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In the last years the aec (architecture, engineering and construction) industry has been influenced by the development of building information modelling (bim). With the creation of complex systems, the need for efficient in­teroperability arises. Based on a study of bim interoperability dimensions and its levels, this research presents an inter­operability assessment of bim system in the structural domain, especially considering cast-in-place concrete structures, since they present some special challenges for system interoperability. This assessment was conducted by experiments that imported and exported structural models and structural elements through a non-proprietarz standard for bim mod­els (ifc- industry foundation classes). The experiments were conducted twice, with a five year gap from each other, so the evolution of the interoperability could be assessed as well. The results showed that some special characteristics must be considered in order to achieve efficient interoperability for cast-in-place concrete structures – these structures are monolithic and they have reinforcement steel bars that need detailing. Also, the research showed that in the five-year gap there were evolutions in interoperability, like in object identifiers, which had a considerable improvement. However, some of the major problems remain, such as overlapping of structural parts.

The construction industry in its heterogeneity has a need for better communication and process coordination among stakeholders. This lack of coordination is due to barriers in interoperability in strategic, conceptual and technological perspectives. Interoperability is the ability for agents to communicate and exchange data, information and knowledge. Around this definition, literature suggests that Building Information Modelling (BIM) will play an important role in the development of interoperability in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Considering that barriers in interoperability can cause difficulties in the AEC industry (such as design overlapping, coordination issues and many kinds of financial loss), the need for a specific method and tools to assess the level of maturity in this field was perceived. This paper provides an approach to assess interoperability in the AEC domain. It is based on the concerns suggested by the main interoperability frameworks found in literature, such as the European Interoperability Framework (EIF). The interoperability assessment is then structured using the value levels (communication, coordination and cooperation) proposed by Grilo and Jardin-Goncalves [1] as maturity levels. The AEC attributes were then formatted in a multi-criteria decision making structure, AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), from which specialists gave their opinion through a questionnaire to determine the perceived level of interoperability. The assessment and diagnosis stage of the research led to the conclusion that data interoperability is still the biggest issue, so a new method to assess interoperability between software and formats is described as a verification experiment, highlighting the main barriers in BIM.

13 patients with malignant tumors were treated by the radiosensitizer misonidazole (Ro 07–0582), total dosage 20–29 g. The electrophysiological investigations showed (1) an early increase of distal latency, the motor nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of the peroneal nerve and the NCV of the sural nerve remaining normal or only slightly reduced, and in a few cases a marked reduction of the compound action potential or of the nerve action potential (NAP), indicating a primary axonal neuropathy; (2) greater changes in the parameters of sensory nerves (n. suralis) than of motor nerves; (3) the distal latency is a good indicator of subclinical neuropathies; (4) the electrophysiological parameters showed a normalization 6 months after the end of therapy. The mechanisms possibly responsible for the misonidazole neuropathy are discussed.

Article history The objective of this study was to map public policies for population management of dogs and cats in the Curitiba Metropolitan Region (CMR) and to assess their correlations with social indicators. The data used consisted of answers from questionnaires sent via email to public managers of 14 municipalities of the CMR, and data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and Parana Institute for Economic and Social Development (IPARDES). Nine of the 14 municipalities (64.29%) had public policies for population management of dogs and cats, and five (35.71%) had no such public policies. Six (42.86%) municipalities had no other public policy related to population management of dogs and cats, besides population management; and eight (57.14%) had other public policies. The three indicators that had significant and positive correlation with the existence of these public policies were Total Gross Domestic Product (GDPt) (0.028), Income Inequality (GINI index) (0.039), and Human Development Index (HDI) (0.039). However, the decision for the implementation of public policies related to animals depends on the local government because investments on these policies are not considered in the municipal tax revenue.