Benefit of using an assistive listening device in a hospital setting.

High levels of noise in hospital settings can make communication difficult, especially for older adults. Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are personal amplifiers that can improve hearing in background noise. This study investigated the impact of providing ALDs to hospitalized patients 60 years of age and older without using hearing screenings to determine eligibility.

Rising sea levels and the increase of shoreline wave energy at American Samoa.

American Samoa is experiencing rapid relative sea level rise due to increases in global sea level and significant post-2009 earthquake land subsidence, endangering homes and critical infrastructure. Wave and water-level observations collected over a fringing reef at Faga'itua Bay, American Samoa, in 2017 reveal depth-limited shoreline sea-swell wave heights over the range of conditions sampled. Using field data to calibrate a one-dimensional, phase-resolving nonhydrostatic wave model (SWASH), we examine the influence of water level on wave heights over the reef for a range of current and future sea levels.

Projecting Climate Dependent Coastal Flood Risk With a Hybrid Statistical Dynamical Model.

Numerical models for tides, storm surge, and wave runup have demonstrated ability to accurately define spatially varying flood surfaces. However these models are typically too computationally expensive to dynamically simulate the full parameter space of future oceanographic, atmospheric, and hydrologic conditions that will constructively compound in the nearshore to cause both extreme event and nuisance flooding during the 21st century. A surrogate modeling framework of waves, winds, and tides is developed in this study to efficiently predict spatially varying nearshore and estuarine water levels contingent on any combination of offshore forcing conditions.

Understanding of Contemporary Regional Sea-Level Change and the Implications for the Future.

Global sea level provides an important indicator of the state of the warming climate, but changes in regional sea level are most relevant for coastal communities around the world. With improvements to the sea-level observing system, the knowledge of regional sea-level change has advanced dramatically in recent years. Satellite measurements coupled with in situ observations have allowed for comprehensive study and improved understanding of the diverse set of drivers that lead to variations in sea level in space and time.