scholarly journals Walls talk: Microbial biogeography of homes spanning urbanization

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. e1501061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean F. Ruiz-Calderon ◽  
Humberto Cavallin ◽  
Se Jin Song ◽  
Atila Novoselac ◽  
Luis R. Pericchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Developmental Exposure ◽  
Immune Development ◽  
Indoor Space ◽  
Microbial Biogeography ◽  
Microbiome Diversity ◽  
Outdoor Environments

Westernization has propelled changes in urbanization and architecture, altering our exposure to the outdoor environment from that experienced during most of human evolution. These changes might affect the developmental exposure of infants to bacteria, immune development, and human microbiome diversity. Contemporary urban humans spend most of their time indoors, and little is known about the microbes associated with different designs of the built environment and their interaction with the human immune system. This study addresses the associations between architectural design and the microbial biogeography of households across a gradient of urbanization in South America. Urbanization was associated with households’ increased isolation from outdoor environments, with additional indoor space isolation by walls. Microbes from house walls and floors segregate by location, and urban indoor walls contain human bacterial markers of space use. Urbanized spaces uniquely increase the content of human-associated microbes—which could increase transmission of potential pathogens—and decrease exposure to the environmental microbes with which humans have coevolved.

scholarly journals Evidence-Based Landscape Architecture for Human Health and Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Brown ◽  
Robert C. Corry
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
The People ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health And Well Being

More than 80% of the people in the USA and Canada live in cities. Urban development replaces natural environments with built environments resulting in limited access to outdoor environments which are critical to human health and well-being. In addition, many urban open spaces are unused because of poor design. This paper describes case studies where traditional landscape architectural design approaches would have compromised design success, while evidence-based landscape architecture (EBLA) resulted in a successful product. Examples range from school-yard design that provides safe levels of solar radiation for children, to neighborhood parks and sidewalks that encourage people to walk and enjoy nearby nature. Common characteristics for integrating EBLA into private, public, and academic landscape architecture practice are outlined along with a discussion of some of the opportunities and barriers to implementation.

scholarly journals Microbiome recovery in adult females with uncomplicated urinary tract infections in a randomised phase 2A trial of the novel antibiotic gepotidacin (GSK140944)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Nuzzo ◽  
Stephanie Van Horn ◽  
Christopher Traini ◽  
Caroline R. Perry ◽  
Etienne F. Dumont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Urinary Tract Infections ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Pharyngeal Cavity ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Microbiome Diversity ◽  
Antibiotic Drug ◽  
Tract Infections

Abstract Background With increasing concerns about the impact of frequent antibiotic usage on the human microbiome, it is important to characterize the potential for such effects in early antibiotic drug development clinical trials. In a randomised Phase 2a clinical trial study that evaluated the pharmacokinetics of repeated oral doses of gepotidacin, a first-in-chemical-class triazaacenaphthylene antibiotic with a distinct mechanism of action, in adult females with uncomplicated urinary tract infections for gepotidacin (GSK2140944) we evaluated the potential changes in microbiome composition across multiple time points and body-sites (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03568942). Results Samples of gastrointestinal tract (GIT), pharyngeal cavity and vaginal microbiota were collected with consent from 22 patients at three time points relative to the gepotidacin dosing regimen; Day 1 (pre-dose), Day 5 (end of dosing) and Follow-up (Day 28 ± 3 days). Microbiota composition was determined by DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA gene variable region 4 amplicons. By Day 5, significant changes were observed in the microbiome diversity relative to pre-dose across the tested body-sites. However, by the Follow-up visit, microbiome diversity changes were reverted to compositions comparable to Day 1. The greatest range of microbiome changes by body-site were GIT followed by the pharyngeal cavity then vagina. In Follow-up visit samples we found no statistically significant occurrences of pathogenic taxa. Conclusion Our findings suggest that gepotidacin alteration of the human microbiome after 5 days of dosing is temporary and rebound to pre-dosing states is evident within the first month post-treatment. We recommend that future antibiotic drug trials include similar exploratory investigations into the duration and context of microbiome modification and recovery. Trial registration NCT03568942. Registered 26 June 2018.

The Green Building Environment of the Gymnasium

2018 ◽  
Vol 878 ◽  
pp. 202-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Qian ◽  
Li Yang
Keyword(s):  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Residential Area ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Area Planning

The natural ventilation of residential areas has placed more and more emphasis on residential area planning, according to the relationship between natural ventilation environments and the layout of architecture, we can reduce the energy consumption and the adverse effect of wind outdoors, improve the living environment and quality of life, making harmony between human and the nature. In this paper, we use Air-Pak to simulate the wind environment of residential areas. Through analyzing and simulating the air field which forms when the wind blows around the residential buildings by Air-Pak, we explain the advantage of the combination of computer simulation software and residential area planning. And we give some advice to the layout of the outdoor environment early in the residential planning area by the simulation of outdoor environments of buildings.

scholarly journals Application of thermal comfort assessment models to indoor areas near glazed walls – experimental evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-127
Author(s):  
António Manuel Figueiredo Freitas Oliveira ◽  
◽  
Helena Corvacho ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Indoor Space ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Indoor Spaces

In this paper, some of the results of an experimental study are presented. Its purpose was to better understand the impact of glazing on thermal comfort of users of indoor spaces (living and working), especially in the areas near glazed walls. Glazed elements, such as windows and glazed doors, allow visual access to the outdoor environment and the entrance of natural light and solar heat gains but they are often the cause of unwanted heat losses and gains and are disturbing elements in obtaining thermal comfort, both in global terms and in what concerns local discomfort due to radiant asymmetries and/or air draughts. Furthermore, solar radiation directly affecting users in the vicinity of glazing can also cause discomfort. These disturbances are recognized by users, both on cold winter days and on hot summer days. To assess thermal comfort or thermal neutrality of a person in a particular indoor space, it is important to know their location within that space. Thus, in order to adequately assess thermal comfort in the areas near the glazing, the indoor thermal environment must be characterized for this specific location. In this study, two indoor spaces (a classroom and an office-room) of a school building were monitored at different periods of the year. The measurements of the environmental parameters were performed both in the center of the rooms and in the areas near the glazing. Five models of thermal comfort assessment were then applied to the results, in order to compare the comfort conditions between the two studied locations and to evaluate the applicability of these models to the areas close to glazed walls. It was observed there was clearly a greater variability of comfort conditions in the vicinity of the glazed walls when compared to the center of the rooms. The application of thermal comfort assessment models to the two studied rooms was able to reveal the differences between the two compared locations within each space. It was also possible to show the effect of incoming solar radiation and the influence of the geometry of the spaces and of the ratio between glazed area and floor area by comparing the results for both spaces. The assessment model proposed by LNEC (Portuguese National Laboratory of Civil Engineering) proved to be the most adapted to Portuguese users’ habits.

scholarly journals Study on Interior Space Optimization of Green Affordable Housing in Cold Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 04011
Author(s):  
Junyan Dong ◽  
Bomin Zheng ◽  
Yupi Fu ◽  
Kechao Li
Keyword(s):  
Interior Design ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Interior Space ◽  
Indoor Space ◽  
Space Design ◽  
Optimization Principle ◽  
The Status ◽  
Changchun City

With the construction of a large number of affordable housing and the development of green buildings, the design of green affordable housing has become a new concern and research topic in China’s residential architectural design, and the interior design of affordable housing has become a top priority. This article takes Changchun city as an example, through the research of affordable housing in Changchun, visit, found the main problems existing in the status quo, in view of the problems put forward housing interior space design optimization principle, and according to the design principles of indoor space scale, provides a good green indoor living environment for green residential tenants in cold areas.

scholarly journals A Study of Visual Descriptors for Outdoor Navigation Using Google Street View Images

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fernández ◽  
L. Payá ◽  
O. Reinoso ◽  
L. M. Jiménez ◽  
M. Ballesta
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Navigation ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Localization Algorithm ◽  
Google Street View ◽  
Street View ◽  
Visual Descriptors ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Panoramic Images

A comparative analysis between several methods to describe outdoor panoramic images is presented. The main objective consists in studying the performance of these methods in the localization process of a mobile robot (vehicle) in an outdoor environment, when a visual map that contains images acquired from different positions of the environment is available. With this aim, we make use of the database provided by Google Street View, which contains spherical panoramic images captured in urban environments and their GPS position. The main benefit of using these images resides in the fact that it permits testing any novel localization algorithm in countless outdoor environments anywhere in the world and under realistic capture conditions. The main contribution of this work consists in performing a comparative evaluation of different methods to describe images to solve the localization problem in an outdoor dense map using only visual information. We have tested our algorithms using several sets of panoramic images captured in different outdoor environments. The results obtained in the work can be useful to select an appropriate description method for visual navigation tasks in outdoor environments using the Google Street View database and taking into consideration both the accuracy in localization and the computational efficiency of the algorithm.

scholarly journals Professionals’ experiences of using an improvement programme: applying quality improvement work in preschool contexts

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e000933
Author(s):  
Sofia Kjellström ◽  
Ann-Christine Andersson ◽  
Tobias Samuelsson
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Improvement Interventions ◽  
Improvement Programme ◽  
Physical Changes ◽  
Breakthrough Series Collaborative ◽  
Quality Tools ◽  
Breakthrough Series

