Smart-BIM (Building Information Modeling)

Purpose: After a long period of international research and development, BIM has become mature. Many tools support the BIM process, or at least they claim. BIM not only offers opportunities for the Architectural Engineering and Construction industry, but also for the client. In this paper we don’t focus on the professional client, but on the client of a building assignment that act as the end-user. Involvement of the end user in the design process has been advocated by many scholars and designers, but has so far only marginally been adopted in practice. The importance of user participation is demonstrated by the lack of success of smart technologies in new housing or in renovation. Particularly elderly people resist accepting these technologies in their home environment, although they could benefit from these technologies to improve comfort and health care. As a result of poor understanding of these new technologies by both designers and end users, researchers observe that there is a mismatch between user demands and smart technology usability. Hence, this paper is an attempt to improve the role of users in the design process in two ways. Firstly, by adding the missing components of smart technology to current BIM model libraries. Secondly, by developing a virtual model in which users can interact with the smart technologies and configure their preferred layout. The final results are interesting not only for technology developers but also for housing designers who aim at improving the quality of life in future housing for aging society. Method: For a better understanding of BIM, a historical perspective is taken in this paper. The initiatives from different research institutes are discussed and how they affected each other. The up-take by the software industry is highlighted and their delicate relationship with science. In today’s design process BIM systems support spatial design that is accommodate by smart technology. Usually this smart technology is added after the spatial design in the final design stage by the installations expert. In our research we want to turn this process around; the smart technologies are accommodated by spatial design. Therefore we develop a design system with a library of smart components such as smart wall, smart kitchen and smart furniture. The difference between smart technologies and standard building components is that smart technologies interact with the building users. BIM allows for realistic visualization of designs in an early stage. In our prototype system, clients are presented a virtual space with a wide range of smart technologies. After being introduced to these technologies, the client expresses how these will fit within his/her activities. Following he/she can experience in the virtual model how smart technologies react when activities are executed. Results & Discussion A prototype system is presented that allows clients such as elderly to experience smart technologies. In contrast with traditional design it does not start from the spatial layout but from the activities that should be accommodated supported by smart technologies. We expect that fundamentally different layout will emerge from this approach. Although no experimental data are available yet, some first experiences will be discussed

Study of fish meal substitution with earthworm in diet of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) in diet for rainbow trout in a complete randomized design with 5 treatments in triplicates using 15 cages in a pound for 8 weeks. Ten fish with average weight 120 g was stocked in each replication. The earthworm (as fed) at the levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% was replaced with fish meal in rainbow trout diet. Results showed that feed intake decreased significantly (P b0.05). The chemical composition analysis of fish meat showed that there were no significant effects between control and 25% and 50% earthworm in diet for dry matter, crude protein and ash, but fat content significantly decreased as earthworm increased (P < 0.05). This present study showed that the earthworm (Eisenia fetida) can be used in rainbow trout diet up to 50% instead of fish meal

Effect of Microstructural Refinement on Tensile Properties of AZ80 Magnesium Alloy via Ca Addition and Extrusion Process

AbstractThe microstructure and tensile properties of AZ80+X%Ca (X=0, 0.1, 0.5) magnesium alloy have investigated after applying extrusion process at 280°C and 340°C. Optical and scanning electron micrographs parallel to extrusion direction at 280°C showed dynamically recrystallized grains. There were also initial grains elongated in extrusion direction in the AZ80+X%Ca alloy. Finer microstructures were observed by increasing calcium content due to the formation of some precipitates during grain growth. EDS analysis determined the newly formed precipitates as Al2Ca. The grain size was reduced from 90μm to 9μm by extrusion process in the sample with 0.5% Ca. At higher extrusion temperature (340°C), similar microstructure was observed, except that the grain size was increased and there was no initial grains left in the structure anymore. From tensile testing, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) value was increased from 304MPa to 329MPa in extruded AZ80+0.5%Ca alloy at 280°C

A comparison between gastroesophagheal ultrasonography vs. barium swallow in determining the pattern of gastroesophageal reflux in a pediatric population

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common gastrointestinal pathology in infants and young children. Ultrasonography (US) has been considered to be a reliable diagnostic tool for GERD but the severity of GERD and the clinical implications based on imaging findings has not been evaluated. Aims: To compare the diagnostic value of lower esophageal US with that of barium swallow in demonstrating the severity of GERD. Materials and methods: Fifty one pediatric patients, age between 1 month to 12 years, 34 male and 17 female with clinical suspicion of GERD were included. The patients were initially submitted to barium swallow (BS) and subsequently to transabdominal US. During BS, the number of gastroesophageal reflux episodes was documented in a 5-minute period. Transabdominal US documented the number and duration of reflux episodes during a 5-minute period, the angle of His, mucosal thickness, and intraabdominal esophageal length (IAEL). Results: Duration and number of reflux episodes in US were significantly higher in patients that had severe gastroesophageal refluxes at BS. At US the cutoff point of 9.5 seconds (sensitivity 80, specificity 60) for reflux duration and more than 2 episodes in 5 minute ultrasound study (sensitivity 75, specificity 58) were defined to correlate with severe gastroesophageal reflux at BS.The angle of His, the esophageal wall mucosal thickness, and the IAEL did not correlate with the severity of GERD detected in BS. Conclusion: US can predict the severity of GERD. Therefore, except in the case of specific patients in whom mechanical causes are suspected to be responsible for GERD, BS can be replaced by US

Interactive application of a virtual smart home

Smart Homes confront many challenges trying to move from vision to reality. Poor understanding of the concept of Smart Homes by both designers and end users causes many challenges in accepting smart homes by public. To overcome this problem, user participation in Smart Home design is advocated. On the other hand, there are no sufficient tools to design and represent real usage of smart spaces. Most BIM (Building Information Modeling) systems are lack of information needed in order to create a virtual environment which can interact with users. Filling this gap, we develop an application called VR Smart Home which supports: 1. Visualizing smart technologies, 2. Performing real-time interactions and tasks by users. The application presents a virtual smart home consisting of several smart technologies which can react to user interactions. The created virtual space in this application is different from conventional 3D space and has the capability of doing certain functions and reacting toward users’ interaction. The application utilizes three typical domestic tasks and several real-time interactions. Scripting the tasks makes the real-time interactions and system reactions possible. Accordingly, users can explore three predefined tasked named, cooking, working and contemplation inside the Virtual Smart Home on a touch screen LCD. The results from the first evaluations of the application reveal a positive attitude of users. They prove that when the users can directly execute a task in the virtual model, they can deliver a better comprehension of how smart technologies can be utilized. Hence, the application can be used as a toolset to improve communications among users and designers in the design processes of smart environments. Eventually, it can help designers to match the smart technology usability with users' demands

Modeling users` work activities in a smart home

Almost everyone would agree that teleworking is increasingly growing; but beyond this broad statement, we know little about how people behave when they work at home and how they balance their work and life. User comfort and productivity cannot be addressed properly, without a deep understanding of users` working behavior. This gap is even deeper when it comes to the domain of smart homes as new types of housing which aim to enhance working at home. Hence, more user-centered studies are needed to comprehend the interrelationships among housing, technology, daily life and the work activities. In this paper, we use the outputs of an experiment to model users` work activities in a smart home. The experiment was conducted among 254 respondents, who were asked to explore a smart home in a virtual environment and then to arrange their daily activities including work related activities in the virtual smart home. A choice modeling approach, based on the Multinomial Logit Model (MNL), is applied to model how an individual works at a smart home given influential factors such as the individuals` socio-demographic profile and their current lifestyle. Two features of working in a smart home are covered in this paper, namely, "the integration of work activities with other daily activities" and "the location of work activities in the house". The results give better insight into the future trends of working at home and the effects of smar

IMECE2008-66778 FABRICATION AND CHAR ACTERIZATION OF BIO-INSPIRED STRUCTURAL COMPOSITES

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of mechanical tests performed on bio-inspired structural composites. The details of synthesis process, loading configurations, testing conditions are discussed. Results of the tests clearly show the superiority of the biomimicked layered composites made from concrete and polymer, in terms of toughness over their monolithic counterparts. The implications of the results and their impact on construction technology will be elucidated. INTRODUCTION Tough structural materials are desirable for applications such as residential and commercial buildings. Tough structures will mitigate loss of life and property caused b y earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes. The main culprit in natural disasters is the presence of dynamic shear forces that demolish brittle brick and mortar buildings. One way to make tough materials is to mimic naturally tough structures such as nacre. Oyster and mother of pearl shells combine hardness of aragonite with the softness of natural polymers. The result is a tough structure with nominal strengths of 194-248 MPa [1] reported for 3-point bend tests performed on abalone and oyster

Assessment of outer hair cell function and blood antioxidant status of rabbits exposed to noise and metal welding fumes

Objectives: To investigate the interaction between welding fumes and noise in causation of hearing impairment. Methods: Groups of rabbits (n = 6) were exposed to noise, welding fumes or combination of both prior to Distortion Product Otoacoustic-Emissions (DPOAEs) analysis. The function of outer hair cells (OHCs) was examined by DPOAE assessment over a broad range of frequencies. Variations in DPOAE amplitude were compared between control (n = 6) and exposed (n = 18) groups. Results: The DPOAEs levels measured at different frequencies (1379-6299 Hz) were found to decrease significantly (P &lt; 0.05) in rabbits exposed to 110 dB sound pressure level (SPL) broadband noise (8 h/day, 12 days). In rabbits, exposed to carbon-steel welding fumes alone (157 mg/m3), the threshold shift was limited to the high frequencies (2759-6299 Hz), whereas, mixed exposure to noise and fumes resulted in reduction of DPOAEs at all the frequencies. Changes in DPOAEs were associated with increased susceptibility of erythrocytes to oxidation (P &lt; 0.05). Exposure to noise or fumes alone or simultaneously, suppressed total antioxidant ability of plasma as measured by ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP). Noise alone or in combination with fumes resulted in depletion of blood glutathione (GSH). Despite suppression of FRAP in the exposed groups, GSH was found to remain unchanged due to welding fumes suggesting that antioxidants other than GSH are affected by toxicants present in metal welding fumes. Conclusion: Exposure to very high levels of welding fumes can increase noise-related effects on OHC function by extending hearing threshold shift to wide band frequencies. © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved