Integrated Calendar

Low-dimensional nanostructures, which have at least one nano-scale length scale and at least one long length scale and include technologically promising cases like layered materials and nanowires, can exhibit unusual van der Waals dispersion forces. These manifest via "non-additive" contributions to the dispersion energy, which are excluded from models, such as D3, which sum over contributions across different constituent atoms. This talk will discuss the origin, role, and general weirdness of such effects. We will discuss the Dobson scheme for describing such effects and show some systems where conventional approaches to dispersion miss important qualitative and quantitative physics. New methods which capture some or all of these effects will be described. The importance of dispersion forces will be contextualised. Finally, we will digress into a new frontier of method development – easy modelling of low-lying excited states.

Radio frequency (RF) coil design for ultra-high field MRI scanners is an active field of research. We have recently developed an 8-channel transmit, 32-channel receive 7T head coil at the University of Glasgow. We focused on an open-faced design to make the setup less claustrophobic and more acceptable in a clinical environment. Furthermore, the coil can be used in both the scanner modes. I will also present our internal validation process which allows home-built RF coils to be used in vivo.

The brain is the target of intense scientific study, yet currently there is no theory of how it works at the system level. In this talk I will present the first such theory. The theory is biological and concrete, showing how motor and cognitive capacities arise from relatively understood biological entities. The main idea is that brain function is managed by a response (R) process whose structure is very similar to the process guiding the immune system. The brain has two instances of the R process, managing execution and need satisfaction. The stages of the execution process are implemented by different neural circuits, explaining the roles of cortical layers, the different types of inhibitory interneurons, hippocampal fields and basal ganglia paths. The stages of the need process are supported by different molecular agents, explaining the roles of dopamine, serotonin, ACh, opioids and oxytocin. The same execution process gives rise to hierarchical motor sequences, language, and imagery, while the need process explains feelings/emotions and consciousness in a mechanistic manner. The theory includes some aspects that are dramatically different from accepted accounts, e.g., the roles of basal ganglia paths, serotonin and opioids. The scope of the addressed phenomena is large, but they are all explained quite simply by the R process.