BIM Based Facility Condition Assessment

Current practices of using traditional methods of managing data using spreadsheets or hard paper copies for various building data, are commonly being used during building inspection and condition assessment. Building Information Modelling (BIM) can immensely help in solving problems of facility inspection by generating and managing digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility. This paper describes a model, which is developed to integrate the physical and environmental conditions of a facility on a BIM platform. In this study, factors influencing physical condition and environment condition of the building were identified. Building defects which causes physical deterioration of the building component reduces the ability to perform its intended designed function while environmental condition influences the comfort and health of occupants or users of the building. It is imperative to understand that physical and environment condition of the building are both of vital importance for safety, health and comfort of building users. Factors affecting physical and environment of building were used to develop proposed condition assessment model. Using this proposed model periodic general condition assessment can be performed and correspondingly deterioration graph can be generated for the facility over period of time. Based on inspection data and condition assessment models, building performance can be analyzed for future preventive maintenance

Slotted Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Connection: State-of-the-Art Review

Research on reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections has significantly increased during the past few decades. Interest in this topic is related to the importance of beam-column connections in maintaining the integrity of the whole structure. The slotted RC beam-column connection was investigated as promising low damage beam-column connection replacement for conventional design. A slotted RC beam consists of a conventional RC beam, modified with a narrow vertical slot adjacent to the face of the column that runs approximately three-quarters of the beam depth. This study reviews the literature on the mechanics and design of slotted beams, illustrating the works of various researchers on developing and modifying this innovative system. Then, the research progress in the behavior of slotted RC beams is briefly described, in chronological order, to place each contribution in a wider context. Extremely promising structural performance was observed due to minimum beam elongation, non-tearing action, minimum cracks, high energy dissipation, and stable hysteresis response. At the end of the study, a list of the main gaps that need further investigation and recommendations to fill out these gaps are provided

Exploring the Major Trends and Emerging Themes of Artificial Intelligence in the Scientific Leading Journals amidst the COVID-19 Era

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently become the focus of academia and practitioners, reflecting the substantial evolution of scientific production in this area, particularly during the COVID-19 era. However, there is no known academic work exploring the major trends and the extant and emerging themes of scientific research production of AI leading journals. To this end, this study is to specify the research progress on AI among the top-tier journals by highlighting the development of its trends, topics, and key themes. This article employs an integrated bibliometric analysis using evaluative and relational metrics to analyze, map, and outline the key trends and themes of articles published in the leading AI academic journals, based on the latest CiteScore of Scopus-indexed journals between 2020 and 2021. The findings depict the major trends, conceptual and social structures, and key themes of AI leading journals’ publications during the given period. This paper represents valuable implications for concerned scholars, research centers, higher education institutions, and various organizations within different domains. Limitations and directions for further research are outlined.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Risk factors of progression of chronic kidney disease patients under conservative treatment

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recognized as a major health problem affecting approximately 13% of the US population. Early identification and treatment of risk factors of progression of chronic kidney disease can provide marked benefits later in the term of delaying progression to renal replacement therapy.Methods: The medical chart for 92 CKD patients on regular follow up in low clearance clinic with GFR below 20 ml/min were retrospectively reviewed annually for 4 years regular follow up period. The following variables were recorded for each patient: non-modifiable variables (Age, sex, nationality, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, smoking status, causes of kidney disease, diabetes status, hepatitis status, medication used (like ACEi/ARBs and Sodium bicarbonate) and modifiable variables which includes: Serum albumin, potassium level, serum bicarbonate level, level of proteinuria, rate of GFR decline (Delta GFR) /year, total cholesterol level and hemoglobin level. Then they were divided into 2 groups according to the endpoint during the follow up period. Group 1 include patients did not start dialysis yet and group 2 which include patients who started dialysis during their regular follow up period.Results: There is no statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding Age , sex, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and Body Mass Index( BMI), serum albumin and haemoglobin levels (p 0.295, 0.317, 0.220, 0.181,0.805, 0.884 and 0.451 respectively). There is no statistically a difference between the two groups regarding serum potassium level and serum total cholesterol level (p 0.515 and 0.517 respectively). Diabetic patients started dialysis earlier than non-diabetics with statistically significant difference between the two groups (p 0.029). The patients who weren’t taking ACEi or ARBs started dialysis earlier than those who were taking (p 0.005), while there was no significant differences between the two groups regarding sodium bicarbonate intake (p 0.256). Low sodium bicarbonate level and severity of proteinuria are of significantly important risk factors for progression of CKD disease (p 0.006 and 0.029 respectively).Conclusions: The most important risk factors for rapid progression are presence of diabetes, severity of proteinuria and low serum bicarbonate level in advanced stages of chronic kidney disease. Early recognition of these risk factors and their correction may retard the progression of CKD, which will delay the need for renal replacement therapy. In addition, ACEI or ARBs intake are almost renoprotective and may delay the rapid progression of chronic kidney disease especially in proteinuric patients.

