Government bodies have an obligation to drive sustainable development. One focus at legislative level is sustainable public procurement of goods and services. Effective planning and monitoring is an essential part of the process of transformation toward sustainable procurement. Post-normal science approaches treat this process as more than just setting targets and showing a set of results. It is an activity that can shape the direction of an organisation, a department or an individual and facilitate adaptive changes to a more sustainable model. This thesis examines the extent to which sustainability policy can be embedded in decision-making for procurement within local government. This thesis takes a three-step approach to the research question, with an empirical study based in Scotland between December 2011 and December 2013. First the context of sustainable public service procurement was explored using ten case studies. The drivers and barriers to sustainable service procurement were established in order to design and recommend solutions. The second stage of the research developed and tested a new toolkit for translating policy and uncovering specific sustainability attitudes. The third phase of the empirical research used workshops to analyse the attitudes of public sector procurers and partner organisations. All of the research was undertaken as the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill was being passed, the content of which provided a standard for sustainable public procurement to measure the findings against. This thesis finds that the definition and very notion of sustainability is still not clear for many procurement decision-makers. The sustainability of public service procurement is often dependent on the priority or expertise of the procurement manager, with little guidance or consensus on sustainable development. It emerged that many procurement practitioners in local government responsible for implementing sustainability policy construct barriers to doing so effectively and do not see sustainability as a core aspect or responsibility of service provision. A post-normal sustainability technology can be of use in this respect, offering a 'messy' solution to the problem. The case study organisation adopted the toolkit created for this research. This thesis concludes that embedding sustainability into decision-making for procuring public services will require firmer legislation and better translation of the sustainable development agenda for procurement managers.

In reinforced concrete (RC) structures, wide RC beams are used as primary structural members to support floor loads and to transfer forces from the floor to the vertical elements which are below them, e.g. columns and walls. In these cases, wide concrete beams may be loaded and supported by wide columns or walls (full-width loads and supports) and/or by narrow columns (partial-width loads and supports). In both cases of support and load conditions, the one-way (beam) and two-way (punching) shear capacities should be checked for wide RC members. For both wide and narrow load/support configurations, the provisions of current design Codes require that one-way shear capacity is assessed for a cross-section involving the full width of the beam, and the contribution of shear strength resisted by stirrups is assessed according to the longitudinal stirrup-legs spacing where the transverse stirrup-legs spacing is neglected. Moreover, the current design Codes neglect the load and support widt hs to predict the flexural strength. The main concern is whether the requirements of current design Codes may lead to poor predictions of flexural and shear strengths of wide concrete beams, especially for narrow-supported wide beams, because they ignore the support width, load width, longitudinal and transverse spacing of stirrup-legs. The objective of this study is to develop new Prediction, Detailing and Design Models for wide reinforced concrete beams to be used in Practice. The results of 26 tests on wide RC beam specimens are reported in this study. The models were developed to account for the missed parameters mentioned above which showed an actual influence on the flexural and shear strengths of wide RC beams with full- and narrow- width loads and supports (wide- and narrow- supported wide RC beams). They take into the consideration the load- and support- widths (or at best, the ratios of load- and support- width to the beam-width). Comprehensive verifications and evaluations of the proposed models were conducted for comparing them with the existing design Codes and other proposed models. It is shown that the proposed models perform the best among the existing Codes and models. It is shown that the flexural and shear strengths decrease as the ratio of the load- and/or support- width to the beam-width decreases, while the shear strength resisted by stirrups contribution decreases as the transverse stirrup legs spacing increases. These influences occur for members with and without shear reinforcement. Based on the proposed design model, the longitudinal and transversal stirrup legs spacing are reduced as the ratio of the load- and/or support- width to the beam-width decreases, and then this will enhance to increase the shear strength; therefore, the failure mode will change from brittle to ductile manner. These influences occur for members with shear-reinforcement. For the members without shear-reinforcement, the proposed detailing approach will enhance t he flexural reinforcements (tensile and compressive bars) when they are distributed according to their portions of concentrations within the effective-widths of supports and loads. For wide RC beams with and without shear-reinforcement, test results showed that the shear strength decreased as the support-width and/or load-width was reduced. In addition, for wide RC beams with shear-reinforcement, tests results showed that the shear strength decreased as the longitudinal or transverse spacing of stirrup-legs increased. The tests results also showed that the flexural strength of wide RC beams with stirrups decreased as the support-width and/or load-width was reduced. Author keywords: Wide Beams; Existing Codes and Models; Stirrup Leg Spacings; Load and Support; Proposed Prediction, Detailing and Design Models.

