Santander grant to support collaboration in Brazil

Leave a reply

Hertfordshire researchers are forging new links with research teams in Brazil – thanks to a further £10,000 grant from Santander Universities UK.

The funding will support two research projects within the School of Life and Medical Sciences which are being led by Dr Keith Davies and Dr Henrik Stotz. As well as extending our links with universities in Brazil, our researchers will explore opportunities for collaborative studies into disease in oil seed rape and finding environmentally-sustainable solutions to the use of chemical pesticides.

This new funding is in addition to the financial support provided by Santander in December 2011 when it added the University of Hertfordshire to its Santander Universities network. To read the previous news story click here.

Hertfordshire researcher becomes new president of Botanical Society

Leave a reply

On 12th June, Dr Ian Denholm, from the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Life and Medical Sciences, becomes the new President of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI).

Dr Ian Denholm

Ian is research leader in Geography, Environment and Agriculture at the University with particular interest in the ecology and systematics of wild orchids. Orchids have an iconic status in conservation biology and are well suited for research at the interface of ecology and evolution. Ian and his BSBI co-referee, Professor Richard Batemen (Kew), are the botanical experts to whom the society’s 3,000 members and the wider botanical community, turn to for advice on correct identification of these difficult plants.

Ian has been a driving force behind the society’s recent initiatives in publicity and outreach. His presentation to journalists and conservationists, at the May 2013 launch of the State of Nature report, showcased BSBI as a key partner in this new coalition of conservation and research organisations supporting British wildlife.

CLiCIR staff recognised at British Renal Society Conference

Leave a reply

Two postgraduate researchers from the University of Hertfordshire’s Centre for Lifespan and Chronic Illness Research (CLiCIR) were recognised at this year’s British Renal Society Conference (BRS) in Manchester.

Vari Wileman

Vari Wileman, a doctoral research student, won the best Abstract prize based on her work – investigating the use of “self-affirmation” as a method of helping those people on dialysis for end stage kidney disease to manage their condition and treatment better. People with long-term illnesses, such as those with end stage kidney disease, need to make changes to the way that they live, including what they eat and drink and also taking their medication. But unsurprisingly, many find this very difficult!

Vari’s research on adherence to phosphate binding medication among patients with End Stage Renal Disease is in collaboration with Professor Ken Farrington , from the University’s Post Graduate Medicine, and a number of NHS hospital trusts (Royal Free, East and North Hertfordshire, and Southend).

Lewis Carpenter

An abstract presented by Dr Miriam Bell (East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust) and Professor Ken Farrington was also recognised at the conference. Lewis Carpenter, a Research Assistant with CLiCIR, provided the statistical analysis to evaluate the pattern of health decline in the last year of life for patients who are on haemodialysis due to end stage renal disease. Statistics and mathematical modelling are vital to all health-related research.

Robots interviewing children

Leave a reply

Guest blog by Luke Wood, PhD Student, Adaptive Systems Research Group

Could a robot ever be effective as a tool for interviewing young children? And, if so, where would this be appropriate?

Recently within the University of Hertfordshire’s Adaptive Systems Research Group, we have been investigating if robots could be used to interview children.

We used our humanoid robot, KASPAR, to interview children. KASPAR is the friendly robot

KASPAR the robot

designed to help children with autism to communicate and develop their social interaction skills. But could KASPAR’s minimal expressions also be useful when interviewing children in emotionally sensitive situations such as those with police, healthcare and social services?

Surprisingly, the results of this study were contrary to our expectations. Rather than having a clear preference, the children behaved very similarly towards either of the interviewers whether human or robot. The children revealed similar information and used similar amounts of words, keywords and filler words when responding to both the robot and the human interviewer.

We are developing the robot as a tool to assist professional interviewers where conventional techniques are not working. One of the potential advantages of using a robot is the ability to consciously control the robot’s facial expressions and body language precisely. Such control is often very difficult even for professionally-trained interviewers, especially if stressful or traumatic ordeals that children have undergone lead them to reveal surprising or shocking details that make it hard for interviewers to maintain their composure. But this would be easy for a robot. such as KASPAR.

The paper “Robot-Mediated Interviews – How Effective Is a Humanoid Robot as a Tool for Interviewing Young Children?” is published in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

Car fumes responsible for only 1/3 of traffic pollution

Leave a reply

There have been many moves to reduce the amount of pollution that vehicles create – particularly by focusing on the exhaust fumes.

Motorway Traffic

Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions are checked during vehicle MOTs and new technology has been developed for modern vehicles to reduce CO and particulate emissions to meet the more stringent exhaust regulations.

But although greater efforts have been made to reduce exhaust emissions, there are other sources of pollution from vehicles that are not taken into account – and these are becoming more important in managing our air quality.

New research led by Professor Ranjeet Sokhi, from the University of Hertfordshire’s Centre for Atmospheric and Instrumentation Research (CAIR), shows that vehicle exhausts only account for one third of traffic pollution – with nearly a half of air pollution from road traffic being due to non-exhaust sources such as brake wear, road surface wear and particles whipped up from the road by passing vehicles.

The researchers were interested in extremely small airborne pollution particles which are less than ten microns across – one micron is one millionth of a metre and these particles are smaller than the thickness of a strand of hair which is normally between 40-50 microns. These airborne pollution particles, known as PM10, are linked with long-term health problems, including heart disease.

Image courtesy of Brian Green and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Hatfield Tunnel

They took samples from a more controlled environment where the weather had a lot less influence – and the Hatfield Tunnel proved to be an ideal location to collect the material for analysis!

