Comfort Factors Research Articles

Health care providers’ comfort caring for trauma-exposed patients in the primary care setting: A mixed methods approach

ABSTRACT Introduction: Patients seeking primary care often present with health concerns related to psychological trauma, highlighting the importance of health care providers’ (HCPs) comfort discussing trauma in the primary care setting. This study used mixed methods, including qualitative content analysis, to (1) document HCPs’ trauma-related comfort levels and factors contributing to discomfort and (2) examine the associations between provider-level factors and comfort. Materials and Methods: Direct patient care providers (74.6% physicians/residents; 68.7% women; 44.8% White; Mage = 36.7 years, SDage = 9.8) were recruited from primary care clinics in an urban public hospital system in the United States to complete a survey assessing trauma-related comfort; responses to open-ended prompts were coded by independent raters. Results: Few HCPs endorsed comfort providing care to patients with known trauma histories (29.8%), most often citing limited knowledge and fear of exacerbating symptoms as contributors to discomfort. HCPs most often endorsed formal education and integrated behavioral health teams as having enhanced their comfort providing trauma-informed care; 59.2% indicated that receiving formal education would further increase comfort. HCPs’ comfort was unrelated provider-level factors other than department, F (2,53) =6.56, P = 0.003, and race, F (2,52) =5.69, P = 0.006. Discussion: Findings provide critical context to HCPs’ trauma-related discomfort as well as actionable next steps to increase trauma-related comfort during primary care encounters.

Proposal of Three Methods for Deriving Representative Mean Radiant Temperatures Considering Zone Spatial Distributions

Mean radiant temperature (MRT), which is a crucial factor for thermal comfort, varies within a space. This renders deriving the representative values for radiant heating and cooling control challenging. This study reviewed existing methods for deriving MRT in previous research and addressed their limitations by proposing a method for determining a representative MRT value. The existing methods were categorized as air temperature, single location, and area weighted. Three methods for deriving representative MRT values were proposed, considering the building’s usage, scale, and applicable system installations. The proposed methods were categorized as single-zone averaged, multi-zone averaged, and point-zone MRT. Experiments were conducted by distinguishing cases based on the control of equipment systems during heating and cooling periods. During the cooling season, the single-zone averaged MRT and air temperature differed by up to 4 °C, and the difference between the multi-zone averaged MRT and MRT at a point in the perimeter zone reached up to 7 °C. During the heating season, the single-zone averaged MRT and air temperature differed by up to 2.2 °C. Thus, the results of this study emphasize the importance of applying different methods of deriving representative MRT values depending on the size and usage of the building, and demonstrate that this facilitated more effective heating and cooling control systems.

An Overview of the Effects of Passive Solar Strategies on Thermal Comfort

The paper presents the impact of passive solar strategies on residential buildings concerning the thermal comfort factor. This study focuses on passive solar design elements like orientation, shading, and thermal mass to offer improved energy efficiency and occupant comfort. With a global natural gas crisis looming, interest in alternative heating and cooling is surging. With the growing concern of reducing the energy use by buildings while maintaining proper thermal comfort, both in cold and hot climates, the interest shifts to passive solar strategies. In this view, 547 publications have been analysed to reveal knowledge gaps and trends in the research. The bibliographic and thematic analysis techniques identified some approaches to passive solar design but no dominant method. Further, the study found under-researched areas within themes that appeared established. The authors have finally concluded with calls for further research and collaboration across institutions and nations to address these gaps and develop effective passive solar strategies. These findings contribute to sustainable architecture by pointing out the pros of applying passive solar strategies to reduce heating and cooling loads. In this respect, this was an original approach since it brought both quantitative and qualitative data together to measure thermal comfort. This is further underpinned by raising the need for energy-efficient building designs as measures toward mitigating climate change impacts.

Investigation of post-operative comfort levels and factors affecting comfort in urology patients

Investigation of post-operative comfort levels and factors affecting comfort in urology patients

Enhancing indoor thermal comfort prediction in tropical regions: A transfer learning strategy in West Bengal

Ensuring energy-efficient building management and sustainability necessitates precise thermal comfort prediction, a task particularly critical in tropical regions with significant energy-saving potential. This study confronts the complexities introduced by humid air conditions and escalating internal and external heat levels. The objective is to devise a sophisticated strategy for predicting indoor personal thermal comfort that enhances prediction accuracy. The proposed method extends beyond previous techniques by incorporating a comprehensive array of thermal comfort factors and their potential interdependencies, while also leveraging a transductive transfer learning strategy to circumvent data sparsity in the target domain. The experimental results indicate the presence of localized feature coupling within thermal comfort datasets, which the proposed CNN-ConvTrans model effectively processes, thereby enhancing predictive efficacy. The primary innovation of this work lies in the development of a novel transfer learning strategy that considers localized feature coupling, integrated with a deep learning model, effectively addressing issues such as class imbalance and data scarcity. This study furnishes an innovative and valuable framework for thermal comfort prediction across diverse environmental settings.

Gender differences in the perception of the indoor environment: Findings from residential buildings in a nordic climate

Current research suggests gender (“sex assigned at birth”) differences with respect to indoor environmental conditions, indicating females are more critical and demanding towards satisfaction and preferences. The present paper analyzes the results of a subsample of a national survey completed in 375 representative dwellings in Sweden. The survey collected information on twelve comfort factors and satisfaction aspects concerning thermal comfort, indoor air quality, acoustic comfort, satisfaction with daylight, size, standard, layout, appearance, well-being, cost, and neighborhood. Advanced statistical analyses were used to investigate whether the responses of occupants experiencing similar indoor conditions (cohabitation) were different with respect to gender. The analysis did not observe any significant gender differences with respect to the ratings of indoor environments in dwellings. Males reported slightly higher satisfaction, while thermal and acoustic comfort exhibited the highest gender variability. Satisfaction aspects were generally very high, with the costs and acoustic comfort registering the highest levels of dissatisfaction. Additional analyses across various building characteristics and individual attributes (variables levels) confirmed no differences. Several hypotheses were put up to explain these results, including the extreme climatic conditions and the collaborative use of dwellings. The findings suggest that Swedish dwelling designs can provide some best practice guidance for stakeholders and practitioners elsewhere in similar climatic conditions. Future studies should confirm the present observations and the social and cultural aspects of the findings.

Influence of Contact Lens Parameters on Cornea: Biomechanical Analysis.

This study presents a finite element analysis to model ocular biomechanics and the interactions between the human eye and contact lenses in the closed-eye condition. The closed-eye state, where the eyelids are fully shut, presents challenges for experimental measurements due to the invasive nature of accessing and analysing the contact lens and corneal interface, making simulation tools valuable for accurate characterisation. The primary objective of this study was to examine how CLs fold and twist and their impact on the cornea when the eye is closed. The secondary aim of this study was to assess how crucial contact lens parameters (Young's modulus, base curve, and diameter) influence corneal stress distribution and the overall fit of the lens on the eye. The findings show that increasing Young's modulus significantly reduces corneal stress and promotes uniform stress distribution, making it the most influential factor for wearer comfort and safety. While base curve and diameter variations primarily affect contact area, their impact on stress distribution is minimal. This research provides insights for improving contact lens design and enhancing safety for contact lens wearers.

Influencing factors of long-term thermal comfort in office buildings

Influencing factors of long-term thermal comfort in office buildings

Thermal energy resource utilization and sample image restoration technology based on Machine vision simulation in interior design

With the rise of sustainable building design, the traditional design methods are often unable to fully consider the optimal allocation and application of thermal energy resources. This study aims to explore the application of heat resource utilization and sample image restoration technology based on machine vision simulation technology in interior design, and provide practical solutions for optimizing indoor environment. In this paper, machine vision technology is used to monitor and model indoor space in real time, and heat energy flow and distribution under different design schemes are simulated. At the same time, the influence of different designs on thermal energy utilization efficiency is analyzed by using sample image restoration technology. In the study, a set of comprehensive evaluation indexes was established, which comprehensively considered the factors of heat efficiency, indoor comfort and energy consumption. The experimental results show that the simulation technology based on machine vision can accurately predict the indoor heat distribution and identify the best design scheme. At the same time, the sample image restoration technology significantly improves the evaluation accuracy of heat utilization efficiency. Through these methods, the optimized design scheme has higher thermal energy utilization than the traditional design, and significantly improves the indoor comfort. This study shows that the combination of machine vision simulation and sample image restoration technology can effectively improve the utilization efficiency of thermal energy resources in interior design, and provide new ideas and methods for sustainable building design.

Effect of Age and Sex on Medullation Types and Fiber Characteristics in Huacaya Alpacas

Background: Fiber is a distinctive attribute of the alpaca due to its softness qualities; it contains less grease and has a finer cuticle compared to sheep's wool. Therefore, the types of medullation were estimated: non-medullated fibers (NoMed), fragmented medulla (FragMed), discontinuous medulla (DiscMed), continuous medulla (ContMed) and strongly medullated fibers (StrMed), considering the age and sex of Huacaya breed alpacas (Vicugna pacos) under extensive management conditions in high Andean pastures. Methods: Six grams of fiber samples were collected from the mid-side region (located above the third last rib, halfway between the midline of the belly and the midline of the back) of 240 Huacaya alpacas from the district of Macusani, province of Carabaya, Puno, during the year 2022. They were then processed in the Fiber Laboratory of the Faculty of Textile Engineering and Garments at the National University of Juliaca using the FIBER EC V4.0 and FIBER MED V1.0 equipment. Result: The results obtained show that the percentage of non-medullated fibers decreases as the animal’s age increases (1 year= 75.60%, 2 years=69.43%, 3 years=69.05% and greater than 4 years=66.25%) (P≤0.05). The percentage of medullated fibers in animals of 1 year was 24.40%; 2 years, 30.57%; 3 years, 30.95% and greater than 4 years, 33.59% (P≤0.05). The mean fiber diameter in 1-year-old alpacas is 17.32 mm, 2 years=19.49 mm, 3 years = 19.91 mm and 4 years=20.10 mm (P≤0.05). The comfort factor in 1-year-old animals is 99.47%, 2 years with 98.02%, 3-year-olds with 97.01% and those older than 4 years with 96.45% (P≤0.05). Regarding the curvature index, values of 55.86 °/mm were obtained for 1-year-old animals, 53.43 °/mm for 2-year-olds, 53.99 °/mm for 3-year-olds and 52.23°/mm for those older than 4 years (P≤0.05). In conclusion, Huacaya alpacas exhibit low values for the percentage of strongly medullated fibers due to the age and sex of the animal, demonstrating very good fleece uniformity.

제주곶자왈도립공원 이용가치 제고를 위한 방문객 인식 연구 - 중요도-만족도 분석(IPA)의 적용을 통해

This study was conducted to prepare a plan to improve the value of use through an IPA on the perception of visitors at the Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park. Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park is operated by establishing a basic plan for efficient use based on a legal management system for conservation. It is managed as an important environmental asset of Jeju Island, and 200,000 visitors visit Gotjawal every year to enjoy its vegetation and environment. In this study, considering the variables related to the use of natural parks in previous studies, we extracted items to prepare measures to improve the characteristics and use value of Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park and constructed a scale by dividing them into playfulness, comfort, convenience, and economic factors. IPA was implemented through a survey, and implications were derived for each matrix. Currently, Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park's playfulness as a natural resource showed high satisfaction, and it was found that it was necessary to prepare improvement measures to improve convenience. In addition, it was found that additional research in terms of economic feasibility was necessary to improve the value of use. If future research is conducted to overcome the fact that the data collection period of this study is limited to a specific period, it is expected that field applicability will be further increased.

Daylight potential of Swedish residential environments: Visual and beyond-vision effects and the relationship with well-being assessment

Good lighting is one of the most important comfort factors in residential buildings. In creating a comfortable and restorative living space, the effects of light, both visual and effects beyond vision, play a crucial role. Daylight is considered an essential factor for indoor environments, which can benefit occupants’ health as well as lower energy use. This study investigated the potential daylight exposure for 10 apartments in Sweden, using metrics to quantify both visual effects and effects beyond vision and to understand the relationship between the light situation in the apartments and well-being metrics collected from occupants during a field study. Computational modelling of daylight conditions for visual effects and effects beyond vision was performed. Statistical analysis was utilised to investigate the possible relationship between the apartments’ daylight potential and the self-reported well-being of the occupants. The results show variations of light exposure for apartments in different seasons. Furthermore, possible relationships between well-being metrics and daylight exposure changes were observed despite being possibly influenced by seasonal light level contrasts.

Unravelling key environmental factors influencing urban park visits: Thermal comfort and air quality

Urban parks play a vital role in shaping physical and mental health. Walking and cycling to local urban parks have become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the climate change and air pollution continue to spur health risks for outdoor activities. Existing literature have focused on measuring the impact of temperature on park attendance, mainly using incomplete or short-term park visit data from field investigations. However, there is a lack of research on how thermal comfort factors (e.g., heat and humidity) and air quality indices – individually and synergistically – enhance or reduce visits to urban parks, particularly with quality official daily park visit data spanning an entire year. In response to the research gap, this study conducted a comparative case study of two urban parks in Shanghai, covering descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses of how weather and air quality mediate daily park attendance from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This study identifies that temperature, humidity, and the ‘Heat Index’ combining heat and humidity are strong parameters influencing the number of park visits, while the impacts of air quality indices are mostly trivial. Urban humid heat, a weather condition becoming more frequent with the rise of extreme heat events in Shanghai's recent summers, received much less attention than the sheer degree of temperature, threatening healthy outdoor activities in parks. These findings provide timely and important implications for better urban park planning, design, and management for promoting outdoor activities while reducing health risks.

The adaptive thermal comfort of individual performance working at home

Eco-friendly architecture (EFA) is a design approach to produce healthy and comfortable buildings. In the pandemic era and in years to come when working from home is a trend, a healthy and comfortable home is crucial because people spend their time at home. Thermal comfort is considered the most significant comfort factor for building occupants, especially at home. This paper reports a study on the relationship between thermal comfort, individual performance, and productivity while working at home. Data was collected qualitatively through observation, heat transfer calculation, and in-depth interviews. This study concludes that a thermally comfortable house that follows the EFA concept is an aspect that influences performance and productivity. However, thermal comfort is not the only aspect related to comfort. Habits and adaptation of occupants to certain conditions also affect comfort, which leads to good performance and productivity. Occupants feel comfortable doing office and household tasks at home due to their adaptation to the surrounding thermal comfort based on their preferences.

Development of a framework for assessing train passengers' post‐boarding behaviours based on their perceptions

AbstractWhile existing literature has focused on modelling pedestrian movement on platforms, there is a lack of understanding of passengers' perceptions, motivations, and influential factors that shape their on‐board behaviours and choices. This study developed a conceptual framework to assess passengers' post‐boarding behaviours and perceptions, specifically focusing on their actions and choices inside the train carriages. The conceptual framework was tested through survey data of 429 passengers in Melbourne, Australia. The result shows that door access is the most influential factor when passengers choose where to stand or sit on board, followed by comfort, safety, privacy, and random factors. Furthermore, the study explores the relationship between the post‐boarding behaviour variables and travellers’ personal and trip characteristic variables. The analysis shows that carrying large items has a more significant effect on many post‐boarding behaviour variables. Gender, age group, travel frequency, waiting time, and carrying small items also play significant roles. However, variables such as travel time and frequency of group travel have lesser effects. These novel findings offer valuable insights, laying the groundwork for future modelling activities. Moreover, the understanding derived from passenger perceptions can guide transport agencies and operators in shaping strategies to improve onboard services.

HEALTHCARE WORKERS' IRRATIONAL BELIEFS AND ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION LEVELS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objectives: The beliefs or irrational beliefs impact the way individuals react or adapt to a threatening situation like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assesses the relationship between healthcare workers' irrational beliefs, depression, and anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Metods: This study was designed as a quantitative study that used the Shortened General Attitude and Belief Scale (SGABS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) to 212 healthcare workers. The collected data was subjected to t-tests, ANOVA, correlation, and regression analyses. Results: The study found that male participants had significantly higher levels of Devaluation of Others / irrational beliefs, while females and unmarried individuals had significantly higher levels of anxiety. Additionally, there was a predictive effect of Irrational Beliefs / need for comfort and female gender factor on anxiety levels, and a predictive effect of Irrational Beliefs / need for comfort and age factor on depression levels. Conclusion: The results indicate the need to assess healthcare workers' irrational beliefs, depression, and anxiety levels and suggest that assessment can guide the development of potential interventions.

An integrated price- and incentive-based demand response program for smart residential buildings: A robust multi-objective model

Residential buildings consume a significant amount of energy, emphasizing the importance of optimizing energy usage. Demand-side management (DSM) helps consumers and producers manage energy consumption through incentives and pricing. This study develops a new mathematical model to manage DSM in smart residential buildings. Extant literature commonly considers only a single objective function, ignores uncertainties, and applies only one price- or incentive-based program to load management in smart residential buildings. This study develops a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model that applies both price- and incentive-based programs and considers uncertainties. The objectives are cost reduction, peak load minimization, user comfort improvement, and load factor maximization. This model can manage optimal schedules for household appliances and power exchange within buildings. The study shows that participating in the incentive-based program in a four-household residential complex yielded a 2 % decrease in electricity costs and a 1 % reduction in peak load while upholding comfort and load factor levels compared to non-participation. When extended to an eight-household complex, potential benefits include an 8.3 % decrease in electricity cost and a 2.6 % reduction in peak load, highlighting the program’s effectiveness in residential energy management strategies.

The Effect of Rapeseed Oil Biopolyols and Cellulose Biofillers on Selected Properties of Viscoelastic Polyurethane Foams.

This paper presents the results of research on polyurethane viscoelastic foams (PUVFs) modified with biomaterials. This investigation looked at the effect of the biomaterials on the foaming processes, as well as the acoustical and selected physical-mechanical properties of the foams. Various types of rapeseed oil biopolyols and microcellulose were used to modify the materials. The analysis of properties covered a reference biopolyol-free sample and materials containing 10 wt.%, 20 wt.%, and 30 wt.% of different types of biopolyols in the mixture of polyol components. The biopolyols differed in terms of functionality and hydroxyl value (OHv). Next, a selected formulation was modified with various microcellulose biofillers in the amount of 0.5-2 wt.%. The PUVFs, with apparent densities of more than 210 kg/m3 and open-cell structures (more than 85% of open cells), showed a slow recovery to their original shape after deformation when the pressure force was removed. They were also characterized by a tensile strength in the range of 156-264 kPa, elongation at break of 310-510%, hardness of 8.1-23.1 kPa, and a high comfort factor of 3.1-7.1. The introduction of biopolyols into the polyurethane system resulted in changes in sound intensity levels of up to 31.45%, while the addition of fillers resulted in changes in sound intensity levels of up to 13.81%.

Adaptive Classroom Berbasis IoT (Internet of Things), Manajemen Penggunaan Air Conditioner (AC) secara otomatis

Temperature and humidity are one of the comfort factors. According to the SNI standard, the comfortable temperature range is at 20.5°C-27.1°C. If the temperature is above 27.1°C, an Air Conditioner (AC) is needed to get the effective thermal comfort. AC installed in each PSTI FT UNRAM classroom is operated manually. This research implements Internet of Things (IoT) for automatic AC usage management. This IoT device is made using PIR sensor and DHT22 sensor, the MQTT protocol for data communication between the IoT device and the web system. Based on the testing scenario for the classroom containing students and the empty classroom that has been done, the IoT device is able to manage the AC usage automatically, so that the classroom can be called adaptive classroom. From the MOS testing that has been done, a value of 4.57 from a scale of 5, the system is feasible to use.

Determination of Factors Affecting Transportation Mode Choice of Turkish Domestic Airline Passengers

Increasing demand in the transportation sector is closely related to the level of meeting passengers' demands. For this reason, many studies are being carried out in many parts of the world, especially in European and Far Eastern countries, aiming to determine the factors that affect passengers' choice of transportation mode. The aim of this study is to determine the main and sub factors affecting the choice of transportation mode for domestic airline passengers traveling in Türkiye. Within the scope of the study, a face-to-face survey was conducted to 407 passengers at Sabiha Gökçen Airport. Then, exploratory factor analysis was performed with the obtained data. Three main factors that emerged as a result of the analysis were named "Trip Factor", "Transportation Mode Factor" and "Safety and Comfort Factor", taking into account the literature review, expert opinions and the characteristics of the items. While on-time departure / punctuality, total travel time and travel at the requested time are the variables that have the highest impact on the choice of transportation mode. Previous accidents/incidents, transportation cost to airport/station and entertainment service in the cabin/wagon emerged as the variables with the lowest impact.