Gender and Digital Culture
by Jim Osborne via Digital Humanities | Digital Humanities
The Gender and Digital Culture Project is currently running its inaugural survey, and we need your help to enable us to understand how gender informs the ways people use digital communication in their professional lives. You can go to the survey right away by clicking here, or continue reading to find out more about the project itself. Part of the …
Monday’s DE lunch postponed
by Lisa Harris via Digital Economy USRG
Please note that Ben Mawson’s talk advertised for Monday 22nd July has been postponed until 14th October. A full list of Digital Economy Autumn events will be available from this site shortly. On Monday you may wish to attend this Web Science DTC event instead: Our next guest lecture is on Monday (22nd July) in […]
MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Investigating visual search behaviour during the monitoring of heat maps
by Florence Greber
By Florence Greber, undergraduate student (BSc Psychology), School of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences.
After being a Volunteer Research Assistant during my second year in the field of eye tracking and visual cognition, I am now working on a project linking Ship Science with this area of Psychology. Eye tracking is a method of measuring eye movements, which consist of fixations and saccades. Fixation locations and durations can be measured using an eye tracker which uses a video camera to measure the movements of the eye while participants are engaged with a visual task. The data gathered can tell us about how we process visual scenes, especially during visual tasks. I will be using a specific type of task, called visual search, to study behaviour. Visual search typically involves asking participants to search for a specific target amongst a set of non-target objects.
Control centres in ships and nuclear power stations create the need for humans to monitor and respond to a vast number of changing dials and control boards which are in a state of constant change. Within my interdisciplinary project, I will be examining eye movements made during a visual search task that is designed to mimic these types of complex monitoring environments. The key question that I will be addressing is how do we choose where to look and when to shift our gaze when engaged with complex monitoring tasks?
We are unable to process the visual information from all of the control panels simultaneously, so we make eye movements to focus on specific segments within them. These eye movements differ in duration and location. In a task where the displays are constantly changing and need to be monitored, a balance needs to be struck between spending time in one area monitoring the information without missing important information being presented elsewhere. This is vitally important in control centres as failing to notice a change or warning could have serious consequences.
I will be using a simplified version of these complex displays in my experiment. I will be presenting participants with a ‘heat map’ display. They will be asked to imagine they are in a power station control room, and that they must keep the system cool. The heat map will change in temperature over time, and participants will be asked to locate and click on hotspots to cool them down. Their eye movements will be measured while they complete the task. The key variables that will be manipulated experimentally will be the rate of change in the displays and the number of targets presented.
In the future, the heat map paradigm will be developed to explore the influences of individual differences and anxiety on visual search behaviour. A new PhD student will begin in the School of Psychology in October 2013 using this paradigm so a large number of experiments will follow the foundational work conducted as part of this bursary.
This Vacation Bursary project is supervised by Dr. Hayward Godwin.
MDR Vacation Bursary blog series available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/tag/vacation-bursary/
MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Heterogeneous catalysts
by Jamie Purkis
Design of single-site, heterogeneous catalysts for the energy efficient production of nylon precursors from renewable and biomass sources
By Jamie Purkis, undergraduate student, Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and the Environmental Sciences
I am a second year chemistry student currently studying for a Master of Science in Chemistry (MSc); part of which involves weekly undergraduate laboratory practicals.
After completing a practical on the synthesis of an ‘aluminophosphate’ catalyst (solid-state materials that can increase the rate of chemical reactions), I researched the field further and decided to apply for a summer project in the synthesis and characterisation of these materials.
Working under the supervision of Dr. Robert Raja and his research group, the project involves the careful design and testing of porous, heterogeneous catalysts made from aluminium and phosphorous precursors. Creating a reaction of these in water under high temperature and pressure, aluminophosphate catalysts can be synthesised. By subtly changing the composition of this reaction, the ratios of aluminium and phosphorous or even new elements, like cobalt and magnesium, can be incorporated into the catalyst framework, changing its properties.
Catalysts are then used in a variety of chemical transformations; for example, conversion of crude oil into petrol and diesel. Of particular interest to this project, however, is the industrial production of nylon, a very common polymer with a range of everyday applications (clothing, for example).
Traditionally, the production of nylon involves energy-intensive processes and environmentally-damaging reagents, some of which are harmful and can contribute to the emission of carbon dioxide by using lots of energy. The by-products from nylon production can also end up in landfill; not at all a ‘green’ process.
Nylon can be synthesised via intermediate chemicals, which can ultimately be derived from renewable plant sugars, like glucose and fructose. By designing and testing these catalysts, we aim to optimise its production from a range of possible renewable sources – so-called “green chemistry”. Using chemicals from plants obviously makes the process more renewable, and less energy-intensive, requiring less harmful reagents (the catalysis can even be done using oxygen from the air). Fewer non-renewable waste chemicals are produced and liberation of greenhouse gases can be mitigated.
Reducing waste and using less energy is clearly desirable for industry, making this area an ever-expanding field with a wide scope for development on the research done on this project. The synthesis, characterisation and screening of a range of aluminophosphate catalysts may also be developed further, with each one being tested for the efficiency of transformation processes. Therefore, industrial catalysis represents a possible avenue for my final year project or even a PhD research project.
MDR Vacation Bursary blog series available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/tag/vacation-bursary/
MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Engineering mechanically-defined microenvironments for stem cells
by Luke Goater
By Pernille Fladsrud, undergraduate student, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment
I just completed my third year in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Southampton, and will continue into my last year of a four-year Master of Science (MSc) degree after summer. My degree theme is engineering management, but I have also chosen to focus on bioengineering. This internship project is in collaboration with Dr Nick Evans, in the Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration and the Bioengineering Sciences Group. The field of research for this project is stem cells and wound healing, and how mechanical signals affect cell behaviour and wound healing.
