Single-mask thermal displacement sensor in MEMS

In this work we describe a one degree-of-freedom microelectromechanical thermal\ud displacement sensor integrated with an actuated stage. The system was fabricated in the device layer of a silicon-on-insulator wafer using a single-mask process. The sensor is based on the temperature dependent electrical resistivity of silicon and the heat transfer by conduction through a thin layer of air. On a measurement range of 50 μm and using a measurement bandwidth of 30 Hz, the 1-sigma noise corresponds to 3.47 nm. The power consumption of the sensor is 209 mW, almost completely independent of stage position. The drift of the sensor over a measurement period of 32 hours was 32 nm

Methodologies for requirement checking on building models:A technology overview

The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has increased in the Architectural and Urban domain. Stakeholders within distinct disciplines collaborate and exchange such information models digitally. In order to strive for an interoperable use of the models, requirement documents are being written by stakeholders, standardisation bodies and governments. Such documents pose additional requirements to the exchange of building model definitions and limit the scope of information to something that is relevant to the disciplines the exchange pertains to, the phase of the construction project and the level of development of the project. For effective collaboration processes, checking these requirements in an automated and unambiguous way is of crucial importance. Yet, requirement definitions often comprise natural language texts and academic and commercial tools being developed in this regard are fragmented and heterogeneous. Furthermore, the models being checked are of uncertain quality because the semantics of the schema are not rigorously formalized and enforced and models contain redundancies that affect their reliability. This paper urges for more developed schema semantics and illustrates how the body of technical means, such as classification system, concept libraries, query languages, reasoners and model view definitions are related to one another and to the concept of automated rule checking.</p

Methodologies for requirement checking on building models:A technology overview

The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has increased in the Architectural and Urban domain. Stakeholders within distinct disciplines collaborate and exchange such information models digitally. In order to strive for an interoperable use of the models, requirement documents are being written by stakeholders, standardisation bodies and governments. Such documents pose additional requirements to the exchange of building model definitions and limit the scope of information to something that is relevant to the disciplines the exchange pertains to, the phase of the construction project and the level of development of the project. For effective collaboration processes, checking these requirements in an automated and unambiguous way is of crucial importance. Yet, requirement definitions often comprise natural language texts and academic and commercial tools being developed in this regard are fragmented and heterogeneous. Furthermore, the models being checked are of uncertain quality because the semantics of the schema are not rigorously formalized and enforced and models contain redundancies that affect their reliability. This paper urges for more developed schema semantics and illustrates how the body of technical means, such as classification system, concept libraries, query languages, reasoners and model view definitions are related to one another and to the concept of automated rule checking.</p

Geobim benchmark 2019: Design and initial results

GeoBIM, the integration of 3D geoinformation (Geo) with building information models (BIM), is a subject of increasing attention in both domains. A well-known practical challenge for this integration is the mixed state of software support for open standards in each domain that would ease the integration. This is often known by practitioners but poorly documented. In order to solve this problem, we devised the GeoBIM benchmark, in which we compile the experiences of volunteering participants, who perform a guided study to test the software they are most familiar with against a few provided datasets structured in open standards. The aim of the tests is to improve the knowledge of the state of the art in the software support for GeoBIM open standards and to identify points for improvement. In this paper, we present the design of the benchmark, especially explaining and discussing the chosen data to be used with their connected issues to be tested, and some initial results

