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Biomolecular analysis of historical parchment legal documents is providing new insight into their production and use. Successful interpretation of this data is dependent on understanding if the location and date written on the document accurately reflect where the animal from which the parchment was produced was raised and when it died. Our analysis reveals that the location the deed concerns, or that of the stationer through whom it was sold, typically bears no relation to the animal’s origin, but that the date the agreement was signed was probably only a few months after the animal’s death.

Determine clinical-effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of subthreshold micropulse laser (SML), compared with standard laser (SL), for diabetic macular edema (DME) with central retinal thickness (CRT)400μ.Pragmatic, multicenter, allocation-concealed, double-masked, randomized, non-inferiority trial.Adults with400μ center-involved DME and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA)24 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters in one/both eyes.Randomisation 1:1 to 577nm SML or SL; retreatments were allowed. Rescue with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapies or steroids was permitted if10 ETDRS-letter-loss and/or CRT increased400μ.Primary: Mean change in BCVA in the study eye at 24 months (non-inferiority margin 5 ETDRS-letters). Secondary: mean change from baseline to month-24 in binocular BCVA; CRT and mean deviation (MD) of Humphrey 10-2 visual field in the study eye; percentage meeting driving standards; EuroQoL (EQ-5D-5L), National Eye Institute-Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ25), and Vision and Quality of Life Index (VisQoL) scores; cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained; adverse effects; number of laser and rescue treatments.DIAMONDS recruited fully (n=266); 87% SML and 86% SL had primary outcome data. Mean BCVA change from baseline to month-24 was -2.43 (Standard Deviation [SD] 8.20) and -0.45 (SD 6.72) in SML and SL, respectively. SML was deemed not only non-inferior but also equivalent to SL as the 95% confidence interval (CI) (-3.9 to -0.04) lay wholly within both upper and lower margins of the permitted maximum difference (5 ETDRS-letters). There was no statistically significant difference in binocular BCVA (0.32 ETDRS letters; 95% CI -0.99, 1.64; p = 0.63), CRT (-0.64 microns; 95% CI -14.25, 12.98; p = 0.93), MD (0.39 dB; 95% CI -0.23, 1.02; p = 0.21), meeting driving standards (% point difference 1.6, 95% CI -25.3, 28.5; p=0.91), adverse effects (Risk Ratio 0.28, 95% CI 0.06, 1.34; p=0.11), rescue treatments (% point difference -2.8, 95% CI -13.1, 7.5; p=0.59) or EQ-5D/VFQ-25/VisQoL scores. Number of laser treatments was higher in SML (0.48; 95% CI 0.18, 0.79; p = 0.002). Base-case analysis indicated no differences in costs or QALYs.SML was equivalent to SL, requiring slightly higher laser treatments.

A 1:1,000,000 map of the Irish Sea, within the Irish Economic Exclusion Zone, is presented highlighting the spatial distribution of potential geological and geotechnical constraints to offshore wind energy development. In this mapping exercise we incorporated existing multibeam echosounder bathymetric and backscatter data collected by the Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource programme. ArcGIS was used to interrogate the bathymetric data and produce maps for seabed morphological characteristics. Backscatter data and QTC Multiview derived sediment classification was used in conjunction with data from the literature to link sediment distribution with sediment transport pathways and to assess the possible impact on infrastructure. The result is a spatial constraints map, which may be used by developers, consultants and marine spatial planning authorities alike to help site projects and plan de-risking site investigations.

A new geotechno-stratigraphic model for Quaternary deposits in the Western Irish Sea Mud Belt area is presented. This area, located in the North Irish Sea, has been heavily influenced by the advance and retreat of the British and Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation and subsequent Holocene marine transgression. This study uses a synthesis of lithostratigraphy, geotechnical data (from in situ cone penetration testing) and seismic profiles to generate a stratigraphic framework describing the geometry, distribution and characteristics of Quaternary deposits in an area of the Western Irish Sea Mud Belt at increased resolution. Within a regional context, this stratigraphy is compared with other established offshore stratigraphies in the Irish Sea and terrestrial successions. Four stratigraphic units are identified consisting of a basal subglacial (lodgement) till (Unit 4) emplaced by the Irish Sea Ice Stream. Unit 4 overlies irregular bedrock and is overlain in turn by glaciomarine to glaciolacustrine, ice-proximal outwash and glaciomarine ice-proximal sand and sandy muds (Units 3 and 2 respectively; previously undifferentiated). A thick succession (up to 27 m) of Holocene marine muds (Unit 1) caps the sequence up to the contemporary seabed. Results show that these deposits, and their geotechnical properties, have significant implications for the anthropogenic use of the area, such as the development of offshore renewable energy infrastructure. Revealed are relatively thick (up to 30 m) weak, under-consolidated sediments at the surface and highly heterogeneous, often over-consolidated, sediments that have limited groundtruthing at depth. Furthermore, localised shallow gas is imaged on seismic profiles. The influence on the geotechnical properties of the sediments by this gas revealed no significant effect on shear strength values from cone penetration testing data, although it may have implications for the long-term behaviour of the sediments.

This paper investigates the estimation of foundation damping in a monopile supported offshore wind turbine. The soil-structure interaction is modelled using the commercial geotechnical Finite Element (FE) software, Plaxis 3D. This allows for a more rigorous consideration of the soil response and its effect on the overall dynamic behaviour of the system. A free vibration test is simulated by applying and removing a constant horizontal static load at the top of the tower. The structure starts free vibration when the load is removed. The free decay displacement response is measured at the point of loading. The well-known logarithmic decrement method is used for the estimation of overall damping from the free decay response. The damping is estimated at different time steps along the signal to provide an instantaneous damping. It is shown that the damping varies with the amplitude of the decaying displacement response.

In the absence of effective treatments, social distancing has been the only public health measure available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In the US, implementing this response has been left to state, county, and city officials, and many localities have issued some form of a stay-at-home order. Without existing tools and with limited resources, localities struggled to understand how their orders changed behavior. In response, several technology companies opened access to their users’ location data. As part of the COVID-19 Data Mobility Network, we obtained access to Facebook User data and developed four key metrics and visualizations to monitor various aspects of adherence to stay at home orders. These metrics were carefully incorporated into static and interactive visualizations for dissemination to local officials.All code is open source and freely available at https://github.com/ryanlayer/COvid19

We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver ("UWL") recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band (~60%) the system temperature is approximately 22K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser and signal-processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration and timing stability., submitted to PASA

To date, Ireland’s only operational offshore wind farm project is located on Arklow Bank; a sediment bank situated nearshore in shallow (up to 2mbsl) waters. Such bank structures are preferable for wind farm development due to their competent sediment composition, shallow waters and proximity to shore for cable routing. However, as proven at Arklow Bank, issues of scour and sediment mobility around fixed foundations and cabling can compromise infrastructure stability. These issues highlight the need for adequate ground model assessments of such banks to aid planning, design, construction and maintenance phases of wind farm development.The southern Irish Sea is characterised by a series of such NNE-SSW trending sediment banks, many of which are earmarked for further wind farm developments. These coast-parallel bedforms are located approximately 10km off the south-east coast of Ireland, in circa 20-40m water depth and rise to only a couple of metres below sea level. They exert a strong control on the tidal flow pathways along the coast and offer coastal protection [1]. The banks themselves are quasi-stable in their own environment, influencing local hydro- and morphodynamics in terms of sediment waves. For offshore sediment banks to develop two fundamental conditions must be present: (1) an adequate source of sediment and; (2) a hydrodynamic regime capable of moving sediment [2]. European continental shelf sediment bank origins generally fall into two broad categories [2]; a) those formed under present day hydrodynamic and sediment conditions, or b) relict features created during post LGM transgression during periods of rapid sea level rise and stronger tidal current velocities. Paleo-tidal models have been used to reconstruct post-glacial hydrodynamic conditions in support of the proposed view of a glaciomarine environment genesis of these large bedforms in the Irish Sea [3].This study will use previously collected high resolution multi-beam echo sounder (MBES) data from the Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource (INFOMAR) project in conjunction with newly obtained MBES, sub-bottom profiler, grab sample and vibro-core data to characterise; a) the stratigraphy of this highly dynamic and geologically complex region and b) sediment mobility on and around the sediment banks including their stability in the current hydrodynamic regime. Furthermore, this study will use this data to attempt to elucidate the origin of these sediment banks and their evolution through geological time. Data processed and analysed from this study will be used as an input and as validation for a coupled hydrodynamic, spectral wave and sediment transport 2D numerical model developed using MIKE 21 software. ReferencesWilliams, J.J., MacDonald, N.J., O’Connor, B.A., Pan, S., 2000. Offshore sand bank dynamics. Journal of Marine Systems, 24, 153-173. Dyer, K.R., Huntley, D.A., 1999. The origin, classification and modelling of sandbanks and ridges. Continental Shelf Research, 19, 1285–1330. Uehara., K., Scourse, J.D., Horsburgh, K.J, Lambeck, K., Purcell, A.P., 2006. Tidal evolution of the northwest European shelf seas from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111(9).

Today, an important challenge for offshore wind energy is to design efficient and reliable offshore wind turbines (OWTs). The overall damping of OWTs plays an important role in the design process as it limits the amplitude of the OWT dynamic response at frequencies near resonance. Therefore, an accurate estimation of OWTs damping is necessary for the efficient design of these systems. The foundation damping is one of the main sources overall turbine damping and is the least well understood. This paper presents a critical review of recently published studies on foundation damping for OWTs on monopiles and explains how soil damping contributes to the total damping of OWTs. It also reviews the main methods that have been used for the estimation of foundation damping in numerical and experimental studies. In addition, the importance of damping to the OWTs fatigue life is discussed. Finally, a discussion is provided on the challenges to be overcome and recommendations for the accurate estimation of foundation damping.

This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with “Amoco Corporation” (UVA-F-1262). One-half of the class prepares only the Amoco case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.

Advancements in receiver technology have been crucial for probing radio-frequency signals from distant sources. The survey speed of a radio telescope represents a critical constraint on astronomical observations and can be expressed in broad terms as the product of bandwidth, field of view and squared sensitivity [1]. Recent advances in digital signal processing allow receivers to provide greater bandwidth and field of view, improving survey speed for any given sensitivity. This paper discusses the fundamental radio telescope design principles, recent design challenges and progress made towards realizing a single feed L-S band receiver system covering from 704 MHz to 4032 MHz. The system design with emphasis on warm (non-cryogenic) electronics, impact of external Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) on the receiver and the commissioning results of the system on the 64m Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia are presented in this paper.

Radio astronomy receiver development is focusing on increasing the field of view and bandwidth in tandem with the exponential increase in data volumes permitted by signal processing. We present recent receiver and signal processing developments from CSIRO and FAST.

We present three recent receiver designs and the challenges in their development: a phased array feed (PAF), a multibeam system for FAST and an “ultra-wideband” feed for the Parkes telescope. A significant driver in the development of these receivers is the radio astronomy focus on surveys. In general terms

The aim of this study was to examine the extent of recanting (inconsistencies in reporting of lifetime alcohol use) and its impact on the assessment of primary outcomes within a large-scale alcohol prevention trial. One hundred and five post-primary schools in were randomised to receive either the intervention or education as normal. Participants (N = 12,738) were secondary school students in year 8/S1 (mean age 12.5) at baseline. Self-report questionnaires were administered at baseline (T0) and at T1 (+ 12 months post-baseline), T2 (+ 24 months) and T3 (+ 33 months). The primary outcomes were (i) heavy episodic drinking (consumption of ≥ 6 units in a single episode in the previous 30 days for males and ≥ 4.5 units for females) assessed at T3 and (ii) the number of alcohol-related harms experienced in the last 6 months assessed at T3. Recanting was defined as a negative report of lifetime alcohol consumption that contradicted a prior positive report. Between T1 and T3, 9.9% of students recanted earlier alcohol consumption. Recanting ranged from 4.5 to 5.3% across individual data sweeps. While recanting was significantly associated (negatively) with both primary outcomes, the difference in the rate of recanting across trial arms was small, and adjusting for recanting within the primary outcome models did not impact on the primary outcome effects. Males were observed to recant at a greater rate than females, with a borderline small-sized effect (V = .09). While differential rates of recanting have the potential to undermine the analysis of prevention trial outcomes, recanting is easy to identify and control for within trial primary outcome analyses. Adjusting for recanting should be considered as an additional sensitivity test within prevention trials.Trial Registration: ISRCTN47028486 ( http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN47028486 ). The date of trial registration was 23/09/2011, and school recruitment began 01/11/2011.

For the majority of offshore jackets, driven piles are the preferred foundation solution; however difficult soil conditions may preclude conventional pile driving. In such circumstances, methods of grouting a pile into an oversized hole or drilling and underreaming for a cast-in-place pile have received considerable attention. Drilled-and-grouted (D&G) piles are normally used in challenging geologies, such as very dense sands, very stiff clays and in calcareous deposits. However, D&G piles are normally time-consuming to construct. To address this challenge, the MIDOS pile system, which minimizes the number of offshore operations, was created and subjected to a suite of field tests. Cyclic tests were conducted on a pile installed in a silica sand deposit, where over 1000 loading cycles in between 1000 kN and 5000 kN (in tension) were applied. The evaluation of the cyclic test data clearly shows that the serviceability of the pile is unaffected by the cyclic loads. A feasibility study of the MIDOS pile in carbonate sands (Dog's Bay sand) was also explored in a laboratory test program. Carbonate sands are particularly relevant for drilled foundation solutions as the shaft friction of driven piles is typically very low due to the high radial contraction of such material adjacent to the pile shaft during impact driving. A finite element model (FEM) developed for this calcareous sand was used to compare the lab test results. The outcome of the laboratory testing program demonstrated that the MIDOS pile would have similar geotechnical and structural properties in both calcareous and siliceous deposits, suggesting that this novel offshore foundation type is suitable for a range of sand conditions.

A reliable determination of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in environmental samples is necessary to comply with the radiation protection and environmental regulations. This paper presents the results of the characterisation of massic activities of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in soil and water matrices produced as test items to conduct the proficiency test ERAD-PT-2013. The proficiency test ERAD-PT-2013 was designed to investigate analytical performance in analysing both natural and anthropogenic radionuclides, to assist laboratories to identify analytical problems, and to improve the quality of measurement results. The proficiency test items, their spectral interferences and the activity concentration levels of the analytes were designed in a way to enable identification of potential analytical problems. Methodologies, data evaluation approach and evaluation of proficiency test results for each radionuclide are described and discussed.

This paper presents the results of field tests performed to investigate the field behaviour of winged-monopile foundations. The principle of the winged monopile is that steel plates are attached to a standard monopile (in the area near the ground or seabed surface) to increase the foundation stiffness and lateral resistance. The experimental tests described in this paper consisted of load tested driven instrumented prototype scale standard (reference) monopiles and piles with varying wing geometries at two sand sites. The overall load–displacement performance and mobilised bending moment profiles were examined to assess the potential benefits of adding wings to monopiles. Experimental p–y curves were developed for the piles to analyse how the presence of wings influenced the soil–structure interaction of the foundation system. The use of simplified p–y methods for predicting the winged-pile response was assessed. The experiments proved that the addition of wings greatly improved the lateral resistance and stiffness of the piles; however, the results suggest that conventional p–y curve methods are limited as they cannot account for the effect that the enhanced stresses mobilised by the wings have on the strength and stiffness response of the pile below the wing location.

At low confining stresses, calcareous sands exhibit many similar characteristics to silica sand deposits; however, at high stresses their shearing behaviour is quite different, exhibiting strong contraction due to grain crushing. Therefore, calcareous deposits can create significant challenges for driven pile foundations where the high installation energy causes particle damage, radial contraction and very low pile shaft friction. Drilled-and-grouted piles are often preferred in calcareous conditions. As an alternative to conventional foundation solutions, a novel pile has been developed based on the mixed-in-place technology. Two carbonate sands, the Dog's Bay foramol carbonate sand and the Ballyconneely sand, which is a calcitic carbonate algal sand, have been tested in the laboratory to investigate the geotechnical behaviour of these two sediments, which have different genesis and mechanical characteristics. The sands were mixed with concrete grout at cement-to-sand ratios of 15, 25 and 35%, and at a water-to-cement ratio of 0·4 to simulate the mixed-in-place pile installation technique. The results show similar geotechnical and structural performance for both sands.

The behaviour of calcareous (or carbonate) soils often presents significant foundation challenges regarding the construction of offshore hydrocarbon facilities. The presence of carbonate deposits at many strategic petrochemical reserves implies the necessity to study the behaviour of these soils. Driven piles, normally used as deep foundation elements for oil and gas platforms are normally avoided in these geological conditions as the impact operations lead to a degradation of the sand properties decreasing the shaft capacities. Drilled-and-grouted (D&G) piles overcome many of the technical limitations associated with impact piling in carbonate deposits, however D&G piles are both expensive and time consuming to construct. A novel mixed-in-place pile has been developed that provides a technically and economically efficient solution for carbonate soils. This technology minimizes the number of offshore operations and is therefore significantly quicker than D&G piles and therefore more cost effective. Several laboratory tests and in situ tests have been performed to assess its behaviour in both silica and carbonate sands. This research uses the results of recent laboratory experiments on the mixed-in-place pile on both silica and calcareous sands to develop a Finite Element Model (FEM) of full scale piles to test their potential bearing capacities for oil and gas platforms.

Facebook Disaster Maps (FBDM) is the first platform providing analysis-ready population change products derived from crowdsourced data targeting disaster relief practices. We evaluate the representativeness of FBDM data using the Mann-Kendall test and emerging hot and cold spots in an anomaly analysis to reveal the trend, magnitude, and agglommeration of population displacement during the Mendocino Complex and Woolsey fires in California, USA. Our results show that the distribution of FBDM pre-crisis users fits well with the total population from different sources. Due to usage habits, the elder population is underrepresented in FBDM data. During the two mega-fires in California, FBDM data effectively captured the temporal change of population arising from the placing and lifting of evacuation orders. Coupled with monotonic trends, the fall and rise of cold and hot spots of population revealed the areas with the greatest population drop and potential places to house the displaced residents. A comparison between the Mendocino Complex and Woolsey fires indicates that a densely populated region can be evacuated faster than a scarcely populated one, possibly due to the better access to transportation. In sparsely populated fire-prone areas, resources should be prioritized to move people to shelters as the displaced residents do not have many alternative options, while their counterparts in densely populated areas can utilize their social connections to seek temporary stay at nearby locations during an evacuation. Integrated with an assessment on underrepresented communities, FBDM data and the derivatives can provide much needed information of near real-time population displacement for crisis response and disaster relief. As applications and data generation mature, FBDM will harness crowdsourced data and aid first responder decision-making., 16 pages with supplemental information

Offshore pile driving is a high-risk activity as delays can be financially punitive. Experience of pile driving for offshore jacket structures where pile diameters are typically < 2 m has led to the development of empirical pile driveability models with proven predictive capability. The application of these methods to larger diameter piles is uncertain. A major component of driveability models involves estimating the static resistance to driving, SRD, a parameter analogous to pile axial capacity. Recent research on axial capacity design has led to improved models that use Cone Penetration Test, CPT data to estimate pile capacity and include for the effects of friction fatigue and soil plugging. The applicability of these methods to estimating pile driveability for larger diameter piles is of interest. In this paper, recent CPT based axial capacity approaches, modified for mobilised base resistance and ageing, are applied to estimating driveability of 4.2 m diameter piles. A database of pile installation records from North sea installations are used to benchmark the methods. Accounting for factors such as pile ageing and the relatively low displacement mobilised during individual hammer blows improves the quality of prediction of pile driveability for the conditions evaluated in this study.

Over the past 5 years, a substantial research effort aimed at optimising the design of offshore wind turbines has led to significant reductions in the projected cost of developing offshore wind. Optimising the geotechnical design of these structures, through modern analysis techniques such as 3D Finite Element Modelling (FEM), has played a key role in helping to reduce costs. This paper presents a methodology for accurately modelling monopile behaviour using Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data to calibrate the non-linear stress dependent Hardening Soil (HS) model. The methodology is validated by comparing the modelled behaviour to field tests on a range of pile geometries. The paper also demonstrates how the soil-pile reaction response curves can be extracted from the FE model by isolating the stresses on each element of the pile. The contribution of each component to the overall lateral resistance is shown to vary with the pile geometry and is examined using the extracted soil reaction curves.

SAFE-10-T (Safety of Transport Infrastructure on the TEN-T Network) is a project funded by the European Union according to the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. The SAFE-10-T project is developing a global risk framework that will form the basis of an online Decision Support Tool (DST) to assist in decision-making regarding the management of transport infrastructure along the European TEN-T network. The DST is limited to road, rail and inland waterway transport infrastructure and will consider the multi-modality of these networks in terms of transport disruption due to asset failures. End-users will be able to assess the impact of interventions for infrastructure assets, including bridges, tunnels and earthworks and novel machine learning applications are being developed both at asset and network levels to provide real-time safety assessments for critical infrastructure assets. The targeted end-users are government authorities and infrastructure owners who will be able to use the outputs of the SAFE-10-T project to make strategic investment decisions regarding transport infrastructure. This paper provides an overview of the project, which commenced in May 2017. Further information is available at www.safe10tproject.eu.

The Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) has ambitious goals including deep neutral hydrogen surveys and searching for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The aperture of the main reflector is 500 m in diameter. The illuminated section of this reflector, which is 300 m in diameter, is deformed into a parabola. CSIRO has designed a multi-beam, dual polarized, cryostat-cooled receiver system which will be the largest receiver system in the telescope. The system contains 38 independent receiver chains that are optimized to operate in L-band with superior performance. This paper discusses the design challenges, build and the performance of the receiver system, particularly from Low Noise amplifier (LNA) to Digitizer.