Comparing the energy requirements of current Bluetooth Smart solutions

Bluetooth is becoming a popular way to get access to data delivered by sensors. To be convenient in use and low cost in maintenance, those sensors should consume as less energy as possible. Near the energy consideration of the sensing element, the proper selection of the Bluetooth Low Energy radio and software stack is vital to achieve low power consumption.  There are several solutions on the market, with various claims with regard to power consumption. These claims are not easy to verify on the basis of the data sheets alone, making it long and difficult for engineers to choose the appropriate solutions. We have measured the energy consumption of several Bluetooth Smart solutions that can be found on the market today. The measurements were based on the important communication phases and the information available in various documents (datasheets, application notes). The result of that work is presented here. The work was done at the end of 2013 and early in 2014

Impacts of future biological-technological progress on arable farming

This article deals with biological-technological developments in crop production and their impacts on arable farming within the next 20 years. Possible future technological developments are evaluated with the help of a Delphi survey. The impacts of promising new technologies are estimated by means of a Linear Programming model under three different scenarios. An important outcome of the model calculations is that crop production is strongly influenced by the economic and political environment. The most promising improvements are offered by new technologies which enhance labour productivity. Competitive new technologies can cause unbalanced crop rotations with non-desirable ecological effects and substantial changes in agricultural commodity market

New portfolio-rating-system based on LEVEL(S)

In Switzerland, there are currently no instruments for the holistic and easily applicable assessment of the sustainability of existing buildings, which can also be applied to larger real estate portfolios and which are structurally based on Swiss or European sustainability standards. The instrument, developed as part of a ZHAW R&D project for the City of Zurich, Public Real Estate Management, is based on the already existing LEVEL(S) criteria structure. As distinguished from LEVEL(S), it can be applied to all types of buildings, including mixed buildings, and also scalable to larger portfolios of cities, banks, insurances or real estate investment funds. LEVEL(S) is a voluntary reporting framework to improve the sustainability of buildings. Using existing standards, LEVEL(S) provides a common EU approach to the assessment of environmental performance in the built environment. In the current Version LEVEL(S) is suitable for new office and residential buildings and existing buildings at the time of a major refurbishment. The paper shows, how the rating structures of Agenda2030/SDG's/GAPFRAME, ESCI City Rating System, DGNB and LEVEL(S) can be combined into a holistic evaluation system. If required, the developed portfolio analysis instrument can be coupled - with a more detailed building analysis as an intermediate step - directly with a DGNB renovation certification. It will show how sustaining property owners can be supported in this holistic way. Finally, the first findings from the practical application are explained. It will be shown how it is possible to support sustainably acting portfolio holders in this holistic way

A real estate life cycle meta-instrument assessing and enabling sustainable decision-making and management for real estate owners and stakeholders

There is a need for real estate lifecycle instruments to address the new regulations. So far, no instrument includes all sustainability dimensions in all phases of real estate, due to the heterogeneity of the underlying data. In addition, the leverage of the digital transformation in the sustainability transition is yet to be addressed. The aim of this study is how a meta-instrument should be structured to overcome the existing contradictory challenges in sustainability and to enable sustainable decision-making and management for real estate owners. This study examines this question by applying the following methodological approach: 61 literature studies were re-viewed, and concepts and systems were examined, which contain partial solutions at individual levels, be it for sustainability assessment, for the monetarization of sustainability aspects or for the maturity of technical systems. These instruments have their shortcomings as they only map individual aspects, but do not offer a comprehensive life cycle management solution for portfolio holders. Within the framework of this study, a new concept for a tool was developed, allowing to combine the various levels of real estate life cycle, sustainability, and digitalisation in a single holistic model. This multidimensional model was optimised using experts' opinions collected in 2 workshops. The first results reveal the applicability of the developed instrument but remains difficult to manage by potential users. The novelty of the approach comes from considering the entire life cycle, technical and management processes enabled by digitalisation

Social aesthetics and mental health

Social aesthetics is an aesthetics of the social situation as it is lived and experienced. As humans we are always and every-where social beings, so the question no longer arises as to whether we live socially but rather how we live socially. This question of the How – how we experience and structure our life together – determines the core field of work and research in social aesthetics. European intellectual history teaches us that beauty is not just an adornment to life but is also a major source of strength for our life. Moreover, the positive aesthetic experience also has healing power. That beauty is a highly effective antidote to life’s suffering, i.e. acts as an “anti-depressant”. Social aesthetics that wishes also to be understood as the science of beauty in interpersonal relationships provides us with knowledge that in medical-therapeutic practice be-comes a key pillar of human-centered approaches to prevention and treatment

Leitfaden Smarte Quartiere : Ideenentwicklung und Prozessgestaltung für Genossenschaften und andere Akteure der Quartierentwicklung

Ein smartes Quartier vernetzt auf intelligente Weise die Bewohner und Bewohnerinnen, sowie Gewerbe, Logistik und Warenströme, um auf nachhaltige Weise eine hohe Lebensqualität zu schaffen.Die soziale Vernetzung unter den Quartierbewohnerinnen und Quartierbewohnern ermöglicht eine Sharing-Kultur und ist eine Bereicherung im alltäglichen Leben. Der Verkehr ist intelligent und die Warenströme sind effizient organisiert, Energie und natürliche Ressourcen werden dabei nachhaltig produziert und verantwortungsvoll genutzt. Informations- und  Kommunikationstechnologien werden dort eingesetzt, wo sie zur Lebensqualität und einer effizienten Organisation beitragen. Um dieser Idee näher zu kommen, braucht es einen koordinierten Prozess und gute Ideen für smarte Quartierprojekte. Dieser Leitfaden richtet sich an Genossenschaften und andere Akteure der Quartierentwicklung und soll Ideen für smarte Massnahmen im Quartier, sowie Anstösse für die Prozessgestaltung und Umsetzung bereitstellen