Reliability and validity of ten consumer activity trackers

Background: Activity trackers can potentially stimulate users to increase their physical activity behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of ten consumer activity trackers for measuring step count in both laboratory and free-living conditions. Method: Healthy adult volunteers (n = 33) walked twice on a treadmill (4.8 km/h) for 30 min while wearing ten different activity trackers (i.e. Lumoback, Fitbit Flex, Jawbone Up, Nike+ Fuelband SE, Misfit Shine, Withings Pulse, Fitbit Zip, Omron HJ-203, Yamax Digiwalker SW-200 and Moves mobile application). In free-living conditions, 56 volunteers wore the same activity trackers for one working day. Test-retest reliability was analyzed with the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Validity was evaluated by comparing each tracker with the gold standard (Optogait system for laboratory and ActivPAL for free-living conditions), using paired samples t-tests, mean absolute percentage errors, correlations and Bland-Altman plots. Results: Test-retest analysis revealed high reliability for most trackers except for the Omron (ICC .14), Moves app (ICC .37) and Nike+ Fuelband (ICC .53). The mean absolute percentage errors of the trackers in laboratory and free-living conditions respectively, were: Lumoback (−0.2, −0.4), Fibit Flex (−5.7, 3.7), Jawbone Up (−1.0, 1.4), Nike+ Fuelband (−18, −24), Misfit Shine (0.2, 1.1), Withings Pulse (−0.5, −7.9), Fitbit Zip (−0.3, 1.2), Omron (2.5, −0.4), Digiwalker (−1.2, −5.9), and Moves app (9.6, −37.6). Bland-Altman plots demonstrated that the limits of agreement varied from 46 steps (Fitbit Zip) to 2422 steps (Nike+ Fuelband) in the laboratory condition, and 866 steps (Fitbit Zip) to 5150 steps (Moves app) in the free-living condition. Conclusion: The reliability and validity of most trackers for measuring step count is good. The Fitbit Zip is the most valid whereas the reliability and validity of the Nike+ Fuelband is low

THE ISPRS-EUROSDR GEOBIM BENCHMARK 2019

Standardised data formats and data models are essential for data integration and interoperability, which in turn adds value to data by allowing its reuse in multiple contexts. For this reason, in recent years extensive efforts have been focused on standards development. When representing the built environment, 3D city models and Building Information Models are particularly relevant, and their integration is now required to underpin use cases that cover the full life-cycle of a built asset, including design and planning as well as operations and management, and to support legal applications such as cadastral systems. For those kinds of data, CityGML by the Open Geospatial Consortium and Industry Foundation Classes by buildingSMART are the most popular reference standards. However, many users report, often through informal channels, the difficulties of working with these formats. This paper summarizes the outcomes of the GeoBIM Benchmark 2019, a scientific initiative funded by ISPRS and EuroSDR to collect insights into the most relevant issues encountered in the management of CityGML and IFC within existing software. Alongside data management (import, visualisation, analysis, export) problems, issues of particular consequence in terms of integration relate to georeferencing IFC files and the conversions among the two kinds of formats and models. Thus, the benchmark was designed to explore these tasks in available software. Following analysis of the benchmark results, a key outcome is the impossibility to find clear patterns in the behaviour of tools, which consequently means there is no consistency in the implementation of standards. Although the results could seem disappointing, the criticality in managing these standards as they are was described and this awareness can be the starting point for further research or further standards development. Finally, this project was useful to gather a wide community around this topic, and the discussion about the GeoBIM-related issues was definitely pushed

Observing mother-child interaction in a free-play vs. a structured task context and its relationship with preterm and term born toddlers' psychosocial outcomes

IntroductionHigh quality of mother-child interaction is associated with better psychosocial outcomes in children. However, this association might depend on the context in which mother-child interaction is observed as well as specific child characteristics. In this study, we examine differences in the assessment of mother-child interaction in a free-play and a structured task context. In addition, it will be investigated whether the behaviors per context are differently associated with preterm vs. term born toddlers' psychosocial outcomes.MethodsA total of 201 Dutch mother-child dyads participated in the study, of whom 108 children were moderate to late preterm (MLP) and 93 were born at term. Mother-child interaction was observed in a free-play and a structured task context when the child was 18 months of (corrected) age. Six subscales of mother-child interaction were assessed using the Coding Interactive Behavior scheme: maternal stimulation, maternal warmth, child's negative affect, active mother and child engagement, dyadic synchrony and tense interaction. Psychosocial outcomes were assessed at 24 months of (corrected) age using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire – Social Emotional and the Child Behavior Checklist.ResultsMother-child interaction was reliably assessed (α &gt; .60) in each context, except for tense interaction during free-play (α = .41) and child's negative affect when averaged across contexts (α = 0.55). Compared to the free-play context, during the structured task, more child's negative affect, tense interaction and active mother and child engagement was observed in MLP and term born children, and less dyadic synchrony in MLP children (p's &lt; .01). Only during a structured task and for term born children, active mother and child engagement was related to less social-emotional difficulties, internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Only during free-play and for MLP children, active mother and child engagement was related to less externalizing behaviors. Dyadic synchrony during a structured task was associated with less social-emotional difficulties in MLP and term born children, and dyadic synchrony during free-play was only associated with less social-emotional difficulties in term born children (all p's &lt; .05).DiscussionMost mother-child interactive behaviors can be reliably assessed in both contexts. The structured task context elicited more varied behaviors than the free-play context. With the observations in the structured task context, more associations with children's psychosocial outcomes were found than with the observations in the free-play context. Mother-child interactions characterized by active, engaged and synchronous behaviors were associated with better psychosocial outcomes in toddlers, with some differences observed for MLP vs. term born children and for the free-play vs. the structured task context. Suggestions for future research as well as clinical practice are provided

