Vision 2020 - A whole life-cycle information management system for built environments

A whole life-cycle information management vision is proposed, the organizational requirements for the realization of the scenario is investigated. Preliminary interviews with construction professionals are reported. Discontinuities at information transfer throughout life-cycle of built environments are resulting from lack of coordination and multiple data collection/storage practices. A more coherent history of these activities can improve the work practices of various teams by augmenting decision making processes and creating organizational learning opportunities. Therefore, there is a need for unifying these fragmented bits of data to create a meaningful, semantically rich and standardized information repository for built environment. The proposed vision utilizes embedded technologies and distributed building information models. Two diverse construction project types (large one-off design, small repetitive design) are investigated for the applicability of the vision. A functional prototype software/hardware system for demonstrating the practical use of this vision is developed and discussed. Plans for case-studies for validating the proposed model at a large PFI hospital and housing association projects are discussed.

Effects of lipid emulsions on lipid body formation and eicosanoid production by human peripheral blood mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells

Background & aims: This study investigated the influence of four commercial lipid emulsions, Ivelip, ClinOleic, Omegaven and SMOFlipid (R), on lipid body formation, fatty acid composition and eicosanoid production by cultured human peripheral blood polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) and mononuclear cells (PBMC). Methods: PMN and PBMC were exposed to emulsions at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.04%. Lipid body formation was assessed by microscopy, fatty acid composition by gas chromatography and eicosanoids by ELISA. Results: Stimulation of inflammatory cells and exposure to lipid emulsions promoted the formation of lipid bodies, but there did not appear to be differential effects of the emulsions tested. In contrast, there were differential effects of lipid emulsions on eicosanoid formation, particularly with regards to LTB4 production by PMN. Omegaven dramatically increased production of eicosanoids compared with the other emulsions in a dose-dependent manner. This effect was associated with a significantly higher level of lipid peroxides in the supernatants of cells exposed to Omegaven. Conclusions: Stimulation of inflammatory cells and exposure to lipid emulsions promotes lipid body formation and eicosanoid production, although the differential effects of different emulsions appear to be largely due to lipid peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in some emulsions in this in vitro system. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

Relation between the fatty acid composition of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and measures of immune cell function in health free-living subjects aged 25-72 y

Background: There is little information about the relation between the fatty acid composition of human immune cells and the function of those cells over the habitual range of fatty acid intakes. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the relation between the fatty acid composition of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) phospholipids and the functions of human immune cells. Design: One hundred fifty healthy adult subjects provided a fasting blood sample. The phagocytic and oxidative burst activities of monocytes and neutrophils were measured in whole blood. PBMCs were isolated and used to measure lymphocyte proliferation in response to the T cell mitogen concanavalin A and the production of cytokines in response to concanavalin A or bacterial lipopolysaccharide. The fatty acid composition of plasma and PBMC phospholipids was determined. Results: Wide variations in fatty acid composition of PBMC phospholipids and immune cell functions were identified among the subjects. The proportions of total Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), of total n-6 and n-3 PUFAs, and of several individual PUFAs in PBMC phospholipids were positively correlated with phagocytosis by neutrophils and monocytes, neutrophil oxidative burst, lymphocyte proliferation, and interferon gamma production. The ratios of saturated fatty acids to PUFAs and of n-6 to n-3 PUFAs were negatively correlated with these same immune functions. The relation of PBMC fatty acid composition to monocyte oxidative burst was the reverse of its relation to monocyte phagocytosis and neutrophil oxidative burst. Conclusion: Variations in the fatty acid composition of PBMC phospholipids account for some of the variability in immune cell functions among healthy adults.

Modulation of detoxification enzymes by watercress: in vitro and in vivo investigations in human peripheral blood cells

Epidemiological studies indicate that consumption of cruciferous vegetables (CV) can reduce the risk of cancer. Supposed mechanisms are partly the inhibition of phase I and the induction of phase II enzymes. The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro and in vivo effects of watercress (WC), a member of the CV family, on chemopreventive parameters using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) as surrogate cells. We investigated the hypothesis that WC reduces cancer risk by inducing detoxification enzymes in a genotype-dependent manner. In vitro gene expression and enzyme activity experiments used PBMC incubated with a crude extract from fresh watercress (WCE, 0.1-10 mu L/mL with 8.2 g WC per 1 mL extract) or with one main key compound phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC, 1-10 mu M). From an in vivo perspective, gene expression and glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms were determined in PBMC obtained from a human intervention study in which subjects consumed 85 g WC per day for 8 weeks. The influence of WC consumption on gene expression was determined for detoxification enzymes such as superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) and glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1), whilst the SOD and GPX activities in red blood cells were also analysed with respect to GST genotypes. In vitro exposure of PBMC to WCE or PEITC (24 h) increased gene expression for both detoxification enzymes GPX1 (5.5-fold, 1 mu L/mL WCE, 3.7-fold 1 mu M PEITC) and SOD2 (12.1-fold, 10 mu L/mL WCE, 7.3-fold, 10 mu M PEITC), and increased SOD2 activity (1.9-fold, 10 mu L/mL WCE). The WC intervention had no significant effect on in vivo PBMC gene expression, as high individual variations were observed. However, a small but significant increase in GPX (p = 0.025) and SOD enzyme activity (p = 0.054) in red blood cells was observed in GSTM1*0, but not in GSTM1*1 individuals, whilst the GSTT1 genotype had no impact. The results indicate that WC is able to modulate the enzymes SOD and GPX in blood cells in vitro and in vivo, and suggest that the capacity of moderate intake of CV to induce detoxification is dependent in part on the GSTM1 genotype.

Proteomic biomarkers of peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from postmenopausal women undergoing an intervention with soy isoflavones

Background: The incidence of cardiovascular diseases increases after menopause, and soy consumption is suggested to inhibit disease development. Objective: The objective was to identify biomarkers of response to a dietary supplementation with an isoflavone extract in postmenopausal women by proteome analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Design: The study with healthy postmenopausal woman was performed in a placebo-controlled sequential design. Peripheral mononuclear blood cells were collected from 10 volunteers after 8 wk of receiving daily 2 placebo cereal bars and after a subsequent 8 wk of intervention with 2 cereal bars each providing 25 mg of isoflavones. The proteome of the cells was visualized after 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and peptide mass fingerprinting served to identify proteins that by the intervention displayed altered protein concentrations. Results: Twenty-nine proteins were identified that showed significantly altered expression in the mononuclear blood cells under the soy-isoflavone intervention, including a variety of proteins involved in an antiinflammatory response. Heat shock protein 70 or a lymphocyte-specific protein phosphatase and proteins that promote increased fibrinolysis, such as a-enolase, were found at increased intensities, whereas those that mediate adhesion, migration, and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, such as galectin-1, were found at reduced intensities after soy extract consumption. Conclusion: Protcome analysis identified in vivo markers that respond to a dietary intervention with isoflavone-enriched soy extract in postmenopausal women. The nature of the proteins identified suggests that soy isoflavones may increase the anti inflammatory response in blood mononuclear cells that might contribute to the atherosclerosis-preventive activities of a soy-rich diet.

Empirical impact of cache effects for vision system design

Computer vision applications generally split their problem into multiple simpler tasks. Likewise research often combines algorithms into systems for evaluation purposes. Frameworks for modular vision provide interfaces and mechanisms for algorithm combination and network transparency. However, these don’t provide interfaces efficiently utilising the slow memory in modern PCs. We investigate quantitatively how system performance varies with different patterns of memory usage by the framework for an example vision system.

A CAD-based computer vision system

A vision system for recognizing rigid and articulated three-dimensional objects in two-dimensional images is described. Geometrical models are extracted from a commercial computer aided design package. The models are then augmented with appearance and functional information which improves the system's hypothesis generation, hypothesis verification, and pose refinement. Significant advantages over existing CAD-based vision systems, which utilize only information available in the CAD system, are realized. Examples show the system recognizing, locating, and tracking a variety of objects in a robot work-cell and in natural scenes.

Hardware development of the Yorick series of active vision systems

This paper presents a review of the design and development of the Yorick series of active stereo camera platforms and their integration into real-time closed loop active vision systems, whose applications span surveillance, navigation of autonomously guided vehicles (AGVs), and inspection tasks for teleoperation, including immersive visual telepresence. The mechatronic approach adopted for the design of the first system, including head/eye platform, local controller, vision engine, gaze controller and system integration, proved to be very successful. The design team comprised researchers with experience in parallel computing, robot control, mechanical design and machine vision. The success of the project has generated sufficient interest to sanction a number of revisions of the original head design, including the design of a lightweight compact head for use on a robot arm, and the further development of a robot head to look specifically at increasing visual resolution for visual telepresence. The controller and vision processing engines have also been upgraded, to include the control of robot heads on mobile platforms and control of vergence through tracking of an operator's eye movement. This paper details the hardware development of the different active vision/telepresence systems.

A modular head/eye platform for real-time reactive vision

This paper describes the design, implementation and testing of a high speed controlled stereo “head/eye” platform which facilitates the rapid redirection of gaze in response to visual input. It details the mechanical device, which is based around geared DC motors, and describes hardware aspects of the controller and vision system, which are implemented on a reconfigurable network of general purpose parallel processors. The servo-controller is described in detail and higher level gaze and vision constructs outlined. The paper gives performance figures gained both from mechanical tests on the platform alone, and from closed loop tests on the entire system using visual feedback from a feature detector.

Magnetic coupling in trinuclear partial cubane copper(II) complexes with a hydroxo bridging core and peripheral phenoxo bridges from NNO donor Schiff base ligands

Three new trinuclear copper(II) complexes, [(CuL1)(3)(mu(3)-OH)](ClO4)(2)center dot 3.75H(2)O (1), [(CuL2)(3)(mu(3)-OH)](ClO4)(2) (2) and [(CuL3)(3)(mu(3)-OH)](BF4)(2)center dot 0.5CH(3)CN (3) have been synthesized from three tridentate Schiff bases HL1, HL2, and HL3 (HL1 = 2-[(2-amino-ethylimino)-methyl]-phenol, HL2 = 2-[(2-methylamino-ethylimino)-methyl]-phenol and HL3 = 2-[1-(2-dimethylamino-ethylimino)-ethyl]-phenol). The complexes are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, IR, UV-vis and EPR spectroscopy, and variable-temperature magnetic measurements. All the compounds contain a partial cubane [Cu3O4] core consisting of the trinuclear unit [(CuL)(3)(mu(3)-OH)](2+) together with perchlorate or fluoroborate anions. In each of the complexes, the three copper atoms are five-coordinated with a distorted square-pyramidal geometry except in complex 1, in which one of the Cu-II ions of the trinuclear unit is six-coordinate being in addition weakly coordinated to one of the perchlorate anions. Variable-temperature magnetic measurements and EPR spectra indicate an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling between the CuII ions of complexes 1 and 2, while this turned out to be ferromagnetic for complex 3. Experimental values have been fitted according to an isotropic exchange Hamiltonian. Calculations based on Density Functional Theory have also been performed in order to estimate the exchange coupling constants in these three complexes. Both sets of values indicate similar trends and specially calculated J values establish a magneto-structural correlation between them and the Cu-O-Cu bond angle, in that the coupling is more ferromagnetic for smaller bond angle values.