Feasibility Analysis of Open-government Data for the Automated Calculation of the Micro-climatic Attributes of Urban Units of Observation in the City of Vienna

A quantified analysis of the urban climate in general and the urban heat island phenomena in particular is a complex endeavor and requires a variety of data streams. Urban units of observations are meant to specify well-defined spatial domains within a city toward the representation and study of the microclimatic conditions (e.g., via simulation applications). The European Union generally mandates the implementation of open data interfaces. Administrative data is made publicly accessible to increase transparency and to support participation and collaboration. The present contribution analyses the feasibility of open government data for the automated calculation of the microclimatic attributes of urban units of observation in the city of Vienna. The proposed algorithms and framework are briefly introduced to explain which data sources are needed and how the data is classified. Suitable data sources include geo- referenced, two- and three- dimensional vector, raster as well as semantic data. A sample application scenario presents the results of aspect ratio calculation using the example of the inner city of Vienna

Application of Web-Technologies in Building Information Systems: the case of the Monitoring System Toolkit (MOST)

Building information systems collect building related sensor data. This data is processed and distributed to various users. The present contribution discusses the application of web technologies in building information systems and aims to give an overview of interesting applications and current research and development fields. The analysis is conducted using the example of the Monitoring System Toolkit, a vendor and platform independent building monitoring system that is developed at the Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology at the Vienna University of Technology. This work aims to provide a technological overview of communication processes, data storage and distribution mechanisms as well as representation workflows. The migration process from relational to non-relational data stores is introduced, including the extraction of processing logic from a relational database. Furthermore, the concepts behind homogenous data organization (data structures) and communication flows across the application layers and services are introduced

AUTOCERT: A web-based approach for heating demand calculations for Building Performance Evaluation and Optimization

In most European countries the thermal performance of buildings must be specified in terms of energy certificates. These involve, amongst other things, the calculation of buildings' heating demand. However, architects and planners tend to use heating demand calculations obtained from energy certification tools to evaluate the impact of design alternatives on buildings' thermal performance. Typical existing calculations tools do not effectively support automated parametric change of input data. Manual change of input data might be a time-consuming and error-prone process. This circumstance motivated the present contribution: A simple annual standard calculation method was analysed and redesigned to be used in a web-based environment. The resulting tool can accept input data arrays (consisting of a starting- point, an end-point and a step-width value for constitutive input variables) and compute the heating demand for the resulting variants. Therefore, planners can explore the implications of variable ranges of various design features (e.g., percentage of glazing in the façade, U-values of the building's constitutive elements) for the magnitude of heating demand. The present contribution describes the structure of the tool. Moreover, ongoing work is described that addresses the algorithmic cost of calculation of all variants and potential solutions involving, for example, the use of genetic algorithms

Recent advances in the development of MOST: an open-source, vendor and technology independent toolkit for building monitoring, data preprocessing and visualization

The present contribution describes approaches for visualizing building related data (temperature, energy use, etc.). A web based visualization framework is presented and a number of use cases are demonstrated (i.e. three-dimensional building browsing). Usability is optimized for diverse screen sizes, input methods (i.e. touch screen), and application logics. Finally, guidelines for further user interface development are presented

PP2A-B’γ modulates foliar trans-methylation capacity and the formation of 4-methoxy-indol-3-yl-methyl glucosinolate in Arabidopsis leaves

Glucosinolates (GSL) of cruciferous plants comprise a major group of structurally diverse secondary compounds which act as deterrents against aphids and microbial pathogens and have large commercial and ecological impacts. While the transcriptional regulation governing the biosynthesis and modification of GSL is now relatively well understood, post-translational regulatory components that specifically determine the structural variation of indole glucosinolates have not been reported. We show that the cytoplasmic protein phosphatase 2A regulatory subunit B'gamma (PP2A-B'gamma) physically interacts with indole glucosinolate methyltransferases and controls the methoxylation of indole glucosinolates and the formation of 4-meth-oxy-indol-3-yl-methyl glucosinolate in Arabidopsis leaves. By taking advantage of proteomic approaches and metabolic analysis we further demonstrate that PP2A-B'gamma is required to control the abundance of oligomeric protein complexes functionally linked with the activated methyl cycle and the trans-methylation capacity of leaf cells. These findings highlight the key regulatory role of PP2A-B'gamma in methionine metabolism and provide a previously unrecognized perspective for metabolic engineering of glucosinolate metabolism in cruciferous plants.Peer reviewe

Mycobacterium microti Infections in Free-Ranging Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)

Infections with Mycobacterium microti, a member of the M. tuberculosis complex, have been increasingly reported in humans and in domestic and free-ranging wild animals. At postmortem examination, infected animals may display histopathologic lesions indistinguishable from those caused by M. bovis or M. caprae, potentially leading to misidentification of bovine tuberculosis. We report 3 cases of M. microti infections in free-ranging red deer (Cervus elaphus) from western Austria and southern Germany. One diseased animal displayed severe pyogranulomatous pleuropneumonia and multifocal granulomas on the surface of the pericardium. Two other animals showed alterations of the lungs and associated lymph nodes compatible with parasitic infestation. Results of the phylogenetic analysis including multiple animal strains from the study area showed independent infection events, but no host-adapted genotype. Personnel involved in bovine tuberculosis–monitoring programs should be aware of the fastidious nature of M. microti, its pathogenicity in wildlife, and zoonotic potential

PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 2A-B 'gamma Controls Botrytis cinerea Resistance and Developmental Leaf Senescence

Plants optimize their growth and survival through highly integrated regulatory networks that coordinate defensive measures and developmental transitions in response to environmental cues. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a key signaling component that controls stress reactions and growth at different stages of plant development, and the PP2A regulatory subunit PP2A-B'gamma is required for negative regulation of pathogenesis responses and for maintenance of cell homeostasis in short-day conditions. Here, we report molecular mechanisms by which PP2A-B'gamma regulates Botrytis cinerea resistance and leaf senescence in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We extend the molecular functionality of PP2A-B'gamma to a protein kinase-phosphatase interaction with the defense-associated calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK1 and present indications this interaction may function to control CPK1 activity. In presenescent leaf tissues, PP2A-B'gamma is also required to negatively control the expression of salicylic acid-related defense genes, which have recently proven vital in plant resistance to necrotrophic fungal pathogens. In addition, we find the premature leaf yellowing of pp2a-b'gamma depends on salicylic acid biosynthesis via SALICYLIC ACID INDUCTION DEFICIENT2 and bears the hallmarks of developmental leaf senescence. We propose PP2A-B'gamma age-dependently controls salicylic acid-related signaling in plant immunity and developmental leaf senescence.Peer reviewe