In vitro propagation of two triploid hybrids of watermelon through adventitious shoot organogenesis and shoot tip culture

In vitro propagation protocol for two triploid hybrids of watermelon using cotyledon explants and shoot tips was achieved. Five benzyladenine (BA) concentrations were tested using cotyledon and shoot tip explants. Cotyledon explants and shoot tips from 6 and 15-20 days aseptically germinated were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) containing test concentration of benzyladenine (2.22, 4.44, 10, 24.61 and 44.4 μM). Adventitious hoot organogenesis was initiated in all induction media and the differences among BA concentration were significant. MS medium containing 4.44, 10 and 24.61 μM BA showed the highest percentage of explants with shoots. The stimulation of axillary-bud development from excised shoot tips by a high cytokinin (BA) was observed. Axillary shoots were obtained from shoot tips of triploid watermelon and the multiplication rate ranged from 2 to 5.6 plants dependence on benzyladenine concentration and genotype. Obtained data showed that variation in regeneration rate was demonstrated. Shoots were excised and elongated in MS medium without hormones. The elongated shoots were rooted in MS medium containing 0.1 μM α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Rooted plants were successfully acclimatized and gradually hardened-off to green-house conditions and subsequently established in soil with a survival rate of 80%

Novel Urinary Biomarkers and Chronic Kidney Disease After Coronary Angiography: A Prospective Case-Controlled Study

BACKGROUND: Novel urinary biomarkers may have potential for early detection of acute kidney injury. AIM: The aim of the study was to test two urinary biomarkers: Kidney injury molecule-1(KIM-1) and liver-type fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) as markers of kidney injury following coronary angiography. METHODS: This is a prospective non-randomized controlled trial, performed in two large teaching hospitals. Patients were recruited from the catheter lab or form nephrology outpatient clinics. In group (A), 100 patients with AKI on top of CKD after coronary angiography and Group B: Thirty-one patients with stable CKD as a control. KIM-1 and L-FABP were measured at base line and after 3 months. RESULTS: In group (A), 100 patients who had acute on top of CKD after coronary angiography, stage progression occurred in 15 patients in group (A) compared to two patients in group (B) (p = 0.28). The median change in eGFR after 3 months was not statistically significant between both groups (p = 0.8). Median baseline urinary liver-type fatty acid binding protein was higher in Group A compared to Group B (3.7 μg/g vs. 1.82μg/g). The change in L-FABP from baseline to 3 months was significant between both groups (p < 0.001). The median urinary concentrations of KIM-1 and L-FABP were higher at the end of the follow-up compared to base line values in both groups, (p < 0.000). CONCLUSION: Urinary L-FABP correlates with kidney function decline in patients with acute on top of CKD after coronary angiography. Urinary levels of KIM-1 and L-FABP at 3 months increase significantly compared to baseline in patients with progressive CKD

Bond strength and elemental analysis of oxidized dentin bonded to resin modified glass ionomer based restorative material

This study aimed to investigate the influence of hesperidin application on the bonding of resin-modified glass ionomer-based restorative material to dentin treated with oxygen-induced endodontic irrigants. One hundred human permanent molars were categorized into five groups (n= 20/group), treated with various irrigants as follows: Group C; distilled water (control group), Group SH; 5.25% NaOCl, Group SH+H; 5.25% NaOCl + 5 % hesperidin, Group HP; 10% H2O2, Group HP+H; 10% H2O2 + 5 % hesperidin. Specimens were bonded with RMGI based restorative material. For each group, half of the specimens were evaluated for µSBS by a universal testing machine and the other half for dentin ion uptake by EDX. Additional ten specimens (n=2/per group) were prepared for the micro-morphological analysis under SEM. Hesperidin groups improved the µSBS, with a significant effect for HP+H group (p<. 05). Dentin ion uptake was significantly (p<. 05) improved in hesperidin groups. In conclusion, Application of hesperidin in conjunction with RMGI based restorative material improved the dentin bond strength and ion uptake; this could be a promising approach to aid dental practitioners in their decisions, regarding which restorative material to use especially in caries susceptible patients

Could the ‘Spinner Innovation’ and ‘Triple Helix’ Models Improve System Innovation?

Although several prior studies have outlined and examined models associated with knowledge and innovation in different fields, the literature lacks any solid insights combining the Triple Helix model and the Spinner Innovation model and ascertaining their relevance to innovation. This article correspondingly presents an unprecedented alternative based on two innovation models, analyzing and structuring a process to innovate in different economic sectors. In doing so, this paper seeks to explore how this integration between Spinner Innovation and Triple Helix models could have a significant influence to improve system innovation. We collected data from the Scopus database spanning the period between 2012 and 2021 to study the integration of the models. The analysis identifies how these models differ but are nevertheless of complementary importance for developing regional and national economies through combining the “helices”, the “fidgets” and the framework integrating both models and their components to system innovation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio