University of Exeter

Improving patient-reported outcome measure scoring in shoulder trials

Aims Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) underpin orthopaedic trials by capturing pain and function from the patient’s perspective. Traditionally, PROMs such as the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) are scored using classical test theory (CTT), which assumes equal item contributi...

Enhanced measurements on quantum computers via the simultaneous probing of non-commuting Pauli operators

Measuring the state of quantum computers is a highly non-trivial task, with implications for virtually all quantum algorithms. A promising avenue is multi-copy schemes, where identical copies of a quantum state are measured jointly so that all Pauli operators within the considere...

Ontogeny of settlement behaviours in response to Grammatophora marina diatom biofilms in the marine polychaete, Platynereis dumerilii

Abstract Settlement, the transition of a swimming planktonic larva to a benthic juvenile, is a key process during the development of many marine invertebrates. Microbial biofilms act as positive cues for larval settlement across species, yet the behavioural processes preceding se...

Shadows cast by precessing annuli as evidence for an inclined planet in HD 139614

Abstract We analyse scattered-light images at multiple epochs of the protoplanetary disc HD 139614 taken with GPI and SPHERE instruments. We show that the azimuthal distribution of the surface brightness of the inner bright ring (13 − 21 au) varies with time (likely caused by a s...

Comparative immunogenomics of Suidae reveals lineage-specific immune gene disruption and positive selection

Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of immune-related (IR) genes among closely related species provides key insights into lineage-specific adaptations to pathogens. The family Suidae is a powerful model for investigating immune gene evolution owing to its broad ecological div...

Multi-omics analyses reveal key immunological and metabolic correlates of mortality in HIV-associated Pneumocystis pneumonia

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) remains a major cause of life-threatening respiratory failure in people with advanced HIV, yet the biological factors associated with mortality are incompletely understood. We performed integrated transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic p...

Promoting healthy families: a three‐arm randomized controlled trial of Triple P and Circle of Security–Parenting versus treatment‐as‐usual for families with young children (2–6 years)

BACKGROUND: Parenting programs grounded in social learning (SL) and attachment theory are widely implemented, yet few trials have directly compared their effects across multiple parenting domains in community contexts. This study examined the relative effectiveness of an SL-based...

Establish links with EU Research infrastructures and projects

This document corresponds to Milestone MS17: "Establish links with EU Research infrastructures and projects," as part of the BioGeoSea project on Essential ocean variables. It presents a summary of the steps taken to create those links, in-person and online, via engagement at con...

Asymmetrical dilemmas and oil compromises on an extractive frontier

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with Quichua communities along Ecuador’s Lower Napo River, this article examines local engagements with the Ishpingo–Tambococha–Tiputini (ITT) oil project. It argues that acceptance of extractive projects is best understood as a response to asymm...

Structural and configurational analyses of GenAI-mediated informal digital learning of Chinese, multicultural personality traits, and willingness to communicate: evidence from plurilingual international students in China

This study examines how plurilingual international students’ generative AI-mediated informal digital learning of Chinese (GenAI-IDLC) interacts with dimensions of multicultural personality to predict their second language willingness to communicate (L2 WTC). Survey responses were...

Coherent Absorption Reveals Colors Hidden in a Grey Fabry–Pérot Cavity

ABSTRACT Thin dielectric films are known to show distinct colors, depending primarily on the film thickness. In the present article we show that a specialized thin film Fabry–Pérot resonator, that we name conductor–dielectric–conductor (CDC) matched cavity, appears grey when obse...

Knowledge boundary probing and demand-guided intervention for LLM-based power system code generation

Large language models (LLMs) can turn grid-analysis requests into executable programs for power-system simulation, but utilities and research laboratories often require on-premise deployment. In this setting, first-pass failures frequently arise at an API-knowledge boundary , thr...

A multimodal manual therapy, exercise, and psychological intervention for painful diabetic neuropathy: the NeuOst feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: People with painful diabetic neuropathy lack effective and tolerable treatments. Physical and psychological interventions may help but require further study and combination to maximise effects. Objectives: This single-site, 3-arm, parallel, randomised feasibility tr...

Interactions of land use and climate change disproportionately impact Lepidoptera of the five major insect orders

Abstract Land use and climate change are two major environmental pressures that interact to impact insect biodiversity. The wide ecological diversity, including life histories, among insects suggests that some groups will be more sensitive to these pressures than others, and it i...

Exploring male and female mate preferences using genetic algorithms and digital phenotypes

Abstract During mate choice, both males and females can exhibit choosiness when selecting a partner. The expression and measurement of preferences is typically constrained by the traits presented during mate-choice trials, which generally represent a subset of the phenotypic trai...

Exploring buoyancy and thermal equilibration with a Galileo thermometer

Abstract Galileo thermometers are often used to demonstate buoyancy and density. In this article, a Galileo thermometer is used as the basis of a classroom activity which extends beyond Archimedes’ principle. Observations were made during cooling and localised heating of the ther...

The effects of forefoot bending stiffness in athletic footwear on stresses in the second metatarsal

High forefoot bending stiffness has become a common feature in road running shoes worn by athletes seeking to improve performance. The consensus throughout the literature is that increased forefoot bending stiffness in running shoes can enhance performance. However, the injury im...

Migration Power Europe: Diplomacy, Crises and Power Struggles at the EU Periphery

Abstract This article introduces the conceptual framework of migration power Europe to dissect the multiple forms of power at play in how the European Union (EU) and its member states navigate migration diplomacy, through and beyond the apparent display of ‘Fortress Europe’. Thro...

Lithium chloride in vitro treatment shows potential to rescue the neuronal phenotype caused by WDFY3 haploinsufficiency

We provide a comprehensive phenotypic characterization of loss-of-function (LoF) variants in WDFY3 based on the largest cohort reported to date (n = 32). Our findings define a monogenic disorder marked by neuropsychiatric features (including autism and ADHD), mild to moderate neu...

Conserved circadian membrane rhythms arise from divergent cellular mechanisms in pacemaker neurons of mice and Drosophila

Abstract Circadian clocks align physiology and behaviour with daily environmental cycles, requiring neuronal networks that encode and transmit time-of-day information. Whether conserved electrophysiological principles underlie circadian output across evolution remains unclear. We...