The Byrd Institute, Tampa, Florida is an interesting example of an inter-disciplinary academic institute in practice. http://health.usf.edu/byrd/ I presented there earlier this month, Raising awareness of dementia: disseminating research via public engagement activities, which ties in with recent developments in this primarily NIH funded unit which is part of the University of South Florida. We toured the labs, where staff and students work alongside each other with mice at one end of the lab to computer images of human brains at the other. The second floor of the building is dedicated to screening for dementia and provides an example of dementia friendly design where people with dementia and their families spend the day going through the variety of tests that will lead to an often long awaited diagnosis of dementia. The Byrd Institute began as an independent unit on University property before becoming part of the University. Staff from across Faculties work in or are linked to the Institute providing an excellent exemplar of inter-disciplinary working. From screening in retirement villages to recuriting participants to clinical research trials this institute is slowly building a large data base of people with dementia as well as adults with early signs of mild cognitive impairment in a region known for attracting retirement migrants. They are now committed to enhanving their public outreach work and have recruited a social scientist to take this forward in the coming months. They have a wish to raise awareness of dementia within their local community and will achieve this by an ambitious outreach programme which will also contribute to increasing their pool of potential research participants in future clinical, neuroscience and social science projects.
Category / Research themes
Intergenerational working
Earlier in the month as part of a whirlwind three State visit to the US we visited one of three Intergenerational Schools in Cleveland, Ohio. http://www.tisonline.org/ This model of education has two distinct programmes to promote learning and working between the older and younger generations. The first is a ‘buddy reading’ system where older people living in the community come into the school to read with pupils. Every pupil receives 2 x 20 minute sessions with an older person per week to enhance their reading skills. A second programme involves every class in the school visiting one of thirty-one care facilities (day care and long stay care) in the area once a month where pupils work with older people on a range of projects. The image attached is one art project where pupils visited the care home and worked with people with dementia residing in one of Clevelands premier care facilities, Judson to create these banners that hang in the entrance to the care facility. These two initiatives demonstrate the possibilities for learning and working together in meaningful ways benefitting both older adults and school children. We have been experimenting with intergenerational working here at Bournemouth via a Tech Group facilitated at The Bourne Academy where school pupils have welcomed people with dementia and their carers into their schools to work together in an after school club where they have been learning to play on the wii, xbox and ipads together. This way of working offers opportunities to educate younger generations about dementia and to combat associated stigma, ignorance and fear of what it might mean to live with dementia. To paraphrase some of the words of the School Principle in Cleveland, who I found truly inspirational, the younger we start to educate our children about life and the challenges it can throw at us the better prepared they will be to contribute as active citizens in our society.
Major earthquake in Nepal: Help needed
Yesterday’s earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter Scale, killed thousands of people. It is now 9 AM on Sunday morning and just had a report from friends in Nepal about a major after shock whilst the number of reported deaths is increasing by the hour. The number of causalities in rural areas will only become known over the next few weeks, because of the remoteness of some of the affected areas and the damage to infrastructure (roads, power cables, telephone, and internet links). We know from previous disasters in low-income countries like Nepal that help will be slower to reach rural areas.
The Government of Nepal has asked for international aid and the first aid arrived yesterday from neighbouring India. Yesterday the United States has made one million US$ available for the most immediate aid according to USAID, whilst the Belgian government activated its so-called B-Fast team (Belgian First Aid & Support Team). Like many countries, the UK has offered support. These big relief efforts are vital, especially for the immediate support in finding people under the rubble, and bringing in clean water, blankets, food, medicine and other supplies.
Only last month we published an editorial arguing that Nepal needs a greater focus on health protection to tackle emerging public health hazards.1 In this editorial we observed that “whilst Nepal has made some head way in disaster planning, much of this seems to be focused mainly around earthquake disaster planning only.” The coming weeks and months we teach us to what extent this earthquake disaster management has been effective.
