This project deals with nonlinear light conversion and generation by exploiting sculptured electromagnetic modes in nano-dielectric architectures. It is based on the manipulation of Mie resonances in dielectric nanoparticles and in nanogaps in dielectric materials. Nanodielectrics can nano-localise electromagnetic fields with no optical losses, control light-matter interaction by exploiting co-localised electric and magnetic modes as well as their interference, and offer additional degrees of freedom for nonlinear conversion with unprecedented efficiency. We envisage that nano-dielectrics can lead to the milestone of nanoscale photon pair generation opening a path to nanoscale engineering of quantum systems.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Obesity is a modern pandemic which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted by 2015 will cause 2.3 billion adults worldwide to be overweight (Body Mass Index (BMI) 25-30 kg/m2) and 700 million adults to be obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2). One of the major complications of obesity is diabetes. Diabetes UK estimates that 2.6 million people in the UK suffer from diabetes with 95% of these having type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes). Medical therapy to control diabetes is disappointing. Medical therapy alone with coaching on lifestyle modification with exercise and reduced energy intake produces after 2 years an average of only 4.3% of excess body weight loss and a maximum of only 13% achieve remission of diabetes, usually far less. Improved blood sugar control after gastric bypass surgery occurs within days of surgery before significant weight loss suggesting that the improvement is related to the surgery. Following surgery, 41% of patients achieve remission with an HbA1c (a marker of long-term blood sugar control) below 6%. Despite its undoubted benefit, few operations are performed. In the UK only 3,600 were performed in 2009. Patients are understandably fearful of surgery despite the good outcomes. In an attempt to avoid surgery, a new device and concept has been developed called a duodenal-jejunal sleeve bypass (EndoBarrier). This is a removable sleeve-like device that is implanted inside part of the intestine and prevents food from being absorbed through the wall of that part of the intestine. We propose to randomize obese patients with a BMI of 30-50 kg/m2 and type 2 diabetes to best available medical therapy or the EndoBarrier for a period of a year. Both groups will receive lifestyle coaching from dietitians. The EndoBarrier will be removed from patients after a year and they will be followed up for a further year to identify whether any benefits are maintained after removal of the device. The primary outcome we will look at will be the proportion of patients in each group that achieve improvement in/resolution of their diabetes using measures defined by the International Diabetes Federation. Secondary outcomes will include the proportion of excess weight loss achieved and the frequency of adverse effects with the EndoBarrier. The majority of patients will be recruited from general practices in the areas surrounding the London and Southampton research sites. To better understand how the EndoBarrier works, participants can also opt to take part in further activities to look at gut hormones, insulin sensitivity, brain responses to viewing food pictures using functional MRI scans and gut bacterial studies.

We have recently described a disease caused by a defect in a gene required for the formation of a molecule called GPI. Affected children suffer from life-threatening blood clots and severe epilepsy. We found that in the DNA of these patients, attachment of a molecule called acetyl group, required for the proper function of genes, was very low; and that a drug called butyrate could restore attachment of the acetyl groups and thus restore the function of the gene. Furthermore, treatment of a patient with butyrate led to complete cessation of lifelong and uncontrollable seizures. With this work we would like to understand better the role of these acetyl groups in causing disease and how butyrate exerts its beneficial effect. We will also explore whether butyrate can benefit patients with other inherited and often lethal disorders for which no specific treatment exists.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.