•A framework for construction risk knowledge management and application in BIM is given.•The risk knowledge and BIM models are integrated in a dynamic and semantic way.•Enable semantic reasoning and ...search of risk knowledge and monitoring objects in BIM.•A prototype system is developed based on the proposed framework.•The case application and survey results showed the promise of the prototype system.
The development of Building Information Modelling provides a visual and information-rich environment to incorporate the construction risk knowledge in the domain of safety management. Ontology and semantic web technology offer an opportunity to enable such domain knowledge to be represented semantically. This paper attempts to take advantage of the strength of BIM, ontology and semantic web technology to establish an ontology-based methodology/framework for construction risk knowledge management in BIM environment. The risk knowledge is modelled into an ontology-based semantic network to produce a risk map, from which the interdependences between risks, risk paths can be inferred semantically. Based on the semantic retrieval mechanism, the applicable knowledge is dynamically linked to the specific objects in the BIM environment. Based on the methodology, a prototype system is developed as a tool to facilitate the construction risk knowledge management and reuse in hope of indirectly improving the construction risk analysis process. A case application is implemented to demonstrate the risk prevention through construction process/method selection, including the risk factors identification, risk paths reasoning and risk prevention plan recommendation. Finally, a questionnaire survey highlights the potential benefits and limitations on the deployment of such system.
Summary Objective Abnormal metabolic activities of chondrocytes may cause articular cartilage (AC) degradation, but key transcription factors regulating metabolic activities in AC of aging ...individuals remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate the role of transcription factor NFAT1 in regulating the expression of anabolic and catabolic molecules in AC of aged mice. Methods The hip, knee, and shoulder joints of BALB/c mice were harvested at 6, 12, 15, 18, and 24 months of age for histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Total RNA was isolated from AC for gene expression. Genomic DNA and chromatin were prepared from AC for methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. Results NFAT1 expression in AC of mice was significantly decreased after 12 months of age, which was associated with reduced proteoglycan staining, decreased expression of chondrocyte markers, and increased expression of interleukin-1β. Forced Nfat1 expression in chondrocytes from aged mice significantly reversed the abnormal metabolic activities. ChIP assays confirmed that NFAT1 bound to the promoter of the Acan, Col2a1, Col9a1, Col11a1, Il1b, Mmp13 and Tnfa genes in articular chondrocytes of aged mice. ChIP and MeDIP assays revealed that reduced NFAT1 expression in AC of aged mice was regulated by epigenetic histone methylation at the promoter region and was correlated with increased DNA methylation at introns 1 and 10 of the Nfat1 gene. Conclusion NFAT1 is a transcriptional regulator of multiple anabolic and catabolic genes in AC of aged mice. Epigenetically mediated reduction of NFAT1 expression causes imbalanced metabolic activities of articular chondrocytes in aged mice.
Regulations play an important role in assuring the construction quality. However, due to the large amount of regulation needs considered, the construction quality compliance checking against ...regulations can be cumbersome/time-consuming and error prone. In order to give more computerized support to the construction quality compliance checking against regulations, an ontology-based semantic modeling approach of regulation constraints is explored. A meta model for construction quality inspection and evaluation i.e. CQIEOntology is proposed in this paper. Based on CQIEontology, the regulation constraints are modeled into OWL axioms and SWRL rules. By these OWL axioms and SWRL rules, the regulation provisions imposed on construction quality inspection can be translated into a set of inspection tasks, and get associated with the specific construction tasks. Once the construction starts, the applicable inspection tasks, including a series of quality checking and evaluation, will be reminded and recommended. Obviously, the proposed approach facilitates taking the construction quality compliance checking as a paralleling activity to the construction rather than an afterthought, and helps the inspectors in quality inspection. Finally, the approach is demonstrated in Protégé 3.4.6 through case studies based on regulation examples taken from “Code for Acceptance of Construction Quality of Building Foundation (GB50202-2002) and the validation and discussion are given for it.”
► A meta model for construction quality inspection and evaluation is proposed. ► Ontology and semantic technologies are selected to model the relevant knowledge. ► The approach is tested and assessed. ► Helping inspectors implement quality checking against relevant regulations.
The phylogenetic position of Gnetales is one of the most contentious issues in the seed plant systematics. To elucidate the Gnetales position, an improved amino acid substitution matrix was estimated ...based on 64 chloroplast (cp) genomes and was applied to cp genome data including all three lineages of Gnetales in maximum likelihood analyses of proteins. Although the initial analysis strongly supported the sister relation of Gnetales with Cryptomeria (Cupressophyta or non-Pinaceae conifers) (the "Gnecup" hypothesis), the support seems to be caused by a long-branch attraction (LBA) artifact. Indeed, by removing fastest evolving proteins that are most likely associated with the LBA, the support drastically declined. Furthermore, another analysis of partial genome data with dense taxon sampling of conifers showed that, in psbC, rpl2, and rps7 proteins, there are many parallel amino acid substitutions between the lineages leading to Gnetales and to Cryptomeria, and by further excluding these three genes, the sister relation of Gnetales with Pinaceae (the "Gnepine" hypothesis) became supported. Overall, our analyses indicate that the LBA and parallel substitutions cause a seriously biased inference of phylogenetic position of Gnetales with the cp genome data.
Rural-to-urban migrant workers are a large marginalised population in urban China. Prevalence estimates of common mental health problems (CMHPs) in previous studies varied widely and very few studies ...have investigated migration-related factors of CMHPs in migrant workers. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of CMHPs among Chinese migrant workers.
A random sample of 3031 migrant workers of ten manufacturing factories in Shenzhen, China, completed a standardised questionnaire containing socio-demographic and migration-related variables and the Chinese 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A GHQ-12 score of three or higher was used to denote the presence of CMHPs.
The prevalence of CMHPs was 34.4% in Chinese migrant workers. In multiple logistic regression, risk factors for CMHPs included being 16-25 years old (odd ratio OR 1.65, 95% confidence interval CI 1.28, 2.12), being 26-35 years old (OR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.75), low monthly income (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.04, 1.92), poor living condition (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.54), physical illness in the past 2 weeks (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.43, 2.05), having worked in many cities (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.03, 1.74), infrequently visiting hometown (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.22, 1.99), poor Mandarin proficiency (OR 1.51, 95%CI 1.13, 2.01), a low level of perceived benefits of migration (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.14, 1.55) and working more than 8 h/day (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.14, 1.70).
CMHPs are very prevalent among Chinese migrant workers. Given the large number of Chinese migrant workers, there is an urgent need to address the mental health burden of China's migrant worker population.
Recent studies have found that the core-shell structured metal nanoparticles and porous carbon nanofibers (PCNF) are combined into a microwave absorbing material through electrospinning, which ...exhibits excellent microwave absorption performance. In this study, the core-shell structure Co nanoparticles prepared by the self-developed HEIBE process (production rate of > 50 g/h) were combined with porous carbon fibers, and their absorbing properties were greatly improved. The morphology of Co/PCNF demonstrated that CoNPs are randomly dispersed in the porous carbon nanofibers and carbon nanofiber form complex conductive network which enhances the dielectric loss of the materials. Meanwhile, the Co/PCNF has a low graphitization and shows a significant improvement in permittivity due to the combination of CoNPs and high conductivity of carbon material. The maximum reflection loss (RL) of Co/PCNF reaches - 63.69 dB at 5.28 GHz with a thickness of 5.21 mm and the absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ - 10.0 dB) is 12.92 GHz. In terms of 5.60 mm and 6.61 mm absorber, there are two absorption peaks of - 47.64 dB and - 48.30 dB appear around 12.50 GHz and 14.10 GHz, respectively. The results presented in this paper may pave a way for promising applications of lightweight and high-efficiency microwave absorbing materials (MAMs).
Summary
Immunological methods, which have been widely used in autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) of the oral mucosa, can also be adopted as auxiliary diagnostic tools in oral lichen planus (OLP) ...and discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). AIBDs, characterized by autoantibodies against structural proteins of keratinocytes or the basement membrane zone, clinically present as blisters and erosions of the oral mucosa. When atypical lesions occur, OLP or DLE may be confused with AIBDs. The improvement of diagnostic accuracy is necessary due to the significant differences in treatment and prognosis among these diseases. A variety of immunological methods are used for qualitative and quantitative detection of target antigens and autoantibodies. These methods can evaluate efficacy of treatment, monitor diseases and guide treatment decisions. In this review, we discuss the application of immunofluorescence, biochemical tests, and protein microarrays for AIBDs, OLP and DLE, as well as the differential diagnostic methods using immunological tests.
What's already known about this topic?
Oral lichen planus (OLP) or discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) may be confused with autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) when atypical lesions occur in the oral mucosa.
Immunological methods for diagnosis of oral mucosal diseases mainly refer to routine immunofluorescence, salt‐split skin test, biochemical tests and protein microarrays.
Under limited conditions, the most sensitive immunological methods for diagnosing oral mucosal diseases need to be selected.
What does this study add?
