Geotechnical monitoring using a combination of LIDAR, real-time dGPS, and electrical tomography to assess geotechnical risk of a coastal landslide.

The Antrim Coast Road stretching from the seaport of Larne in the East of Northern Ireland has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most spectacular roads in Europe (Day, 2006). However the problematic geology; Jurassic Lias Clay and Triassic Mudstone overlain by Cretaceous Limestone and Tertiary Basalt, and environmental variables result in frequent instances of slope instability manifested in both shallow debris flows and occasional massive rotational movements, creating a geotechnical risk to this highway. This paper describes how a variety of techniques are being used to both assess instability and monitor movement of these active slopes near one site at Straidkilly Point, Glenarm. An in-depth understanding of the geology was obtained via boreholes, resistivity surveys and laboratory testing. Environmental variables recorded by an on-site weather station were correlated with measured pore water pressure and soil moisture infiltration data. Terrestrial LiDAR (TLS), with surveys carried out on a bi-monthly basis allowed for the generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of difference, highlighting areas of recent movement, accumulation and depletion. Morphology parameters were generated from the DEMs and include slope, curvature and multiple measures of roughness. Changes in the structure of the slope coupled with morphological parameters were characterised and linked to progressive failures from the temporal monitoring. In addition to TLS monitoring, Aerial LiDAR datasets were used for the spatio-morphological characterisation of the slope on a macro scale. A Differential Global Positioning System (dGPS) was also deployed on site to provide a real-time warning system for gross movements, which were also correlated with environmental conditions. Frequent electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were also implemented to provide a better understanding of long-term changes in soil moisture and help to define the complex geology. The paper describes how the data obtained via a diverse range of methods has been combined to facilitate a more informed management regime of geotechnical risk by the Northern Ireland Roads Service.

Monitoring of a novel FlexiArchTM bridge system to investigate soil-structure interaction

Masonry arch bridges are one of the oldest forms of bridge construction and have been around for thousands of years. Brick and stone arch bridges have proven to be highly durable as most of them have remained serviceable after hundreds of years. In contrast, many bridges built of modern materials have required extensive repair and strengthening after being in service for a relatively short part of their design life. This paper describes the structural monitoring of a novel flexible concrete arch known as: FlexiArchTM. This is a bridge system that can be transported as a flat-pack system to form an arch in-situ by the use of a flexible polymeric membrane. The system has been developed under a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and Macrete Ltd. Tievenameena Bridge in Northern Ireland was a replacement bridge for the Northern Ireland Roads Service and was monitored under different axle loadings using a range of sensors including discrete fiber optic Bragg gratings to measure the change in strain in the arch ring under live loading. This paper discusses the results of a laboratory model study carried out at QUB. A scaled arch system was loaded with a simulated moving axle. Various techniques were used to monitor the arch under the moving axle load with particular emphasis on the interaction of the arch ring and engineered backfill.

Effective network security monitoring: from attribution to target-centric monitoring

Network security monitoring remains a challenge. As global networks scale up, in terms of traffic, volume and speed, effective attribution of cyber attacks is increasingly difficult. The problem is compounded by a combination of other factors, including the architecture of the Internet, multi-stage attacks and increasing volumes of nonproductive traffic. This paper proposes to shift the focus of security monitoring from the source to the target. Simply put, resources devoted to detection and attribution should be redeployed to efficiently monitor for targeting and prevention of attacks. The effort of detection should aim to determine whether a node is under attack, and if so, effectively prevent the attack. This paper contributes by systematically reviewing the structural, operational and legal reasons underlying this argument, and presents empirical evidence to support a shift away from attribution to favour of a target-centric monitoring approach. A carefully deployed set of experiments are presented and a detailed analysis of the results is achieved.

Crack detection of steel girders using Brillouin optical time domain analysis

This article presents the results from an experimental program designed to evaluate the performance of a system consisting of a readout unit and a ribbon type Fiber Optic Sensor (FOS) based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA). The system is intended for the detection of cracks as well as the monitoring of long-term performance for steel bridge girders. The program consisted of introducing a crack at the center of a 3-m-long steel beam and monitoring its progression using static loading tests performed at ambient and sub-zero temperatures. For sensor lengths similar to those used in the field, the resonant frequency shifts per unit increase in crack width were found to decrease from 114 MHz/mm at ambient temperature (~25C) to 65 MHz/mm at -10C. Results also revealed nonlinearity and variability, which can be attributed to an incompatibility between the settings of the laser pump in the readout unit and the sensor length. Significant losses were detected along the bonded segments of the sensor and were attributed to the presence of ripples along the sensor. These undulations worsen with a reduction in temperature and are induced by the bonding procedure as well as the slack provided in the plastic sleeves containing the splices.