In the past decade, tight sandstones and shales are increasingly being considered for hydrocarbon production however there are still several scientific and technological obstacles to overcome to ensure unconventional reservoirs are economically viable. Compared with conventional reservoirs, such as permeable sandstone, there is a paucity of basic field research involving mudstone formations, partly due to their susceptibility to erosion making field studies difficult. Other direct applications are radioactive waste disposal and also CO2 storage. A 15 metre thick faulted shale unit, deposited in the distal zone of a submarine fan, was studied to investigate the controls on fluid flow through low permeability clastic rock. Turbidite flows are present within the shale as very thin (1-5mm) fine grained sandstone beds, channels and lenses which would not be picked up by wireline logging. The shale is cut by a series of conjugate faults and an associated fracture network; the faults hav e a maximum recorded throw of 10m i.e. at the limit of typical industry seismic surveys. Field data show evidence for two distinct flow episodes; carbonate-filled veins and green alteration halos. Flow utilised a subgroup of both the fractures and the more permeable sandstone bands but this flow network varied between flow episodes. Flow modelling shows that the interplay between the structural and depositional features, often averaged out during upscaling processes, acts to significantly increase the connectivity of the flow network emphasising the importance of field statistical characterisation for predicting distributions of such small scale features. Predictions based upon statistical analysis of data from sparsely distributed boreholes are likely to be needed to accurately characterise these sub-seismic flow networks. Key features that controlled permeability enhancement were closely spaced faults creating an interaction zone of high fracture density and networks with fluid flow conduits that connect to multiple other conduits.

Antibiotic resistance is a significant clinical problem, with bacterial infections becoming increasingly difficult to treat. Efforts, such as reducing the use of antibiotics, have proved unsuccessful, and we now face the prospect of a future without antibiotics. The natural environment acts as a reservoir for resistance genes. The selection and maintenance of resistance could counteract clinical efforts to reduce antibiotic resistance. Heavy metals have been linked to antibiotic resistance by genetic mechanisms whereby metals potentially select for and maintain antibiotic resistance, even in the absence of the antibiotic itself. Here, the role of heavy metals in enhancing, or maintaining, antibiotic resistance in the environment is investigated. Background levels of metals in soil were found to correlate to antibiotic resistance gene abundances, implying the effect heavy metals in the environment have on antibiotic resistance is more intrinsic than anticipated. Using controlled microcosm studies, the influence of pollution levels on antibiotic resistance was further investigated.