Researchers at BU have been working in Nepal for over ten years and in that period, have come to know many people and made lots of friends. We are worried about those we know personally, friends across Nepal, especially in our field sites, former and current Green Tara Nepal staff, the shop keepers next door to the Green Tara office, former and current students, and so on. Like so many people our first reaction was that we need to do something, starting with collecting money for the people of Nepal. We have decided that unlike a general appeal for help, like many friends of Nepal will set up over the next few days across the globe, we would stick to what we are good at: (a) improving maternity care in rural Nepal; and (b) stimulating health promotion. The former because women will continue to become pregnant and babies will continue to be born, the latter because the risk is that any disaster relief will focus on the here and now. Moreover, we want our disaster relief to be based on the same principles as outlined in Table 1 as the rest of our work.2
Table 1: Underlying philosophy of the Green Tara programme
The desired intervention or programme needs to be:
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Donations can be made to Green Tara Trust (London) through the official donation web page:
This money will be used to implement sustainable low-cost, health intervention projects, working in close collaboration with local communities. There need to be projects on the ground now which are focusing immediately on the long-term preventative approach.
Please give generously!
Karunamati (Green Tara Trust, UK)
Padma Dharini (Green Tara Trust, UK)
Padam Simkhada (Liverpool John Moores University & Green Tara Nepal)
Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University, UK)
References:
- Simkhada, P., Lee, A., van Teijlingen, E., Karki, P., Neupane C.H. (2015) Need and importance of health protection training in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology (editorial) 5(1): 441-443.
- van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Stephen, J., Simkhada, B., Woodes Rogers, S., Sharma, S. (2012) Making the best use of all resources: developing a health promotion intervention in rural Nepal. Health Renaissance 10(3): 229-235.
BU SDRC Contributions to WIT Contact & Surface 2015 International Conference
- Dr Zulfiqar Khan presenting
- Dr Adil Saeed presenting
- PGR Hammad Nazir presenting
- SDRC Erasmus Mundus Exchange Student Parisa Pashaei presenting
- Mark Hadfield – Chairing Surface Engineering Session
BU SDRC Director Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor) organised a special session on “Surface Engineering” at the WIT 2015 Contact and Surface International Conference and contributed as a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) as a reviewer during 2014-15.
SDRC Professor Mark Hadfield chaired the special session and also helped the conference as a member of the ISAC to support review process.
BU academics and researchers along with the SDRC international partners from Gazi University Turkey contributed presentations and have submitted the following extended full length papers to the WIT International Journal of Computational Methods & Experimental Measurements (CMEM), which are all currently under review for publication.
- Khan, Z., Pashaei, P., Bajwa, R., Nazir, M. H., & Cakmak, M. (2015). Fabrication and characterisation of electrodeposited and magnetron sputtered thin films. In Contact and Surface 2015. València, Spain. Retrieved from http://www.wessex.ac.uk/15-conferences/contact-and-surface-2015.html
- Saeed, A., Khan, Z., & Hadfield, M. (2015). Performance Evaluation of Surface Protection Applied to Large Vehicles. In Contact and Surface 2015. València, Spain: Wessex Institute, UK. Retrieved from http://www.wessex.ac.uk/15-conferences/contact-and-surface-2015.html
- Gultekin, A., Pashaei, P., Khan, Z., Ozturk, M. K., Tamer, M., & Bas, Y. (2015). X-ray and ab initio study of structural, electronic, elastic and optical properties in Be1-xZnxS alloys depending on Vegard’s law. In Contact and Surface 2015. València, Spain. Retrieved from http://www.wessex.ac.uk/15-conferences/contact-and-surface-2015.html
- Nazir, M. H., Khan, Z. A. (2015). Maximising the Interfacial Fracture Toughness of Thin Coatings and Substrate through Optimisation of Defined Parameters. In Contact and Surface 2015. València, Spain: WIT. Retrieved from http://www.wessex.ac.uk/15-conferences/contact-and-surface-2015.html
WIT is currently collaborating with BU in Corrosion research through a post doc programme Mark Hadfield (PI), Zulfiqar Khan (Co-I) led by Dr Adil Saeed as a post doc researcher.
Corrosion (experimental, modelling and simulation) and Surface Engineering (nano coatings) research within BU SDRC is conducted in collaboration with multinational industrial partners through match funding with significant in-kind experimental support.
