Application closing date 01/01/2020Location Preston CampusSalary Grade/Salary: I (]44045- 51034)Job category/type Academic, ResearchAttachments

Job description

The University of Central Lancashire and American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine have put together a new programme aimed at helping ease the global shortage of doctors. The two institutions linked up in 2017 when almost the entire contingent of the AUC School of Medicine re-located to UCLan while their base on the island of St Maarten was rebuiltfollowing a hurricane.

Now, UCLan and the AUC have joined forces to offer a new blended programme, to enable students from the UK and across the world to study towards their accredited medical qualification, the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree - the postgraduate degree of physicians in the United States. UCLan's School of Medicine will run the 2-year programme, which commenced in September 2019, providing students with a postgraduate diploma in International Medical Sciences (PGIMS) from UCLan, followed by their MD with AUC. Students will then be eligible to do clinical rotations at AUCs clinical sites, which include hospitals in the US, the UK, and Canada.

As part of this exciting development, the University is seeking to appoint a Senior Lecturer in Physiology. Working within a committed and enthusiastic team you will contribute to the course planning, teaching, and assessment as well as providing course/module leadership.

The successful applicant will be educated to PhD level in a relevant area of study as well as having a good honours degree (or equivalent) in Physiology. You will have REF-able publications in the area of physiology or biological sciences/ medicine or medical education. Experience of higher education teaching, enthusiasm for your subject and the ability to teach up to masters level. A teaching qualification such as fellowship of the HEA is desirable.

You will of course also have excellent communication, presentation and team working skills. Informal enquiries are welcomed - please contact Charlotte Rhodes, Programme Lead (crhodes5@uclan.ac.uk) via email in the first instance.

If you require a Tier 2 visa to work in the UK, please ensure that you will meet all of the criteria before applying for this vacancy. For further information, please visit the government website -https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/eligibility

Applicnts need to meet all essential criteria on the person specification to be considered for interview. This position is based in Preston.

Please apply online viawww.uclan.ac.uk/jobs; if you cannot apply online please contact Human Resources on 01772 892324 and quoting the reference number. CVs will not be considered unless accompanied by a completed application form.

School/Service: School of Medicine - AUC

Grade/Salary: I (44045- 51034)

Hours: Full Time (37.00 hours per week - 1.0 FTE)

Basis: Indefinite

Closing Date: 1st January 2020

Interview Date: To be confirmed

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Senior Lecturer in Physiology job with UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE | 187976 - Times Higher Education (THE)

By Michael Le Page

Kew

Seeds from 400 wild relatives of food crops such as bananas, rice and aubergines have been collected to save their valuable genetic diversity before it is lost. These could be crucial for maintaining food production as the climate changes.

This was a massive effort, says Hannes Dempewolf at the Crop Trust in Bonn, Germany, which led the 10-year project. The next step is to use the wild plants to breed new varieties of crops with traits such as drought or disease resistance.

That is important because we know that if farmers keep cultivating the same varieties in the same way, yields can plummet as pests and diseases evolve and spread. For instance, rice yields in Asia were hit by the rice grassy stunt virus in the 1970s, says Dempewolf. Resistant varieties were then created by crossing rice with a wild relative. Now the virus is becoming a problem again. It is a constant battle, a bit like walking up an escalator the wrong way.

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What is more, the speed at which such issues arise is accelerating because of climate change, which is already hitting food production. You have to walk faster to stand still, says Alisdair Fernie of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Germany, who wasnt involved in the project.

This is why the Crop Trust set out to save the genetic diversity present in wild plants. Since 2013, more than 12 million seeds have been collected, says Chris Cockel at Kews Millennium Seed Bank in the UK. These come from about 5000 locations of the 400 crop relatives.

Plants sampled include a wild relative of the carrot, one that grows in salty water, an oat relative resistant to the powdery mildew that devastates normal oats, and a kind of bean that tolerates high temperatures and drought.

The seeds are now being sent to non-profit breeding organisations around the world. Some will also be stored in seed banks, including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic.

In some cases, the collectors arrived in the nick of time. In Ethiopia, samples were taken from a region that will soon be flooded by a dam. In Chile, they found only one site where a wild barley was still growing after a massive fire destroyed most of its habitat.

Sometimes they were too late. In Costa Rica, collectors found only sugar cane plantations and urban sprawl where a wild rice used to grow.

Read more: Domesticating tomatoes took millennia we can now redo it in 3 years

We have made incredible progress, Marie Haga, director of the Crop Trust, said in a statement. But there is more to be done, and as threats to the worlds biodiversity mount, this work is more urgent than ever.

As well as improving existing crops, we should also be conserving and domesticating wild plants that are rarely grown and eaten, says Fernie. At present the world is over-reliant on a handful of crops, some of which are grown where conditions arent ideal.

In these places, domesticating local plants which can now be done very rapidly could allow more food to be grown in a more sustainable way. But for farmers to diversify the plants they grow, consumers will have to diversify their diets.

More on these topics:

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The race to find wild relatives of food plants before its too late - New Scientist News

Scientists believe women whose mothers have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the leading causes of infertility, are five times more likely to develop the condition.

Researchers studied women in Sweden and Chile, as well as mice, to arrive at their conclusion on the condition which on average affects 17 percent of women of reproductive age. The condition is characterized by enlarged ovaries which may have fluid-filled sacs surrounding the eggsirregular periods and high levels of the hormone androgen. As well as issues with menstruatingwhich can cause problems getting pregnantthose with PCOS are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, have excess hair on the body and face, thin hair on the head, develop acne and gain weight.

From birth to adulthood, the team followed 21 women in Chile who had mothers with PCOS, and compared them with 14 who didn't. They also studied 29,736 women from a Swedish patient database, 2,275 of who had mothers with PCOS.

In both the Swedish and Chilean cohorts, the daughters of women with the condition were five times more likely to have PCOS than those who didn't.

To find out more about the potential mechanism behind this link, the team also studied mice with PCOS-like traits. They found mice exposed to androgen hormones in the womb were more likely to give birth to babies with the condition. This was passed on for up to three generations.

The researchers also used DNA samples from the participants of the Chilean study, and found four of the genes expressed across all generations in mice cells followed the same expression pattern in humans.

Obesity wasn't found to be linked to PCOS in the study. It's unclear what causes PCOS, but the two conditions are thought to be linked.

Co-author Elisabet Stener-Victorin, professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet, explained to Newsweek the team has studied the potential causes of PCOS for many years.

In a separate study, they showed that women with the condition have higher levels of androgens, irregular menstrual cycles, and abnormally shaped ovaries. PCOS patients also had a higher chance of being insulin resistant, and having enlarged fat cells independent of obesity, as well as differences in their fat and muscles related to gene expression.

Stener-Victorin said the team's past work in rodents suggested encountering excess androgen in the womb may change gene expression, and increase the risk of first-generation offspring developing PCOS.

That inspired their latest investigation aimed at seeing if PCOS-like symptoms could be passed down to the third generation of mice.

"This study indicates that it is rather intrauterine/germ cell factors than genetic factors that contribute to the development and transmission of the disease," Stener-Victorin explained.

Commenting on the potential uses of the research, Stener-Victorin said the genes identified could serve as potential biomarkers to predict the development of PCOS and have the potential to be used for screening, "although it requires further validation."

Stener-Victorin said a genetic test for PCOS wouldn't be possible off the back of the current research as several candidate genes were identified.

"It might be in the future, but more research is needed here," said Stener-Victorin, who co-authored the paper with Qiaolin Deng, associate professor in the department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Karolinska Institutet.

The work could also help the development of a treatment to prevent PCOS being passed on, she added.

