Clinical trials of an innovative inflatable pillow designed to make moving intensive care unit (ICU) patients safer, faster, and less labour-intensive for NHS staff have begun in Bath.

Co-developed by researchers at the University of Bath and clinicians at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH), and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Inflatable Prone Repositioning Device – known as the ‘BathMat’ – is a flat balloon-like pillow that can be inflated in sections, and is the first medical device of its kind.

The NEAL team at the University of South China has successfully developed HARMONY2.0, an upgraded version of their higher-order modes diffusion code HARMONY1.0. By adopting a hybrid two-step methodology combining MC(Monte Carlo) homogenization and deterministic higher-order modes calculation, this advancement addresses the limitations of deterministic methods in handling complex geometries and energy spectrum adaptation, while avoiding the computational inefficiency inherent to MC approaches. The integration of OpenMP-based parallel computing further accelerates the process, significantly enhancing the capability for reactor higher-order modes analysis. This progress provides critical technical support for key applications such as reactor reactivity measurements and online monitoring.

A new method uses AI to physically restore a damaged painting much more quickly than what’s possible using manual techniques. A digitally generated “mask” in the form of thin film is applied directly to the original painting, and can also be easily removed.