I will introduce the dynamics, unit operation and surface chemistry of droplet microfluidics. Its bio and analytical applications on biomolecules, cell screening and diagnosis will be addressed. An outlook on future engineering challenges will also be given. Speaker’s Bio: Dr. Xize Niu is a lecturer in Electromechanical Engineering at the University of Southampton. His research interests include microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip and their applications on drug screening, biosensors and diagnosis, protein separation and identification and DNA sequencing.



• Factors Involved in Performance Enhancement for Elite Swimming

Angus Webb & Joe Banks
12:00 Thursday 23rd February 2012
B28/R2001

With the requirement to seek ever smaller gains in elite sport, modern engineering techniques typical to the aerospace, automotive and marine industries are being utilised. In October 2009, British Swimming and UK Sport initiated the SwimSIM project with the University of Southampton to increase swimming performance prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games. This project involves three PhD students, with each focusing on a specific area. Joe Banks is working on CFD simulations in OpenFOAM to incorporate both the resistive and propulsive forces in swimming. Angus Webb is working on swimming race simulation to enable race time prediction. HIGHLIGHT: to be attended by Ms Kathy Read, who represented UK Olympics Swimming team in 1984,1988 and 1992 Olympics games.



• Multidisciplinary Research Week

Multidisciplinary Group
Monday 6th-10th February 2012
Various

http://www.multidisciplinary.soton.ac.uk/



• Noise in Schools Effects on Pupils and Teachers

Prof Bridget Shield (London South Bank Uni)
16:00 Tuesday 28th February 2012
B13/R3019

For the past 12 years Bridget has been carrying out research into the effects of noise and poor acoustic design on pupils and teachers in primary and secondary schools, in collaboration with the Institute of Education and (currently) University of Salford. The research has included questionnaire surveys of pupils and teachers, internal and external noise surveys of schools and experimental testing of pupils’ performance in cognitive tests. This talk will present some results of the research including the effects of classroom and environmental noise on pupils’ cognitive performance, school attainment scores and teachers’ health. The impact of the research in influencing current government policy on the regulation of the acoustic design of schools will also be discussed.



• Pushing the Multiphysics Analysis Boundaries in Bioengineering

Dr Mark Yeoman, Continuum Blue
11:00 Friday 17th February 2012
B27/R2003

http://www.continuum-blue.com

Performing multiphysics analysis studies for clients who have severe budget constraints and limited time scales of up to a few weeks can be difficult. Continuum Blue, a consultancy group has been performing multiphysics analysis studies for such clients worldwide, over a number of years. From medical applications, such as bone remodelling & the optimisation of acetabular implants, to tracking photon migration in biological tissues, to non-medical applications such as the heat treatment of metal alloys, to insect flight mechanics & subsea cable fatigue. This seminar will look at some of Continuum Blue’s analysis work in the bioengineering sector. Dr Mark Yeoman, is founder of Continuum Blue, a specialist company involved in technology development using multiphysics analysis techniques.



• Speech Recognition as an Aid to Hearing

Mike Wald, ECS
12:00 Tuesday 14th February 2012
B13/R3021

This seminar will explore the potential of speech recognition technology to provide great benefits to deaf and hearing impaired people by automatically transforming speech they find difficult to hear or understand into text that they can easily read. Dr Mike Wald is a founding member of the International Liberated Learning Consortium that since 1999 has worked with IBM to help turn this vision into a reality. His award winning web application 'Synote' has since 2008 used automatic speech recognition to automatically transcribe and caption lectures at the University of Southampton. Dr Wald leads the accessible technologies team at ECS (Electronics and Computer Science) University of Southampton and has taught deaf children and children with multiple disabilities, researched the scientific fitting of hearing aids at ISVR and was a chairman and founding member of the British Society of Audiology Hearing Aid Audiology Group.



• The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of self-management of dizziness in primary care with and without expert telephone support

Dr Sarah Kirby (Psychology)
12:00 Tuesday 28th February 2012
B13/R3021

Aims: This randomised controlled trial evaluated the cost effectiveness of booklet-based self-management of dizziness, with or without expert telephone support. Method: In a single blind two-centre pragmatic controlled trial, 337 patients from 35 GP practices were randomised to a) self-help booklet with telephone support from a vestibular therapist, b) self-help booklet alone, or c) routine medical care. Vertigo symptoms, anxiety, depression, dizziness handicap and quality of life were assessed by postal questionnaire at baseline, immediately post-treatment (12 weeks), and at one year follow-up. Findings: All groups showed improvement in symptoms after 12 weeks, but by one year the routine care group had deteriorated while both treatment groups continued to improve and had significantly lower scores than the routine care group (p = .01). The two treatment groups did not differ significantly from each other at either time point. Changes in handicap scores were also significantly improved in both treatment groups relative to routine care at 12 months. Cost-effectiveness analysis concluded that both active treatments have increased benefit at increased cost that fall well within the NICE threshold for recommending treatment. Discussion: Booklet-based self-management of dizziness, both with and without additional telephone support from a vestibular therapist, appears to have long-term benefit for dizzy patients and may be a useful tool in a stepped care approach.



• X-ray tomography & image analysis workshop for FEE researchers

MuVis Centre
09:00 - 16:00 27th February 2012
B22/2001

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~muvis/form_feb_2012.html

March 2012

• 6th Bioengineering Seminar

Dominique Pioletti
15:00 Tuesday 6th March 2012
B05/R2017

Details TBC



• BioXneT Open Meeting

Stefan Bleeck, Neil Bressloff, David Simpson
16:00 Tuesday 20th March 2012
B19/R3011

Overview of ISVR activities and BioXneT update



• BioXneT Working Group (3rd meeting)

Working Group
14:00 Friday 2nd March 2012
B25/Board room

Agenda TBC



• Cells dancing to Maxwell's equations

Professor Ron Pethig, University of Edinburgh
16:00 Wednesday 7th March 2012
B06/R1081

Engineers can use the electric polarisation theories and dimensional analysis techniques introduced by Maxwell to make cells "dance" under the command of electrical signals in lab-on-chip devices. This lecture will map the journey from Maxwells demonstration of the worlds first colour photograph, to the development at Edinburgh of the worlds smallest TV screen, and show its potential to switch on and program networks of neurons. These technologies offer new methods for diagnosing disease for drug discovery and repairing tissue damage. Many cells, but only one equation (an object of beauty) will be shown.



• Computational Biomechanics in Treatment and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in Africa

Dr Thomas Franz
16:00 Monday 5th March 2012
B7/R3019

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) will become the leading cause of death by 2020 superseding infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. In Africa, a dramatic increase in CVD incidences is expected, predominantly in children, in the near future. This development concurs with the emergence of a new epidemic of obesity, diabetes and uncontrolled hypertension, partially based on improvement of socio-economic conditions and adoption of a western diet. Efficient and affordable strategies for treatment and prevention of CVD are urgently needed. With the trend to therapies based on regenerative medicine, multi-disciplinary approaches are increasingly required. The importance of biomechanics in many of these approaches, alongside cellular bioengineering, advanced biomaterials, and other disciplines is only emerging. This talk will address challenges of biomechanics in treatment of cardiovascular diseases, such as acute myocardial infarction, vascular diseases and rheumatic heart disease, with particular reference to the African situation. Thomas Franz is an Associate Professor and heads the Cardiovascular Biomechanics Laboratory of the Chris Barnard Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Cape Town.



• Conversation ability in acquired hearing impairment.

Christopher Lind, Flinders Uni, South Australia
Tuesday 6th March 2012
B13/R3021

Improvements in speech reception and self- and other-reported conversation skills are commonly used as measures of successful rehabilitative intervention. However, no clinical method currently exists by which direct observation of conversational ability can support these changes. This presentation will address theoretical issues and research methods in assessing rehabilitation outcomes using conversationally-driven goals. Conversation behaviours attributed to the influence of acquired HI will be presented that may assist in identifying intervention goals and outcome measures. The presentation will also consider the consequences of a conversationally-oriented therapy model for current aural rehabilitation intervention techniques by contrasting conversational with audiovisual perspectives on assessment and intervention, using Continuous Discourse Tracking as an example. Finally, future clinical and research directions will be identified.



• Effects of sound on marine mammals

Prof Peter Tyack (University of St Andrews)
16:00 Thursday 1st March 2012
B19/R3011

Peter is an internationally leading researcher in the area of marine mammals; one aspect of this work is the impact of anthropogenic sound on marine life. Whilst working at Woods Hole Oceanography Institute (WHOI) Peter lead the team developing the DTag an acoustic recorder which has revolutionized our ability to understand the way that marine mammals utilize sound. Peter also lead the international research team that studied why beaked whales strand in response to the use of mid-frequency military sonars.



• Robotics for NeuroRehabilitation: The COST European Network Conference at Southampton University


09:30 19th March 2012
B45

http://store.southampton.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&prodid=46&deptid=33&catid=29

Bringing together researchers in rehabilitation, neuroscience, engineering and psychology who share a common objective – to make the vision of robot therapy a practical and effective clinical reality. The conference is supported by the European COST Action Network ‘Robotics for Neurorehabilitation’ and the University of Southampton. The aim of the COST Network is to take robot therapy out of the research lab and into hospital rehabilitation centres and patients’ homes. The conference will be highly relevant to therapists, clinicians and people involved in the provision of services as well as scientists and engineers.



• Underwater Noise in the North Sea: a view from the east

Michael Ainslie
14:00 Friday 2nd March 2012
B13/R3019

The North Sea, while separating the Netherlands from the United Kingdom, provides a shared natural heritage that both nations are committed to protect. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires Member States to work together towards Good Environmental Status, defined as a situation in which "Introduction of energy, including underwater noise, is at levels that do not adversely affect the marine environment". A description is given of a Dutch perspective on sources of sound in the North Sea, including an assessment of the levels at which the sound might have adverse effects on marine life. A diverse set of case studies includes sound from ships, airguns, impact pile drivers, explosives and military search sonar.

April 2012

• Characterising the listening behaviour of the hearing impaired with speech in background noise

Michael Stone (Cambridge University)
12:00 Tuesday 24th April 2012
R3021/B13

Researchers commonly look at the difference in performance between normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners in order to understand the nature of the losses due to the impairment. One such difference, called 'Masking Release', appeared to show that HI listeners were unable to benefit from the fluctuations in the background noise that temporarily make target speech more audible. Using the opportunities provided by these gaps, the target speech should be more intelligible compared to that possible when the noise is continuous or steady. An alternative description was that the HI were deemed unable to 'listen in the dips'. Using data from recent papers from American labs, combined with data from testing HI in our laboratory, Michael will attempt to show that the HI can exhibit similar listening strategies to the NH and so are not as 'disabled' as previously thought.



• Computational approaches to standard-compliant biofilm data for reliable analysis and integration.

Dr Analia Lourenco (University of Minho)
15:00 Friday 27th April 2012
B85/R6003

Most of the existing microorganisms subsist as heterogeneous surface-associated colonies known as biofilms. Understanding the persistence of these colonies is of great importance to human development, namely to clinical, industrial and environmental areas. Biofilms have numerous biotechnological applications and are a major cause of infection, presenting an increasing resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics. Similarly to other research domains, the biofilm domain is entering the omics age and, as biofilm research grows to be a data-intensive discipline, the need for suitable bioinformatics approaches becomes compelling. However, efforts are hampered by the inexistence of a concerted strategy for data standardisation, organisation and deposition. Therefore, we proposed two computational approaches to biofilm data standardisation and organisation: Morphocol and BiofOmics frameworks. These frameworks will allow the search and comparison of similar biofilm and biofilm-phenotypic signatures, and enable data integration and interoperability across research groups as well as with other biological databases. MorphoCol is a new Web-based framework for the modelling and analysis of biofilm phenotypic signatures, supported by the novel phenotypic ontology, the Colony Morphology Ontology (CMO), to share knowledge on the colony morphology variations of infection-causing bacteria. BiofOmics addresses data standardisation on new-to-come biofilm experiments, as well as on already published studies, and allows the storage and exchange of biofilm data. To ensure the interpretability of experimental results as well as their independent verification, we are also developing a standard initiative called MIABiE, the Minimum Information About a Biofilm Experiment. Hopefully, this will be the starting point for broader community discussion and proactive participation.



• Engineering bioactive and biomimetic surfaces using polymers

Dr Iain Dunlop (Imperial College)
13:00, Friday 20th April 2012
B85/R2207

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/i.dunlop

General

• Biomedical Engineering

Education

Undergraduate programmes: 

• MEng Mechanical Engineering / Bioengineering (4 yrs)

• BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science (Audiology) (3 yrs)

Postgraduate taught programmes:

• MSc Audiology (1 yr)
• MSc Bioengineering (1 yr)
• MSc in Advanced Tribology (1 year) starting in 2012 pending approval

Short courses:

• Audiology
• Demystifying Biomedical Signals

Documents

• Spring Open Meeting Update March 2012
• Biomedical Engineering in ISVR March 2012
• Working Group Report March 2012
• Working Group Report November 2011
• Inaugural Open Meeting Report October 2011