Stener-Victorin highlighted the fact that PCOS affects up to 17 percent of women, but it is under-diagnosed. On average, women must visit three doctors before they are told they have PCOS, she said.

"It is of importance to increase the awareness of PCOS and its co-morbidities in the general community. It is not OK that it takes two years and several doctors before you are even diagnosed," said Stener-Victorin.

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Daughters of Women With PCOS Five Times More Likely to Develop Condition, Scientists Say - Newsweek

STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine) fields are predominantly male-oriented. But, interestingly, women were the first computer engineers, software designers, mathematicians at NASA, and many other pioneering fields. Today, even though more women are graduating with technical and science degrees, from the workplace to science labs, women remain a minority. To encourage more women to take on roles and leadership positions in science and tech, various initiatives like Girls Who Code are being implemented.

Some of the first pioneers in tech are women like Grace Hopper and even today, these women in STEMM continue to inspire more women to take the path less travelled.

"If you know you are on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off... no matter what they say." - Barbara McClintock, cytogeneticist and winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

"Science, for me, gives a partial explanation for life. In so far as it goes, it is based on fact, experience and experiment." - Rosalind Franklin, chemist, molecular biologist, and one of the key figures behind unlocking the structure of human DNA.

"I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy." - Marie Curie, first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the only person to ever win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences.

All sorts of things can happen when youre open to new ideas and playing around with things. Stephanie Kwolek, chemist who invented Kevlar and winner of the Lavoisier Medal for technical achievements.

"Courage is like its a habitus, a habit, a virtue: you get it by courageous acts. Its like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging." - Marie Daly, the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in chemistry. She discovered the relationship between cholesterol and clogged arteries.

I increasingly believe, and remind myself, that my ideas are valuable. People will listen to and appreciate them more based on my confidence conceptualizing and sharing them. Only one idea can be chosen, but everyone has to feel confident to share theirs because it contributes to the final outcome. - Tracy Sun, former research scientist and Founder of Poshmark.

I didnt want to just know the names of things. I remember really wanting to know how it all worked. - Elizabeth Blackburn, Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

I tell young people: Do not think of yourself, think of others. Think of the future that awaits you, think about what you can do and do not fear anything. - Rita Levi Montalcini, Italian neurologist and 1986 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

Link:
Quotes by women in STEMM to inspire you to follow your dreams - YourStory

During childhood, many of us are taught about the importance of kindness.

But are you aware of the different motivations behind kindness and the benefits it can have on yourself?

It's not uncommon to experience a "feel-good rush" after you've been kind to another person, says Dr James Kirby, a lecturer in clinical psychology at The University of Queensland.

"Sometimes people refer to it as the warm glow, and that's some of the endorphins that are being kicked back into the system, the internal reward system," he says.

So, is getting a regular rush of these endorphins as simple as just being more kind, more often?

A study conducted by psychologists at the University of Sussex in 2018 examined brain scans of more than a thousand participants who were carrying out acts of kindness.

It discovered that people benefit from acts of kindness regardless of whether they are strategically motivated (meaning there is something to be gained from their act of kindness), or altruistic (there is nothing in it for them) but the "warm glow" effect was at its peak with altruistic acts of kindness.

"We found that there's a part of the brain that is even more active when we give away [acts of kindness] with no possible benefits for ourselves, so in the altruistic case," says Jo Cutler, a PhD student who co-authored the study.

"So, this is when that warm glow from kindness will be its strongest, and we saw the brain activity reflecting that."

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Eager to get a better understanding of kindness, Cyril Grueter, senior lecturer at University of Western Australia, carried out a 'lost letter experiment' in Perth.

It involved dropping letters across different neighbourhoods, including low and high socio-economic suburbs, on two separate occasions.

Australians disagree on many issues, but we're united in one thing that we should treat each other with more respect.

In the first study, published in 2016, his team dropped 300 letters. In the second study conducted more than a year later, 1,200 letters were dispersed in various areas.

To his surprise, on both occasions, 50 per cent of the letters that were dropped were returned.

"If you encounter a letter on the pavement and you pick it up and you post it, then that obviously means you have to go out of your way, you incur a cost and that's exactly how we define altruism, incurring a cost to help someone else," he says.

"So that really tells us that humans have this innate kindness, otherwise they wouldn't do that.

"And to our surprise, again, we found that letters dropped in high socio-economic areas were more likely to be returned.

"We believe that it may have something to do with the fact that people in low socio-economic areas, they are more preoccupied with meeting their immediate needs. And whereas people in high-end suburbs, they may have slightly different priorities. But we can only speculate on why people in low-end suburbs were less likely to return a letter."

Has an act of kindness changed the course of your day, life or community?

Tell us about it and the person behind it (dont forget to add where youre based): kindnesshero@abc.net.au.

Your details will be kept private and if we select your story as one to feature, we'll be in touch.

Being kind to other people can have multiple benefits, but it's also just as important to be kind to yourself, stresses Dr Kirby.

"If I am being kind towards myself, the same regions light up if I'm receiving kindness from another person or giving kindness to another person," Dr Kirby says.

"That's why we tell people, when you have a setback or difficulty, what's the tone of your self-talk like? Do you talk to yourself in an aggressive, matter-of-fact, blunt way, or can you speak to yourself in a friendlier way?

"If you speak to yourself in a friendly way, much like a friend would in terms of trying to be kind and helpful, the same areas of the brain light up."

We asked 54,000 people about their lives. See what they told us and how you compare.

As a clinical psychologist, Dr Kirby adds that he works with a lot of people who feel they are unlovable and undeserving of kindness or compassion.

"They are very good at being kind to others but the very idea or thought of being kind to themselves is just completely foreign or a big no-no. They find it very threatening," he says.

"We all have this inner voice that is judgemental or commenting or narrating monitoring how we are going and performing.

"You try to explore what's that about or where has this come from. Sometimes it can be, 'Oh, that's the way Dad spoke to me', or 'That's the way teachers spoke to me' so it has a long history.

"So, when you're seeing people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, that kind of voice has been there for years a lot of people don't recognise that that inner tone can impact your physiology in your body much like if it was coming from someone else."

Kindness is everywhere as these readers shared with us when we asked to hear about the little gestures and favours that have helped brighten their day.

If you're wanting to start your day in the right mindset by being kinder to yourself, Dr Kirby has some words of advice:

"When you wake up in the morning, just welcome yourself."

Sounds odd, right?

"Yes, that sounds a bit funny," he laughs.

"But welcome yourself as if you're saying hello to a dear friend in your mind. I would say, 'Oh, good morning James'. Wake yourself with that joyful friendliness and playfulness, and that kicks off a different physiology in your body.

"As opposed to 'What, it's 6am, this is shit I have so much stuff to do'. That kicks off a stress physiology in your body, and already your stress levels are at their peak in the morning, and then they drop away across the day."

Then for 30 seconds or a minute, contemplate: "If I was to be at my kindest today, what would I do?"

"Just imagine what it would be like to walk around at your kindest. Then start your day."

A belief that Australians need to show more respect to each other was the top uniting issue to emerge from theAustralia Talks National Survey,which asked 54,000 Australians about their lives and what keeps them up at night.Use our interactive tool to see the results and how their answers compare with yoursavailable in English, simplified Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese.

Then, join Annabel Crabb as she takes you through some of the most surprising and exciting insights with Waleed Aly onthe Australia Talks TV special on iview.

Original post:
The chemistry and psychology of kindness - ABC News

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) A 17-year-olds memory was honored at his high school in Fort Worth on Monday night.

Benjamin Castaneda died Thanksgiving morning after a crash involving a suspected drunk driver.

Benjamin Castaneda vigil (CBS 11)

Monday night, friends, family, classmates and teachers gathered at North Side High School to remember the teenager.

