Is CCTV surveillance as effective as popular television crime series suggest? Cognitive challenges

The aim of this paper is to review the human and information processing factors that need to be addressed in order to improve closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance effectiveness and to make recommendations regarding future research. This is done by contrasting the way in which CCTV is portrayed in popular television crime series with the challenges inherent in real world CCTV surveillance systems. Despite considerable amounts of money being spent on the equipment needed for CCTV systems, the work of operators is often poorly valued although the monitoring process is difficult and mentally demanding. There are many factors that affect the effectiveness of CCTV surveillance systems, and this paper focuses on the information processing demands on CCTV surveillance operators. Previous research on the human factors in CCTV were reviewed, and episodes in popular crime series which showed CCTV were observed and analysed. Key aspects that emerged were the cognitive demands made on CCTV surveillance operators by the design of the technical system and their job, the nature of scenes observed and the characteristics of significant events. These placed demands on the interaction of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention, search strategies employed, distributed situation awareness, visual analysis, processes that impair detection, and the effects of certain job designs on monitoring. Recommendations for future research were made

BpsR Modulates Bordetella Biofilm Formation by Negatively Regulating the Expression of the Bps Polysaccharide

Bordetella bacteria are Gram-negative respiratory pathogens of animals, birds, and humans. A hallmark feature of some Bordetella species is their ability to efficiently survive in the respiratory tract even after vaccination. Bordetella bronchiseptica and Bordetella pertussis form biofilms on abiotic surfaces and in the mouse respiratory tract. The Bps exopolysaccharide is one of the critical determinants for biofilm formation and the survival of Bordetella in the murine respiratory tract. In order to gain a better understanding of regulation of biofilm formation, we sought to study the mechanism by which Bps expression is controlled in Bordetella. Expression of bpsABCD (bpsA-D) is elevated in biofilms compared with levels in planktonically grown cells. We found that bpsA-D is expressed independently of BvgAS. Subsequently, we identified an open reading frame (ORF), BB1771 (designated here bpsR), that is located upstream of and in the opposite orientation to the bpsA-D locus. BpsR is homologous to the MarR family of transcriptional regulators. Measurement of bpsA and bpsD transcripts and the Bps polysaccharide levels from the wild-type and the ΔbpsR strains suggested that BpsR functions as a repressor. Consistent with enhanced production of Bps, the bpsR mutant displayed considerably more structured biofilms. We mapped the bpsA-D promoter region and showed that purified BpsR protein specifically bound to the bpsA-D promoter. Our results provide mechanistic insights into the regulatory strategy employed by Bordetella for control of the production of the Bps polysaccharide and biofilm formation