Face the (unamplified) music: Key findings for musicians.

Music is complex. There are risks to hearing health associated with playing due to excessive sound exposure. Face the Music is an on-going cross-sectional project to assess the risks to unamplified classical musicians. Key findings over the first fifteen years are presented based on the research undertaken with a leading conservatoire on more than 5000 classical music students. The work covers hearing health surveillance, education and awareness, sound exposure, and new technology. The future of the research programme is discussed along with opportunities in objective hearing health assessment and new acoustic solutions. A lot has changed in fifteen years, but the research was driven by a change in United Kingdom legislation. It is hoped that the research results can inform future regulation.

Teaching acoustics during a pandemic: Lab in a Box for experiments at home.

In March 2020 with the advent of COVID, emergency plans were put in place to deliver the Master's Course in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics entirely on-line. This was necessary as although the acoustics laboratory is large, it was deemed to be unsafe for face-to-face teaching due to a complete lack of ventilation in the anechoic and reverberation chambers. Hence, it was necessary to create an alternative for the 2020/21 delivery. In September 2020, it was decided that a "Lab in a Box" supported by on-line demonstrations and pre-recorded films would create the best alternative experience for the postgraduate students. The "Lab in a Box" allowed demonstrations to be replicated at home or in the garden using a Windows based calibrated measurement platform based on audio components. Examples of such laboratories included Fast and Slow Measurements, Noise Exposure, Noise Survey, Loudness, Reverberation Time, and Speech Intelligibility. The results showed that the students gained from more independence and increased flexibility in delivery, achieving very similar marks. This has opened up the possibility of increasing student numbers by reusing these alternative teaching strategies in the future.

Who accepts a rapid HIV antibody test? The role of race/ethnicity and HIV risk behavior among community adolescents.

PURPOSE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend routine human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening in health care settings for all individuals aged 13-64 years; however, overall testing rates among adolescents still continue to remain low. This study examined factors related to the acceptance of HIV testing among an at-risk sample of ethnically/racially diverse community adolescents. METHODS: Adolescents aged 15-21 (N = 81) years were recruited from community-based youth organizations to complete HIV risk assessment surveys. After the completion of the survey, participants were offered a free OraQuick rapid HIV antibody test. RESULTS: More than half (53.1%) of the participants accepted the test, with the black population being more likely to accept testing as compared to Latinos (75% vs. 39%). After controlling for race/ethnicity, significant predictors of test acceptance included history of sexual intercourse (OR = 5.43), having only one sexual partner in the past 3 months (OR = 4.88), not always using a condom with a serious partner (OR = 3.94), and not using a condom during last sexual encounter (OR = 4.75). CONCLUSION: Given that many adolescents are willing to know their HIV status, policies that support free or low-cost routine testing may lead to higher rates of case identification among youth. However, approaches must be developed to increase test acceptance among Latino adolescents and teenagers with multiple sexual partners.

Particle density stratification in transient sedimentation.

Theoretical predictions for the scaling of particle velocity fluctuations with container size in homogeneous Stokes suspensions are not consistent with experimental observations. Several explanations have been advanced, including the formation of stratification in bounded systems, such as those used in experiments. Numerical simulations of transient Stokes sedimentation in bounded cells are presented here for several cell sizes. The simulated cells have top and bottom wall boundaries and periodic boundaries in the horizontal. Throughout the course of the simulations the number and distribution of particles in the cell evolve, with impacts on the bulk mean particle velocity, velocity fluctuations, and particle density gradient. Initially the sedimentation follows the classical description, with a sharp front and uniform particle concentration below, but this is not sustained. A layer of higher particle concentration develops below the front. This is unstable and there is a large-scale overturning of the fluid. As a consequence, there is a redistribution of the particles, leaving behind a mass loading of the particles, which is stably stratified (subject to small density fluctuations between horizontal levels). The mean velocity and fluctuations of the particles initially grow and then decay once stable stratification has developed.

Dynamic image sequence analysis using fuzzy measures.

In this paper, we present an image understanding system using fuzzy sets and fuzzy measures. This system is based on a symbolic object-oriented image interpretation system. We apply a simple, powerful three-dimensional (3-D) recursive filter to tracking moving objects in a dynamic image sequence. This filter has a time-varying 3-D frequency-planar passband that is adapted in a feedback system to automatically track moving objects. However, as objects in the image sequence are not well-defined and are engaged in dynamic activities, their shapes and trajectories in most cases can be described only vaguely. In order to handle these uncertainties, we use fuzzy measures to capture subtle variations and manage the uncertainties involved. This enables us to develop an image understanding system that produces a very natural output. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system with complex real traffic scenes.

What are the factors that influence learning in relation to nursing practice?

Although ongoing education is an expectation of all nurses in today's climate of increasing technology and patient acuity, little is known about the attitudes, beliefs, and values of the general staff nurse toward on-the-job learning. The authors detail the factors that influence the learning ability of nurses on general medical-surgical units in a teaching hospital in relation to their nursing practice. Findings of what promotes learning, what interferes with learning, and how learning is integrated into nursing practice are outlined. Implications for the future are discussed.

Some biochemical aspects of phosphine action and resistance in three species of stored product beetles.

The inhibitory effects of phosphine on cytochrome-c oxidase and catalase have been investigated. Cytochrome-c oxidase is inhibited by treatment of insect homogenates in vitro. Catalase is inhibited in susceptible insects poisoned with phosphine in vivo. Resistant insects absorb less phosphine than susceptibles.