His voice was so big, just like his heart, said Carla Martin. She had Benjamin as a student in her Honors Anatomy and Physiology class. Benjamin was known as a talented vocalist and violinist.

He played with his schools mariachi band.

I first saw him perform and hes the scrawny little kid, and I said where did that sound come from? Martin recalled.

Benjamin was killed Thanksgiving morning by a suspected drunk driver going the wrong direction on Loop 820 in North Richland Hills.

The woman police say is responsible for the deadly crash, 29-year-old Neomi Martinez, was charged with intoxication manslaughter. She bonded out of the Tarrant County Jail on Saturday with a $75,000 bond.

He had a bright future ahead of him, said Jessica Arreola Cardenas, his freshman English teacher.

According to Fort Worth ISD, several other events are also planned at the high school this week to support the family.

This is the kind of community we have, where if theres something we need, they come out, said North Sides principal Antonio Martinez. He said the school has extra counselors on hand as well to help any students who need to talk.

Continued here:
Fort Worth Teen Benjamin Castaneda, Killed By Alleged Drunk Driver On Thanksgiving, Remembered At Vigil - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

White-nose syndrome kills bats during hibernation. Because the bats under the Ann Richards Bridge migrate, they may be spared from getting the disease.

White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has decimated bat populations, is spreading in Texas. Scientists are trying everything from vaccines to UV lights to control the disease. Now, theyre asking the public for help.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has started accepting ideas to fight white-nose syndrome.If your idea is picked as one of the most promising, you could win up to $20,000 and work with scientists to test it out.

The website for the contestsays it is open to any idea to permanently eradicate, weaken, or disarm the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome.

Were trying to sort of not restrict the thinking on any of this, says Jonathan Reichard, assistant coordinator for the services national white-nose syndrome response. We really want very open minds on what ideas can come in.

Earlier this year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced the fungus causing the disease had been found in 11 newcounties in the state, including the Bracken Bat Cave in San Antonio, the worlds largestbat colony.

That cave, like under the Ann Richards Bridge in Austin, is home to millions of Mexican free-tailed bats.

The good news is that Mexican free-tailed bats migrate during the winter rather than hibernate. And white-nose syndrome kills bats during hibernation, Jonah Evans, a mammalogist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, told KUT at the time.

While the bats are away, Texas Parks and Wildlife isdisinfecting manmade bat roostslike bridges in East Texas to see if it might slow or stop the spread of the fungus.

Reichard said researchers are also trying to figure out how some bats have managed to survive the plague of white-nose syndrome in the Northeast, where its impact has been nearly apocalyptic.

Theres ongoing work to figure out what it is thats helping those bats survive, he says. It could be anything from their physiology to the environment they chose to live in the winter time.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will accept ideas for its white-nose syndrome contest until the end of the year.

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Got An Idea To Save Bats From White-Nose Syndrome? The Government Wants To Hear It! - Houston Public Media

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Newswise Post doc interviews in the Life Sciences are relatively unregulated compared to interviews for faculty positions. To find out if this lack of regulation promotes biases in post doc interviews, Dr. Nicholas Burnett and Dr.Stacey Combes of the Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior Department at U.C. Davis surveyed post docs in the life sciences at universities across the United States. They then analyzed responses from the 342 post docs who completed their surveys and tested how the interviews differed between post docs.

As to the impetus of their study, Burnett noted "I was inspired to start this study after reading a paper about the faculty hiring process, written by zlelm Sensoy and Robin DiAngleo, that said if we are truly committed to increasing diversity in academia, we must be willing to do everything differently. As a recently hired post doc, I realized there was relatively little institutional attention given to interviews for post docs, so I began wondering about the content and structure of post doc interviews, how interviews affect post doc diversity, and what we can do to change interviews for the better."

The data showed that the content and structure of interviews varied drastically between post docs, and that these differences were associated with race, ethnicity, and gender of the post docs, as well as other circumstances of the interviews. For example, a post doc's demographic background was linked to the interview length and whether they demonstrated a technical skill or gave a presentation during their interview, but these interview components were also associated with whether the post doc already knew the interviewer and whether the interview was held in person versus over the phone or internet.

When asked about results they may not have expected, Burnett had this to offer. "One of our surprising results was the disparity in interview length - minority females experienced shorter interviews than other demographic groups - and it has been shown in academic literature that lengthening interviews can help reduce implicit biases. One way of reducing barriers to post doc positions for scientists from under-represented groups could be to lengthen interviews, especially when interviewing multiple candidates for a single position."

"We hope that by identifying disparities in postdoc interviews, we can start a discussion among biologists that will lead to more standardized and equitable interviews for postdoctoral positions." Burnett said in regard to their goals for this study.

With a post doc position being integral to those who desire a lengthy career in Life Sciences, their research could indeed help universities see a need for restructuring their post doc interview process. No doubt this data could have a ripple effect of changes in store for future life science interviewees and interviewers alike.

Stacey Combes is an Associate Professor and Chancellor's Fellow in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at U.C. Davis. She was chair of the Broadening Participation committee of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) from 2016-2019, and currently serves as chair of the SICB Division of Comparative Biomechanics.

Nicholas Burnett is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at U.C. Davis, and was a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. He is currently a postdoctoral member of the Broadening Participation committee of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

"Post doc interviews in the Life Sciences: An often overlooked process that is susceptible to bias" by Dr. Nicholas Burnett and Dr. Stacey Combes of the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, U.C. Davis

burnettnp@gmail.com , sacombes@ucdavis.edu

Published by the Journal of Integrative Organismal Biology, December 1, 2019

URL:https://academic.oup.com/iob

SEE ORIGINAL STUDY

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Post doc interviews in the life sciences may promote bias - Newswise

A chronic shortage of dental hygienists in the province became worse this year after changes were made to the diploma program for students.

Instead of two years to get a diploma, the Saskatchewan Dental Hygienists Association now requires students to havethree years of training.

That meant there was no graduating class of 26 students in the province this past spring.

One reason for the change is the expanding role of dental hygienists, Shelby Hamm, the association's deputy registrar, told Saskatoon Morning's Jennifer Quesnel.

Not only do hygieniststake care of a patients' oral issues, they look out for their overall health, Hamm said.

That means dental hygienists need a solid foundation in classes like physiology, chemistry, psychology, sociology and statistics.

So a year of arts and science classes has been added to the program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Regina.

Hamm said hygienists can help identify and prevent ailments such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and strokes.

"For example, periodontal disease is a risk factor for heart disease," Hamm said. "If your gums are inflamed, the bacteria in your mouth can get into your bloodstream and lodge in your heart vessels."

She said gum disease also plays a role in diabetes, with research showing that untreated gum disease makes it harder for people with diabetes to control their blood sugar.

"Eliminating gum disease can improve blood sugar, reducing the risk for serious complications with diabetes," she said.

"It's also associated with rheumatoid arthritis and aspiration pneumonia, which is a big concern for long-term care facilities."

Hamm said the shortage has resulted in segments of the population being underserved.

"That would be those living in remote areas that maybe don't have access to private practice," she said. "Also in long-term care facilities. There are lots of people that aren't able to access the dental office and these people are at high risk for lots of oral and systemic problems that dental hygienists can help prevent and treat."

Hamm would like to see Saskatchewan Polytechnic's program expanded, but that means more funding is needed.

Hygienists are also at high risk for ailments like carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain disorders.

Hamm said hygienists need to to look after themselves bymaking sure they have the proper ergonomics in the workplace and possibly scalingback their hours or days to take care of their own health.

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Province's dental hygienist shortage exacerbated by extra year of required training - CBC.ca