Environmental and social supply chain management sustainability practices: construct development and measurement

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and operationalise the concept of supply chain management sustainability practices. Based on a multi-stage procedure involving a literature review, expert Q-sort and pre-test process, pilot test and survey of 156 supply chain directors and managers in Ireland, we develop a multidimensional conceptualisation and measure of social and environmental supply chain management sustainability practices. The research findings show theoretically sound constructs based on four underlying sustainable supply chain management practices: monitoring, implementing systems, new product and process development and strategy redefinition. A two-factor model is then identified as the most reliable: comprising process-based and market-based practices.

Monitoring Bridge Dynamic Behaviour using an Instrumented Two Axle Vehicle

Highway structures such as bridges are subject to continuous degradation primarily due to ageing, loading and environmental factors. A rational transport policy must monitor and provide adequate maintenance to this infrastructure to guarantee the required levels of transport service and safety. Increasingly in recent years, bridges are being instrumented and monitored on an ongoing basis due to the implementation of Bridge Management Systems. This is very effective and provides a high level of protection to the public and early warning if the bridge becomes unsafe. However, the process can be expensive and time consuming, requiring the installation of sensors and data acquisition electronics on the bridge. This paper investigates the use of an instrumented 2-axle vehicle fitted with accelerometers to monitor the dynamic behaviour of a bridge network in a simple and cost-effective manner. A simplified half car-beam interaction model is used to simulate the passage of a vehicle over a bridge. This investigation involves the frequency domain analysis of the axle accelerations as the vehicle crosses the bridge. The spectrum of the acceleration record contains noise, vehicle, bridge and road frequency components. Therefore, the bridge dynamic behaviour is monitored in simulations for both smooth and rough road surfaces. The vehicle mass and axle spacing are varied in simulations along with bridge structural damping in order to analyse the sensitivity of the vehicle accelerations to a change in bridge properties. These vehicle accelerations can be obtained for different periods of time and serve as a useful tool to monitor the variation of bridge frequency and damping with time.

The contribution of qualitative research in designing a complex intervention for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in two different healthcare systems

Background: Developing complex interventions for testing in randomised controlled trials is of increasing importance in healthcare planning. There is a need for careful design of interventions for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). It has been suggested that integrating qualitative research in the development of a complex intervention may contribute to optimising its design but there is limited evidence of this in practice. This study aims to examine the contribution of qualitative research in developing a complex intervention to improve the provision and uptake of secondary prevention of CHD within primary care in two different healthcare systems.

Methods: In four general practices, one rural and one urban, in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, patients with CHD were purposively selected. Four focus groups with patients (N = 23) and four with staff (N = 29) informed the development of the intervention by exploring how it could be tailored and integrated with current secondary prevention activities for CHD in the two healthcare settings. Following an exploratory trial the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention were discussed in four focus groups (17 patients) and 10 interviews (staff). The data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Integrating qualitative research into the development of the intervention provided depth of information about the varying impact, between the two healthcare systems, of different funding and administrative arrangements, on their provision of secondary prevention and identified similar barriers of time constraints, training needs and poor patient motivation. The findings also highlighted the importance to patients of stress management, the need for which had been underestimated by the researchers. The qualitative evaluation provided depth of detail not found in evaluation questionnaires. It highlighted how the intervention needed to be more practical by minimising administration, integrating role plays into behaviour change training, providing more practical information about stress management and removing self-monitoring of lifestyle change.

Conclusion: Qualitative research is integral to developing the design detail of a complex intervention and tailoring its components to address individuals' needs in different healthcare systems. The findings highlight how qualitative research may be a valuable component of the preparation for complex interventions and their evaluation.

Selective migration from deprived areas in Northern Ireland and the spatial distribution of inequalities: implications for monitoring health and inequalities in health

Much of the evidence suggesting that inequalities in health have been increasing over the last two decades has come from studies that compared the changes in relative health status of areas over time. Such studies ignore the movement of people between areas. This paper examines the population movement between small areas in Northern Ireland in the year prior to the 1991 census as well as the geographical distribution of migrants to Northern Ireland over the same period. It shows that deprived areas tended to become depopulated and that those who left these areas were the more affluent residents. While immigrants differed a little from the indigenous population, the overall effect of their distribution would be to maintain the geographical socio-economic status quo. The selective movement of people between areas would result in the distribution of health and ill-health becoming more polarized, i.e. produce a picture of widening inequalities between areas even though the distribution between individuals is unchanged. These processes suggest potential significant problems with the area-based approaches to monitoring health and inequalities in health.

Dynamic, in situ optical, magnetic and magneto-optical monitoring of the growth of Co/Au and Pd/Co/Au multilayer systems

The growth of magnetron sputtered Co/Au and Pd/Co/Au superlattices on Au and Pd buffer layers, deposited onto glass substrates, has been monitored optically and magneto-optically in real time, using rotating analyser ellipsometry and Kerr polarimetry, at a wavelength of 633 nm. The magneto-optical traces, combined with ex situ and in situ hysteresis loops, provide a detailed and informative fingerprint of the optical and magnetic properties of the films as they evolve during growth. For Co/Au, oscillations in the polar magneto-optical effect developed during the deposition of An overlayers on Co and these may be attributed to quantum well states. However, the hysteresis measurements show that the magnetic field required to maintain saturation magnetization throughout the experiment was larger than available in situ, introducing a degree of confusion concerning the interpretation of the data. This problem was overcome by the incorporation of Pd layers into the Co/Au structure, thereby eliminating variation in magnetic orientation during growth of the Au layers as a contributory factor to the observations.

Monitoring treatment fidelity in a randomised controlled trial of a complex intervention.

Aim. This paper is a report of a study to describe how treatment fidelity is being enhanced and monitored, using a model from the National Institutes of Health Behavior Change Consortium. Background. The objective of treatment fidelity is to minimize errors in interpreting research trial outcomes, and to ascribe those outcomes directly to the intervention at hand. Treatment fidelity procedures are included in trials of complex interventions to account for inferences made from study outcomes. Monitoring treatment fidelity can help improve study design, maximize reliability of results, increase statistical power, determine whether theory-based interventions are responsible for observed changes, and inform the research dissemination process. Methods. Treatment fidelity recommendations from the Behavior Change Consortium were applied to the SPHERE study (Secondary Prevention of Heart DiseasE in GeneRal PracticE), a randomized controlled trial of a complex intervention. Procedures to enhance and monitor intervention implementation included standardizing training sessions, observing intervention consultations, structuring patient recall systems, and using written practice and patient care plans. The research nurse plays an important role in monitoring intervention implementation. Findings. Several methods of applying treatment fidelity procedures to monitoring interventions are possible. The procedure used may be determined by availability of appropriate personnel, fiscal constraints, or time limits. Complex interventions are not straightforward and necessitate a monitoring process at trial stage. Conclusion. The Behavior Change Consortium’s model of treatment fidelity is useful for structuring a system to monitor the implementation of a complex intervention, and helps to increase the reliability and validity of evaluation findings.

The design of a navigation guidance and control system for an unmanned surface vehicle for environmental monitoring

Maintaining the ecosystem is one of the main concerns in this modern age. With the fear of ever-increasing global warming, the UK is one of the key players to participate actively in taking measures to slow down at least its phenomenal rate. As an ingredient to this process, the Springer vehicle was designed and developed for environmental monitoring and pollutant tracking. This special issue paper highlighted the Springer hardware and software architecture including various navigational sensors, a speed controller, and an environmental monitoring unit. In addition, details regarding the modelling of the vessel were outlined based mainly on experimental data. The formulation of a fault tolerant multi-sensor data fusion technique was also presented. Moreover, control strategy based on a linear quadratic Gaussian controller was developed and simulated on the Springer model.
Gaussian controller is developed and simulated on the Springer model.

The design and performance of a 2.5-GHz telecommand link for wireless biomedical monitoring

This paper details the implementation and operational performance of a minimum-power 2.45-GHz pulse receiver and a companion on-off keyed transmitter for use in a semi-active duplex RF biomedical transponder. A 50-Ohm microstrip stub-matched zero-bias diode detector forms the heart of a body-worn receiver that has a CMOS baseband amplifier consuming 20 microamps from +3 V and achieves a tangential sensitivity of -53 dBm. The base transmitter generates 0.5 W of peak RF output power into 50 Ohms. Both linear and right-hand circularly polarized Tx-Rx antenna sets were employed in system reliability trials carried out in a hospital Coronary Care Unit, For transmitting antenna heights between 0.3 and 2.2 m above floor level, transponder interrogations were 95% reliable within the 67-m-sq area of the ward, falling to an average of 46 % in the surrounding rooms and corridors. Overall, the circular antenna set gave the higher reliability and lower propagation power decay index.