Dynamics of Cardiovascular Ageing
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
- Lancaster University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Medical Research Council (Co-funder)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Co-funder)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Co-funder)
- Massey University (Collaboration)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (Collaboration)
- University of Ljubljana (Collaboration)
- BAYERO UNIVERSITY KANO (Collaboration)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- Medical University of Gdansk (Collaboration)
Publications
Ticcinelli V
(2017)
Coherence and Coupling Functions Reveal Microvascular Impairment in Treated Hypertension.
in Frontiers in physiology
Stefanovska A
(2009)
Dynamics of blood oxygenation gives better insight into tissue hypoxia than averaged values.
in American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology
Stefanovska A
(2011)
Reproducibility of LDF blood flow measurements: dynamical characterization versus averaging.
in Microvascular research
Stankovski T
(2013)
Time-frequency methods and voluntary ramped-frequency breathing: a powerful combination for exploration of human neurophysiological mechanisms.
in Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)
Shiogai Y
(2010)
Nonlinear dynamics of cardiovascular ageing.
in Physics reports
Sheppard LW
(2012)
Testing for time-localized coherence in bivariate data.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Rossi M
(2011)
Investigation of skin vasoreactivity and blood flow oscillations in hypertensive patients: effect of short-term antihypertensive treatment.
in Journal of hypertension
Iatsenko D
(2016)
Extraction of instantaneous frequencies from ridges in time-frequency representations of signals
in Signal Processing
Iatsenko D
(2013)
Evolution of cardiorespiratory interactions with age.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Iatsenko D
(2015)
Nonlinear mode decomposition: a noise-robust, adaptive decomposition method.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
| Description | We gain wrinkles and lose hair, as we age, but our bodies also change in less obvious but much more important ways. This project studied the age-related alterations that occur in the cardiovascular system - the heart, lungs and network of arteries and veins that carry oxygenated blood and nutrients to every cell of the body and remove the waste products of metabolism. It was already known that the phase of breathing affects the rate at which the heart beats, but that this effect decreases as we age. The research has associated this reduction in heart-lung interaction with changes in the endothelium, the inner lining of all the blood vessels. It involved making non-invasive measurements of blood flow in the skin of 200 healthy subjects of all ages. The analysis focused on very low frequency oscillations in blood flow that can give a measure of the state of the endothelium. The main conclusions are, first, that, to age healthily, you should look after your endothelium and, secondly, that it should be feasible to design an instrument for assessing endothelial health - an endotheliometer. Our method of measuring the response of the endothelium to an external stimulus enables us to quantify its state of health. We have found - • A decrease with age in the influence of the lungs on the heart, consistent with earlier work. It means that the cardiovascular system is gradually becoming less well able to function coherently as a single entity. • That this change can be well-characterised and illustrated by computation of the cardio-respiratory "coupling function" (Figure 1). • That there is a corresponding decrease with age in the extent to which the endothelium of blood vessels in the skin can react to a chemical stimulus. This reactivity can be taken as a useful measure of the health of the endothelium, and we were able to measure it in-vivo, directly and non-invasively. • That one can thus define an individual's "endothelial age", which can be either less or more than their chronological age. • No evidence of coherence between the slow oscillations underlying the heart rate and skin blood flow for frequencies below about 0.1 Hz. This suggests that the lower frequency oscillations, associated with endothelial function, are local in character rather than being under central control for the body as a whole. • That the endothelium can also be stimulated by a rise in skin temperature, resulting in greatly enhanced low frequency oscillations. Correspondingly, a decrease in skin temperature reduces endothelial activity. • It will be feasible to create a new medical diagnostic instrument based on a measurement of the endothelial response to temperature changes (patent application submitted). The intention is to design a device that will be the size of a large wrist watch. It will be strapped to the subject's arm for about ten minutes, and will make a series of measurements as the skin is first cooled and then warmed. Its output will be analysed automatically to give a measure of endothelial health. It will thus be easily useable by non-physicists. As an indicator of general health this endotheliometer has the potential to become almost as widespread in application as the clinical thermometer. We envisage their use by nurses, GPs, and other health professionals, as well as by hospital consultants. Conceivably, in the longer term given the price-reduction associated with mass-production, the endotheliometer could also be purchased by health-conscious members of the public. |
