ENU00216 Impact mag_AW_1207.indd

36 Pages·2017·56.13 MB·English

I
M
EARTHQUAKES
P Saving lives with
sand and rubber.
P04
Find out more about how our research is
changing lives locally and globally:
A
napier.ac.uk/impact
C
T
P12 Challenging definitions of PTSD
P23 Influencing Police Scotland’s stop and search policy
the hypothetical
P30 Innovative solutions are making Scotland’s roads safer
Edinburgh Napier University is a registered charity. Reg No. SC018373 PUTTING RESEARCH TO WORK
ENU00216 Impact mag_Cover_1207.indd 1-2 01/09/2017 14:17
RESEARCH DEGREES AT
the hypothetical EDINBURGH NAPIER UNIVERSITY
PUTTING RESEARCH TO WORK
WELCOME
JOIN A HEALTHY
ACCOUNTING INJURY & SPORTS MEDICINE
DOCTORAL COMMUNITY
ACOUSTICS INTERACTION DESIGN
AND BENEFIT FROM: AGEING INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS
APPLIED COGNITION & SIMULATION
ART & DESIGN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
• highly skilled supervision teams tailored to
AUTOMATION INTERNET OF THINGS
your specific project and development needs;
BANKING JOURNALISM
• regular contact with subject experts BIODIVERSITY & CONSERVATION LANGUAGES
in a supportive environment; BIOFUELS LAW
From the future of refugee treatments. We also look
BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
housing to lighting up at whether data can help • developmental feedback; CANCER & DRUG DESIGN LEARNING DISABILITIES
Scotland’s historic capital keep the infirm safe at home • personalised and accredited training CARBON EMISSIONS LITERATURE
and how cutting-edge interactive and development programmes; CIVIL ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
city, at Edinburgh Napier
technology can improve the • award-winning candidate support from COACHING MARKETING
University our research CRIMINOLOGY MATERIALS
lives of children in hospital. University professional and research services.
CYBER SECURITY MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH
shapes the world around
DATA LINKAGE MENTAL CAPACITY
Our researchers are curious OUR RESEARCH DEGREES
us, improving lives locally DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE MENTAL HEALTH
about the world around them,
and globally. constantly questioning and DOCTORATE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (DBA) DECIGOINTAOLM FIOC RDEENVSEILCOSPMENT MMIULSITICA RY STUDIES
always looking for answers. Normally taken over three years part-time HIGHER EDUCATION NETWORKS
In this issue of Impact, we
Can an Airbnb-style approach and aimed at business managers and leaders, EGOVERNMENT NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE
highlight just some of the
boost tourism in the Himalayas? consultants and other professionals including EHEALTH OFFSITE CONSTRUCTION
research our academics are academics, the Doctorate of Business EMPLOYABILITY OPTIMISATION & LEARNING
Will smart energy meters really
involved in, including our cover Administration (DBA) offers an opportunity EMPLOYMENT PEDAGOGY
story on an innovative project save us money and our planet? to gain a professional doctorate, the highest ENERGY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Within these pages, we cover level of professional qualification available ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY PHYSICAL HEALTH RECOVERY
that could save countless lives
these topics and many more. in business and management. ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY POLLUTANTS
in earthquake-prone parts
EVOLUTIONARY SWARM ROBOTICS PUBLIC HEALTH
PHD
of the world. Awarded on the successful completion of FAMILIES & RELATIONSHIPS PUBLISHING
a programme of supervised research that will FESTIVALS & EVENTS REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Closer to home, we’re making contribute new knowledge to your field. You FILM & TELEVISION SENSORS
Scotland’s roads safer and will disseminate your findings by means of peer FINANCE SMART CITIES
influencing policy around One magazine reviewed output and thesis. Final assessment FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY SMART MOBILITY
the controversial stop and can never convey all consists of your thesis (of up to 100,000 words) FREIGHT SOCIAL INFORMATICS
and viva voce (an oral examination). Throughout GEOPOLITICS SOCIAL JUSTICE
search procedure. the community-enhancing your PhD journey, you will be supported with GOVERNANCE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS
research going on in the a programme of research training enabling you HEALTHY TRANSPORT SPORTS COACHING
In health, many people are
University. So if you’d to develop transferable skills for your future. HOSPITALITY SPORTS SCIENCES
familiar with the debilitating like to find out more, HUMAN RESOURCES SURVEYS & QUESTIONNAIRES
effects of Post-Traumatic Stress contact us directly at Edinburgh Napier is currently interested in HUMAN RIGHTS TIMBER ENGINEERING
receiving PhD applications in any of the
Disorder but world-leading [email protected] IMMUNOLOGY & INFECTION TOURISM
subject areas listed opposite.
