Mini-project (experimental)- Label-Free Microarrays to Probe Host-Pathogen Interactions []

supervisor: Matthew Gibson

Abstract:

Carbohydrates play an important role in recognition events in biological systems. They control many systems including: host-pathogen interactions and response, growth and development and fertilisation. A class of carbohydrate binding proteins known as lectins mediates these interactions. Characterisation of these interactions is often challenging, labelled lectins are often used to determine interactions between protein and carbohydrates but the labelling process has been shown to interfere with the binding of proteins to their substrates. This project identifies the use of gold nanoparticles as a label-free alternative for studying lectin-carbohydrate interactions and also identifies the potential of using image analysis as a tool for studying binding behaviours of lectins. The use of gold nanoparticles as a label-free technique was analysed through generating binding curves for various lectins (Concanavalin A, peanut agglutinin and cholera toxin subunit B) and testing inhibitory compounds for the binding of peanut agglutinin.

Mini-project (theoretical)- Measuring complexity in EEG in response to speech stimuli []

supervisor: James Harte

Abstract:

Early diagnosis of hearing conditions such as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) plays a crucial role in the future development of a child with this condition as it impacts on their speech. Conditions such as CAPD cannot be identified with standard hearing tests as in a noise free environment the child can understand speech and hear tones, but as the environment becomes increasingly noisy, understanding becomes increasingly dicult for them. This paper uses a new method of nonlinear time series analysis known as multiscale entropy analysis to analyse electroencephalography (EEG) recordings containing a simulated auditory evoked potential to determine its use as a tool for analysing EEG data as a non-invasive objective hearing test. Various aspects of information coding in EEG signals were analysed and amplitude of the EEG signal was determined to be the most important aspect for detetcting the presence or absence of auditory evoked potentials in EEG signals.