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Exposure to small public urban green spaces (SPUGS) has been demonstrated to have mental benefits for older adults. However, studies on identifying the objective environmental features of SPUGS and their effects on mental restoration for older adults remain limited. This study employed a multilevel regression model to investigate the restorative and vitalizing effects of the environmental features of 11 SPUGS in Tokyo. Onsite measurements were conducted in Kita-Ku, and 202 older adults were surveyed. The results showed that: (1) The fitting curve of the green view index and Restoration Outcome Scale (ROS) score showed an inverted U shape—both green view index and boundary enclosure had a strong impact on the mental restoration of older adults; (2) The colorfulness index showed the strongest relationship with the vitalizing effect. (3) The sky view factor and number of seats only influenced the ROS score, while the results of revitalization suggest that large areas of water should be avoided. (4) Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) was also confirmed to have negative effects on the mental restoration of older adults in autumn. These empirical findings can be used as a resource to promote the mental health of older adults in the design of SPUGS in high-density Asian countries.

The convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients of clothing are important parameters for human thermoregulation and comfort models. Many researchers have studied convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients of the naked human body. However, there is limited information on convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients for the clothed human body. Therefore, this study aims to confirm whether the convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients vary with different clothing ensembles in addition to clarifying how the difference in clothing heat transfer coefficients affects the prediction of thermal comfort index, such as the predicted mean vote (PMV) index. The convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients for eight sets of clothing ensembles were measured through a manikin experiment. The results demonstrated that (1) the largest difference between convective heat transfer coefficients for various clothing ensembles was 32%, and (2) PMV values differed between the clothing ensembles with the largest value being approximately 0.2, which corresponds nearly 1 °C change in the indoor temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the actual clothing convective heat transfer coefficient for the precise prediction of thermal comfort.

Background Researchers have long studied the regulatory processes of genes to uncover their functions. Gene regulatory network analysis is one of the popular approaches for understanding these processes, requiring accurate identification of interactions among the genes to establish the gene regulatory network. Advances in genome-wide association studies and expression quantitative trait loci studies have led to a wealth of genomic data, facilitating more accurate inference of gene–gene interactions. However, unknown confounding factors may influence these interactions, making their interpretation complicated. Mendelian randomization (MR) has emerged as a valuable tool for causal inference in genetics, addressing confounding effects by estimating causal relationships using instrumental variables. In this paper, we propose a new statistical method, MR-GGI, for accurately inferring gene–gene interactions using Mendelian randomization. Results MR-GGI applies one gene as the exposure and another as the outcome, using causal cis-single-nucleotide polymorphisms as instrumental variables in the inverse-variance weighted MR model. Through simulations, we have demonstrated MR-GGI's ability to control type 1 error and maintain statistical power despite confounding effects. MR-GGI performed the best when compared to other methods using the F1 score on the DREAM5 dataset. Additionally, when applied to yeast genomic data, MR-GGI successfully identified six clusters. Through gene ontology analysis, we have confirmed that each cluster in our study performs distinct functional roles by gathering genes with specific functions. Conclusion These findings demonstrate that MR-GGI accurately inferences gene–gene interactions despite the confounding effects in real biological environments.

The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to conceptually understand membership dynamics in the open source software (OSS) community, and (2) to explore how different network characteristics (i.e., network size and connectivity) influence the stability of an OSS network. Through the lens of Ising theory, which is widely accepted in physics, we investigate basic patterns of interaction and present fresh conceptual insight into dynamic and reciprocal relations among OSS community members. We also perform computer simulations based on empirical data collected from two actual OSS communities. Key findings include: (1) membership herding is highly present when external influences (e.g., the availability of other OSS projects) are weak, but decreases significantly when external influences increase, (2) propensity for membership herding is most likely to be seen in a large network with random connectivity, and (3) for large networks, when external influences are weak, random connectivity will result in higher network strength than scale-free connectivity (as external influences increase, however, the reverse phenomenon is observed). In addition, scale-free connectivity appears to be less volatile than random connectivity in response to an increase in the strength of external influences. We conclude with several implications that may be of significance to OSS stakeholders in particular, and to a broader range of online communities in general.

In this study we investigate whether social reference systems, such as Facebook \"likes\" (FBLs), promote sales in social commerce, wherein adverse selection and quality uncertainty often severely damage consumer trust and impede efforts to achieve sustainable growth. We also examine the extent to which product characteristics (product uncertainty and product franchising) and deal characteristics (tipping points, discount rates, and deal durations) moderate the social selling stimulated by FBLs. On the basis of 1,327 samples collected from a major social commerce platform provider, we identify several interesting empirical regularities regarding the relationship between FBLs and social commerce sales. The findings suggest that FBLs drive traffic and increase sales. Information technology artifacts and social technologies, such as FBLs, can endow a consumer's shopping experience with a socialization component and induce social selling in collective buying platforms. Nevertheless, significant variations occur across products and deals. For example, consumers who purchase experience goods more frequently depend on FBLs than do those who buy search goods. FBLs exert a far greater influence on the sales of goods from independent stores than those from franchise chains. Social commerce consumers are unaffected by heavy discount rates as they make purchase decisions, but they extensively rely on FBLs, particularly when purchasing products that have low tipping points. Our results suggest that social commerce can be a powerful marketplace when the economic utility that is driven by price incentives is further strengthened and protected by the social utility that originates from trust and sharing.

