Survey of the research of ICT Applications in the AEC Industry: a view from two mainstream journals

The application of information and communication technology (ICT) in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has attracted much attention by researchers in recent years. However, a comprehensive review is still missing from the existing literature. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art research of ICT applications in the AEC industry. A total of 432 articles, published during 2011-2015 in two mainstream journals, namely Automation in Construction and Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, are selected and analyzed. This review is conducted from three different views: 1) view of construction project lifecycle, aiming to investigate the distribution of research of ICT application in different stages; 2) view of ICT technologies, aiming to identify the popular ICTs in the AEC industry that researches focus on; and 3) view of ICT application areas, aiming to identify the areas in the AEC industry that ICTs are applied in. Throughout this review, the distribution of the research of ICT in four different stages (i.e., design stage, construction stage, operation & maintenance stage, and multistage) is firstly investigated. A total of 24 types of ICTs, categorized into 8 groups and 19 ICT application areas are then identified and analyzed. In additional, limitations of this review are also discussed.published_or_final_versio

Comparative analysis of the applicability of BIM query languages for energy analysis

Paper no. 036A range of query languages have been used or developed to query partial information from Building Information Model (BIM)-based databases and files in recent decades. This paper aims to investigate the applicability of existing BIM query languages to extract necessary information from BIMs for energy analysis. A total of 16 query languages categorized into two groups, namely programming or generic query language, and domain specific query language, are summarized through extensive literature review. The key requirements of BIM data query for energy analysis are also developed, which include MVD based query support, custom query support, and easiness to construct queries. Taking these requirements as the criteria, the applicability of the 16 query languages is compared and analyzed. This paper then proposes some suggestions for developing effective and efficient building information query mechanisms for energy analysis.postprin

AT excursion: a new approach to predict replication origins in viral genomes by locating AT-rich regions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Replication origins are considered important sites for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in DNA replication. Many computational methods have been developed for predicting their locations in archaeal, bacterial and eukaryotic genomes. However, a prediction method designed for a particular kind of genomes might not work well for another. In this paper, we propose the AT excursion method, which is a score-based approach, to quantify local AT abundance in genomic sequences and use the identified high scoring segments for predicting replication origins. This method has the advantages of requiring no preset window size and having rigorous criteria to evaluate statistical significance of high scoring segments.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have evaluated the AT excursion method by checking its predictions against known replication origins in herpesviruses and comparing its performance with an existing base weighted score method (BWS₁). Out of 43 known origins, 39 are predicted by either one or the other method and 26 origins are predicted by both. The excursion method identifies six origins not predicted by BWS₁, showing that the AT excursion method is a valuable complement to BWS₁. We have also applied the AT excursion method to two other families of double stranded DNA viruses, the poxviruses and iridoviruses, of which very few replication origins are documented in the public domain. The prediction results are made available as supplementary materials at <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>. Preliminary investigation shows that the proposed method works well on some larger genomes too.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The AT excursion method will be a useful computational tool for identifying replication origins in a variety of genomic sequences.</p

An incoherent regulatory network architecture that orchestrates B cell diversification in response to antigen signaling

B cell receptor signaling controls the expression of IRF-4, a transcription factor required for B cell differentiation. This study shows that IRF-4 regulates divergent B cell fates via a ‘kinetic-control' mechanism that determines the duration of a transient developmental state

Extremal solutions for p-Laplacian fractional integro-differential equation with integral conditions on infinite intervals via iterative computation

We study the extremal solutions of a class of fractional integro-differential equation with integral conditions on infinite intervals involving the p-Laplacian operator. By means of the monotone iterative technique and combining with suitable conditions, the existence of the maximal and minimal solutions to the fractional differential equation is obtained. In addition, we establish iterative schemes for approximating the solutions, which start from the known simple linear functions. Finally, an example is given to confirm our main results

Quantitative oculomotor assessment in hereditary ataxia: discriminatory power, correlation with severity measures, and recommended parameters for specific genotypes

Characterizing bedside oculomotor deficits is a critical factor in defining the clinical presentation of hereditary ataxias. Quantitative assessments are increasingly available and have significant advantages, including comparability over time, reduced examiner dependency, and sensitivity to subtle changes. To delineate the potential of quantitative oculomotor assessments as digital-motor outcome measures for clinical trials in ataxia, we searched MEDLINE for articles reporting on quantitative eye movement recordings in genetically confirmed or suspected hereditary ataxias, asking which paradigms are most promising for capturing disease progression and treatment response. Eighty-nine manuscripts identified reported on 1541 patients, including spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA2, n = 421), SCA3 (n = 268), SCA6 (n = 117), other SCAs (n = 97), Friedreich ataxia (FRDA, n = 178), Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC, n = 57), and ataxia-telangiectasia (n = 85) as largest cohorts. Whereas most studies reported discriminatory power of oculomotor assessments in diagnostics, few explored their value for monitoring genotype-specific disease progression (n = 2; SCA2) or treatment response (n = 8; SCA2, FRDA, NPC, ataxia-telangiectasia, episodic-ataxia 4). Oculomotor parameters correlated with disease severity measures including clinical scores (n = 18 studies (SARA: n = 9)), chronological measures (e.g., age, disease duration, time-to-symptom onset; n = 17), genetic stratification (n = 9), and imaging measures of atrophy (n = 5). Recurrent correlations across many ataxias (SCA2/3/17, FRDA, NPC) suggest saccadic eye movements as potentially generic quantitative oculomotor outcome. Recommendation of other paradigms was limited by the scarcity of cross-validating correlations, except saccadic intrusions (FRDA), pursuit eye movements (SCA17), and quantitative head-impulse testing (SCA3/6). This work aids in understanding the current knowledge of quantitative oculomotor parameters in hereditary ataxias, and identifies gaps for validation as potential trial outcome measures in specific ataxia genotypes

Extracranial head and neck schwannomas: a study of the nerve of origin

Schwannoma is a type of benign nerve sheath tumour arising from the Schwann cell. Because of the close relationship between the tumour and the nerve of origin (NOO), the operation of extracranial head and neck schwannoma may lead to palsy of major nerve. For this reason, an accurate diagnosis of schwannoma with the identification of the NOO is crucial to the management. The aim of this review was to find out the distribution of the NOO and the usefulness of the investigations in the diagnosis of schwannoma. Medical records of the patients who underwent operation of the extracranial head and neck schwannoma in our division were reviewed. Between January 2000 and December 2009, 30 cases of extracranial head and neck schwannoma were operated. Sympathetic trunk (10, 33%) and vagus nerve (6, 20%) were the two most common NOOs. In five (17%) cases, the NOO was not found to be arising from any major nerve. For these 30 patients, 20 received fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and 26 underwent imaging studies (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) before operation. The specificity of FNAC and imaging studies in making the diagnosis of schwannoma was 20 and 38%, respectively. For the patients who had nerve palsies on presentation, their deficits remained after operation. The rate of nerve palsy after tumour excision with division of NOO and intracapsular enucleation was 100 and 67%, respectively. The diagnosis of schwannoma is suggested by clinical features and supported by investigations. Most of the time, the diagnosis can only be confirmed on the histological study of the surgical specimen. Sympathetic trunk and vagus nerve are the two common NOOs. MRI is the investigation of choice in the diagnosis of schwannoma and the identification of NOO

Developmental changes in the role of different metalinguistic awareness skills in Chinese reading acquisition from preschool to third grade

Copyright @ 2014 Wei et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The present study investigated the relationship between Chinese reading skills and metalinguistic awareness skills such as phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness for 101 Preschool, 94 Grade-1, 98 Grade-2, and 98 Grade-3 children from two primary schools in Mainland China. The aim of the study was to examine how each of these metalinguistic awareness skills would exert their influence on the success of reading in Chinese with age. The results showed that all three metalinguistic awareness skills significantly predicted reading success. It further revealed that orthographic awareness played a dominant role in the early stages of reading acquisition, and its influence decreased with age, while the opposite was true for the contribution of morphological awareness. The results were in stark contrast with studies in English, where phonological awareness is typically shown as the single most potent metalinguistic awareness factor in literacy acquisition. In order to account for the current data, a three-stage model of reading acquisition in Chinese is discussed.National Natural Science Foundation of China and Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The incidence of liver injury in Uyghur patients treated for TB in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, China, and its association with hepatic enzyme polymorphisms nat2, cyp2e1, gstm1 and gstt1.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Of three first-line anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) drugs, isoniazid is most commonly associated with hepatotoxicity. Differences in INH-induced toxicity have been attributed to genetic variability at several loci, NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1and GSTT1, that code for drug-metabolizing enzymes. This study evaluated whether the polymorphisms in these enzymes were associated with an increased risk of anti-TB drug-induced hepatitis in patients and could potentially be used to identify patients at risk of liver injury. METHODS AND DESIGN: In a cross-sectional study, 2244 tuberculosis patients were assessed two months after the start of treatment. Anti-TB drug-induced liver injury (ATLI) was defined as an ALT, AST or bilirubin value more than twice the upper limit of normal. NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined using the PCR/ligase detection reaction assays. RESULTS: 2244 patients were evaluated, there were 89 cases of ATLI, a prevalence of 4% 9 patients (0.4%) had ALT levels more than 5 times the upper limit of normal. The prevalence of ATLI was greater among men than women, and there was a weak association with NAT2*5 genotypes, with ATLI more common among patients with the NAT2*5*CT genotype. The sensitivity of the CT genotype for identifying patients with ATLI was 42% and the positive predictive value 5.9%. CT ATLI was more common among slow acetylators (prevalence ratio 2.0 (95% CI 0.95,4.20) )compared to rapid acetylators. There was no evidence that ATLI was associated with CYP2E1 RsaIc1/c1genotype, CYP2E1 RsaIc1/c2 or c2/c2 genotypes, or GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: In Xinjiang Uyghur TB patients, liver injury was associated with the genetic variant NAT2*5, however the genetic markers studied are unlikely to be useful for screening patients due to the low sensitivity and low positive predictive values for identifying persons at risk of liver injury