Investigation Into Informational Compatibility Of Building Information Modelling And Building Performance Analysis Software Solutions

There are significant opportunities for Building Information Modelling (BIM) to address issues related to sustainable and energy efficient building design. While the potential benefits associated with the integration of BIM and BPA (Building Performance Analysis) have been recognised, its specifications and formats remain in their early infancy and often fail to live up to the promise of seamless interoperability at various stages of design process. This paper conducts a case study to investigate the interoperability between BIM and BPA tools, and discusses the limitations to suggest development of Information Delivery Manual (IDM) aiming to propose potential solutions for typical issues facing professionals in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry

Comfort signatures: How long-term studies of occupant satisfaction in office buildings reveal on-going performance

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A multi-sill magma plumbing system beneath the axis of the East Pacific Rise

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Nature Geoscience 7 (2014): 825-829, doi:10.1038/ngeo2272.The mid-crust axial magma lens detected at fast and intermediate spreading mid-ocean ridges is believed to be the primary magma reservoir for formation of upper oceanic crust. However, the mechanism behind formation of the lower crust is a subject of ongoing debate. The sheeted sill model proposed from observations of ophiloites requires the presence of multiple lenses/sills throughout lower crust but only a single lens is imaged directly beneath the innermost axial zone in prior seismic studies . Here, high-fidelity seismic data from the East Pacific Rise reveal series of reflections below the axial magma lens that we interpret as mid-lower crustal lenses. These deeper lenses are present between 9°20-57′N at variable two-way-travel-times, up to 4.6 s (~1.5 km beneath the axial magma lens), providing direct support for the sheeted sill model. From local changes in the amplitude and geometry of the events beneath a zone of recent volcanic eruption, we infer that melt drained from a lower lens contributed to the replenishment of the axial magma lens above and, perhaps, the eruption. The new data indicate that a multi-level sill complex is present beneath the East Pacific Rise that likely contributes to the formation of both the upper and lower crust.This research was supported by NSF awards OCE0327872 to J. C. M., S. M. C., OCE- 0327885 to J. P. C., and OCE0624401 to M. R. N.2015-04-1

Distribution of melt along the East Pacific Rise from 9°30′ to 10°N from an amplitude variation with angle of incidence (AVA) technique

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2015. This article is posted here by permission of The Royal Astronomical Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 203 (2015): 1-21, doi:10.1093/gji/ggv251.We examine along-axis variations in melt content of the axial magma lens (AML) beneath the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) using an amplitude variation with angle of incidence (AVA) crossplotting method applied to multichannel seismic data acquired in 2008. The AVA crossplotting method, which has been developed for and, so far, applied for hydrocarbon prospection in sediments, is for the first time applied to a hardrock environment. We focus our analysis on 2-D data collected along the EPR axis from 9°29.8′N to 9°58.4′N, a region which encompasses the sites of two well-documented submarine volcanic eruptions (1991–1992 and 2005–2006). AVA crossplotting is performed for a ∼53 km length of the EPR spanning nine individual AML segments (ranging in length from ∼3.2 to 8.5 km) previously identified from the geometry of the AML and disruptions in continuity. Our detailed analyses conducted at 62.5 m interval show that within most of the analysed segments melt content varies at spatial scales much smaller (a few hundred of metres) than the length of the fine-scale AML segments, suggesting high heterogeneity in melt concentration. At the time of our survey, about 2 yr after the eruption, our results indicate that the three AML segments that directly underlie the 2005–2006 lava flow are on average mostly molten. However, detailed analysis at finer-scale intervals for these three segments reveals AML pockets (from >62.5 to 812.5 m long) with a low melt fraction. The longest such mushy section is centred beneath the main eruption site at ∼9°50.4′N, possibly reflecting a region of primary melt drainage during the 2005–2006 event. The complex geometry of fluid flow pathways within the crust above the AML and the different response times of fluid flow and venting to eruption and magma reservoir replenishment may contribute to the poor spatial correlation between incidence of hydrothermal vents and presence of highly molten AML. The presented results are an important step forward in our ability to resolve small-scale characteristics of the AML and recommend the AVA crossplotting as a tool for examining mid-ocean ridge magma-systems elsewhere.This research was supported by NSF awards OCE0327872 to J.C.M. and S.M.C., OCE-0327885 to J.P.C., and OCE0624401 to M.R.N

Constraints on melt content of off-axis magma lenses at the East Pacific Rise from analysis of 3-D seismic amplitude variation with angle of incidence

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 122 (2017): 4123–4142, doi:10.1002/2016JB013785.We use 3-D multichannel seismic data to form partial angle P wave stacks and apply amplitude variation with angle (AVA) crossplotting to assess melt content and melt distribution within two large midcrustal off-axis magma lenses (OAMLs) found along the East Pacific Rise from 9°37.5′N to 9°57′N. The signal envelope of the partial angle stacks suggests that both OAMLs are partially molten with higher average melt content and more uniform melt distribution in the southern OAML than in the northern OAML. For AVA crossplotting, the OAMLs are subdivided into seven ~1 km2 analysis windows. The AVA crossplotting results indicate that the OAMLs contain a smaller amount of melt than the axial magma lens (AML). For both OAMLs, a higher melt fraction is detected within analysis windows located close to the ridge axis than within the most distant windows. The highest average melt concentration is interpreted for the central sections of the OAMLs. The overall low OAML melt content could be indicative of melt lost due to recent off-axis eruptions, drainage to the AML, or limited mantle melt supply. Based on the results of this and earlier bathymetric, morphological, geochemical, and geophysical investigations, we propose that the melt-poor OAML state is largely the result of limited melt supply from the underlying mantle source reservoir with smaller contribution attributed to melt leakage to the AML. We hypothesize that the investigated OAMLs have a longer period of melt replenishment, lower eruption recurrence rates, and lower eruption volumes than the AML, though some could be single intrusion events.National Science Foundation; CFI; CRC2017-12-2

Algorithmic Pollution - Making the Invisible Visible

In this paper, we focus on the growing evidence of unintended harmful societal effects of automated algorithmic decision-making (AADM) in transformative services (e.g., social welfare, healthcare, education, policing and criminal justice), for individuals, communities and society at large. Drawing from the long-established research on social pollution, in particular its contemporary ‘pollution-as-harm’ notion, we put forward a claim - and provide evidence - that these harmful effects constitute a new type of digital social pollution, which we name ‘algorithmic pollution’. Words do matter, and by using the term ‘pollution’, not as a metaphor or an analogy, but as a transformative redefinition of the digital harm performed by AADM, we seek to make it visible and recognized. By adopting a critical performative perspective, we explain how the execution of AADM produces harm and thus performs algorithmic pollution. Recognition of the potential for unintended harmful effects of algorithmic pollution, and their examination as such, leads us to articulate the need for transformative actions to prevent, detect, redress, mitigate, and educate about algorithmic harm. These actions, in turn, open up new research challenges for the information systems community

Stacked magma lenses beneath mid-ocean ridges: insights from new seismic observations and synthesis with prior geophysical and geologic findings

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 126(4), (2021): e2020JB021434, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021434.Recent multi-channel seismic studies of fast spreading and hot-spot influenced mid-ocean ridges reveal magma bodies located beneath the mid-crustal Axial Magma Lens (AML), embedded within the underlying crustal mush zone. We here present new seismic images from the Juan de Fuca Ridge that show reflections interpreted to be from vertically stacked magma lenses in a number of locations beneath this intermediate-spreading ridge. The brightest reflections are beneath Northern Symmetric segment, from ∼46°42′-52′N and Split Seamount, where a small magma body at local Moho depths is also detected, inferred to be a source reservoir for the stacked magma lenses in the crust above. The imaged magma bodies are sub-horizontal, extend continuously for along-axis lengths of ∼1–8 km, with the shallowest located at depths of ∼100–1,200 m below the AML, and are similar to sub-AML bodies found at the East Pacific Rise. At both ridges, stacked sill-like lenses are detected beneath only a small fraction of the ridge length examined and are inferred to mark local sites of higher melt flux and active replenishment from depth. The imaged magma lenses are focused in the upper part of the lower crust, which coincides with the most melt rich part of the crystal mush zone detected in other geophysical studies and where sub-vertical fabrics are observed in geologic exposures of oceanic crust. We infer that the multi-level magma accumulations are ephemeral and may result from porous flow and mush compaction, and that they can be tapped and drained during dike intrusion and eruption events.This research was supported by NSF OCE 0002488 and 0648303 (LDEO), 0002551 (WHOI), 1658199 and 1357076 (UTIG). S. M. Carbotte was partially supported by Columbia University and J. P. Canales by the Independent Research & Development Program at WHOI

Algorithmic Pollution: Making the Invisible Visible

In this paper, we focus on the growing evidence of unintended harmful societal effects of automated algorithmic decision-making (AADM) in transformative services (e.g., social welfare, healthcare, education, policing and criminal justice), for individuals, communities and society at large. Drawing from the long-established research on social pollution, in particular its contemporary ‘pollution-as-harm’ notion, we put forward a claim, and provide evidence, that these harmful effects constitute a new type of digital social pollution, which we name ‘algorithmic pollution’. Words do matter, and by using the term ‘pollution’, not as a metaphor, but as a transformative redefinition of the digital harm performed by AADM, we seek to make it visible and recognized. By adopting a critical performative perspective, we explain how the execution of AADM produces harm and thus performs algorithmic pollution. Recognition of the potential for unintended harmful effects of algorithmic pollution, and their examination as such, leads us to articulate the need for transformative actions to prevent, detect, redress, mitigate, and educate about algorithmic harm. These actions, in turn, open up new research challenges for the information systems community. </jats:p

Sun exposure behaviour, seasonal vitamin D deficiency, and relationship to bone health in adolescents

YesContext: Vitamin D is essential for bone health in adolescence, where there is rapid bone mineral content accrual. As cutaneous sun-exposure provides vitamin D, there is no recommended oral intake for UK adolescents. Objective: Assess seasonal vitamin D status and its contributors in white Caucasian adolescents, and examine bone health in those found deficient. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Six schools in Greater Manchester, UK. Participants: 131 adolescents, 12–15 years. Intervention(s): Seasonal assessment of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), personal sunexposure and dietary vitamin D. Adolescents deficient (25OHD <10 ng/mL/25 nmol/L) in ≥one season underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (lumbar spine, femoral neck), with bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) correction for size, and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (distal radius) for volumetric (v)BMD. Main Outcome Measure: Serum 25OHD; BMD. Results: Mean 25OHD was highest in September: 24.1 (SD 6.9) ng/mL and lowest in January: 15.5 (5.9) ng/mL. Over the year, 16% were deficient in ≥one season and 79% insufficient (25OHD <20 ng/mL/50 nmol/L) including 28% in September. Dietary vitamin D was low year-round while personal sun-exposure was seasonal and predominantly across the school week. Holidays accounted for 17% variation in peak 25OHD (p<0.001). Nineteen adolescents underwent bone assessment, which showed low femoral neck BMAD versus matched reference data (p=0.0002), 3 with Z≤ -2.0 distal radius trabecular vBMD. Conclusions: Sun-exposure levels failed to provide adequate vitamin D, ~one-quarter adolescents insufficient even at summer-peak. Seasonal vitamin D deficiency was prevalent and those affected had low BMD. Recommendations on vitamin D acquisition are indicated in this age-group.The Bupa Foundation (Grant number TBF-M10-017)