This dissertation investigates how to plan paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for the task of covering an environment. Three increasingly complex coverage problems based on the environment that needs to be covered are studied. The dissertation starts with a 2D point coverage problem where the UAV needs to visit a set of sites on the ground plane by flying on a fixed altitude plane parallel to the ground. The UAV has limited battery capacity which may make it infeasible to visit all the points. A novel symbiotic UAV and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) system where the UGV acts as a mobile recharging station is proposed. A practical, efficient algorithm for solving this problem using Generalized Traveling Salesperson Problem (GTSP) solver is presented. Then the algorithm is extended to a coverage problem that covers 2D regions on the ground with a UAV that can operate in fixed-wing or multirotor mode. The algorithm is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. Then this algorithm is applied to covering 2D regions, not all of which lie on the same plane. This is motivated by bridge inspection application, where the UAV is tasked with visually inspecting planar regions on the bridge. Finally, a general version of the problem where the UAV is allowed to fly in complete 3D space and the environment to be covered is in 3D as well is presented. An algorithm that clusters viewpoints on the surface of a 3D structure and has an UAV autonomously plan online paths to visit all viewpoints is presented. These online paths are re-planned in real time as the UAV obtains new information on the structure and strives to obtain an optimal 3D coverage path. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation investigates how to plan paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Three increasingly complex coverage problems based on the environment that needs to be covered are studied. The dissertation starts with a 2D point coverage problem where the UAV needs to visit a set of sites on the ground by flying at a fixed altitude. The UAV has limited battery capacity which may make it impossible to visit all the points. A novel symbiotic UAV and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) system where the UGV acts as a mobile recharging station is proposed. A practical, efficient algorithm for solving this problem using Generalized Traveling Salesperson Problem (GTSP) solver is presented. Then the algorithm is extended to coverage of 2D regions on the ground with a hybrid UAV. The algorithm is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. Then this algorithm is applied to covering 2D regions on 3D structures. This is motivated by bridge inspection application, where the UAV is tasked with visually inspecting regions on the bridge. Finally, a general version of the problem where the UAV is allowed to fly in 3D space and the environment to be covered is in 3D as well is presented. An algorithm that clusters points on the surface of a 3D structure and has an UAV autonomously plan online paths to visit all viewpoints is presented. These online paths are re-planned in real time as the UAV obtains new information on the structure and strives to obtain an optimal 3D coverage path.

Devido a diferentes razões, a população de diversos países do mundo, inclusive do Brasil, tem presenciado a ocorrência de sinistros relacionados a desabamentos de edificações, falhas localizadas ou problemas com subsistemas da edificação, que resultam em perturbações no uso e em riscos à saúde ou segurança dos usuários. No Brasil, foco especial vem sendo dado a partir da Norma de Desempenho e da percepção de que esquemas adequados de gestão da conservação de edifícios são fundamentais para proporcionar maior sustentabilidade ambiental e econômica às construções. Sabendo disso, vários estados e cidades brasileiras começaram a elaborar leis de inspeção, visando a obrigatoriedade da Inspeção Predial. Esta iniciativa se espelha em experiências internacionais, que veem a inspeção como uma atividade incorporada à rotina de conservação e manutenção das edificações. Destarte, a presente tese tem por objetivo fazer uma contribuição teórica para a construção de um sistema de inspeção brasileiro, através da identificação de boas práticas e da investigação dos padrões de deterioração recorrentes nos laudos de inspeção das cidades de Porto Alegre e Capão da Canoa. A metodologia de pesquisa consistiu em uma etapa qualitativa, que investigou e analisou documentação do contexto internacional e brasileiro, visando identificar boas práticas relativas ao escopo das leis de inspeção, perfil do inspetor, periodicidade e estrutura dos laudos - e uma etapa quantitativa, caracterizada pela análise de mais de 600 laudos obtidos junto às prefeituras das cidades alvo deste estudo. A capital gaúcha foi a primeira cidade brasileira a instituir uma lei sobre conservação de elementos de fachadas (Lei nº 6323/88), tais como marquises e outros elementos em balanço e em 2014 aprovou o Decreto nº 18.574, visando a inspeção de toda a edificação Capão da Canoa possui lei sobre o tema desde 2009, após o acidente com o Edifício Santa Fé. A realização do estudo identificou que em relação ao escopo, as leis buscam zelar pela segurança das edificações; quanto ao perfil do inspetor, vê-se uma boa prática na Austrália que possui classes de inspetores e locais aptos a certificarem os profissionais; quanto à periodicidade, basicamente a idade é o condicionante (quanto mais antigo o edifício, menor o prazo para a realização da inspeção). Quanto aos padrões de deterioração verificou-se que em Sistemas de Vedações Verticais Internas e Externas (SVVIE), é recorrente a umidade por infiltração que atinge 50% da amostra de Capão da Canoa e 27% das edificações vistoriadas em Porto Alegre. É recorrente também a presença de fissuras e deterioração na pintura. No subsistema revestimentos, os padrões referem-se à perda de aderência, principalmente na amostra de Porto Alegre, onde 36% das edificações registraram esta anomalia que impacta os requisitos de durabilidade, manutenabilidade, segurança no uso e operação. Na análise do subsistema Estrutura, a maior ocorrência foi corrosão das armaduras, relatada em 52% das edificações da cidade de Capão da Canoa. Em Porto Alegre é recorrente o registro de fissuras que impactam a estanqueidade e durabilidade da edificação. De forma geral se evidenciou que os laudos de inspeção são fontes importantes para análises relacionadas à vida útil e durabilidade das edificações. / Due to different reasons, the population of several countries in the world, including Brazil, have seen a number of accidents related to building collapses, localized faults of some of its structural components or other problems with building subsystems, which result in significant disturbances and in risks to users health and safety. In Brazil, special focus has been given on the Performance Standards and the perception that management appropriate schemes of building conservation are fundamental to provide greater environmental and economic buildings sustainability. With this in mind, several Brazilian states and cities have begun to elaborate inspection laws, aiming at the compulsory of Buildings Inspection. This initiative is reflected in international experiences, which see inspection as an activity incorporated into the routine of conservation and buildings maintenance. The purpose of this thesis is to make a theoretical contribution to the construction of a Brazilian inspection system through the identification of good practices and investigating recurrent deterioration patterns in the inspection reports of the cities of Porto Alegre and Capão da Canoa. The research methodology consisted of a qualitative step, which investigated and analyzed documentation of the international and Brazilian context, aiming to identify good practices related to the scope of inspection laws, inspector profile, periodicity and report structure - and a quantitative step characterized by the Analysis of more than 600 reports obtained from city halls of the target cities of this study The capital of Rio Grande do Sul was the first Brazilian city, to have a legislation on conservation of front elements (Law no. 6323/88), such as marquees and other elements in balance and in 2014 approved the Decree No. 18,574, aiming at the inspection of the entire building. Capão da Canoa has had a law on the subject since 2009 after the accident with the Santa Fe Building. The study identified that in relation to the scope, the laws seek to ensure the safety of buildings; As for the inspector's profile, we can see a good practice in Australia that has classes of inspectors and places able to certify the professionals; As to periodicity, basically age is the conditioning (the older the building, the shorter the time frame for the inspection). Regarding the deterioration patterns, it was verified that in Internal and External Vertical Wall Systems, the infiltration humidity reaches 50% of the sample of Capão da Canoa and 27% of the buildings surveyed in Porto Alegre. It is also recurrent the presence of cracks and painting deterioration. In the subsystem of coatings, the standards refers to loss of adhesion, especially in the sample of Porto Alegre, where 36% of the buildings registered this anomaly that impacts the requirements of durability, maintenance, safety in use and operation. In the analysis of the subsystem structure, the highest occurrence was corrosion of the reinforcement, reported in 52% of the buildings of the city of Capão da Canoa. In Porto Alegre it is recurrent the registration of fissures that impact the watertightness and durability of the building. In general, it was evidenced that the inspection reports are important sources for analyzes related to the useful life and durability of the buildings.

In overwhelming majority of the petroleum or petrochemical plants, pressure vessels and process piping play important roles among the major elements of static equipments. So, based on the integrity of safety management for the petroleum or petrochemical plants and reduction of the operation risks, some objective schemes of the systematic failure evaluations and assessments should be established in order to optimize the resources of inspection and maintenance. However, performing the inspections based on the conventional methodologies, some uncontrolled factors which caused by the environments and inspection methods may exist and affect the assessment of the estimated corrosion rate. If the influences of the uncontrolled factors were not considered and compensated in the assessment of the estimated corrosion rate, some underestimate or unreasonable results would be obtained which lead potential risks may exist in the plants. Moreover, the measured data of some parameters, for example, operation pressure, corrosion condition, allowable stress, which were used to evaluate the estimated corrosion rate of the pressure components may exhibit a normal or non-normal distribution. Under such circumferences, if one used the nominal values of the measured parameters to assessment the safety conditions of the pressure components, potential risks may exist in the petroleum or petrochemical plants at the final stage of long-term operation. With an eye to obtain more conservative and objective assess results for pressure equipments in the long-term operation, three subjects will be differentiated between the evaluation of estimated corrosion rate, failure probability of pressure vessels and pressure safety valve (PSVs). First, based on the pressure boundaries suffered from general corrosion, a statistical methodology was proposed to modify the assessment of estimated corrosion rates for the pressure components in conventional methodology. Furthermore, the obtained results of the estimated corrosion rates will be used to assess the failure probability of pressure components based on the upper limited value. By adopting First Order Second Moment (FOSM) method, the failure probability was approached for the pressure components in long term operation. Moreover, for the sake of optimize the inspection and maintenance resources based on the acceptable risk of the plant owners, typical semi-quantitative risk based inspection (RBI) methodology to each pressure vessel are proposed in safety management based on the approached failure probability. Besides, the final protection for the pressure equipments when the pressure systems were upset - pressure safety valves (PSVs), are also play important roles to system evaluation and safety management for pressurized system. So, follow the semi-quantitative RBI methodology, the objective evaluation schemes together with the suggested inspection interval were conservatively established. Based on the conclusion of the studies, few pressure components with high failure probability will raise the operation risk of the pressurized system. It is an effective way to reduce the operation risk of the pressurized system by shift the limited resource of inspection/maintenance on the pressure components with high risk and obtain further control with effective strategies. Moreover, the conclusion also shows the prospective inspection intervals of PSVs which time-based strategy according to the local regulations (2-year based) should be change to condition-based strategy to reduce the operation risk.

Devido a diferentes razões, a população de diversos países do mundo, inclusive do Brasil, tem presenciado a ocorrência de sinistros relacionados a desabamentos de edificações, falhas localizadas ou problemas com subsistemas da edificação, que resultam em perturbações no uso e em riscos à saúde ou segurança dos usuários. No Brasil, foco especial vem sendo dado a partir da Norma de Desempenho e da percepção de que esquemas adequados de gestão da conservação de edifícios são fundamentais para proporcionar maior sustentabilidade ambiental e econômica às construções. Sabendo disso, vários estados e cidades brasileiras começaram a elaborar leis de inspeção, visando a obrigatoriedade da Inspeção Predial. Esta iniciativa se espelha em experiências internacionais, que veem a inspeção como uma atividade incorporada à rotina de conservação e manutenção das edificações. Destarte, a presente tese tem por objetivo fazer uma contribuição teórica para a construção de um sistema de inspeção brasileiro, através da identificação de boas práticas e da investigação dos padrões de deterioração recorrentes nos laudos de inspeção das cidades de Porto Alegre e Capão da Canoa. A metodologia de pesquisa consistiu em uma etapa qualitativa, que investigou e analisou documentação do contexto internacional e brasileiro, visando identificar boas práticas relativas ao escopo das leis de inspeção, perfil do inspetor, periodicidade e estrutura dos laudos - e uma etapa quantitativa, caracterizada pela análise de mais de 600 laudos obtidos junto às prefeituras das cidades alvo deste estudo. A capital gaúcha foi a primeira cidade brasileira a instituir uma lei sobre conservação de elementos de fachadas (Lei nº 6323/88), tais como marquises e outros elementos em balanço e em 2014 aprovou o Decreto nº 18.574, visando a inspeção de toda a edificação Capão da Canoa possui lei sobre o tema desde 2009, após o acidente com o Edifício Santa Fé. A realização do estudo identificou que em relação ao escopo, as leis buscam zelar pela segurança das edificações; quanto ao perfil do inspetor, vê-se uma boa prática na Austrália que possui classes de inspetores e locais aptos a certificarem os profissionais; quanto à periodicidade, basicamente a idade é o condicionante (quanto mais antigo o edifício, menor o prazo para a realização da inspeção). Quanto aos padrões de deterioração verificou-se que em Sistemas de Vedações Verticais Internas e Externas (SVVIE), é recorrente a umidade por infiltração que atinge 50% da amostra de Capão da Canoa e 27% das edificações vistoriadas em Porto Alegre. É recorrente também a presença de fissuras e deterioração na pintura. No subsistema revestimentos, os padrões referem-se à perda de aderência, principalmente na amostra de Porto Alegre, onde 36% das edificações registraram esta anomalia que impacta os requisitos de durabilidade, manutenabilidade, segurança no uso e operação. Na análise do subsistema Estrutura, a maior ocorrência foi corrosão das armaduras, relatada em 52% das edificações da cidade de Capão da Canoa. Em Porto Alegre é recorrente o registro de fissuras que impactam a estanqueidade e durabilidade da edificação. De forma geral se evidenciou que os laudos de inspeção são fontes importantes para análises relacionadas à vida útil e durabilidade das edificações. / Due to different reasons, the population of several countries in the world, including Brazil, have seen a number of accidents related to building collapses, localized faults of some of its structural components or other problems with building subsystems, which result in significant disturbances and in risks to users health and safety. In Brazil, special focus has been given on the Performance Standards and the perception that management appropriate schemes of building conservation are fundamental to provide greater environmental and economic buildings sustainability. With this in mind, several Brazilian states and cities have begun to elaborate inspection laws, aiming at the compulsory of Buildings Inspection. This initiative is reflected in international experiences, which see inspection as an activity incorporated into the routine of conservation and buildings maintenance. The purpose of this thesis is to make a theoretical contribution to the construction of a Brazilian inspection system through the identification of good practices and investigating recurrent deterioration patterns in the inspection reports of the cities of Porto Alegre and Capão da Canoa. The research methodology consisted of a qualitative step, which investigated and analyzed documentation of the international and Brazilian context, aiming to identify good practices related to the scope of inspection laws, inspector profile, periodicity and report structure - and a quantitative step characterized by the Analysis of more than 600 reports obtained from city halls of the target cities of this study The capital of Rio Grande do Sul was the first Brazilian city, to have a legislation on conservation of front elements (Law no. 6323/88), such as marquees and other elements in balance and in 2014 approved the Decree No. 18,574, aiming at the inspection of the entire building. Capão da Canoa has had a law on the subject since 2009 after the accident with the Santa Fe Building. The study identified that in relation to the scope, the laws seek to ensure the safety of buildings; As for the inspector's profile, we can see a good practice in Australia that has classes of inspectors and places able to certify the professionals; As to periodicity, basically age is the conditioning (the older the building, the shorter the time frame for the inspection). Regarding the deterioration patterns, it was verified that in Internal and External Vertical Wall Systems, the infiltration humidity reaches 50% of the sample of Capão da Canoa and 27% of the buildings surveyed in Porto Alegre. It is also recurrent the presence of cracks and painting deterioration. In the subsystem of coatings, the standards refers to loss of adhesion, especially in the sample of Porto Alegre, where 36% of the buildings registered this anomaly that impacts the requirements of durability, maintenance, safety in use and operation. In the analysis of the subsystem structure, the highest occurrence was corrosion of the reinforcement, reported in 52% of the buildings of the city of Capão da Canoa. In Porto Alegre it is recurrent the registration of fissures that impact the watertightness and durability of the building. In general, it was evidenced that the inspection reports are important sources for analyzes related to the useful life and durability of the buildings.

Devido a diferentes razões, a população de diversos países do mundo, inclusive do Brasil, tem presenciado a ocorrência de sinistros relacionados a desabamentos de edificações, falhas localizadas ou problemas com subsistemas da edificação, que resultam em perturbações no uso e em riscos à saúde ou segurança dos usuários. No Brasil, foco especial vem sendo dado a partir da Norma de Desempenho e da percepção de que esquemas adequados de gestão da conservação de edifícios são fundamentais para proporcionar maior sustentabilidade ambiental e econômica às construções. Sabendo disso, vários estados e cidades brasileiras começaram a elaborar leis de inspeção, visando a obrigatoriedade da Inspeção Predial. Esta iniciativa se espelha em experiências internacionais, que veem a inspeção como uma atividade incorporada à rotina de conservação e manutenção das edificações. Destarte, a presente tese tem por objetivo fazer uma contribuição teórica para a construção de um sistema de inspeção brasileiro, através da identificação de boas práticas e da investigação dos padrões de deterioração recorrentes nos laudos de inspeção das cidades de Porto Alegre e Capão da Canoa. A metodologia de pesquisa consistiu em uma etapa qualitativa, que investigou e analisou documentação do contexto internacional e brasileiro, visando identificar boas práticas relativas ao escopo das leis de inspeção, perfil do inspetor, periodicidade e estrutura dos laudos - e uma etapa quantitativa, caracterizada pela análise de mais de 600 laudos obtidos junto às prefeituras das cidades alvo deste estudo. A capital gaúcha foi a primeira cidade brasileira a instituir uma lei sobre conservação de elementos de fachadas (Lei nº 6323/88), tais como marquises e outros elementos em balanço e em 2014 aprovou o Decreto nº 18.574, visando a inspeção de toda a edificação Capão da Canoa possui lei sobre o tema desde 2009, após o acidente com o Edifício Santa Fé. A realização do estudo identificou que em relação ao escopo, as leis buscam zelar pela segurança das edificações; quanto ao perfil do inspetor, vê-se uma boa prática na Austrália que possui classes de inspetores e locais aptos a certificarem os profissionais; quanto à periodicidade, basicamente a idade é o condicionante (quanto mais antigo o edifício, menor o prazo para a realização da inspeção). Quanto aos padrões de deterioração verificou-se que em Sistemas de Vedações Verticais Internas e Externas (SVVIE), é recorrente a umidade por infiltração que atinge 50% da amostra de Capão da Canoa e 27% das edificações vistoriadas em Porto Alegre. É recorrente também a presença de fissuras e deterioração na pintura. No subsistema revestimentos, os padrões referem-se à perda de aderência, principalmente na amostra de Porto Alegre, onde 36% das edificações registraram esta anomalia que impacta os requisitos de durabilidade, manutenabilidade, segurança no uso e operação. Na análise do subsistema Estrutura, a maior ocorrência foi corrosão das armaduras, relatada em 52% das edificações da cidade de Capão da Canoa. Em Porto Alegre é recorrente o registro de fissuras que impactam a estanqueidade e durabilidade da edificação. De forma geral se evidenciou que os laudos de inspeção são fontes importantes para análises relacionadas à vida útil e durabilidade das edificações. / Due to different reasons, the population of several countries in the world, including Brazil, have seen a number of accidents related to building collapses, localized faults of some of its structural components or other problems with building subsystems, which result in significant disturbances and in risks to users health and safety. In Brazil, special focus has been given on the Performance Standards and the perception that management appropriate schemes of building conservation are fundamental to provide greater environmental and economic buildings sustainability. With this in mind, several Brazilian states and cities have begun to elaborate inspection laws, aiming at the compulsory of Buildings Inspection. This initiative is reflected in international experiences, which see inspection as an activity incorporated into the routine of conservation and buildings maintenance. The purpose of this thesis is to make a theoretical contribution to the construction of a Brazilian inspection system through the identification of good practices and investigating recurrent deterioration patterns in the inspection reports of the cities of Porto Alegre and Capão da Canoa. The research methodology consisted of a qualitative step, which investigated and analyzed documentation of the international and Brazilian context, aiming to identify good practices related to the scope of inspection laws, inspector profile, periodicity and report structure - and a quantitative step characterized by the Analysis of more than 600 reports obtained from city halls of the target cities of this study The capital of Rio Grande do Sul was the first Brazilian city, to have a legislation on conservation of front elements (Law no. 6323/88), such as marquees and other elements in balance and in 2014 approved the Decree No. 18,574, aiming at the inspection of the entire building. Capão da Canoa has had a law on the subject since 2009 after the accident with the Santa Fe Building. The study identified that in relation to the scope, the laws seek to ensure the safety of buildings; As for the inspector's profile, we can see a good practice in Australia that has classes of inspectors and places able to certify the professionals; As to periodicity, basically age is the conditioning (the older the building, the shorter the time frame for the inspection). Regarding the deterioration patterns, it was verified that in Internal and External Vertical Wall Systems, the infiltration humidity reaches 50% of the sample of Capão da Canoa and 27% of the buildings surveyed in Porto Alegre. It is also recurrent the presence of cracks and painting deterioration. In the subsystem of coatings, the standards refers to loss of adhesion, especially in the sample of Porto Alegre, where 36% of the buildings registered this anomaly that impacts the requirements of durability, maintenance, safety in use and operation. In the analysis of the subsystem structure, the highest occurrence was corrosion of the reinforcement, reported in 52% of the buildings of the city of Capão da Canoa. In Porto Alegre it is recurrent the registration of fissures that impact the watertightness and durability of the building. In general, it was evidenced that the inspection reports are important sources for analyzes related to the useful life and durability of the buildings.

