COMBINING URBAN METABOLISM METHODS AND SEMANTIC 3D CITY MODELS

The last decade has witnessed increasing interest in the study of urban stocks and flows. This paper provides a literature review for different studies of urban stocks and flows. The review shows that urban stocks and flows studies can be categorized according to their output and spatial resolution: The first type of studies uses a lower scale of spatial resolution and focuses on the city as one unit. The second type of studies uses a higher spatial resolution to analyze stocks and flows of sub-areas of the city and is therefore able to produce maps to visualize their results. Both types of studies can either use recent data in a non-dynamic way, or use a time series of data, which allows for the investigation of the city’s development over time. Information about input and output data per study was determined. The literature review also identifies problems associated with current studies, which are related to data availability and accuracy, assumptions, simplifications, and errors. The paper proposes that stocks and flows studies could benefit greatly from the linkage with a standardized semantic 3D city model, such as defined by the CityGML standard. Feedback on CityGML and its ADE capabilities to model urban metabolism is provided

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

BIM-GIS Integration as Dedicated and Independent Course for Geoinformatics Students: Merits, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Information mined from building information models as well as associated geographical data and Geographic Information System (GIS) analyses can increase the success of construction processes and asset management, including buildings, roads, and public facilities. The integration of information from both domains requires high expertise in both spheres. The existing B.Sc and M.Sc. programs linked to the built environment at the Technical University of Munich offer courses for the Building Information Model (BIM) and GIS that are distributed among study programs in Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Geomatics. Students graduating as professionals in one of these domains rarely know how to solve pre-defined technical problems associated with the integration of information from BIM and GIS. Students in such programs seldom practice skills needed for the integration of information from BIM and GIS at a level that is needed in working life. Conversely, the technologies in both domains create artificial boundaries that do not exist in reality—for example, water and electricity would not be of use if the utilities terminated in front of buildings. To bring a change and bridge the gap between BIM and GIS, a change in the teaching methods of BIM/GIS needs to be considered. The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a master’s course (M.Sc. course) for students in Geoinformatics which focuses on competencies required to achieve BIM/GIS integration. This paper describes the course development process and provides a unique perspective on the curriculum and subjects. It also presents the course objective, course development, the selection and development of learning materials, and the assessment of the intended learning outcome of the course. The developed course is validated through a questionnaire, and feedback is provided by participants of the BIM/GIS integration workshop representing a panel of experts in the domain

TRANSFERRING MULTI-SCALE APPROACHES FROM 3D CITY MODELING TO IFC-BASED TUNNEL MODELING

A multi-scale representation of the built environment is required to provide information with the adequate level of detail (LoD) for different use cases and objectives. This applies not only to the visualization of city and building models, but in particular to their use in the context of planning and analysis tasks. While in the field of Geographic Information Systems, the handling of multi-scale representations is well established and understood, no formal approaches for incorporating multi-scale methods exist in the field of Building Information Modeling (BIM) so far. However, these concepts are much needed to better support highly dynamic planning processes that make use of very rough information about the facility under design in the early stages and provide increasingly detailed and fine-grained information in later stages. To meet these demands, this paper presents a comprehensive concept for incorporating multi-scale representations with infrastructural building information models, with a particular focus on the representation of shield tunnels. Based on a detailed analysis of the data modeling methods used in CityGML for capturing multiscale representations and the requirements present in the context of infrastructure planning projects, we discuss potential extensions to the BIM data model Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). Particular emphasis is put on providing means for preserving the consistency of the representation across the different Levels-of-Detail (LoD). To this end we make use of a procedural geometry description which makes it possible to define explicit dependencies between geometric entities on different LoDs. The modification of an object on a coarse level consequently results in an automated update of all dependent objects on the finer levels. Finally we discuss the transformation of the IFC-based multi-scale tunnel model into a CityGML compliant tunnel representation

Interference in Clinical Laboratory Tests, with Special Regard to the Bilirubin Assay: Effects of a Metabolite of the New Prolyl 4-Hydroxylase Inhibitor, Lufironil

Peer Reviewe