Category / Fusion

Capturing a yawn: initial observations – Dr Simon Thompson

BU research, Featured academics, Fusion, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research news, Research themes

Yawning presents scientists and clinicians with an intriguing phenomenon. There is continued uncertainty over its neuroanatomical origin, the neuro-chemicals involved, mechanisms involved, and its reasons of functionality. Apart from being able to visually (and aurally) observe a person yawning, it has been difficult to quantify until now.

Researchers suggest that yawning may play an important role in the protection of our immune system, by regulating hormones, and particular reflexes, when we are exposed to psychological or physical stress or fatigue (Thompson, & Zisa, 2012).

The stress hormone, cortisol may be a part of this complex response because of its involvement in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (Wikipedia, 2013). Cortisol, known systematically as 11-beta-11, 17, 21-trihydroxypregn-4-ene-3, 20-dione (IUPAC, 2013), is measured reliably in saliva as well as in the blood. The exact relationship between cortisol and yawning is thought to be either as a precursor to the yawn or as a result of yawning since, curiously, cortisol is found to be elevated after yawning (Thompson, & Bishop, 2012).

The yawn is produced by stretching the muscles along the jaw-line; however, the extent of stretch and volume of yawn varies between people. Measuring the level of electrical muscle activity using electromyography (EMG) at the muscle site during the yawn phase is in the region of millionths of a volt and may be sustained for several seconds.

Male and female volunteers aged between 18-53 years were exposed to conditions that provoked a yawning response in a randomised controlled trial here at Bournemouth University. For the first time, the yawn was quantified and a profile of EMG data (sine wave) was obtained.

Initial observations find that of a sample of yawners and non-yawners, induced by presentation of yawning stimuli, the people who yawned had elevated nerve activity from 50 (at rest) to 175 (after stimuli presentation and yawning) (see Photo) compared with those who did not yawn who exhibited 10 (at rest) to 80 (after stimuli presentation). Yawners generally had higher level of electrical muscular jaw activity both before and after yawning.

Further research is continuing into the “yawning envelope” (EMG wave) with the hope that, together with cortisol measurement, this new information may form part of a potential diagnostic tool to identify untoward early neurological sequelae that are indicative of neurological disease.

IUPAC – International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry., 2013. www.iupac.org/home/about.html, Accessed 18.08.2013

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(5);e4:1-9. Doi: 10.2196/ijmr.2241

Thompson SBN, Zisa L., 2012. Ill-health, stress, cortisol levels and yawning. In SBN Thompson (Ed.), Psychology of trauma: clinical reviews, case histories, research. Portsmouth: Blackwell-Harvard-Academic: 125-132

Wikipedia, 2013b. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamic%E2%80%93pituitary%E2%80%93adrenal_axis, Accessed: 18.08.2013

 

 

 

The portrayal of childbirth in the mass media

BU research, Fusion

Marilyn Cash from HSC’s Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health recently delivered a paper on the Portrayal of Childbirth in the Mass Media, at the Reimagining Birth International Research Symposium held at the Humanities Institute University College Dublin, Ireland.  The research symposium brought together academics, medics and artists from around the world to explore how childbirth has been portrayed/represented/imagined in the worlds of art and medicine. 

The symposium provided an opportunity for contemporary critical debates into the visual culture of childbirth.  This was a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to explore/discuss the visual and sensorial culture of birth, and to contribute to our reimagining of this fundamental personal life experience for mother and child.  Central to the vision of the symposium is the ambition to build connections between interested parties, providing a forum for transcending current knowledge silos and contributing to innovative change in this important personal/cultural domain of human experience.

The paper is part of an ongoing collaboration between academics in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health and the Media School and the University of Stirling, exploring the medicalisation of childbirth.  As a direct result of the symposium academics from the group have been invited to present at the Perinatal Care Online Conference to be held in November 2013. For further information please contact a member of the Media and Childbirth research team (which includes: Prof Vanora Hundley: vhundley@bournemouth.ac.uk, Prof Edwin van Teijlingen: evteijlingen@bournemouth.ac.uk, Dr Ann Luce: aluce@bournemouth.ac.uk, Dr Marilyn Cash: mcash@bournemouth.ac.uk , Prof Helen Cheyne: h.l.cheyne@stir.ac.uk, Dr Catherine Angell: cangell@bournemouth.ac.uk .

BFX – The Competition update.

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion

The BFX Competition is on now!
Following our Fusion-funded trips across the country to publicise the event we now have ten teams (54 individuals) are living on campus as they work on producing a 30 second animated or VFX sequence. The teams, which were shortlisted from an original list of 23 are being mentored by professionals from top Soho studios; MPC, The Mill, Framestore, Double Negative, Cinesite and Hibbert Ralph Animation. The work being produced by the teams covers a range of styles and uses many different production techniques, including live action, green screen, 2D animation, 3D CGI, particle effects, real world simulation and everything in between!
For the competitors, the interaction with people from other HE institutions and the Soho studios has made everyone raise their game and focus on genuine professional practice. We are now just about halfway through; all the work looks amazing and is way beyond everyone’s expectations – which means that the screening in September at the BFX Festival should be a huge success!

http://www.bfxfestival.com/competition/

http://www.facebook.com/groups/bfxcompetition/

Inventions and Intellectual Property Law comes alive at the Festival of Design and Innovation 2013

Featured, Featured academics, Fusion, Uncategorized

The annual Festival of Design and Innovation (FoDI) opened on Thursday 20 June 2013.  It was an opportunity for students from the School of Design, Engineering and Computing (DEC) to exhibit their innovations and creations. “A cake icing pen, a computer game controlled by brain power and a glamping pod were just some of the ground-breaking ideas and inventions on display at this year’s FoDI.”

During the academic year, final year students from DEC are paired off with final year students from the Law Department studying Intellectual Property (IP) Law.  The law students are tasked with advising their DEC clients on the protection and exploitation of their innovative creations.  The DEC clients then incorporate the advice which they have received from the ‘lawyers’ into their final year projects.

The IP-DEC Project brings Intellectual Property law to life.  It gives an opportunity for law students to apply IP Law to real-life inventions and in turn it helps the DEC client to understand the importance of strong IP protection when preparing to protect, market and exploit their various creations.

The IP-DEC Project culminates with Awards for the Best DEC Student; Best IP Student and Best IP-DEC Group sponsored by Paul Turner, a retired Patent Attorney.

The Paul Turner Prize for the best IP-DEC Group was awarded at the opening night of the Festival.  The prize was awarded to Law Students Danielle Foster and Luke Trim and DEC Students Benjamen Armstrong, George Burge, Joseph Carter, Markko Reinberg, Nicholas Cron, Thomas Clements and Thomas Reynolds.

Paul Turner with two of the winning DEC students and law students Luke Trim and Danielle Foster.

The Paul Turner Individual Prize for the Best IP Student went to Gemma Jefferies whilst the Paul Turner Prize for the Best DEC Student was awarded to Coco Canessa.  The Individual Prize winners will officially receive their awards at the Graduation Ceremony in November 2013.

The opportunity to apply Intellectual Property Law to real-life scenarios and to real-life innovations together with helping the DEC clients to grasp the importance of IP law, makes this project truly unique.

The IP-DEC Project is co-ordinated by Dr. Dinusha Mendis (Law); Dr. Tania Humphries (DEC); and Dr. Reza Sahandi (DEC).

 

Bringing industry and education together through the ‘F’ word…

BU research, Fusion

… Fusion, of course! Dan Jackson, Melanie Gray and Tasos Theofilou report on setting up a national competition for PR students.

This time last year we had just submitted a Fusion bid with the aim of setting up a national PR competition for final year UG and PG students. The idea was simple: we set up an intra-university and PR industry body; give it a catchy name – we chose ‘Amilla’, which is Greek for ‘healthy competition’; get a big-name PR agency to set a brief for students to respond to; teams of students from across UK PR education then submit a written pitch, with the best five being invited to the PR agency’s offices to pitch and a winner announced amid great fanfare.

We knew it was a good idea, we knew what we needed to do, but getting others to believe in it and commit to it was always going to be the biggest challenge. Thankfully, the Fusion committee believed in it and we received funding to support our endeavors. We set up a website, recruited and met with a coordinating committee, articulated a mission, set the competition rules – so far so good.

Looking back, this was the easy part. We had so far targeted those we knew would be most enthusiastic and able to contribute. The bigger challenge was persuading other colleagues in PR education to champion the competition and encourage their students to participate. Again, we knew the idea was strong – it’s about having greater ambition for our students and giving them a greater external platform, which can enhance their employability etc etc! – however, getting other PR lecturers to support the venture was a surprisingly big challenge, which stretched us to our limits.

In the end we got an adequate number of entries, and were able to shortlist five teams for the finals. The finals day was a genuine success, with strong representation from the PR industry and PR education from across the country. The quality of student work was outstanding and was highly praised by the PR agency that was judging. The feedback from participating students was overwhelmingly positive.

So it is onwards and upwards for next year’s competition, which will be hosted by the University of Central Lancashire. We will continue to grow the network of PR educators and industry, and have a sustainable model from which to move forwards.

Oh, and in case you were wondering who won the first Amilla competition, it was a team of BU students. And before you start thinking of the other ‘F’ word, it definitely was not a FIX!!

 

 

 

 

FIF call for applications now closed

Funding opportunities, Fusion

The current call for applications to all strands of the Fusion Investment Fund  has now closed. For those of you who have missed out this time, fear not! There will be another chance to apply later this year when we open the next call in October. Watch this space for details!

Thank you to all who have submitted applications. We’re really pleased* to report that you have helped to set a new FIF record with the most applications received to date! You will receive the outcome of your application via email in August. We wish you the best of luck!

 

*Really, so, so pleased. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Who doesn’t love a load of data entry?! 😉

Yawning Up-State Post-Visit Report Part 2 – Santander Travel Scholarship – Dr Simon Thompson

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Featured academics, Fusion, Post-award, REF Subjects, Research themes

Science Center, Bard College, Rhinebeck, New York State.

 

Bard College, Rhineback, New York State.

 

Circada.

 

L-R: Dr Andrew Gallup; Dr Simon Thompson.

 

Most people can relate to yawning as all of us have done this at some time, with some of us being prolific yawners. However, little is known about the reasons for us yawning or the mechanisms involved.

My work on the link between cortisol and yawning has been published and is gaining momentum in the scientific community with presentations at the First International Conference on Yawning in Paris in 2010 and a forthcoming symposium being planned by me at Bournemouth University.

My travel scholarship enabled me to visit key workers in the field in upstate New York and with affliations with Prinecton University and Bard College (see photos). This has been so successful that we envisgae research collaboration between BU and the USA. I was even able to meet with the assistant to the world famous Professor Oliver Sack’s to discuss my resaerch and to “put it on the map” in the neurological community!

A bonus of my trip was to encounter first hand an extremely rare circada that hatches in the region I visited only every 17 years! What a privilege!

I am most grateful to Santander for their generous support and I believe this trip will help me make significant steps forward in my clinical research i yanwing and multiple sclerosis at BU.

Tick tock! Tick tock! – Fusion Fund deadline today at 2pm

Funding opportunities, Fusion

A reminder that applications to the Fusion Investment Fund must be submitted via email to FusionFund@bournemouth.ac.uk  by the deadline which is 2pm TODAY! No exceptions will be made to this deadline.

Please ensure you use the correct application form when applying. They are different this year. 

This one for SMN standard, CCCP and SL: FIF Application Form 

This one for Erasmus: Erasmus Application form 

This one for Santander:  Santander application form

If you haven’t already accessed the documents you need please visit the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Flying through Mexico – a reconnaissance tour

BU research, Fusion

 

I visited Mexico for 2 weeks earlier this month (6-20 June) to assess the potential for future research collaboration and to establish links between Bournemouth University (BU) and Mexican organisations. As I have the role of School of Applied Sciences (ApSci) Academic Lead for Students Placements, one of my objectives was to find potential hosts for our students and also opportunities for staff and student exchange. The talks I gave (5 in total!) allowed me to disseminate some of the work I do, the wider teaching and research at ApSci and to promote BU overall. After the talks there was always a good interaction with students and staff and I think there is a good chance that this was the start of long-lasting partnerships between BU and at least some of the organisations I visited:

  • Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Ensenada – researchers from other departments and also from CICESE (Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education) also attended the talk, what was very good. Many thanks to Dr Amaia Ruiz de Alegria Arzaburu for organising everything. It was great to catch up with you and hopefully we will be doing something together soon.
  • Instituto de Ingenieria, Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City -attendance to the talk was very good and there was also an interview and material will be added to their website, so quite good dissemination. Dr Rodolfo Silva Casarin is a star, brilliant head of a very interesting group, it was great to have met him after so many emails we have exchanged in the recent past. Many thanks!
  • CINVESTAV (Center for Research and Advanced Studies), National Polytechnic Institute, Merida – here I had a closer contact with research conducted by staff and PhD students and also with coordinators of relevant programme, including some clear demonstration of will for visiting BU and start collaboration. Thanks to Dr Ismael Marino Tapia for the invitation and for being such a great host. Very interesting research are being conducted in CINVESTAV.
  • Laboratorio de Ingeniería y Procesos Costeros, Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Sisal – this people are so lucky, they have brand new facilities right at the beach, beautiful settings and they are building new labs, which I’m sure will host great quality research. The talk was well attended and hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with colleagues that were very interested in staff and student exchange. Many thanks to Dr Ernesto Tonatiuh Mendoza Ponce and Dr Cecilia Enriquez for the opportunity to visit your facilities – I look forward to working with you.
  • Instituto EPOMEX (Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México), Universidad Autonoma de Campeche – Thanks to Dr Gregorio Posada Vanegas for introducing the research conducted at EPOMEX and for facilitating the contact with students and other staff. The interactions  after the talk were very informative and hopefully we will continue our collaboration in the future.

This was my first time in Mexico and I had the opportunity to see a bit of very different parts of the country, talk to researchers and students and learn about their work, culture and life style. I call it a tour because in two weeks I visited Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico City and a number of locations in the Yucatan Peninsula, including Merida, Sisal, Campeche and also part of the coast of Quintana Roo. So every other day I was packing and unpacking, which was very tiring. But all worth it for the people I met and the things I learned.

Many thanks to BU’s EUADS (EU Academic Development Scheme) funds for allowing me to engage in this reconnaissance tour.

I will keep you posted of further developments from this initiative.

Joint PhD studentships: an example of FUSION in practice.

BU research, Fusion, PG research, Research news

For many clinicians undertaking a PhD means choosing to either give up clinical practice for a period of time or studying on top of an already demanding full-time job. Now a partnership between the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust (PHT) is making it easier for midwives to undertake a doctorate while still maintaining their clinical skills. The team has developed a novel joint studentship that will allow midwives to combine clinical practice with a research role, working across BU and PHT. The studentships will run for four years and PhD students will spend two days per week working as a midwife in clinical practice and three days per week working on their thesis. This set up facilitates the co-creation of knowledge.

In addition to providing the individual midwives with excellent education, these studentships are designed to examine an area of clinical practice identified by PHT where the evidence is lacking and research is needed. As a consequence the research studies will be directly relevant to practice and will have a demonstrable impact in the future. Hence BU will be able to show that its research and education have a direct benefit to the wider society. Finally, the studentships benefit midwifery practice by building a critical mass of researchers, which will help translate research findings into practice and so create a culture of evidence-based practice.

The result is a studentship that truly fuses research, education and practice.

The CMMPH/PHT partnership has developed three matched-funded PhD studentships for midwives, which will begin in September 2013. These joint PhD studentships will be supervised by both BU academics (Sue Way, Catherine Angell, Carol Wilkins, Maggie Hutchings, Edwin van Teijlingen & Vanora Hundley) and supervisors from PHT based in practice.  We are excited about this novel approach to PhD studentships and hope that we will have many more studentships with other NHS Trusts in the future.

For further information please contact Prof. Vanora Hundley or Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

FIF Applicants – please use the correct form

Funding opportunities, Fusion

A quick reminder to applicants to the Fusion Investment Fund: Please can you ensure you use the correct application form when applying. They have been updated since previous rounds. 

Please use the following (as on the intranet pages):

This one for SMN standard, CCCP and SL: FIF Application Form 

This one for Erasmus: Erasmus Application form 

This one for Santander:  Santander application form

All other documents including policies and FAQs are available on the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Time is running out! – Deadline for applications is 2pm on Monday

Funding opportunities, Fusion

If you would like to apply to any strands of the FIF please make sure you submit your application by the deadline which is 2pm on Monday 1 July. No exceptions will be made to this deadline.

For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

FIF Networking visit to New Zealand

Funding opportunities, Fusion

My Fusion journey started well before the Fusion fund came into being. Medicine 2.0 logoI’ve attended several Medicine 2.0 conferences, increasing my network of people researching in a similar area to myself along the way.  Last year this led to an invitation to visit Prof John Sullivan at the University of Otago, New Zealand. The University of Otago, founded in 1869, is New Zealand’s oldest university.

My research interests are around the role of the Internet and Social Media in supporting people living with long term conditions, and the related implications for healthcare professionals’ practice and education. Prof Sullivan researches in the area of sport concussion, including projects examining the role of the world wide web (www) in facilitating concussion awareness.

I applied to the Staff Networking and Mobility strand for support to take up this invitation, and was awarded funds for a 2 week visit to explore potential collaboration in research and education initiatives.

While I was there I was invited to give a guest lecture, where I shared some recent research I have undertaken into the ethics of using online discussion boards as research data. I was lucky enough to meet other Otago academics with an interest in this, including Dr Lynley Anderson in the Bioethics Centre, and Dr Lisa Whitehead, the Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing.

I had an inspiring fortnight, mainly at the Dunedin campus. The School of Physiotherapy were kind enough to give me office space and computer access during my stay.  The University of Otago has grown over the years and has a historic core, surrounded by a collection of buildings of various ages and styles. Prof Sullivan took me on a walk around the campus and told me something of its history.

University of Otago. Copyright C Bond
I also visited several local coffee shops, where a lot of networking meetings seem to happen. Prof David Baxter, the Dean, gave me an overview of the work of the School, and I discussed research into low back pain with Dr Ramakrishnan Mani, and use of the Internet in education with Dr Daniel Ribeiro.

I also visited the University of Otago’s Christchurch campus where Dr Whitehead is based.

The Centre for Postgraduate Nursing is located in the City Centre, and while there I took some time out to walk around the areas of the downtown area that have been opened to the public after the devastating earthquakes suffered by the city two years ago.

I’ve come back with ideas for two possible research projects that now need to be developed, and funding found.

If anyone would like to know more about my research, or to discuss the Staff Mobility and Networking fund, please email me (cbond)

 

Free money! Free money! 1 week left to apply!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

 Okay so it’s not exactly free….you will have to do something for it but what if I told you that you will be hailed within BU, and who knows, maybe the world, as a researcher/support staff member extraordinaire! Your peers will bow down in the corridors in your honour, you will be met with applause when you enter the atrium.*

 I know what you’re thinking….’This sounds brilliant! Where can I find out more?’ Just point your mouse here, my friend, and all will be revealed.

*This may not actually happen.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Fusion Investment Fund: Costing proposals

Funding opportunities, Fusion

We have had quite a few enquiries asking for help to provide costs for fusion fund applications. It is expected that applicants will calculate costs themselves. Please note that costings are not handled by RKE Ops as only external funding applications are processed by this team.  In the main, fusion applications involve travel and subsistence costs which can be calculated by staff drawing on standard guidance. In the case that an applicant is being bought out of their current post or hiring a new member of staff for a project your Director of Operations within your school should be able to provide guidance on identifying costs.  We encourage applicants to be as realistic as possible with regards to costings because any changes to approved projects, including costs during the lifecycle of the project, would need to be approve by Matthew Bennett.

 In the event of any queries please contact Natalie Baines, Fusion Investment Fund administrator.

There’s also more information about the different strands of the Fund on the Staff Intranet pages.

Thank FIF for that! Professional services staff can apply too!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Not only does the Fusion Investment Fund provide opportunities for academic staff at BU, there are also options for professional services staff:

Staff can apply to Erasmus which is most appropriate for enabling academic and professional staff based at higher education institutions (HEIs) to spend a period of training or teaching between 5 working days and 6 weeks in a European HEI or enterprise.  Under training mobility, the purpose is to allow the staff members to acquire knowledge or skills relevant for their current job and their professional development and to help create cooperation between organisations. There are also opportunities to invite staff from enterprises to Bournemouth University to give presentations and provide teaching. Professional staff can undertake training at a European educational institution.

Another option is to apply to the standard element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand. Non-academic staff must be able to demonstrate through their application how their travel will benefit the academic process within BU and particular focus should be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments. 

 

For more information please read the relevant policy documents and information available on the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.