BackgroundImprovement work can be used in preschools to enrich outdoor environment for children’s better health. Effective improvement work can facilitate the necessary changes, but little is known about professionals’ experiences of participation in improvement interventions. The aim was to evaluate how preschool staff experience quality improvement work, using the Breakthrough Series Collaborative improvement programme, to enhance outdoor environments.MethodsAn improvement intervention using a breakthrough collaborative was performed at 9 preschools in Sweden and examined with a longitudinal mixed method design. Staff completed questionnaires on 4 occasions (n=45 participants) and interviews took place after the intervention (n=16 participants).ResultsThe intervention was successful in the sense that the staff were content with the learning seminars, and they had triggered physical changes in the outdoor environment. They integrated the quality improvement work with their ordinary work and increasingly involved the children. The staff tested improvement tools but did not find them entirely appropriate for their work, because they preferred existing methods for reflection.ConclusionsThe challenges in quality improvement work seem to be similar across contexts. Using the Breakthrough Series Collaborative in a public health intervention is promising but needs to be integrated with preunderstandings, current reflections and quality tools and models.

scholarly journals Integrating Microclimate into Landscape Architecture for Outdoor Thermal Comfort: A Systematic Review

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Jiawei Lin ◽  
Robert D. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Outdoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
The Public ◽  
Outdoor Environments

Global climate change and urban heat island intensification are making many cities dangerously hot during heat waves and uncomfortably hot much of the time. Research has identified ways that urban environments can be designed to reduce the heat, but much of the information is too technical or has not been interpreted or communicated so as to be available to landscape architects. This study identifies ways that landscape architecture researchers have applied microclimate information in design to proactively create more thermally comfortable outdoor environments. A systematic review that assessed the growing recognition of microclimatic factors in design revealed four main approaches: principles and guidelines, strategies, mapping, and evaluation. The advantages and limitations of each have been noted, and a diagram has been developed that matches each approach with specific steps in the landscape architectural design process. The study also identified four areas where microclimate has potential for use in landscape architecture but that are currently not being very actively studied: education, modeling and visualization, policy, and ideation. Microclimatic design has the potential to enhance the health and well-being of the public through the design of thermally comfortable outdoor environments.

Research on Outdoor Environments and Activity Behavior of Senior Citizens with Dementia - A Study in Taipei City

2017 ◽  
Vol 865 ◽  
pp. 605-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Ying Tsai ◽  
Ting Yueh Chen
Keyword(s):  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Environmental Stimulation ◽  
Activity Types ◽  
Cognitive Activities ◽  
Severity Of Dementia ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Depth Interviews

In 2015, Alzheimer's Disease International reported that there are over 47.5 million cases of dementia worldwide. In Taiwan, the number of individuals with dementia has reached 244 thousand. Access to suitable outdoor environments can improve the physical, mental, and spiritual health of senior citizens, which in-turn reduces the burden faced by caregivers as well as expenditures related social resources. This study used GPS data and in-depth interviews to examine the effect of exposure to an outdoor environment on 12 senior citizens with mild, moderate, or severe dementia in Taipei. The conclusions of this study were as follows: (1) Outdoor environments should be designed in accordance with the principles of distinctiveness, safety, environmental stimulation, accessibility, comfort, familiarity, and social support. (2) As the severity of dementia increased, the number of activity types that patients could engage in was reduced. In addition, only subjects with mild dementia participated in cognitive activities. (3) Dementia does not equal disability. Based on these findings, we recommend that outdoor environment facilities should be provide to senior citizens depending on the severity of their dementia. Besides that, adequate public facilities should be establish within 800 m of all communities to allow senior citizens to age in place, provide caregivers with some respite, and to achieve the goal of dementia-friendly communities.

Analysis and Research of Wind Environment of Energy Saving Buildings

2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 6246-6254
Author(s):  
Qian Feng
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Environment Design ◽  
Wind Environment ◽  
Indoor Space ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
Tongji University

Building Energy Efficiency is one of the most important goals for green architectural design. Natural ventilation is a building energy efficiency technique adapting to the environment. Compared with air conditioning, natural ventilation can reduce the energy consumption and bring new air to indoor space. However, air environment, as an important aspect of building optimal design, can be ignored easily in traditional research, the quantitative analysis aiming at the energy efficiency of natural ventilation is less. In this paper, we use Fluent Air-pak software and Wenyuan Building of TongJi University as an example, to analyze the air flow field of indoor natural ventilation and provide the method and theory of air-environment design.

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