This review summarizes the principles, diagnostic characteristics and results of various immunological diagnostic methods for AIBDs, OLP and DLE.
Sensitivity of different immunological methods for AIBDs can provide guidance for clinicians.
Indirect immunofluorescence showed high diagnostic sensitivity in pemphigus vulgaris or paraneoplastic pemphigus.
Biochemical tests showed high diagnostic sensitivity in AIBDs.
Protein microarrays may serve as a future conventional diagnostic method with high sensitivity and specificity in AIBDs.
Linked Comment: Hashimoto and Nakahara. Br J Dermatol 2019; 181:9–10.
Plain language summary available online
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has complex etiologies, and the impact of sex on AD varies over the course of disease development. The literature provides some evidence of sex-specific contributions to AD. ...However, molecular mechanisms of sex-biased differences in AD remain elusive. Multiomics data in tandem with systems biology approaches offer a new avenue to dissect sex-stratified molecular mechanisms of AD and to develop sex-specific diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for AD. Single-cell transcriptomic datasets and cell deconvolution of bulk tissue transcriptomic data provide additional insights into brain cell type–specific impact on sex-biased differences in AD. In this review, we summarize the impact of sex chromosomes and sex hormones on AD, the impact of sex-biased differences during AD development, and the interplay between sex and a major AD genetic risk factor, the APOE ε4 genotype, through the multiomics landscape. Several sex-biased molecular pathways such as neuroinflammation and bioenergetic metabolism have been identified. The importance of sex chromosome and sex hormones, as well as the associated pathways in AD pathogenesis, is further strengthened by findings from omics studies. Future research efforts should integrate the multiomics data from different brain regions and different cell types using systems biology approaches, and leverage the knowledge into a holistic examination of sex differences in AD. Advances in systems biology technologies and increasingly available large-scale multiomics datasets will facilitate future studies dissecting such complex signaling mechanisms to better understand AD pathogenesis in both sexes, with the ultimate goals of developing efficacious sex- and APOE-stratified preventive and therapeutic interventions for AD.
The lithium disilicate glass–ceramics composites reinforced and toughened by tetragonal zirconia (3Y-TZP) were prepared by hot-pressing at 800 °C with varying zirconia content from 0 to 30 wt.%. In ...the case of the composites of small zirconia content (below 10 wt.%), zirconia acted as nucleation agent primarily, and the microstructure was refined continuously. The morphology of Li2Si2O5 crystals transformed from rod-shaped to spherical structure, and the mechanical properties decreased inevitably. For the composites of large zirconia content (from 15 wt.% to 30 wt.%), however, zirconia restrained the phase separation of glass. The morphology of Li2Si2O5 crystals transformed to rod-shaped structure again. The mechanical properties of the composite at zirconia content of 15 wt.% increased up to 340 MPa and 3.5 MPa m1/2 which were much higher than those of zirconia-free glass–ceramics. The improved properties were attributed mainly to compressive stress reinforcement, phase transformation and bridging toughening mechanisms.
•The influence of zirconia on microstructure and properties was studied.•The stress relationships between glass and crystalline phases were analyzed.•Mechanical properties of composite with 3Y-TZP (15 wt%) increased significantly.•The main reinforcing and toughening mechanisms were discussed in detail.
Frequent dusty weather has led to an increasing interest in dust aerosols, which were observed by lidar as nonspherical particles. To solve the problem of large errors in the previous inversion ...results of nonspherical aerosol particle size distribution (APSD), an inversion model of nonspherical APSD is proposed in this article. This inversion model is made up of three steps. First, the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) method was used instead of the Lorenz-Mie (Mie) theory to compute the optical properties of nonspherical particles. Second, the traditional generalized cross-validation (GCV) method was replaced by a hybrid algorithm and combined with Tikhonov's regularization. The hybrid algorithm combines a particle swarm optimization (PSO) with a genetic algorithm (GA). The problem of the instability of the Lagrange multiplier values is solved. Third, a multi wavelength polarization lidar and an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS) were used to detect dust aerosols in Yinchuan. The nonspherical property of the dust aerosol was verified by the depolarization ratio of the 532-nm polarization channel. Overall, the simulation shows that the hybrid algorithm gives more accurate results and that the real part of the complex refractive index has a greater effect on the nonspherical APSD than the imaginary part of the complex refractive index. There is a clear inverse relationship between the variation of dust aerosol quantities at high altitudes and near the ground. Calculations from the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model revealed the reason for this phenomenon. The model shows that dust aerosol number changes were influenced by updrafts from Russian and Afghan regions and Shaanxi.
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