Determinants of quality of life in community-dwelling older adults: comparing three cut-offs on the excellent-to-poor spectrum.

The aim of this study was to identify modifications in health, economic and social determinants of quality of life (QoL) in community-dwelling older adults when using different cut-offs to defining favorable QoL. Data of year 2011 annual assessment in 1003 older men and women from the Lc65+ cohort study were used. Overall QoL was self-rated as 'excellent,' 'very good,' 'good,' 'fair,' or 'poor.' To identify significant health (self-rated health, SF-12v2 physical and mental health), economic (financial situation), and social (living with others, being socially supported, emotional support, group activities participation) determinants of QoL, a cut-off was set at three different positions to define favorable QoL on the 'excellent' to 'poor' spectrum: at least 'good' (model 1); at least 'very good' (model 2); and 'excellent' only (model 3). In all three models, bivariable analyses indicated significant associations between QoL and at least one variable from each health, economic, and social dimension. In multivariable analyses, only health-related variables remained significantly associated with QoL in model 1. Model 3 additionally retained financial situation. In model 2, QoL was positively associated with physical health [odds ratio (OR) 1.10, p < 0.001], mental health (OR 1.12, p < 0.001), self-rated health (OR 2.43, p < 0.001), group activities participation (OR 1.43, p = 0.037), being socially supported (OR 1.58, p = 0.024), and not reporting financial difficulties (OR 1.76; p = 0.036). Using different cut-offs to defining favorable QoL results in important changes in the number and type of significant health, economic and social determinants. A cut-off between 'good' and 'very good' appears to best reflect the multidimensional nature of QoL

Synchronization of fractional order chaotic systems

The chaotic dynamics of fractional order systems begin to attract much attentions in recent years. In this brief report, we study the master-slave synchronization of fractional order chaotic systems. It is shown that fractional order chaotic systems can also be synchronized.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figure

SEIS: Insight's Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure of Mars.

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars' surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking's Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼ 2500 at 1 Hz and ∼ 200 000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars' surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of M w ∼ 3 at 40 ∘ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11214-018-0574-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

SEIS: Insight’s Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure of Mars

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars’ surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking’s Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼ 2500 at 1 Hz and ∼ 200 000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars’ surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of Mw ∼ 3 at 40◦ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution

Beyond the third dimension of BIM : A systematic review of literature and assessment of professional views

Across the world, the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the three-dimensional (3D) model in projects are increasingly frequent for supporting design tasks. The digital data embodied in the BIM model is shared between the project stakeholders from the various disciplines. After giving an overview of the BIM 3D Model data used for planning (4D) and costing (5D), the study assesses the level of clarity or confusion on what the numbers of dimension refer to after the 5th dimension. A systematic review of the different BIM dimensions was conducted associated with an online questionnaire sent to various Architecture, Engineering and Construction stakeholders across Europe. The online questionnaire survey was limited to the 28 European Union (EU) countries. Each of the 28 EU countries was represented by at least one respondent. The research identified 52 papers considering BIM 4D Model, 15 considering 5D modelling, 6 considering the 6D Model and 2 considering the 7D. It was also identified a confusion between academics and practitioners for the 6D and 7D BIM dimensions. In fact, 86% of the professionals, actually using 6D, allocate Sustainability to 6D. Whereas 85% of the professionals using 7D allocate it to Facility Management

Building Information Modelling adoption in the European Union : An overview

Building information modelling (BIM) is one of the most promising recent developments in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation (AECO) industry. However, its adoption remains a challenge for the AECO industry because it requires a shift to a new way of working, leading to a current discrepancy in the adoption of BIM in the EU. The paper aims at assessing the gaps in the BIM adoption between the 28 EU countries and the barriers related to its implementation. The methodology adopted here is twofold: first, secondary data are given by a systematic literature review, completed with the review of current projects funded by the European Commission, and dealing with fostering the BIM adoption. Second, primary data are provided by a questionnaire survey to classify BIM initiatives regarding policies, the level of adoption and the barriers encountered in the 28 EU countries. In order to grade the heterogeneity of BIM adoption in the EU, we have classified the countries into four categories with different levels of awareness, from early adopters (BIM already mandated) to countries without any plan. The survey has enabled the analysis of twenty barriers to BIM adoption using the four grades in relation to the respondent country. We found barriers that are acknowledged by all countries irrespective of their level of BIM adoption. Other barriers have been already tackled by the early adopters but not by the newcomers who have yet to experience some of these issues. Finally, the assessment of the disparities of BIM adoption within the EU can help the European Commission towards unifying European standard on BIM

Robust fractional adaptive control based on the strictly positive realness condition

This paper presents a new approach to robust adaptive control, using fractional order systems as parallel feedforward in the adaptation loop. The problem is that adaptive control systems may diverge when confronted with finite sensor and actuator dynamics, or with parasitic disturbances. One of the classical robust adaptive control solutions to these problems makes use of parallel feedforward and simplified adaptive controllers based on the concept of positive realness. The proposed control scheme is based on the Almost Strictly Positive Realness (ASPR) property of the plant. We show that this condition implies also robust stability in the case of fractional order controllers. An application to Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) with a fractional order adaptation rule is provided with an implementable algorithm. A simulation example of a SISO robust adaptive control system illustrates the advantages of the proposed method in the presence of disturbances and noise