research here is set to alter the INFORMATION SCIENCE TRANSPORT POLICY
For more information on the application process INFORMATION SOCIETY USER EXPERIENCE (UX)
classifications of the condition
and to browse our research staff profiles INFORMATION VISUALISATION WOOD SCIENCE
to enable more effective
visit www.napier.ac.uk/research
ENU00216 Impact mag_Cover_1207.indd 3-4 01/09/2017 14:17
Inside
Impact
P04 From cycle paths
to seismic maths
P08 Using Big Data to protect
the elderly
P12 Challenging definitions
of traumatic stress
P14 Improving the lives
of Brazil’s fishermen
P18 Designing housing
for refugees
P23 Influencing stop
and search policy
P24 Optical sensors in the
sewers of Sydney
P25 Smart meters and
consumer behaviour
P26 Shining a spotlight
on Edinburgh’s past
P30 Designs to make Reinventing the
Scotland’s roads safer Scottish textile industry
P33 Databike and the benefits P20
to cyclists
P34 Making rehabilitation
fun for children
P28
Airbnb-style tourism in the Himalayas
P10
The expertise underpinning
Scotland’s tallest
Can fitness trackers
timber building
motivate cardiac patients?
P16
Editor: Ross Burns | Written and produced by Marketing
& Communications, Edinburgh Napier University, Sighthill
campus, Sighthill Court, Edinburgh, EH11 4BN
| [email protected]
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Civil engineering
FROM CYCLE PATHS
TO SEISMIC MATHS
Nepal was
devastated by an
4
earthquake in 2015
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Scotland may not be a hotbed
of seismic activity but Edinburgh
Napier is at the epicentre of
innovative research that could
save lives in earthquake-affected
parts of the world. And it all
started with cycle paths
In April 2015, Nepal was struck by an earthquake which killed 9,000
people. It also destroyed many of the country’s historic structures,
including the 16th-century Kasthamandap temple after which the
capital city Kathmandu is named. Now researchers at Edinburgh Napier
are working on an innovative method of retrofitting existing buildings
and monuments to protect them from future earthquakes – and the
genesis of the project can be traced back to work at the Mountain Bike Dr John McDougall
Centre of Scotland.
Dr John McDougall, Director of Research for the School of Engineering the more it became apparent that this
& the Built Environment, who is leading this project, explains: could have some significant application in
“We were looking at the use of shredded rubber to improve the resilience managing the dynamic properties of the
of the mountain bike trails and the more we worked on the project, ground to cope with seismic disturbances.
“It’s quite a small step for us but at a public
level I can see that it’s a huge leap from
Glentress mountain biking to somewhere
on the tectonic margins of the earth where
buildings are falling down and people are
dying in large numbers.”
Up until now, work in this area has focused
on protecting new-build structures
but John and PhD student Juan Bernal-
Sanchez, together with geotechnical
engineering colleagues Dr Daniel Barreto,
Dr Marina Miranda and Dr Katerina
Marinelli, believe they are developing a
novel way of installing a shredded rubber
and sand mixture that will allow existing
structures to be protected.
Story continues
The shredded rubber and sand mixture can be retrofitted to protect existing buildings
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Juan says:
“The UK is producing 40 million
tons of old tyres every year. You
cannot put them in landfill so you
have to do something with this
rubber and many companies are
trying to come up with new uses,
such as backfill for retaining
walls. One of the other applications
could be a seismic isolator.”
Juan Bernal-Sanchez
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John says: “Doing some numerical analysis,
we have seen that we can change
“It’s really exciting because I’ve never
the natural frequency of the soil,
before been involved in a project
moving it away from the frequency
where there is such a significant life-
of the earthquake. It’s not just
saving dimension to it. We might be
about damping the vibration or the
a little way from it just yet, but there acceleration but also moving it away HOW IT WORKS
is the potential for something that is
from the frequency that’s going to
environmentally friendly, sustainable, Dr John McDougall explains that
affect the structure,” says Juan.
affordable in countries where it their innovative earthquake
matters, and has the potential Work is set to continue in the damping technology can be
explained using the example
to save historic buildings and lives.” laboratory, including experiments
of garden swing.
on large shaking tables, and the team
While famous skyscrapers tend to
hope to have a field test of their “The solution we’re developing can be
have built-in earthquake protection visualised in the motion of a garden
installation method in the ground
and are designed to sway slightly swing. An earthquake creates cyclic
within three years.
above ground, smaller high-rises motions in the ground – like a garden
swing oscillating back and forth.
and historic buildings are relatively “We can measure the dynamic
There are two ways you can stop
rigid and still experience movement properties of the ground through tests
a swing: abruptly or gently.
below ground. If the agitation of the and we can assume something about
An immovable object in the path
earthquake is in sympathy with the the natural frequency of the buildings
of a swing will bring it to an abrupt
natural properties of the ground from their size and what they’re made
stop. And with inevitable damage
then they accentuate each other, from, for example timber, concrete to the swing and rider as a result
which causes a slightly more forceful or masonry. From those, we can of the instantaneous deceleration.
shaking or vibration at the bottom ascertain meaningful, credible values It is sudden accelerations and
decelerations of ground motions that
of the building known as resonance. that point you in a certain direction
are responsible for the damage to
If the natural frequency of the in terms of the installation and the
buildings caused by earthquakes.
