Category / Fusion themes

Ageing and Dementia Research Forum – 29th June – Digital Health Coaching DIALOR

Fusion themes, Knowledge Exchange

Details of the next ADRC ageing and dementia research forum are listed below. The forum is an opportunity for staff and PhD students to get together to chat about research and share experiences in a safe and supportive environment. Specific topics are discussed but there is also time for open discussion to mull over aspects of research such as project ideas and planning, ethical considerations and patient and public involvement.

Date, time, and campus Research areas
29th June 2023

15.00-15.45

BG601, Bournemouth Gateway

Lansdowne Campus

 ‘Digital health coaching for older people with frailty in Wessex (DIALOR) ’Rachel Christie

If you would like to discuss your research ideas at a future meeting, please email Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk

We look forward to seeing you there.

Ageing and Dementia Research Centre

BU and University of Cambridge Collaboration on Traffic Prediction

Fusion, Knowledge Exchange, REF Subjects

Bournemouth University (BU) has collaborated with the University of Cambridge on network wide road traffic prediction. The work, led by Dr. Wei Koong Chai in BU, address the problem of traffic prediction on large-scale road networks and propose a novel deep learning model, Virtual Dynamic Graph Convolution Neural Network and Transformer with Gate and Attention mechanisms (VDGCNeT), to comprehensively extract complex, dynamic and hidden spatial dependencies of road networks for achieving high prediction accuracy. The work advocates the use of a virtual dynamic road graph that captures the dynamic and hidden spatial dependencies of road segments in real road networks instead of purely relying on the physical road connectivity.

The team designed a novel framework based on Graph Convolution Neural Network (GCN) and Transformer to analyse dynamic and hidden spatial–temporal features. The gate mechanism is utilised for concatenating learned spatial and temporal features from Spatial and Temporal Transformers, respectively, while the Attention-based Similarity is used to update dynamic road graph.

Two real-world traffic datasets from large-scale road networks with different properties are used for training and testing the model. VDGCNeT is pitted against nine other well-known models in the literature. The results demonstrate that the proposed VDGCNeT is capable of achieving highly accurate predictions – on average 96.77% and 91.68% accuracy on PEMS-BAY and METR-LA datasets respectively. Overall, our VDGCNeT performs the best when compared against other existing models.

Reference:

G. Zheng, W. K. Chai, J. Zhang and V. Katos, “VDGCNeT: A novel network-wide Virtual Dynamic Graph Convolution Neural network and Transformer-based traffic prediction model,” Knowledge-based Systems, 110676, June 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2023.110676.

Using participatory asset mapping and PhotoVoice in Nepalese alcohol study

international, open access, Publishing, writing

This week we received an email from the editorial office of  Perspectives in Public Health with congratulations on the acceptance of your paper ‘Participatory asset mapping and photovoice interviews to scope cultural and community resources to reduce alcohol harm in Chitwan, Nepal’ [1].  The lead researcher on this public health alcohol research project in Nepal is Dr. Ranjita Dhital, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Health Studies in the Arts and Sciences Department at UCL (University College London).

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Nepal, morbidity and mortality risks are greater per litre of pure alcohol consumed than in higher-income countries. This is largely due to poverty, poor nutrition, adverse living conditions, and poor access to care. These inequities are made worse by the dearth of understanding of the most appropriate and cost-effective approaches to reduce alcohol-related harm in LMICs.  Our study aims to stimulate new thinking on how cultural and community assets could be integrated to co-designed alcohol interventions for future evaluation in LMICs, through scoping the breadth of cultural and community assets in relation to alcohol use and to exploring attitudes towards alcohol and people experiences with it.

The journal Perspectives in Public Health is published by SAGE and the paper will be Open Access when it appears online.  My previous alcohol studies have focused on students [2], Nepalese migrants living in the UK [3], and Public Health measures to reduced alcohol misuse in Scotland [4].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

Reference:

 

  1. Dhital, R., Yoeli, H., Adhikari, A., Luitel, N.P., Nadkarni, A., van Teijlingen, E., Sin, J. (2023) Participatory asset mapping and photovoice interviews to scope cultural and community resources to reduce alcohol harm in Chitwan, Nepal, Perspectives in Public Health (accepted).  DOI: 10.1177/17579139231180744).
  2. Engs, R.C, van Teijlingen E (1997) Correlates of alcohol, tobacco & marijuana use among Scottish post-secondary helping profession students, Journal of Alcohol Studies, 58:435-44.
  3. van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in the UK BMJ Rapid Response: bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
  4. Ludbrook A, Godfrey C, Wyness L, Parrott S, Haw S, Napper M, van Teijlingen E. (2002) Effective & Cost-Effective Measures to Reduce Alcohol Misuse in Scotland: Lit Review, ISBN: 0755932803 www.alcoholinformation.isdscotland.org/alcohol_misuse/files/MeasureReduce_Full.pdf

 

BU hosting British Society of Criminology’s Hate Crime Network’s annual conference in June

conferences

Dr. Jane Healy, Principal Academic in BU’s Department of Social Science and Social Work is organising a national conference on behalf of the British Society of Criminology’s Hate Crime Network. The conference ‘TRANSforming the Narrative: Challenging Transphobic Hate Crime’ will be held on June 22.  The conference is free, and its aims and mission statement, as well as booking information, can be found on the link: click here!
The British Society of Criminology’s Hate Crime Network’s annual conference will take place at Bournemouth University in 2023. This will be an opportunity to consider the extent of transphobic hate crimes, the experiences of victims, and the responses by criminal justice and voluntary agencies. The conference is free to attend though registration in mandatory!

Double congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker

Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker, Professor of Society & Social Welfare in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work, who just published his historical-sociological analysis of British Welfare under the title Analysing the History of British Social Welfare – Compassion, Coercion and Beyond.  The book it is published by Policy Press and will be available next week.   This book offers insights into the development of social welfare policies in Britain. By identifying continuities in welfare policy, practice and thought throughout history, it offers the potential for the development of new thinking, policy making and practice.

In addition Jonathan also published a new edition of his popular textbook Introducing Social Work SECOND EDITION.  This edited volume included chapters by BU academics Dr. Orlanda Harvey (Chapter 26) and Dr. Sally Lee (Chapter 22) as well as an array of internationally renowned social work academics.

Congratulations!
Prof.Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH

BU-BCP collaborative initiative on sustainable urban parking

Fusion, international, Knowledge Exchange, Publishing, REF Subjects

BU has collaborated with the Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole (BCP) local council on the initiative investigating sustainable solutions to urban parking which is a challenging problem to the area especially during peak tourist periods. The study, initiated and led by Dr. Wei Koong Chai in BU, explores the possibilities of exploiting online parking reservation platforms proposed in the last decade to cope with the parking challenge by enlisting parking resources from commercial operators (e.g., lots) and individuals (e.g., driveways) and allowing drivers make online reservations through mobile apps. The platforms facilitate transactions between the two sides and best match parking supply with parking demand. In this way, we increase the supply which may be otherwise unused while maximise value for drivers and parking space providers.
The study analyses real parking data in the Bournemouth city to realistically model the rich spatiotemporal dynamics of parking demand such as the location, start times and duration of parking events. These datasets drive the experimental evaluation of the research, which reports gains of up to 35% compared to the de facto parking resource reservation policy in such platforms.
Reference:
M. Karaliopoulos, O. Mastakas and W. K. Chai, “Matching Supply and Demand in Online Parking Reservation Platforms,” in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 3182-3193, March 2023, doi: 10.1109/TITS.2022.3230087.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis contributes on the Impact of ChatGPT to tourism marketing

Business Engagement

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis contributes on the Impact of ChatGPT to tourism marketing

CUTTING EDGE PAPER ON ChatGPT with key colleagues and examples from KALAMATA and BOURNEMOUTH 🙂

“So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy

International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 71, 102642,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2023.102642

#chatgpt #artificialintelligence #AI #marketing #technology

 

 

SaferKids VR launch

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion, Industry collaboration, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

Before the pandemic, local school children had a local facility near Wallisdown called SafeWise. SafeWise supported children learning about keeping safe and in particular road safety. However, during the pandemic this facility closed, leaving children without such an important resource. In collaboration with Colin Parnell from Centre VR, Dr Sarah Hodge (from the Department of Psychology) was awarded a bid by Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) Council to develop a VR simulation/game about road safety skills; SaferKids VR.

The educational simulation/game was designed and created, with an interdisciplinary team, including psychologists, and game developers and programmers. The team of game developers and programmers, consisted of two BU graduates Sam Walsh and Josh Maddocks, as well as Andrew Ham. Since graduating from his Masters degree, Sam has led the team on the SaferKids VR development.

Within SaferKids VR, there was the creation of SKIE: Safer Kids Interactive Expert (robot pictured above). SKIE supports the player in VR, navigating the friendly real-life interactive virtual world and achieving learning goals and road safety skills. In the United States, every year, thousands of people are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence. You can read this article to know what to do if you ever get into an accident.

Schools can sign up for their pupils to be involved. 

For more information on the project please see the link https://centrevr.co.uk/saferkidsvr/ or contact shodge@bournemouth.ac.uk

Socio-Ecological Transition Seminars – Semester 1 wrap up

Knowledge Exchange

Socio-Ecological Transition Seminars – a short summary of what we discussed in semester 1, with all related recordings. The calendar for semester two will be shared soon 🙂

12 October 2022 – Philip Balsiger, University of Neuchâtel, presented his work “The dynamics of ‘Moralized Markets’: a field perspective, Socio-Economic Review, Volume 19, Issue 1, January 2021”

Philip’s key proposition is that morality has increasingly become a way through which value is created in contemporary capitalism, and he discussed the processes through which this happens and their implications.

The recording is available here.

9 November 2022 – Fátima Portilho, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, presented her work “Politicizing Consumption in Latin America‘” published in The Oxford Handbook of Political Consumerism.

Fatima showed how political consumerism takes a different trajectory in Latin America when compared with the northern hemisphere. She discussed specificities and the limitations and opportunities for the expansion of political consumerism throughout the continent, with a focus on Brazil.

The recording is available here.

14 December 2022 – Markus Wissen, Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR) presented his recent book “The Imperial Mode of Living. Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism”, co-authored with Ulrich Brand (2021).

Markus outlined the concept of Imperial Mode of Living, highlighting that Western mode of production and living is based on asymmetrical social relations along class, gender and race; relies heavily on the unlimited appropriation of resources; and is a main driver of the ecological crisis and economic and political instability.

The recording is available here.

SETS is a joint initiative between the Research Group on Collective Action, Change, and Transition at the University of Trento, the Centre for Sustainable and Socially Responsible Consumption at Bournemouth University, and the Environmental Sociology Section at the University of Orebro. The seminars are open to a diverse audience, including academics, students, practitioners, social movements, and the non-specialist public.