BU Research Blog

13 July 2017

Global golf business and management book hits the shelves

international, Research themes tbreitbarth

Golf occupies a prominent place in the global sport community and BU is one of only a few universities offering a full degree course on golf management. Dr Tim Breitbarth (Department of Sport & Physical Activity) is the lead editor of the first book that introduces the fundamentals of golf business and management from a truly international perspective. 30 authors from 6 continents are covering key topics such as media, club management, sponsorship and retail, at elite and non-elite levels. Already, the book has received endorsement from the top of the golf sector, namely Guy Kinnings (Global Head of Golf, IMG) and Martin Slumbers (Chief Executive, The R&A).

With sections exploring the development of golf on every single continent, this book presents the latest thinking on current issues in golf, ranging from sustainability and innovation to global governance. Each chapter incorporates helpful features for students including learning objectives, discussion questions, guides to further reading, recommended websites and insights from industry voices.

Essential reading

This book co-edited together with Sebastian Kaiser-Jovy (Heilbronn University, GER) and Geoff Dickson (AUT, New Zealand) is essential reading for students of any golf-related degree course or professional accreditation programme, and will also be of interest to those studying or working in sport business, sport management and sport tourism. Underpinned by up-to-date literature, golf researchers will also find the book a useful starting point.

Contributors range from internationally renowned academics such as professors David Shilbury (Deakin University, AUS) and Karen Danychuk (Western University, CAN) to a senior vice president at Club Managers Association of America (USA) and managers at PricewaterhouseCoopers (Switzerland) and Brazilian Golf Federation. Also, ex-BU PhD student associate professor Brendon Knott (SA), BU honorary PhD Eddie Bullock (UK) and BSc sport management golf alumni Luke Frary (UK) have contributed their golf expertise.

For more information, including contents, contributors and purchasing options, see: https://www.routledge.com/Golf-Business-and-Management-A-Global-Introduction/Breitbarth-Kaiser-Jovy-Dickson/p/book/9781138957176

Dr Tim Breitbarth (Principal Academic and Global Engagement Lead, Department of Sport & Physical Activity) is available at tbreitbarth@bournemouth.ac.uk

Reviews by Guy Kinnings (Global Head of Golf, IMG) and Martin Slumbers (Chief Executive, The R&A)

“In 1960, a handshake between Mark McCormack and Arnold Palmer became the foundation of not just golf management but modern sport business. In 2017 and beyond, we must all work toward addressing some of the challenges that the sport naturally has to overcome to evolve and remain relevant. With, for example, the re-introduction of golf to the 2016 Olympics, the momentum is on our side. There is great opportunity in global golf.”

“One of the key challenges for the golf industry is to be alive to the changing demands of people’s modern day lifestyles, particularly when research demonstrates that a younger generation of golfers would like to play alternative, shorter forms of the game in a quicker time. It is also important that we educate golf’s current and future executives about effective business and management practices and this book will have an important role to play in that regard.”

13 July 2017

Santander Staff Mobility project – Research capacity building and networking to tackle the issues of food waste management and poverty alleviation in Latin America

Fusion, international, Knowledge Exchange vfilimonau

I have recently returned from a BU Santander Staff Mobility sponsored trip to Lima (Peru) where I visited Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru (PUCP). PUCP is one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious private institutions of higher education in Peru which offers circa 50 undergraduate and over 70 postgraduate degrees with the total student population of around 22,000 (Figure 1). The purpose of the visit was to enhance existing and establish new contacts with Peruvian academics whose interests revolve around the remits of sustainable urban development, food waste management, and poverty alleviation.

As part of my visit, I delivered a series of guest lectures to the student and academic staff communities at PUCP. The content of these lectures was shaped around the topic of food waste management as applied in the context of household consumption, grocery retail, and hospitality. The lectures highlighted the outcome of the case studies that have recently been carried out by academics in the Faculty of Management at BU in the UK sectors of interest. The lectures were well attended and attracted numerous questions given the growing magnitude of food waste generation in Lima which is in part due to inefficient managerial practices adopted by the local hospitality and grocery retail operators alongside irresponsible consumer behaviour.

A research seminar was also organised for members of the CONURB (Urban Development, Governance and Social Housing) research group at PUCP where the issues of urban poverty and food security as applied to the realm of Lima, a large and rapidly growing metro area in Latin America with substantial levels of societal inequality, were discussed. The research seminar was supplemented with a study visit to one of the largest slum areas of Lima. These are usually located on the city slopes (Figure 2), poorly regulated and characterised by the prevalence of severe issues of socio-economic (for example, malnutrition, poor hygiene and limited access to education) and environmental (for instance, restricted water supply) nature. A number of research contacts were made and a number of promising research directions were identified during the visit and it is envisaged that these will be sustained and explored in more detail in the future.

The visit has enhanced research capacity and research reputation of BU in Peru and outlined a number of potential collaborative opportunities to pursue with academics at PUCP / CONURB. Furthermore, the visit has already generated some tangible outcome as a joint application for seed research funding has been submitted to Ecoinvent, a Switzerland-based consultancy which collates environmental impact related data on various industrial and societal processes, both in developed and developing economies, and subsequently approved (total value of the grant is £35,823). Another application for research funding with academics from CONURB has been submitted to Ecoinvent and is currently awaiting a decision.

For more information about this project, please contact Dr Viachaslau Filimonau, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management in Faculty of Management, at vfilimonau@bournemouth.ac.uk

Figure 1 Figure 2

10 July 2017

Helping surgeons when things go wrong

conferences smcdougall

1-day BU conference examining the effect of adverse events on surgeons, 8^th September 2017

A group of BU researchers are working in partnership with Royal Bournemouth Hospital to carry out research examining the consequences of complications and errors on surgeons’ lives. On September 8th 2017 we are holding a one day conference to highlight the effects of dealing with adverse events. We have been fortunate in attracting eminent speakers from around the UK to contribute to the conference which will be held at the Executive Business School on the Lansdowne Campus.

Speakers include:-

Sir Miles Irving (Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Manchester University)
Dr Clare Gerada (Medical Director, NHS Practitioner Health Programme)
Professor Debbie Cohen (Director, Centre for Physician Health, Cardiff University)
Dr Mike Peters (Medical Director, BMA Doctors for Doctors Unit)
Dr Suzanne Shale (Medical ethicist advising national bodies following healthcare harm)

Speakers will present the latest research in the area, share insights from their surgical careers and personal experiences, and consider how better support and training can be provided for surgeons.

If you are interested in attending (attendance is free for BU staff) or would like to know more please visit www.surgeonwellbeing.co.uk or contact Professor Siné McDougall (smcdougall@bournemouth.ac.uk; ext. 61722).

9 July 2017

Successful Breastfeeding Debate in 2017 Festival of Learning

Festival of Learning, Public engagement Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday, on the first day of BU’s Festival of Learning, we organised a debate on breastfeeding in society. The debate was structured around the motion “This house believes that: Breastfeeding is over-rated and unpopular.”

In favour of the motion argued Dr. Ann Luce from the Faculty of Media and Communication (FMC) and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS).

Against the motion argued Dr. Catherine Angell (CMMPH) and Ms. Sue Hurst midwife and lactation advisor at St Mary’s Maternity Hospital which is part of Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Before the debate started Prof. Vanora Hundley (CMMPH) asked the audience to vote on the motion. At this first vote the audience overwhelmingly voted against the motion (86%). After the presentations of the four debaters the audience was asked to vote again and this time the against vote had dropped to 71%. Prof. Hundley then opened up the debate to the wider audience and, after an occasionally heated debate, the audience were asked for their final vote. On this final occasion 85% voted against.

There was a general agreement that breastfeeding beneficial for both mother and baby and hence that it was not over-rated. There appeared to be sympathy for the view that breastfeeding was not popular, or at least not as popular as it should be, considering how good it is!

8 July 2017

Tenth anniversary PLOS ONE

BRIAN, international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

On the tenth anniversary of the international Open Access journal PLOS ONE we received an email to inform us that one of our articles was among the top ten per cent of most cited articles in this journal. The email referred to our paper ‘Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal: A mixed-methods study’ [1]. Not bad considering that PLOS ONE has published over 4,300 articles since its inception.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

7 July 2017

Xiaosong Yang attends the Computer Graphics International 2017 in Yokohama, Japan

BRIAN, conferences, international, REF Subjects xyang

Thanks to the QR funding from the Faculty of Media and Communication, I recently had the privilege to attend the Computer Graphics International 2017 in Yokohama, Japan. CGI is a prestigious conference in the graphics world for many years and attracts interest from people all over the world. We have one paper presented on the conference, as a full paper, it will be published in the Visual Computer Journal by Springer-Verlag.

