Latest news with #UniversityofBradford
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Health
- Scotsman
The Scots living like hunter gatherers on islands this summer - eating foraged plants, fish and deer
Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A study is underway to determine the impact a hunter gatherer diet - the kind that was eaten in Scotland around 10,000 years ago - has on modern health. The Wildbiome Project is being led by Monica Wilde, of West Lothian, an ethnobotanist and forager, after small-scale experiments in 2020 and 2023 on a wild food-only diet resulted in changes to body mass, diabetic health and blood pressure. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Items eaten include foraged plants, roots and nuts, along with caught fish and hunted meat for some. Now, around 120 people, mainly in the UK with 16 in Scotland, will take part in research that will measure the effects of a wild food diet on the gut microbiome and and key health markers. Orache and fish head stock soup, deer liver pate and red clover crackers as foraged, fished and cooked by Virginia Hutchison, of the Isle of Lewis. | Virginia Hutchison Researchers from the University of Bradford are supporting the research and will study hair samples from participants for markers of the Mesolithic-style diet, which could inform study of ancient human remains in the future. Virginia Hutchison, 49, an artist of the Isle of Lewis, is taking part in the study for a month and has just completed her first week on the wild food diet. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She started preparing for the research last summer when brambles, rosehip and rowan berries were preserved. Dandelion roots were pickled and plums dropped in brine. A couple of deer were shot and seaweed collected, in large quantities, from the shore. She has fish and venison 'coming out of her ears'. Smoked venison fillet on a bed of orache, primrose leaves, sorrel , rowan blossom and toasted beech nuts for lunch. As foraged and photographed by Virginia Hutchison. | Virginia Hutchison She said: 'I am frying liver, I am frying deer fat. I have seaweed hanging on the indoor washing line next to the radiator. I said to my husband 'this is what a hunter gatherer shelter must have been like'. 'Because you go into a supermarket and pull stuff off the shelf, I didn't realise how little I thought about how much energy it takes to fuel the body. But now I know. 'I need to be out almost three hours of every day. Being out foraging is the beautiful bit. The cooking and the thinking and the preserving is the tricky bit. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She added: 'My brother-in-law shot me a goose the other morning and my in-laws brought round lobster and crab and I almost cried with joy.' Ms Hutchison has long had an interest in herbology and plants as medicine, with knowledge developed after a health diagnosis left her with the option of two fairly heavy types of medication. Seeking alternatives, she found natural solutions to help her treatment. Ethnobotanist and forager Monica Wilde, of West Lothian, founder of the Wildbiome roject. PIC: Carlos Hernan. | Carlos Hernan At the end of the first week of the study, a lack of carbohydrate is being felt and there are signs now her body is going into ketosis and taking energy from fat stores. More carb-heavy roots will be found next week. Meanwhile, her hair is less dry, her skin is clear, her senses heightened and head-state buoyed by her closest connection to nature. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Hutchison said: 'When I was preparing, it was a gorgeous experience. I felt like I totally merged with nature, like I totally became part of the canopy. You are not separate from it. 'If you are going for seaweed or going for fish, you are really reliant on watching the tides and watching the seasons and just being really canny. 'Getting mussels or seaweed is really dependent on the spring tides, so you are watching celestial cycles like a hawk. Also, you are watching plants as they are changing so rapidly depending on what the seasons are doing. 'I stopped dreaming about job security and started dreaming about food security. It was proper hunter-gatherer dreams. I was dreaming about tubers that would grow overnight.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad READ MORE: Saving the lost wild food flavours of Scotland from gorse to pignuts and penny bun Monica Wilde has launched a large-scale study of the impact of wild food on health in light of disruption in traditional food supplies. PIC: Contributed. | Contributed The island has been a rich resource of both food and knowledge. Her most recent addition to the kitchen is gunnera - an invasive species that is illegal to sell or plant in the Outer Hebrides. But Ms Hutchison has recently learned locally the plant is also edible and a source of carbs, protein and fats if very carefully prepared. 'Everybody has always got one or two or three little pearls of wisdom and that adds to my index of what is available,' she said. She has also been introduced to orache - 'like spinach, but better' - by a friend in her wild swimming group. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'She sent me to a spot and there is so much orache on the sea shore in the pebbles that I will never run out - it is a total gamechanger,' she said. Virginia Hutchison with some of her foraged bounty. PIC: Charles Engebretsen. | Charles Engebretsen While finding more sources of carbs is a priority, so is finding healthy fats, 'Other people on the mainland would get healthy fats from nuts - perfect, amazing. - but I don't have any on the island,' she said. Each participant will provide stool samples to measure bacteria in the gut, with bloods also given to check heart health, cholesterol, inflammation, diabetic health and thyroid function. Liver and kidneys will also be tested to ensure the safety of those taking part. Support is offered in foraging, with an online community set up around the study. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Results from a 2023 trial of the Wildbiome Project, which had 24 participants for either one month or three, found the ratio of good to bad bacteria in the gut increased by 13 points against the control group, where only a one point change was noted. Sixteen participants were classified as overweight or obese at the start of the study and all lost weight apart from one, whose weight remained constant. The obese participants on the three-month trial lost an average 5.6 kg. At the start of the trial, only ten people had normal blood pressure. But at the end of the project, 20 people had blood pressure within a normal range. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Wilde said the research had been scaled up to give a broader data set and came at a time when Brexit, Covid, climatic changes and cyber attacks had disrupted traditional routes of food supply. She said: 'I think wild food is really important. In the UK we tend to think of it as a fad thing. People tell me that the countryside couldn't take much more foraging, but I have never seen a shortage of dandelions or nettles. 'Around 50 per cent of our world's population relies on wild food and that rises up to 70 per cent where there is famine. 'We know about the gut microbiome of the Hadza in Tanzania or tribes in the equatorial areas and southern hemisphere, but we don't know much about what would happen to us if we had to go back to living a wild food diet.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Fundraising continues to support the project, which needs £68,000 to support the participants, the testing and the analysis.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Strike action threat over university cuts
Union members at the University of Bradford have voted to strike over a £16m budget cut which could see jobs axed and some courses closed. The University and College Union (UCU) said a ballot had a turnout of 57% of which 82% voted in favour of industrial action. The union said members would meet on Thursday to decide on what steps to take, which could include a strike or action short of strike beginning as soon as 12 June, unless management ruled out compulsory redundancies. A University of Bradford spokesperson said, like many similar institutions, it was "facing significant financial challenges" and was in the middle of a review to help "reshape" how it delivered higher education. The UCU said the university had failed to set out where the cuts would fall, but said 230 professional service staff and more than 90 academics were already at risk. The union said a further 200 academics would be put at risk of redundancy in the coming weeks. At an all-staff meeting earlier this year, the university's chief financial officer said the aim was to reduce staffing to the level it was in 2019, the UCU claimed. "This would equate to around 300 full-time equivalent jobs, but well over 300 staff once part-time roles are included," a union spokesperson said. The cuts would see chemistry and film & television courses shut down, according to the UCU. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "Bradford staff have overwhelmingly backed strike action because they refuse to see important courses cut, jobs axed, and staff and students pay the price for management's financial failings. "The proposed cuts would also harm businesses throughout the region that rely on the university and limit the cultural offer available to local students." She said management and the vice chancellor needed to listen to the union's concerns and rule out compulsory redundancies. The university spokesperson said: "Like many UK universities, we are facing significant financial challenges. "We are currently in the middle of a review that will help reshape the way we deliver higher education. "We appreciate this is a difficult time for our staff and we will continue to support them in any way we can." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. UCU University of Bradford Parents fight closure of university campus nursery
Ammon
26-05-2025
- Health
- Ammon
MedLabs' Hassib Sahyoun: A Business Success with a Human Touch
When numbers indicate growth and increasing market share, it's a business success by all standards. However, MedLabs' journey, under Dr. Hassib Sahyoun's leadership, transcends mere statistics, taking an untrodden path where business can be both profitable and profoundly human. Dr. Sahyoun's entrepreneurial philosophy, recognized with a Doctor of Science award from the University of Bradford in 2018, exemplifies purpose-driven leadership. He prioritizes positive impact through meticulous patient care and quality services for doctors, showcasing authenticity. Upon returning to Jordan after earning his PhD in Laboratory Medicine from the UK, Dr. Sahyoun identified opportunities in the Kingdom's healthcare landscape. In 1993, he merged four medical laboratories, founding MedLabs Consultancy Group and pioneering a new model. MedLabs' values emphasize quality healthcare as a fundamental right and integrity as its cornerstone. This approach has propelled MedLabs into the fastest-growing private medical laboratory network in the region, setting benchmarks for quality and professionalism. With 60 laboratories in Jordan and 12 in regional markets worldwide, and more labs to open in the future, MedLabs boasts prestigious College of American Pathologists (CAP) and ISO accreditations. By investing in talent, transparency, and scientific precision, MedLabs has established itself as a leader in Jordan and the Arab world, employing 650 scientists and earning the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in 2011. Dr. Sahyoun's visionary leadership extends to anticipating healthcare's response to societal challenges, including public health education and climate change's impact on human well-being. This approach involves good citizenship and social responsibility, distinguishing between business for profit and business for achievement and legacy. As Jordan modernizes its healthcare system, MedLabs sets a benchmark for excellence driven by international standards and a genuine will to improve lives. *Khalid Dalal is a former advisor at the Royal Hashemite Court, former director of media and communication at the Office of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and works currently as a senior advisor for media, strategic communication, PR, speechwriting, international cooperation, marketing, business development, and fundraising locally, regionally, and globally.
Jordan News
25-05-2025
- Health
- Jordan News
MedLabs' Hassib Sahyoun: A Business Success with a Human Touch - Jordan News
When numbers indicate growth and increasing market share, it's a business success by all standards. However, MedLabs' journey, under Dr. Hassib Sahyoun's leadership, transcends mere statistics, taking an untrodden path where business can be both profitable and profoundly human. اضافة اعلان Dr. Sahyoun's entrepreneurial philosophy, recognized with a Doctor of Science award from the University of Bradford in 2018, exemplifies purpose-driven leadership. He prioritizes positive impact through meticulous patient care and quality services for doctors, showcasing authenticity. Upon returning to Jordan after earning his PhD in Laboratory Medicine from the UK, Dr. Sahyoun identified opportunities in the Kingdom's healthcare landscape. In 1993, he merged four medical laboratories, founding MedLabs Consultancy Group and pioneering a new model. MedLabs' values emphasize quality healthcare as a fundamental right and integrity as its cornerstone. This approach has propelled MedLabs into the fastest-growing private medical laboratory network in the region, setting benchmarks for quality and professionalism. With 60 laboratories in Jordan and 12 in regional markets worldwide, and more labs to open in the future, MedLabs boasts prestigious College of American Pathologists (CAP) and ISO accreditations. By investing in talent, transparency, and scientific precision, MedLabs has established itself as a leader in Jordan and the Arab world, employing 650 scientists and earning the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in 2011. Dr. Sahyoun's visionary leadership extends to anticipating healthcare's response to societal challenges, including public health education and climate change's impact on human well-being. This approach involves good citizenship and social responsibility, distinguishing between business for profit and business for achievement and legacy. As Jordan modernizes its healthcare system, MedLabs sets a benchmark for excellence driven by international standards and a genuine will to improve lives. ###
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious sixth century vessel at Sutton Hoo site was used to bury cremated remains
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Archaeologists have uncovered a key component of a mysterious artifact at Sutton Hoo, a National Trust site in Suffolk, England, famous for the seventh century Anglo-Saxon 'ghost ship' burial discovered in a mound between 1938 and 1939. The fragments of the sixth century Byzantine bucket have fascinated researchers since a tractor harrow accidentally unearthed the pieces in 1986. Researchers have long questioned the purpose of the artifact, which depicts a North African hunting scene, complete with warriors, a range of weaponry, lions and a hunting dog. Experts believe the bucket came from the Byzantine Empire and was crafted in Antioch, located in modern-day Turkey, before finding its way to the eastern coast of Britain a century later. Excavations in 2012 contributed more pieces to the object, called the Bromeswell bucket. But the entire base of the vessel has proved as elusive as the reasons why it's present at an Anglo-Saxon site. Now, the Bromeswell puzzle is a little more complete. New excavations last summer unearthed a block of dirt containing pieces of the bucket. A careful analysis revealed the entire base, which includes embellishments that complete feet, paws, shields of figures, as well as the missing face of one of the warriors. The team also uncovered the bucket's surprising contents — cremated animal and human remains — which shed more light on why the vessel was buried. Alongside the burnt bones, researchers found an unexpectedly intact comb that may contain DNA evidence of the person, likely of high status, who was laid to rest more than a thousand years ago. The dirt block went through CT scans and X-rays at the University of Bradford before being sent to the York Archaeological Trust for a deeper analysis in November. A research team with experience in studying human bones, organic remains and conservation meticulously removed soil inside the bucket, analyzing each fragment as it slowly appeared. The careful approach uncovered cremated human bones, which included parts of an ankle bone and a skull vault, or the protective upper part of the skull, according to a release from the National Trust. The researchers also found remnants of animal bone, and an initial analysis suggests the pieces came from something larger than a pig. The team noted that horses were often part of early Anglo-Saxon cremation pyres to reflect the elevated status of the individual who had died. The tight cluster of the bone remnants, as well as some curious unknown fibers, suggest the remains were originally kept in a bag that was placed in the bucket. However, some bone fragments were also found right outside of the bucket, and copper-alloy staining from the bucket on the bones signals they were buried outside of the vessel at the same time, the researchers said. Both the human and animal bones are undergoing further study and radiocarbon dating to provide additional context. Several cremation burials at Sutton Hoo were placed in vessels such as ceramic pots and bronze bowls, including an impressive bronze hanging bowl on display in the High Hall exhibition. But buckets such as these are rare, and there hasn't ever been one found with cremated remains inside, said Laura Howarth, archaeology and engagement manager for the National Trust's Sutton Hoo site, in an email. The initial scans also suggested there were grave goods within the bucket, and the researchers painstakingly retrieved the delicate but largely intact double-sided comb, with fine tooth and wider tooth sides, likely made from an antler. The comb, unlike the bones, had not been burned. Combs made from bone and antler have been retrieved from male and female burials alike, and different sizes suggest they were used for grooming hair, beards and removing lice. The acidic soil at Sutton Hoo, which rotted away the wood of the Anglo-Saxon ship and only left impressions of planks and rows of iron rivets, means that many of the bone combs previously found at Sutton Hoo have not been well-preserved, Howarth said. The team was unable to determine the sex of the individual from the bone fragments, but the researchers are optimistic that they may be able to retrieve ancient DNA from the comb to uncover more about the person's identity. Scientists are also eager to take a closer look at leaves and other plant remains found inside the bucket, which could provide clues on the climate, environment and season when the bucket was buried, said Naomi Sewpaul, an environmental archaeologist who analyzed the finds, in a YouTube video by the British television turned online show 'Time Team.' 'We knew that this bucket would have been a rare and prized possession back in Anglo-Saxon times, but it's always been a mystery why it was buried,' said Angus Wainwright, a National Trust archaeologist, in a statement. 'Now we know it was used to contain the remains of an important person in the Sutton Hoo community. I'm hopeful that further analysis will uncover more information about this very special burial.' The bucket's base, which is in surprisingly good condition, was found in one piece, and CT scans showed concentric rings that suggest it was made by cold hammering — when metal such as copper is shaped by percussive movements without heating. There is currently no evidence to suggest that the bucket had a top. Questions still remain about the bucket's original purpose and how it arrived in England. Researchers suspect it may have been a diplomatic gift, or it was acquired by a mercenary Saxon soldier. 'We think that the bucket had a life prior to burial,' Howarth wrote in an email. 'We can't be certain how this bucket made hundreds of miles away in the Byzantine Empire ended up in this corner of Suffolk. (It) could have been an antique at the time of burial, a gift, a souvenir, etc. But by repurposing this luxury item as a cremation vessel, it is signaling something about the status of the individual interred (how they were perceived in both life and death) and their connections. These latest discoveries have helped redefine the bucket from a possible stray/isolated find to being part of a burial context.' The new research at Sutton Hoo is part of a two-year project, which began last summer, carried out by the National Trust, Field Archaeology Specialists, or FAS, Heritage, and 'Time Team.' The project unearthed the bucket fragment during the final week of a monthlong excavation in the summer of 2024. Sutton Hoo has been the site of multiple excavations over the years because the discovery of the ship burial in the late 1930s changed the way historians understand Anglo-Saxon life. The 90-foot-long (27-meter) wooden ship was dragged half a mile (0.8 kilometer) from the River Deben when an Anglo-Saxon warrior king died 1,400 years ago. The burial was likely that of Raedwald of East Anglia, who died around 624, and he was placed inside the ship, surrounded by treasures and buried within a mound. In addition to the famous ship burial, a royal burial ground and a sixth century Anglo-Saxon cemetery have been found at Sutton Hoo in the past. Archaeologists determined that the Anglo-Saxon cemetery, which predates the royal burial ground, contained 13 cremations and nine burials in 2000 ahead of construction of the Sutton Hoo visitor's center. It's believed that the people buried here were residents from low to relatively high-status families, and perhaps even the grandparents or great-grandparents of those later buried in the royal burial ground. This season's excavations are already underway at Garden Field, a site close to the ship burial, and will continue through June to uncover more information about the Anglo-Saxon cemetery. 'We've finally solved the puzzle of the Bromeswell bucket — now we know that it is the first of these rare objects ever to have been used in a cremation burial. It's a remarkable mixture — a vessel from the southern, classical world containing the remains of a very northern, very Germanic cremation,' said Helen Geake, Time Team's Anglo-Saxon expert, in a statement. 'It epitomises the strangeness of Sutton Hoo — it has ship burials, horse burials, mound burials and now bath-bucket burials. Who knows what else it might still hold?'
