Search Results (2,455)

This paper addresses the issue of lighting in historic urban spaces, using Tarnow (Poland) as a case study. The aim is to assess the impact of artificial light sources on visual comfort within the area, with particular consideration given to light pollution. A comprehensive inventory of active street lighting in the Old Town was conducted. Measurements taken at ground and eye level revealed strong inconsistencies: some areas were under-lit (<1 lx), while others showed façade illuminance above 100 lx, far exceeding recommended thresholds. The highest environmental impact was shown by decorative and globe-type fixtures, with Sky Glow Contribution Index (SGCI) values of up to 0.62. Only suspended street luminaires met CIE requirements (ULR ≤ 15%). The findings reveal that several lighting installations do not meet recommended standards, adversely affecting both human comfort and ecological balance. The study proposes strategies to optimise urban lighting, such as replacing inefficient fixtures with full cut-off LED luminaires and implementing intelligent lighting control systems which could reduce energy consumption by 50-67% while preserving the architectural character of the historic centre. The results provide evidence-based strategies for sustainable lighting modernisation in heritage cities across Europe. Full article

This study evaluated the effects of heat stress on productive performance, physiology, reproduction, and oxidative status in pregnant New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit does, as well as the potential synergistic effects of curcumin and vitamin D3 (Cur + VD₃) supplementation in alleviating these stress-induced impairments. Eighty multiparous does (12–18 months old) were assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial design involving two ambient temperatures (indoor vs. outdoor) and two supplementation levels (with or without Cur + VD₃). Outdoor does experienced severe heat stress (THI = 33.22) compared to indoor thermal comfort conditions (THI = 25.13). The supplement (Cur + VD₃) was administered orally at 1 mL/kg body weight. Heat stress significantly decreased body weight, milk yield, litter size, weight at weaning, and behavioral activity. Conversely, rectal temperature, respiration rate, and mortality increased. Supplementation with Cur + VD₃ showed improved body weight, reproductive parameters, milk yield, and behavior, while reducing mortality (0% vs. 5%) compared to treatment without these additives. Physiologically, Cur + VD₃ lowered rectal temperature and respiration rate. In conclusion, combined curcumin and vitamin D₃ supplementation is an effective nutritional strategy to improve heat stress tolerance and maintain productivity in pregnant rabbits exposed to high ambient temperatures. Full article

This study investigates the effects of vehicle air-conditioning parameters on cabin thermal environment and occupant comfort. Computational fluid dynamics and discrete particle simulations involving different inlet-vent angles, inlet relative humidity (RH) levels, and occupant counts were conducted to analyze airflow, temperature, and RH. Thermal comfort was assessed using predicted mean vote (PMV), predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD), equivalent homogeneous temperature, and mean age of air (MAA). As a result, the uniform airflow at a 30° inlet angle provided the best global thermal comfort based on PMV (0.49) and PPD (10.02), whereas a 0° inlet angle improved local comfort around the chest area. Maintaining an inlet RH of 40–50% enhanced overall thermal comfort. Increasing the occupant counts raised the average cabin temperature to 301.76 K (Case 9), while also affecting local airflow patterns and MAA distributions; the addition of rear-seat occupants increased the local temperature around the driver’s left hand. These findings provide practical guidance for vehicle heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system design, indicating that ventilation strategies should consider global comfort indices, localized airflow, thermal patterns, and particle removal performance. Overall, this parametric study highlights the association between vehicle cabin conditions and thermal comfort, providing baseline data for digital twin–based adaptive ventilation systems. Full article

As the integrated energy market evolves toward a multi-stakeholder coexistence model, balancing economic efficiency, user well-being, and system-level sustainability among interacting stakeholders has become a key challenge, particularly in the rapidly developing regional integrated energy markets in China. Thus, to satisfy user comfort and energy substitution requirements while achieving cost-effective electricity and heating supply, this study proposes a Stackelberg game-based market trading framework involving an integrated energy producer (IEP), an integrated energy operator (IEO), and a load aggregator (LA). First, the integrated energy market framework and transaction modes are established, and the profit models of IEP and IEO are formulated. Considering users’ energy substitution behavior, user comfort is quantified to explicitly reflect user welfare in market decision making, and a consumer surplus model is developed for LA participating in market transactions. Second, a Stackelberg game framework is constructed to coordinate the strategies of all participants by incorporating source–load energy flows, and the equilibrium solution is proven to be unique and solvable using quadratic programming. Finally, a case study based on historical data from Hebei Province, China, is conducted to validate the proposed strategy. The results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively coordinates the interests of all stakeholders, enhances demand response capability without reducing user comfort, and improves economic benefits for both supply and demand sides in regional integrated energy markets. Full article

This paper proposes a deep-learning-based scheduling approach for community microgrids that explicitly accounts for building thermal dynamics and customer comfort preferences. Traditional heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) scheduling models are NP-hard and scale poorly, especially for large systems with many buildings. To address this challenge, we develop a dual-encoder deep learning model that predicts building-level HVAC ON/OFF schedules using temporal load and temperature profiles, along with static building thermal parameters. The proposed model is trained in a supervised manner using solutions generated by an optimization-based HVAC scheduling framework, thereby serving as a computationally efficient surrogate for predicting HVAC schedules within a microgrid. The model is trained on samples generated by the optimization-based HVAC scheduling framework and evaluated using precision, recall, and F1-score. The results indicate strong predictive performance. Full article

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are essential for indoor air quality and thermal comfort but can simultaneously act as vectors for microbial contamination, particularly bacteria and fungi. While the COVID-19 pandemic intensified focus on airborne viral transmission, bacterial and fungal contamination in indoor environments remains a persistent and significant health risk. This study presents a detailed case study of a restaurant HVAC system, analysing the impact of different ventilation strategies on bacterial contamination, infection transmission risk, energy consumption, and thermal comfort. By focusing on a real-world application, the research evaluates practical challenges and trade-offs associated with HVAC operation modifications aimed at mitigating microbial risks while maintaining acceptable energy and comfort levels. The research compares three operational scenarios: normal operation with air recirculation, 24 h operation with 100% outdoor air, and extended operation periods. Results demonstrate that while strategies emphasizing outdoor air intake and extended operation reduce infection probability by up to 60–65%, they simultaneously increase energy consumption by over 1700% and compromise thermal comfort parameters. In the h24 case, the pre-heat coil rises from 2421.7 to 43,923.7 kWh and the post-heat coil from 24,812.8 to 152,970.4 kWh, while the Plus 2 h strategy reduces the energy penalty by roughly 42–51% with respect to the h24 case. The findings are contextualized within current research on bacterial and fungal risks in HVAC systems, highlighting the critical need for balanced ventilation strategies that integrate health protection, energy efficiency, and comfort considerations. Full article

Background and Objectives: Poor sleep is common in community and primary-care settings, yet very brief sleep measures suitable for routine use remain limited. We developed and evaluated the five-item Promoting Evaluation and Awareness of Comfort in Sleep (PEACE) scale and examined its associations with well-being and fatigue. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional, clinician-mediated online survey, 312 community-dwelling adults in Italy who were not receiving active treatment for major diseases completed PEACE, the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and a short fatigue questionnaire. The sample was stratified and split into exploratory and confirmatory subsamples for factor analyses. Results: Factor analyses supported the use of a single total score and showed acceptable reliability. Results were broadly similar in women and men, with no evidence of item-level bias, although some model-comparison indices were mixed. Higher PEACE scores were associated with better well-being and lower fatigue. Adding PEACE to a model predicting well-being from body mass index and sex increased explained variance from 4.0% to 11.5%. Conclusions: PEACE is a brief sleep-quality measure with promising initial psychometric properties. In this sample, it was associated with well-being and fatigue and may add information beyond body mass index and sex in community and primary-care settings. Full article

This study examines how institutional investors adopt and utilize Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information by integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with expert-based pairwise comparisons from 20 senior investment professionals at major South Korean financial institutions, we identify and weight key determinants influencing ESG information use among South Korean institutional investors. The results show that performance expectancy emerged as the most influential determinant (33.7%), followed by facilitating conditions (24.6%), social influence (22.8%), and effort expectancy (18.9%). At the sub-criterion level, usefulness for investment decision-making (11.2%), institutional encouragement (10.2%), and utilization of ESG information as a fiduciary duty (9.4%) recorded the highest global weights, whereas psychological comfort in utilizing ESG information (2.0%) and practical guidelines and training programs (3.7%) exhibited the lowest. These findings suggest that ESG adoption has evolved beyond early legitimacy-seeking behavior toward substantive and performance-driven integration, consistent with UTAUT predictions that performance expectancy and facilitating conditions gain salience in mature adoption phases, while effort expectancy and social influence diminish. This weight distribution indicates that ESG has been internalized as core analytical infrastructure informing investment decision-making and risk management, rather than functioning as a peripheral compliance tool. By empirically mapping ESG adoption determinants into a hierarchical structure, this study contributes to the literature on ESG diffusion, institutional investor behavior, and adoption theory, offering practical implications for regulators and financial institutions seeking to deepen substantive ESG integration. Full article

This study examines how perceived tourist comfort in museum agglomerations influences tourist satisfaction, museum agglomeration vitality, and the cultural sustainability of urban tourism, focusing on Jongno-gu, Seoul, based on the experiences of Chinese tourists. Moving beyond facility-centered evaluations of individual museums, the study conceptualizes museum agglomerations as continuous tourism environments shaped by movement, guidance, congestion, waiting, rest, and overall usability. Four latent constructs—Tourist Comfort, Tourist Satisfaction, Museum Agglomeration Vitality, and Cultural Sustainability of Urban Tourism—were tested using structural equation modeling. The results show that Tourist Comfort significantly enhances both Tourist Satisfaction and Museum Agglomeration Vitality, while Tourist Satisfaction further strengthens Museum Agglomeration Vitality. In addition, both Tourist Satisfaction and Museum Agglomeration Vitality have significant positive effects on the Cultural Sustainability of Urban Tourism. Tourist Comfort also exerts an indirect influence on cultural sustainability through the mediating pathways of Tourist Satisfaction and Museum Agglomeration Vitality. These findings contribute a demand-side, cluster-level explanation of how museum districts become experientially activated for tourists, while also indicating that the results should be interpreted as case-based evidence for Chinese tourists in Jongno-gu rather than as a universally generalizable model. Full article

The accelerated aging of the population in vulnerable urban contexts poses significant challenges for architecture, particularly with regard to the quality of life of older adults. Within this framework, the present study aimed to analyze the association between sensory architecture and the quality of life of older adults and to translate this empirical evidence into context-informed design criteria for the development of a comprehensive center for older adults. The study adopted a quantitative approach with a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and correlational design. A structured questionnaire on sensory architecture and quality of life was administered to family members and caregivers acting as proxy respondents, demonstrating high internal consistency (Cronbach’s $\mathit{\alpha }>0.90$). Given the ordinal nature of the data, inferential analysis was conducted using Spearman’s rho coefficient. Within the analyzed dataset, the results revealed a statistically significant and strong association between sensory architecture and the quality of life of older adults ($\rho$ > 0.80). At the dimensional level, visual and tactile stimuli exhibited the highest associations, followed by the social relationships dimension, while therapeutic environments showed a moderate association, allowing the identification of an empirical hierarchy among the analyzed dimensions within this dataset. These findings support the interpretation of sensory architecture as a construct statistically associated with indicators of quality of life, from a non-causal perspective. Based on this hierarchy, the results were articulated into an evidence-based architectural structure, serving as analytical input to inform context-specific criteria for spatial organization, materiality, comfort, orientation, and social interaction derived from the observed statistical associations. The study contributes a methodological approach that systematically connects correlational quantitative findings with architectural design considerations, particularly in urban contexts characterized by limited specialized infrastructure. However, a key limitation is the use of proxy respondents (family members and caregivers), which should be considered when interpreting the results. Full article

Background: Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄) has been investigated as an adjuvant in perioperative analgesia because of its antagonistic effects on the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA receptor) and its potential to attenuate central sensitization. However, clinical findings regarding its analgesic efficacy remain inconsistent across surgical procedures. Lumbar microdiscectomy is a common spinal procedure in which effective early postoperative pain control is important for patient comfort and early mobilization. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of intraoperative MgSO₄ administration on early postoperative analgesia and perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing lumbar microdiscectomy. Methods: This retrospective single-center cohort study included thirty-eight patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I–II who underwent elective single-level lumbar microdiscectomy under general anesthesia. Patients were divided into two groups according to intraoperative magnesium administration: a control group receiving standard anesthesia without MgSO₄ (n = 19) and an MgSO₄ group receiving an intravenous MgSO₄ bolus of 30 mg/kg followed by a continuous infusion of 10 mg/kg/h until skin closure (n = 19). Postoperative pain intensity was assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 30 min after admission to the post-anesthesia care unit. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative remifentanil consumption, extubation time, and time to first mobilization. Complementary in silico analyses included molecular docking and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Results: Postoperative NRS scores were numerically lower in the MgSO₄ group; however, between-group differences were not statistically significant. Mean intraoperative remifentanil consumption was numerically lower in the MgSO₄ group (236 ± 166 µg) compared with the control group (319 ± 298 µg), without statistical significance (p = 0.27). Repeated-measures analysis demonstrated the significant effect of time on postoperative NRS scores, whereas the overall group effect was not significant. Molecular analyses indicated stable morphine binding to opioid receptors and highlighted glutamatergic signaling components as central nodes within the interaction network. Conclusions: Intraoperative MgSO₄ administration was not associated with significant improvements in early postoperative pain scores or perioperative recovery parameters following lumbar microdiscectomy. Molecular analyses provide exploratory in silico insights and should be interpreted cautiously given the retrospective design and the in silico nature of these findings. Full article

Reducing traction energy in urban rail systems while preserving safety, punctuality, and passenger comfort remains challenging. Additionally, route-level tram studies that train deep reinforcement learning (DRL) policies using Operational Train Monitoring Recorder (OTMR) logs and benchmark them across multiple objectives remain limited. This study develops and evaluates a Human-Assisted Deep Reinforcement Learning (HADRL) framework for multi-objective tram control in an OTMR-grounded simulation. Two HADRL agents were trained using a human-assistance action mapping: a standard Proximal Policy Optimisation (PPO) baseline and a recurrent, history-augmented PPO. Their performance was compared against that of four human drivers using indices for speed-limit compliance, schedule deviation, traction energy, jerk-based comfort, and stopping accuracy. These performance measures were aggregated using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) with both equal and entropy-derived weights. Both HADRL agents reproduce the characteristic accelerate–coast–brake driving pattern, reduce traction energy relative to all human baselines, and achieve near-complete speed-limit compliance, all while remaining within the specified schedule-deviation and comfort thresholds. TOPSIS yields identical rankings under both weighting schemes, with Multi-Objective Tram Operation Non-Stationary Proximal Policy Optimisation (MOTO-NSPPO, a recurrent, history-augmented PPO) ranked first and PPO second. Full article

Rapid urbanisation and climate change are intensifying urban heat stress, posing significant challenges for climate-responsive urban planning. Digital and data-driven approaches, including GIS, remote sensing, microclimate simulation, and artificial intelligence (AI), have advanced urban climate analysis; however, their capacity to support human-centred planning remains insufficiently synthesised. This review analyses 78 peer-reviewed studies (2015–2025) to evaluate how digital methods address urban microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort. The reviewed studies are classified into four methodological groups: spatial data analytics, simulation-based models, parametric and optimisation workflows, and AI-driven or hybrid approaches. The results show that the majority of studies rely on proxy indicators, such as land surface temperature and sky view factor, while physiologically based comfort indices (e.g., PET and UTCI) are applied in a limited proportion of studies and remain largely confined to microscale simulations. A persistent scale mismatch is identified between large-scale analytics and pedestrian-level thermal experience, alongside geographic and climatic biases, particularly in hot-arid regions. Unlike previous reviews, this study integrates digital methodologies, urban microclimate processes, and human-centred thermal comfort within a unified framework. The findings provide actionable insights for planners and designers by supporting the integration of thermal comfort into multi-scale, climate-responsive decision-making. Full article

Traditional ready-to-wear garments can mostly not conform to different body shapes because of the adoption of the generic sizing system, which leads to the local strain of concentration and morphological misfit. Auxetic structures, which have a negative Poisson’s ratio, permit enhanced redistribution of stress and geometry and allow deformation. Two auxetic knitted structures were developed by using 100% polyester and 100% nylon yarns with a fabric density of 41 Wales and 40 courses per inch. Characterization of the initial fabrics involved checking the behavior of negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) where the polyester line (P1) structure shows the highest auxeticity, with a NPR of approximately −0.4 and peak strain reductions of 80–90%, as well as air permeability, moisture management, bend test, compression, roughness, friction properties and stiffness tests to check the mechanical and comfort-related performances. The standardized tunic garment was modeled in CLO 3D on three female body shapes—hourglass, pear and rectangle—with a constant size of 34. The fit map showed a strain of 91.49% in auxetic and 509.75% in single-jersey fabric at the hip area of the pear body shape when measuring fabric and body interaction. The findings indicate lower peak strain levels, which ascertain that increased adaptability is possible and support its use in the development of adaptive ready-to-wear garments. Full article

Background/Objections: One of the most common surgical procedures performed internationally is the cesarean section. It is known to be associated with intense postoperative pain and a slow recovery process. Focusing on surgical techniques, especially the type of fascial closure, is an area that has received very little attention when it comes to postoperative pain and rapid recovery. Using a mixed-methods approach, the primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of guide-suture-assisted modified fascial closure on postoperative pain and early mobilization after cesarean sections. Methods: Women undergoing elective cesarean sections with Pfannenstiel’s incision were the study participants of this prospective, single-center, randomized mixed-methods study. Participants were enrolled in the study and randomized to either classical continuous fascial closure or guide-suture-assisted modified fascial closure, which was carried out in a 1:1 ratio. Quantitative data assessed postoperative pain through the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), and functional recovery was assessed through walking distances at postoperative 6, 12, 24, and 48 h. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed through conventional content analysis to understand the patients’ perceptions of pain and recovery experiences. Results: The first 24 h postoperative period pain levels were significantly lower for the modified fascial closure group versus the classical closure group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the modified closure group had a significantly better functional recovery, evidenced by walking greater distances at 12, 24, and 48 h postoperative. Qualitative results indicated improved comfort and stronger early mobilization confidence, in addition to less movement apprehension, consistent with the above results, among those with the modified technique. Conclusions: The modified fascial closure technique with guide suture was linked to less pain in the early postoperative period and better functional recovery after cesarean section. This technique is a good candidate for addition to standard obstetric procedures since it is cost effective, easily added, and surgical practice will improve comfort for mothers and assist with early mobilization. Full article