Stanmore College

Nociception related salivary biomolecules can be a useful future aid in the assessment of acute pain. We have investigated changes in the levels of two salivary biomolecules, glutamate and cortisol, following the induction of acute cold pain using the cold pressor task (CPT). Saliva samples were collected from 18 healthy volunteers before, immediately after and then, every 10 minutes for one hour after CPT. Statistical analysis of the biomolecule concentrations across all participants and time points were done. This showed significant differences between salivary cortisol concentration before (median 0.14 µg/dL, Interquartile Range (IQR) = 0.1) and 10 minutes after termination of CPT (median 0.34 µg/dL, IQR = 0.4, p=0.007). Male participants exhibited a greater increase in cortisol concentration after cold pain compared to females. The timeline and pattern of the rise in salivary cortisol concentration in this study are consistent with existing literature. Salivary glutamate concentration fluctuated but none of the changes were statistically significant except at t=+50 minutes, when the concentration had dropped below baseline. The findings do not support the use of glutamate as a useful biomarker in acute pain despite evidence that plasma and salivary glutamate levels are higher in people with chronic pain conditions such as migraine and temporomandibular disorder.

Conventional flotation circuits struggle to recover valuable ultra-fine coal particles (less than 45μm), leading to significant losses. Conventional technologies typically discard these ultra-fines, sacrificing valuable resources to tailings. Eriez's StackCell® and Flotation Column technologies have demonstrated superior efficiency in the area of ultra-fine coal recovery compared to conventional methods, thanks to their application of wash water over deep froths. When deployed as part of Somerset International's patented Sub325® Fine Coal Recovery System, which captures a very high proportion of ultra-fines to product, total recovery and yield is maximised, thereby also reducing tailings waste. The fine coal recovery system flowsheet offers significant advantages by creating revenue from a waste stream and reducing tailings volumes reporting to tailings storage facilities.

Introduction: Nucleus replacement has been proposed as a treatment to restore biomechanics and relieve pain in degenerate intervertebral discs (IVDs). Multiple nucleus replacement devices (NRDs) have been developed, however, none are currently used routinely in clinic. A better understanding of the interactions between NRDs and surrounding tissues may provide insight into the causes of implant failure and provide target properties for future NRD designs. The aim of this study was to non-invasively quantify 3D strains within the IVD through three stages of nucleus replacement surgery: intact, post-nuclectomy, and post-treatment. Methods: Digital volume correlation (DVC) combined with 9.4T MRI was used to measure strains in seven human cadaveric specimens (42 ± 18years) when axially compressed to 1kN. Nucleus material was removed from each specimen creating a cavity that was filled with a hydrogel-based NRD. Results: Nucleus removal led to loss of disc height (12.6 ± 4.4%, p = 0.004) which was restored post-treatment (within 5.3 ± 3.1% of the intact state, p > 0.05). Nuclectomy led to increased circumferential strains in the lateral annulus region compared to the intact state (-4.0 ± 3.4% vs. 1.7 ± 6.0%, p = 0.013), and increased maximum shear strains in the posterior annulus region (14.6 ± 1.7% vs. 19.4 ± 2.6%, p = 0.021). In both cases, the NRD was able to restore these strain values to their intact levels (p ≥ 0.192). Discussion: The ability of the NRD to restore IVD biomechanics and some strain types to intact state levels supports nucleus replacement surgery as a viable treatment option. The DVC-MRI method used in the present study could serve as a useful tool to assess future NRD designs to help improve performance in future clinical trials.

This demonstration showcases a novel FPGA development pipeline for developing a low-power and real-time motion artefact detection module for a wearable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) processing system. We provide a brief overview of the development design flow for our learning-based motion artefact detector in a heterogeneous platform, as well as the evaluation method for removing motion artefacts, which are unwanted signal variations that occur due to subject motion during data acquisition.

3D printing acetabular cups offers the theoretical advantage of enhanced bony fixation due to greater design control of the porous implant surfaces. Analysing retrieved 3D printed implants can help determine whether this design intent has been achieved.We sectioned 14 off-the-shelf retrieved acetabular cups for histological analysis; 7 cups had been 3D printed and 7 had been conventionally manufactured. Some of the most commonly used contemporary designs were represented in both groups, which were removed due to either aseptic loosening, unexplained pain, infection or dislocation. Clinical data was collected for all implants, including their age, gender, and time to revision.Bone ingrowth was evaluated using microscopic assessment and two primary outcome measures: 1) bone area fraction and 2) extent of bone ingrowth.The additively manufactured cups were revised after a median (IQR) time of 24.9 months (20.5 to 45.6) from patients with a median (IQR) age of 61.1 years (48.4 to 71.9), while the conventional cups had a median (IQR) time to revision of 46.3 months (34.7 to 49.1, p = 0.366) and had been retrieved from patients with a median age of 66.0 years (56.9 to 68.9, p = 0.999).The additively and conventionally manufactured implants had a median (IQR) bone area fraction of 65.7% (36.4 to 90.6) and 33.9% (21.9 to 50.0), respectively (p < 0.001).A significantly greater amount of bone ingrowth was measured into the backside of the additively manufactured acetabular cups, compared to their conventional counterparts (p < 0.001). Bone occupied a median of 60.0% and 5.7% of the porous depth in the additively manufactured and conventional cups, respectively.3D printed components were found to achieve a greater amount of bone ingrowth than their conventionally manufactured counterparts, suggesting that the complex porous structures generated through this manufacturing technique may encourage greater osteointegration.

Treatment of soft tissue sarcoma frequently involves extensive surgery, loss of mobility, and complex rehabilitation programs. Poorer patient-reported outcomes are reported in comparison to those from patients with other cancer types. Understanding patient experience is therefore important to support patients and improve care. The aim of this study was an in-depth exploration of patients' experience of being diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma. Semistructured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 68 patients with soft tissue sarcoma (59% female; aged 23-82 years). These were analyzed using adapted framework analysis. Two overarching themes explained the factors influencing patients' experiences: individual and social factors to manage the impact of soft tissue sarcoma; and context and processes of care. Access to professionals with sarcoma expertise and services in specialist hospitals had an impact on patients' well-being. Lack of access to specialist services and coordinated care were associated with worse experiences. These were influenced by age and support from family/friends/other patients and were crucial in patients' adaptation to living with and beyond a sarcoma diagnosis. We describe factors that both negatively and positively influenced the experience of patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Access to specialist soft tissue sarcoma and rehabilitation services and support tailored to patients' age and disease trajectory are needed to improve these experiences. Nurses are important for helping patients manage the long-term effects and directing them to supportive care services. Rehabilitation services need to be available and easily accessible.

An assist-as-needed semi-autonomous control algorithm is designed to address the problem of safely driving a vehicle (a power wheelchair) in an environment with static obstacles. The main idea is to maximize the human driver’s control experience while allowing them to navigate safely (the inputs do not lead to collisions). The proposed physically-inspired model-based obstacle avoidance algorithm relies on optimal maps of the expected time for executing a safe stop manoeuvre. These maps are pre-computed using policy iteration in the case of an experienced driver stochastic model. As the burden of complex calculations is handled offline, the online implementation of the algorithm requires little computing resources. Its efficiency is tested experimentally in a study with healthy participants: a statistically significant result confirmed that the proposed algorithm outperforms a baseline rule-based control. A discussion with pros and cons ends this paper.