For further details on current research activity in SDRC please visit the Centre webpage. If you have interests in these areas and would like to find more please contact Dr Zulfiqar Khan
GeoNet Low Carbon Cities
Luca D’Acci presented our third GeoNet seminar about the need for ‘Low Carbon Cities’. With cities accounting for 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, it is clear that something needs to change and low carbon cities could be the answer.
The benefits of low carbon cities can be seen in cities such as Copenhagen. Copenhagen has become one of the ‘greenest’ cities in Europe through its innovative use of energy efficient technology and design. Copenhagen is also a compact city. D’Acci suggests a key change to support the conversion to a low carbon city is reducing urban sprawl. Furthermore, a car-based transport model results in increased costs; for example, Houston spends 14% of its GDP on transport, versus only 4% in Copenhagen.
Therefore, remodelling a city’s shape and form could be the answer to a more energy efficient world. Containing urban sprawl, developing energy efficient buildings and encouraging ‘greener’ transport systems could contribute to establishing a successful low carbon city. Benefits of these changes have been predicted. Investments of $1.7 billion in domestic energy efficiency could generate annual savings of $626 million, which is a payback time of only 3 years. In addition, 2 million jobs would be created by the new low carbon technological industry. Furthermore, health benefits and a significant reduction in pollution related illnesses would result in a higher standard of living and a better quality of life.
Next we went on to discuss how these cities could be implemented. I personally found it interesting that we could look to the past for ideas to shape the future. The Greeks and Romans designed their central hubs around unity, variety, compactness and nature, all of which are characteristics that we want to emulate in our cities today. Futuristic transport using renewable energy sources, building multifunctioning, independent cellular cities, and simply changing to energy saving light bulbs are all ways of creating a low carbon city. However, it is evident that a change in attitude will be important to ensure success.
An interesting discussion with the audience followed with most agreeing that low carbon cities are necessary for sustainable development. However, many agreed that the changing of attitudes would be difficult to achieve in existing cities. Despite this, it is important that we find the best solution to regenerate cities, in order to create a sustainable future and provide a template for developing countries to model their new low carbon cities.
Charlotte Unwin, GeoNet Intern
Lunchtime Seminar with Catherine Angell & Edwin van Teijlingen, Wednesday 29th April
Title of Seminar: Transforming research into breast practice
Time/location: 1-1.50pm, Royal London House, R301
Further information on this Seminar series can be found by clicking on the link below.
There is no need to book – just turn up. Contact Zoe on zsheppard@bournemouth.ac.uk for more information.
Catherine and Edwin look forward to seeing you there.
Masterclass June 11th and 12th: Using Art in Health and Social Care Education and Practice
Two day Masterclass, Thursday 11th and Friday 12th June, Executive Business Centre, Lansdowne Campus
Art has been said to be a way to express ourselves, to make sense of our experiences and to connect with ourselves, others, our world and life. The arts are beginning to gain greater recognition as a deep form of learning.
This Masterclass will provide health and social care educationalists and practitioners with the opportunity to immerse themselves in hands-on arts experience and come away with individualized working methods to adapt in their own practice and learning contexts. No previous experience of the arts is necessary.
Dr Catherine Lamont-Robinson is an artist/researcher, with a BA and MA in Fine Art and a Doctorate in Education. Catherine is passionate about creative engagement and bringing different ways of knowing into practice – drawing on the role of tacit knowledge, discourses around embodiment and whole-body intelligence. She has worked for over ten years in clinical, educational and community contexts and is a Senior Associate Lecturer at Bristol University facilitating Creative Arts and Humanities within Social and Community Medicine.
Schedule:
Each day will start at 9.30am and run until 4.15pm with regular refreshment breaks and lunch provided. The two days will include some presentations, discussions and practical sessions.
Booking Information:
- BU staff £120
- BU students £90
This price includes two full days with the course facilitator, all refreshments and all class materials. Accommodation and travel costs are not included.
Book your place online by 1 June 2015 at https://using-art-in-health-and-social-care.eventbrite.co.uk
For more information contact: (01202) 962184 / rfreeman@bournemouth.ac.uk
Yawning in Dubai with Dr Simon Thompson
Yawning has now been linked with cortisol following a series of trials at Bournemouth University [1], and following evidence from other researchers that have found temperature fluctuations in the brains of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
I am leading the fMRI study in collaboration with French neuroscientists as part of the International Scientific Council for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, and hope to develop a new biomarker for the early detection of MS.
I was delighted with the response to my recent talk at the XIII International Conference on Psychology and Psychiatry in Dubai which was attended my neuroscientists, neurologists and health professionals. Hopefully, findings from the study will benefit people with MS in terms of early treatment interventions in the future.
Reference
1. Thompson, S.B.N., 2015. Health psychology intervention – identifying early symptoms in neurological disorders. International Science Index, 17(4), XXIII, 2639-2643.
Investigating and Visualising the Effects of Environment on Prey Detection Rates: A Key Variable in Human Evolution
We would like to invite you to the next research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.
Title: Investigating and Visualising the Effects of Environment on Prey Detection Rates: A Key Variable in Human Evolution.
Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM
Date: Wednesday 22 April 2015
Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus
Abstract: This project utilises interactive 3D virtual worlds in order to determine the effect which the composition of the environment has on the ability of humans to detect prey animals within it.
The research focuses on the environments found in Europe prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, during the time period known as Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (circa 30-55K years ago). By recreating various OIS3 environments virtually, we can investigate the effects of “openness” (degree of forestation), light levels, terrain and many other factors on prey detection rates.
Data is collected via experiments in which participants are able to navigate realistic 3D environments to search for prey animals. The search strategies they employ and the effect the environment is having on them can be recorded both from the software itself and via sophisticated eye-tracking technology. This data will inform us of the hunting strategies utilised by early human societies as they reacted to the changing landscape during OIS3.
This project makes use of Unreal Engine 4, a technology well suited to the creation of large, complex, interactive virtual worlds. UE4 is mostly associated with large-scale games development projects, but has the flexibility for use in this kind of research, often referred to as serious games.
We hope to see you there.
CEMP / CEL Research Bulletin April 2015


The latest CEMP bulletin, now combined with the Centre for Excellence in Learning, is now available as a PDF CEMP CEL bulletin April 15 or word doc CEMP CEL bulletin April 15
The bulletin provides a ‘top 20’ of research funding opportunities related to education, learning and pedagogy research and grouped into the the three BU learning research sub-themes: Media and Digital Literacies, Practitioner Enquiry and (Higher) Education Dynamics.
To follow up any of these opportunities, please contact Julian or Richard in CEMP or Marcellus Mbah in CEL.
BNAC conference reported in Nepal

Last week FHSS PhD student Ms. Preeti Mahato and I attended the 13th Annual Conference of BNAC (Britian-Nepal Academic Council) in London. The conference venue was held at SOAS in central London. In total 28 papers on nine wide-ranging themes concerning Nepal and its global connections were presented and debated by a large number of participants ranging from post-graduate students to established professors and researchers from the UK, Nepal and some other EU countries. The conference was reported upon in Nepal on an online news website called eKantipur.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
BUDI Open Public Meeting 2015: Dementia-friendly Communities
To coincide with Dementia Awareness Week (18-24 May 2015), on Wednesday 20 May 2015 from 12 – 3pm, Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) are hosting their fourth Annual Public Open Meeting. This free event will showcase work that is being undertaken locally to make our community dementia-friendly.
There will be an overview of local progress in the following areas:
- Becoming dementia-friendly in Dorset and Somerset
- Dementia-friendly GP Surgeries
- Home fire safety for people affected by dementia.
Alongside updates on the following creative community involvement projects:
- Intergenerational IT Club
- BUDI Orchestra
- Gardening
- Care Farming
Anyone interested in dementia-friendly communities is welcome to attend, for more information or to register for your free place:
Call us on: +44 (0)1202 962771
Book online at: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/budi-2015-open-public-meeting-dementia-friendly-communities-tickets-14377261777
BU presence at BNAC conference

BU Visiting Fellow Prof. Padam Simkhada (based at Liverpool John Moores University) and BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will be presenting the paper ‘Health and Welfare of Nepali Female Returnees from Gulf Countries: A Mixed-Methods Study’ in collaboration with two Nepal-based co-authors at the latest BNAC conference. The paper is based on over 0ne thousand records of Nepali women who have returned from work in countries on the Arabian sub-continent. The records have been collected by a charity based in Kathmandu called Pourakhi that supports female migrant workers. The 13th Annual Nepal Study Days will be held at SOAS (University of London) on Thursday 16th April and Friday 17th April, and the programme can be found here.
