Category / Knowledge Exchange

A New Publication by MSPH researcher on Combat Trauma and Heart Rate Variability in a UK Military Cohort

BRIAN, Knowledge Exchange

Rabeea Maqsood is a 2nd year PhD student based in the department of Medical Sciences and Public Health. As a part of her PhD, Rabeea’s original research has been published in BMJ Military Health. Read it #OpenAccess here:

https://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/early/2023/03/28/military-2022-002316.citation-tools

This is the first study- to the authors’ knowledge- to have comprehensively explored the association between combat trauma (status, severity and mechanism) and ultra-short term HRV in a large sample of 862 participants.
 The co-authors on this paper (in no specific order) are Rabeea’ supervisors: Prof. Ahmed Khattab (MSPH, BU), Prof. Christopher Boos (Department of Cardiology, UHD) and collaborators from the ADVANCE study: Prof. Alex N Bennett (DMRC, Stanford Hall), Prof. Nicola Dear (King’s College London), Prof. Anthony Bull (Imperial College London), Prof. Paul Cullinan (Imperial College London) and Miss Susie Schofield (Imperial College London).

Association between Traumatic Injuries and Heart Rate Variability- Systematic Review Published in PloS One by an MSPH PhD Student

BRIAN, Knowledge Exchange, open access, student research

Rabeea is a 2nd year PhD student who is based in the Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health. As a part of her PhD, her systematic review on the association between traumatic Injuries and HRV has recently been published as an open access research in PloS One.

It is the first systematic review to provide evidence on the relationship between non-acute traumatic injuries and Heart Rate Variability  (RMSSD, SDNN and LF/HF) ratio. This also highlights paucity of evidence and calls for further research in the field, especially in the Military research- the focus of Rabeea’s PhD.

The co-authors on this paper are Rabeea’ supervisors: Prof. Ahmed Khattab (MSPH, BU), Prof. Christopher Boos (Department of Cardiology, UHD), and Prof. Alex N Bennett (DMRC, Stanford Hall).

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

Erasmus+ teaching in Nepal

international, Knowledge Exchange

BU professors Vanora Hundley and Carol Clark are currently in Nepal as part of an exchange between Bournemouth University (BU) and Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal.

They have enjoyed discussing research with the Masters in Public Health students at MMIHS, whose research proposals include topics as diverse as stress and burnout, musculoskeletal injuries in hand-loom workers, and occupational health of high altitude porters.

Yesterday they were teaching the students as part of their Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit. Vanora outlined the history of Safe Motherhood and the group had a detailed discussion about the causes of maternity mortality and strategies to improve care for mothers and babies. Carol gave a lecture on urinary incontinence (including teaching the class how to do pelvic floor exercises) and explored how we handle taboo subjects such as this.

Carol and Vanora had an opportunity to meet with students from MMIHS who had recently returned from their exchange with Bournemouth University. The students spoke about how their time in Dorset had enabled them to learn about health in the UK and to share their expertise in delivering public health in a low income country.

The Erasmus+ exchange promotes cross-border education and knowledge exchange. It facilitates networking, enables capacity building and provides opportunities for future collaboration.

SciVal training for Research Team Leaders – 23 Feb 2023

international, Knowledge Exchange, Publishing, Training

Are you looking for a collaborator to fill a gap in your team’s expertise, or looking for a non-academic collaborator for a funding bid? Interested in exploring which research contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals? Or do you need to present your publishing track record for a funding application?

Staff and research students at Bournemouth University have access to the research intelligence platform SciVal, a tool that provides research analytics data. Used in the right context SciVal can help you discover current research trends, track who is citing your work and from where, and identify potential collaborators including in non-academic sectors.

Join us in this online session delivered by our dedicated SciVal Customer Consultant on 23 February 2023, 10am to 11am or 2pm to 3pm.

To find out more about how to join the session, please visit this link on the staff intranet –

https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/workingatbu/staffdevelopmentandengagement/fusiondevelopment/fusionprogrammesandevents/rkedevelopmentframework/careers/scivalforresearchteamleaders/

If you do not have access to the Staff Intranet,  you can access the booking form via the link below –

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=VZbi7ZfQ5EK7tfONQn-_uHL-6XoUudlNkJOS948yf5NUNEUyMUJSWUVUR1ZRWUNEVjhVT0lIS01QVyQlQCN0PWcu

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.

It is all about experience

Delicious links, international, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

This week we published a paper on the experience of conducting fieldwork in the public health field in the Journal of Health Promotion. [1] Fieldwork is usually a crucial part of PhD research, not only in the health field. However, few researchers write about this, often challenging, process. This paper highlights various occasions where fieldwork in the area of public health, health promotion or community health was more difficult than expected or did not go as planned. Our reflections on working in the field are aimed at less experienced researchers to support them in their research development. Moreover, this paper is also calling upon health researchers to share more details about the process of doing fieldwork and its trials and tribulations. Our key advice is to be inquisitive and open-minded around fieldwork, followed by: be prepared for your fieldwork, conduct a risk assessment of what might go wrong, and consider your resources and options to overcome such trials and tribulations. Fieldwork can be unpredictable.  We believe it is important to share practical lessons from the field which helps other to better understand these tribulations, and learn from them. Finally, sharing such information may guide new researchers and help them identify strategies that can address those issues and challenges in their future studies.

Dr. Preeti Mahato (at Royal Holloway, University of London), Dr Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada (both based at the University of Huddersfield) are all BU Visiting Faculty.  Moreover, I have had the pleasure of acting as PhD supervisor for five of my co-authors.  I have included in this blog what is probably my favourite fieldwork photo taken a decade ago by former BU PhD student Dr. Sheetal Sharma.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

References:

  1. Mahato, P., Tamang, P., Simkhada, B., Wasti, S. P., Devkota, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Reflections on health promotion fieldwork in Nepal: Trials and tribulations. Journal of Health Promotion 10(1): 5–12. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v10i1.50978