Impacts of desiccation cracking and climate change on highway cutting hydrology

Climate change is predicted to have a global effect on temperatures and precipitation rates throughout the world. The UK Climate projections expect that in the United Kingdom this will lead to warmer, drier summers and wetter winters, where events of extreme rainfall are more common. These changes are expected to impact on slope hydrology, and concurrently slope stability. In the United Kingdom this impact is expected to be negative, whereas in other countries, such as Italy and France it could lead to slopes being more stable. Infrastructure slopes in the UK range in age and construction quality, they are susceptible to serviceability problems, characterised by heterogeneous material properties and can fail unexpectedly due to progressive reduction in soil shear strength. In this thesis the effects of climate change on a highway cutting in the south of England are modelled, using numerical methods. A finite element model is created and developed in the software package GeoStudio VADOSE/W. The model has been validated against observed pore water pressure trends and magnitudes and is shown to be able to accurately replicate the behaviour. By incorporating the effects of desiccation cracking on the soil s material properties, by the means of bimodal soil water characteristic curve and hydraulic conductivity function, the replication of these trends is improved even further. A series of future climate series were created using the UKCP09 Weather Generator 2.0. These series were implemented with the VADOSE/W model as climate boundary conditions and models were run, and the results compared to control, current climate results. The results were investigated by the means of statistical analyses which revealed that climate change will have some significant effects on the slope s hydrology, increasing magnitudes of evapotranspiration greatly which can have further significant effects on the magnitude of suctions developing in the slope throughout the summer. It is thought that the results suggest that climate change will not have significant negative effects on slope stability. However it is important to remember that the results only apply with certainty to the specific slope and climate change scenario investigated here. The methods used and developed within this thesis can be extended to other locations, in the UK and internationally, analysing the effects of different climate change scenarios

Some concluding trends and themes

The composite picture painted by the contributors to this book has sought to harmonize individual interpretations with recurring trends and themes. The foreground of our ‘scope of practice’ is becoming ever more complex and continues to be offset against the backdrop of an operating environment that is subject to constant change and revision. Information scientists may be equipped to scan the horizon, but they possess silicon chips, not crystal balls, and should heed the cautionary lessons afforded by eminent commentators who have gone before: There is not the slightest indication that [nuclear energy] will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will. (Albert Einstein, 1932). [Television] won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. (Darryl F. Zanuck, head of Twentieth Century Fox, 1946). The purpose of this epilogue is to accentuate some of the trends already highlighted by contributors that will impact on health library and information service providers

New roles and new challenges

The health sector never remains static. New drugs are developed, new illnesses appear and governments tinker with health service delivery to meet their political agendas. The information needs of health consumers, health professionals and health students evolve and modify. As some library and information services no longer meet users’ needs new services appear to meet emerging new demands. This chapter revisits those areas (health service, technologies, user needs, information provider roles and consumer requirements) explored in a corresponding chapter in this book’s companion volume (Booth and Walton, 2000) and proposes how these may develop. The chapter concludes with a prospective glance at the likely impact of evidence based information practice on the domains covered by this book

The role of library and information services in supporting learning

Healthcare LIS professionals have always supported students and those undertaking continuing professional development. Increasingly, they support statutory periodic refreshment and form collaborative partnerships with public and academic libraries. This chapter explores changes impacting on libraries as they evolve to accommodate emerging learning needs. It discusses problem-based learning, enquiry-based learning and 'clinical placements' before outlining a case study that typifies such changes. It concludes with the implications of these developments for the role of healthcare librarians

Factors influencing dietary behaviours in urban food environments in Africa: a systematic mapping review

Objective: To identify factors influencing dietary behaviours in urban food environments in Africa and identify areas for future research.Design: We systematically reviewed published/grey literature (Protocol CRD4201706893). Findings were compiled into a map using a socio-ecological model on four environmental levels: individual, social, physical and macro.Setting: Urban food environments in Africa.Participants: Studies involving adolescents and adults (11-70 years, male/female).Results: Thirty-nine studies were included (6 adolescent; 15 adolescent/adult combined; 18 adult). Quantitative methods were most common (28 quantitative; 9 qualitative; 2 mixed methods). Studies were from 15 African countries. Seventy-seven factors influencing dietary behaviours were identified, with two-thirds at the individual level (45/77). Factors in the social (11/77), physical (12/77) and macro (9/77) environments were investigated less. Individual level factors that specifically emerged for adolescents included self-esteem, body satisfaction, dieting, spoken language, school attendance, gender, body composition, pubertal development, BMI and fat mass. Studies involving adolescents investigated social environment level factors more, e.g. sharing food with friends. The physical food environment was more commonly explored in adults e.g. convenience/availability of food. Macro-level factors associated with dietary behaviours were: food/drink advertising, religion and food prices. Factors associated with dietary behaviour were broadly similar for men and women.Conclusions: The dominance of studies exploring individual-level factors suggests a need for research to explore how social, physical and macro-level environments drive dietary behaviours of adolescents and adults in urban Africa. More studies are needed for adolescents and men, and studies widening the geographical scope to encompass all African countries.</div

Diagram handling different review questions and study designs: from Jones L,

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Do health technology assessments comply with QUOROM diagram guidance? An empirical study"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/7/49</p><p>BMC Medical Research Methodology 2007;7():49-49.</p><p>Published online 20 Nov 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC2211304.</p><p></p

Study characteristics of included studies.

<p>Study characteristics of included studies.</p

SPICE formulation for the question.

<p>SPICE formulation for the question.</p

Intervention characteristics of included studies.

<p>Intervention characteristics of included studies.</p

PRISMA flow diagram of selection of studies.

<p>PRISMA flow diagram of selection of studies.</p