Whilst new BU PhD student Ms. Preeti Mahato has been assigned Dr. Ben Campbell as ‘Study day tutor’ at this BNAC conference to help her focus her thesis research question and methods and any issues and queries she may have. We think this opportunity will be very helpful to her.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Digital Business Briefing
A digest of useful information for digital businesses updated every month. The briefing highlights UK and European funding, support, events and training. Compiled by the KTN in partnership with Innovate UK, Catapults, Tech City, Nesta and Open Data Institute.
Creative Industries Business Briefing – April
Creative Industries Business Briefing
A digest of useful information for creative industries businesses updated every month. The briefing highlights UK and European funding, support, events and training. Compiled by the KTN in partnership with Innovate UK, Catapults, Tech City, Nesta and Horizon2020.
Impact of fatigue management research in Multiple Sclerosis – FACETS, IMSPIRE and beyond
Lunchtime Seminar with Peter Thomas, Wednesday 15th April 1-1.50pm, R303
Please come to listen to Professor Peter Thomas present on the impact that his research into fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis is having, noting the importance of research with strong potential for patient benefit, and the importance of the research funder.
Further information on this Seminar series can be found by clicking on the link below.
There is no need to book – just turn up. Contact Zoe on zsheppard@bournemouth.ac.uk for more information.
We look forward to seeing you there.
BU is leading research in areas identified in the top 10 emerging technologies
The top 10 emerging technologies will significantly influence the future landscape of research council funding, its initiatives, collaborative opportunities and formation of consortiums on global level.
Although service and product based economy is on the rise in the South and South East Asian countries, core Engineering and Technological disciplines have conventional and strategic importance in terms of education and research mainly due to higher employability both in academic and industrial sectors. The number of UG/PG students is usually high with highest tariff points in medicine and engineering.
Key BU partners such as PES University (MoU has been signed, joint Journal and Conference publications, funding proposals have been developed, mutual visits), National University of Science & Technology (match funded PhD studentships), National Institute of Technology (joint publications and organising international conference) and Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology (MoU has been signed, mutual research visits, and education activity through British Council funding) are some, which are a window, to their research and education activity.
SDRC has been leading research and research informed education in collaboration with national and international higher education and industrial partners in major themes of the top 10 emerging technologies.
Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMs):
Research in this area is conducted through a PhD programme entitled “In-situ corrosion health monitoring and prediction in military vehicles” in collaboration with a major industrial partner.
Nanomaterials:
This research is performed through two PhD programmes entitled “Developing thin film nano-composite coatings for advanced applications” and “Electroplated composite coatings with incorporated nano particles for tribological systems with the focus on water lubrication”. Both these programmes are in collaboration with international HEI and industrial partners.
Advanced Energy Storage And Generation:
Research in this area is supported by industrial and HEI partners through “Energy recovery at thermodynamic expansion and thermal boosting through convection in flat plate solar thermal systems”, “Experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of dynamic equilibrium of novel thermo fluids for renewable technology applications” and “Research and development in novel alternative renewable energy technology”.
BU is best placed in terms of the above themes that provide a strong foundation to further enhance international collaborations for research and education.
If you would like further information or have interest in any of the above areas please contact Dr Zulfiqar Khan.
Social Science Baha lecture series Nepal
Earlier this week Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen presented at Social Science Baha on the topic of research capacity building in Nepal. Together with many colleagues in Nepal and the UK Edwin has been working on a DFID and British Council funded project under the title PARI (which stands for ‘Partnership on improving Access to Research Literature for Higher Education Institutions in Nepal’). The invited presentation has been recorded by Social Science Baha and is now available online here.
The slides used on Monday are available too.
Presentation April 2015 Soc Sci Baha
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH