Search Results (7)

ADHD and misophonia are developmental neurological disorders that are currently increasing in prevalence due to excessive acoustic and visual pollution. ADHD, which is characterized by a lack of attention and excessive impulsive hyperactivity, and misophonia, which is hypersensitivity to sounds accompanied by a severe emotional and psychological reaction, are both affected by the user’s spatial environment to a great extent. Spatial design can contribute to increasing or decreasing these unfavorable sensory triggers that affect individuals with ADHD and/or Misophonia. However, the role of architectural spatial design as a therapeutic approach to alleviate the symptoms of Misophonia and ADHD has never been proposed before in the literature, despite its accumulative and chronic effects on the user’s experience in everyday life in terms of well-being and productivity. Therefore, the current work discusses this problem of neglecting the potential effect of architectural spatial design on alleviating Misophonia and ADHD. Thus, the objective of the current work is to propose customized architectural spatial design as a therapeutic approach to alleviate Misophonia and ADHD through adopting the compatible architectural trends of minimal and metaphysical architecture. The methodology of the current work includes a theoretical proposal of this customized architectural spatial design for alleviating these two special neurological conditions. This includes introducing and analyzing these two neurological conditions and their relation to and interaction with architectural spatial design, analyzing minimal and metaphysical architectural trends employed in the proposed therapeutic architectural design, and then proposing augmented and virtual reality as auxiliary add-ons to the architectural spatial design to boost its therapeutic effect. Minimal architecture achieves the “no emotion” criteria through reduced forms, patterns, and colors and adopts simple geometry and natural materials to reduce sensory stressors or stimuli, in order to alleviate the loss of attention and distraction prevalent in those with ADHD, as well as allowing the employment of acoustic materials to achieve acoustic comfort and noise blockage for Misophonia relief. Metaphysical architecture leads the hierarchy of sensory experience through the symbolistic, dynamic, and enigmatic composition of forms and colors, which enhance the spatial analysis and cognitive capacities of the inhabitants. Meanwhile, the use of customized virtual and augmented reality environments is an effective add-on to minimal and metaphysical architectural spaces thanks to its proven therapeutic effect in alleviating various neurological disorders and injuries. At this level of intervention, VR/AR can be used as an add-on to minimal-architecture design, to simulate varied scenarios, as minimal design offers a clean canvas for simulating these varied virtual environments. The other option is to build these customized VR/AR scenarios around a specific architectural element as an add-on metaphysical architecture design to lead the sensory experience and enable the user to detach from the physical constraints of the space. AI-generated designs were used as a proof of concept for the proposed customized architectural spatial design following minimal and metaphysical architecture, as well as to provide AR and VR scenarios as add-on architecture to enhance the therapeutic effect of these architectural spaces for Misophonia and ADHD patients. Furthermore, the validity of VR/AR as a therapeutic approach, alongside the customized architectural design, was discussed, and it was concluded that this study proves the need for extended clinical studies on its efficiency in the long run, which will be conducted in the future. Full article

The emotional responses and perceptual preferences of individuals for urban public spaces are shaped by their interactions with the physical environment. Emotions and perceptions are inextricably linked, forming the basis of people’s spatial experience. For instance, the presence of dense city buildings can result in feelings of crowding and friction. By improving the urban landscape, it is possible to reduce the stress experienced by citizens. In this study, architectural styles and building facade colors were examined to explore design approaches and features of stress-relieving building facades and identify metrics that measure participants’ stress-relief when viewing buildings. The color of 600 buildings in Japan and Taiwan was analyzed to understand stress-relief from architecture. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 70 participants who viewed images of 30 buildings. The semantic differential method with a seven-point image scale was employed to assess the stress-relieving potential of different architectural styles and colors. The findings of this study indicated that participants perceived that architectural colors influenced feelings of relief. Additionally, they anticipated variations in architectural colors contingent on architectural usage patterns. To substantiate this observation, three principles—city image, identity, and spiritual atmosphere—were identified as fundamental elements in designing cities for livability. The three principles are illustrated by several case studies for a detailed understanding of their applicability in biodesign practices. Full article

Due to rapid urbanization, high-density cities have become a dominant human habitat, and sustainable urban development has become a key concept in urban governance. Thus, it is important to understand the impact of visual elements in urban architecture on stress to make accurate and practical planning and strategies for healthy and sustainable living environments. We examined the designs and features of building facades that alleviate stress and identified measuring metrics for stress relief in viewers. We selected 20 Taiwanese-style public buildings for the examination. To understand the relationship between architecture and stress relief, 70 participants were interviewed in a semi-structured method after showing images of the 20 buildings. We used the semantic differential method and a 7-point image scale to rate stress relief from various architectural styles. The participants found the use of multiple materials or lighting in public buildings interesting but not stress-relieving. A greater amount of cooler and heavier materials made of iron in the building exterior increased stress. This finding offers insights into planning and developing sustainable and psychologically supportive urban environments. Full article

Although seismic response predictions are widely used for engineering structures, their applications in electrical equipment are rare. Overstressing at the bottom of the porcelain insulators during seismic events has made power transformer bushings in substations prone to failure. Thus, this paper proposed and compared six integrated machine learning (ML) models for seismic stress response predictions for porcelain transformer bushings using easily monitored acceleration responses. Metaheuristic algorithms such as particle swarm optimization were employed for architecture tuning. Prediction accuracies for stress response values and classifications were evaluated. Finally, shaking table tests and simulation analyses for a 1100 kV bushing were implemented to validate the accuracy of the six ML models. The results indicated that the proposed ML models can quickly forecast the maximum stress experienced by a porcelain bushing during earthquakes. Swarm intelligence evolutionary technologies could quickly and automatically aid in the retrofitting of architecture for the ML models. The K-nearest neighbor regression model had the best level of prediction accuracy among the six selected ML models for experimental and simulation validations. ML prediction models have clear benefits over frequently used seismic analytical techniques in terms of speed and accuracy for post-earthquake emergency relief in substations. Full article

The Xiongpo fault-fold belt shows prominent NE, ENE- and ~N–S-trending relief, which resulted from multi-stage upper crustal shortening in the Longmen Shan piedmont during the eastward growth of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Previous studies have determined its 2D structural configurations from seismic profiles and field-based geological cross-sections. Here, we extend this analysis into the entire belt to explore the 3D structural evolution of this complex fault-fold belt and have built a 3D regional fault model. The results reveal along-strike variation of subsurface structural architecture of the Xiongpo fault-fold belt, which is characterized by transformation from a complex superimposition of a deep fault-bend fold beneath a shallow structural wedge in the center segment to a simple shallow fault-bend fold on both ends of the structure, and then to a trishear fault propagation fold on the plunging edges. This structural transformation determines the contrast between the NE-striking relief of the central segment, and the ENE- and ~N-S-striking relief in the two plunging zones. We combine our results with published low-temperature thermochronology and growth strata results to propose a three-stage evolution for the Xiongpo fault-fold belt that closely relates with regional stress field changes, including a NE-striking fault under the NW–SE compression between 40–25 Ma and 15–10 Ma, lateral propagation of the NE-striking fault and initiation of ENE-striking fault by WNW–ESE compression from ~5–2 Ma, ~N–S fault under ~E–W compression until the present. This work enhances our understanding of the stress field changes of eastern Tibet since the Late Eocene. It also can serve as a typical case study deciphering 3D fault-fold growth using seismic and geological imaging, which is helpful to understand 3D structural and landscape evolutions of other complex fault-fold belts worldwide. Full article

With the rapid reduction of CMOS process size, the FPGAs with high-silicon accumulation technology are becoming more sensitive to aging effects. This reduces the reliability and service life of the device. The offline aging-aware layout planning based on balance stress is an effective solution. However, the existing methods need to take a long time to solve the floorplanner, and the corresponding layout solutions occupy many on-chip resources. To this end, we proposed an efficient Aging Mitigation and Resource Optimization Floorplanner (AMROFloor) for FPGAs. First, the layout solution is implemented on the Virtual Coarse-Grained Runtime Reconfigurable Architecture, which contributes to avoiding rule constraints for placement and routing. Second, the Maximize Reconfigurable Regions Algorithm (MRRA) is proposed to quickly determine the RRs’ number and size to save the solving time and ensure an effective solution. Furthermore, the Resource Combination Algorithm (RCA) is proposed to optimize the on-chip resources, reducing the on-Chip Resource Utilization (CRU) while achieving the same aging relief effect. Experiments were simulated and implemented on Xilinx FPGA. The results demonstrate that the AMROFloor method designed in this paper can extend the Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) by 13.8% and optimize the resource overhead by 19.2% on average compared to the existing aging-aware layout solutions. Full article

The urban landscape can be improved to reduce the stress experienced by citizens. Therefore, stress-relieving buildings constitute a crucial topic and a future trend in architecture and design. In this study, different architectural styles were investigated to explore design methods for and characteristics of stress-relieving building shapes and to identify indicators for measuring participant stress relief while viewing buildings. To understand stress relief from architecture, we performed semi-structured interviews with 60 participants who viewed images of 30 buildings. The semantic differential method with a 7-point image scale was used to rate stress relief from different architectural styles. The study results revealed that the participants perceived curvilinear buildings as interesting but do not relieve stress. The participants identified as feeling high pressure considering rectilinear patterns to relieve more stress. To support this observation, we identified three principles—city image, identity, and spiritual atmosphere—as fundamental loci of designing cities for livability. We illustrate the three principles with several cases that facilitate a detailed understanding of their applicability in biodesign practices. Full article