ground does not match that of rubber-sand mixture you’d need to
If you want to stop the swing gently,
the earthquake then they’re not offset the potential damage from
bring your hands to move with the
working together and instead offset an earthquake.”
swing, take hold and gradually
each other. decelerate the swing. You use your
flexibility and mass to absorb gently
the energy of the oscillating swing
and bring it comfortably to rest. By
“It’s really exciting because I’ve never before the introduction of rubber shreds, we
are changing the dynamic properties
been involved in a project where there is such
of the ground, enabling it to absorb
the energy of ground motions and so
a significant life-saving dimension to it.”
minimise their impact on buildings.“
DR JOHN MCDOUGALL
Interested
in this project?
Dr John McDougall
School of Engineering
& the Built Environment
[email protected]
Watch our video about this project at
www.napier.ac.uk/impact
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eHealth
EFRAIL: USING DATA TO
ASSIST IN-HOME CARE
Our researchers are seeking
to apply the latest Big Data techniques
to a specific health problem
for the elderly – frailty
The UK has a problem. It’s getting of physical, cognitive and functional
older as Baby Boomers age. This decline. This often results in health
demographic bubble will put problems among the ageing population.
a significant strain on the NHS and
Mitigating the problems associated
other support services. Healthcare
with frailty is an important objective.
providers are preparing for the crunch.
Delayed hospital discharges are Adrian Smales
Can data help solve the problem? a major health and social care issue
costing the NHS up to £900m a year.
The School of Computing’s of the healthcare needs traditionally
Adrian Smales thinks it can and Part of the solution is to keep people associated with ageing. There are
is demonstrating this through out of hospital altogether and that many factors associated with frailty
his eFrail project, funded by the means preventative care. A recent and risk of falling, such as low grip
Digital Health Institute. Audit Scotland report on ‘Social strength, muscle mass, hydration
work in Scotland’ highlighted that levels, low heart rate, and heart rate
Care in the home
prevention must be an integral part variability. These can be monitored
Frailty is a common multidimensional of Councils’ long-term strategies. and measured at home using the
health and social care challenge latest wearable technologies,
associated with an increased risk That’s not controversial because even without the supervision
most people prefer to stay in their
of medical professionals.
own home in retirement. The problem
DELAYED
is how to ensure that people stay He says: “Through a knowledge
HOSPITAL
healthy at home and avoid typical transfer partnership, we are
DISCHARGES accidents such as falling, all while attempting to identify how
£900M reducing overall healthcare costs. to use the measurement of these
risk factors via wearable tracking
Tracking health data
technology to intervene early and
As part of the eFrail project, Adrian prevent falls from occurring in
is working with CM2000, a care the first place. The purpose of the
COST TO management company, to help partnership is to develop and hone
NHS PER keep people in their own homes predictive techniques to help identify
YEAR and at the same time reduce some those at risk.”
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Big Data and Cyber security
preventative health care
Analytics modelling, innovative POWERHACK
wearable technology, and social care
data has led to faster preventative
support and better self-management
in the home to reduce demand
Can your device be hacked
on care services.
by tapping its power supply?
This data helps to highlight potential
risks to enable faster preventative
support. It also empowers people to
take better care of themselves which
Power, sound, and heat output could potentially
can relieve pressure on care services.
be used to compromise everything from your
Better care at a lower cost while smartphone to your smart fridge as the rapid
allowing people to stay in their own expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) opens the door
home could address the key issues to new cyber-security threats.
posed by an aging population. Adrian
With hardware security becoming a major concern,
says: “We have a long-term vision
Dr Owen Lo and researchers at Keysight Technologies
of using data to detect the early signs
have revealed that hackers may be able to identify
of illness, and apply new methods
a device’s ‘secret key’ by observing power output
that should lead to improved care
and use it to plunder private data.
and better outcomes for all.”
eFrail is applying advanced data
modelling techniques to lower “Unless defensive measures are
the risks of remaining at home
in retirement. It’s a win-win taken, the Internet of Th ings could
situation: happier, healthier people
expose huge vulnerabilities to our
alongside a significant reduction
in healthcare costs. devices and infrastructure.”
DR OWEN LO
Interested
in this project?
Adrian Smales
School of Computing
[email protected]
Find out more on these stories at
www.napier.ac.uk/impact
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THE BIG
PICTURE
FITBITS
CAN FITNESS
99

TRACKERS MOTIVATE IN IDENTIFYING
%
PATIENTS WHO DID
CARDIAC PATIENTS?
NOT EACH ACHIEVE
RELIABLE
10,000 STEPS A
Professor Lis Neubeck from the School of
DAY AND 150
Health & Social Care has been looking at
whether activity trackers are reliable and MINUTES OF
whether they can help the recovery of patients
VIGOROUS ACTIVITY
after suffering from cardiovascular disease.
A WEEK
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