RISE May-June 2009 - University of Salford

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RISE! Research Innovation and Internationalisation News WRISTBAND TRIALS The University of Salford is part of collaborative team, along with University of Liverpool, University of Manchester and University of Plymouth, conducting trials to test acupressure wrist bands as a drug-free alternative for chemotherapy-related nausea. The trial will be the first of its kind to run in the NHS and is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme. More than 75% of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience nausea, this can impact negatively on their quality of life. Acupressure wrist bands can reduce the symptoms of travel sickness by applying force to the Nei Kuan pressure point on each wrist. The national study of more than 700 patients, at nine NHS cancer centres, will now measure the cost and clinical effectiveness of acupressure wrist bands in reducing and controlling chemotherapyrelated nausea. Led by Professor Mari Lloyd-Williams from the University of Liverpool’s Academic Palliative and Supportive Care Studies Group, the team will analyse a wide range of patients diagnosed with different types of cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, in order to discover which patient groups would most benefit from the intervention. Professor Lloyd-Williams said: “Developments in anti-emetic drugs – used to combat nausea and vomiting – have decreased the symptoms suffered by chemotherapy patients but nausea remains a debilitating and poorly controlled symptom. Patients rank nausea and vomiting amongst the most distressing side effects of chemotherapy. In some cases, poorly controlled symptoms can lead to patients choosing to stop potentially curative treatment. If the trials are successful, we should be able to control this debilitating symptom with a drug-free therapy. The wrist bands could potentially help patients to maintain a good quality of life throughout their treatment.” For more information on this project contact Dr. Adam Garrow at: a.garrow@salford.ac.uk KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE ORGANISATIONS Dr Maria Burke of Salford Business School has contributed a chapter entitled “Cultural Issues: An Exploration Towards Improved Knowledge Management Relationships” to The Handbook of Research on Knowledge-Intensive Organizations, edited by D. Jemielniak, Kozminski Business School, Poland and J.Kociatkiewicz, University of Essex, UK. This book has just been published and offers an international collection of studies on knowledge-intensive organizations with insight into organizational realities as varied as universities, consulting agencies, corporations, and high-tech start-ups. The research investigated knowledge management in Poland, Russia and the UK and offers new perspectives for the future. Ongoing related projects will take the research to a new stage and examine knowledge sharing in SMEs in Poland, Hungary and the UK. To find out more about Maria’s work please contact her at: m.e.burke@salford.ac.uk WHOOPEE! The funniest whoopee cushion sounds are long and whiny, according to research into the humour of flatulence undertaken by Professor Trevor Cox, Professor of Acoustics at the University of Salford. People are more amused by drawn-out noises than abrupt toots, with a seven-second burst most likely to provoke a laugh. While whoopee cushions have traditionally been the practical joke of choice for cheeky schoolboys, women actually find the sound slightly funnier than men. The surprising results were based on a survey of 34,000 people who were played six of twenty possible whoopee cushion sounds and asked to rank the noises by how much they made them laugh. The research on www.soundsfunny.org was carried out to help celebrate the charity event Comic Relief, which this year features the whoopee cushion alongside its traditional red nose logo. Professor Cox, who helped set up the survey, said that the research would help engage young people in the science of sound, as well as having a practical purpose: “The whoopee cushion has a great deal in common with the human voice and how instruments work, so it is a memorable way of portraying the principles of acoustics,” he said. “This research will enable us to engineer the ultimate whoopee cushion, and fine-tune the world's funniest design.” The experiment produced one more result that will surprise any parent who has endured the repeated pranks of a mischievous child; flatulent sounds apparently get funnier the more you listen to them. For more information on Trevor’s work please contact him at: t.j.cox@salford.ac.uk 6
RISE! Research Innovation and Internationalisation News NEW FUNDING FOR FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION (FES) AND REHABILITATION ROBOTICS University of Salford’s FES research team have recently secured another research grant, worth £470,000, from the Department of Health’s i4i NEAT funding stream. DISCIPLINE HOPPING RESEARCH The University of Salford is taking part in a major new research initiative linking the Institute for Materials Research (IMR) and the School of Health Care Professions (HCP), with a major discipline hopping grant from the Medical Research Council (MRC). Dr Richard D Pilkington, the senior investigator from the IMR and Gillian Crofts co-investigator from the HCP stated “this is a very exciting project linking the expertise of the IMR with that of the HCP”. The project will focus on the use of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to look at bone density as a measure of suitability for bone assessment in dental implants. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a powerful Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) analytical tool capable of sampling a wide range of solids, liquids and gases for research and industrial applications and has been successfully employed in the study and identification of malignant tissue cells and also to identify carious teeth. The Salford LIBS group is the only one of its type in the UK and has been studying the fundamentals of this exciting new materials analysis technique for a number of years. The research will compare results with those obtained using conventional radiographic and computerised tomography techniques. If successful, this project will lead to the development of a safe replacement for current bone analysis technologies, prior to tooth implant surgery. The project begins officially on the 1st June and will develop new systems for hand/arm rehabilitation after stroke based on a combined approach utilising both functional electrical stimulation (FES) of partially paralysed muscles and a novel rehabilitation robotics system, using pneumatic actuation, to guide and support the arm. The project will build on the previous work of the partners who include the University of Leeds, the National Clinical FES Centre (based at Salisbury District Hospital) and Grampian NHS Trust. Salford’s FES research is led by Dr Laurence Kenney and Professor David Howard (both engineers) and the team includes Christine Smith (senior lecturer and physiotherapist) and Dr Ed Chadwick (research fellow and engineer). The work is also supported by the NHS User Involvement team in the School of Nursing (Tracey Williamson and Julia Ryan). The new grant is in addition to two existing contracts, one from the Department of Health's i4i HTD funding stream to develop an electrode array system for correcting drop foot after stroke, and one from the Stroke Association for a clinical trial of FES in upper limb rehabilitation. The University currently has over £900,000 of current contracts for FES research, bringing total funding for FES research (since 2001) to over £1.5 million. FES is just one part of the cross-faculty research in "Biomedical Engineering and Biomechanics" involving the Schools of Health Care Professions (HCP) and Computing, Science and Engineering (CSE), bringing cross faculty current collaborative research contracts worth approximately £2.8 million. If you want to find out more about the FES work at Salford contact: d.howard@salford.ac.uk If you would like to know more about this project contact Richard at: r.d.pilkington@salford.ac.uk 7
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RISE May-June 2009 - University of Salford

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