MOVING UP GUARDIAN LEAGUE TABLE
 
Keele has moved up five places to 45th position in the Guardian University League Table for 2014, which was published this week – and an upward move of nine places over the last two years.
 
"The Guardian's University League Tables 2014, is one of the key go-to locations for prospective students to find out just how each University and its departments compare to others. Keele has performed well once again, featuring in the Top 20 nationally for seven subject groups, including Chemistry, Physics and American Studies, with Medicine and Social Policy (including Criminology) inside the Top 10, said Adam Lines, Market Analyst, Marketing and Communications.

"Courses under the umbrella of Geography and Environmental Studies at Keele were rated the best in the Midlands and North West, whilst Nursing was Keele's best performer, ranked 6th overall and top in the Midlands and North West."

RAY WARD RETIRES AFTER 50 YEARS SERVICE

Foreman joiner Ray Ward has retired from Keele after an amazing 50 years service. Colleagues and friends gathered in Keele Hall  this week to give Ray their best wishes and wish him a long and happy retirement.

Ray joined Keele as an apprentice joiner in August 1963 and worked his way up the ranks to become foreman joiner in 1984.

Paying tribute to Ray's 'long and loyal' service, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, said it was fantastic to see so many people at the celebration of Ray's long career with the University. He said it was great to have someone who had devoted so much of their time, energy and skill to Keele and who had helped make the University what it was today.

Director of Estates and Development, Phil Butters, said Ray – who  had responded to over 50,000 job requests (from drilling holes in coconuts  to covering up Princess Margaret's Bust) and been called out of hours to over 1,500 emergencies during his long service – was always extremely courteous and totally committed to Keele – "he will be a terrific loss and I would like to thank him for all his efforts over the last 50 years."

The picture shows Ray, with one of his retirement gifts, his wife Carol, Phil Butters and Kate Lawrence.

FUN AND SUN AT KEELE

The sun was shining for Keele's second annual Community Day last weekend.  Up to 1700 visitors were welcomed onto the campus to take part in a range of fun, free and interactive activities!

The programme included academic lectures and taster sessions, art and science exhibits, sports activities, bouncy castles, a mobile climbing wall and performances at the Signal 1 Stage.  One visitor described their visit to Keele as "a thoroughly enjoyable family day out. A variety of activities and something of interest for all age groups."

NEW BREATH ANALYSIS BOOK

Professor David Smith FRS has edited another book on the state-of-the-art techniques in which he, together with his breath analysis research team at the Guy Hilton Research Centre Keele, is a world leader. "Volatile Biomarkers: non-invasive diagnosis in physiology and medicine" presents research on volatile organic compounds that can be used as gaseous biomarkers in exhaled breath, from other bodily excretions and emitted through the skin.

The Keele team developed and uses Select Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) to detect minute quantities of trace gases in the breath which is useful in clinical diagnosis and therapy, and has laid the foundations for a whole area of multidisciplinary study promising non-invasive, low cost monitoring of many common diseases such as cancers, respiratory and gastrointestinal dysfunction, nutritional intolerance and metabolic disorders including diabetes.

The book is co-edited by Professor Smith and his long-term collaborator Dr Anton Amann, from  the Innsbruck Medical University in Austria, and reports the latest findings and applications, from the basic analysis of samples through to forward thinking uses such as in search-and-rescue operations.

Published by Elsevier, the book will be launched at the Breath Analysis Summit 2013 in Saarbruecken, Germany  in mid June – see http://www.breath2013.de/.  "Breath 2013" is the latest in an annual series of international breath analysis meetings which first started at Keele in 2003.
 
Photo: Professor David Smith, FRS, in his lab at the Guy Hilton Research Centre, with a copy of his latest book.

INDENTIFYING VULNERABILITY IN GRIEF

With funding from the North Staffordshire Medical Institute, researchers at Keele have carried out work to establish the reliability of the Adult Attitude to Grief scale (AAG), in identifying those most vulnerable in grief. This is an extension of the existing practice use of the AAG for profiling the grief of individual clients/patients.

A conference at Keele Hall, with members of the practice organisations who participated in the research and other practitioners from the fields of health and social care, as well as clinical commissioners explored the significance of the AAG and its innovative use in calculating vulnerability not only in bereavement but potentially in broader areas of loss experience such as dementia and chronic illness.  Delegates discussed the timeliness of the development in the light of the enormous demographic shift currently underway which, according to the House of Lords report – 'Ready for Ageing?' - means that England will see a 51% rise in those aged 65+ and a 101% increase in those aged 85+ from 2010 to 2030. This increase will have a profound impact on a wide range of public services and requires radical changes to the way that health and social care is delivered, and vulnerability is understood.  In particular, targeting resources to those most in need will become an ever-increasing priority and challenge for service providers and funders.

Reflecting the importance of inter-disciplinary perspectives in developing innovative assessment protocols and interventions in health and social care, the research team itself spanned both the Faculty of Health and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Dr Linda Machin, is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Research Institute for Social Sciences, and Professor Julius Sim and Dr Bernadette Bartlam are members of the Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences and the Centre for Social Gerontology.  Discussants at the conference were Dr Liz Rolls, who has made a significant contribution in the field of bereavement research, and Dr James Macdonald, Director of Clinical Training at CORE, a leader in the field of routine outcome measurement in mental health psychological therapies.