This study presents a novel switching scheme for three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) inverters. The proposed switching method independently drives the upper- and lower-arm elements of the inverter based on the polarity information of the reference current. The proposed switching scheme does not require the inclusion of dead-time for each switching, except when the current polarity changes. Therefore, unlike the conventional inverter switching method, dead-time compensation is not needed, and the possibility of an arm-short accident is prevented. In this study, a switching procedure is detailed, and the operation mode analysis of the proposed switching scheme is presented. The effectiveness of the proposed switching method is verified experimentally by application to a grid-connected inverter that requires inverter current control.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of evaporation and condensation on the underfloor space of Japanese detached houses. In this underfloor space, natural ventilation is applied. A typical Japanese wooden detached house is raised 0.3–0.5 m over an underfloor space made of concrete. The bottom of the underfloor space is usually paved with concrete, and the ceiling which is directly underneath the indoor occupant zone is made of wood. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is applied to calculate the rates of the evaporation and condensation generated inside the underfloor under two conditions, namely, a constant (fixed) outdoor environmental condition and a fluctuating environmental condition. In the constant condition, we verified the effects of the outdoor humidity, ventilation rate, and ratio of wetted surface (RWS, ω) on the evaporation and condensation inside the underfloor space. In this condition, the rate of evaporation and condensation was quantified considering the varying outdoor humidity between 0 to 100%, and the RWS (ω = 1 or 0). In addition, the influence of the different ventilation rates at 1.0 m/s for normal and 0.05 m/s for stagnant wind velocities were confirmed. Under fluctuating environmental conditions, the outdoor conditions change for 24 h, so the RWS varies. Therefore, the rate of evaporation and condensation, the amount of the condensed water, and the area of condensation were confirmed. The results were as follows: with a high airflow rate on the underfloor space, the evaporation and condensation phenomenon occurs continuously and is easily affected by outdoor humidity, while under low airflow rate conditions, only the condensation appeared steadily. If the wind velocity is strong, the convective mass transfer on a surface becomes large. In a condition of the outdoor humidity and the airflow rate on underfloor are high, condensation mainly occurs in a corner of the underfloor space due to high evaporation by convection in the mainstream of the airflow. By contrast, when the airflow rate is low, condensation occurs along the air stream. Accordingly, this information could be employed as design considerations for the underfloor space at the architectural design stage.

When conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to investigate the evaporation characteristics of respiratory particles, the over-simplification of droplet compositions may cause inaccuracies in the results. Although some researchers have conducted parametric studies on droplet components, an investigation using CFD simulation is still lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of different components on the temporal size change of expiratory droplets using CFD simulation. Two droplet sizes (10 μm and 100 μm) were selected, and two types of component combinations were considered, both with a volume fraction of 98.2% for water and 1.8% for non-volatile parts. In Scenario 1, the non-volatile part is composed of NaCl (density: 2200 kg/m 3 , molecular weight: 58.5 kg/kmol), whereas in Scenario 2, the non-volatile part is composed of NaCl, KCl, lactate, and protein (density: 1000 kg/m 3 , average molecular weight: 293 kg/kmol). Computations were conducted under constant temperature (25 °C) and different relative humidity (0 and 90%). The results showed that the equilibrium size and equilibrium time were strongly dependent on the droplet components. In subsequent investigations, the effects of different droplet components should be considered in the CFD simulations to obtain more accurate results.

This study serves as a basic study of the indoor dispersion of pollen particles, simulating the flow field and discussing the behavior of particles of different diameters in different rooms. By comparing the vertical velocity components of particles () and the mean flow velocity of z ‐direction component () plus the terminal settling velocity in a gravitational field (), the differences between values and plus values are found to occur mainly at locations close to the opposite wall of the inlet. The location of the differences between values and plus values is important findings of this study, which facilitates the improvement of the simulation method at a later stage and the rational design of indoor ventilation patterns to easily remove particles from the room.

The purpose of this study is to confirm the effect of ambient temperature, airspeed, and wind direction on the heat transfer around the human body. A fixed surface temperature (33 °C) thermal manikin (TM) with 16 segments was employed. First, the manikin was placed in a climate chamber with ambient temperatures of 20 °C, 24 °C, and 28 °C, at airspeeds of less than 0.1 m/s to represent calm condition. Higher ambient temperatures led to a decrease in the convective heat transfer coefficient. The convective heat transfer coefficients for the sitting posture were higher than those of the standing posture. The same TM was then put in a wind tunnel with airspeeds ranging from 0.25 m/s to 1.4 m/s to represent forced convection. The TM was set to face upwind, downwind, and perpendicular to the wind (i.e., its right side facing the wind). Regression models for the convective heat transfer coefficient and airspeed for different wind directions and postures were derived. In contrast to the calm condition, the convective heat transfer coefficients for the sitting posture were lower than those for the standing posture. The convective heat transfer coefficients for the standing posture were largest when the TM was facing downwind, and smallest when the right side of the TM was facing the wind. To verify the results of the experiment, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed with conditions matching those of the experiment by using a computational TM with the same shape as that used in the experiment. The boundary conditions of the CFD analysis were set from the experiment. The CFD analysis results were consistent with the experimental data.