Architectural Information Modelling for Virtual Heritage Application

In today’s AEC industry (Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry), there has been a vast evolution in the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) for describing and managing construction projects. During the past years this led to the elaboration of the technique Building Information Modelling or BIM for describing buildings and building information according to their different composing elements. One of the major advantages in this BIM approach is the possibility to use this building information for calculation, simulation and analysis in related, more dedicated ICT applications. Starting from the building information model, these applications are accessible through an interoperability language, namely the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), elaborated by the International Alliance for Interoperability or IAI. This paper proposes the development of an approach similar to BIM, namely Architectural Information Modelling (AIM), which describes more theoretical and historical building knowledge instead of the explicit and component-based descriptions inside BIM. It illustrates several possible advantages of this AIM approach for application in building documentation for virtual heritage, combined with possible historical analysis tools. It also makes a short comparison of this technique with procedural methods, a similar technique that is gaining much interest during the past few years in the domain of virtual heritage. Finally, this paper proposes future research ambitions and some conclusions of this first, conceptual research about an architectural information modelling approach

A nice thing about standards

The paper documents the implementation of automated data exchange process as an alternative to the manual workflow an architect needs to go through if he wants to comply with the EPR and acoustic regulations imposed by recent Flemish standards. This application is able to import specific IFC files and interpret its information. It automatically acquires the information needed and performs the calculations. The results of the calculation are then displayed through a user-friendly interface, to enable a designer evaluate his design and immediately make improvements to his model. This application was tested in a case-study using an exemplary BIM model. The overall functionality of the communication process from BIM to the application is analysed and the resulting concerns are outlined

lactiflorum

Epilobium lactiflorum Haussknechtwhiteflower willowherbépilobe à fleurs blanchesEpilobium alpinumRed Rock Canyon Creek, west of warden's cabinmoist, mossy watershed, in lodgepole forest5200 feetMoss, Lodgepole pin

Cognitive Enhancement vs. Plagiarism: a Quantitative Study on the Attitudes of an Italian Sample

Irrespective of the presence of formal norms, behaviours such as plagiarism, data fabrication and falsification are commonly regarded as unethical and unfair. Almost unanimously, they are considered forms of academic misconduct. Is this the case also for newer behaviours that technology is making possible and are now entering the academic scenario? In the current paper we focus on cognitive enhancement (CE), the use of drugs to enhance cognitive skills of an otherwise healthy individual. At present, there are no formal rules forbidding its use in the academic setting. However, it is not clear whether there is a general public sentiment that CE should be considered as a modern form of academic misconduct. By means of the Contrastive Vignette Technique, we collected quantitative data from 284 online surveys to directly compare the attitude of the general public towards CE and plagiarism across different ethically relevant aspects. Our aim was to understand whether the use of prescription drugs to enhance a healthy person\u2019s cognitive skills is perceived similarly to a more common form of cheating, specifically plagiarism. Results show that our participants do not endorse CE. At the same time, however, their opinion on the ethical issues related to its use is not negative: rather, their attitude is more positive towards CE compared to plagiarism. This seems to pose against the idea that, at present, the use of cognitive enhancers in academic environments is regarded as a form of cheating

Food and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A scoping review on the impact of food on patients' psychosocial quality of life

Growing bodies of literature show that a controlled diet is important in controlling the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). This leads patients to avoid foods considered potentially harmful. However, food is not just a nutrient but entails a se-ries of hedonistic, cultural and social values. Thus, there is the concern that having to renounce certain foods might exert an impact on patients’ psychosocial quality of life, particularly in younger patients. The aim of this paper is to review the existing litera-ture to address which aspects of the patients’ quality of life are affected by food re-strictions. A scoping review was carried out. Five different databases were searched in January 2021. Retrieved papers were then screened to only include the relevant studies. Data were extracted and the main results of the studies were charted. A the-matic analysis was carried out on the main results to identify the areas of psychosocial quality of life more often impacted by the food restrictions. From the initially identi-fied 1967 unique entries, 14 studies were included. Results show that the perceived importance of food in controlling symptoms is confirmed by patients’ accounts. The most common strategy adopted was, thus, the avoidance of trigger foods. The the-matic analysis revealed three domains that are impacted by these restrictions: psy-chological quality of life, social life, family sphere. This study highlights the impact that food restrictions exert on IBD patients’ quality of life, and warrants further studies to fill existing gaps, in particular regarding younger patients

Effects of mechanical stress and the p38 inhibitor SB203580 on aggrecan and type II collagen mRNA expression during mechanical loading.

<p>(A) Effect of MS combined with the p38 inhibitor SB203580 on AGC gene expression at different concentrations (10, 20 µM). (B) Effect of the p38 inhibitor SB203580 on Col2 gene expression. All data are shown as relative means (95% C.I.), n = 7. * <i>P</i><0.05 versus NS, ** <i>P</i><0.05 versus MS by one-factor ANOVA.</p

Interleukin-4-induced up-regulation of aggrecan and type II collagen.

<p>Effects of IL-4 on relative expression of (A) AGC, and (B) Col2 by chondrocytes in a 3D matrix with 10 ng/mL IL-4 were assessed at 1, 7, 13, and 25 h by real-time RT-PCR. Results are expressed as mean (95% C.I.), n = 7. Means were compared by one-factor ANOVA. *<i>P</i><0.05 versus NS.</p

Inhibition of mechanical stress-induced up-regulation of aggrecan and type II collagen by adding soluble IL-4 receptor.

<p>(A) Schematic diagram showing putative mechanotransduction pathways in 3D-embedded chondrocytes following mechanical stimulation. (B) Effect of IL-4 inhibitors on 3D-embedded chondrocytes during mechanical loading. Dynamic compressive loading (60 min/day) was applied in combination with soluble IL-4 receptor (sIL-4R) at a range of concentrations (1, 10, 100, and 1000 ng/mL). (C) Effect of soluble IL-4 receptor (sIL-4R) on type II collagen (Col2) gene expression. All data are shown as mean (relative to GAPDH, 95% C.I.). n = 7. *<i>P</i><0.05 versus NS by one-factor ANOVA.</p

Measuring the Quality of Life in Diabetic Patients: A Scoping Review

Background. Diabetes mellitus is a widely diffused chronic condition which impacts on several aspects of patients\u2019 lives. In the current clinical practice, the implementation in the clinical routine of monitoring systems of patients\u2019 outcomes has led to an increased generation and use of several measures for the assessment of patients\u2019 quality of life (QOL). Nevertheless, this construct appears to be particularly complex, and its operationalization is variable across different measures. The purpose of this paper is to offer an updated review of the diabetes-specific QOL measures present in scientific literature with a specific focus on the broad domains assessed. Methods. A scoping review was carried out with the purpose of identifying the existing measures in literature and describing their implicit representation of QOL in diabetes care. Five different databases (Scopus; Web of Science Core Collection; Medline; PsycInfo; and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched with a string including validation studies of adult-only, diabetes-specific QOL measures. Each measure was then qualified according to its structure, a qualitative assessment of the broad domains of QOL it comprises, and finally an overview of the psychometric properties of its first validation. Results. 30 scales were identified and assessed. Theme analysis shows that QOL is operationalized with multidimensional surveys comprising of both mental, physical, and social health components. Some scales also consider the impact of societal attitudes, public policies, and context on QOL. Conclusion. Several self-report measures of QOL specifically developed for diabetic patients exist in scientific literature. The present scoping review reports scales structure, broad domains of QOL, and development purpose. This may help in understanding the concept of QOL in diabetic patients and may also serve the purpose of guiding the reader in the choice of the most appropriate instrument or in the development of a new on