This research proposal aims to analyse the role of a feeding-associated hormone in stimulating the generation of new brain cells. The ability to generate new adult brain cells is very important for normal healthy brain function. A reduced ability to form new neurones is associated with the common and debilitating brain disorders, dementia and depression. This research will use state-of-the-art tools, established by engineers, that will allow us to look at brain cells in far greater detail than previously possible. The application of these nano-scale tools to neuroscience will provide invaluable information on the precise structure and function of brain cells over time. Ultimately, this novel approach will characterise the mechanism of new brain cell generation leading to new targets for the treatment of dementia and depression.

Flow-induced vibration can occur in many engineering systems and structures such as bridges, transmission lines, aircraft control surfaces, offshore structures, marine cables, and other hydrodynamic applications. A novel approach to attenuate such vibrations could be the application of mechanical metamaterials, which are artificial engineering materials having unique elastic wave propagation properties based on the existence of stop and pass bands originating from the material or geometric periodicity. Nonlinear energy sinks are having a wider frequency band of vibration attenuation than linear vibration absorbers due to strong nonlinear stiffness. This project aims at taking the functionality of metamaterials to the next level by performing the design, modeling and experimental aspects of advanced materials research by combining the features of a hysteretic nonlinear energy sink, energy harvesting, dissipation effects and tuning of metamaterial properties based on magnetorheological composite in the metamaterial subunit design. This, in turn, will give rise to a novel class of semi-active magnetorheologically tuned metamaterials (MTMs) for flow-induced wing flutter and pipeline vibration control using linear and nonlinear approaches for bandgap forming, vibration attenuation, and energy harvesting. The computational framework based on numerical and semi-numerical methods together with pseudo-arc continuation techniques will be developed to discover dispersion characteristics of linear models, and frequency-responses and bifurcation points of nonlinear models. Novel 3D printing techniques will be developed for the fabrication of MTMs with magnetorheological composite. Experiments will serve to validate mathematical models and identify parameters of the nonlinear MTM models for the purpose of numerical simulations. Optimization procedures will be carried out to maximize the efficiency of developed metamaterials for flutter and pipeline vibration control.

The SMART-UP project will initiate innovative devices called piezoelectric-dampers (PiDs) to be embedded in modern tall buildings for simultaneous structural elements connection and energy harvesting (EH). PiDs are composite elements (piezoelectric+steel or rubber) located in the connections between buildings’ structural members and engaged by wind-induced oscillations to transform the kinetic energy of the oscillating structure into electricity. The concept of PiD is transformative as this will scale-up currently developed piezoelectric EH (pzEH) techniques at the micro and meso-scales to the truly macro scale. pzEH devices have never been implemented as structural connections in civil buildings for a number of reasons, such as the inadequacy of piezo materials in carrying loads and low frequencies of the vibrations occurring in buildings. These will be comprehensively addressed in SMART-UP by innovative in-parallel coupling schemes between piezo and the load-carrying members such as steel and/or rubber and by allowing the piezo-blocks working in nonlinear regimes arising from buckling or impact. These features will allow their implementation in buildings for powering wireless sensors provided for building automation, which leads to an increment of the building sustainability, and for structural-health monitoring, leading to an increase of the building resilience. Thanks to the introduction of these novel macroscale EH skills, the SMART-UP project makes a step-change in high-rise buildings design and management, by defining a new breed of tall SMART buildings with self-powering, adaptive-in-behavior capabilities. The envisioned buildings not only resist wind loads, but they exploit wind-induced vibrations to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their performances. They will push Europe moving forward to the smart cities era, which is of paramount importance in our modern technological and connected/inclusive society.

Medicine?s tremendous progress in recent decades is closely linked to the ever increasing use of biomaterial implants, that is, artificial devices which are implanted into patients? tissues, such as some types of catheters (or large ?drips?) in blood vessels, artificial joints and heart valves, cardiac pacemakers, artificial intraocular lenses, and shunts in the brain. Infection is a major complication of the use of such devices causing major suffering and mortality for the affected patients, and significant costs for the health care system and society in general. Once the devices become infected it is very difficult to eradicate the infection, and often the devices must be removed again, and further procedures undertaken to replace them. In some cases replacement procedures, as well as the infection itself, carries very high risks to the patient. The organism causing these infections most frequently, namely, Staphylococcus epidermidis, has risen from rare obscurity as a pathogen to be one of the five major causes of health-care associated infection in line with MRSA, Clostridium difficile, and other antibiotic resistant organisms. Staphylococcus epidermidis has a particular propensity to adhere to, or colonise, biomaterial surfaces. Better understanding of the interaction of this bacterium with biomaterial surfaces, and the changes in the properties of the organisms during process is urgently needed. We have recently found that different biomaterials enhance expression of the mechanisms involved in bacterial colonisation in measurably different ways. We seek to better understand these processes, which may lead to the rational development and evaluation of biomaterials less prone to colonisation and infection. The reduction of the number of biomaterial-related infections through these new developments by only a few percent could prevent unnecessary incapacity and sufferings for thousands of patients, not to mention large cost savings.

Global plastic production is now estimated at 280 million tons per year (Plastic-Europe 2012). As a consequence of this increasing global demand, synthetic thermoplastics (e.g., polyethylene) comprise the most abundant and rapidly growing component of anthropogenic debris entering and accumulating in terrestrial and aquatic habitats worldwide. Nowadays, industrial and domestic products have become two of the most rapidly growing sources of microplastic particles entering into the water system. They include polymeric fibres released by washing of synthetic clothing and also, hand, body, and facial cleansers that contain tiny polyethylene and polystyrene particles with less than 1 mm in diameter. The average consumer now has a microplastic-containing product in their home and uses it on a daily basis. For example, the majority of facial cleansers in supermarkets list polyethylene as an ingredient, present in forms described as ''micro-beads", ''microbead formula" or ''micro exfoliates". This is because microplastics have now replaced the more expensive natural exfoliating materials (e.g. oatmeal, apricot or walnut husks) in body and facial cleansers. This increased use of domestic products containing microplastic particles gives raise to the assumption that such particles will - at least to some extent - be found in the environment with unknown consequences for the long term. The objective of this PhD project is to advance the understanding of the fate of microplastics derived from industrial and domestic products in the municipal waste water treatment process, and assess the transfer of such particles into the environment via freshwater release and soil application (via sludge/biosolids). Currently, the quantification of microplastic particles in the environment has revealed mixed results ranging from stable to increasing concentrations. It needs to be noted that robust and consistent methodology is only starting to emerge, with most data being available for the marine environment. However, one major gap in the analysis of the fate of microplastics derived from industrial and domestic products is the assessment of amounts released into the environment after wastewater treatment. A very important factor to be considered is that bacterial colonisation can change the properties of microplastic particles, i.e. it can change the density of the particles thus making them heavier. This might lead to a higher fraction of particles found in bio-solids before treated water is released into the environment. Furthermore, the microorganism-rich wastewater environment might contain organisms favouring colonisation of particles. This leads to the question if microorganisms prevalent in waste water treatment plants can degrade microplastic particles as has been described for mangrove soil as well as for specific bacteria like Rhodococcus ruber. Being an interdisciplinary studentship, the student will benefit from a variety of research training including high resolution microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, molecular characterisation of bacteria (sequencing), wastewater treatment, experimental programme design and execution and expert state-of-the-art instruction in analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis and microbiology. The student will fully participate in the Graduate School's Brunel University training programme (including the Institute of Physics accredited courses in electron microscopy, surface analysis and materials characterisation), and attend and present work at national and international conferences. In addition, the student will have the opportunity to work with the Fera scientists, at the forefront of molecular biology methods and of studies of the fate and behaviour of contaminants in the environment. The student will also get an impression on Fera's applied research leading to science solutions for private and public sectors.