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

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

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

Effects of Aflatoxin B1 and Fumonisin B1 on Blood Biochemical Parameters in Broilers

The individual and combined effects of dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) on liver pathology, serum levels of aspartate amino-transferase (AST) and plasma total protein (TP) of broilers were evaluated from 8 to 41 days of age. Dietary treatments included a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement with three levels of AFB1 (0, 50 and 200 μg AFB1/kg), and three levels of FB1 (0, 50 and 200 mg FB1/kg). At 33 days post feeding, with the exception of birds fed 50 mg FB1 only, concentrations of AST were higher (p < 0.05) in all other treatment groups when compared with controls. Plasma TP was lower (p < 0.05) at six days post feeding in groups fed 200 μg AFB1/kg alone or in combination with FB1. At day 33 days post feeding, with the exception of birds fed the highest combination of AFB1 and FB1 which had higher plasma TP than control birds, plasma TP of birds fed other dietary treatments were similar to controls. Broilers receiving the highest levels of AFB1 and FB1 had bile duct proliferation and trabecular disorder in liver samples. AFB1 singly or in combination with FB at the levels studied, caused liver damage and an increase in serum levels of AST

The risk factors of prostate cancer: A multicentric case-control study in Iran

Prostate cancer (PC), in Iran, is the third most frequently diagnosed visceral cancer among men and the seventh most common underlying cause of cancer mortality. We evaluated the relation between speculated factors and PC risk using data from a multicentric case-control study conducted in Iran from 2005 to 2007 on 130 cases of incident, clinicopathologically confirmed PC, and 75 controls admitted to the same network of hospitals without any malignant disease. Odds ratios(OR) and corresponding 95 confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression models. The risk of PC was increased with aging (OR: 5.35, 95 CI: 2.17-13.19; P<0.0001), and with the number of sexual intercourse �2 times/week (OR: 3.14, 95 CI: 1.2-8.2; P=0.02). One unit elevation in serum estradiol and testosterone concentration was related to increase (OR: 1.04, 95 CI: 1.01-1.06; P=0.006) and decrease (OR: 0.79; 95 CI: 0.64-0.96; P=0.02) of PC risk, respectively. Cases were less likely to have a history of diabetes (OR: 0.34, 95 CI: 0.12-0.98; P=0.04). Increasing in dietary consumption of lycopene and fat was associated with declined (OR: 0.45, 95 CI: 0.09-2.12) and increased (OR: 2.38, 95 CI: 0.29-19.4) PC development, respectively. Other factors including educational level, marriage status, dietary meat consumption, vasectomy and smoking have not been shown to affect PC risk in the Iranian population. Ourstudy adds further information on the potential risk factors of PC and is the first epidemiologic report from Iran. However, justification of these results requires more well-designed studies with a larger number of participants

Knowledge Management and Organisational Culture

This international Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of key topics, debates and issues within the now well-established field of Knowledge Management (KM)

Liver cell therapy: is this the end of the beginning?

The prevalence of liver diseases is increasing globally. Orthotopic liver transplantation is widely used to treat liver disease upon organ failure. The complexity of this procedure and finite numbers of healthy organ donors have prompted research into alternative therapeutic options to treat liver disease. This includes the transplantation of liver cells to promote regeneration. While successful, the routine supply of good quality human liver cells is limited. Therefore, renewable and scalable sources of these cells are sought. Liver progenitor and pluripotent stem cells offer potential cell sources that could be used clinically. This review discusses recent approaches in liver cell transplantation and requirements to improve the process, with the ultimate goal being efficient organ regeneration. We also discuss the potential off-target effects of cell-based therapies, and the advantages and drawbacks of current pre-clinical animal models used to study organ senescence, repopulation and regeneration