Photograph: (left to right) - Dr James Macdonald, Dr Liz Rolls, Dr Linda Machin, Dr Bernadette Bartlam, Professor Julius Sim.

CLINICAL SUPPORT FOR PATIENT SELF-MANAGEMENT IS RHETORIC RATHER THAN REALITY

Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham and Dr Joanne Protheroe, pictured, Primary Care and Health Sciences, were among a team of researchers who found that intervening in primary care to support primary care practitioners to help people to self-manage their illnesses does not lead to improved patient outcomes.

Self-management support aims to increase the patient's ability to take ownership over their condition and to self-manage. It is seen as critical to ensure the sustainability of health services. Although potentially effective, patient based interventions can be limited as not all patients engage with them. However, embedding self-management support discussions and decisions into everyday clinical practices is thought to encourage patients to become more actively involved in their care.

The study, carried out in the North West of England by and published in the BMJ, assessed a whole system intervention, which attempted to implement self-management support, led by the health service, for patients with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or irritable bowel syndrome. Despite undertaking training, feedback and assessments showed that while practices engaged with the training, they did not use the approach to improve shared decision-making with patients or encourage the take-up of self-management support.  The study was funded by National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme and The National Primary Care Research and Development Centre.

INAUGURAL LECTURE - THE TRIBAL CONSUMER

Professor Christina Goulding, Keele Management School, gave the latest lecture in Keele's programme of Professorial Inaugural Lectures. The title of the lecture was "The Tribal Consumer".

Over the last twenty years Consumer Culture Theory has emerged as a sub-discipline within the broader field of consumer behaviour. This position requires a more critical view of the consumer and a move from an individual psychological analysis of behaviour to one grounded in the social lived experience of consumers. The lecture discussed the emergence of the 'tribal consumer' and will draw on research conducted into such consumer tribes as 'clubbers' and 'Goths'. It also raised questions about the ethics of adopting the tribal framework in the wider commercial sense.

The last lecture in the series is on Monday (10 June) when Professor Julius Kaplunov will speak on 'Mathematics of Waves: from Earthquakes to Metamaterials'.

Professor Kaplunov's lecture will address mathematical modelling of wave phenomena arising from various real world problems, including non-destructive testing of naval airspace and civil structures, the fabrication of advanced metamaterials and the prediction of earthquakes and tsunami.

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY

Professor Nigel Ratcliffe, Head of the School of Pharmacy, has been appointed a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in their "Summer list" for his distinction in the profession of Pharmacy.

SHROPSHIRE CHILDREN'S UNIVERSITY TRUSTEE

Kevin Mattinson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Community and Partnerships) and Head of Teacher Education, has been made a Trustee and elected to the Board of Shropshire Children's University - a partnership we can continue to support and develop as part of our broader WP and social justice agenda.

WHAT'S ON

Graduate Internships  - Everything you need to know

Tuesday 25 June, 3pm to 4pm

Room DW0.30, Darwin Building (Keele Management School), Keele University

This brief, informal session for final year students who are graduating summer 2013 will cover top tips for getting yourself a graduate level internship.

Graduates from ANY university, with a West Midlands address are eligible.

For current internships, check out www.keele.ac.uk/ internships.

To attend, please email internships@keele. ac.uk.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE STUDENTS' DAY

Leanne Harris, a student from the BSc Children's Nursing Course in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, was nominated to attend the  Florence Nightingale Foundation 2013 Students' Day in London. 

The event was attended by over 60 student nurses from around the UK.

The day began with a Plenary Discussion session where students were invited to raise questions or concerns to a panel of senior nurses.

The students continued their day with  a tour of the Florence Nightingale Museum, a screening of Florence Nightingale: Her Life & Legacy, followed by a visit to The Florence Nightingale Chapel, Westminster Abbey, before attending the Commemoration Service.

Leanne said: "I had a wonderful day and have already provided feedback to my group from the questions that we had discussed prior to the visit".

KEELE FAITH

A university-wide initiative has been launched to make sure those of the whole community and beyond have access to general information about the rich spiritual life at Keele (and the local region) through a dedicated microsite, Keele.ac.uk/faith.

It will be developing and always open to review, so if staff or students have suggestions or queries, please do get in touch with the MultiFaith Forum through the Chapel.

THANK YOU, KEELE

A Facebook page has been set up to allow people to submit messages of
thanks to fellow students, academics and members of staff.

The page has not been set up centrally but has been created by an anonymous member of the Keele community in order to use Facebook as a
force for good.

You can find the page here  and
you do not need to have a Facebook account to look at it.

ALL THAT JAZZ

Over 150 people had a great night at the Chapel's Roaring '20s and all that Jazz Ball.

There were also farewells to 30 leavers, including volunteer assistant, Katherine Hawksley, and Free Church Chaplain of the last 10 years, Rev Ruth Maxey.

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND THE MEDIA

Dr Siobhan Holohan (Sociology) and Dr Elizabeth Poole (Humanities), pictured below, shared findings from their project 'Muslims in the European Mediascape' (funded by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue) with two international audiences.

They presented their work on how media producers and consumers handle diversity issues to a workshop on the Media and Religious Diversity (organisers Lancaster University/University of Ottawa) and 'Ethnicity, Race and Nationalism in European Media and Film: Rights, Responsibilities, Representations' at the University of Manchester.