Development of a building information model-guided post-earthquake building inspection framework using 3D synthetic environments

Computer vision-based inspection methods show promise for automating post-earthquake building inspections.These methods survey a building with unmanned aerial vehicles and automatically detect damage in the collected images.Nevertheless,assessing the damage′s impact on structural safety requires localizing damage to specific building components with known design and function.This paper proposes a BIM-based automated inspection framework to provide context for visual surveys.A deep learning-based semantic segmentation algorithm is trained to automatically identify damage in images.The BIM automatically associates any identified damage with specific building components.Then,components are classified into damage states consistent with component fragility models for integration with a structural analysis.To demonstrate the framework,methods are developed to photorealistically simulate severe structural damage in a synthetic computer graphics environment.A graphics model of a real building in Urbana,Illinois,is generated to test the framework;the model is integrated with a structural analysis to apply earthquake damage in a physically realistic manner.A simulated UAV survey is flown of the graphics model and the framework is applied.The method achieves high accuracy in assigning damage states to visible structural components.This assignment enables integration with a performance-based earthquake assessment to classify building safety.

Geographical Information Visualization on a Panoramic Sphere in an Immersive Environment

In this paper,we propose a novel approach to visualizing global geographical information:a panoramic sphere in an immersive environment.The whole geographical surface can be observed through the rotating of heads as the viewpoint of the panoramic sphere is inside the sphere.We compared three approaches to visualizing the earth for rendering the geographical information in a virtual reality environment.On the tasks of terrestrial and marine geographical information,we compare the visualization effects on a)a globe,b)a flat map and c)a panoramic sphere.Terrestrial geographical information tasks include the area comparison and direction determination.Marine geographical information tasks contain the visualization of sea surface temperature and sea surface currents.For terrestrial geographical information tasks,the experimental results show that the panoramic sphere outperforms the globe and the flat map,with a higher average accuracy and a shorter time.On marine geographical information task,the panoramic sphere visualization is also superior to the flat map and the globe in an immersive environment for the sea surface temperature data and the sea surface current fields.In all three visualization experiments,the panoramic sphere is most preferred by the participants,particularly for global,transcontinental and transoceanic needs.

Quantum process discrimination with information from environment

In quantum metrology we usually extract information from the reduced probe system but ignore the information lost inevitably into the environment. However, K. Mφlmer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 040401 （2015）] showed that the information lost into the environment has an important effect on improving the successful probability of quantum process discrimination. Here we reconsider the model of a driven atom coupled to an environment and distinguish which of two candidate Hamiltonians governs the dynamics of the whole system. We mainly discuss two measurement methods, one of which obtains only the information from the reduced atom state and the other obtains the information from both the atom and its environment. Interestingly, for the two methods the optimal initial states of the atom, used to improve the successful probability of the process discrimination, are different. By comparing the two methods we find that the partial information from the environment is very useful for the discriminations.

Paleo-sedimentary environmental restoration and its significance of Chang 7 Member of Triassic Yanchang Formation in Ordos Basin,NW China

Paleo-sedimentary environment of Chang 7 Member of Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in Ordos Basin, including the paleoclimate, paleo-salinity and paleo-redox conditions were restored through geochemical elements analysis of 289 samples collected from the outcrop sections around and wells drilled in the basin and using a series of identification indexes of paleo-climate, paleo-salinity and paleo-redox conditions, such as CaO/MgO?Al2 O3, Sr/Cu, Rb/Sr, Rb/K2 O, Th/U, V/(V+Ni), the content of element B tested from the mudstone. Comprehensive analysis shows that in sedimentary period of the Chang 7, the paleo-climate was warm temperate to subtropical climate with temperature higher than 15 ?C, the water body was continental brackish water to freshwater, and the sediments were deposited under strong reduction conditions. Suitable temperature, extensively deep lake basin and strongly reductive paleo-sedimentary environment led to the blooming, enrichment and preservation of organic matter in the submember Chang 73. As a result, a set of high-quality source rock was formed, laying material foundation for large-scale accumulation of shale oil.

Linking a Game Engine Environment to Architectural Information on the Semantic Web

Because of the importance of graphics and information within the domain of architecture, engineering and construction （AEC）, an appropriate combination of visualization technology and information management technology is of utter importance in the development of appropriately supporting design and construction applications. Virtual environments, however, tend not to make this information available. The sparse number of applications that present additional information furthermore tend to limit their scope to pure construction information and do not incorporate information from loosely related knowledge domains, such as cultural heritage or architectural history information. We therefore started an investigation of two of the newest developments in these domains, namely game engine technology and semantic web technology. This paper documents part of this research, containing a review and comparison of the most prominent game engines and documenting our architectural semantic web. A short test-case illustrates how both can be combined to enhance information visualization for architectural design and construction.

Sources of organic matter and paleo-environmental implications inferred from carbon isotope compositions of lacustrine sediments at Inexpressible Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica

The carbon isotopic composition of organic matter （δ^13Corg） was determined in two sediment cores （IIL1 and IIL9） recovered from Inexpressible Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica, and analyzed to identify the sources of that organic matter. The δ^13Corg values of sediments of IIL9 were found to vary between -14.6‰ and -11.6‰, with a mean of-13.4‰ （n=48）. These values were significantly higher than those of IIL1 sediments which varied between -23.2‰ and -20.4‰, with a mean of-21.8%o （n=55）. The variation in δ^13Corg values in these two sediment cores indicate different sources of organic matter, The relatively high 6~3Corg values in IIL9 are in accordance with a source from algae, while the low δ^13Corg values in IIL1 evince significant influence from penguin guano with algae as the secondary source. Compared with the reference data from other high-latitude lake sediments and plants, the δ^13Corg values in IIL9 were extremely high, a result likely related to intense competition for CO2 assimilation among algal species during the growing season in this relatively shallow pond. These results indicate that sedimentary δ^13Corg is a reliable proxy for paleo-primary productivity in ponds at Inexpressible Island.

Information behavior in the mobile environment:A study of undergraduate smartphone users in China

Purpose:As smartphones become ubiquitous,it is important to understand emerging information behavior as a result of wide spread use of smartphones.The purpose of this study is to investigate information behavior in the mobile environment by studying undergraduate smartphone users in China.Design/methodology/approach:This study is based on a survey of 205 undergraduate students in China.Findings:Smartphones are used predominantly for accessing news and connecting to social media,rather than for academic purposes such as accessing library resources or researching.While students use smartphones for reading e-books,much of this reading is recreational during their spare time.Research limitations:The inherent limitations of self-reported measures and the small sample size of this study mean that the results cannot be generalized across different age groups and cultures.Practical implications:When targeting users on the move,information professionals should be aware that the needs and behaviors of smartphone readers are significantly different compared to users of fixed devices,and should provide services in a mobile-friendly way.Originality/value:The younger generation is accustomed to instant information access.For libraries to relevant,they must redesign their services.It is important for libraries to leverage the strengths of mobile technology and to balance traditional services with mobile delivery.Even though many mobile users will use desktop or laptop computers to access library resources,they will benefit from the availability of mobile-friendly library services.

URBAN INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION SYTEM FOR CHINA′S COASTAL PORT CITIES

The Paper mainly applies multi-disciplinary theory, methods and geographic information system (GIS) technology to study the investment environment for coastal port cities. The methods of studying urban investment environment using GIS prompted. In this peper, it is mentioned that the study of investment environment with GIS can be divided into 3 layers of macro scope, medium scope and micro scope in the paper. A powerful user-friendly UIEIS (Urban Investment Environment Information System) has been designed to study the urban investment environment. A series of application analysis models (including investment environment assessment models,investment site selection models, documental data management models, statistical data.graph display model, economic analysis and prediction models, network analysis models) are developed for investment environment studies in coastal port cities. Ningbo, a very important coastal port city, is chosen as a pilot study city.

A regional environmental management information system for Chinese EPA—the system analysis and design

REMIS is one of key research projects sponsored by the central government. It is recommended to regional EPAs as a main tool of the environmental management. REMIS simulates the functions of the regional EPAs and aimed to improve their management level. The national environmental management information system will base on REMIS.Functional analysis is the kernel of the REMIS system analysis. Data and data flow analysis are used to support the functional analysis.Investigations on the functions of the local EPAs of eight provinces and 12 cities have been taken. The functions were carefully sorted. Modular design method was used in system analysis and system design.The system analysis included functional analysis, data analysis and data flow analysis. The system design is based on the system analysis. HIPO diagram of each modular, data base structure, menu design, selection of hardware and software environment were the main items of the system design.

Combinatorial analysis on spatial information statistics for the karst water environment in Guiyang,China

The karst groundwater system is extremely vulnerable and easily contaminated by human activities.To understand the spatial distribution of contaminants in the groundwater of karst urban areas and contributors to the contamination,this paper employs the spatial information statistics analysis theory and method to analyze the karst groundwater environment in Guiyang City.Based on the karst ground water quality data detected in 61 detection points of the research area in the last three years,we made Kriging evaluation isoline map with some ions in the karst groundwater,such as SO4 2-,Fe 3+,Mn 2+and F -,analyzed and evaluated the spatial distribution,extension and variation of four types of ions on the basis of this isoline map.The results of the analysis show that the anomaly areas of SO4 2-,Fe 3+,Mn 2+,Fand other ions are mainly located in Baba’ao,Mawangmiao and Sanqiao in northwestern Gui- yang City as well as in its downtown area by reasons of the original non-point source pollution and the contamination caused by human activities(industrial and domestic pollution).

UGC-YOLO:Underwater Environment Object Detection Based on YOLO with a Global Context Block

With the continuous development and utilization of marine resources,the underwater target detection has gradually become a popular research topic in the field of underwater robot operations and target detection.However,it is difficult to combine the environmental semantic information and the semantic information of targets at different scales by detection algorithms due to the complex underwater environment.In this paper,a cascade model based on the UGC-YOLO network structure with high detection accuracy is proposed.The YOLOv3 convolutional neural network is employed as the baseline structure.By fusing the global semantic information between two residual stages in the parallel structure of the feature extraction network,the perception of underwater targets is improved and the detection rate of hard-to-detect underwater objects is raised.Furthermore,the deformable convolution is applied to capture longrange semantic dependencies and PPM pooling is introduced in the highest layer network for aggregating semantic information.Finally,a multi-scale weighted fusion approach is presented for learning semantic information at different scales.Experiments are conducted on an underwater test dataset and the results have demonstrated that our proposed algorithm could detect aquatic targets in complex degraded underwater images.Compared with the baseline network algorithm,the Common Objects in Context(COCO)evaluation metric has been improved by 4.34%.

Molecular Environment of Reserving Information (M.E.R.I. Technology)

The idea of application from DNA information organization for providing the next generation super-computers has been proposed by lessons learned from nature. Thus, molecular environment of reserving information was considered as succeeding generation of a mother-board project containing some subcategories with various applications. MERI, constructed based on the binary coding system using DNA synthesizer machine, enables retrievable reading of molecular structures using DNA sequencer machine. It has high capacity for reservation of information about 1.212 × 1011 Kb/cm2 with long-term stability. It can be used in various fields of science and technology regarding its high capacity, small size and safety measures.

An Entropy Measurement Method of Quantum Information System under Uncertain Environment

Under uncertain environment, it is very difficult to measure the entropy of quantum information system, because there is no effective method to model the randomness. First, different from the traditional classic uncertainty, a quantum uncertain model is proposed to simulate a quantum information system under uncertain environment, and to simplify the entropy measurement of quantum information system. Second, different from the classic random seed under uncertain environment which is often called as pseudo-random number, here the quantum random is employed to provide us a true random model for the entropy of quantum information system. Third, the complex interaction and entangling activity of uncertain factors of quantum information is modeled as quantum binary instead of classic binary, which can help us to evaluate the entropy of uncertain environment, to analyze the entropy divergence in quantum information system. This work presents a non-classic risk factor measurement for quantum information system and a helpful entropy measurement.

Environmental and Geo-Referenced Information Modeling for Sustainable Development in Iran

By providing Geo-referenced information, which serves as an important tool for decision-making in land use planning, national mapping agencies can help provide effective monitoring of environmental resources while in many parts of the world lack adequate information in clear. Their role in sustainability and development planning is thus unique and es- sential. National cartographic centers and national mapping agencies offers example of such national mapping agencies. Accurate information on land and environmental resources is essential to effective land use planning. Key sources of in- formation include topographic maps, aerial photos, satellite images, and data derived from geographic information sys- tems (GIS). At the national level, this information can be used to identify environmental resources, reveal the develop- ment potential of the country, and help promote effective ecological studies and sound land use planning with a land use planning approach. This article begins with some general comments on the importance of land use planning, and outli- nes some current environmental issues and also highlights the connection between roles of Geo-referenced information in land use planning with a sustainable development approach. The discussion describes several key methods of resour- ce identification, with particular emphasis on aerial photography and the existing potentials of Iran in this field. The ar- ticle also discusses the role that the Geo-referenced information and environmental planning play in developing and promoting geographic information system use to sustainable development and finally present proper models to use en- vironmental information and geo-referenced data for sustainable development.