We have hosted the CGI2012 at Bournemouth. CGI2017 is held at Keio University, Yokohama chaired by Prof. Issei Fujishiro and Prof. Xiaoyang Mao. The first day (27^th June) events are majorly tutorials and workshops. The shining part is the keynote by Prof. Marina Gavrilova from University of Calgary, discussing how to use machine learning for social data analysis through image and video processing, especially multiple modal biometric data acquisition, feature matching, fusion and recognition. One interesting application is gender prediction using image aesthetics.

The second day’s keynote is “reconstructing reality: from physical world to virtual environments” by Prof. Ming Lin from University of North Carolina. She firstly gave an introduction on the history of VR and AR, then talked about her work on human tissue material property estimation from real surgery videos, virtual dressing, crowd and traffic pattern learning from videos of real world, finally the sound and haptic rendering in VR environment. Daniel Thalmann (chair of the conference) held the panel discussion on the future of machine learning in graphics. There were lots of other paper presentations on the second day covering many topics including image, texture, modelling, rendering, deformation and visualization.

The third day’s keynote is “Studies on Humanlike robots” by Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro. He showed the latest state-of-the-art robot in Japan, the mimic version of himself. Obviously lots of small human robots have been used in some restaurants to entertain guest during food ordering. My student Tao Jiang presented his paper in the morning session.

I chaired a session on the fourth day on papers working on image & example based modelling. There are also some posters presented during the conference.

This is a very good opportunity to network with top experts in the world. I had good chat with many people such as Prof. Henry Fuchs (Guru in the VR world), Prof. Ming Lin, Prof. Marina Gavrilova, Prof. Kwan-Liu Ma (leading expert in the visualization, chaired the top visualization conferences in the world), Prof. Shimin Hu (Tsinghua University), Prof. Enhu Wu (Chinese Academy of Science), and also some other experts from Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, USA and China etc. There is also a discussion with a professor from German about collaboration on 3D living environment reconstruction from old photos for dementia patient/old people. This is a very exciting and intensive experience for four full days, sharing different ideas, building links and research collaborations.

6 July 2017

Why Yawning is Important in Studying Multiple Sclerosis by Dr Simon Thompson

BRIAN, conferences, Fusion, innovation, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement, Research themes, staff profile pages Simon Thompson

What is MS?

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating and progressive condition that affects the fatty tissue sheath surrounding nerves. Loss of the myelin sheath is largely responsible for uncoordinated movements because the nerves cannot transmit signals smoothly across the complex neural circuitry. A common symptom of MS is excessive yawning together with fatigue.

Research study

Following recent completion of a study at the Osborne Centre, West Parley, we found that people with MS had higher cortisol levels when yawning compared with healthy participants.

Previous research at Bournemouth University

This research follows several years of research by the author at Bournemouth University with the first report on the “yawning envelope”, identifying the electrical trace during yawning (Refs. 1-2), and the first report on the association between yawning and cortisol levels following provoked yawning (Refs. 3-6).

Yawning “envelope”

“Contagious” yawning is seen in animals as well humans; it may involve empathy to perceived social cues in humans.

Yawning: (clockwise) Fox, Pig, Human, Hippopotamus

A series of 3 Q and A events with talks about findings was held at the MS Society local branch which facilitated an interesting and lively debate among participants, researchers and staff at the Centre.

Further research planned

We believe that threshold levels of cortisol trigger the yawn response which lowers brain temperature, particularly important in MS where brain temperatures can be elevated considerably following fatigue. A funding bid is in preparation to examine early detection of MS using these findings.

About the author

Simon B N Thompson is Associate Professor, Bournemouth University; and Visiting Professor, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France. He has presented to His Excellency Bernard Emié, the French Ambassador at the French Embassy, signalling formation of the Anglo-French International Scientific Council for Research into Multiple Sclerosis.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all volunteers; Alister Coleman and Nicola Williams for assisting in data collection and analysis; Rod Slip, Group Co-ordinator and Kay Bundy, Fundraising Co-ordinator of the MS Society Osborne Centre for providing free facilities.

References

1. Thompson, S.B.N., 2013. How to catch a yawn: initial observations of a randomised controlled trial. WMC Neurology, 4(8), doi: 10.9754/journal.wmc.2013.004371.
2. Thompson, S.B.N., Frankham, C., & Bishop, P., 2014. The art of capturing a yawn using the science of nerve impulses and cortisol levels in a randomized controlled trial. Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis as a potential predictor of neurological impairment. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 7(3), 529-543.
3. Thompson, S.B.N., 2011. Born to yawn? Cortisol linked to yawning: a new hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, 77, 861-862.
4. Thompson, S.B.N., & Bishop, P., 2012. Born to yawn? Understanding yawning as a warning of the rise in cortisol levels: randomized trial. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 1(2), e4, 1-9, doi: 10.2196/ijmr.2241.
5. Thompson, S. B. N., Daly, S., Le Blanche, A., Adibi, M., Belkhiria, C., Driss, T., de Marco, G., 2016. fMRI randomized study of mental and motor task performance and cortisol levels to potentiate cortisol as a new diagnostic biomarker. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 7(2); 92: 1-8.
6. Thompson, S.B.N., 2017. Hypothesis to explain yawning, cortisol rise, brain cooling and motor cortex involvement of involuntary arm movement in neurologically impaired patients. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 8(1); 167: 1-5.

5 July 2017

Performance of Gemmeleg at NIME 2017, Copenhagen

conferences, international, REF Subjects tdavis

Rehearsal in the Black Diamond

Gemmeleg is a composition by Laura Reid cellist/composer for the performance system The Feral Cello developed by Dr Tom Davis.

This piece was performed at the prestigious Black Diamond concert venue in Copenhagen as part of the international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIME.

The Feral Cello is a performance system developed by Tom Davis that incorporates machine listening and actuated feedback to alter the response of an acoustic cello in real time during a performance. A description of the performance system was also presented as a poster at the conference.

Previous performances have been at NoiseFloor 2017, Staffordshire University.

The Black Diamond Venue

5 July 2017

ADRC at Quality Matters Conference, Poole Lighthouse, 29th June 2017

conferences, Public engagement mobrien

Joanne Holmes from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre ( ADRC) was invited to present a workshop entitled ‘The Mealtime Experience – what is the impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing?’ at the Partners in Care Quality Matters Conference at Poole Lighthouse. Those attending the workshop represented a range of social care providers and commissioners from across the region. During the workshop participants engaged in lively discussion about the barriers and enablers to good nutritional care for those receiving social care in both the residential setting and home care. Various activities were undertaken including tasting and smelling foods to highlight these barriers. Suggestions were made on how to improve the meal time experience informed by research on nutrition and dementia care, funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing ( PI Prof Jane Murphy and Co-PI Joanne Holmes) and Joanne’s own PhD studies: An exploration of the factors that affect the extensive meal experience for cognitively active elderly living in residential care.

Both Joanne and Jane were on hand to answer any questions about good nutritional care for the older person throughout the conference and represent the ADRC at this key regional showcase event.

5 July 2017

Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at Royal College of Physicians – launch of Electronic workbook for Nutrition and Dementia care

mobrien

Professor Jane Murphy, Joanne Holmes and Michelle Board supported by Michelle O’Brien hosted the launch of the online version of the workbook ‘Eating and Drinking Well: Supporting People Living with Dementia’ at the Royal College of Physicians, London on 27^th June 2017. Attended by leading stakeholders across health and social care, charities including age UK, hospices, WRVS and housing organisations, this impact event explore how good nutrition and hydration can be improved for people living with dementia.

The ADRC was delighted to welcome Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England who gave an inspiring keynote speech concentrating on the importance of nutrition to ensure dignity in care. He was passionate about the need to raise the profile of good food and nutrition amongst politicians and policy makers to enhance and maintain quality of life for many older people receiving social care. Other speakers included Jan Zietara, Head of Operational Delivery, Health Education England (South) who talked about current work and new developments to enhance the knowledge and skills of the health and social workforce with particular focus on initiatives for dementia education and training. Finally, Kathy Wallis, Senior Programme Manager, Nutrition in Older People Programme, Wessex Academic Health Science Network highlighted the projects, resources and tools undertaken to address the growing concerns of malnutrition (undernutrition) in older people living in the community.

Helped by a lovely afternoon tea, there was active and lively discussion by all participants about how the workbook could help improve the delivery of nutritional care for people with dementia across a range of health and social care sectors. All were very supportive of the training tools and left the event with lots of ideas and identified actions to put into place that would be followed up by the team!

The workbook stems from research funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing. The workbook is freely downloadable from the website:

http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/nutrition-dementia

It is designed to be used in conjunction with a training film, also available via the website.

5 July 2017

Experiences from a Fusion Investment Funded-Student Research Assistant project aiming to improve the quality of local NHS care

mobrien

This year several students have been funded to work as student research assistants on Fusion Funded-projects.

Here, BU MSc student Renuka Balasundaram reflects on her experience of taking part in the scheme and completing the project.

Then, her supervisors Dr Samuel Nyman and Louise Fazakarley share their experiences and encourage staff to participate in the next scheme.

MSc Student reflection

“My experience as a research assistant on the NHS Quality Improvement Project 2017”

Renuka Balasundaram
Department of Psychology
Bournemouth University

My voyage to explore the depths into the field of psychology started when I set off for my Masters in Neuropsychology in Bournemouth University right after my completion of Bachelors in psychology from India. The overwhelming coursework aside, the curriculum of teaching as a whole, felt very different. Three months into my master’s and having adapted myself in totally different environs, I decided to take a leap into the unknown by applying for post of SRA for the fusion funded program project, “NHS Quality Improvement Project”. A week after my successful interview with the project supervisors Dr. Samuel Nyman and Louise Fazakarley, I got a mail about my selection in the project which gave me mixed feelings of exhilaration and apprehension. The mixed emotions were mainly because it was my very first involvement in a practical research project involving hospital setup and interaction with patients. Things gradually settled after my induction with the Christchurch day hospital team and since then it had been a happy workplace with a very helpful and welcoming team at the hospital throughout the project. After a clear briefing of the work to be carried out in the hospital by my supervisors, I made regular visits to the hospital twice a week for almost two months followed by a month of data analysis and report writing. At every step of the project, I got full support from my supervisors which aided in the successful completion of the project. With regards to the project, we aimed to evaluate the Otago exercise training programme in Christchurch day hospital for which I used to regularly interact with the team and patients to get background knowledge and feedback about the training. In spite of having completed research modules in my bachelors and masters, as opposed to theory, it felt completely different when dealing with older patients as participants in a real life setting and collecting data from them through observation and regular interaction.

Personally, this research experience has given me insights into research in a real world and practical setting, enhanced my report writing skills and ultimately putting me firmly in pursuit of my future goal of becoming PhD laureate. It has also given me insight in to the meaning and importance of empirical evidence and scientific backup, for when patients come with a belief and hope of improvement after participation in the study. The project not only had a positive impact on me, but also on the hospital team whereby they implemented many of our suggestions and were pleased with our feedback. As learning and transition is key to growth and development, I strongly feel this project has achieved that, by paving way for an improved quality of training which would ultimately benefit the older population.

Supervisors reflection

We had a Student Research Assistant work with us on a quality improvement project based at Christchurch Day Hospital. Working with the Falls Prevention Team, a student (Renuka) conducted an audit of current practice in the Otago exercise programme with a view to improving patient care. We gained service user feedback, reviewed and analysed the data they had collected, and sought to recommend changes to increase their patients’ exercise practice outside of classes. The project culminated with a report that Renuka presented to the team. Two aspects made this project particularly rewarding:

Learning opportunity for the student
Renuka, a psychology student, had a unique opportunity to work with non-psychology NHS staff as part of a multi-disciplinary team. She was also able to see the importance of research in a real-life context, giving a new depth of understanding to design features. We were also pleased to see our detailed feedback on her draft report transferred to improve her writing in general that she made use with her assignments.

Impact on the Falls Prevention Team
The team praised Renuka for her work and were enthusiastic to implement our recommendations for improving practice, these included changes in the ways they collected data and the inclusion of some behavioural change techniques to increase adherence. The following week we received an email confirming the changes made. It was rewarding to see our work had led to a direct, immediate, and practical, societal impact.

We can recommend the scheme as it provided an opportunity to co-create with the student and an NHS team that has led to a positive outcome that we hope in time will be shown to improve patient care. It also gave new insights into the factors that facilitate implementation of changes in an NHS team.

Dr Samuel Nyman and Louise Fazakarley

4 July 2017

New paper Dr. Jenny Hall

Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Jenny Hall in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) on her new published discussion paper ‘Educating student midwives around dignity and respect’ in the international journal Women and Birth (published by Elsevier). The paper, co-authored with Mary Mitchell (University of the West of England), discusses the issue that there is currently limited information available on how midwifery students learn to provide care that promotes dignity and respect.

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

Reference:

Hall, J., Mitchell, M. (2017) ‘Educating student midwives around dignity and respect’, Women & Birth 30(3): 214-219.

3 July 2017

BU research project encourages people with dementia to take up Tai Chi

mobrien

A new research project is encouraging people with dementia to take up tai chi.