Is maternal negative affectivity related to psychosocial behavior of preterm and term-born toddlers through mother–child interaction?

Introduction: Children born moderately to late preterm (MLP) are more prone to psychosocial difficulties than their term-born counterparts. Maternal negative affectivity (NA)–a relatively stable personality trait characterized by the tendency to experience negative thoughts, feelings and emotions–has been related to more psychosocial problems in their offspring, and to a lower quality of mother–child interactions. As MLP children seem more sensitive to their early caregiving environment, they might be more affected by maternal NA and interaction style than their term-born peers. The current study investigated whether maternal NA predicted child’s psychosocial outcomes through quality of mother–child interaction, and if these associations differed between MLP and term-born children. Methods: The sample consisted of 108 MLP and 92 term-born children and their mothers. At 18 months corrected age, maternal NA was measured using a self-report questionnaire and mother–child interaction was observed during two structured tasks. Five subscales of mother–child interaction were assessed: negative interaction, reciprocal engagement, emotional support, maternal stimulation and mother-led interaction. At 24 months corrected age, social–emotional difficulties, internalizing, and externalizing problems were assessed using mother-report. Results: For MLP children, maternal NA directly, positively, predicted social–emotional difficulties (b = 0.57) and internalizing problems (b = 0.45), but no mediation effect of mother–child interaction was found. For term-born children, no direct effect but a mediation effect of mother-led interaction was found. Higher levels of maternal NA predicted less mother-led interaction which in turn predicted more problems. Birth status did not moderate any of the relationships, showing that the differences in patterns of effects found within the MLP and term-born group did not reach statistical significance. Discussion: Maternal NA was found to be a risk factor for psychosocial outcomes in toddlers, either directly for MLP children or indirectly through mother-led interaction for term-born children. These findings suggest that the process through which maternal NA affects psychosocial outcomes may be different for MLP and term-born children. However, as the examined moderation effects of birth status did not reach statistical significance, more research using larger sample sizes is needed to study mother–child interaction in greater detail

A Structural and Mutagenic Blueprint for Molecular Recognition of Strychnine and d-Tubocurarine by Different Cys-Loop Receptors

Cys-loop receptors (CLR) are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast excitatory or inhibitory transmission in the nervous system. Strychnine and d-tubocurarine (d-TC) are neurotoxins that have been highly instrumental in decades of research on glycine receptors (GlyR) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), respectively. In this study we addressed the question how the molecular recognition of strychnine and d-TC occurs with high affinity and yet low specificity towards diverse CLR family members. X-ray crystal structures of the complexes with AChBP, a well-described structural homolog of the extracellular domain of the nAChRs, revealed that strychnine and d-TC adopt multiple occupancies and different ligand orientations, stabilizing the homopentameric protein in an asymmetric state. This introduces a new level of structural diversity in CLRs. Unlike protein and peptide neurotoxins, strychnine and d-TC form a limited number of contacts in the binding pocket of AChBP, offering an explanation for their low selectivity. Based on the ligand interactions observed in strychnine- and d-TC-AChBP complexes we performed alanine-scanning mutagenesis in the binding pocket of the human α1 GlyR and α7 nAChR and showed the functional relevance of these residues in conferring high potency of strychnine and d-TC, respectively. Our results demonstrate that a limited number of ligand interactions in the binding pocket together with an energetic stabilization of the extracellular domain are key to the poor selective recognition of strychnine and d-TC by CLRs as diverse as the GlyR, nAChR, and 5-HT3R