Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Congratulations to HSC PhD student Ph.D. Sheetal Sharma who was co-author on a blog today on the recently published Lancet series on Midwifery. The blog is illustrated with some of Sheetal’s beautiful photos from her Ph.D. research fieldwork in Nepal.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
Bournemouth University
HSC Open Seminar
“Obesity Prevention in Men” with Professor Edwin van Teijlingen
Wednesday 2nd July 2014
13.00 – 13.50pm
Bournemouth House, B126
On July 2nd Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will present findings from a HTA report published this month. Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, Bournemouth University and the University of Stirling examined the evidence for managing obesity in men and investigated how to engage men with obesity services. The evidence came from trials, interviews with men, reports of studies from the UK, and economic studies.
The research found that men are more likely than women to benefit if physical activity is part of a weight-loss programme. Also eating less produces more weight loss than physical activity on its own. However, the type of reducing diet did not appear to affect long-term weight loss.
Prof. van Teijlingen will highlight some of the key messages for Public Health policy and practice. For example, that although fewer men than women joined weight-loss programmes, once recruited they were less likely to drop out than women. The perception of having a health problem, the impact of weight loss on health problems, and the desire to improve personal appearance without looking too thin were motivators for weight loss amongst men.
This work has been funded as part of the ROMEO project (Review Of Men and Obesity) by the National Institute for Health Research, Health Technology Assessment Programme (NIHR HTA Project 09/127/01).
The full report can be downloaded here: http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/118180/FullReport-hta18350.pdf
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We hope you can make it and we look forward to seeing you there.
Beckie Freeman
Academic Community Administrator| Health & Wellbeing Community
01202 962184 | rfreeman@bournemouth.ac.uk
The first RKEO coffee morning was a huge success and we’d like to continue this at our next event, this Thursday (19th June) at 9am in R303, Royal London House. We’ll be there until 10am. Come along for a pastry and an informal chat with members of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office. We look forward to seeing you!
For your diaries, our next coffee morning is at Talbot again, in the new academic year – 30th October at 9.30am in the Retreat.
Staff and students are invited to join us for the next Cyber Security Seminar…
‘Goal Modelling for Investigating Fraud’
Tuesday 17th June 2014
Lawrence Lecture Theatre, Talbot Campus
4pm – 5pm
Join us for this informative seminar presented by Clive Blackwell, who is currently a Research Engineer at Airbus Innovation Works.
This seminar will present a systematic process for analysing fraud using the KAOS tool, which is widely used in requirements engineering. Interestingly, Clive will analyse the case of Paul Ceglia vs Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, where Ceglia claims 50% of Facebook supported by an alleged contract signed by Zuckerberg. Clive believes this technique could be extended to help provide a general model for fraud and also aid better analysis of the cyber security of complex systems in general.
If you would like to join us for this presentation, please book your place via Eventbrite. We will look forward to seeing you!
Speaker Bio: Clive Blackwell is currently a Research Engineer at Airbus Innovation Works where his main research is in threat detection and modelling. Clive was formerly a Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University between 2010 and 2013, where his main area of research was in cyber security and digital forensics with a particular interest in the development of a scientific basis for digital forensics. He has over 50 publications including two books to his name.
Fewer men join weight loss programmes but are more likely than women to stick with them, according to analysis of international obesity studies by researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen, Bournemouth and Stirling.
Men also prefer the use of simple ‘business-like’ language, welcome humour used sensitively, and benefit from the moral support of other men in strategies to tackle obesity. The researchers suggest that obese men might be helped better if weight loss programmes were specifically designed for men.
Researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen, Bournemouth and Stirling analysed evidence from around the world, gathered from weight loss trials and studies that have also taken men’s views. The team particularly investigated what would make services more appealing for men.
From their systematic review (see: http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/118180/FullReport-hta18350.pdf ) of the evidence on obesity management published by the NHS National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme, researchers also found:
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Chief investigator Professor Alison Avenell, based at the University of Aberdeen, said: “More men than women are overweight or obese in the UK, but men are less likely to see their weight as a problem and engage with weight-loss services, even though obesity increases the risk of many serious illnesses such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. This could be because dieting and weight-loss programmes are perceived as being feminine activities.”
“We looked at the outcomes of obesity management trials and interventions as well as interviews with men in order to find out more about how to design services and inform health policy. While more research is needed into the effectiveness of new approaches to engage men with weight-loss, our findings suggest that men should be offered the opportunity to attend weight loss programmes that are different to programmes which are mainly attended by women.”
