Generation of 3D building models from 2D architectural plans

A robust, semi-automatic way is presented to create 3D polyhedral building models from computer-drawn floor plans, requiring minimal user interaction. The models ad here to a consistent solids representation and can be used for computer rendering, visualization in interactive walkthroughs, and in various simulation and analysisprograms. The output of our prototype program is directly compatible with the Berkeley WALKTHRU system and with the NIST CFAST fire simulator. A consistentmodel of a seven-storey building with more than 300 rooms has been generated in the time span of a few days from original AutoCAD floor plans drawn by architects

Unigrafix

UNIGRAFIX is a three-dimensional graphics modelling environment that runs under the UNIX operating system. It comprises a terse, human-readable descriptive language that allows scene files of complex objects to be created with little overhead. These scenes can be used as input to a set of UNIGRAFIX programs which can be run either as separate functional units, or from within the interactive UNIGRAFIX environment. Programs are available to transform and illuminate the scene descriptions and to display them in a variety of styles on various output devices. The built-in hidden-face and hidden-line elimination routines use a scan- line algorithm which makes strong use of scan-line coherence as well as object coherence

Recurrence of Stachybotrys chartarum during mycological and toxicological study of bioaerosols collected in a dairy cattle shed

Agricultural occupations associated with animal breeding and the processing of animal materials in confinement systems could potentially lead to bioaerosol exposures. Moulds and mycotoxins could be constituents of bioaerosols and should be studied because of their possible involvement in respiratory diseases and cancers. In order to characterize the fungal contamination of the indoor air in a dairy barn, bioaerosols were collected during 20 days in a cattle farm located in Normandy (France). Mycobiota, mycotoxins and the mutagenicity of bioaerosols were studied. The toxigenic ability of Aspergillus flavus group and Aspergillus fumigatus isolates was also evaluated in vitro. The prevalent airborne moulds were from the following potentially toxigenic species: Aspergillus flavus group, Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Stachybotrys chartarum, and the allergenic species Ulocladium chartarum, Cladosporium cladosporioides. In comparison with harvesting, grain handling or broiler breeding, the concentrations of viable moulds were lower in the cattle shed. Seasonal variations in levels of several species were also observed. This study revealed that aflatoxins were detected in bioaerosols and, for the first time, showed that farmers are possibly exposed to Stachybotrys chartarum during routine barn work. Moreover, the finding of mutagenicity from bioaerosols needs further investigations on bioaerosol composition