Kent Health News and Events

In a Kent research project entitled Imagining Autism, children with autism engaged in a series of interactive sensory environments such as ‘outer space’, ‘under the sea’ and ‘the arctic’. Each environment was designed for them to encounter a range of stimuli and respond to triggers created through lighting, sound, physical action and puppetry.

Using trained performers in each of the environments, the work aimed to promote communication, socialisation, playful interaction, and creative engagement, encouraging the children involved to find new ways of connecting with the world around them.

The research found changes in children’s behaviour, including changes in several areas identified as deficits in autism, such as social interaction and emotion recognition. The severity of autistic symptoms displayed by the children, which were rated by their parents and teaching staff were also found to decrease significantly.

All of the children who took part in the research showed at least some improvements on at least one of the measures used to monitor change during the research, with over three quarters of them showing changes to more than one.

Furthermore, just under one third of children who took part in the project showed significant changes on a measure of social interaction. Substantial changes in children’s behaviour at home were also reported by some families.

The research was conducted in special needs schools across Kent, including one residential school run by the National Autistic Society (NAS). The practical methods used in the project are currently being trialled at all NAS schools across the UK and are also being developed into training programmes for teachers, care workers, families, arts practitioners, and health professionals.

Principal Investigator, Professor Nicola Shaughnessy, of the University’s School of Arts, said: ‘Imagining Autism has been an extremely exciting collaboration producing a number of really interesting outcomes and new discussions between arts and science research. We are delighted that the extremely positive responses to the work from all involved with the project have been endorsed by statistical results.

‘The methods we used in the research have been recognised as having potential for development in the diagnosis of autism, revealing areas of ability, as well as difficulty. The work has also offered insights into the imagination of children with autism and the importance of play-based approaches which can often be overlooked post-diagnosis.’

Unlike previous drama-based interventions, the study employed a variety of assessment techniques, undertaken by psychologists of the University’s Tizard Centre and School of Psychology. These included both formal, psychological research tools, such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale, alongside feedback from teachers and families whose children took part in the project.

Dr Julie Beadle-Brown of the University’s Tizard Centre said: ‘This was a pilot study to explore whether drama based interventions can make an impact on children with autism. We are pleased with the results and believe that this study has provided strong enough evidence to justify further research into the impact of the intervention on children with a range of different needs, as well as research to help us understand how and why the intervention appears to work.’

The methods used were developed by Professor Nicola Shaughnessy (School of Arts) and co-investigator, Dr Melissa Trimingham (School of Arts) – a drama and puppetry specialist who also designed the environments used in the project. The evaluation of the intervention was led by Dr Julie Beadle-Brown (Tizard Centre) and Dr David Wilkinson (School of Psychology).

The project has since been featured in New Scientist and the Independent.

Today’s blog is an account from the Head of School here at the University of Kent’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Professor Louis Passfield has been head of SSES since 2007 and before this time worked as a sports scientist with British Cycling. Here’s what Louis has to say about his research on competitive cycling:

“When I was young I wanted to win the Tour de France. It was even the reason I went to university. My plan was to study sports science and apply this knowledge to my own bike training. During my time as a student I came to learn that the simple questions I posed about how to train effectively were not easily answered with sports science. Nonetheless upon graduating I made it to an Olympic training camp, dining at the same table as Sir Steve Redgrave no less. On this camp I can remember how I was impressed by the way the Great Britain cycling team dominated their bike race. But these were only young junior raw talents, yet they were powering away on their bikes in a manner I could not match. Fortunately, I was there as a sports scientist not a rider and I realised that for all my training I had more talent for sports science than cycling.

A quarter of a century later and I am privileged to still study and research the process of training. Today in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences I am part of its Endurance Research Group, probably the largest group of its kind in the world. Some of the research that we have performed was unthinkable 25 years ago when I first started out in sports science. We have made riders contract their leg muscles by directly stimulating their brain. We did this to show that their brain rather than their legs can limit their performance. When we were concerned about riders’ legs we have investigated the composition of their muscles directly. In a recent study we managed to persuade 40 participants to let us biopsy a small sample of their muscle for analysis. Our 40 participants were delib-erately chosen to be young and old, trained and untrained cyclists.

By comparing results across these groups we found that the trained cyclists had more slow-twitch muscles. But that aging had no effect on this muscle composition. Further, the older cyclists had similar fitness to their young but untrained counterparts. Regular cycling had saved our older riders from the effects of more than 35 years of aging.

Bradley Wiggins wants to use the fastest pacing strategy possible in a time-trial. Should he produce a consistent effort throughout a race, go harder up the hills, and easier down, or vice versa? When Chris Hoy chooses his tactics in a sprint, he needs to decide whether to start his sprint early or late, whether to lead from the front, or to come from behind. Clearly getting Brad and Chris to go through all the different possible permutations before each race might not leave them in the best shape to compete afterwards. Our Endurance Research Group has developed an alternative method, which is to use a mathematical model instead. Now with the press of a button we can run any number of different computer simulations, changing riders, courses and tactics in order to determine the best options for Britain’s top cyclists to compete successfully.

Earlier this year the Tour de France held its Grand Depart in Leeds Yorkshire. As cycling is such a significant aspect of our research, staff and students of the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences were keen to celebrate the occasion. We organised a World Congress of Cycling Science in Leeds to coincide with the start of the Tour.