Treatment of depression: Are psychotropic drugs appropriately dosed in women and in the elderly? Dosages of psychotropic drugs by sex and age in routine clinical practice

BACKGROUND Several researchers have shown higher concentration-dose ratios of psychotropic drugs in women and the elderly. Therefore, lower dosages of psychotropic drugs may be recommended in women and the elderly. This study describes sex- and age-related dosage of psychotropic drugs prescribed to patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in routine clinical practice. METHOD Influence of sex and age on dosages are analysed for the 10 most commonly prescribed drugs in our dataset consisting of 32,082 inpatients with MDD. Data stems from the European drug safety program "Arzneimittelsicherheit in der Psychiatrie". The observed sex and age differences in prescriptions are compared to differences described in literature on age- and gender-related pharmacokinetics. RESULTS Among patients over 65 years, a statistically significant decrease in dosages with increasing age (between 0.65% and 2.83% for each increasing year of age) was observed, except for zopiclone. However, only slight or no influence of sex-related adjustment of dosage in prescriptions was found. CONCLUSION Age appears to influence adjustment of dosage in most psychotropic drugs, but to a lower extent than data on age-related pharmacokinetics suggests. Although literature also suggests that lower dosages of psychotropic drugs may be appropriate for females, this study found women are usually prescribed the same dosage as men

Small-Size Resonant Photoacoustic Cell of Inclined Geometry for Gas Detection

A photoacoustic cell intended for laser detection of trace gases is represented. The cell is adapted so as to enhance the gas-detection performance and, simultaneously, to reduce the cell size. The cell design provides an efficient cancellation of the window background (a parasite response due to absorption of laser beam in the cell windows) and acoustic isolation from the environment for an acoustic resonance of the cell. The useful photoacoustic response from a detected gas, window background and noise are analyzed in demonstration experiments as functions of the modulation frequency for a prototype cell with the internal volume ~ 0.5 cm^3. The minimal detectable absorption for the prototype is estimated to be ~ 1.2 10^{-8} cm^{-1} W Hz^{-1/2}.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Sustain GEOBIM – a new method to simulate sustainable development scenarios for urban areas

In 2015, 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) signed the 2030 Agenda, entitled “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,”. The planned implementation by 2030, leaves only a decade to realize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Municipalities and cities constitute important stakeholders, who are obliged under SDG 11, to find ways to develop realistic solutions. Implementation and strategic planning require, among other things, new instruments to digitally model various sustainable development scenarios. Currently, however, it is still unclear what has to be modelled and how. What is clear is that sustainability and digitalization have to come together to deliver results. Several key challenges need to be overcome. First, is the heterogeneity of existing data and documents used in the built environment. Future solutions will depend on a combination of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS). Second, is the merging of different existing data on an adequate level of abstraction which allows practical use of GIS and BIM data in a common model. Third, is the development of functioning, cost-effective workflows that will enable broad applications which adequately simulate specific sustainability aspects using spatial and temporal scenarios. This paper shows how these challenges can be systematically addressed in practice. It demonstrates which aspects of sustainability can be made visible and comprehensible for all stakeholders using only one single BIM- and GIS based data model. The proposed workflow could thus be considered as the basis for planning the next generation of smart and sustainable cities

A new method combining BIM and GIS data to optimise the sustainability of new construction projects in Switzerland

Dieses Papier präsentiert erste Erkenntnisse aus dem GEOBIM-Projekt. Ziel war es zu untersuchen und aufzuzeigen, inwieweit es möglich ist, die Optimierung der Nachhaltigkeit von Bauprojekten durch den Einsatz von BIM- und GIS-Daten zu unterstützen. Die Erkenntnisse werden genutzt, um eine neue Methode zu entwickeln, die eine systematische Analyse und Nutzung vorhandener BIM- und GIS-Daten zur Optimierung der Nachhaltigkeit von Bauprojekten ermöglicht. Eine der wichtigsten Erkenntnisse aus der Kombination bestehender BIM- und GIS-Daten ist, dass eine Vielzahl von Nachhaltigkeitsaspekten einfacher visualisiert und verstanden werden konnten. So können Bauherren frühzeitig prüfen und kontrollieren, ob das geplante Gebäude wirklich ihre spezifischen Bedürfnisse unterstützt und Nachhaltigkeits- und andere Nutzeranforderungen erfüllt. Die Ergebnisse veranschaulichen die Nutzung von BIM- und GIS-Daten zur Optimierung und Visualisierung der Nachhaltigkeit von Gebäuden im Rahmen von Zertifizierungsprozessen, die die digitale Planung langfristig wertvoll machen. Um eine multifaktorielle Optimierung der Nachhaltigkeit von Immobilien zu erreichen, bedarf es auch eines hohen Verständnisses für die Komplexität in den planungsbegleitenden Prozessen. Das Projekt zeigt konkret, wie eine effiziente und nachhaltige Kombination der beiden Methoden im Rahmen von Lean Planning and Construction Management möglich ist. Dies ist von hoher Relevanz und zukünftig zwingend erforderlich, um durch den intelligenten Einsatz dieser neuen Methoden und die daraus resultierenden Synergien die volkswirtschaftlichen Kosten einer Nachhaltigkeitszertifizierung deutlich reduzieren zu können