A smart sewer asset information model to enable an ‘Internet of Things’ for operational wastewater management

Real-time prediction of flooding is vital for the successful future operational management of the UK sewerage network. Recent advances in smart infrastructure and the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), presents an opportunity within the wastewater sector to harness and report in real-time sewer condition data for operation management. This study presents the design and development of a prototype Smart Sewer Asset Information Model (SSAIM) for an existing sewerage network. The SSAIM, developed using Industry Foundation Class version 4 (IFC4) an open neutral data format for BIM, incorporates distributed smart sensors to enable real-time monitoring and reporting of sewer asset performance. Results describe an approach for sensor data analysis to facilitate the real-time prediction of flooding

Metabonomics-based analysis of Brachyspira pilosicoli's response to tiamulin reveals metabolic activity despite significant growth inhibition

Pathogenic anaerobes Brachyspira spp. are responsible for an increasing number of Intestinal Spirochaetosis (IS) cases in livestock against which few approved treatments are available. Tiamulin is used to treat swine dysentery caused by Brachyspira spp. and recently has been used to handle avian intestinal spirochaetosis (AIS). The therapeutic dose used in chickens requires further evaluation since cases of bacterial resistance to tiamulin have been reported. In this study, we evaluated the impact of tiamulin at varying concentrations on the metabolism of B. pilosicoli using a 1H-NMR-based metabonomics approach allowing the capture of the overall bacterial metabolic response to antibiotic treatment. Based on growth curve studies, tiamulin impacted bacterial growth even at very low concentration (0.008 μg/mL) although its metabolic activity was barely affected 72 h post exposure to antibiotic treatment. Only the highest dose of tiamulin tested (0.250 μg/mL) caused a major metabolic shift. Results showed that below this concentration, bacteria could maintain a normal metabolic trajectory despite significant growth inhibition by the antibiotic, which may contribute to disease reemergence post antibiotic treatment. Indeed, we confirmed that B. pilosicoli remained viable even after exposition to the highest antibiotic dose. This paper stresses the need to ensure new evaluation of bacterial viability post bacteriostatic exposure such as tiamulin to guarantee treatment efficacy and decrease antibiotic resistance development

Antibiotic treatment triggers gut dysbiosis and modulates metabolism in a chicken model of gastro-intestinal infection

Background: Infection of the digestive track by gastro-intestinal pathogens results in the development of symptoms ranging from mild diarrhea to more severe clinical signs such as dysentery, severe dehydration and potentially death. Although, antibiotics are efficient to tackle infections, they also trigger dysbiosis that has been suggested to result in variation in weight gain in animal production systems. Results: Here is the first study demonstrating the metabolic impact of infection by a gastro-intestinal pathogen (Brachyspira pilosicoli) and its resolution by antibiotic treatment (tiamulin) on the host (chicken) systemic metabolism and gut microbiota composition using high-resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and 16S rDNA next generation sequencing (NGS). Clear systemic metabolic markers of infections such as glycerol and betaine were identified. Weight loss in untreated animals was in part explained by the observation of a modification of systemic host energy metabolism characterized by the utilization of glycerol as a glucose precursor. However, antibiotic treatment triggered an increased VLDL/HDL ratio in plasma that may contribute to reducing weight loss observed in treated birds. All metabolic responses co-occurred with significant shift of the microbiota upon infection or antibiotic treatment. Conclusion: This study indicates that infection and antibiotic treatment trigger dysbiosis that may impact host systemic energy metabolism and cause phenotypic and health modifications

Improved non-contact 3D field and processing techniques to achieve macrotexture characterisation of pavements

Macrotexture is required on pavements to provide skid resistance for vehicle safety in wet conditions. Increasingly, correlations between macrotexture measurements captured using non-contact techniques and tyre-pavement contact friction are being investigated in order to enable more robust and widescale measurement and monitoring of skid resistance. There is a notable scarcity of research into the respective accuracy of the non-contact measurement techniques at these scales. This paper compares three techniques: a laser profile scanner, Structure from Motion photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). We use spectral analysis, areal surface texture parameters and 2D cross-correlation analysis to evaluate the suitability of each approach for characterising and monitoring pavement macrotexture. The results show that SfM can produce successful measures of the areal root mean square height (Sq), which represents pavement texture depth and is positively correlated with skid resistance. Significant noise in the TLS data prevented agreement with the laser profiler but we show that new filtering procedures result in significantly improved values for the peak density (Spd) and the arithmetic peak mean curvature (Spc), which together define the shape and distribution of pavement aggregates forming macrotexture. However, filtering the TLS data results in a trade-off with vertical accuracy, thus altering the reliability of Sq. Finally, we show the functional areal parameters Spd and Spc are sensitive to sample size. This means that pavement specimen size of 150 mm × 150 mm or smaller, when used in laboratory or field observations, are inadequate to capture the true value of areal surface texture parameters. The deployment of wider scale approaches such as SfM and spectrally filtered TLS are required in order to successfully capture the functional areal parameters (Spc and Spd) for road surfaces

Quantifying long-term rates of texture change on road networks

Texture is required on pavements to provide safe and comfortable ride performance for users. This paper provides the first meaningful analysis of a long-term study of texture data obtained using TRACS (TRAffic Speed Condition Survey) at a site in the UK. TRACS data were collected annually, over a 2 km stretch of motorway from 1995 to 2019. A new data analysis approach utilising time series data with spectral analysis and spatial filtering procedures is presented. The results reveal that the approach enables legacy TRACS laser profile Sensor Measured Texture Depth (SMTD) data to be used to determine long term rates of change in road surface macrotexture. Thus, the technique has unlocked the potential for SMTD data collected annually for 7000 km of the Strategic Road Network in the UK, to inform road maintenance programmes by extrapolation. Additionally, results expose a systematic periodicity occurring each year within the SMTD data studied, corresponding to longitudinal oscillations with wavelengths between 33 and 62 m. The time-invariant periodicity of these oscillations suggests that it is ‘imprinted’ in the early life of the pavement. ‘Imprinting’ may theoretically arise with cyclic tyre loading applied by the suspension systems of heavy vehicles or during road construction

Seasonal Signals Observed in Non-Contact Long-Term Road Texture Measurements

Texture is required on road pavements for safe vehicle braking and manoeuvres. This paper provides a unique analysis of long-term texture obtained using traffic speed condition survey (TRACS) data from 14 sites, located along a north to south transect spanning the longest highway in the UK. A total of 19 years of sensor measured texture depth (SMTD) data have been analyzed using spatial filtering techniques and compared with meteorological and traffic datasets. The results for hot rolled asphalt (HRA) surfaces reveal that changes to SMTD follow a linearly increasing trend with time. The “rate of change” is influenced by the order of magnitude of annual average daily traffic (AADT), when factored for the percentage of heavy goods vehicles. This linear trend is disrupted by environmental parameters, such as rainfall events and seasonal conditioning. In the summer, this signal is evident as a transient peak in the “rate of change” of texture greater than 0.04 mm, and in the winter as a reduction. The transient changes in texture corresponded to above average rainfall occurring in the week prior to SMTD measurement. The signal observed demonstrates an inverse pattern to the classically understood seasonal variation of skid resistance in the UK, where values are low in the summer and high in the winter. The findings demonstrate for the first time that texture measurements experience a seasonal signal, and provide compelling evidence pointing toward surface processes (such as polishing and the wetting and drying of surface contaminants) causing changes to texture that are affecting seasonal variation in skid resistance

Major ice‐sheet change in the Weddell Sector of West Antarctica over the last 5000 years

Until recently, little was known about the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In the last 10 years, a variety of expeditions and numerical modelling experiments have improved knowledge of its glaciology, glacial geology, and tectonic setting. Two of the sector's largest ice streams rest on a steep reverse‐sloping bed yet, despite being vulnerable to change, satellite observations show contemporary stability. There is clear evidence for major ice‐sheet reconfiguration in the last few thousand years, however. Knowing precisely how the ice sheet has changed in the past, and when, would allow us to better understand whether it is now at risk. Two competing hypotheses have been established for this glacial history. In one, the ice sheet retreated and thinned progressively from its Last Glacial Maximum position. Retreat stopped at, or very near, the present position in the Late Holocene. Alternatively, in the Late Holocene the ice sheet retreated significantly upstream of the present grounding line, and then advanced to the present location due to glacial isostatic adjustment, and ice‐shelf and ice rise buttressing. Both hypotheses point to data and theory in their support, yet neither has been unequivocally tested or falsified. Here, we review geophysical evidence to determine how each hypothesis has been formed, where there are inconsistencies in the respective glacial histories, how they may be tested or reconciled, and what new evidence is required to reach a common model for the Late Holocene ice sheet history of the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica