1,721,032 research outputs found
Semantic BIM Design Methodology for Energy Efficient Building
No full textThe purpose of this thesis is to improve the early stage design process, within computer aided design, allowing more design options to be compared and anticipating feedback on choices that influence the building's energy consumption. To reach this purpose it analyses the role of the human designer and the encountered limits of the computer aided design process. The research opens on the state of the art by investigating relevant open standards in Building Information Modelling (BIM) and semantic web, design automation in layout generation, early stage energy simulation and evidence based design. As a practical application, the author took a layout generating tool developed within Streamer, the European applied research project he collaborated on. A semantic BIM design method using open standards for early stage design is described, the main building typology referenced is hospitals, suitable for their strict functional requirements and high energy consumption. Within the method’s workflow, the design process starts from a classification of Programme of Requirement data, which is then used to generate alternative design layouts. The generated proposals are evaluated by an evolutionary algorithm, based on pre-defined prioritised design rules. Several alternative designs can be exported as Industry Foundation Class (IFC) files, in which properties can be retained for downstream use. Optionally, to improve placement of building envelope elements & building services, an expert can create zones manually within the file. An automated energy calculation uses the semantic data contained in the IFC file. A decision support system is used to compare and evaluate the generated options. Both designs for new buildings and the use in a retrofitting scenario are considered. To close the inquiry a speculative investigation of other building typologies attempts to understands the limits of the automated process and tools, and the creative contribution of the human designer. It seeks to describe which adaptations are required to design other building typologies based on concrete examples of contemporary design. The philosophy of the method and its strengths and limitations are discussed and topics for future research are outlined. In conclusion, the author proposes an iterated interaction between designer and brief to combine the strengths of the human designer and the semantic design method
Membrane Protein Clusters at Nanoscale Resolution: More Than Pretty Pictures
No full textFluorescence microscopy is powerful for analyzing the composition and dynamics of cellular elements, but studying precise molecule patterns is precluded due to diffraction limited resolution. This barrier has been lifted now through several superresolution microscopy techniques. They revealed that proteins assemble in defined groups (clusters). A new challenge thus appears for the biologist: to find out whether clusters are molecular machines, stabilizers of defined protein conformations, or simply protein reservoirs
Slow road to Butrinti / Time-based reflections for an emerging touristic territory
Get PDFIn order to enhance tourism, while preserving the landscape qualities of the Albanian Riviera, its mobility system needs to be improved according to environmental assessments, economic feasibility considerations and an incremental strategy. This contribution aims at highlighting the opportunities that rise from a multimodal approach to the infrastructure development in emerging touristic contexts such as Albania. Showing how different transport and accessibility systems could be planned and integrated to build a sustainable network enabling diverse time-based experiences of the coast
Slow road to Butrinti / Time-based reflections for an emerging touristic territory
No full textIn order to enhance tourism, while preserving the landscape qualities of the Albanian Riviera, its mobility system needs to be improved according to environmental assessments, economic feasibility considerations and an incremental strategy. This contribution aims at highlighting the opportunities that rise from a multimodal approach to the infrastructure development in emerging touristic contexts such as Albania. Showing how different transport and accessibility systems could be planned and integrated to build a sustainable network enabling diverse time-based experiences of the coast
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Structure and dynamics of a two-helix SNARE complex in live cells.
No full textSNAREs are clustered membrane proteins essential for intracellular fusion steps. During fusion, three to four SNAREs with a Q(a)-, Q(b)-, Q(c)- and R-SNARE-motif form a complex. The core complex represents a Q(a)Q(b)Q(c)R-SNARE-motif bundle, most certainly assembling in steps. However, to date it is unknown which intermediate SNARE complex observed in vitro also exists in vivo. Here we have applied comparative fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP)-studies as a novel approach for studying in intact cells a SNARE interaction involved in synaptic vesicle fusion [catalyzed by syntaxin 1A (Q(a)), SNAP25 (Q(b)/Q(c)) and synaptobrevin 2 (R)]. We find that the Q(b)-SNARE-motif of SNAP25 interacts reversibly with clustered syntaxin. The interaction requires most of the alpha helical Q(b)-SNARE-motif and depends on its position within the molecule. We conclude that a zippered Q(a)Q(b)-SNARE complex represents a short-lived SNARE intermediate in intact cells, most likely providing an initial molecular platform toward membrane fusion
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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