INTRODUCTION Health data in low- and middle-income countries are often inconsistent and of poor quality, or simply non-existent. This impedes the ability of countries themselves and the international community to arrive at a precise understanding of national burden of disease patterns. The sophisticated statistical modeling and projection methods used internationally to compensate for missing country data cannot provide more than ‘best estimates,’ with no possibility of verifying their outputs. The result is continuing unnecessary morbidity and mortality, often in children under five years of age, as data deficiency translates into insufficient information to guide policy and technical interventions, and to enable prioritization in resource dissemination. This research therefore aims to assess the quality and quantity of data available at country level for the purpose of estimating the burden of disease. It highlights the frequently weak and fragmented nature of what data is present, together with capacity deficiencies at both institutional and individual level to gather, analyse and interpret health and related data. A particular focus is placed on assessing the burden of disease attributable to environmental risk factors, specifically for unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, together with those elements of malnutrition deriving directly from these factors. Combining these two sets of risk factors to derive estimates of their burden of disease at country level is a new approach and not yet undertaken by countries. METHODS Case-study is the central method used. Two country cases (Uganda and Mozambique) were selected by convenience sampling as WHO missions on related topics were taking place at this time. Detailed information on institutional and individual data understanding and capacity was obtained through semi-structured interviews. Extensive evaluation or assessment of existing data and internationally applied methodologies has also been carried out to demonstrate the extent and impact of the present data weakness and paucity that form the rationale for carrying out this work. Other cases have been used to demonstrate the synthesis of water, sanitation and hygiene statistics and methods with those of malnutrition. RESULTS Enabling a move from globally generated estimates based on limited national data in which country users have little confidence, to better quality and reliable statistics based on stronger national data is the root of this study. Having clarified the health impacts of data deficiency, its principal contribution is the development and testing of a tool to overcome these deficiencies, offering country users a way to radically improve their national data systems. A prototype National Burden of Disease (NBD) Toolkit had earlier been developed by WHO but had operational weaknesses and hence poor uptake by countries. Moving from problem analysis to problem solving, this study has devised a method of linking the various spreadsheets comprising the NBD, creating a logical, simplified, and systematic interface between its elements and thereby making it easier and more appealing to the user. The tool, with its user-friendly interface, can thus now become a suitable support to national-level burden of disease estimation work, and contribute to creating further awareness of the value of timely data and their role in health development. DISCUSSION The present scope of work with the tool and interface fills a pressing gap, yet is limited. Further testing in a wider range of countries in different geographic regions is needed. Nonetheless, the initial results and growing uptake give confidence that this and similar future approaches will fall on fertile ground. As country-level institutions become more accustomed to using tools of this kind to fill long-standing data gaps and quality issues, it can be anticipated that they will feel greater confidence in their own data, reduced reliance on internationally-generated estimates and projections that are frequently not well understood, and an increased sense of ownership over the national process. CONCLUSION Greater capacity and confidence in the domain of data management will feed directly into health research and improvements in health planning and interventions. Key among these are improvements in access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene – an area in which data are notoriously elusive. As the world now moves towards a revised global framework for development goals and targets after 2015, a stronger and more effective evidence base is more critical than ever.

The research presented in this thesis investigates scenarios to preserve scarce radioactive waste disposal capacity of current and future UK repositories. Simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost estimates are used to evaluate end-of-life options for UK radioactive metals and depleted uranium. The thesis builds on the work of previous authors by considering a wider range of potential environmental impacts and by focussing in more detail on the processes inherent in waste management and decommissioning to support future decision making. Credible disposal and treatment scenarios are developed for LCA of UK radioactive metals - initially as a hypothetical case study - then applying the research method to the entire UK radioactive metals inventory. These scenarios identify key processes for the decontamination and melting of radioactive metals for recycling in open markets or for products to re-use in the nuclear industry. The thesis uses the experience gained from investigating the UK metals inventory to explore limiting scenarios for the disposal of the UK‘s depleted uranium, assuming that it is classified as a future waste. The metals inventory research confirms that disposal and 'single-use' steel waste container impacts dominate the overall environmental impacts and financial costs - the impacts and costs of low level waste transport are negligible. Significant reductions in impacts and costs can be achieved by treating UK radioactive metals for recycling and re-use. The depleted uranium research indicates that the proposed current baseline for disposal is not optimal - impacts are dominated by disposal volume and other packaging options offer significant volume reduction - the environmental impacts and costs of packaging depleted uranium for the long-term storage are negligible. The thesis offers recommendations for industry and for future research for number of possible longer-term management options for UK radioactive metals and depleted uranium.

Cable-net supported glass facade systems that comprise of pre-stressed cable-net, glass panes and glass support attachments; are commonly used in airport terminals, hotel lobbies, and trade centres. Glass used in building facade presents an aesthetic feature as well as contributes to the structural stiffness of the whole structural system of the building. In this research, the performance of cable-net supported glass facade systems was investigated via experiments and finite element analysis using the Abaqus v6.9 software. Two generic configurations of cable-net system were considered, namely flat and curved cable-net system, both with and without glass panes. For the curved cable-nets, two different curvatures were considered. Each system was subjected to three tests: static, impact and cable anchorage failure test. The results indicated that the glass panes made significant contributions to the stiffness of the whole structural system. The glass stiffness contribution for flat cable-net system was high at the early stage of loading (approximately 30%) but reduced when the load was increased. However, the glass stiffness contribution for curved cable-net increased gradually as the load was increased. For both configurations, the glass stiffness contribution remained steady at about 20% of the whole structural stiffness as the cables in the cable-net stiffened until the maximum load was applied to the system. Based on the static tests, the pre-stress force in the cables in the cable-net systems can possibly be reduced by approximately 50% of the initial pre-stress force; should the glass be considered in the analysis design of cable-net structure. Moreover, the curved cable-net could be designed to have lower pre-stress force in cables compared to that of flat cable-net to meet the deflection criterion of the cable-net structure. Consequently, in the impact test, the glass supported by cable-net structure was deflected at the same level as the cable-net when subjected to impact force. Although the deflection of cable-net is large, the deflection of individual glass was very shallow compared to the allowable deflection of glass pane. Despite the cable-net structure having the capability in reducing the impact force on the glass pane, it has no capability to prevent glass breakage when the impact hit the glass at its edge. Another effect of impact test was the corner node of the cable-net structure had almost the same deflection when the ball bearing hit the glass at the centre of glass facade; although it was found to be very stiff in the static test. The corner node was deflected excessively although the impact was farther from the node. The sudden failure of cable anchorage had no dramatic effects such as progressive collapse or glass breakage even though the cable forces in the curved cable-net oscillated about ±20% of the initial pre-stressed force. Finite element (FE) models were developed for flat cable-nets with and without glass panes using the Abaqus v6.9 software. The FE results were in good agreement with the experimental results with only 1% difference between the two sets of results.

Chloride-induced corrosion is regarded as one of the most important sources of deterioration in reinforced concrete (RC) structures, whose maintenance during their service life is of foremost importance in order to avoid unnecessary human risks and economic losses. The availability of effective mechanisms for quantifying the condition and performance of these structures is, therefore, indispensable. The search for improved methods to assess this type of corrosion and its impact on tensile mechanical properties is the main objective of this research. Time variant non-spatial models are currently the methods of choice for the assessment of the effect of corrosion on the mechanical properties of reinforcing bars. Although these models, based on the relationship between mechanical properties and critical points in the geometry, give fairly good predictions, they still leave room for improvement. The consideration of the spatial component of corrosion has barely been addressed in relation to reinforcing bars embedded in concrete. Thus, the present study focuses on the spatial structure of chloride-induced corrosion on steel reinforcing bars and its effects on mechanical properties using a variety of approaches. The use of innovative techniques, originating from different disciplines and applications, has offered new possibilities in tackling this problem. First, based on the application of anodic current to steel reinforcing bars embedded in concrete from an external power source, a set of artificially corroded bars, at different degrees of severity, was produced. The use of a three-dimensional (3D) computerized imaging methodology was utilised to characterise these rebars in terms of a grid of corrosion depth measurements. After the acquisition of these measurements, use was made of a variety of surface metrology and image analysis techniques, through which a number of intensity, texture and shape corrosion quantifiers have been proposed for the spatial characterisation of corrosion patterns. Surface-metrological based parameters and image analysis-based features were found to yield useful metrics to investigate the corrosion structure of corroded rebars. The lack of an objective definition for a pit could be overcome with the characterisation of corrosion defects in terms of their depth and size using image segmentation. All the corroded bars were subjected to a uniaxial tension test and the relevant tensile mechanical properties throughout the strain-stress response were recorded. It was confirmed that traditional non-spatial corrosion models had limitations in terms of identifying and utilising a single corrosion quantifier, and, as a result, the introduction of different possible spatial corrosion quantifiers was investigated, in order to improve the model performance. It was concluded that the addition of spatial quantifiers as predictors, resulted in improved predictions of mechanical properties, compared to the currently used non-spatial models. However, for the range of corrosion levels examined in this study, the improvement in the prediction was relatively modest (circa 10% on the coefficient of determination), confirming the maximum corrosion depth or the minimum cross-sectional area as the pre-eminent quantifiers. The range of techniques developed in this thesis can be implemented in other applications where spatial corrosion characteristics need to be explored.