Dr Flora Douglas, from the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, said: “Men prefer more factual information on how to lose weight and more emphasis on physical activity in weight loss programmes. Interventions delivered in social settings were preferred to those delivered in health-care settings. Group-based programmes showed benefits by facilitating support for men with similar health problems, and some individual tailoring of advice helped men. Programmes which were situated in a sporting venue, where participants had a strong sense of affiliation, showed low drop-out rates and high satisfaction.”
University of Stirling Professor Pat Hoddinott said: “Men are much less likely to enrol in commercial weight loss schemes. Some men preferred weight loss programmes delivered in an NHS context. The difference between weight loss for men from NHS and commercial programmes is presently unclear”.
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen from Bournemouth University added: “This research project has benefited throughout from the input and insights offered by the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland, the Men’s Health Forum Scotland and the Men’s Health Forum England and Wales.”
This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research, Health Technology Assessment Programme (NIHR HTA Project 09/127/01; Systematic reviews of and integrated report on the quantitative, qualitative and economic evidence base for the management of obesity in men http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/hta/0912701). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Health.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
The latest edition of the newsletter of the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health has just been published online. The editor for the latest edition was Dr. Jen Leamon.
The latest newsletter can be found online at:
ttp://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Volume-3-Summer-2014.pdf
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Delphi method is an unsung qualitative research technique used for investigating complex issues. It was the subject of one of The Media School’s Prof Tom Watson’s teaching actions during his Erasmus visit to Leipzig University in Germany last week.
He was hosted by Prof Gunter Bentele and Prof Ansgar Zerfass of the university’s Communication Management Research Institute (Instituts KMW), who are also co-researchers with him.
“Delphi method has been little used in PR and Communication Management research. So this was an opportunity to present it to a group of Early Career Researchers and PhD students,” said Prof Watson who used it for an international study of PR research priorities in 2007/08.
He is hopeful that Delphi method, which draws its name from the oracle of Delphi as it is used for forecasting and policy creation, will be more widely used at both universities. “It gets very rich results amongst practitioners and from international experts.”
Other actions during Prof Watson’s Erasmus visit, supported by the British Council and a FIF SMN selection, were two seminars to Masters students on PR history and PR measurement as well as mentoring meetings with PhD students.
Leipzig University has been an Erasmus partner of BU for the past four years. It has one of Europe’s leading communication management and PR research teams, with an international reputation. Professors Bentele and Zerfass have both visited BU under the Erasmus banner. Students have also come from Leipzig to BU for six months’ study on the MA Public Relations.
“As well as being where J.S. Bach composed his music in the Thomaskirche (St Thomas’s Church) in the 18th century, the venue of the annual World Goth Festival and a charming city centre , Leipzig is a top university which started in 1409”, said Prof Watson. “There is great potential to further develop our relationship with it and its very welcoming staff.”
Thomaskirche, Leipzig, where J.S. Bach composed most of his music
HSC Ph.D. student Mr. Jib Acharya presented a poster in Ethiopia on his thesis research. His poster accepted by the scientific committee of the Micronutrient Forum Global Conference in Addis Adeba, the capital of Ethiopia.
Jib Acharya reported on his Ph.D. research which involves a mixed-methods study of to assess knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about nutritious food amongst rural and urban mothers in one district of Nepal. The poster highlighted that both knowledge of and attitudes towards nutritious food of rural and urban mothers are still poor in both rural and urban populations.
Jib’s supervisors in the School of Health & Social Care are: Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Martin Hind and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.
Reference:
Acharya, J., van Teijlingen E., Murphy, J., Hind, M. (2014) A Comparative Study on Nutritional Problems in Preschool Aged Children of Nepal, poster presented at the Micronutrient Forum Global Conference in Addis Adeba, Ethiopia, June 2014.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, CMMPH
An Immigration Compliance Session facilitated by Barbara Montagna, Immigration Compliance Officer is taking place on the Thursday 12th June 2014, 16:00-17:00, Lansdowne Campus.
This session provides an overview of the immigration rules and is a great opportunity to ask questions. The session includes a short presentation, which summaries the immigration rules affected BU, its students and staff. There will be some time for questions and answers provided as well.
To benefit the most from this workshop please come along with any questions about immigration at BU for our students, staff or visitors.
This session is aimed at: All staff who deal with international students enrolled at BU.
To book your place on this workshop, please email staffdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk
Want some expert advice on how the commercial research world works, and how academic insight is being used within it?
Call it a workshop, masterclass, training session. I’m not sure I really know the difference, but on Tuesday 10th June, 10am-12 in PG11 Stuart Armon is doing a session for BU staff on commercialising our research and translating academic thinking into industry insight etc. It’s what he’s done for the best part of the last 20 years and he’s very good at it. Stuart’s experience is in consumer research, so will be of particular value for those who research the broad areas of marketing, consumer behavior, branding, media and communications; but many of the lessons will also cross disciplines.