Railway transportation plays a vital role in modern societies. Due to increasing demands for transportation of passengers and goods, higher speed trains with heavier axle loads are introduced to the railway system, and it is expected to continue in the future. Therefore, track geometry bears huge static and dynamic forces that accelerate degradation process. As a result, railway track should be inspected regularly to detect geometry faults and to plan for maintenance actions in advance. Track geometry inspection has a profound impact on railway track availability and maintenance cost. Although there have been improvements in safety performance and maintenance planning of railway tracks, still infrastructure managers expect a more effective maintenance planning and scheduling regime. This thesis proposes a simulation-based model for optimization of track geometry inspection intervals. To simulate the track geometry evolution a linear model is used to model track geometry degradation in a maintenance cycle. It is assumed that the parameters of degradation model are random variables following lognormal distribution. Using the proposed model, the track geometry behaviour is simulated under different inspection intervals. Later, different inspection intervals are compared with respect to the cost function and the optimal range of inspection intervals is obtained.

Introduction: Many patients with brain tumours experience dysfunction in several cognitive domains. Given the limited survival times of the majority of patients with brain tumours, maintenance or improvement of quality of life is as important as increasing survival time. Impaired cognition has a negative impact on quality of life and as such, cognitive function is becoming an increasingly important endpoint in clinical trials in neuro-oncology. However, measuring cognition in patients with brain tumours is problematic for a number of reasons. Most intracranial tumours are initially treated with surgery and studies of neurosurgical morbidity often evaluate physical as opposed to cognitive domains, yet the latter can have a greater negative impact on the patient’s quality of life. This thesis therefore details cognition in brain tumour patients at the time of presentation (pre-operatively) and examines the effects of surgical intervention on cognitive function. Of particular interest is the potential utility of inspection time, a computer-based measure of the brain’s information processing efficiency, as a measure of brain slowing as a result of the tumour and as an indicator of response to surgical intervention. Methods: The study is based on a cohort of 118 newly-presenting patients with a supratentorial brain tumour who were to have surgery (biopsy or resection). Each patient was administered a comprehensive battery of cognitive tests prior to surgery (baseline). The battery comprised inspection time testing, other standardised cognitive measures and assessment of mood, quality of life and functional status. Post-operatively, each patient repeated the inspection time test in addition to a selected number of the other tests administered at baseline. For comparison, a group of patients admitted for elective spinal surgery (n = 85) were also tested pre- and post-operatively. A group of healthy volunteers provided a second control group by being tested twice (n = 80). Results: The brain tumour cohort were significantly impaired by comparison with both control groups at baseline (pre-operatively) on the majority of the cognitive measures, including inspection time. Baseline inspection time scores were significantly related to some scores on the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire in the brain tumour group, but not in the spinal surgery group. There was no significant difference between the brain tumour and spinal surgery groups in term of the levels of pre-operative anxiety and depression. The brain tumour cohort showed significantly greater relative deterioration on inspection time following surgery by comparison with both control groups. The brain tumour cohort also deteriorated significantly on several other measures postoperatively by comparison with the healthy control group. Detailed analyses were carried out to determine the differential effects of tumour type, location, and type of surgery (biopsy or resection) on inspection time and other functions in the brain tumour group. Conclusions: Tumour-related cognitive impairment appears to be common in a heterogeneous group of brain tumour patients with a variety of different tumours located throughout the brain. Surgical intervention has a negative impact on function in brain tumour patients, although this deterioration may be transient. General slowing of visual information processing appears to be common to brain tumour patients and the inspection time task provides a feasible and useful method of assessment in brain tumour patients. The task is sensitive to tumour-related brain slowing and can provide a reliable assessment of response to surgery. Given the task’s advantages over more commonly-used cognitive measures, it could be usefully incorporated into cognitive tests batteries in neuro-oncology.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.