Institution Region: Scotland

REF impact found 808 Case Studies

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Actual Analytics Ltd: automated processing of video data to reduce the use of laboratory animals in scientific research

Summary of the impact

Series of images from animal behaviour studies contain vast quantities of complex and highly valuable data. Extracting the value from this scientific data often requires expert annotation. This is frequently an intuitive process based on experience gained through years of training to make important decisions. Experts are rare, expensive and hard to train so the iBehave project at the University of Edinburgh (2006-2009) sought to reverse this model and deliver systems that learned to mimic expert annotation of video data. This effort resulted in a new spinout from the School of Informatics, a software company called Actual Analytics Ltd (Actual). Founded in 2010, Actual delivers innovative software solutions for behaviour analytics which use machine learning algorithms to process video data of laboratory animals to improve the accuracy of the experimental process and reduce the need to use animals in scientific research.

Submitting Institution

University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Biological Sciences: Genetics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

2) Intra-State Conflict

Summary of the impact

Research carried out by the Department of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen into the nature and extent of communal division in societies emerging from conflict — particularly in Northern Ireland — has directly benefitted policy makers and community leaders through personal briefings and exposure on influential electronic media. The research findings have also benefitted action groups, peace practitioners, churches and other civil society groups in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka and elsewhere through workshops and training materials; and they have raised awareness and understanding and stimulated debate through the purposeful use of online media outlets.

Submitting Institution

University of Aberdeen

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

Adoption of behavioural roadside training programme improves children’s road crossing skills.

Summary of the impact

In a series of training studies on children between the ages of 5 and 12 years, a research team at the Department of Psychology successfully demonstrated that substantial improvements in roadside decision-making and behaviour can be achieved in children as young as 5 years. Based on their findings, the team developed and evaluated a training intervention (Kerbcraft) aimed at improving children's pedestrian skills through practical roadside activities which was formally adopted by the UK government. Since 2008, the majority of 5-7 year old children in the UK have received formal pedestrian skills training using Kerbcraft either in its full or adapted form. Kerbcraft now plays a key role in the UK Government's road safety strategy and has been cited as an example of best practice by the World Health Organisation and safety agencies across Europe, the US, Australia and in developing countries such as Ethiopia and Bangladesh.

Submitting Institution

University of Strathclyde

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

13 - Advanced Wavemaker Designs

Summary of the impact

Edinburgh Designs Ltd., (EDL) was spun-out to exploit ERPE research from the original Wave Power Group. With six staff and an annual turnover approaching £2M EDL has supplied the equipment and control systems for wave tanks in 19 countries including the world's largest computer-controlled wave test facility, the US Navy Manoeuvring and Station Keeping Tank. They are currently completing the world's first circular tank, combining waves with currents in any relative direction, which is operated by the 6 person company, "FloWave" EDL, still run by the founding staff, it is the world-leading supplier of wave-making technology for scientific and recreational facilities.

Submitting Institutions

Heriot-Watt University,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Maritime Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

Advancing clinical assessment of acute pain in companion animals

Summary of the impact

The Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS) has provided the first validated pain questionnaire for the rapid assessment of acute pain in dogs in surgical and clinical settings. Developed by the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine, the scale aids clinical decisions on appropriate pain relief intervention and has been freely downloaded by over 3,000 clinical users since its launch in 2008. In addition, it has been used extensively by veterinary healthcare companies to successfully obtain regulatory approval for analgesic drugs and in marketing support materials. The University of Glasgow researchers have been instrumental in developing international pain guidelines with the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, which represent more than 180,000 veterinarians worldwide, and has thereby promoted awareness of pain management in companion animals.

Submitting Institution

University of Glasgow

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Clinical Sciences, Neurosciences

Advancing heart disease diagnosis – influencing international guidelines and commercial adoption of automated ECG analysis software

Summary of the impact

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the most commonly used medical tests which assist in diagnosing heart disorders worldwide. However, diagnosis relies on accurate interpretation of ECG recordings. Studies by University of Glasgow researchers have led to changes to international guidelines for ECG-based diagnosis of a heart attack (myocardial infarction; MI) and have led to significant refinements to the automated ECG analysis software called the `Glasgow Program'. Commercialisation of the Program since 2008 has resulted in its incorporation into some of the market-leading medical devices, with approval of the Glasgow Program by the FDA and more than 40,000 devices sold worldwide, potentially aiding millions of patients around the world. The Program assists hospital doctors, family practitioners and others such as first responding emergency services, e.g. ambulance and fire services, with the reliable interpretation of ECGs, enabling rapid and accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients with a variety of heart problems.

Submitting Institution

University of Glasgow

Unit of Assessment

Clinical Medicine

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology, Clinical Sciences, Neurosciences

1m. Aerial perches improve the welfare of laying hens and are now recommended by the European Union

Summary of the impact

Impact: Policy / animal welfare. Policy implementation changed and bird welfare improved.

Significance: Our research informed welfare guidelines impacting upon housing of around 200 million laying birds in the EU. Our work has been adopted in EC regulations, and they are pushing all EU member states to ensure all their producers install aerial perches over slatted surfaces.

Beneficiaries: Laying birds, welfare organisations, egg producers, and the general public.

Attribution: Prof. Sparks, Dr. Sandilands (SRUC). Involved collaboration with Prof. Green at Heriot Watt University acting as a vision specialist.

Reach: Guidelines have been adopted in EU legislation.

Submitting Institutions

University of Edinburgh,SRUC

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Biological Sciences: Zoology
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

Africa in Motion: Enhancing Public Awareness of African Cinema in Scotland, the UK and Internationally

Summary of the impact

The Africa in Motion Film Festival (AiM), based in Glasgow and Edinburgh, directly emerged from research led by David Murphy and a community of postgraduate students at the University of Stirling. The festival has attracted new audiences for African cinema (over 20,000 spectators since 2006) and contributed to wider debates about it amongst the general public, NGOs, as well as cinephiles in Scotland and more widely. In particular, two projects on the `lost classics' of African cinema allowed neglected films to be discovered both by a general audience and influential film critics/journalists.

Submitting Institution

University of Stirling

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

A genetically informed management plan for breeding African Wild Dogs in captivity

Summary of the impact

African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus; referred to as `AWDs' hereafter for brevity) have been classed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for 22 years. Large, well-managed captive breeding programmes provide a safety net to restore wild populations. However, the management of the AWD population has been difficult owing to an incomplete family record of captive AWDs, which risks introducing genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. A genetically informed management plan developed by University of Glasgow researchers has provided a genetic measure of diversity and establishes a genetically informed pedigree, which is used in the European Endangered Species Programme for African Wild Dogs. This has introduced a more informed means to manage the captive AWD population, to maintain the genetic diversity of the species across the European zoo network (roughly half the world's captive AWD population), with 53 zoos in 16 European countries (and Israel) currently participating.

Submitting Institution

University of Glasgow

Unit of Assessment

Biological Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Genetics

Air Quality; Measurement, standardisation, and quantification of airborne contaminants

Summary of the impact

Impact type: Public Policy

Significance: The research provided evidence for formulation of government policies to ameliorate poor air quality, to which fine particulate matter (PM2.5), O3 and NO2 are the most important contributors; PM2.5 alone reduces average life expectancy in the UK by 6 months and costs £9bn-£20bn a year. The research has been incorporated into UK national guidance and policy-evidence documents for Defra, the Health Protection Agency, and the Environment Agencies.

Beneficiaries are the public and the environment.

Research; date; attribution: EaStCHEM research (1995-2011) (a) established reliable techniques to measure NO2 for a national protocol, and (b) quantified the impact of pollutant emissions on PM2.5 and O3 concentrations, and on hospital admissions and deaths. Heal (EaStCHEM) led the research and wrote, collaboratively in some cases, the reports and the work cited.

Reach: UK wide.

Submitting Institutions

University of St Andrews,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

Chemistry

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

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