Human adult skin is a heterogeneous tissue, and we’ve been attempting to model its mechanics in vitro. During my third year individual project I worked with Dr. Evans to design an apparatus to fabricate polyacrylamide hydrogel substrates with varying stiffness; i.e. surfaces whose stiffness varied as a function of distance in the x and y directions. We’ve been doing this to find out how stiffness variations affect the way skin cells differentiate, migrate and proliferate over a heterogeneous surface – a particularly important consideration during wound closure. The stiffness variation in the hydrogels was tested applying the method of Atomic Force Microscopy, and force maps were plotted of the various stiffness regions. (Figure 1)
Figure 1: Force maps of the low stiffness and high stiffness region in one single polyacrylamide hydrogel
We found that keratinocyte skin cells migrate to the areas of higher stiffness, which we predicted before the experiments. This can be seen in (Figure 2), where the cells have migrated to higher stiffness stripes in a striped patterned substrate. This Vacation Bursary project has given me the opportunity to further investigate the field of wound healing, and continue my interest within bioengineering.
Figure 2: Patterned hydrogel substrates, after 24 hours of cell culture with keratinocyte skin cells. Cells have preferentially migrated to areas of high stiffness.
At the moment we are investigating how topography alone, or topography in combination with varying stiffness, affects the behaviour of cells. The epithelium of the skin has an undulating topography, and we’re trying to model this by 3D printing various moulds with ‘doubly sinusoidal’ topographies – i.e. two crossing sinusoidal waves in a pattern with various wavelengths and amplitudes (Figure 3). We are collaborating with Shoufeng Yang in the Engineering Sciences Unit to achieve this. We are then seeding cells onto polyacrylamide hydrogels made from these moulds, and we will investigate how the “steepness” of the topography affects the skin cells.
Figure 3: Polyacrylamide gel substrate made in 3D printed mould
In my final master year after summer I will participate in a group design project with six other students, which aims to design a bioreactor. The Vacation Bursary project will help me develop my understanding regarding mechanical forces and signals connected to cell growth and development, which will be very beneficial in my further studies within bioengineering.
MDR Vacation Bursary blog series available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/tag/vacation-bursary/
Latest Insights: Digital technology, learner identities and school-to-work transition project
by Alison Simmance via Work Thought Blog
Latest Insights into the Digital technology, learner identities and school-to-work transition project by Michaela Brockmann. We are an interdisciplinary working group at the Work Futures Research Centre at Southampton University. Funded through SIRDF (Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund), our aim is to explore the role of digital technology in the formation of learner identities […]
MDR Vacation Bursary Project: Particle manipulation in liquid using ultrasonic methods
by Noorvir Aulakh
By Noorvir Singh Aulakh, undergraduate student, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment
Cell sedimentation in micro-cannulae posses a fundamental impediment in homogenous cell-delivery, during neurosurgical operations. The procedure requires the injection of neural stem-cells, directly into the patient’s brain. The injection procedure is realised through one of two methods. The former method involves the cell-containing cannula, oriented perpendicularly to the ground (the vertical configuration), while the latter bears the cannula parallel to the ground (the horizontal configuration). Sedimentation results in vastly inhomogeneous cell distribution across different injections from the same cannula. The aim of this project is to minimise this phenomenon using acoustic forces to levitate cells, in the suspension medium. To conduct the initial experimentation, I will be employing florescent micro-beads, suspended inside a capillary.
With the use of acoustic techniques, it possible to set up ultrasonic standing waves in the capillary. A PZT transducer attached to the capillary converts an electric signal input to a mechanical output. By modulating the experiment variables (frequency, amplitude etc. of the input signal), the particle suspension can be manipulated. Ideally, the cells would be forced into the mid-plane of the capillary, away from the walls.
There are, however, fundamental stipulations considering the design of the device. Proximity to brain tissue limits the size of the cannula, as well as strength of the ultrasonic forces. Furthermore, acoustic levitation of particles in stagnant flow conditions still remains a relatively unexplored topic.
I will be working under the supervision of Professor Martyn Hill, Dr. Dyan Ankrett along with, Dr. Dario Carugo. This project was conceived through the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where the neurosurgeons observed this cell-sedimentation predicament. It has therefore come to the attention of Southampton University Engineering Department, and successful results can be directly applied to today’s medical industry.
So what do the digichamps actually do?
by Lisa Harris via Digital Economy USRG
With many thanks to the film-making wizardry of Simon Morice, the interviewing skills of Flo Broderick and contributions from Gareth Beeston, Renaldo Bernard and Eamonn Walls…this is what the #digichamps do 🙂 See more on the Digichamps blog. It’s been a busy week for the digichamps. Here are Simon Morice and Flo Broderick preparing video […]
Mapping Libel Performance in Early Modern Devon: Results
by Clare Egan via Digital Humanities | Digital Humanities
The pilot resource mapping a sample of the performance-based libel cases from early-modern Devon is now complete. Its layers include the locations used for performance in all ten libel cases with attribute tables associated giving information about each case – these are plotted on a modern map of Devon showing geographical features such as county boundaries, elevation and rivers. The …
Using social media to present about social media…
by Lisa Harris via Digital Economy USRG
Making the most of social media preso with @graemeearl & @flobroderick to @multisoton #digichamps #sotonde http://t.co/eazPa40zoh — Lisa Harris (@lisaharris) July 4, 2013 As @lisaharris @GraemeEarl @FloBroderick are speaking about social media, I thought I should tweet about it! http://t.co/09vUbzg9xz #usrg — Rikki Prince (@rikkiprince) July 4, 2013 @GraemeEarl is live at the USRG Chairs […]