Timothy P. O'Sullivan

Agent technology and reconfigurable computing for mobile devices

Next-generation mobile devices will be multifunctional and be expected to execute a broad range of compute-intensive applications. They are constraint by their device and mobility characteristics in achieving these expectations. Reconfigurable logic has vast potential to facilitate mobile devices in meeting these future system performance requirements. This paper proposes incorporating reconfigurable computing and agent technology into mobile device environments. Agent technology is an ideal middleware for mobile device management enabling effective utilization of reconfigurable resources. Reconfigurable logic is integrated into the environment of a mobile device i.e. both into the physical device and into surrounding adaptive servers. An outline of the overall strategy is described. A detailed examination of enabling a client mobile device to dynamically offload reconfigurable hardware-software based computations to neighboring adaptive servers is presented. In addition, the paper details an initial demonstrator system within a medical environment.

Recent applications of gallium and gallium halides as reagents in organic synthesis

This review highlights the application of gallium metal and gallium halides as reagents in organic synthesis. Owing to their unique catalytic properties, gallium trihalides are considered effective Lewis acids which can activate several functional groups under extremely mild conditions. Gallium halides have been successfully employed as Lewis acid catalysts in various organic transformations such as alkylation, allylation, radical reactions, cycloaddition reactions, Friedel–Crafts reactions and various coupling reactions. This review seeks to update organic chemists about the potential application of gallium halides in the synthesis of a wide variety of chemical building blocks.

Advances in the synthesis of acyclic peroxides

Peroxide-containing compounds are an attractive synthetic target, given their widespread abundance in nature, with many displaying potent antimalarial and antimicrobial properties. This review summarises the many developments in the synthesis of acyclic peroxides, with a particular focus on the past 20 years, and seeks to update organic chemists about these new approaches. The synthetic methodologies have been subdivided into metal-catalysed reactions, organocatalytic reactions, direct oxidation reactions, miscellaneous reactions and enzymatic routes to acyclic peroxides.

The application of molecular tethers in controlling axial chirality

Atropisomeric biaryl compounds are an attractive target in organic chemistry due to their abundance in nature and their utility as ligands in catalysis. Among the methods available for their synthesis, the use of chiral tethers offers very high levels of stereocontrol. In this article, we review the application of molecular tethers in controlling axial chirality across a range of different ligands and natural products.

Modulation of antibiotic sensitivity and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by interspecies diffusible signal factor analogues

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can participate in inter-species communication through signaling by cis-2-unsaturated fatty acids of the diffusible signal factor (DSF) family. Sensing these signals involves the histidine kinase PA1396 and leads to altered biofilm formation and increased tolerance to various antibiotics. Here, we show that the membrane-associated sensory input domain of PA1396 has five trans-membrane helices, two of which are required for DSF sensing. DSF binding is associated with enhanced auto-phosphorylation of PA1396 incorporated into liposomes. Further, we examined the ability of synthetic DSF analogues to modulate or inhibit PA1396 activity. Several of these analogues block the ability of DSF to trigger auto-phosphorylation and gene expression, whereas others act as inverse agonists reducing biofilm formation and antibiotic tolerance, both in vitro and in murine infection models. These analogues may thus represent lead compounds for novel adjuvants to improve the efficacy of existing antibiotics.

A mobile health technology intervention for addressing the critical public health issue of child mortality

Evaluations of development initiatives in resource‐poor settings dominate Health Information Technology/Systems research. Yet a dearth of research exists, which documents the design and development of these technological artefacts. Through the lens of Transition Management Framework, this research attempts to address this gap in literature, to describe a particular technology (ie, Supporting LIFE—SL eCCM App) and the way in which its hardware, software, and system configurations interact with the sociocultural and economic context in one rural region of the Malawian community. This study uses a design science perspective to ensure the design and development of a health technology intervention that is relevant and has utility in the context for which it has been built, ie, Malawi Africa. This paper addresses the manner in which the configurations of a mobile Health intervention (known as Supporting LIFE eCCM App) interact within a developing world context. Supporting LIFE eCCM aims to leverage the critical societal issue of reducing child mortality in Malawi, Africa. The design science approach supports the design and build of a health intervention that is a good fit for the “real‐world” health scenario considered. Coupled with Geels Transition Management Framework, we emphasise the need for a balanced sociotechnical approach to mHealth, placing individuals at the centre of the IT development project while also considering social, economic, and cultural factors. These are key environmental aspects of a development project such as this one.