Cognitive and psychological sequelae of hydrocephalus and spina bifida: turning interesting theoretical research into useful clinical intervention and guidelines

Background Ventricular shunts have significantly improved the prognosis of people with hydrocephalus and spina bifida; nevertheless, there are lifelong effects, which in many cases is associated with a cognitive profile of short term memory, attention and executive function difficulties (Iddon et al, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004). There can also be psychological sequelae including depression and low self-esteem. The aim of this study is to develop clinical practice guidelines to inform intervention strategies to help patients and their carer to manage these difficulties. Materials and methods A three-stage project is being developed. Stage 1: A survey will be carried out to ascertain the needs of the client group, including gaps in local service provision and the impact of cognitive and psychological difficulties on everyday lives. Stage 2: Using data previously collected as well as new data, a detailed review will take place of specific cognitive difficulties and how these relate to everyday functions. Stage 3: A cognitive training programme will be developed as a guideline for practical clinical intervention. Results Data will be presented, showing the unmet need of people with hydrocephalus and spina bifida (N = 150, range of IQ's). Preliminary results of the new project will be presented and discussed. Conclusion It is not possible to provide a complete psychological support for individuals with hydrocephalus attending one London hospital clinic for their annual multi-disciplinary review. However, this project aims to bridge the theoretical/clinical gap we have previously identified in order to inform and guide their local services of the unmet needs of these clients, and to recommend appropriate interventions. This we anticipate will improve patients' quality of life

Neuropsychological profile of patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus and Alzheimer's disease

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Approaches to inform redevelopment of brownfield sites: an example from the Leeds area of the West Yorkshire coalfield, UK

Government-led regeneration schemes and policies encouraging the use of brownfield land present a challenge, particularly in coalfield areas. Coalfields have typically experienced multiple phases of development and can be susceptible to a suite of problematic ground conditions that may be rooted in the near-surface geology or result from anthropogenic activity. Such problems, related to the nature of void backfill, undermined and unstable ground and the presence of contaminated land in the near-surface, may deter investment in the very areas earmarked for redevelopment. An understanding of previous developments within coalfields is required to identify potential geological hazards, so that regeneration proposals include measures that address these issues. Public records of landfill and site investigations, and minerals exploration including opencast mine plans can reveal the distribution, thickness and high-level descriptions of fill materials, although the coverage of data typically precludes a comprehensive analysis of entire cities. The best way to show the spatial distribution of fill materials is currently as a two dimensional national/regional scale dataset. Depending on the distribution of data points, however, 3D modelling can be possible, which is much more detailed and accurate. Focusing on the heavily urbanised county of West Yorkshire in northern England, the assessment of opencast coal mining on the landscape and benefits of quantifying the impact are discussed. We demonstrate how certain types of publicly available data allow a greater understanding of the interaction between human activity and natural superficial and bedrock geology. If successful, this approach can help lessen the impact of delays and increased financial costs caused by unforeseen ground conditions

Falling head permeability tests on Till deposits from the Vale of Eden, England

This report describes permeability tests carried out on sixteen samples of glacial till obtained from boreholes drilled in the Vale of Eden area in Cumbria, England. The report outlines the testing procedure and presents the results of the permeability tests. Measured permeability values were variable and ranged from 10-5 to 10-10 m/s, Medium Low to Impermeable

Falling head permeability tests on Till deposits from the Vale of Eden, England - supplementary report including new data

This report describes permeability tests carried out on twenty three samples of glacial till obtained from boreholes drilled in the Vale of Eden area in Cumbria, England. The results of 134 initial tests are also documented in Internal Report IR/13/034 (ibid.). Further samples were obtained in September 2013 and results of an additional 76 tests on seven additional samples are reported here. The report outlines the testing procedure and presents the results of the permeability tests. The laboratory permeability values of till soils from the Moreland and Pow Focus Catchments ranged from 10-5 to 10-10 m/s, suggesting permeability is variable, with Medium Low to Impermeable soils

Coastal landslide monitoring at Aldbrough, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK.

The paper describes results to date of an ongoing monitoring study of coastal ‘soft cliff’ recession at the British Geological Survey (BGS)’s ‘Coastal Landslide Observatory’ (CLO) on the east coast of England at Aldbrough, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK. The cliffed site, part of the 50 km long Holderness coast, consists of glacial deposits, and is one of the most rapidly eroding coastlines in Europe. This rapid rate of erosion provides an ideal opportunity for observation and process understanding because it facilitates the collection of data over periods of time encompassing significant new landslide events at the same location. The results of two approaches are reported: firstly terrestrial LiDAR surveying (TLS) and secondly the installation of instrumented boreholes. The aim of the research is to combine these to investigate the role of landslides and their pre-conditioning factors and the influence of geology, geotechnics, topography and environmental factors on cliff recession. To date, an average recession rate of 1.8 m per year and a maximum rate of 3.4 m per year have been recorded for the site. The establishment of the CLO and its conceptual geological / geotechnical model are described in a related article (Hobbs et al. 2019a)

Slope dynamics project report : Holderness Coast - Aldbrough, survey & monitoring, 2001-2013

This report is a published product of an ongoing study by the British Geological Survey (BGS) of the coastal change at Aldbrough on the Holderness coast, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK. The test site at Aldbrough has been selected as one of the BGS Landslide Observatories because it is representative of the high rates of coastal recession along this stretch of the east coast. The Aldbrough Landslide Observatory is operated under the BGS ‘Slope Dynamics’ task within the BGS’s ‘Landslide’ project of the ‘Shallow Geohazards and Risk’ team. As well as providing new insights with respect to the volumetric rates of recession and the near surface processes, it is a focus for the trialling of new surface and subsurface monitoring technologies. The establishment of the Aldbrough observatory and the initial research findings are reported in a series of reports in addition to this report. These are: Hobbs, P.R.N., Jones, L.D., & Kirkham, M.P. (2015) Slope Dynamics project report: Holderness Coast – Aldbrough: Drilling & Instrumentation, 2012-2015. British Geological Survey, Internal Report No IR/15/001. Hobbs, P.R.N., Kirkham, M.P. & Morgan, D.J.R. (2016) Geotechnical laboratory testing of glacial deposits from Aldbrough, Phase 2 boreholes. British Geological Survey, Open Report No. OR/15/056. Whilst this report is focused on the survey and monitoring programme, it should be read in conjunction with the reports listed above, which provide further details on drilling and instrumentation and the geotechnical properties of the underlying geology. A series of reports will follow presenting the updated survey and monitoring reports, and their publication will be announced through the BGS project web page. Readers of these reports will probably also be interested in the context for this research, which can be found in: Hobbs, P.R.N., Pennington, C.V.L., Pearson, S.G., Jones, L.D., Foster, C., Lee, J.R., Gibson, A. (2008) Slope Dynamics Project Report: the Norfolk Coast (2000-2006). British Geological Survey, Open Report No. OR/08/018

Landslide nature and distribution on the Market Rasen 1:50k geological sheet

This report describes the extent and character of the landslides and the mass movement processes in the area covered by the 1:50 000 scale BGS map of Market Rasen (Sheet 102). The work includes the identification of seven new landslide records to be added to the National Landslide Database. The work has assisted the continuing study of landslides and mass movements in Great Britain

Refraction microtremor (ReMi) to determine the shear-wave velocity structure of the near surface and its application to aid detection of a backfilled mineshaft

Passive refraction microtremor (ReMi) surveys utilize standard field seismic-refraction recording equipment and linear geophone arrays to record ambient background noise owing to microtremors caused by natural and anthropogenic activities. The technique relies upon the detection of coherent phases of Rayleigh waves that have propagated along the axis of the geophone array, which is the same mode of propagation that causes ground roll on standard refraction surveys. Rayleigh-wave propagation is confined within one wavelength of the surface, causing dispersion because waves with longer wavelengths (lower frequencies) are controlled by ground stiffness and density properties at greater depths. Field records that include coherent modes of dispersive Rayleigh-wave propagation along the field array are processed using slowness (reciprocal of the phase velocity)–frequency transformations to extract the phase velocity–frequency dispersion curves. A series of dispersion curves are extracted by processing the field records of sub-groups including 6–8 geophones, from which 1D shear-wave velocity–depth profiles are constructed and attributed to the centre of each array sub-group. In this survey, nine overlapping sub-groups of eight geophones were selected along the whole field array of 24 geophones equi-spaced over 69 m. A 2D shear-wave velocity section was created by infilling a grid between each of the velocity–depth profiles using an anisotropic inverse distance weighting algorithm. Interpretation of the 2D section included the identification of: (1) reworked ground comprising colliery spoil and clay to around 5 m below ground level associated with shear-wave velocities from 100 to 700 m s−1; (2) deeper strata within the host formation associated with higher velocities that increased with depth to above 1000 m s−1 at depths below 10 m; (3) a backfilled mineshaft and a backfilled sandstone quarry at depths below 7 m associated with low-velocity perturbations within the background host velocity structure. Key recommendations from this case study include the use of low-frequency geophones to increase the depth of investigation and recording of high frequencies at reduced geophone spacings to increase near-surface resolution