Basic Instinct revisited: the critical trajectory of a cult phenomenon

This is an author's accepted manuscript of a chapter due to be published by Liverpool University Press in Abrams, N. & Miller, E. (eds.) Paul Verhoeven: Critical Perspectives, available online: [link tbc]

Design and development of heat pipe cooling systems for air & watertight portable energy storage units

© 2025 The Authors, published by Elsevier. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2025.119844Portable Energy Storage (PES) units play a vital role in delivering reliable and sustainable energy solutions, particularly in regions with limited grid access or challenging environmental conditions that require special Ingress Protection (IP) considerations, such as air and watertight designs without vents. Thermal management is a critical challenge for such PES units, especially for key components such as inverters and battery packages, which are prone to overheating. This study explores the integration of heat pipe-based cooling systems with heatsinks as an effective thermal management solution. A 1-kW PES was designed, developed and assessed as a case study under varying ambient temperatures and operational scenarios. Both free and forced convection cooling methods were evaluated through experiments and validated simulations. Results show that under free convection at an ambient temperature of 23 °C, Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) remained below 70 °C, while Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs) stabilized at 60 °C. Forced convection with 1.4 W fans significantly improved cooling efficiency, reducing temperatures by 25–45 %, depending on ambient conditions. At 23 °C, a 33 % temperature reduction was observed in both MOSFETs and LIBs. At an ambient temperature of 50 °C, MOSFETs were maintained at 70 °C, and LIBs remained below 60 °C for ambient temperatures up to 45 °C. These findings confirm that heat pipe cooling systems, combined with forced convection, offer an effective thermal management solution for compact, air and watertight PES applications.This work was partially supported by the INNOVATE UK project No: 833831 and the EU Horizon 2020 Research, Innovation and Staff Exchange, ReACTIVE Too (project No. 871163).Accepted versio

Challenges, support, and progression for students with autism in university: a systematic review

© 2025 Smith M et al. This is an open access work published in Routledge Open Research and distributed under a creative commons licence.Background An increasing number of students with autism are entering Higher Education (HE), yet they continue to face significant challenges, including elevated rates of mental health difficulties and limited access to appropriate support. These students are also less likely to achieve academic success or graduate compared to their neurotypical peers. Despite growing awareness, there is limited synthesis of university-based initiatives aimed at supporting the mental health and wellbeing (MHWB) of autistic students. This systematic review explores barriers to engagement and identifies effective MHWB support practices within HE settings. Methods A systematic search of seven academic databases was conducted to identify studies published between 2015 and 2025 that focused on MHWB support for autistic university students. Following a multi-stage screening process, eligible studies were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) Barriers and challenges experienced by autistic students; (2) The relationship between autism and higher dropout rates in HE; and (3) MHWB support initiatives targeting autistic students. While several promising interventions were noted, findings highlighted pervasive psychosocial barriers, inconsistent implementation of support, and a general lack of institutional understanding and preparedness. Conclusion The review underscores an urgent need for autismspecific and autism-informed MHWB strategies in higher education. Universities must adopt inclusive, evidence-based approaches to reduce barriers and enhance long-term wellbeing and academic outcomes for autistic students

Humanity of songs: a feminist reconstruction of performers’ rights

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of a chapter published in Caoimhe Ring and Eden Sarid (eds), Diverse Voices in Intellectual Property (Bristol University Press, forthcoming, 2026). The definitive publisher-authenticated version [insert complete citation information here] is available online at: [DOI tbc].Music and songs are linked to our humanity. Women and gender-diverse people create and perform music to reach other people, that is, to form a human connection. To deny this, by divorcing the creators from their outputs in copyright law (with performers’ rights) is a systemic barrier in and of itself. This chapter calls for a new vision of performers’ rights in music, which abolishes the distinction in law between performers as the sources of creativity and their performances. It is important to rethink the (in)existent level of legal protection for performers in the UK Copyright Act, because of the intersectional gendered threats of the new technologies, such as the generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this chapter I build on the existing scholarly criticism of performers’ rights in intellectual property law and use a new theoretical approach (the FIPS model) to offer a reconstruction of the current rules with the view to protect women and gender-diverse people when making music. I focus on the United Kingdom (UK) and specifically its rules on performers’ rights within the music industries. I rely on the evidence collected by the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) about the barriers that women and gender-diverse people endure in the music ecosystem (WEC Report on ‘Misogyny in Music’ (30 January 2024); and WEC Report ‘On Repeat Report’ (4 June 2025)). Performers’ rights must do more than offer economic rewards to performers. In today’s contexts, I argue that performers’ rights, must place the wellbeing of music-makers at the heart of the legal protection and that means they must offer an economic reward, coupled with the power to correct and protect from experiences that are laced with discrimination, sexism, misogyny or violence. Women’s power to control music, must extend to controlling their image, message and emotion, arising from the music they made. Performers’ rights must be a part of the solution to the gendered risks of emerging technologies, such as AI

Written evidence submitted to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the Use of AI in Government (UAIG0022)

© 2025 UK Parliament. Written evidence submitted to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on the use of AI in Government. Available online: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8580/use-of-ai-in-government/publications

Prolactin monitoring for patients on antipsychotic drugs: A narrative review of clinical relevance

© 2025 The Authors. Published by Scientific Scholar on behalf of Archives of Biological Psychiatry. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://archivesbiologicalpsychiatry.org/prolactin-monitoring-for-patients-on-antipsychotic-drugs-a-narrative-review-of-clinical-relevance/Hyperprolactinemia is known to be a common side effect of antipsychotic drugs. It is associated with specific symptoms and long-term complications. There are inconsistencies in the monitoring of prolactin in patients taking antipsychotic medications. It was intended to review the recent literature regarding causes, symptoms of hyperprolactinemia, monitoring guidelines about antipsychotic drug-induced hyperprolactinemia, and suggested treatment approaches. There are multiple etiologies of hyperprolactinemia, which include side effects of a wide range of medications. While it is not recommended to monitor prolactin in all patients taking antipsychotic medication routinely, there are variations of approaches based on the antipsychotic drugs and the presence of hyperprolactinemia symptoms. Observations in this narrative review based on current evidence suggest careful clinical investigation and monitoring of hyperprolactinemia in psychiatric patients

Predicting VO2max Using Lung Function and Three-Dimensional (3D) Allometry Provides New Insights into the Allometric Cascade (M0.75)

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Sports Medicine on 13/04/2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02208-3 The accepted manuscript may differ from the final published version. For re-use please see Springer's terms and conditions.Background Using directly measured cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e. VO2max) in epidemiological/population studies is rare due to practicality issues. As such, predicting VO2max is an attractive alternative. Most equations that predict VO2max adopt additive rather than multiplicative models despite evidence that the latter provides superior fits and more biologically interpretable models. Furthermore, incorporating some but not all confounding variables may lead to inflated mass exponents (∝ M0.75) as in the allometric cascade. Objective Hence, the purpose of the current study was to develop multiplicative, allometric models to predict VO2max incorporating most well-known, but some less well-known confounding variables (FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s) that might provide a more dimensionally valid model (∝ M2/3) originally proposed by Astrand and Rodahl. Methods We adopted the following three-dimensional multiplicative allometric model for VO2max (l⋅min−1) = Mk1·HTk2·WCk3·exp(a + b·age + c·age2 + d·%fat)·ε, (M, body mass; HT, height; WC, waist circumference; %fat, percentage body fat). Model comparisons (goodness-of-fit) between the allometric and equivalent additive models was assessed using the Akaike information criterion plus residual diagnostics. Note that the intercept term ‘a’ was allowed to vary for categorical fixed factors such as sex and physical inactivity. Results Analyses revealed that significant predictors of VO2max were physical inactivity, M, WC, age2, %fat, plus FVC, FEV1. The body-mass exponent was k1 = 0.695 (M0.695), approximately∝M2/3. However, the calculated effect-sizes identified age2 and physical inactivity, not mass, as the strongest predictors of VO2max. The quality-of-fit of the allometric models were superior to equivalent additive models. Conclusions Results provide compelling evidence that multiplicative allometric models incorporating FVC and FEV1 are dimensionally and theoretically superior at predicting VO2max(l⋅min−1) compared with additive models. If FVC and FEV1 are unavailable, a satisfactory model was obtained simply by using HT as a surrogate.Published onlin

Routine cerebral embolic protection during transcatheter aortic-valve implantation.

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Massachusetts Medical Society in New England Journal of Medicine on 30/03/2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2415120 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Background Transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) is associated with procedure-related stroke. Cerebral embolic protection (CEP) devices may reduce embolization to the cerebral circulation and hence the incidence of stroke. Methods We conducted a randomized, controlled trial across 33 centers in the United Kingdom. We randomly assigned 7635 participants with aortic stenosis in a 1:1 ratio to undergo TAVI with a CEP device (CEP group) or TAVI without a CEP device (control group). The primary outcome was stroke within 72 hours after TAVI or before discharge from the hospital (if discharge occurred sooner). Results A total of 3815 participants were assigned to the CEP group and 3820 to the control group. A primary-outcome event occurred in 81 of 3795 participants (2.1%) in the CEP group and in 82 of 3799 participants (2.2%) in the control group (difference, −0.02 percentage points; 95% confidence interval, –0.68 to 0.63; P=0.94). Disabling stroke occurred in 47 participants (1.2%) in the CEP group and in 53 (1.4%) in the control group. Death occurred in 29 participants (0.8%) in the CEP group and in 26 (0.7%) in the control group. Overall access-site complications appeared to be similar in the two groups (8.1% in the CEP group and 7.7% in the control group). A total of 24 serious adverse events occurred in 22 of 3798 participants (0.6%) in the CEP group, and 13 serious adverse events occurred in 13 of 3803 participants (0.3%) in the control group. Conclusions Among participants undergoing TAVI, routine use of CEP did not decrease the incidence of stroke within 72 hours. (Funded by the British Heart Foundation and Boston Scientific; BHF PROTECT-TAVI ISRCTN Registry number, ISRCTN16665769.)BHF PROTECT-TAVI is funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF Clinical Study no. CS/20/1/34732). Funding for the CEP devices is provided by Boston Scientific, Inc. who were not involved in the coordination, conduct or reporting of the study.Published versio

Validation of the yRAFFLE: an implementation of the RAFFLE inventory for loot box engagement in a youth cohort

© 2025 The Authors. Published by BMC (Springer Nature). This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1186/s44247-025-00160-wBackground Play is pivotal in human development, and as such the human experience. In young people, play is increasingly taking the form of video gaming—capturing a large share of the entertainment sector and potentially exposing young people to new instances of harmful behaviour. Loot boxes (purchasable items where the contents are chance based, which have structural and psychological similarities to gambling) generate significant income for the sector. They have, however, been understudied in young people. The present research validates a lightly modified version of the Reasons and Facilitators for Loot box Engagement (RAFFLE) inventory in a youth population – the youth RAFFLE (yRAFFLE). Results Five hundred six young people were recruited from urban and rural schools, including both sexes and ages 10 to 14. The psychometric properties, internal and convergent validity of yRAFFLE were assessed. Through confirmatory factor analysis, a seven-factor (Enhancement, Progression, Social Pressure, Distraction/Compulsion, Altruism, Fear of Missing Out, and ReSale) solution was established, confirming the same factor structure previously observed in an adult cohort. Inspection of standard fit measures showed the seven-factor solution to fit above benchmarks and the original RAFFLE. Cronbach’s alpha for the whole scale was 0.95 and subscales ranged from 0.73 to 0.89. yRAFFLE was highly correlated with the Video Game Addiction questionnaire. Finally, yRAFFLE showed measurement invariance to sex, location, and age. Conclusions The finalised yRAFFLE is a robust measure of 23 items for the motivations for loot box engagement in young people, that acts a parallel to its counterpart in adults. The yRAFFLE functions as a methodological tool to capture, measure, and understand young people’s engagement with loot boxes.Published onlin

Slowing forgetting in visual working memory: proactive facilitation in the repeated-unique paradigm

©American Psychological Association, 2025. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001539.Proactive interference occurs when previously established memories disrupt the retention of newer memories, and some evidence from the Repeated-Unique Paradigm suggests that proactive interference reduces the capacity of visual working memory. The present project assessed whether the other major limitation of visual working memory – its brief lifetime – may also be influenced by proactive interference. In six experiments, participants encoded sets of targets and then determined whether a single probe matched any of those targets. The retention interval (Experiments 1-2, 4-6) and inter-trial interval (Experiments 3-4) were varied, as was target repetition. Lower performance was expected when targets were extensively repeated across trials, rather than when they were unique, due to proactive interference. This was hypothesized to be especially likely after longer retention intervals and shorter inter-trial intervals, yet this was not supported as temporal forgetting was typically reduced when targets were repeated rather than unique. The only exception to this was when arrangements in the memory test were inconsistent in the two conditions. Overall, stimulus repetition generally offers protection against time-dependent forgetting, challenging the notion that proactive interference is responsible for the loss of working memory over time