Quantifying Fluvial Topography Using UAS Imagery and SfM-Photogrammetry.

The measurement and monitoring of fluvial topography at high spatial and temporal resolutions is in increasing demand for a range of river science and management applications, including change detection, hydraulic models, habitat assessments, river restorations and sediment budgets. Existing approaches are yet to provide a single technique for rapidly quantifying fluvial topography in both exposed and submerged areas, with high spatial resolution, reach-scale continuous coverage, high accuracy and reasonable cost. In this paper, we explore the potential of using imagery acquired from a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) and processed using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry for filling this gap. We use a rotary winged hexacopter known as the Draganflyer X6, a consumer grade digital camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3) and the commercially available PhotoScan Pro SfM software (Agisoft LLC). We test the approach on three contrasting river systems; a shallow margin of the San Pedro River in the Valdivia region of south-central Chile, the lowland River Arrow in Warwickshire, UK, and the upland Coledale Beck in Cumbria, UK. Digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthophotos of hyperspatial resolution (0.01-0.02m) are produced. Mean elevation errors are found to vary somewhat between sites, dependent on vegetation coverage and the spatial arrangement of ground control points (GCPs) used to georeference the data. Mean errors are in the range 4-44mm for exposed areas and 17-89mm for submerged areas. Errors in submerged areas can be improved to 4-56mm with the application of a simple refraction correction procedure. Multiple surveys of the River Arrow site show consistently high quality results, indicating the repeatability of the approach. This work therefore demonstrates the potential of a UAS-SfM approach for quantifying fluvial topography

Quantifying submerged fluvial topography using hyperspatial resolution UAS imagery and structure from motion photogrammetry

Quantifying the topography of rivers and their associated bedforms has been a fundamental concern of fluvial geomorphology for decades. Such data, acquired at high temporal and spatial resolutions, are increasingly in demand for process oriented investigations of flow hydraulics, sediment dynamics and in-stream habitat. In these riverine environments, the most challenging region for topographic measurement is the wetted, submerged channel. Generally, dry bed topography and submerged bathymetry are measured using different methods and technology. This adds to the costs, logistical challenges and data processing requirements of comprehensive river surveys. However, some technologies are capable of measuring the submerged topography. Through-water photogrammetry and bathymetric LiDAR are capable of reasonably accurate measurements of channel beds in clear water. Whilst the cost of bathymetric LiDAR remains high and its resolution relatively coarse, the recent developments in photogrammetry using Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithms promise a fundamental shift in the accessibility of topographic data for a wide range of settings. Here we present results demonstrating the potential of so called SfM-photogrammetry for quantifying both exposed and submerged fluvial topography at the mesohabitat scale. We show that imagery acquired from a rotary-winged Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) can be processed in order to produce digital elevation models (DEMs) with hyperspatial resolutions (c. 0.02m) for two different river systems over channel lengths of 50- 100m. Errors in submerged areas range from 0.016m to 0.089m, which can be reduced to between 0.008m and 0.053m with the application of a simple refraction correction. This work therefore demonstrates the potential of UAS platforms and SfM-photogrammetry as a single technique for surveying fluvial topography at the mesoscale (defined as lengths of channel from c.10m to a few hundred metres)

The accuracy and reliability of traditional surface flow type mapping: Is it time for a new method of characterizing physical river habitat?

Surface flow types (SFTs) are advocated as ecologically relevant hydraulic units, often mapped visually from the bankside to characterize rapidly the physical habitat of rivers. SFT mapping is simple, non-invasive and cost-efficient. However, it is also qualitative, subjective and plagued by difficulties in recording accurately the spatial extent of SFT units. Quantitative validation of the underlying physical habitat parameters is often lacking and does not consistently differentiate between SFTs. Here, we investigate explicitly the accuracy, reliability and statistical separability of traditionally mapped SFTs as indicators of physical habitat, using independent, hydraulic and topographic data collected during three surveys of a c. 50 m reach of the River Arrow, Warwickshire, England. We also explore the potential of a novel remote sensing approach, comprising a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) and structure-from-motion photogrammetry (SfM), as an alternative method of physical habitat characterization. Our key findings indicate that SFT mapping accuracy is highly variable, with overall mapping accuracy not exceeding 74%. Results from analysis of similarity tests found that strong differences did not exist between all SFT pairs. This leads us to question the suitability of SFTs for characterizing physical habitat for river science and management applications. In contrast, the sUAS–SfM approach provided high resolution, spatially continuous, spatially explicit, quantitative measurements of water depth and point cloud roughness at the microscale (spatial scales ≤1 m). Such data are acquired rapidly, inexpensively and provide new opportunities for examining the heterogeneity of physical habitat over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Whilst continued refinement of the sUAS–SfM approach is required, we propose that this method offers an opportunity to move away from broad, mesoscale classifications of physical habitat (spatial scales 10–100 m) and towards continuous, quantitative measurements of the continuum of hydraulic and geomorphic conditions, which actually exists at the microscale

Twelve tips for teaching brief motivational interviewing to medical students

Background: Shifting from paternalistic to patient-centred doctor-patient relationships has seen a growing number of medical programs incorporate brief motivational interviewing training in their curriculum. Some medical educators, however, are unsure of precisely what, when, and how to incorporate such training. Aims: This article provides educators with 12 tips for teaching brief motivational interviewing to medical students, premised on evidence-based pedagogy. Methods: Tips were drawn from the literature and authors’ own experiences. Results: The 12 tips are: (1) Set clear learning objectives, (2) Select experienced educators, (3) Provide theoretical perspectives, (4) Share the evidence base, (5) Outline the “spirit”, principles, and sequence, (6) Show students what it looks like, (7) Give students a scaffold to follow, (8) Provide opportunities for skill practice, (9) Involve clinical students in teaching, (10) Use varied formative and summative assessments, (11) Integrate and maintain, and (12) Reflect and evaluate. Conclusions: We describe what to include and why, and outline when and how to teach the essential components of brief motivational interviewing knowledge and skills in a medical curriculum

The U&I study: study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial of a pre-cognitive behavioural therapy digital ‘informed choice’ intervention to improve attitudes towards uptake and implementation of CBT for psychosis

Background: At least 40% of people with psychosis have persistent distressing symptoms despite optimal medication treatment. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is the only NICE recommended individual therapy for psychosis, with effects on symptoms, distress and quality of life. Yet fewer than 20% of service-users receive it and 94% of trusts struggle to provide it. Of those offered it, 22-43% refuse or do not attend. We have developed a new pre-CBTp informed choice intervention to address knowledge and attitudes that influence uptake and implementation and now want to test it in a feasibility trial. Methods: The design is a 2-arm, feasibility RCT, with 1:1 randomisation, stratified by participant group and site. Participants are 40 psychosis patients and 40 clinicians, who are ambivalent towards uptake or implementation of CBTp. Sites are community and inpatient services in Sussex and London. The intervention is a pre-CBT digital psychoeducation intervention designed to address identified knowledge and attitudinal barriers to uptake and implementation of CBTp, incorporating behaviour change mechanisms, and supported by animated introductory, patient and clinician stories. The comparator is the NHS choices website for CBT. The primary aim is to assess clinical feasibility (recruitment, randomization, acceptability, use, delivery, outcome measurement, retention). A secondary aim is a preliminary evaluation of efficacy. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow up (blind to treatment arm). The primary efficacy outcome is likelihood of offering/taking up CBTp. Secondary outcomes include knowledge and attitudes towards CBTp; illness perceptions; empowerment; psychological wellbeing (patients only); CBTp implementation (clinicians only). Use of the intervention and CBT behaviours during the follow-up period will be recorded, and captured in a feedback questionnaire. Use, acceptability and experience of outcome assessment will be explored in qualitative interviews with participants (n = 6 per group). The efficacy evaluation will report descriptive data, key model parameters and 95% Highest Probability Density intervals in a Bayesian growth model. Discussion: This is the first feasibility trial of a digital ‘informed choice’ decision aid for the implementation of CBTp. If the trial proves feasible and demonstrates preliminary evidence of efficacy, a large multi-site trial will be warranted

Sustainable futures over the next decade are rooted in soil science

Funding information: Dutch Knowledge Base Program; European Commission, Grant/Award Number: NEW 810; Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Grant/Award Numbers: 774378, 869625; Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, Grant/Award Number: 2019002820004; Natural Environment Research Council, Grant/Award Number: NE/R016429/1; Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Grant/Award Number: 2017-00608; UK Research and Innovation, Grant/Award Number: NE/P019455/1Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Role of human nucleoside transporters in the cellular uptake of two inhibitors of IMP dehydrogenase, tiazofurin and benzamide

Further studies are warranted to determine if this finding can be generalized to other cell types