Explore the vast range of titles available.

•Artificial windows are evaluated by referring real windows and no windows.•Artificial windows achieved the highest lighting comfort and acceptability.•Artificial windows matched or surpassed real windows in attention, memory, and creativity.•Artificial windows effectively enhance attention, creativity, and comfort in windowless offices. In modern urban environments, limited space and the drive for building efficiency have led to the increasing prevalence of windowless offices. Because lighting is essential for mood, alertness, cognitive performance, health, and productivity, the lack of natural daylight and outdoor views can adversely affect well-being and work outcomes. Consequently, artificial windows (AW), designed to replicate natural light and external views, have been proposed. This study compared real windows (RW), AW, and no windows (NW) to investigate their effects on cognitive performance and productivity among office workers during working phases. A controlled experiment was conducted, combining heart rate variability (HRV) data and cognitive tests. In addition, questionnaires were used to evaluate participants′ subjective perceptions of the thermal and lighting environments. The results showed that AW led to better attention, short-term memory, and creativity. In particular, the time for attention tests was about 14.4 % shorter than under NW, and the time for short-term memory tests was reduced by 6.7 %. Focus, measured by the HRV (nLF/nHF) ratio, increased by approximately 22.2 %, while subjective work efficiency demonstrated an even more substantial increase. Moreover, AW provided superior thermal and lighting perceptions compared to NW and even outperformed RW in lighting comfort and acceptability. Overall, these findings indicate that AW holds considerable potential for improving attention, productivity, and environmental comfort during working phases, offering an effective alternative for windowless offices. [Display omitted]

In this contribution, we present a compact differential pumping unit with apertures ≥500 µm. It allows windowless operation for in‐air sample environments as well as to connect low‐quality in‐vacuum sample environments to the beamline UHV (≤10−8 mbar) section. The unit also protects the UHV section of the beamline from accidental venting due to operator errors. To simplify the design, an adjustment‐free series of pinholes is used. The positioning of the apertures relies on tight machining tolerances. The assembly consists of just eight parts: one main aluminium body, four threaded cylinders with apertures and three covers with links to pumping units assembled with Viton seals. The overall footprint is restricted to 368 mm on the beam axis. We present a compact differential pumping unit with apertures ≥500 µm. It allows windowless operation for in‐air sample environments as well as to connect low‐quality in‐vacuum sample environments to the beamline UHV section. The unit also protects the UHV section from accidental venting. The overall footprint is restricted to 368 mm on the beam axis.

Daylighting systems make daylight illuminance possible, and the development of prototype daylighting systems can provide more efficient daylight illuminance. The purpose of this article is to review the development and performance of prototype daylighting systems in the last decade. The passive and active daylighting systems are listed separately and divided into the four categories by the presence and absence of hybrid. Each prototype daylighting system was evaluated in terms of cost and daylight performance and as well as their novel optical design. We evaluated the architecture and daylighting principles of each system by reviewing individual prototype daylighting systems. The cost of prototype systems still poses a challenge to development. How to use passive or active systems in different environments and whether or not electrical lighting assistance is needed is a controversial issue. However, active daylighting systems equipped with solar tracking systems are still mainstream. This research is a valuable resource for daylight researchers and newcomers. It is helpful to understand the advantages of various prototype daylighting systems and commercial daylighting systems that have been developed for many years; moreover, it is also possible to know the research directions suggested by the prototype daylighting systems. These will be of further use in developing innovative and better daylighting systems and designs.

We present here the main results of an experimental activity aimed at the realization of a prototype of monitor for alpha and beta radioactivity in water exploiting a novel type of contamination-safe scintillation detector developed by our research group. Due to the short path-length of alpha and beta particles in water and the low detection limits needed to be compliant with the international legislations in matter of radiation safety for water, the detectors to be used for such a kind of instruments should have in general large area, very low intrinsic background and avoid any kind of window between the monitored water and the active volume of the detector. Even an extremely low contamination of the surface can therefore destroy the detector performance, while protecting the detector with a layer of passive material will reduce the detection efficiency, in particular for alpha particles, and the passive layer can get contaminated itself, making necessary its substitution and representing an important limitation to the realization of a radioactivity monitor that should work continuously for years. The novel detectors are large-area silicone-based scintillators developed and produced in our laboratories. The technology we propose is a significant step forward in the direction of the realization of radioactivity monitors for water with high sensitivity and reasonable costs, to be used to improve security and quality of the water distributed to European and worldwide citizens. The detection performance for alpha and beta particles was first tested in air with standard sources, showing results very close to similar detectors commercially available. Later a number of tests were carried out in the ENEA-INMRI laboratories with the aim to characterize the contamination and decontamination properties. Initial activity of each detector foil was checked by low background radioactivity measurements, then the detectors were immersed for fixed times and constant procedure in a variety of radioactive reference liquid solutions with different radionuclides in different chemical forms. After rinsing with distilled water the detector foils were again measured for residual radioactivity adsorbed on the foils surface. After this preliminary campaign of contamination measurements carried out on small size samples, several large area detectors were realized and used to build a small demonstrator device for continuous monitoring of the radioactivity in water. The monitor was tested with distilled water (blank) and radioactive aqueous solutions, demonstrating the possibility to realize a new generation of radiation monitors for water with high sensitivity and with the possibility to easily manage the contamination issues.

