Comparison of visual inspection and structural-health monitoring as bridge condition assessment methods

This paper presents the results of a research project aimed at examining the capabilities and challenges of two distinct but not mutually exclusive approaches to in-service bridge assessment: visual inspection and installed monitoring systems. In this study, the intended functionality of both approaches was evaluated on its ability to identify potential structural damage and to provide decision-making support. Inspection and monitoring are compared in terms of their functional performance, cost, and barriers (real and perceived) to implementation. Both methods have strengths and weaknesses across the metrics analyzed, and it is likely that a hybrid evaluation technique that adopts both approaches will optimize efficiency of condition assessment and ultimately lead to better decision making.

The ADMIN-ICU survey: A survey on antimicrobial dosing and monitoring in ICUs

Objectives: There is little evidence and few guidelines to inform the most appropriate dosing and monitoring for antimicrobials in the ICU. We aimed to survey current practices around the world. Methods: An online structured questionnaire was developed and sent by e-mail to obtain information on local antimicrobial prescribing practices for glycopeptides, piperacillin/tazobactam, carbapenems, aminoglycosides and colistin. Results: A total of 402 professionals from 328 hospitals in 53 countries responded, of whom 78% were specialists in intensive care medicine (41% intensive care, 30% anaesthesiology, 14% internal medicine) and 12% were pharmacists. Vancomycin was used as a continuous infusion in 31% of units at a median (IQR) daily dose of 25 (25–30) mg/kg. Piperacillin/tazobactam was used as an extended infusion by 22% and as a continuous infusion by 7%. An extended infusion of carbapenem (meropenem or imipenem) was used by 27% and a continuous infusion by 5%. Colistin was used at a daily dose of 7.5 (3.9–9) million IU (MIU)/day, predominantly as a short infusion. The most commonly used aminoglycosides were gentamicin (55%) followed by amikacin (40%), with administration as a single daily dose reported in 94% of the cases. Gentamicin was used at a daily dose of 5 (5–6) mg/day and amikacin at a daily dose of 15 (15–20) mg/day. Therapeutic drug monitoring of vancomycin, piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem was used by 74%, 1% and 2% of the respondents, respectively. Peak aminoglycoside concentrations were sampled daily by 28% and trough concentrations in all patients by 61% of the respondents. Conclusions: We found wide variability in reported practices for antibiotic dosing and monitoring. Research is required to develop evidence-based guidelines to standardize practices.

A comparison of international and Australian rating tools for sustainability elements of residential property

The Australian housing sector contributes about a fifth of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions contribute to climate change which leads to an increase in the occurrence or intensity of natural disasters and damage of houses. To ensure housing performance in the face of climate change, various rating tools for residential property have been introduced in different countries. The aim of this paper is to present a preliminary comparison between international and Australian rating tools in terms of purpose, use and sustainability elements for residential property. The methodologies used are to review, classify, compare and identify similarities and differences between rating tools. Two international tools, Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) (UK) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes (LEED-Homes) (USA), will be compared to two Australian tools, Green Star – Multi Unit Residential v1 and EnviroDevelopment. All four rating tools include management, energy, water and material aspects. The findings reveal thirteen elements that fall under three categories: spatial planning, occupants’ health and comfort, and environmental conditions. The variations in different tools may result from differences in local prevailing climate. Not all sustainability elements covered by international rating tools are included in the Australian rating tools. The voluntary nature of the tools implies they are not broadly applied in their respective market and that there is a policy implementation gap. A comprehensive rating tool could be developed in Australia to promote and lessen the confusion about sustainable housing, which in turn assist in improving the supply and demand of sustainable housing.

Beyond Science Education: Embedding sustainability in teacher education systems

This chapter will report on a study that sought to develop a systemwide approach to embedding education for sustainability (EfS (the preferred term in Australia) in teacher education. The strategy for a coordinated and coherent systemic approach involved identifying and eliciting the participation of key agents of change within the‘teacher education system’ in one state in Australia, Queensland. This consisted of one representative from each of the eight Queensland universities offering pre-service teacher education, as well as the teacher registration authority, the key State Government agency responsible for public schools, and two national professional organisations. Part of the approach involved teacher educators at different universities developing an institutional specific approach to embedding sustainability education within their teacher preparation programs. Project participants worked collaboratively to facilitate policy and curriculum change while the project leaders used an action research approach to inform and monitor actions taken and to provide guidance for subsequent actions to effect change simultaneously at the state, institutional and course levels. In addition to the state-wide multi-site case study, which we argue has broader applications to national systems in other countries, the chapter will include two institutional level case studies of efforts to embed sustainability in science teacher education.

Complex Symbolic Sequence Encodings for Predictive Monitoring of Business Processes

This paper addresses the problem of predicting the outcome of an ongoing case of a business process based on event logs. In this setting, the outcome of a case may refer for example to the achievement of a performance objective or the fulfillment of a compliance rule upon completion of the case. Given a log consisting of traces of completed cases, given a trace of an ongoing case, and given two or more possible out- comes (e.g., a positive and a negative outcome), the paper addresses the problem of determining the most likely outcome for the case in question. Previous approaches to this problem are largely based on simple symbolic sequence classification, meaning that they extract features from traces seen as sequences of event labels, and use these features to construct a classifier for runtime prediction. In doing so, these approaches ignore the data payload associated to each event. This paper approaches the problem from a different angle by treating traces as complex symbolic sequences, that is, sequences of events each carrying a data payload. In this context, the paper outlines different feature encodings of complex symbolic sequences and compares their predictive accuracy on real-life business process event logs.

QUT structural health monitoring system and the capture of recent Queensland earthquakes

This article reports the main features of an innovative full-scale Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system which has been implemented onto a landmark building on QUT Gardens Point Campus and its efficacy in capturing the recent Queensland earthquakes although they occurred almost 300 km away from where the system is located.

Community Resilience: Fostering Recovery, Sustainability, and Growth

In this chapter, the authors define community resilience and identify the components that predict it will occur. Three dimensions are highlighted: recovery, sustainability, and growth. Their discussion focuses on communities like those of Sudanese refugees who have experienced forced migration, emphasizing the importance that community plays to future adaptation. They show through their report on their research that community collaboration, shared identity, and empowerment increase bonding and bridging capital that promote the well-being of people under stress. They argue that an emphasis on community resilience places value on the social connections, policies, programs, and community context necessary for resilience in different cultures and contexts.

Finding the leverage point in the sustainability crisis: Global, national and regional Australian responses

From an economic perspective, the sustainability crisis is ultimately characterized by a worsening relationship between the resources required to support the global population and the ability of the earth to supply them. Despite the ever-increasing threat of a calamity, modern society appears unable to alter its course. The very systems which underpin global human endeavor seem to actively prevent meaningful change and the one irrepressible goal to which all societies seem to strive is the very thing that makes such endeavor ultimately life threatening: that of global growth. Using the Australian experience as an exemplar, this paper explores how the concept of growth infiltrates societal reactions to the crisis at various scales – global, national and regional. Analysis includes historic studies, a critique of current misconceptions around population demographics, comparative evaluation of various interventions in the Australian context and considerations around potential ways to address the crisis.

Kits and methods for diagnosis, screening, treatment and disease monitoring [WO 2015048852 A1]

Disclosed are methods for detecting the presence of a carcinoma or an increased likelihood that a carcinoma is present in a subject. More particularly, the present invention discloses methods for diagnosis, screening, treatment and monitoring of carcinomas associated with aberrant DNA methylation of the MED15 promoter region

Metrological assessment of a portable analyzer for monitoring the particle size distribution of ultrafine particles

Adverse health effects caused by worker exposure to ultrafine particles have been detected in recent years. The scientific community focuses on the assessment of ultrafine aerosols in different microenvironments in order to determine the related worker exposure/dose levels. To this end, particle size distribution measurements have to be taken along with total particle number concentrations. The latter are obtainable through hand-held monitors. A portable particle size distribution analyzer (Nanoscan SMPS 3910, TSI Inc.) was recently commercialized, but so far no metrological assessment has been performed to characterize its performance with respect to well-established laboratory- based instruments such as the scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) spectrometer. The present paper compares the aerosol monitoring capability of the Nanoscan SMPS to the laboratory SMPS in order to evaluate whether the Nanoscan SMPS is suitable for field experiments designed to characterize particle exposure in different microenvironments. Tests were performed both in a Marple calm air chamber, where fresh diesel particulate matter and atomized dioctyl phthalate particles were monitored, and in microenvironments, where outdoor, urban, indoor aged, and indoor fresh aerosols were measured. Results show that the Nanoscan SMPS is able to properly measure the particle size distribution for each type of aerosol investigated, but it overestimates the total particle number concentration in the case of fresh aerosols. In particular, the test performed in the Marple chamber showed total concentrations up to twice those measured by the laboratory SMPS—likely because of the inability of the Nanoscan SMPS unipolar charger to properly charge aerosols made up of aggregated particles. Based on these findings, when field test exposure studies are conducted, the Nanoscan SMPS should be used in tandem

Monitoring care processes in the gynecologic oncology department

The care processes of healthcare providers are typically considered as human-centric, flexible, evolving, complex and multi-disciplinary. Consequently, acquiring an insight in the dynamics of these care processes can be an arduous task. A novel event log based approach for extracting valuable medical and organizational information on past executions of the care processes is presented in this study. Care processes are analyzed with the help of a preferential set of process mining techniques in order to discover recurring patterns, analyze and characterize process variants and identify adverse medical events.

Optimal management of the critically Ill: Anaesthesia, monitoring, data capture, and point-of-care technological practices in ovine models of critical care

Animal models of critical illness are vital in biomedical research. They provide possibilities for the investigation of pathophysiological processes that may not otherwise be possible in humans. In order to be clinically applicable, the model should simulate the critical care situation realistically, including anaesthesia, monitoring, sampling, utilising appropriate personnel skill mix, and therapeutic interventions. There are limited data documenting the constitution of ideal technologically advanced large animal critical care practices and all the processes of the animal model. In this paper, we describe the procedure of animal preparation, anaesthesia induction and maintenance, physiologic monitoring, data capture, point-of-care technology, and animal aftercare that has been successfully used to study several novel ovine models of critical illness. The relevant investigations are on respiratory failure due to smoke inhalation, transfusion related acute lung injury, endotoxin-induced proteogenomic alterations, haemorrhagic shock, septic shock, brain death, cerebral microcirculation, and artificial heart studies. We have demonstrated the functionality of monitoring practices during anaesthesia required to provide a platform for undertaking systematic investigations in complex ovine models of critical illness.

Estimation of the time of a linear trend in monitoring survival time

Change point estimation is recognized as an essential tool of root cause analyses within quality control programs as it enables clinical experts to search for potential causes of change in hospital outcomes more effectively. In this paper, we consider estimation of the time when a linear trend disturbance has occurred in survival time following an in-control clinical intervention in the presence of variable patient mix. To model the process and change point, a linear trend in the survival time of patients who underwent cardiac surgery is formulated using hierarchical models in a Bayesian framework. The data are right censored since the monitoring is conducted over a limited follow-up period. We capture the effect of risk factors prior to the surgery using a Weibull accelerated failure time regression model. We use Markov Chain Monte Carlo to obtain posterior distributions of the change point parameters including the location and the slope size of the trend and also corresponding probabilistic intervals and inferences. The performance of the Bayesian estimator is investigated through simulations and the result shows that precise estimates can be obtained when they are used in conjunction with the risk-adjusted survival time cumulative sum control chart (CUSUM) control charts for different trend scenarios. In comparison with the alternatives, step change point model and built-in CUSUM estimator, more accurate and precise estimates are obtained by the proposed Bayesian estimator over linear trends. These superiorities are enhanced when probability quantification, flexibility and generalizability of the Bayesian change point detection model are also considered.

Development of non-intrusive monitoring for reactive switching of high voltage circuit breaker

High-voltage circuit breakers are among the most important equipments for ensuring the efficient and safe operation of an electric power system. On occasion, circuit breaker operators may wish to check whether equipment is performing satisfactorily and whether controlled switching systems are producing reliable and repeatable stress control. Monitoring of voltage and current waveforms during switching using established methods will provide information about the magnitude and frequency of voltage transients as a result of re-ignitions and restrikes. However, high frequency waveform measurement requires shutdown of circuit breaker and use of specialized equipment. Two utilities, Hydro-Québec in Canada and Powerlink Queensland in Australia, have been working on the development and application of a non-intrusive, cost-effective and flexible diagnostic system for monitoring high-voltage circuit breakers for reactive switching. The proposed diagnostic approach relies on the non-intrusive assessment of key parameters such as operating times, prestrike characteristics, re-ignition and restrike detection. Transient electromagnetic emissions have been identified as a promising means to evaluate the abovementioned parameters non-intrusively. This paper describes two complimentary methods developed concurrently by Powerlink and Hydro-Québec. Also, return of experiences on the application to capacitor bank and shunt reactor switching is presented.

Monitoring illicit drug use through wastewater analysis in south east Queensland, Australia

Introduction and Aims: Wastewater analysis has become a useful technique for monitoring illicit drug use in communities. Findings have been reported from different countries in Europe and North America. We applied this technique to gauge the illicit drug consumption in an urban catchment from South East Queensland, Australia. Design and Methods: The sampling campaigns were conducted in 2009 (21st November – 2nd December) and 2010 (19th – 25th November). We collected daily composite wastewater samples from the inlet of the sewage treatment plant using continuous flow-proportional sampling. Ten illicit drug residues (parent compounds and key metabolites) in the samples were measured using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometer. Results: Seven compounds were quantified in all the samples. Our data indicated higher drug consumption on weekends. Cannabis was the highest used drug in both sampling periods. Compared to the first sampling campaign which indicated that cocaine and methamphetamine use exceeded ecstasy usage, the second sampling campaign suggested the use of methamphetamine exceeded that of ecstasy which in turn exceeded cocaine use. Discussion and Conclusions: The observed weekly trend of drug use in our study is in agreement with findings in other studies. The variation between two sampling periods in the prevalence of drug use may relate to the availability and prices of the drugs on markets. The cocaine use we estimated in 2009 was much greater than estimations obtained through the national household survey [1], implying under- reporting of cocaine use in surveys. Future work is underway to tackle methodological challenges for more accurate estimation.