In the session, Stuart will cover:
– The pressures commercial clients are under
– The ways in which academic research is used
– How to manage commercial clients expectations
– How to present research in client friendly ways
If you are interested in attending then please just drop an email to Dan Jackson: jacksond@bournemouth.ac.uk
Stuart Armon has more than 20 years commercial experience working with agencies, brand owners and academia. In recent years he has championed the use of academic research in the commercial sector for organisations such as ITV, Channel 4, The Mirror Group, Toyota, CBS Outdoor and The Telegraph Media Group. In this time he has worked closely with the staff in the CMC academic group and the Creative Enterprise Bureau. He is now Practitioner in Residence for the CMC group.
The Business Improvement District (BID) yesterday hosted their first breakfast meeting on business continuity and information assurance.
Staff from the Business School, The Disaster Management Centre and the Cyber Security Unit presented a knowledgeable insight to identify collective responsibilities of businesses within the district, giving examples where one business problem may affect other enterprises across the estate. The Dorset Fire & Rescue Service and Dorset Police further supported BU’s representations concerning crisis management; business resilience; disaster recovery and cybercrime. In addition, A&T Insurance Group provided a comprehensive study on insuring business resilience.
BUCSU introduced the availability of TSB Innovation Vouchers to meet the recently published ‘Cyber Essentials’ issued by the Information Commissioners Office.
In the first week of June members of the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health presented BU’s midwifery research and education at the 30th ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) Congress in Prague (Czech Republic).
There were four oral presentations in total, one workshop and three poster presentations. The oral presentations comprised:
Dr Susan Way led a workshop on escalating concerns in relation to poor clinical practice and disrespectful care.
Furthermore, three HSC posters were displayed as part of a special session on Midwifery in South Asia, all three related to different CMMPH maternity care studies conducted in Nepal.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Next in the series of Women’s Academic Network events, Dr Ilieva will elaborate on her recent report of Global Demand for English Higher Education: An Analysis of International Students, which has been widely cited in the media including BBC, Times Higher Education and the Guardian.
This report examines shifts in enrolments of international students in higher education in England, and explores what might have caused them. It focuses on the entrant student population, which indicates the latest developments in student enrolments. It is one of a series of analyses by HEFCE of current data and future trends in higher education.
This talk will take place on Monday 9 June, 10am – noon on Lansdowne Campus. To book your place or for more information please visit the Staff Development & Engagement Staff Intranet Pages.
Athena SWAN Events
Bournemouth University is running a programme of events between 16 and 19 June to raise awareness of its commitment to the Athena SWAN charter and its principles.
The aim of the charter which has been running since 2006 is to tackle gender inequalities. These events are available to all BU staff, including those who have an interest in equality and in particular Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and subjects allied to medicine (STEMM).
To book, please head to the Staff Development pages on the Staff Intranet.
Dr Christopher Richardson from the BUCSU delivered a thought provoking presentation at the CIFAS Fraud Conference, which was held at Dexter House London on the 3 June 2014. It was attended by the UK’s financial and insurance communities.
The conference was alerted to the fact that UK fraud is currently running at 25 incidents per hour; with an annual cost estimated above £52 billion.
Dr Richardson’s oversight expanded that through the continuance of pervasive technologies; increased crime wave and progressive skills shortage within the security industry, has all resulted in a perfect storm.
In forecasting the cyber threat landscape Dr Richardson projected the increase of insider threat, malicious software and human error, which if not corrected will bring the cost of fraud above £100 billion. The real question is, at what point will society, enterprise and individuals demand government action, and in particular a more determined approach to the investigation and prosecution of fraudulent activities? A characteristic of cybercrime is that it’s global, whereas policing is local. In order to rescue our beleaguered and often under skilled law enforcement agencies, we need to tackle the issues from an international perspective, with global partnerships engaging business communities and overcoming their reluctance to breach reporting.
This conference follows on from the BUCSU’s strategic cyber policing conference in February, where cyber enabled and cyber dependent crimes were discussed. Please visit previous blog post for further info on the South West Police Cybercrime Conference.
We are currently experiencing an incredible, explosive growth in digital content and information. According to IDC, there currently exists over 2.7 zetabytes of data. It is estimated that the digital universe in 2020 will be 50 times as big as in 2010 and that from now until 2020 it will double every two years. Research in traditionally qualitative disciplines is fundamentally changing due to the availability of such vast amounts of data. In fact, data-intensive computing has been named as the fourth paradigm of scientific discovery and is expected to be key in unifying the theoretical, experimental and simulation based approaches to science. The commercial world has also been transformed by a focus on BIG DATA with companies competing on analytics. Data has become a commodity and in recent years has been referred to as the ‘new oil’. We are entering a new era of predictive analytics and data intensive computingwhich has been recognised worldwide with various high profile reports highlighting the challenges and attempting to quantify its huge potential benefits.
In addition to our previously advertised Data Science workshop suitable for a broader audience (Data Scientist: The sexiest job of the 21st century?), this much more focused EPSRC IT as a Utility Network+ (http://www.itutility.ac.uk/) and EU INFER (http://www.infer.eu/) co-sponsored event organised as part of the Bournemouth University’s Festival of Learning will explore the value of very quickly growing data and feasibility of providing data and predictive analytics as services in various industries, public sector and academic disciplines.
The workshop will feature five invited 30 minutes talks to set up the scene for:
i) looking at the growing value of data and treating it as a utility; and
ii) feasibility of providing data and predictive analytics as a service on a large scale and across many industries and disciplines.
The talks will be followed by breakout interactive/discussion sessions in mixed groups with potential linking of partners for various follow on activities (grant applications, proof of concept projects etc.).
The attendance is free and if you are interested to join us please register following this link: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/festival-of-learning/events/data-as-a-utility-and-analytics-as-a-service/.
Confirmed invited speakers:
Prof. Nello Cristianini, Prof. of Artificial Intelligence, University of Bristol, UK
Prof. Detlef Nauck, Chief Research Scientist, BT’s Research and Innovation Division, UK
Tom Quay, Director, We Are Base Ltd, UK
Prof. Trevor Martin, Prof. of Artificial Intelligence, University of Bristol, UK
Dr. Dymitr Ruta, Chief Researcher, EBTIC, Khalifa University, UAE
Date: 9 June 2014: 12pm – 6pm.
Location: 3rd Floor, Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8EB
Workshop programme:
12.00 – 12.45 – Registration and buffet lunch.
12.45 – 13.00 – Welcome and introduction (Bogdan Gabrys, Bournemouth University, UK)
13.00 – 13.30 – Prof. Detlef Nauck (BT, UK)
13.30 – 14.00 –Prof. Nello Cristianini (Bristol University, UK)
14.00 – 14.30 – Tom Quay (We Are Base Ltd, UK)
14.30 – 15.00 – Coffee break
15.00 – 15.30 – Prof. Trevor Martin (Bristol University/BT, UK)
15.30 – 16.00 – Dr Dymitr Ruta (EBTIC, Khalifa University, UAE)
16.00 – 16.15 – Break
16.15 – 17.15 – Breakout discussion sessions: i) data as a utility; ii) analytics as a service.
17.15 – 18.00 – Summary, recommendations and follow on actions.
Please contact the workshop chair, Prof. Bogdan Gabrys (bgabrys@bournemouth.ac.uk), if you require any further information.
AHRC are inviting expressions of interest from arts and humanities researchers with an interest in risk to take part in a roundtable discussion, with a deadline of 16th June and the event to take place on 14 July. The one day event will offer the opportunity for post-doctoral researchers at all stages of their careers to contribute insights and identify potential future research agendas. In particular, AHRC are looking for the following areas:
* language and creative/cultural perceptions of risk;
* ethics, rights, values, trust and risk
* historical and temporal perspectives on risk
* risk in relation to creativity and innovation, including in areas such as health, science and the emergence of new technologies.
If you are interested in taking part in the roundtable, you need to submit a one page CV and 500 word account detailing your specialism, relevant research, publications and interest to AHRC. Travel costs will be paid for those selected to attend the event. Further details are available at http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/News-and-Events/Events/Documents/EOI%20Roundtable.pdf.
Yesterday HSC Ph.D. student Sheetal Sharma presented her key research findings under the title ‘Getting women to care: mixed–methods evaluation of maternity care intervention in rural Nepal’ at the 30th congress of the ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) in Prague. Sheetal’s Ph.D. evaluates the effectiveness of a health promotion intervention aiming antenatal care attendance in rural Nepal. Her evaluation suggests that practice should be socio-culturally appropriate and inclusive not only of women but also their families.
This afternoon three HSC posters were displayed as part of a special session on Midwifery in South Asia. All three posters featured aspects of maternity care research conducted in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health in Nepal.
Poster 1: Staff perspectives of barriers to women accessing birthing services in Nepal: A qualitative study
Milne, L, Hundley, V, van Teijlingen, E, Ireland, J, Simkhada, P,
Poster 2: Pregnant & Dirty?
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V. Simkhada, P., Angell, C.
Poster 3: Getting women to care in Nepal: A Difference in Difference analysis of a health promotion intervention
Sharma, S. Sicuri, E., Belizan, JM., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Stephens J., Hundley, V., Angell, C.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
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