Architectural technology and the BIM acronym: critical perspectives of evangelical and evolutionary paradigms for technical design.

The United Kingdom Governments intent to embed collaborative Level 2 BIM into publicly procured building projects from 2016 (BIM Task Group, 2012) trails the General Services Administrations (GSA, 2012) earlier and similar initiative to require the adoption of BIM protocols in the USA from the 2007 fiscal year. The built environment scene is currently awash with a panoply of initiatives sharing a mission to disseminate the BIM message via around 350 organisations which represent built environment professional interests in the UK. These developments raise challenging and complex agendas for an industry which historically (Latham, Egan et al) has been perceived as being fragmented and lacking in the research and development resource base necessary to introduce and effectively disseminate new knowledge, understanding and practice. Race (2012) has noted that engagement with the BIM agenda should be tempered by the critical perspective which Shon (2009) argued is a key component of the reflective practitioners skill set. Technical design has been perceived as a core skill for the architectural technologist. Making reference to a range of theoretical models, this paper will critically assess the technologists contemporary engagement with BIM related paradigms. The paper will also review BIM in historical and broader contexts of object oriented technical design, both within the built environment and across other design and manufacturing industries. In considering how the architectural technologist may move forward as key built environment player, reference will also be made to relationships with co-professionals and BIM futures including digital design/fabrication

Uptake, accumulation and metabolization of the antidepressant fluoxetine by Mytilus galloprovincialis

Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant, is among the most prescribed pharmaceutical active substances worldwide. This study aimed to assess its accumulation and metabolization in the mussel Mytillus galloprovincialis, considered an excellent sentinel species for traditional and emerging pollutants. Mussels were collected from Ria Formosa Lagoon, Portugal, and exposed to a nominal concentration of fluoxetine (75 ng L-1) for 15 days. Approximately 1 g of whole mussel soft tissues was extracted with acetonitrile:formic acid, loaded into an Oasis MCX cartridge, and fluoxetine analysed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MSn). After 3 days of exposure, fluoxetine was accumulated in 70% of the samples, with a mean of 2.53 ng g(-1) dry weight (d.w.) and norfluoxetine was only detected in one sample (10%), at 3.06 ng g(-1) d.w. After 7 days of exposure, the accumulation of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine increased up to 80 and 50% respectively, and their mean accumulated levels in mussel tissues were up to 4.43 and 2.85 ng g(-1) d.w., respectively. By the end of the exposure period (15 days), both compounds were detected in 100% of the samples (mean of 9.31 and 11.65 ng g(-1) d.w., respectively). Statistical analysis revealed significant accumulation differences between the 3rd and 15th day of exposure for fluoxetine, and between the 3rd and 7th against the 15th day of exposure for norfluoxetine. These results suggest that the fluoxetine accumulated in mussel tissues is likely to be metabolised into norfluoxetine with the increase of the time of exposure, giving evidence that at these realistic environmental concentrations, toxic effects of fluoxetine in mussel tissues may occur. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Amine-modified polyionic liquid supports enhance the efficacy of PdNPs for the catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ to formate

Palladium nanoparticles stabilised by aniline modified polymer immobilised ionic liquid is a remarkably active catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO₂ to formate; the initial TOF of 500 h⁻¹ is markedly higher than either unmodified catalyst or its benzylamine and N,N-dimethylaniline modified counterparts and is among the highest to be reported for a PdNP-based catalyst

Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods

Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures. In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe