Development of a real time Image analysis system for traffic monitoring applications.

Image processing offers unparalleled potential for traffic monitoring and control. For many years engineers have attempted to perfect the art of automatic data abstraction from sequences of video images. This paper outlines a research project undertaken at Napier University by the authors in the field of image processing for automatic traffic analysis. A software based system implementing TRIP algorithms to count cars and measure vehicle speed has been developed by members of the Transport Engineering Research Unit (TERU) at the University. The TRIP algorithm has been ported and evaluated on an IBM PC platform with a view to hardware implementation of the pre-processing routines required for vehicle detection. Results show that a software based traffic counting system is realisable for single window processing. Due to the high volume of data required to be processed for full frames or multiple lanes, system operations in real time are limited. Therefore specific hardware is required to be designed. The paper outlines a hardware design for implementation of inter-frame and background differencing, background updating and shadow removal techniques. Preliminary results showing the processing time and counting accuracy for the routines implemented in software are presented and a real time hardware pre-processing architecture is described.

Increased hospital-based physical rehabilitation and information provision after intensive care unit discharge: the RECOVER randomized clinical trial.

Importance: critical illness results in disability and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but the optimum timing and components of rehabilitation are uncertain. Objective: to evaluate the effect of increasing physical and nutritional rehabilitation plus information delivered during the post–intensive care unit (ICU) acute hospital stay by dedicated rehabilitation assistants on subsequent mobility, HRQOL, and prevalent disabilities. Design, Setting, and Participants: a parallel group, randomized clinical trial with blinded outcome assessment at 2 hospitals in Edinburgh, Scotland, of 240 patients discharged from the ICU between December 1, 2010, and January 31, 2013, who required at least 48 hours of mechanical ventilation. Analysis for the primary outcome and other 3-month outcomes was performed between June and August 2013; for the 6- and 12-month outcomes and the health economic evaluation, between March and April 2014. Interventions: during the post-ICU hospital stay, both groups received physiotherapy and dietetic, occupational, and speech/language therapy, but patients in the intervention group received rehabilitation that typically increased the frequency of mobility and exercise therapies 2- to 3-fold, increased dietetic assessment and treatment, used individualized goal setting, and provided greater illness-specific information. Intervention group therapy was coordinated and delivered by a dedicated rehabilitation practitioner. Main Outcomes and Measures: the Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI) (range 0-15) at 3 months; higher scores indicate greater mobility. Secondary outcomes included HRQOL, psychological outcomes, self-reported symptoms, patient experience, and cost-effectiveness during a 12-month follow-up (completed in February 2014). Results: median RMI at randomization was 3 (interquartile range [IQR], 1-6) and at 3 months was 13 (IQR, 10-14) for the intervention and usual care groups (mean difference, −0.2 [95% CI, −1.3 to 0.9; P = .71]). The HRQOL scores were unchanged by the intervention (mean difference in the Physical Component Summary score, −0.1 [95% CI, −3.3 to 3.1; P = .96]; and in the Mental Component Summary score, 0.2 [95% CI, −3.4 to 3.8; P = .91]). No differences were found for self-reported symptoms of fatigue, pain, appetite, joint stiffness, or breathlessness. Levels of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress were similar, as were hand grip strength and the timed Up & Go test. No differences were found at the 6- or 12-month follow-up for any outcome measures. However, patients in the intervention group reported greater satisfaction with physiotherapy, nutritional support, coordination of care, and information provision. Conclusions and Relevance: post-ICU hospital-based rehabilitation, including increased physical and nutritional therapy plus information provision, did not improve physical recovery or HRQOL, but improved patient satisfaction with many aspects of recovery.

Retrofit Scotland: Howden Hall Road, Edinburgh

This 1930s Bungalow which has been completely upgraded, enhanced and extended employing offsite and modern methods of construction (MMC), renewable technologies, and innovative products - See more at: http://www.retrofitscotland.org/case-studies/howden-hall-road-edinburgh/#sthash.tQKhZSMz.dpuf

An examination of the role of sound in defining the city in the context of Edinburgh

The surfeit of generic and place-specific sounds that exist in the urban environment contribute to what has been referred to as the soundscape. Within the built environment sound has the potential to create thresholds and acoustic territories that define and colour the experience and social functioning of inhabited spaces. In this research, a robust critical examination of the literature by prominent sound artists and theorists is used to illustrate how sound contributes to the urban experience. This is reinforced by primary research undertaken in the city of Edinburgh where the analysis and synthesis of these secondary sources is tested using bespoke soundworks to determine the ways in which sound contributes to our perception, reading and understanding of our physical environment. This research concludes by illustrating the potential for the future, technological development of the soundscape.

The Auld Alliance: Organ music from Scotland and France.

CD recording of the Rieger organ of St Giles' Cathedral Edinburgh, performed by Michael Harris, with music from Scottish composers, and composers based in Scotland, as well as French organ music from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Works by James MacMillan, Thomas Wilson, Kenneth Leighton, Alfred Hollins, de Grigny, Guilmant, Fleury and Franck.