| Exploitation Route | The endotheliometer has the potential become widespread in the health arena but, for this to happen, we will have to take the project to the next stage by construction of a prototype that can be used to attract the interest of medical instrument manufacturers. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Healthcare,Other |
| Description | Scientifically and technologically the impact is still mostly in the future, and we anticipate that our findings will be used as the basis of new medical instruments: in particular for the assessment of endothelial health through measurement of the reactivity of the microvascular endothelium to changes in temperature. Socially and societally our findings have already resulted in several impacts, including - (a) Impact via talks to the public, schools and other organisations: o Oral presentations about the background and aims of the project were given to Senior Learner's group, Rotary International, Hornby Castle Probus Club, . Spontaneous discussions were also initiated within groups in the local area (students, sports groups, choirs, religious groups). o A Bernjak presented the "21st century thermometer" at Spotlight on Lancaster (29.6. 2011), a workshop for industrialists and commercial users. o A Bernjak presented a poster "Endotheliometer" at the Faculty of Science and Technology Industrial Showcase event, Lancaster University (30.09.2010). o A Stefanovska presented the results Nonlinear dynamics of cardiovascular ageing - A physics approach to physiology of ageing at the Lancaster University Centre for Ageing Research Annual Research Event (30 9 2011). o A Stefanovska spoke to the Kendal Engineering Society (09.02.2012) on The endotheliometer - A thermometer of the 21st century. (b) Impact on a company. Several discussions took place with the company (LEA Medizintechink GmbH, Germany) who make the O2C instrument for simultaneous and continuous measurements of skin blood flow and oxygen saturation. They were sufficiently interested to make adjustments and improvements for targeting researchers. In addition to software upgrades they also developed new probes. c) Impact on NDA Programme This project was part of the NDA programme and we have been involved in several NDA initiatives, discussing findings and implications with other members of the programme and using events such as the "Healthy Ageing Workshop" (22/05/2013) to engage with a range of people from companies, Universities, Local Authorities and the public to showcase this work. d) Impact on clinicians We have discussed the results with clinical colleagues in the cardiovascular field and are developing their awareness of the requirements for a holistic approach to assessing the health of the cardiovascular system and the importance of endothelial health. e) Impact on the mass media The proposed endotheliometer was the subject of a front-page story in the Sunday Times on 11 August 2013, leading to numerous radio and TV interviews. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Healthcare,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | A novel instrument for non-invasive early diagnosis of malaria |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Joy Welch Educational Charitable Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2019 |
| End | 02/2020 |
| Description | Data Science Research Workshop "Discerning Oscillations in Noisy Time-Series Data" |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Lancaster University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2020 |
| End | 10/2020 |
| Description | FST Research Impact Fund |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Lancaster University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2016 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | LU Impact Fund |
| Amount | £6,980 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Lancaster University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2016 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | Standard research grant: "A device to detect and measure the progression of dementia by quantifying the interactions between neuronal and cardiovascular oscillations" |
| Amount | £594,040 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/M006298/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2015 |
| End | 04/2018 |
| Description | The physiological significance of cardiorespiratory interactions: bridging between data analysis, mathematical theory and physiological models. Catalyst Seeding |
| Amount | $80,000 (NZD) |
| Organisation | Royal Society of New Zealand |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Start | 11/2018 |
| End | 11/2020 |
| Title | Extraction of ridges from 3-D amplitude or power spectra in time-frequency representations of measured signals |
| Description | The method enables adaptive, universal, extraction of ridge frequencies from time-frequency representations. Being based on dynamic path optimization and fixed point iteration, the method is very fast, and its superior accuracy is also demonstrated. The codes developed are freely available for download. |
| Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The method has been used extensively by other scientists in a variety of different contexts. |
| URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165168416000451 |
| Title | Nonlinear mode decomposition |
| Description | This is a numerical method that enables the separation of oscillatory components in complex signals measured either from living systems or more generally. It takes account of nonlinearities. |
| Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | There have been citation from scientists working in a diversity of fields. |
| URL | https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.92.032916 |
| Title | Cardiovascular ageing and hypertension |
| Description | This dataset available on Pure contains simultaneous recordings of Electrocardiogram (ECG), Respiratory effort (RESP) and right wrist Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) from 29 healthy young (Y, aged 24.4±3.4 years), 22 healthy aged (A, aged 71.1±6.6 years) and 29 treated hypertensive (H, aged 70.3±6.7 years) subjects. All the signals are re-sampled at 40Hz. The duration of the recordings differs between subjects and it is around 30 minutes. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The data file is embargoed until 2 May 2018, so no possibility for impact yet. |
| Title | Hypoxia study |
| Description | Data sets and algorithms used in the Journal of Physiology paper 'Relationship between cardiorespiratory phase coherence during hypoxia and genetic polymorphism in humans', 2020 by G. Lancaster, T. Debevec, G. P. Millet, M. Poussel, S. J. Willis, M. Mramor, K. Goricar, D. Osredkar, V. Dolžan and A. Stefanovska Time series of ECG, respiration and despiked LDF blood flow recordings are provided, and have been downsampled from 1200Hz to 40Hz. Genetics results are also provided for each subject. Group names are based on experimental conditions, as follows: NN - normobaric normoxia NHa - acute normobaric hypoxia NH - normobaric hypoxia after 6 hours acclimatisation HHa - acute hypobaric hypoxia HH - hypobaric hypoxia after 6 hours acclimatisation The study protocol was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02780908). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Perspectives are in preparation for the paper "Relationship between cardiorespiratory phase coherence during hypoxia and genetic polymorphism in humans" published as an early view in the Journal of Physiology in January 2020. |
| Title | Nonlinear Biomedical Physics database |
| Description | The database contains data recorded from our previous EU-supported project BRACCIA and ESRC-supported project on "Dynamics of cardiovascular ageing". The BRACCIA data were analysed by members of the group to investigate the effects of general anesthesia with propofol and sevoflurane on cardiovascular and brain dynamics. The data collected during the ESRC-funded project were used to investigate the effect of healthy ageing on cardiovascular dynamics. Both data-sets were also utilized to develop and test new time-series analysis methods. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Subjects before and during general anesthesia were recorded in Lancaster Infirmary and in Oslo National Hospital. A classification analysis based on an optimal set of discriminatory parameters obtained from cardiovascular signals distinguished with 95% success between the awake and anesthetized states. |
| URL | http://py-biomedical.lancaster.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Abdulrazaq Habib |
| Organisation | Bayero University Kano |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Members of the group designed a study of the nonlinear dynamics in malaria and prepared the equipment and required time-series analysis methods, A PhD student from the group traveled to Kano (Nigeria) and made the measurements in control group and groups with non-fibril and fibril malaria. All subjects were young male thereby maximizing the homogeneity of the groups.Members of the group, supervised by myself, analysed the data and were involved in the interpretation of the results. We conducted several additional studies in Lancaster to evaluate the effect of melanin in optical measurements, and possible differences in cardiovascular dynamics between subjects with Caucasian skin and dark skin, both non-African-born and brought up (but of African origin) and African-born and brought up subjects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborator, Professor Abdulrazaq Habib, Consultant Physician in the associated Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and professor in the Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, recruited the subjects, undertook clinical screening and helped in interpreting the results. |
| Impact | We identified dynamical biomarkers for non-invasive early detection of malaria and prepared a patent application. Unfortunately, the University could not afford to take the patent application to the next stage. We are now finalizing a manuscript on the joint work. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Alona Ben-Tal |
| Organisation | Massey University |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As an internationally recognized authority on the oscillatory dynamics of living systems Aneta Stefanovska contributed her expertise and experience in the field. She helped writing the successful proposal on "The physiological significance of cardiovascular interactions: bridging between data analysis, mathematical theory and physiological models". |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Alona Ben Tal has been studying different aspects of the cardiorespiratory system for the past 15 years and has developed mathematical models of the mammalian respiratory systems. She drafted the successful Royal Society/New Zealand proposal on "The physiological significance of cardiovascular interactions: bridging between data analysis, mathematical theory and physiological models". |
| Impact | The application for Catalyst fund for a 2-years collaboration between the Nonlinear and Biomedical Physics group in Physics Department at Lancaster University and the Institute of Natural and Material Sciences from Massey University was successful. Aneta Stefanovska visited Masey University in March 2019 and give a public lecture on 12 March on "Biological clocks - adjustable time-keeping makes for good health". Alona Ben Tal and her PhD student Shumaila Noreen visited the group in Lancaster in Jun/July 2019. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Collaboration on hypoxia |
| Organisation | University of Ljubljana |
| Department | Medical Faculty |
| Country | Slovenia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Myself and my group contributed to the study design, the measurement set-up and the analysis of recorded data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators, Prof Damjan Osredkar and Prof Tadej Dobevec recruited the subjects, performed the measurements and contributed to the interpretation of results. |
| Impact | The early view (EV) version of our article has been published by the Journal of Physiology. Since 20 February 2020, when it was published, it gain an attention score 90, which is In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Dwain Ekberg |
| Organisation | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Used our methods to analyze physiological data recorded by Prof Dwain L Eckberg and his collaborators. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof Dwain L Eckberg visited Lancaster on several occasions to discuss results of analysis of data he provided, and to prepare joint publications. |
| Impact | 1. Time-frequency methods and voluntary ramped-frequency breathing: a powerful combination for exploration of human neurophysiological mechanisms By: Stankovski, Tomislav; Cooke, William H.; Rudas, Laszlo; et al. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY Volume: 115 Issue: 12 Pages: 1806-1821 Published: DEC 2013 2. Human sympathetic outflows to skin and muscle target organs fluctuate concordantly over a wide range of time-varying frequencies By: Bernjak, Alan; Cui, Jian; Iwase, Satoshi; et al. JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON Volume: 590 Issue: 2 Pages: 363-375 Published: JAN 2012 |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Marcin |
| Organisation | Medical University of Gdansk |
| Department | Department of Radiology Informatics and Statistics |
| Country | Poland |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | Helped the collaborator to investigate the relationship between blood pressure and pial artery pulsation oscillations in human. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaboration comes from a group that has developed a new device for non-invasive measurements of intracranial flow (NIRT). They are contributing signals that when analysed by our methods promise great impact. |
| Impact | Human subarachnoid space width oscillations in the resting state Gruszecki, M., Lancaster, G., Stefanovska, A., Neary, J. P., Dech, R. T., Guminski, W., Frydrychowski, A. F., Kot, J. & Winklewski, P. J., 15/02/2018, In : Scientific Reports. 8, 10 p., 3057. This collaboration is highly multi-disciplinary, including Physics, Biomedical Physics, Medicine and Engineering. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Nigel Osborne, Ruaraidh Osborne and Ulysis Theatre, Croatia |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In collaboration with Nigel Osborne and Jozef Stefan Institute cardiac and respiratory signals were recorded from 8 actresses playing "The Bacchae" in the Ulysses Theatre in Zagreb, Croatia in May 2018. The phases were then extracted and sonified. Based on this music was composed and used in the play. In December 2019 another project was conducted in collaboration with Nigel Osborne and Ruaraidh Osborne. Two pianists performed music simultaneously and their cardiac, respiratory and EEG signals were measured in Lancaster. The idea is to investigate inter-subject coherence and synchronization mediated by performance of music. It addresses the question of whether it is possible for two (or more) subjects to display entertainment of their physiological rhythms caused by external perturbation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners proposed the collaboration and helped to bring it about. |
| Impact | The play "The Bacchae" used the 'music', obtained by sonification made in Lancaster, in their performances on 28th, 29th, and 30th July 2018, 1st and 2nd August 2019, and the 17th, 18th and 20th July 2019 in Brijuni, Croatia; and in the ZKM Theatre, Zagreb, on the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th January 2019,10th May 2019, and 2nd June 2019. Audiences to summer 2019 total about 7000. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Tomislav Stankovski |
| Organisation | Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje |
| Country | Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Aneta Stefanovska and Peter McClintock were PhD and PostDoc supervisors of Dr Tomislav Stankovski. During his stay in Lancaster (2008-2014) Tomislav mastered time series analysis methods and in particular Dynamical Bayesian inference. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Tomislav Stankovski expanded Dynamical Bayesian inference method to include multi-coupling analysis in collaboration with Valentina Ticcinelli, a PhD student funded by Physics Department to work on the project, who coded the algorithm. The method is very relevant for the data recorded during the study. |