Photoacoustic (PA) measurements with open resonators usually provide poor detection sensitivity due to signal leakage at the resonator opening. We have recently demonstrated three different approaches for modelling the photoacoustic signal of open resonators. In this work, one of the approaches is applied for the optimization of the geometry of the T-shaped resonator for improved signal strength and thus sensitivity. The results from the numerical optimization show an increase in the photoacoustic signal by a factor of approximately 7.23. They are confirmed using numerical methods other than the one applied for the optimization and by experimental measurement. The measurement shows an increase in the photoacoustic signal by a factor of approximately 2.34.

This paper describes a new aircraft concept, where all windows, except those for emergency exits, are replaced with simulated windows, which consist of monitors connected to external cameras to overcome the discomfort for the passenger due to the absence of real windows. This concept is developed through an analytical method to estimate the potential advantages for the environment and for airline companies deriving from a windowless configuration for a short-medium range aircraft, within the boundaries of the preliminary design. Actually, the reduction in weight is directly linked to the reduction in fuel consumption, providing advantages in terms of operating costs and emissions of carbon dioxide. The method is applied to four models of short and medium range aircraft, namely Boeing 737–800, Airbus 320, ATR72 and Embraer 190. The results show the benefits of a windowless configuration that become very positive for the operating life of an aircraft and the total fleet, potentially leading to the saving of millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year when applied to the whole fleet of the analyzed aircraft.

This paper assesses Frank Lloyd Wright's designs for heating, cooling, humidification and ventilation of the SC Johnson Company Administration Building (1936-39) and Research Tower (1943-50), in Racine, Wisconsin. As a variation on the then novel idea of the \"windowless office building\", the Administration Building featured heating with low-pressure steam pipes under the concrete floor, and independent control of different zones, synchronized with the sun's movements. The hollow central core of the Research Tower contained the air supply and return for heating, and also the full range of utilities supplying the laboratories. Air was distributed through voids cast into the concrete floors. In both Johnson buildings, Wright achieved a high level of integration in which novel mechanical systems were intrinsic to the architecture of the building and its spatial, visual and structural forms. However, the buildings proved to be very expensive and, while many of the innovations were successful, others needed remediation.

A miniaturized fluorescence detector utilizing a three-dimensional windowless flow cell has been constructed and evaluated. The inlet and outlet liquid channels are collinear and are located in the same plane as the excitation paths, while the optical fiber used to collect the emission light is perpendicular to this plane. The straightforward arrangement of the flow path minimizes band dispersion and eliminates bubble formation or accumulation inside the cell. The use of high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the excitation source and a miniaturized metal package photomultiplier tube (PMT) results in a compact and sensitive fluorescence detector. The detection limit obtained from the system for fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) in flow injection mode is 2.6 nmol/L. The analysis of riboflavin and FITC by packed capillary liquid chromatography is demonstrated.

Arabidopsis thaliana is an important model system for the study of plant biology. We have analyzed the complete genome sequences of Arabidopsis by using a newly developed windowless method for the GC content computation, the cumulative GC profile. It is shown that the Arabidopsis genome is organized into a mosaic structure of isochores. All the centromeric regions are located in GC-rich isochores, called centromere-isochores, which are characterized by a high GC content but low gene and T-DNA insertion densities. This characteristic distinguishes centromere-isochores from the other class of GC-rich isochores, called GC-isochores, which have high gene and T-DNA insertion densities. Consequently, 15 isochores have been identified, i.e., 7 AT-isochores, 3 GC-isochores, and 5 centromere-isochores. The genes in centromere-isochores, which have the highest GC content, have much shorter intron lengths and lower intron numbers, compared to those of the other two types. There is also considerable difference in the numbers and lengths of transposable elements (TEs) between AT and GC-isochores, i.e., the TE number (length) of AT-isochores is 6.3 (7.3) times that of GC-isochores. It is generally believed that TEs are accumulated in the regions surrounding the centromeres. However, within these TE-rich regions, there are regions of extremely low TE numbers (TE deserts), which correspond to the positions of centromere-isochores. In addition, a heterochromatic knob is located at the boundary of an AT-isochore. Furthermore, we show that the differences in GC content among isochores are mainly due to the GC content variation of introns, the third codon positions and intergenic regions.