GeoBIM for built environment condition assessment supporting asset management decision making

The digital transformation in management of the built environment is more and more evident. While the benefits of location data, from Building Information Modelling or Geographical Information Systems, have been explored separately, their combination - GeoBIM - in asset management has never been explored. Data collection for condition assessment is challenging due to quantity, types, frequency and quality of data. We first describe the opportunities and challenges of GeoBIM for condition assessment. The theoretical approach is then validated developing an integrated GeoBIM model of the digital built environment, for a neighbourhood in Milan, Italy. Data are collected, linked, processed and analysed, through multiple software platforms, providing relevant information for asset management decision making. Good results are achieved in rapid massive data collection, improved visualisation, and analysis. While further testing and development is required, the case study outcomes demonstrated the innovation and the mid-term service-oriented potential of the proposed approach

BIM AND GIS INTEGRATION FOR INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

The integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is gaining momentum in digital built Asset Management (AM), and has the potential to improve information management operations and provide advantages in process control and delivery of quality AM services, along with underlying data management benefits through entire life cycle of an asset. Work has been carried out relating GeoBIM/AM to buildings as well as infrastructure assets, where the potential financial savings are extensive. While information form BIM maybe be sufficient for building-AM; for infrastructure AM a combination of GIS and BIM is required. Scientific literature relating to this topic has been growing in recent years and has now reached a point where a systematic analysis of current and potential uses of GeoBIM in AM for Infrastructure is possible. Three specific areas form part of the analysis – a review of BIM and Infrastructure AM and GIS and Infrastructure AM leads to a better understanding of current practice. Combining the two, a review of GeoBIM and Infrastructure AM allows the benefits of, and issues relating to, GeoBIM to be clearly identified, both at technical and operational levels. A set of 54 journal articles was selected for in-depth contents analysis according to the AM function addressed and the managed asset class. The analysis enabled the identification of three categories of issues and opportunities: data management, interoperability and integration and AM process and service management. The identified knowledge gaps, in turn, underpin problem definition for the next phases of research into GeoBIM for infrastructure AM

Apoptotic Effects of Antilymphocyte Globulins on Human Pro-inflammatory CD4+CD28− T-cells

BACKGROUND: Pro-inflammatory, cytotoxic CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells with known defects in apoptosis have been investigated as markers of premature immuno-senescence in various immune-mediated diseases. In this study we evaluated the influence of polyclonal antilymphocyte globulins (ATG-Fresenius, ATG-F) on CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells in vivo and in vitro. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Surface and intracellular three colour fluorescence activated cell sorting analyses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 16 consecutive transplant recipients and short-term cell lines were performed. In vivo, peripheral levels of CD3(+)CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells decreased from 3.7 ± 7.1% before to 0 ± 0% six hours after ATG-F application (P = 0.043) in 5 ATG-F treated but not in 11 control patients (2.9 ± 2.9% vs. 3.9 ± 3.0%). In vitro, ATG-F induced apoptosis even in CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells, which was 4.3-times higher than in CD4(+)CD28(+) T-cells. ATG-F evoked apoptosis was partially reversed by the broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz)-Val-Ala-Asp(OMe)-fluoromethylketone (zVAD-fmk) and prednisolon-21-hydrogensuccinate. ATG-F triggered CD25 expression and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and induced down-regulation of the type 1 chemokine receptors CXCR-3, CCR-5, CX3CR-1 and the central memory adhesion molecule CD62L predominately in CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells. CONCLUSION: In summary, in vivo depletion of peripheral CD3(+)CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells by ATG-F in transplant recipients was paralleled in vitro by ATG-F induced apoptosis. CD25 expression and chemokine receptor down-regulation in CD4(+)CD28(-) T-cells only partly explain the underlying mechanism

Inflammatory bowel disease: past, present, and future

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively known as the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), are largely diseases of the twentieth century, and are associated with the rise of modern, Westernized industrial society. Although the causes of these diseases remain incompletely understood, the prevailing model is that the intestinal flora drives an unmitigated intestinal immune response and inflammation in the genetically susceptible host. A review of the past and present of these diseases shows that detailed description preceded more fundamental elucidation of the disease processes. Working out the details of disease pathogenesis, in turn, has yielded dividends in more focused and effective therapy for IBD. This article highlights the key descriptions of the past, and the pivotal findings of current studies in disease pathogenesis and its connection to medical therapy. Future directions in the IBD will likely explicate the inhomogeneous causes of these diseases, with implications for individualized therapy

Plant maintenance in hospitals facilities

Maintenance is crucial in hospitals, where potential systems failures can have a significant impact on patients. An hospital is a complex asset because of the co-existence of multiple areas and interaction among health-related and non-health-related activities. The central hypothesis is that the appropriate maintenance procedure depends on served spaces and plants. Therefore, the research aims at establishing a correlation between the operational criticalities of each area and critical elements of plants to improve and optimize the execution of maintenance activities. The analysis is based on three steps. Firstly, the identification of criteria aimed at defining the plants criticality in correlation with the ways in which spaces are served and, moreover, definition of criteria for spaces classification based on performed activities. Last step is the description of components through two categories of factors. The first refers to analysis of design and functioning aspects of plants; the second is related to components functioning and deterioration. This correlation among "criticality index" and "health index" for all components provides indications on modalities and priorities for extraordinary interventions. Relative weights were attributed through the consultation with hospital technical office. The proposed maintenance management was applied in a hospital made up of 65000 squared-meters to include it in the informatic system that is currently used for repairs. This new maintenance management has the purpose of providing indications for maintenance strategies by considering contemporary nature of functional spaces, activities design characteristics and health state of them. The implementation into the informatic system and its check will be developed in future

A Bibliometric Analysis on Costs Estimation of Building Retrofit

Buildings are responsible for approximatively 40% of energy consumptions and 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU. In developed countries, any intervention carried out for buildings' sustainability improvement is related to energy retrofit. Energy retrofit can be considered as a subset of sustainability management and is one of the key issues to be taken into account for the setup of an effective asset and portfolio management strategy. Among asset management core functions, sustainability management is one of those which must be encompassed in a strategic framework for effectively reaching the goals of the organisation. Within this context, sustainability of buildings should be evaluated according to the environmental, economic and social point of view. These different issues require specific assessment methodologies and metrics. Therefore, in this article, a bibliometric analysis on costs estimation is presented, focusing on Life Cycle Costing methodology for energy retrofit interventions. Articles have been investigated through bibliometric, trend and cluster analysis on a sample of 167 articles. The research has been carried out on one of the most acknowledged databases as Scopus and allowed to identify main trends and dynamics of the scientific literature

Measuring the performance of assets: A review of the facility condition index

Measurement of performances in asset management is an enabling factor to define an effective strategy. The scope of this research concerns the investigation on the Facility Condition Index (FCI): one of the most common metrics related to the built environment. The research aims at providing a critical review concerning the FCI and its use. The research methodology has been developed according to three steps: bibliographic research, bibliometric analysis and critical review. Most of the sources agree that FCI provides a reliable economic measurement of maintenance needs, though it must be tied to a strong condition assessment methodology. Moreover, different methodologies for computation of the deferred maintenance and the current replacement value can be found in literature and many researchers emphasised the limits of FCI when dealing with components characterised by a considerable difference in replacement costs. In conclusion, FCI is included in the wider framework of asset management business process