| Impact | Dr Tomislav Stankovski co-authored 5 journal papers relevant for our collaborative projects 1. G Nadzinski, M Dobrevski, C Anderson, PVE McClintock, A Stefanovska, M Stankovski, T Stankovski, Experimental Realization of the Coupling Function Secure Communications Protocol and Analysis of Its Noise Robustness, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 13 (10), 2591-2601, 2018 2. T Stankovski, T Pereira, PVE McClintock, A Stefanovska, Coupling functions: universal insights into dynamical interaction mechanisms, Reviews of Modern Physics 89 (4), 045001, 2017 3. V Ticcinelli, T Stankovski, D Iatsenko, A Bernjak, AE Bradbury, AR Gallagher, P Clarkson, PVE McClintock, Aneta StefanovskaCoherence and coupling functions reveal microvascular impairment in treated hypertension, Frontiers in physiology 8, 749, 2017 4. T Stankovski, V Ticcinelli, PVE McClintock, A Stefanovska, Neural cross-frequency coupling functions, Frontiers in systems neuroscience 11, 33, 2017 5. T Stankovski, V Ticcinelli, PVE McClintock, A Stefanovska, Coupling functions in networks of oscillators, New Journal of Physics 17 (3), 035002, 2017 and a patent application T Stankovski, A Stefanovska, RJ Young, PVE McClintock, Encoding data using dynamic system coupling, US Patent App. 14/910,547, 2016. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Title | Diagnostic methods and device |
| Description | The invention relates to a method of diagnosing, or providing a prognosis to, or for providing the likelihood of developing, malignant melanoma in a subject, the method comprising the steps of: (a) measuring two or more markers in blood perfusion dynamics at and/or around a skin lesion site; and (b) determining if the two or more markers is different to a normal value. The invention also relates to a device for diagnosing/providing a prognosis to/for malignant melanoma in a subject. |
| IP Reference | Patent number: 9907507 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | Not yet. |
| Title | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE PRESENCE OF AN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER |
| Description | The present invention relates to a method for determining the presence of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a subject, determining the risk of developing an ASD in a subject, determining progression of an ASD or assessing response to therapy of a subject with an ASD. The method of the present invention comprises the steps of: (i) providing electroencephalography (EEG) signal data from the subject; (ii) deriving one or more EEG parameters from the EEG signal data, wherein the EEG parameter has a parameter value; and (iii) analysing the one or more EEG parameters by comparing the parameter value with a control parameter value to determine whether the subject has an ASD, is at risk of developing an ASD, has an ASD which is progressing, or is responding to an ASD therapy. The one or more EEG parameters are selected from the group comprising wavelet total power, wavelet coherence and wavelet phase coherence. |
| IP Reference | WO2018104751 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | No additional impact as yet. |
| Title | MODA |
| Description | MODA is a toolbox that provides a set of methods to deal with signals affected by time variability. Currently, it contains 5 methods, including wavlet analysis, wavelet-based phase coherence analysis, wavelet-based bispectral analysis, ridge-extraction and coupling function analysis. It is intended to be very user friendly to be used by the wider scientific community. From June 2019 until now (March 2020) MODA has been updated in two ways - 1. The Matlab version was expanded from 5 to 6 methods, and wavelet phase coherence section was also expanded, so it now consists of: i) Windowed Fourier transform and wavelet transform for time-frequency analysis; individual signals can be analyses, and also power/amplitude can be compared for groups of subject; for example before and after treatment ii) Detection of high harmonics of time-varying oscillations (added in 2020) iii) Wavelet phase coherence and phase shift (added in 2019/20), and evaluation of phase coherence for group of subjects (e.g. before and after treatment); added in 2020. iv) Ridge extraction v) Wavelet bispectral analysis, and vi) Calculation of coupling functions using the dynamical Bayesian inference method 2. All above listed algorithms are being made available also in Python |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | Undergraduate and PhD students working with the Nonlinear and Biomedical Physics Group are using MODA; there is also e-mail evidence of extensive use by external researchers worldwide |
| URL | https://github.com/luphysics/MODA |
| Title | Nonlinear Biomedical Physics toolboxes |
| Description | Currently, it includes the following toolboxes: 1. Wavelet Phase Coherence, 2. TACTS Matlab toolbox, 3. TEDBI_Bayesian_Toolbox, 4. Time_Frequency_Representations and 5. Nonlinear_Mode_Decomposition |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | To date a total of 445 registered downloads. |
| URL | http://py-biomedical.lancaster.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Biological Oscillations conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Stefanovska and her group organised the 9th conference of the European Study Group on Cardiovascular Oscillations which took place in Lancaster from 10th to 14th April 2016. This was also the first International Conference on Biological Oscillations. The aim of the conference was to provide an interdisciplinary forum for discussions of biological oscillations between researchers drawn from areas such as physics, mathematics, engineering, computer science, cardiovascular regulation, neuroscience, time-series analysis, theory of nonlinear oscillatory dynamics, information processing, cardiovascular and microvascular physiology, cell biology and clinical sciences. In addition to the signal processing view of cardiovascular oscillations this conference expanded to incorporate a more physics-based approach. It also generalized the topic to include all biological oscillations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.physics.lancs.ac.uk/ESGCO2016/ |
| Description | Contribution to Headstart Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 30 Y12 Physics students from across the UK participated in the Headstart course. All students are studying A level Physics and another science in many cases and Mathematics and are high ability as indicated by their teachers. Our group organised a whole day event for the students and provided three workshop sessions: Physics of the Brain, Physics of the Cardiovascular System and Physics of the Cell. After a few introductory talks by members of the group students did either measurements or simulations, analysed their data and then presented the results to their audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.etrust.org.uk/headstart/whatisheadstart |
| Description | Contribution to Hgher Education Day at Runshaw College |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Talk stimulated plenty of questions! Nothing notable evident to date. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Data Science Institute workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Data Science Institute organized a Streaming Data workshop that was held in the Low Wood hotel 18-19 July 2016. I presented our work and participated in many activities of the workshop.The workshop was used to • explore current Streaming Data research activities at Lancaster; • identify challenges which can draw mutual interest; • and develop ideas for future research and funding opportunities in this area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Healthy Ageing and Older People |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The event was in the Council House in Birmingham on the 22 May 2013 under the aegis of the New Dynamics of Ageing programme. It was intended to bring the results of research by several groups to the attention of carers and the general public. We made a brief presentation, showed a poster with main findings of our project and engaged in extensive discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Physics Department Colloquium, Royal Holloway, University of London, 18 May, 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a talk "Understanding systems operating far from equilibrium from the perspective of time-varying dynamics" and enjoyed vigorous discussion about differences in living and non-living systems dynamics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Physics Master Class: Waves and Oscillations featuring Biomedical Physics Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 12 A-level students attended a whole day event which consisted of an introductory talk, two biomedical research taster projects and an oscillations and waves lab to complement their A-level studies. Students prepared group presentations and presented the results of their work. Several feedback - both from students and their A-level teachers indicate that students greatly enjoyed the day and developed an interest in the field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Public Lecture (Auckland) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public lecture on "Biological clocks - adjustable time-keeping makes for good health", in the series Fascination Science, at Massey University, Auckland, on 12/03/2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/events/the-fascination-of-science/the-fascination-of-sc... |
| Description | School visit to Bolton Muslim Girls' School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Our talk sparked lively and spirited discussions with both pupils and teachers. N/A |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Seminar (Reading) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk at the School of Biological Sciences Research Seminar Series, University of Reading, 16 October, 2018 to students of Biomedical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering and their lecturers interested in the filed of Biological Oscillators. Discussed examples related to ageing, dementia, ASD and the cell, cardiovascular system and brain oscillatory dynamics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.reading.ac.uk/biologicalsciences/SchoolofBiologicalSciences/Research/sbs-research-semina... |
| Description | Talk to Nelson and Colne Sixth Form College |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Gave the talk twice to different audiences who were highly reactive and asked numerous questions. N/A |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | The NDA Programme & Age UK Research Showcase of the Decade |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The event was jointly organised by the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme and Age UK at the Business Design Center in London on 21 October 2013, and attracted several hundred participants including policymakers, politicians, media, experts and the public. In the Session 1 - From Cell to Society, New dynamics in understanding the ageing process towards extending healthspan Aneta Stefanovska made presentation entitled Cardiovascular ageing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk/showcase.html |