The conference provided a chance for our Endurance Research Group to showcase the best of its cycling related research. It also brought together cycling experts from around the world. We were privileged that many of the world’s leading sports scientists, cycling coaches and medical practitioners gathered in Leeds for our conference on the science behind cycling performance. The event was endorsed by international cycling’s governing body the UCI, and many of the Tour’s ProTeams such as Team Sky, Garmin-Sharp, Francais des Jeux, Movistar and Omega Pharma Quickstep were represented. Speakers at the conference included the Tour de France rider Nicholas Roche, Garmin-Sharp’s Team Director Charlie Wegelius (Garmin-Sharp), and former Italian national champion Marco Pinotti (BMC Pro Cycling Team).

Perhaps the highlight of our time in Leeds though was that we were also able to promote science and cycling at a local level too. Alongside the conference we ran an event for 150 primary school children, who came and took part in a number of science and cycling themed practical demonstrations and competitions. And the evening after the conference, as the Tour de France riders warmed up, we held an open evening for members of the public to come and learn more too. At these events I had to admit that I still did not have the answers to those simple questions about training that first motivated me to study sports. However, for the first time in my career, through the work of the Endurance Research Group I can see how cycling science might lead us in the right direction.”

New research directed by Dr Neil Kad, of the School of Biosciences, has led to the use of the nanoprobe to study how individual proteins interact with DNA. Invisible to the human eye, this tiny triangular probe can be captured using laser tweezers and then moved around inside a microscope chamber.

Proteins interact with each other and with other chemical components such as DNA. These interactions are classically studied multiple molecules at a time to provide an average view of their behaviour. This makes understanding how molecules respond to force much more difficult.

Scientists at Kent have previously developed a new technology that involves suspending single long strands of DNA between microscopic platforms to form ‘tightropes’. Now, by using the nanoprobe, developed by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Central Laser Facility , it is possible to manipulate proteins bound to these tightropes; enabling the action of these proteins to be investigated with unprecedented detail.

The development will lead to greater understanding of how proteins attach to DNA, and represents an important step towards a marriage of complex nanodevices and single molecule biology. Researchers hope that in the future the development will enable them to study a large range of molecular interactions directly.

This research, entitled Directly interrogating single quantum dot labelled UvrA2 molecules on DNA tightropes using an optically trapped nanoprobe was performed in collaboration with the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Central Laser Facility and also with the University of Pittsburgh, USA. The paper was published in the online journal Scientific Reports on 22 December.

Commenting on the decision by the regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), Professor Griffin said it demonstrated that the UK now ‘leads the world’ in both the science and social science of research into early human development.

Professor Griffin, of the School of Biosciences, said: ‘The ruling by the HFEA is a triumph for common sense. While it is certain that the prospect of gene editing in human embryos raised a series of ethical issues and challenges, the problem has been dealt with in a balanced manner.

‘It is clear that the potential benefits of the work proposed far outweigh the foreseen risks. It is a clear example how the UK leads the world not only in the science behind research into early human development but also the social science used to regulate and monitor it.’

Professor Griffin’s main interests are in the study of chromosomes, principally in humans (from spermatogenesis to preimplantation development) and birds. He is a member of the University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Reproduction (CISoR) which comprises several like-minded academics dedicated to the study of reproduction in all its forms.

BILD are holding a Conference on 18 March 2016 in Leeds.

Active support and positive behaviour support implemented well will both create the right conditions to improve the quality of life experienced by people with learning disabilities and their carers.  There is good evidence to show that the approaches work well together and can reduce the need for behaviours that concern or that challenge services.

At this event, internationally renowned experts will help delegates explore these approaches and what they are like in practice.   Dr Julie Beadle-Brown from the Tizard Centre will be one of the key note Speakers.

The event can be booked online at www.bild.org.uk with a 10% discount for early bookings made before 26 February 2016.

For more information:

Active Support and Positive Behaviour Support Conference 2016 (f) (1)

Making Research Count

These CPD certified workshops explore aspects of working with people with learning disabilities.  The speakers will present current research with a practice focus leaving time for lively discussion and debate.

Dr Jill Bradshaw & Lisa Richardson will be leading Workshop 1 Living in Fear: experience of hate crime and victimisation amongst people with learning disabilities and autism.  This will focus on research recently carried out in this area and looking at the findings.

The workshop is being held on Monday 21 March 2016 at Kings College London 1345 – 1600 hrs. To reserve places please email: janet.noble@kcl.ac.uk

For more details see the poster:  SCWRU KCL Learning Disability Workshop 1 – 21.3.16 (2)

Other information relating to Living in Fear:
https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/tizard-news-events/2014/12/16/living-in-fear-citizenship-award/
http://www.kent.ac.uk/tizard/research/Current_recent_research.html

The Tizard Centre are running a free event including workshops, videos and speakers all concentrating on the subject of domestic violence focusing on women with learning disabilities.

This is being held at the Rochester Corn Exchange on Monday 22 February 2016 1300 – 1700 hrs.  A free lunch is included and those attending are invited to bring along a support worker should they wish to do so.

If you wish to attend please complete the application form or contact Claire Bates @c.bates@kent.ac.uk
event flyer doc with photos (1) (download application pdf)

Applications are invited for a Leverhulme Trust 3 year PhD studentship, on the project: Imagining the self in fictional worlds: evidence from Autism Spectrum Disorder (see also www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/research/ark/). The studentship will be undertaken under the supervision of Dr Heather Ferguson and Dr David Williams at the University of Kent’s School of Psychology, starting in September 2016.

Deadline for applications is 1 March 2016; all materials, including references, must be received by that date. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed and a decision made by 1 April 2016.

For full details regarding eligibility and how to apply, please see the full advertisment: www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/pg/leverhulme-studentship-2016.html.