Landslide failures are a worldwide problem claiming human lives and causing catastrophic damages to infrastructure, with their impact able to reach that of war conflicts. For these reasons this thesis is going to investigate on the use of microseismic monitoring to study the kinematic behaviour of landslides and help towards the design of an optimised early or real time warning system. All findings are based in field experiments, using 1D and 3D short period seismometers, designed to understand the capabilities and limitations of microseismic monitoring in order to enhance the first and minimize the last. The first goal of this thesis is to understand accuracy of microseismic monitoring in locating weak seismic events. The effect of the seismic velocity model is studied against common seismological assumptions, while different aperture sizes of microseismic arrays are put into test for achieving optimum location results. Next, in order to allow the study of the expected landslide seismicity during a future landslide failure, a novel methodology, an up-scaled shear box, is designed to induce landslide like seismic signals. The proposed methodology can recreate soil slip events allowing control over different geotechnical conditions, such as stress levels, thus reproducing different landslide failure scenarios. The up-scaled shear box methodology is then used to test a novel engineered seismic source: glass shard piles placed inside the landslide's mass, triggered from the landslide's displacements. The material characteristics of glass shards don't change in time, e.g. due to saturation, and have a stable seismic signature during displacement. For these reasons glass shard piles can act as the common seismic source, overcoming the time consuming process of identifying landslide complex failure mechanisms. Finally, failure is induced to two landslide vertical faces under controlled conditions. Both landslides have identical characteristics, e.g. size and geology, with the only difference that in one of them a glass shard pile was incorporated. Visual observations, displacement and loading observations of the landslide faces, timed with a GPS clock, allowing for their detection on the seismic recordings and the characterisation of failure events. The collected data are found to correlate well with the experiments conducted with the up-scaled shear box methodology, allowing for their validation.

During earthquakes, structures can be subject to many cycles of high strain. This can lead to cracking and a serious reduction in strength in comparison with the usual assumption of maintained strength during ductile cycling. This study reviews various methods for the prediction of cracking and compares them with results available in the literature. Crack prediction can be performed using one of the three basic methodologies: stress-life theory, strain-life theory, and the crack growth approach. These techniques are developed to determine the number of cycles to failure. Stress life theory is suitable when elastic stresses and strains are considered. However, for the components having nominal cyclic elastic stresses but local plastic deformation, local strain-life theory is used for predicting the fatigue life. In this work, the behaviour of a fully welded steel connection subjected to cyclic displacement loading, is analysed using the strain-life theories. Based on the results, it can be concluded that: FE modelling, in conjunction with strain life equations can approximately estimate the cycles to failure at the observed crack location on a beam framing into the connection. However the more highly stressed area in the connections "panel zone" did not crack in the experiments, perhaps because of the more complex stress field and defect orientation to the tensile stresses in this location. The connection was improved by adding triangular bracing gussets, in the plane of the beam and column webs. The FE model showed that stress and strain were decreased and the high strains moved from the panel zone to the gussets.