Design and Realization of Baiyangdian Water Environment Information System Based on ArcGIS Engine

For the need to protect the eco-environment and to strengthen environmental management in Lake Baiyangdian, water environment information aimed to get the water quality information more convenient and more intuitionistic was of significance. Based on massive monitoring data of Lake Baiyangdian and the important advantage of spatial analysis functions of GIS （geographical information system）, a system of B-WEIS （Baiyangdian water environment information system） was designed in the work. Component GIS of ArcEngine 9.3 GIS, combined with GIS and component technology, was used to research and develop the proposed system. This system realized different functions of management, data query, statistic analysis and visualization query to the Lake Baiyangdian water monitoring results. It also integrated with professional water quality model to realize evaluation of water quality and calculation of environmental capacity function. The designed system contributed to expand the management on Lake Baiyangdian more professional and available.

Late Cretaceous Paleoenvironment and Paleoclimate Change During Large Lake Transgression in the Songliao Basin,NE China

Late Cretaceous lacustrine deposits in Songliao Basin provide a unique material to study the paleo-environment and paleoclimate of nomarine Cretaceous.Two large transgressions occurred during the Qingshankou and Nenjiang deposition times,the later of which was larger.Based on sedimentation,ostracode,TOC,HI,δ13Corg and C/N from upper Yaojia Formation to Lower Nenjiang Formation in the eastern Songliao Basin。

High Precision Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometric Dating of Corals and Its Application to Paleo-Environmental Study

Global change has become a hot spot in Quaternary geology, and high\|precision, high\|sensitivity dating is also an urgent problem which needs to be solved. This paper presents some achievements in U\|series dating of marine corals by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) and its application to the study of paleo\|environments. Recently, coral samples were determined for their ages on a MAT\|262 mass spectrometer and satisfactory results have been obtained.

A Test Bed for Information Security Skill Development with Virtual Training Environment

New attacks are emerging rapidly in Information Security; hence the tools and technologies available for securing the information needs substantial upgradation as well as skills for operationalization to mitigate these attacks. It requires creation of practical training environment with tools and technologies available for Information Security. The design of Information Security courses involves scenario based hands-on-labs with real time security incidents and problems with global reach which could be customized quickly as per the scenario and user＇s requirement. In order to understand the underlying concepts as well as to learn the practical aspects of network and system security environment, an initiative has been taken and a Virtual Test Bed has been developed to meet the above objectives. It is an essential component in Information Security training concept which could be used to perform actual security attacks and remedial measures as well as to test the effectiveness of protection mechanisms and help in handling the security incidents effectively. This paper discusses the development of this Test Bed for Information Security skill development with virtual training environment using which Information Security concepts, attacks on networks/systems and practical scenarios are simulated for imparting hands on training to participants.

Exploring the Vietnamese Environment Accounting With an Introduction About the Green Accounting Information System

Environment is one of the significant factors to the people and our life, because it is fundamentally joined to everything we require for human beings to subsist. Many fields in the society are influenced by the environment. For these reasons, the Vietnamese government issued the Law on Environmental Protection Tax in 2010 to prove this essential matter. Therefore, the organizations have utilized their tools to record the related transactions into the journals for taking an interest in the nature conditions for substantial development. Based on the accounting aspects, Vietnam has no theories about the environment accounting. Hence, this article will provide some basic information and a general picture of the green accounting information system in the environmental condition. Moreover, this paper will analyze the relationship between the environment and company＇s output by applying the environmental management system （EMS） in the accounting system. However, this paper only provides the overall contents about the environment accounting in Vietnam and this limitation will present this problem for further articles.

Depositional Environments of Bedded Chens in Western Yunnan Segment of Paleo－Tethys， China： a Geochemical Approach

Differences in rare earth elements and other trace elements in bedded chens reflect the deposihonal settings of the sediments. Based on cerium anomaly (Ce/Ce ), total REE (ΣREE) and other trace element abundance variahons preserved in the bedded cherts in the Paleo-Tethys, Western Yunnan, three deposihonal regimes can be recotwzed: spreading ridge proximal, ocean-basin floor and conhnental margin. This geochemical method of discriminating deposihonal environments for thine marine sedimentary rocks which are physically indistinct provides a powerful new tool for paleotectonic and paleogeographic recondruchons.