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Clinical performance of a smartphone-based sound amplification device versus a personal sound amplification product in elders with mild-to-moderate hearing loss: a prospective cohort study
No full textBackground and Objectives: To evaluate the clinical performance of a smartphone-based sound amplification device (SBSAD) compared to a conventional personal sound amplification product (PSAP) in older adults with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), ad-dressing the need for accessible alternatives given the low adoption of traditional hearing aids. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine participants (mean age 68 years) with mild-to-moderate SNHL underwent audiometric testing and subjective evaluation under three conditions: unaided, aided with a commercial PSAP, and aided with an SBSAD (iPhone with wireless earbuds). Primary outcomes included functional gain in sound field thresholds and user ratings of sound quality and acceptability via a custom questionnaire. Results: Both devices yielded significant threshold improvements compared to the unaided condition (p 0.5). Subjective ratings for sound quality, comfort, cosmetic acceptability, and future willingness to use were comparable between devices (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: The SBSAD performed equivalently to a traditional PSAP in improving audibility and user satisfaction. Smartphone-based technologies offer a viable, accessible mobile health solution to bridge the gap for older adults who lack conventional hearing aids
It’s time to challenge the flawed and damaging university rankings
No full textIn the 2026 QS World University Rankings, Imperial came first in the UK and Europe and second globally. The university called the result “a powerful endorsement of the talent, dedication and ambition” of Imperial’s community. But is it
Pitfalls in the management of induced seismicity
No full textInduced seismicity poses a potential threat to the viability of many energy-related projects involving injection or extraction of fluids. Important advances have been made in terms of protocols to manage induced seismicity in such projects, including guidelines for seismic monitoring and communications prior to operations and following the occurrence of seismic events. However, for such protocols to guarantee successful management of induced seismicity it may be necessary to include additional elements, that have not been explicitly addressed, in the mitigation strategy. These elements, identified from case histories in which induced earthquakes have led to interruption or suspension of operations, can be broadly grouped into two categories: quantification of the seismic risk due to induced earthquakes and effective and balanced risk-based regulation. While clear and effective communication of the risk to the public is often highlighted as a key factor, this requires that the risk is first correctly quantified, and secondly that the regulatory body takes at least partial responsibility for explaining the risk and providing assurance that it is acceptably low. Such action by the regulatory authority would be premised on the basis of the operator demonstrating compliance with risk-based targets, as is done in the nuclear industry. Potential pitfalls in the quantification of the physical risk from induced earthquakes include exaggeration of the impact of small-magnitude events, overly conservative values of the upper bound magnitudes, modelling choices that lead to biased estimates of the hazard due to induced seismicity relative to that from natural earthquakes, and the use of inappropriate risk metrics
International Maritime Organization (IMO) - World Maritime University Graduates Join Global Network Ready to Implement UN SDGs as the Maritime Leaders of Tomorrow
No full textThe latest batch of future maritime leaders have graduated from the World Maritime University (WMU). The 2023 graduation (28 October) saw 283 graduates from 71 countries receive their Masters and Doctorate awards, including a record-breaking ten PhD graduates and 99 female graduates committed to making important inroads in what is still a male-dominated maritime and ocean affairs industry
Privacy-preserving retrieval for auditable clinical language modeling on real-world radiology data
No full textBedside identification of subphenotypes in acute respiratory failure: results from a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study (The PHIND study)
No full textBackground: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a clinically defined, biologically heterogeneous condition with no proven disease-modifying therapies. Retrospective analyses have identified two biologically distinct subphenotypes (hyperinflammatory and hypoinflammatory) of ARDS with differing outcomes and responses to therapy. Rapid identification of these subphenotypes in an actionable timeframe has previously not been possible. The PHIND study aimed to identify these subphenotypes prospectively and to demonstrate differing 60-day mortality.
Methods: The PHIND study was a prospective, multicentre observational cohort study conducted in 30 ICUs across the UK and Ireland. Adult patients with ARDS or acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) were enrolled within 72 hours of onset of the syndrome. Plasma IL-6 and soluble TNF receptor-1 (sTNFR1) were quantified at enrolment using a near-patient benchtop immunoanalyser (Randox multiSTAT) with a run time of approximately one hour. Together with plasma bicarbonate measured from an arterial blood sample, these values were used to determine subphenotypes prospectively on an individual patient basis using a validated parsimonious logistic regression model. The primary outcome was 60-day mortality.
Findings: Recruitment was from 22/11/19 to 28/09/23. Of 525 enrolled ARDS patients, 490 were subphenotyped using the near patient assay: 89 (18.2%) as hyperinflammatory and 401 (81.8%) as hypoinflammatory. Sixty-day mortality was significantly higher in the hyperinflammatory group (51.1%) compared to the hypoinflammatory group (27.9%) (risk ratio 1.8 [95% CI 1.4–2.4], p < 0.0001). After adjustment, hyperinflammatory patients had increased odds of 60-day mortality (ORadj 2.7 [95% CI 1.6–4.4], p = 0.002).
Interpretation: Rapid identification of ARDS inflammatory subphenotypes using a near-patient assay was feasible and was associated with clinical characteristics and outcomes consistent with those described in earlier retrospective studies. These findings support the implementation of precision medicine approaches in ARDS and the urgent need for prospective, subphenotype-stratified interventional trials.
Funding: This study was funded primarily by Innovate UK (Ref. 18045). Supplemental funding was provided by Randox Laboratories and from capacity funds from the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust.
Study registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04009330
Net Zero and Clean Energy Collaboration in regions without a combined authority: the case of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
No full textA presentation highlighting challenges and opportunities in developing clean energy projects based upon local area energy planning analysis in the context of English regions without a combined authority structure
Innovative Real-Time Palm Tree Detection, Geo-Localization and Counting from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Aerial Images Using Deep Learning
No full textopen access articleAccurate real-time detection, geolocation, and counting of palm trees are essential for plantation management, yield estimation, and resource allocation in precision agriculture. Traditional approaches such as manual surveys or offline image processing are labor-intensive and unsuitable for large-scale applications. This study introduces a fully onboard real-time framework that integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehivle (UAV) imagery, the YOLOv12 deep learning model, and a camera projection technique to detect, geolocate, and count palm trees directly during flight. The lightweight YOLOv12n variant, deployed on an NVIDIA Jetson Nano edge device, achieved a detection precision of 92.4%, an average geolocation error of 2.14 m, and a counting error of only 0.2% across 915 trees. Unlike many existing methods that rely on offline processing or offboard computation, the proposed system performs all computations in real time, enabling immediate decision-making for tasks such as plantation density analysis, replanting planning, and yield forecasting. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach provides a scalable, cost-effective, and autonomous solution for modern precision agriculture
Failure analysis of retrieved stainless steel Exeter hip implants: A fractographic and corrosion perspective
No full textopen access articleIn this study, three fractured stainless steel Exeter (REX 734) hip joint implants were analyzed to identify the underlying failure mechanisms. These cemented hip stems with a polished surface finish failed earlier than their expected service life, indicated by sudden pain in the patients, necessitating revision surgeries. Optical and scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the explanted hip stem fracture surfaces. The fractograms exhibited three distinctive zones; (1) crack initiation at the anterolateral part of the stem, (2) crack propagation zone with beach marks and striations, and (3) final fracture zone. Fatigue was the dominant failure mechanism. The anterolateral surface of the implants close to the fracture initiation site showed discoloration and surface alteration, possibly due to corrosion, and the presence of extrusions and intrusions formed by slip band accumulation, causing stress concentration and crack initiation. Also, elongated and sharp-edged phases enriched in niobium were found at the crack initiation site and throughout the microstructure. Medical radiographs indicated a lack of cement fixation at the proximal part of the stems, causing implant instability and ingress of body fluids, which potentially led to corrosion reactions. The crack propagation zone decreased in relative size with higher patient weight and BMI. Overall, this study suggests the possibility of corrosion contributions and a role of niobium-rich precipitates in the crack initiation and fatigue failur
The overlap of anti-Black and anti-protest rhetoric: How far-right political commentators preserve anti-Black racist stereotypes in the context of Black Lives Matter debates
No full textopen access articleResearch has shown that speakers opposing political demonstrations can pathologize protesters campaigning against racial prejudice in order to justify racialized police profiling and brutality. This paper builds on these insights by exploring how right-wing political commentators reinforce the racist stereotype of violent Black people when discussing protests and police brutality in Black Lives Matter (BLM) debates. The dataset includes two debates drawn from Conservative Talk Radio and The Candace Owen Show, where issues concerning anti-Black racism in the United States were discussed—including racialized police brutality and BLM demonstrations. Using discursive and rhetorical psychology, we show how far-right commentators managed their (arguably racist) identities by employing ‘rioter’ categories against the BLM movement. We demonstrate that far-right commentators used anti-protest rhetoric and anti-Black racist tropes to portray BLM activists as uncivilized and violent rioters. Doing so portrayed the BLM movement as using anti-racism as an ulterior motive to enact violence which also downplayed racialized police brutality. This study shows how anti-protest rhetoric and anti-Black stereotypes overlap when right-wing speakers undermine attempts to challenge systemic racism. Black people and protesters are discriminated against in similar ways; both are characterized as violent and uncivilized when they mobilize against structural oppression and inequality