The project, called The TACIT Trial: TAi ChI for people with demenTia, aims to test whether tai chi is of benefit to people with dementia, and of benefit for their carers. Click here to read the full article.

28 June 2017

Glastonbury 2017. Well, that was pretty awesome!!!

Public engagement elanng

So a few days ago I returned, tired, dirty and covered in glitter, from possibly one of the most awesome experiences of my professional life. With my previous incarnation as a tourism and events research assistant, I thought I was done with the whole working events part of my role and with the few dodgy years of Air Festival weather previously. I wasn’t that sad to see it go when I moved to HSS. What was different this time was that I was not collecting data (well, we did a bit) but we were disseminating our research to an unbelievably wide audience, who not only engaged with our materials but wanted to know more about what we did here at BU.

Let me give you a little context as to how we made our way to the Science Tent in the Green Futures field at Glastonbury Festival 2017. A call was put out just a few months ago asking for ideas to represent Bournemouth University in the Southampton University Science tent. Dr Sally Lee, a research fellow here at the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice put in an idea to present our Financial Scamming work and was successful. We design most of our materials in house at the centre, producing a wide range of publications, workbooks, and posters, so Sarah Wincewicz and I got to it.

Designing a board game, a card game and Sally worked on an interactive activity using UV lights, we really had something to suit everyone and of different levels of difficulty. I am sure Sally will blog next week about the impact of the experience in relation to financial scamming. What I would like to focus on is the sheer scale of the impact we made by going to an event like Glastonbury.

Over the period of 5 days we must have engaged with over a thousand people of all ages and demographics. What particularly struck me was how much the people we spoke to cared, I mean really cared, about other people.We were in the science tent, which was great, but we were the only team representing the social sciences and I would have loved to be part of a bigger team working in this area because these are the people who will really change the future. I talked with students and young people sure, and was more than a little concerned about how little they knew about protecting themselves, particularly on-line, but I also talked to a host of professional groups, from nurses to police, social workers (of course), carers of all ages, and computer programmers to directors and commissioners.

I would love to be involved in something like this again, although next time I would definitely take Sarah with me as she is by far a more experienced camper and way more social-able than I am, and not quite so high-maintenance! I would also love to get the brilliant work that we do here at BU out there with different groups, people really do care about health and social care, they care about their parents and grandparents and each other, and the future of our country. It is not only a great opportunity to get word out about BU and our research but also address the recruitment and retention issues seen across the health and social care sectors! So if anyone is thinking of engaging in events like this, let us know! We would love to be part of this brave new world!

27 June 2017

Multiple Sclerosis Research in Bournemouth – Dr Simon B N Thompson

BRIAN, BU Challenges, conferences, Fusion, Grants Academy, innovation, international, Public engagement, Research assessment, Research Integritiy, Research themes, staff profile pages Simon Thompson

MS is a chronic debilitating and progressive condition that affects the fatty tissue sheath surrounding nerves. Incomplete innervation due to loss of the myelin sheath is largely responsible for uncoordinated movements. Brain temperature fluctuations are also often seen in people with MS together with fatigue when carrying out mentally or physically demanding tasks. These are commonly associated with excessive yawning yet the cause of fatigue in MS is not well understood.

A recently completed study asked participants to produce saliva into a small tube so that their cortisol levels could be analysed. They were also asked to look at presentations that provoked a yawning response. Results revealed that all of the participants had elevated cortisol levels after yawning and that there was a marked difference in cortisol levels between the healthy participants and those with MS.

Yawning: Pynq Thompson aged 28 days

Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis (Ref.1) proposes threshold levels of cortisol trigger the yawn response which lowers brain temperature. Correlation between brain temperature and cortisol is to be further examined together with comparison between UK and Norwegian participants with MS since the incidence of MS is greater in Scandinavian countries (and Canada and Scotland) possibly due to vitamin D and K reduction with reduced sunlight.

Previous studies have examined electromyograph (EMG) activity during yawning and manipulation of conditions to provoke yawning (Refs. 2,3). Brain regions and cortisol activity has been identified in MS in an international study (Ref. 4); and a new understanding proposed of communication between the motor cortex and brain-stem (Ref.5).

Yawning EMG “envelope” of activity

We have recently completed a trial in Bournemouth that recruited over 80 healthy participants and over 30 people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

A funding bid is being prepared to examine the feasibility of producing the early detection of MS and cortisol-insufficiency syndromes using observed yawning frequency and cortisol levels.