The study, Source apportionment of traffic emissions of particulate matter using tunnel measurements, is published in Atmospheric Environment. It was part of a PhD project undertaken by Samantha Lawrence and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the British Oxygen Company (BOC).

Image credits:Motorway Traffic- Credit Maxwell Hamilton under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Hatfield Tunnel – Credit Brian Green under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Searching for honest and competent bankers during the Napoleonic Wars

Leave a reply

Guest blog by Dr Anne Murphy, senior lecturer in early modern history

What qualities are required of a competent and honest banker? We might be forgiven for thinking that this is a question that never crosses the minds of today’s recruiters. But their nineteenth century predecessors worked hard to find the best men for the job.

Sources preserved at the Bank of England reveal that, before being considered for employment, applicants’ backgrounds, experience and integrity were all subject to the greatest scrutiny. The Bank prized individuals who were sober, virtuous, debt-free and not involved in any political activism.

Bank of England. Five Pound Note Office
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Records of interviews and the test scores of over 500 men who applied to the Bank between 1800 and 1815 are being used to create a profile of the Bank’s workers and explore the skills that were valued in Britain’s early banking industry.

The research shows that, despite drawing applicants from all over the country and indeed the empire, well-qualified men were hard to find. Numeracy was the most elusive skill. A large proportion of applicants performed poorly in tests of both the ability to add columns of figures and the facility to accurately compute various heaps of cash.

On the job training, therefore, proved far more important to the Bank than the schooling of its workers or their prior experience. And undoubtedly, successful applicants had to learn fast. They entered the Bank during perhaps the most difficult and certainly one of the busiest periods in its history: the wars with Napoleonic France. The financial challenges of this conflict meant that their skills were soon put to a very stern test.

Jane Asher supporting autism research in Hertfordshire

Leave a reply

Jane Asher meets KASPAR

Actress and author Jane Asher, President of the National Autistic Society and Patron of TRACKS Autism, met KASPAR at the University of Hertfordshire’s Supporting Children with Autism Healthcare Forum 2013.

KASPAR is a minimally expressive humanoid robot designed by researchers at the University to encourage communication and social interaction between autistic children and their peers.

Over 150 people who have an interest in supporting children with autism came along to hear Jane discuss the issues affecting these children and the impact on their lives and their families, and to find out more about the University’s research in this area from Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn.

For the full press release, click here.

Living in a robot world

Leave a reply

Artists and researchers with the robots

Ever wondered what it would be like to live with robots?

Well perhaps one day in the future, we all will. Our grandchildren will probably grow up with household robots that do all the chores, pet robots that will bring back the ball when you throw it and, as they grow older, robot companions and helpers for their aging years who will care for and help them.

But last week, two intrepid artists spent a week staying in the University of Hertfordshire’s Robot House – living and interacting with the various robots that work in the house whilst creating their own artistic interpretation.

Artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May have been collaborating with University researchers, Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn and Michael Walters, to investigate social robotics and public reactions to robots as human companions.

Say hello to HARRi

Their artistic project investigates what kinds of robot companions do we, as a society, want? In August 2012 they were awarded funding by the Arts Council England to develop a new robot HARRi (Humanoid Artistic Research Robot).

Read about Anna and Alex’s week-long experiences on their blog.

They became real-life guinea-pigs for the University’s Adaptive Systems Research Group as they tested the robots which are part of the ACCOMPANY (Acceptable robotiCs COMPanions for AgeiNg Years) EU project.

With sensors all around the house, the caring robots kept an eye on their new house mates – alerting them when the door bell rang, the kettle boiled, the fridge was left open or even knowing when they went to the bathroom or went to bed!

New contract for Research Design Service East of England

Leave a reply

Crown Copyright

A new £5 million contract to continue supporting researchers with a collaborative service to produce high quality research focused on the needs of patients and the public has been signed.

Contracts have been awarded to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service (RDS) for a period of five years, commencing 1 October 2013. RDS East of England is an active and dynamic network of five universities (including the University of Hertfordshire) and four NHS Trusts covering Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and was launched in October 2008 as one of ten nationwide Research Design Services.

This £5 million contract is for the RDS East of England to continue for a further five years enabling researchers’ access to expertise and support across the region.

Crown Copyright

The NIHR is transforming research in the NHS to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Researchers applying for NIHR funding can access the services provided by the RDS so that they can submit their best applications to the NIHR and others for funding.

The RDS East of England plays a key role in supporting health and social care researchers in the region to develop high quality research proposals with potential to improve patient care. It is through such advances in research that we can improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients and the public.

The RDS East of England Hertfordshire Unit is based at the University of Hertfordshire’s Centre for Lifespan and Chronic Illness Research (CLiCIR).

Enjoying the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet

Leave a reply

The Mediterranean diet is well known for its health benefits against cardiovascular disease and cancer. But how relevant is it for the UK?

Photo credit: http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

In a recent article for Nutrition Reviews, Dr Hoffman highlights how to maximise the taste and health benefits of this nutritious diet for the UK population.

Top tips include using virgin olive oil instead of other oils, eating more dark green leafy vegetables and seeking out cheeses made from goat or sheep milk (such as feta and manchego).

The benefits of this diet are discussed in his book The Mediterranean Diet: Health and Science.

Richard continues to spread the message of the benefits of this diet at the forthcoming Primary Care Conference at the NEC, Birmingham 22 May, and by leading a one day course on the Mediterranean diet at the University of Hertfordshire 20 July 2013.