Simon B N Thompson is Associate Professor, Bournemouth University; Visiting Professor, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France. Member of International Scientific Council for Research into Multiple Sclerosis following presentation to French Ambassador, His Excellency Bernard Emié, French Embassy.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all volunteers; Alister Coleman and Nicola Williams for assisting in data collection and analysis; Rod Slip, Group Co-ordinator and Kay Bundy, Fundraising Co-ordinator of the MS Society Osborne Centre for providing free facilities.

Note

The author would welcome interest in collaborating in writing bids for funding international work.

References

1. Thompson, S.B.N., 2011. Born to yawn? Cortisol linked to yawning: a new hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, 77, 861-862.
2. Thompson, S.B.N., & Bishop, P., 2012. Born to yawn? Understanding yawning as a warning of the rise in cortisol levels: randomized trial. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 1(2), e4, 1-9, doi: 10.2196/ijmr.2241.
3. Thompson, S.B.N., Frankham, C., & Bishop, P., 2014. The art of capturing a yawn using the science of nerve impulses and cortisol levels in a randomized controlled trial. Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis as a potential predictor of neurological impairment. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 7(3), 529-543.
4. Thompson, S. B. N., Daly, S., Le Blanche, A., Adibi, M., Belkhiria, C., Driss, T., de Marco, G., 2016. fMRI randomized study of mental and motor task performance and cortisol levels to potentiate cortisol as a new diagnostic biomarker. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 7(2); 92: 1-8.
5. Thompson, S.B.N., 2017. Hypothesis to explain yawning, cortisol rise, brain cooling and motor cortex involvement of involuntary arm movement in neurologically impaired patients. Journal of Neurology & Neuroscience, 8(1); 167: 1-5.

27 June 2017

BU research recognised by The Renal Association Investigator Award at UK Kidney Week 2017

student research phartley

BU research, (led by me, Dr Paul Hartley), was recognised at UK Kidney Week in Liverpool last week. We were invited to speak about our fruit fly model of human renal disease, work that has been variously supported by grants from the British Heart Foundation and Kidney Research UK. The conference was an excellent opportunity to showcase the model and highlight our current collaborations with consultant-scientists based at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital as well as a number of different groups at the University of Bristol, the University of Osnabruck in Germany, Harvard Children’s Hospital and the University of Edinburgh. The research work is based in Dorset House labs and is supported by a wide network of talented people within BU as well as our undergrad and post-grad students.

24 June 2017

“New” FHSS paper on obesity published July 2017

open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The American Journal of Men’s Health published our latest paper on obesity prevention in men. The paper ‘Clinical Effectiveness of Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance Interventions for Men: A Systematic Review of Men-Only Randomized Controlled Trials (The ROMEO Project)’ originates from a collaboration between BU and various universities in Scotland, led by the University of Aberdeen [1].

This systematic review paper found that reducing diets produced better weight loss than physical activity alone. The most effective interventions combined reducing diets, exercise, and behaviour change techniques . Group interventions produced favourable weight loss results. The paper reports that once engaged, men remained committed to a weight loss intervention.

The paper concludes that weight loss for men is best achieved and maintained with the combination of a reducing diet, increased physical activity, and behaviour change techniques. Strategies to increase engagement of men with weight loss services to improve the reach of interventions are needed. This paper is the thirteenth paper from a large NIHR grant [2-13].

The American Journal of Men’s Health is an open access, peer-reviewed resource for cutting-edge information regarding men’s health and illness. It is, however worth noting that although our paper is formally published in July 2017 it has been online for two years! The journal’s website states clearly that the article was first published online on June 30, 2015 BUT the issue in which it appears is published is July 1, 2017!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

Robertson, C., Avenell, A., Stewart, F., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., Boyers, D. (2017) Clinical effectiveness of weight loss & weight maintenance interventions for men: a systematic review of men-only randomised controlled trials (ROMEO Project), American Journal of Men’s Health 11(4): 1096-1123. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1557988315587550
Robertson, C, Archibald, D, Avenell, A, Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen E, Boyers, D., Stewart, F, Boachie, C, Fioratou E., Wilkins, D, Street, T., Carroll, P., Fowler, C. (2014) Systematic reviews of & integrated report on quantitative, qualitative & economic evidence base for the management of obesity in men. Health Technology Assessment 18(35): 1-424. http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/118180/FullReport-hta18350.pdf
Stewart, F., Fraser, C., Robertson, C., Avenell, A., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., Boyers, D. (2014) Are men difficult to find? Identifying male-specific studies in MEDLINE and Embase, Systematics Reviews 3,78.
Archibald, D, Douglas, F, Hoddinott, P, van Teijlingen, E, Stewart, F., Robertson, C., Boyers, D., Avenell, A. (2015) A qualitative evidence synthesis on management of male obesity. BMJ Open 5: e008372. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008372 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/10/e008372.full.pdf+html
Boyers, D, Stewart, F, Fraser, C, Robertson, C, Avenell, A, Archibald, D, Douglas, F, Hoddinott P, van Teijlingen E. (2015). A systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of non-surgical obesity interventions in men, Obesity Research & Clinical Practice 9(4), 310-327.
Robertson, C, Avenell, A, Boachie, C., Stewart, F., Archibald D., Hoddinott, P, Douglas, F, van Teijlingen E, Boyers D. (2016) Should weight loss and maintenance programmes be designed differently for men? Systematic review of long-term RCTs presenting data for men & women: The ROMEO Project, Obesity Research & Clinical Practice 10: 70-84.
Robertson, C., Avenell, A., Boachie, C., Stewart, F., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., Boyers, D. (2015) Should weight loss programmes be designed differently for men and women? The ROMEO Project, Appetite 87: 374.
Robertson, C., Avenell, A., Stewart, F., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., Boyers, D. (2015) A systematic review of long-term weight management randomized controlled trials for obese men. The ROMEO Project, Appetite 87: 374.
Robertson, C., Avenell, A., Stewart, F., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., Boyers, D. (2015) A systematic review of weight loss interventions in the UK. The ROMEO Project, Appetite 87: 375.
Boyers, D., Avenell, A., Stewart, F., Robertson, C., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., (2015) A systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of non-surgical obesity interventions in men, Appetite 87: 375.
Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., Boyers, D., Avenell, A., Stewart, F., Robertson, C., (2015) A qualitative evidence synthesis on the management of male obesity. The ROMEO Project, Appetite 87: 381.
Avenell, A., Robertson, C., Boachie, C., Stewart, F Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Sex based subgroup differences in randomized controlled trials: empirical evidence from Cochrane meta-analyses BMJ 355:i5826 http://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i5826/rapid-responses
Avenell, A., Robertson, C., Stewart, F., Boyers, D., Douglas, F., Archibald, D., van Teijlingen, E., Hoddinott, P., Boachie, C. (2016) Sex can affect participation, engagement, and adherence in trials, BMJ 355:i6754 http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/355/bmj.i6754.full.pdf

23 June 2017

Week 1 – Laurie Emerson working with ADRC as a Student Research Assistant

mboard

Having just completed my Undergraduate degree in Psychology, I have embarked on a summer Research Assistant position working with the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) here at Bournemouth University. I will be working closely with an expert team within the research centre – Dr. Michele Board, Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Michelle Heward, and Ashley Spriggs, who have all dedicated their careers to this particular field.

Our current project focusses on ‘Dementia Education Through Simulation’ (DEALTS), a dementia care training program for healthcare professionals, which has previously been delivered in a ‘train the trainer’ format to healthcare trusts. The current program, DEALTS 2, aims to build upon the previous DEALTS, and provide an up to date evidence-based framework. This updated program signifies the importance of empathy and humanised care when training, which aligns closely with Tier 2 .The current training program utilises simulations including videos, case-studies, and role-play to help increase relatability to the patient.

My role within this project is to support the team within the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences on an evaluation of DEALTS 2. Initially I am expected to analyse the feedback questionnaires taken from the DEALTS 2 sessions. Other responsibilities include helping Dr. Michelle Heward deliver a presentation at the BU Humanising Caring, Health and Wellbeing Conference, 29^th – 30^th June. You can register for a place at https://humanisation.eventbrite.co.uk

I will also be conducting a literature review, and help out at one of the DEALTS 2 training sessions. This will enable the foundations for the team to eventually create an up to date evaluative research paper on DEALTS 2.

So far, I am excited by the responsibilities given and organised work structure. Not to mention feeling incredibly welcomed by the team, which has lead me feeling immersed in this project. After having previous experience with research assistant roles, this project has so far exceeded my expectations in terms of my roles and responsibilities. I feel excited enthusiastic for the scope of opportunities this project could bring.

I intend to report my experience at the end of my work placement, and hopefully will finish with some significant data to report, and greater insight into DEALTS 2. I look forward to what the next four weeks may bring!

Laurie Emerson

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Week 1 – Laurie Emerson working with ADRC as a Student Research Assistant

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